CHAPTER 9: ESCAPE

“Jason, what is your worst fear?”

“Dying alone, unable to see the stars.”

…

Taking a moment to rest, I peer into the tunnel that I’ve created. A sense of anxiety overshadowing my thoughts as I look away from my bony body. My clothes ripped and shredded, I want nothing more than to escape this dark prison. The only light created by me.

My concentration elapsing as I struggle to fight the pains of hunger assaulting me throughout my time awake. Without my robotic repair system, and the ability to use water magic; I doubt anyone else would still be alive this long.

But even so, I’ll just be a small box and a skeleton if I never escape this place. Crawling to the tunnel entrance, I look at the piles of dirt filling the cylindrical chamber. It’s been over a month since I woke up alone in this dark cobblestone room, and yet not a single person has checked on me.

It’s almost like they left me here to die.

I stare at the iron door that appears to lead into a similarly dark hallway, fire red markings swirling around and around it. How the markings work, I don’t know. But I know they stop me from destroying the gate and any of the nearby area. Why did I have to discover these things now…?

The silence permeating the air only reminded me of how lonely I was. I would blame my four-year-old body on my need to see my parents faces, but even then… I was never good at being alone. Even if that’s how I spent most of my life.

I hope everyone’s ok…

Creating a spinning ring of water, I start cutting into the rock once again. I refuse to die here. Why am I even here though? I was terrified when those homeless talked about the silent ones, yet I can’t remember hearing anything about them.

Is there something missing from my memory? It wouldn't be the first time…

But even if I disregard that, how could those people have predicted I would meet them there? A grand coincidence? No… the fact that whoever put me here, came so fast, suggest not. But how is that possible?

“Do you think she’s still alive?"

I froze, the water drill falling to the ground. Did I just hear a voice?

“I doubt it, even if she survived everything we did to her. There’s no way she could have survived this long without water and food” Echoed a male’s voice throughout the chamber.

This is my chance! If I they open that gate, I should be able to escape. Exiting the tunnel, I lay down limply. Hopefully, they’ll think I’m either dead or asleep.

There’s a rattling sound followed by a clank, but I can tell the voices aren’t close yet. “Did you destroy the artefacts? I heard a few of them made it into the king’s court.”

“No need to worry my brother. The only artefacts left were either lost long ago, or died along with the last king’s physician.”

Kings physician, Artefacts… they couldn’t mean Simbrain’s could they?

“And the young king?”

“Wrapped around my finger”

“Good”

Footsteps continued to ehco through the chamber as I mulled over what they just said. If they meant the physician that gave… Jason’s Simbrain to my parents. Then, what if…

“O Nir” I whisper, plunging the chamber into darkness.

“Did you kill the girl’s family?” My heart almost stops as I listen to their conversation. If they killed them… I-

“No, I barely got out of there with the girl”

Exhaling, I make a quick plan in my head. If my family’s fine, I just need to get out of here and make it to them. I don’t really want to kill anyone doing so, but it’s not like they haven’t already tried to kill me and my family. I’ve never done it before though…

Perhaps, asphyxiation by telekinesis? Would that be better or worse than burning them to death? They both sound unpleasant… Still, I guess they can’t chant if they have no air.

Their footsteps get closer as I become more tense. This is it, the moment I actually kill someone… “Why do you think the silent ones wanted her though?” the man’s voice now sounds right outside the gate as I hear a faint rattling.

Now closer, the depth of the second man’s voice told me he was the one who dealt brain damage to me. “Who knows, it’s best not question them. Remember what happened to Steiner?”

A quick clank tells me that the gate is open. Waiting for the men to enter the room, I imagine both of them floating into the air while creating a vacuum around their heads.

I hear the rustling of clothes, but not a whimper or scream. A few moments later there is a  loud clang, almost making me jump upwards. The two men are no floating in front of me, silent and motionless. Looking down, I realise that the clang was a long thin sword dropping to the ground.

I let the men drop to the floor as I pick up the sword. That was… disturbingly easy. Both the men were wearing the same black robe, so I guess that their uniform? Wrapping the cloak around my cold and now weak body, I grab the keys and float the sword beside me.

Leaving the chamber, I find myself in a weathered cobblestone-like dungeon. Empty bared chambers line the walls, separated only by two or three metres. Did I only manage to dig that far?

Walking as fast as I could, I eventually come across a set of stairs harbouring a large red door. Slightly opening the door, I site of a grand hallway with paintings and chandeliers comes into view. Several robed figures, each with some sort of insignia crowd the room with no windows. 

