It was the middle of the night, or at least Suna estimated it to be. She felt the girl, whose arms were clasped tightly around her waist, start to stir. She was being squeezed, but she didn't mind.
"Suna."
"Yes?" It was pitch black, so she couldn't make out a single thing in the darkness. But she felt Angie tilt her head up towards her.
"Am I going to die?" Angie trembled. "Are they going to… are they going to do that to me?"
Suna wanted to reassure her, confidently, promise her that no such thing was ever going to happen. But that would just be a hollow lie, hollow hope. Angie sensed her uncertainty, squeezing even tighter, as if hanging onto a piece of driftwood in a stormy ocean.
"I'm going to die…" Angie's voice cracked, assaulted by despair.
"Angie, listen to me." Suna placed her hands on the sides of Angie's face and brought her own face closer. "I am NOT going to let you die. I promise."
Angie shook with emotions that Suna couldn't decipher in the dark. "Mm. You promised, right? Hehe…" Angie wiped her tears off. "You'd better not break that promise, okay?" She scooched up Suna's body, like a worm, and brought her face close to Suna's, pushing her face up to the side of Suna's, touching their ears together. She pushed the side of her head into Suna's, as if burrowing into it, her chin rubbing against the space between Suna's shoulder and neck. This was an extreme amount of intimacy for the frozen Suna, who had no experience or countermeasures to deal with this unexpected attack. But, she made no effort to disengage or push Suna away.
"You're so cool, Suna…" Her voice a delicate whisper, close to her ear. "I'm… I'm such a… haha…" Self-deprecation dripped from her somber voice. "I'm… I'm going to help too. I'm not just going to be baggage anymore. I hate it." Suna felt Angie's grip on her tighten.
With no words to share, the two lay still, absorbing the silence, absorbing each other's warmth. Suna was flustered, eyes wide open, cheeks hot. Soon, she could feel Angie's breathing slow, a slight push and pull against her stomach, like waves. She was glad. Glad that Angie was feeling better. Remaining calm and still was difficult, and an unknown amount of time had passed, but eventually, sleep found the small girl with black hair, too. She slept very soundly.
The group's rest was cut short all too quick by Krax's whispering voice.
"4 entered the entrance… 8… 12, 15, 17…" The tension in his voice rose quickly, he cut off, leaving no comment on if or how much the number continued to rise. The group roused, except the still resting Angie, who Suna had to pat on the head a few times to get to wake up.
James spoke sharply, trying to shrug off the exhaustion. "Let's go back to the main shaft, before they reach us."
"I suggest we continue going down this one." Krax spoke up. "These tunnels are notoriously long and interconnected, like veins of ferrum. I think the chance of it being a dead end is low."
James was quiet, in the darkness, weighing the odds. So too did all the group members. They're lives were riding on this gamble.
"Okay. We're heading down this tunnel. Come on." The group wasted little time in gathering their packs and starting again their hurried walk. No matter how well in-shape they were, their bodies had simply been pushed too hard and too fast for too long. In the dim light of Krax's reconjured spell, Suna noted how each party member moved– the steadiness and lengths of their strides, their breathing, their posture. Even she had begun to feel a dull ache of soreness from her legs, but it was a laughable joke compared to the pains she was more accustomed to. All in all, their combat reliability, in descending order, was James and Cyra, followed by Krax, and then far below him, Angie. She knew, though, that Krax relied more on his spells to contribute, so she didn't know how to reliably judge his combat ability.
"Angie," she whispered, "tell me all of the spells you know." She paused. "The useful ones."
Her whisper was met with a response of equal volume. "Is now really the time?"
"Yes." Suna didn't look for confirmation from James or anyone else. Keeping their voices at an absolute minimum should be okay, it was a worthy risk.
"Mignen Ipten Shavaal."
Krax uttered the spell.
Huh? What's going on? Suna's mind felt a pull, almost like an invitation. Puzzled, yet seeing Krax's assured look on his face, she gave in to the sensation.
Can you hear me? It was off putting. It was her voice in her head that she heard, one that spoke up without her consent.
Um… Yes?
Good. This method of communication is a bit costly, so I'll try to be quick. I'll tell you all the main spells that each of us are fluent in, as well as a few of the ones we're not as familiar with using.
A list of foreign sounding spells and their effects, stated concisely and quickly. The string of words was shorter than she thought. Learning spells must take considerable time, then… at least well enough to use in combat readily, I suppose.
Suna was pleased with the much needed information. She was also thankful for Krax's convenient method of relaying it to her, dropping the need to create more noise.
