There was a narrow hallway leading from the living area, with several closed doors spaced along both sides. I didn’t bother to check inside any of them, deciding instead to simply follow the path all the way to the end. Unfortunately, when the end appeared, it was just a stone wall. There was a very good chance that we were deep underground, which was going to make my escape that much harder. As a last ditch hope, I felt along the wall, trying to find a latch or secret rock handle. Disguising a door to look like a dead-end wall was a brilliant plan; I’d have totally done that if I had a secret lair.
But apparently Cyrus wasn’t as smart as me, because the wall didn’t seem to have any secrets. Frustrated—and knowing that my time was running out—I kicked my foot out, forgetting that I had ditched the shoes, which meant that bare toe was about to be introduced to bare stone.
I waited for the crunch, but instead my foot passed right through the wall, which took me by surprise. I ended up tipping over and landing flat on my back. It took a few clicks—as I lay there stunned and trying to figure out what the hell had just happened—for me to realise that my foot had just passed through a solid wall. Pulling myself up, I ran my hands along it again. This time, however, going much lower than I had before.
Two feet off the ground I felt the change in texture: it was no longer bumpy stone, but smooth. It was a barrier. I pushed against it, my hand bouncing off. I tried again, this time with more force, but it repelled me again. A quick feel around told me that the barrier section was small, I would barely fit through it, but I was going to have a shot if I could figure out how to break the shield again.
Maybe it was the force with which I’d kicked out? Taking a deep breath and mentally preparing myself, I punched out this time, aiming for the small crawl space. I almost gave a shout when my hand pushed through, and then the rest of me easily followed. I tumbled out onto the other side, and stood up, dusting myself off, before taking off without another thought.
I didn’t stop or look at where I was. I just ran. Away from Cyrus and our stupid connection. Away from Rau and his creepy laugh. Hopefully away from Topia. I was running through a dark cave-like system that was eerily familiar to me. My sides were aching, my breathing was heavy and harsh, and my chest was screaming as I distanced myself from Cyrus’s hideout.
“Got to work on my running abilities,” I moaned out as my breathing grew even heavier. Even though I had said those words softly, they echoed around the space.
A familiar noise echoed back to me then, and it took some time, but I finally realised what the tunnels were reminding me of.
The banishment cave!
Somehow, Cyrus’s secret cave-home had been connected to the banishment cave, which meant that I had jumped out of the fire and into a lava pit. Almost as if my awareness of them triggered their awareness of me, the wraithlike figures came into focus. Ghostly vestiges of lives lost to the gods and the stupid hierarchy of our world. They circled around me, moving in closer.
I slowed, before stopping all movement besides breathing. The last time we had been inside the banishment cave, the guys had told me that the only reason the wraiths weren’t attacking us was because we held the cup of Staviti. Which might have been a lie … they probably hadn’t attacked because the Abcurses were gods. Something they had been hiding from me at the time.
Either way, this time I was there with no cup and no gods. I was completely vulnerable to the wrath of the forgotten servers. No wonder Cyrus felt secure in his hideout. No one would ever think to look for his home at the end of the banishment cave. Only the dead slaves came here; gods would never lower themselves.
The air around me was cold, the ache in my chest nothing more than a slight annoyance compared to the very real possibility of death in front of me. The closer they drew, the more their features came into focus. One in particular looked familiar: one who still held a physical form, although I could see the decay had started in places.
“Jeffrey?” I murmured, and she stilled. Blank eyes locked onto me. “Can you understand me?” I asked, this time taking in more of them as they paused, no longer closing in on me, but still remaining in a tight circle. I was completely surrounded now; there was no way I could fight against this many—even if I had possessed the faintest idea of how to fight them.
It felt as though I would cry again as I found myself staring back at Jeffrey. “I’m so sorry, I know somehow it’s my fault that you ended up here. I took your clothing. It’s not fair.” My voice broke at the end, and the wraiths and figures started shifting around again, but it felt less malevolent this time. The energy surrounding them was changing.
“I want to help you all. You shouldn’t have to suffer down here just because the gods threw you away like trash.”
Emotions didn’t register on their pale faces, but I felt it in their energy. My words were reaching them; I just had to figure out how to follow through.
“Tell me how to help you?”
They started to move and I freaked out for a moment, thinking that they were over our little bonding moment and were about to attack again, but they didn’t make any aggressive moves. Instead, they drifted away and Jeffrey waved me on. They wanted me to follow them. Deciding it was better than being ripped to shreds—and since I really did want to help them—I silently padded after them. I only winced as rocks cut into my feet, otherwise I remained focussed on the countless beings. Why were there so many? Did the gods get new servers every sun-cycle? Had they all been dwellers once? Or were they the creations of Staviti?
I had a lot of questions and someone was going to give me answers soon. As we travelled deeper through the cave systems, I could tell that we were not going towards any of the cave entrances. The last time it had gotten warmer and lighter as we got closer, but here it was getting darker and colder than I’d ever felt before. I was freezing, icy particles clinging to my lashes as I shivered. This was no place for those with a living body, but I wasn’t going to give up yet. I wasn’t going to let them down.
Famous last words of course, because by the time they finally came to a halt, I was shivering so badly that my teeth felt like they were about to chatter out of my head, and my chest was aching with a sharp pulse. The connection with Cyrus was not as strong as the one I’d had with my guys; this distance between us was painful, but not as bad as it had been with the Abcurses. Truth be told, I would have given anything to have that old pain back.
I was distracted from my discomfort when the wraiths spread out before me, forming a divider on either side so that I could travel along the centre of them. Right up to a wall. Unlike the other walls in there, that one was not made of stone. Instead, it seemed to be a shiny and smooth material, stretching high to the roof of the cave. In the dim light of the spectres, I could see etchings across it.
I reached out to touch it, hesitating at the last moment as I let my hand hover over it. When no one made any crazy moves to stop me I guessed it wouldn’t kill me, so I dropped my hand onto the etchings.