11
Trees fell in front of us, the culprits behind the cuttings remaining out of sight, and the wind masking the sound of their feet. The snow on the ground had accumulated over three feet in height, and the temperature had dropped significantly down. All I could see for miles, in every direction I looked, was snow and wind. This blizzard, to my own astonishment, had not lost its power and speed. Jutcer, coughing out loudly, wrapped his long, coat tightly over his neck, his rifle straps dangling below his waist. We hiked the last hill, my nerves rattled by the feeling of someone stalking me, and my feet dead cold. Despite being immortal, I was still vulnerable to pain, especially hypothermia; and the only difference between everyone and me was that it wouldn’t kill me. Salyanna, I noticed, had started to slow down, as the strength in her body was being drained out of her by this horrifying cold.
“Look over there,” one of the Vandrel Guards yelled, pointing over the hill, his head turned towards us. “I see an entrance or some sort, and there is something guarding it—something big.”
Looking at each other, we prowled closer towards him, dropping down to our knees, and crawling closer through the thick snow. The element of surprise, on our part, had been lost, but to dash directly into enemy territory would be lunacy. I scanned the area, following the direction of the soldier’s hand, and saw a small opening into a cave, placed beneath a very big rock mountain. There was some sort of guerilla looking chimera guarding over the entrance, holding a big, black club in its right hand. I couldn’t exactly make out a true, vivid description of the mutant chimera because the wind and snowflakes kept falling onto my face. On the sides, there were walls of stone about thirty feet high, offering a great vantage point for a surprise ambush. And in front of us, I noticed that the trees had been cut down; it was a plain field of snow from here to the small entrance.
“Take him out, Overon,” Mrs Craft commanded, pointing to the white guerilla chimera. “Don’t let him sound that alarm, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” a man, buried deeply in the snow, replied, placing a high power scope on his rifle. “Consider it done.”
He moved in closer, resting his rifle on its portable stands, as he adjusted his aim a bit. He cocked the rifle back, a green light blinking on its barrel, before firing one loud shot. Turning around, holding my breath, I saw the massive beast stagger around, groaning out loudly, and falling backwards, dead. Nothing else stirred in the dark night, save for the relentless wind and snowflakes. To be absolutely sure, we waited another five minutes, scouting the surrounding area, making sure that the area was not booby trapped, before Mrs. Craft sent one of her soldiers to scout the entrance. The man, cloaked in his armor, stomped through the plain field, invincible to the naked eye. I saw a green light, a signal for us to follow, meaning there were no traps hidden beneath the snow. They want us to come inside, it’s all a trap, I thought.
“Come on, Rave,” Salyanna whispered, nudging my arm with her elbow, her lips turning blue, and her skin very pale.
We joined the Vandrel Guards, moving behind them, with our guns raised in every direction above the walls of rock. And as we neared the entrance, I saw something flashing above us, moving towards the sky. It was the same projectile that had shot me out of space, crashing me onto this planet.
“Come on—let us make haste,” Mrs. Craft whispered, waving everyone in, standing inches from the entrance. “I wish to end this madness as soon as possible, so I can get off this planet and return home.”
“One problem with that,” I cut her off, walking down the stone stairs, without looking at her. “You will need a ship, and no offense, but I will not share the ship that was promised to me. I have urgent business, far more important, that I need to attend to. I will duel all of you, if I have to, for that ship.”
“Interesting, Rave,” she added, a hint of curiosity in her tone. “What sort of business is it? Is a girl waiting for you? Or is it something more underhanded and illegal?”
“I am not obliged to tell you anything,” I spat, the feeling in my fingers returning.
“The more you deny me your secret, the more interested I become,” she whispered, pacing even closer to me. “Now, what sort of secret business can you be hiding, that you would fight us, the Vandrel Guards, to get to?”
“Listen, ma’am,” I halted, turning around to face her, feeling aggravated. “The only reason I am allying with any of you is because our goals are aligned, and because we share the same enemy. I don’t care who you are, or what you stand for—I just want to leave this planet and return back to my current assignment.”
“Just who are you, Rave?” She asked, edging even closer to me, without a sign of fear or weakness in her voice.”When I saw you torturing the prisoner, when I watched you give those two options of death to him, I felt something dark and dreadful inside of you. And as I walk besides you, I can’t help but feel this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. You are hiding something, aren’t you?”
“And if I am, what will you do about it?” I asked, placing left hand on the butt of my rifle, and clenching my right hand. “I have done nothing wrong, so you have no need to question me for anything.”
“Alright, alright,” Salyanna jumped in, walking up towards us, and pushing me down. “We are all frustrated, I know, but this is not the time to fight amongst ourselves. Please, everyone, just calm down, okay?”
“I will if she stops pestering me with her annoying questions,” I hissed, gazing at the torch light that was mounted on the wall.
For the last minute or so, we had descended down these smooth, stone stairs that seemed to stretch down for miles, guided by the light of mounted torch sticks. It was an old fashion set up, a medieval century cave layout, which was something that annoyed me. The air inside was foul, the temperature a bit pleasant, and the walls on both sides stained with small traces of blood.
“Have you ever been here?” I asked Salyanna, shifting the weight on my shoulders, glancing below. “This cave seemed to have been made a few centuries back, and it is not something that can be easily concealed.”