The group's rushed footsteps echoed through the tunnel. After traveling a decently long distance, they reached an intersection, much to the relief of everyone. They had emerged into a bigger shaft, not as big as the one they entered, as well as another small tunnel on the other side. The main shaft had an incline to it. One side went up and the other went down.
"Which way do we go?" Cyra asked the question on everyone's minds.
"This mine has many entrances and exits, of varying sizes. I wouldn't be surprised if the Geth made a move to try and cover some of the larger exits, ideally we can leave through one of the smaller ones, if we're lucky."
"Shouldn't the Geth leave us alone at some point?" Suna put forth the question on her mind.
"No. The Geth are known for their meticulous ruthlessness. They go to illogical, extreme lengths to achieve their objectives. Normally, if there were a reasonable amount of them, they'd probably be too occupied with other things to focus on a small group of five. But… It's certain at this point. They have Blackhearth. I don't even want to imagine how many of those things are currently swarming in that fortress, what happened to all the people living there…" A helpless tone of dismay underlaid a tired voice. "So, unfortunately, I'm not going to bet on them letting us off the hook. These tunnels and mines are truly vast, but there's only so many entrances on this mountain, their true size lies in their depths that delve far underground. Going down does not seem like the right idea to me."
"So, up?" Cyra looked for James' opinion.
"No. Chances are we'll just run into a main exit if we follow it. If we're ambushed by a squad of Geth… I doubt even you're capable of defeating 30 of them at once, right Suna?"
"It depends. If there are environmental factors I can utilize, or if I can split them up and fight two or three at a time, then it's not impossible. But all at once, with ranged weapons in the mix, I would have to get lucky and have access to good cover to escape with my life."
James gave a dry laugh at the answer, which was in line with his expectations. "Haha, if only you were some kind of invincible immortal, right? We'd get out of here just fine." He coughed, bringing the subject back to what was important. "Let's take our chances with the smaller tunnels. Let's take it slow and evade detection. We'll eventually find a suitable exit if we can just do that." Decided on their path, the group descended down the dark, thinner tunnel.
–
"Hey, Suna."
"...? What is it, Angie?"
"Um… How are you so good? I mean, like, how are you so fit? And strong, and agile, and everything?" Angie looked down in shame. "What can I do, to be like you?"
Suna wrestled with the difficult question. "I think the question is how can I be like you? You know so many spells-"
"I'm not a kid! I… I know how much of a burden I am. I know that I'm risking everyone's lives, slowing them down…" Suna had no response. "I… I keep telling myself, that I'll be ready, but when I try to say the spells in my head, when things get tense, I-... I just freeze." She grimaced. "Like some kind of dumb, stupid, spoiled kid... I'm useless…"
Suna struggled to come up with a response. Angie was a burden, but she didn't blame her for it. She simply hadn't come across such situations before.
"Angie… When I was younger, no group of people accepted me." Suna recalled the past. Angie looked at Suna out of the corner of her eyes, her face still downturned, too ashamed to hold her head high. "I was the weak one, Angie. I tried, over and over, desperately pleading with people to join them. I offered all that I had, but I simply had all my belongings taken, and they cast me out. I offered to do anything, for anyone, but they simply paid me no heed. They… they all left me to die."
"..."
"Angie, I was able to develop my body and skills because I had no choice. It was that or death, for me. You…" She turned towards Angie, who soberly looked down at the ground. "...You have people that care for you. That are willing to risk their lives for you." She saw Angie blink, unsteadily. She took Angie's hand. It was reluctant, it wanted to let go, but Suna gripped it tightly, the hand giving up on its escape. "I… I envy that, Angie." Angie looked at Suna, confused at what she was trying to convey to her. "Sometimes, I think, what if I had that?Where was that love, when I was dying of thirst, all on my own?" Suna herself didn't really understand what she was trying to say. Her emotions simply expressed themselves, as if she had little control over them. "I don't know. I don't know what I'd be like, if that happened."
Angie didn't have a response.
"Angie, the way I see it, it's not your fault that you're weak, or freezing up. I did the same things, too, when I first started coming across corpses. Eaten up. It was surprising how much water people were able to extract from human bodies." Angie was disturbed. "But, I still kept fighting. I still hung in there, somehow. I got lucky, way too many times to count. I kept learning, trying to grow stronger, trying to find anything I could leverage to my advantage to overcome any enemy. And then… I was the last one. There were no more remaining." Suna looked over at Angie, who was looking at her thoughtfully. "Who am I to blame you for such things when I was no better than you before? Especially…" She gripped Angie's hand tightly. "Especially if you're fighting. Trying you're best. Failing, but scrambling to get up, especially when it's hard." Angie looked touched, her lips quivering, as if she wanted to let out tears but fought to keep them back. "And when you're struggling to get up, Angie…" She walked in front of her, stopping her, "I'll be there to help you up." She hugged Angie. There was no deeper reasoning, or calculated strategy. These were her raw emotions, that she wanted to express.