“Did you hear? The silent ones will be gracing us with their presence” mentions a girl in her late teens to an elderly man as they walk past. A shiver passes through my body; I really don’t want to meet these silent ones.

But how do I get past all these people? I don’t want to asphyxiate them all, nor do I think I could. Perhaps I could create a distraction? I then see several cloaked figures walk past. Perhaps… Could I use telekinesis to make the cloak fill itself out?

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After several moments of debating with myself and practising, I’m now standing inside the floating stolen cloak; the hem just barely touching the ground, and the hood lowered. This is crazy…

Waiting for the right moment, I push open the door and begin walking down the hallway. Staring through a small gap, I watch as people either ignore me or give a slight bow.

Coming across a large marble atrium with statues and grand pillars, I try to take in the site while heading towards a large set of white doors. Unfortunately, a large group of people also begin to crowd the door. Why can’t they just move away!

“We demand an audience with the silent ones! You can’t keep us locked up in here every time they visit” yells and elderly looking man, wearing an almost garish cloak.

“No! the grand master has forbidden it. At least until he has their permission!” replies someone from in red robes standing arms stretched across the door. I guess this’s the way out then; perhaps I should try a window on the other side?

Looking behind me, I see a large set of stairs leading to several levels. Still not a single window in site. “you can’t stop us! The silent ones don’t care what the grandmaster thinks!”

Before I know it, the whole crowd shoves forward opening the doors. Quickly following them, I’m met with a bone-chilling breeze and a mountainous twilight sunset. Fresh snow covering the mountain top, I look lower to see an icy forest.

Ok, where am I? I don’t recognise any landmarks what so ever. Turning around, I realise the building I was trapped in, was built into the side of a mountain. A small entrance with a statue and nothing more.

“There they are!” shouted the grey-cloaked man from before.

Looking up into the sky, three bright lights stand out against the sunset. Moving with an almost elegant but terrifying grace. They’re far away for now, but I need to get out of here quickly.

But how? If I just start walking across the snow, surely it would look suspicious. And I can’t just kill them all, that would only alert them to me missing.  “hey, Olmgar weren’t you supposed to bring the girl” says a voice behind me. I watch in horror as he suddenly pokes the cloak, making it fall over my small body.

Panicking, I removing the surrounding air and run across the icy ground towards the icy forest. My bare feet on fire, I look up into the sky while jumping over a small crevasse. Those lights… they almost look like something I’ve seen before.

“Get back here!” Shouts someone as a ball of fire hits my leg. “Ahh!” My nanobots repair the damage quickly, but it still hurts. I hardly have any body fat nor nutrients to use. Continuing to run towards the nearby tundra, I create a floating wall of ice behind me as I use telekinesis to trip my pursuers.  

“She’s running to the trees! Light them up!”

Shit!

Several balls of fire streak overhead, igniting the nearby trees.

Fuck!

“Give up, the gods will be merciful” shouts one of the men behind me. I turn around to face a group of seven men and woman wearing an array of coloured cloaks. 

“Never.”

Almost by instinct, I pick the group up into the air by their throats and crushed them. All of them spit blood before dropping to the ground, all except one.

The man wearing a turquoise cloak begins lifting several large rocks into the air with telekinesis. Ah, that explains things. Before I could react, the rocks flew directly at me, as I tried with all my might to decrease their momentum. Eventually bringing the now spinning rocks into an equilibrium between us.

Preparing to create a spear of ice, an intense flash of light followed by a boom that made my ears ring forces me to the ground. Struggling to stand up, I realise that my foe simply no longer exists.

Frantically looking for the source of the explosion, the image of a floating metallic ellipsoidal pod-like object, around five metres long enters my eyes. There’s no sound, no heat, no wind; it just seems to float. What the hell is that!? Wait, that has to be the silent ones. Legs shaking, I try to move, but nothing happens.

Shit! What’s going on? Are they able to control my movements or am I just frozen in fear? No, they’re definitely doing something.

Suddenly the shining metallic pod above me floats forward, as I notice two more identical objects. One of them moves adjacent to the first one ahead of me, while the other stays directly above me.

I grasp my ears as I see several blinding flashes of light. The entire ground shakes as one of the metallic pods crashes straight into the snow ahead of me, while the other two continue firing streaks of light at each other.