“No, no one has ever dared to venture here, since the arrival of the madman,” she responded, tucking her cold hands inside her cuffs, exhaling deeply. “No one is stupid enough to wander around this part of the forest.”
“How do you all even survive? Where do you get your food from, and where does your source of power come from?” I continued, my curiosity peaked greatly by these new turn of events.
“Well, it is complicated,” she replied, shivering, a faint smile on her face. “I believe we all have our own secrets, and I don’t think I am also obliged to tell you anything than you need to know.”
“Finally, something we both agree on,” I replied, gazing away, an uneasy feeling settling in my stomach.
The stairs finally came to an end, the floor on the bottom separating into three different tunnels, all leading towards different sections of the building. We had to separate, I knew, to cover more ground in a short time; otherwise, we would wander around in this cave labyrinth for days.
“You three, go that way,” Mrs. Craft ordered, pointing at Salyanna, Jutcer, and myself, to the corridor on the far left. “I, and one other, will take the corridor in the middle, and the remainder of my Vandrel Guards will take the far right corridor. Are we all in agreement?”
“That sounds fair,” Salyanna said.
“I don’t object,” I also replied.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jutcer said, a bit of fear in his voice, shivering slightly.
Her men did not respond; instead, they saluted her in a quick manner, and three of them took off swiftly into the far right corridor. Mrs. Craft, retrieving an arrow, raised her bow up, turning her gaze towards the central tunnel, and ambled in, the last soldier following behind her. A wind howled through the last remaining tunnel, a bad sign for the weak hearted. Jutcer looked mortified; his knees were shaking hard, and he was exhaling air in an abnormal way, like he was having a panic atta
ck. I walked over and gave him a good pat on the back, bringing him back to his senses, trying my best to fake being friendly.
“There is a good reason why no one ventures into this madman’s hideout,” he whispered, aghast, the gun in his hands shaking uncontrollably. “I don’t think it was a good idea for us to separate.”
“Man up,” I yelled at him, shaking him in a vicious manner. “Do you want to be scared for the rest of your life? Think of all the bad things the madman has done to your family, your friends, and your neighbors. How many more will fall before you decide to take a stand, and take arms for what is rightfully yours. If you don’t have the stomach to continue onwards, I suggest you pick up your weapon and return back to your resident, okay?”
“Fine, alright,” he roared, the strength and courage returning into his eyes. “I understand what needs to be done.”
“Let us make haste, then,” Salyanna muttered, standing by the mouth of the corridor, the muzzle of her gun pointing inside. “Time is the one thing that is not on our side.”
Turning around, I scurried forward, Jutcer pacing behind me, as we made our way through the dimly lit corridor, heading towards an unknown direction. The eerie echo of the wind sipping through the cracks in the structure made the feeling in my stomach nerve wrecking.
“How big is this place?” I asked, growing weary of the running and the anticipation. “We have been running for more than a minute, and we don’t seem to be getting anywhere.”
“It must connect with the mountains and caves nearby, I suspect,” Salyanna replied, her hair flying in the air, picking up more speed. “Don’t lose focus—our enemies might be hiding in the corners, waiting to ambush us at moment’s notice.”
Up ahead, I noticed a small faint light, as the tunnel was coming to an end. We all slowed down, gun holstered, and proceeded with caution, planning to attack any enemy that popped up. Small drops of water dropped to the ground floor, and light currents of air rippling above us. The new compartment was very spacious, about three houses wide, with one torch stick on the far opposite wall, and a small stream of flowing liquid substance coursing through a white pipe, located below the left wall. Jutcer suddenly gasped, dropping his gun, and falling to his knees. He looked at us, his right hand pointing to the center, towards a suspicious looking object.
“Oh, no, Cleiver,” Salyanna screamed, placing her hands above her mouth, tears flowing through her eyes. “This is horrible. How could they do such a thing?”
Mounted on a long spear, soaked in blood, I saw Cleiver’s severed head. I tried to look away, but I kept glancing at it, unable to make sense of anything anymore. This planet held something truly dark, something far more sinister and deadly than me. This was obviously a message to all of us, to be wary and frightened. Moving closer, I observed his head with a little more scrutiny, trying to uncover anything out of the ordinary. My comment earlier, about hoping someone whacked him in the head, was purely out of context. I mean, yes, his egoistical ways annoyed me, but I truly held no quarrel with him.
“We have to leave this place,” Jutcer exclaimed, shaking uncontrollably, glancing in every direction. “If we stay here, they will do the same to all of us.”
“You are right,” I added, walking towards the pipe on the left wall, and drawing out my dagger. “If you stay here, you will all die.”
I swung the blade down at the pipe, creating a small hole through it, as I moved back cautiously. A red liquid substance gushed out of the pipe, the pressure inside it make the hole a whole lot bigger. I covered my nose, glancing down at the liquid spreading through the ground, as I my heart almost skipped a beat. Who is this madman? This is beyond madness, far beyond any of my wildest imagination.
“What is that?” Salyanna asked, wiping tears from her eyes, standing up slowly.
“That is fresh blood,” I replied back, turning my head around, inhaling slowly. “I don’t think it is a wise idea for any of you to continue any further. I will go alone from this point on.”