As the two hugged, no one could bring themselves to rush them or separate them. The group stopped, taking in the tender moment.
Suna wouldn't delay the group's progress for long, so she broke away from Angie, continuing her walk. Her face was flushed, she was far too embarrassed to look at Angie and gauge her response. But she felt reassured by Angie's tight grip on her hand, whose steps started to feel more lively again, like they had once been.
As they were walking, they came across another intersection. Suna stopped, no one else seeming to notice it. She knelt down to the ground, double-checking in the faint light. "Steps. Recent."
"Shit. I didn't think they'd be this deep already…" James cursed under his breath, anxiety invading his usually confident-sounding voice.
The other party members shared similar looks of worry. Angie looked at Suna. A smile, a look of hope, of reassurance, as she gripped her hand, amidst the whispered curses of the other party members.
"Everyone, be careful. Be prepared to fight." A simple command that conveyed no new information, but which was necessary. The group silently rallied their will to fight, to struggle, and they marched on, their footsteps echoing their resolve.
Suna didn't want to, but she left Angie and took the lead of the group. Angie didn't wear a worried expression, but instead a look of trust. She walked steadily on her own, and Suna often felt her gaze on her back. No one argued or took offense with Suna's independent action. Whenever the group came across an intersection, Suna would carefully inch up to the corner and peek her eyes out, scanning both angles, before advancing. One such time she did so, though…
Fwip! An arrow, headed straight for her head. She retracted back behind the wall before it could reach her. "Tch."
"Fuck. How many, Suna?"
"Two on the right. I don't know about the left."
"Krax, barrier. We're crossing!"
"Got it.
Cincra Yvaashem."
Suna saw a faint reflection in the air, as if an image was layered on thin air. She turned her attention towards the left side, and quickly peeked around the wall, quickly retreating her head back.
"Left is clear."
"Move!" The team rushed through the intersection. As they did, two blindingly fast arrows appeared, bouncing off the invisible wall that hung in the air. As Suna, ahead of the group, moved through the intersection, she was able to make out faint silhouettes, figures that seemed to be approaching from down the dark tunnel.
The group only took a handful of seconds to reach the continuation of the smaller tunnel through the other side of the larger shaft. They were lucky there was an escape route, but things still looked rough for them.
"Suna, how many?"
"I don't know, the footsteps are echoing off the walls. It's not a small amount.
"Shit, Shit! Come on, Move!"
The group dashed, sprinting as fast as they could to outrun their pursuers. Krax let out a deep breath. "They broke my barrier."
They saw our light, and heard our footsteps… We were naive to think we'd be safe without cutting those things, but we'd lose a lot of speed… Suna was deep in thought, looking for solutions.
"Shit, up ahead!" It was another main shaft, and from it a group of men and women, clad in varying levels of armor, wielding various melee weapons, were coming right for them. Everyone's heart sunk, except for Suna, who was preparing to push her body to its limits. She emitted an intangible killing air, one that caused everyone in the shaft to involuntarily shudder, prompting some of the approaching enemies to rush at her, attempting to match her aggression, and others to slow their steps in hesitation. Good.
Suna hated this risky approach, but getting caught in a pincer attack was an even bigger risk.
Suna dashed, blindingly, her body up close against one of the walls; her eyes zeroed in on the Geth closest to her, one that wielded a spear. As she was doing so, she quickly analyzed each of the ten figures that were running down the relatively small tunnel, specifically looking for above average displays of speed and power. She looked at the walls, and felt good about their roughness. Her left hand brushed up against one of her throwing knives, but that hand left her robe empty.
She unsheathed her knife, its size twice as long as her forearm. She felt its grip, long worn down, her fingers rolling comfortably along the sunken grooves and imprints, a result of years of heavy use. Her grip on the knife was rather loose. She pumped herself with adrenaline, preparing herself for the onslaught of sharp weapons that were going to come her way.