What the hell’s going on!? I try to run once more but find myself firmly rooted to the icy ground. I watch in horror as the pod above me begins to lower. Am I going to be crushed to death!?

But moments later the pod stops. In fact, both pods stop as their front ends begin to separate into a spiral; revealing two figures standing on floating metallic platforms. The one in front of me; a staunch and uptight man who projects authority and power, wears a white military like uniform and cape. The other, a young man with messy hair and a dilapidated black cloak. Both men pointing some sort of gun at each other.

I stare at both men before each of them stare back at me. After a moment of silence, they return their gazes to one another. A scowl appeared across the military man’s face. “I don’t suppose you set this up Roy, betraying the Miltracity now are we?”

The young man simply gave a small grin while raising his gun higher. “I was never part of that monstrosity. I simply played you for a fool!”

The older man’s nostrils flared as a flash of light left his gun, only to collide with another light from the other. “It was always so easy you know. All I had to do was tell you was what you wanted to hear” mocked the younger man.

Another round of intense lights blinds me as I tried to close my eyes without success. Feeling more helpless than ever, I watch on as two people duel between themselves. Am I going to make it out of this Alive?

Without seeing what happened, the older military man screams out in pain while the younger man jumps across to his platform. “I didn’t send the signal by the way, even I don’t know who did,” says the younger cloaked man as he begins to shoot the other, now outside my vision repeatedly. 

The lights eventually stop, and the younger man jumps straight off the floating metallic platform and walks towards me. A sad feeling, I can’t place fills my stomach as I look into his blue eyes. Do I know him?

“2472, Red Iron lands. Below the bright star, Campfire safe” declares the man with an absolute tone. Huh?

The man squints his eye, before an almost sad smile appears on his face. “It’s ok if you don’t understand, that’s just what the message said. By the way, you can speak now.”

Moving my scrawny arms, I feel a sense of relief; not being able to move is a horrible experience. “W-Who are you?”

“It doesn’t matter, my times up anyway.”

“Huh?”

A flash of light blinded my vision as I cover my eyes. “HAHAHA. Fuck you! You think you could betray me and GET AWAY WITH IT!?” shouts the older military man from before.

Reopening my eyes, I see that the man before me is simply gone; only a melted patch of snow left behind. The sad feeling flickers out, but the older man now points his gun at me; his deformed body reforming like a like liquid metal.

What the hell is that!? No, whoever these silent ones are; they are technologically superior to even sol. “Now… I don’t generally receive messages to kill little girls in the middle of nowhere. And because of that traitorous fuck, my ship's broken. So before I kill you, I would like to know. Who the FUCK YOU ARE!?”

So even these silent ones don’t know anything about me?

Staring into the gun, I try to stall him while I plan. If he’s anything like me, he won’t die quickly from sophistication.

“I’m Lucy Ele-” another flash of light blinds me, as a deep patch of melted snow forms beside me. “Don’t play games with me! The message said you were to be eliminated at all cost. So! You are going to tell me the truth, or I’m going to make your death so much more painful than you can imagine.”

Think, think, think. His pod’s damaged so he might not be able to catch me if I run. Since he reformed, I guess he uses something like nanobots as well. If I could disrupt or over heat them…  will I be able to run away fast enough though?

Calming myself, I prepare on my only escape.

“SPEAK!!”

I imagine all the electrons circulating rapidly around the man’s metallic body, flowing from head to toe faster and faster.

And then I run.

I sprint into the trees faster than I’ve ever done before, continuing to imagine the electrons in his body circulating at increasing speeds.

There’s another flash, but unlike before it doesn’t even come close. Instead, several trees disintegrate a few metres away from me. My head begins to pound as I get further and further away.

I run and run until my feet finally give out. My clothes ripped and shredded, I collapse onto the snow.

“did I make it?” I mutter to myself as Simbrain gives several warnings about frostbite. He… I guess, I used all my energy.

The world is silent, not even the chirp of a bird, nor the patter of a rabbit. Staring at the twilight sky, the first stars shine brightly. However, one was brighter than the rest. So much brighter that I blinked twice; just to ensure I wasn’t hallucinating.

‘2472, Red Iron lands, Below the bright star, Campfire safe.'

The words of the man who disintegrated before me ring through my head. A feeling of emptiness once again in my stomach. Could he perhaps mean… I stand up, completely numb to the cold.

Looking down at my bony figure, I slowly walk towards the bright star. Perhaps, just maybe… whoever sent that message to that man, can see the future.

…