No one in the passageway could anticipate the movements of the small girl as she jumped off the ground, kicked off the wall, and propelled herself at an unbelievable speed through the air, passing diagonally over the Geth who were wholly unprepared to react to such an unorthodox movement. When they tried to obstruct her path, their strikes were either too late, deflected by her knife, or glided close to her skin as she contorted her body, barely keeping her vitals out of harm's way. When she reached the opposite wall, she shot to the ground, her body prone along the cold, hard floor. Safety often lies in danger's blindspots. One of her aphorisms echoed in her mind. Surrounded, in the midst of the entire group of soldiers, she focused on the half of them that were away from her team. She knew they would at the very least do a good job distracting their half of the enemies. Faced with roughly five enemies, she dashed at them. They swung their weapons, but their movements were made awkward by their close proximity to each other and the cramped closeness of the walls and ceiling. Their swings had little speed as the soldiers didn't have enough room to build decent rotational power. She aimed for the neck of one of the soldiers. He jerked his head and body to the side, narrowly evading a fatal wound. Suna didn't bother checking on him as she was already preparing to react to the two slices and one stab already coming her way. She went between the two slices, and redirected the stab with her knife. Now, an onslaught of kicks and punches were coming her way that, if received, would pulverize her and crush her bones. She reached for the extended polearm that had just went past her with her left arm, and gripped tightly. She let her body, led by her feet, move upward toward the ceiling as she stopped her momentum with her clenched hand, transferring all of her speed into a rotational force that pivoted via her arm. As she made this movement, dodging the strikes that came her way, she extended her legs out to her sides, making a 'T' with her body, and activated the mechanisms in her shoes.
These old shoes of hers, proper craftsmanship from her world, were capable of extending blades the length of her feet out from their tips.
She swiped at the necks of the two closest enemies, who were in no shape to dodge after extending an arm and a leg, both of which had connected with air. Preparing for follow up slashes aimed at her body, which was in the air, she retracted her legs and extended them towards the ceiling, her feet touching against it. She kicked off, propelling her whole body towards the ground, onto which she landed on all fours, like a cat. Targeting the enemy that seemed to overcommit the most to their attack, she pounced directly for them. Reaching their close vicinity, she didn't immediately take their life. She slashed at their strong hand with her left hand that now carried her knife, using her right to grab onto and mount the head of the tall man, like a monkey. She used the reprieve afforded by the other Geth's hesitation to slash at their teammate in order to collect information and catch a much-needed breath. 4 left, Angie's okay, 3 shallow cuts and 1 medium cut, no immediate reinforcements. After quickly examining herself and her surroundings, the man she was on, unable to grasp her as she evaded and redirected his attempts to grab her and strike her, started backing up into the wall in an attempt to bash her against it. Stupid. Her legs outstretched towards the wall, bending as they made contact. Before the man could put her between the wall and his back, she let go of the man and extended her legs, once again propelling herself, like a jumping spider, towards one of the remaining soldiers.
With their numbers greatly dwindled, it was simply a matter of cutting the necks of the two soldiers before her, their footing impeded by the bodies and weapons on the floor and their swings still impeded by the relatively small space, cutting the neck of the soldier that bashed the back of their own head against the wall, and lastly sneak attacking the back of one of the distracted remaining soldiers. Everyone seemed to be unharmed.
"Suna!" Angie called out in concern. She rushed up to her. "Sha-" "Not now. These are just cuts, we need to move." Angie gritted her teeth as she and the rest of them continued their dash through the corridor.
Echoes of distant footsteps reached their ears from both sides of the tunnel. At the very least, maybe their numbers can help mask our presence.
They rushed, making random turns in an attempt to shake off their pursuers. They encountered small groups of enemies, but Cyra was invaluable in threatening other archers, her aim swift and true, more so than any of the Geth they encountered. This let James and Suna dispatch any melee opponents. Krax and Angie both elected to conserve their mana, Krax using the downtime to instruct Angie what to do in certain scenarios, of certain signals and phrases, of the importance of focusing on one singular spell, bringing it to the forefront of her mind, so that when the time comes she'll be mentally prepared to cast.
Eventually, bit by bit, the sound of other footsteps grew fainter and fainter. The party did not slow down their sprint, however; rather, quickening it, in an attempt to put as much space between them and the Geth as possible while they had the chance.
Up ahead, before them, the small tunnel seemed to open up into a larger room, already lit up by fire. Suna had a bad feeling.
"Angie, armor."
"H-Huh? Uh, got it!
S-Sa-S-"
Angie stuttered, but she stopped herself. She took a deep breath in, and exhaled, repeating it enough times to where her breathing was steady.
"Sanctus,
Phevienne tu Sachtal!"
A light glow emitted from James' body, who drew his sword. Cyra nocked an arrow, already grasping two others with her draw hand. Krax focused with intent, preparing for any situation. Angie forced down her sense of accomplishment, remembering Krax's words. Suna unsheathed her blade, scanning what she could of the upcoming room.
Together, they emerged out into the room.