In the dungeon situated underneath the Capital, the screams still echo. While some cells occupy one Commander each, most of the other cells house huddled groups of recruits, ten in each cell. The constant fear that they could be the next ones making those screams hangs over them all and the hours pass with a constant low worried murmur.
"I just want all this to be over," one whispers to the walls.
"As long as there are screams, it means that the General hasn't told the Squids where the Amulet is. And that means that they don't have the Piece," another reminds. "And that's what's really important."
"As long as there's hope, we'll never give up," a third says.
"You might not," the first says. "But for some of us, it isn't that easy."
"We stick together, Matthias, like we've always done," a fourth says firmly. Her eyes glance over those sharing the cage: Matthias, Philip, Julia, Eliza, Ryan and three others she can't remember the names of. "When we signed up, we knew in the back of our minds that this might happen. But we always stick together, even if it leads to death."
"Fighting words," Ryan mutters. "But that's not gonna stop the pain."
They become silent again. With the Squids having neglected to put handcuffs on them all, some recruits cover their ears to muffle the screams while others sit blankly, either too lost in their own world to notice the screams or unable to notice anything but the screams.
This seems to the case for Ryan, who has slowly become more and more agitated as the screams continue. He begins to pace in the cell, his hands on his elbows and his eyes staring at his feet. Far from relieving his agitation, the pacing only steadily increases it.
"I just can't take this anymore!" he hisses finally, kicking a wooden board that had been nailed to the back wall at some point with his foot. The sound reverberates slightly in a much deeper tone than expected and everyone in the cage freezes, staring at the wooden board.
"That sounded hollow," Julia whispered.
In a sudden frenzy but with absolute silence, three of those inside grab the board and wrestle it from the wall. After breaking through the initial layer of rust, the board comes away quite easily as if this has been done many times before. Behind the board, big enough for one to crawl through, is a dark hole that had been tunnelled into the stone at some point. The recruits were silent for a moment as they stared at it.
"This must have taken ages to carve," Eliza mumbles.
"Who could have done it?" Philip asks.
Matthias suddenly gasps and starts slapping the arm of the person closest to him. "Heyheyheyhey, do you remember that mass robber years ago, who went around from village to village stealing the goods that were coming to the Capital? What was his name?"
"He was a she, and it was Liana I think," one of the others corrects.
"Right, yeah. Anyway, h- she got captured and went to the Capital but she disappeared before her trial. I bet you this was how she escaped."
"Happy coincidence?" Philip asks.
The girl who did the mini-speech before shrugs. "Coincidence or not, I'll take it."
"Where do you think it comes up?" Julia asks, running her hand along the inside of the tunnel.
"Let's find out." One of the others - Eric, that was his name - crawls into the tunnel. It's a tight fit but he manages it. One by one, the others follow him into the blackness, more than one praying that there is a way out and that it doesn't just end in rock.
Philip is the last to leave. In a moment of uncharacteristic spite, he flips the finger at the Squid's camera embedded in the corner of the cell before making his way into the tunnel. With much difficulty, he manages to position the wooden board so that it partly covers the hole. Anyone who sees it would instantly know that it was covering something, but hopefully, it will buy them a few minutes of time.
In a different part of the Capital, but still underground, two warriors chat idly, their swords leaning against the desk and their shields propped up against the wall. An array of large computer screens sit on the desk in front of them, each showing several camera feeds. As a punishment for showing up late to guard duty, both had been tasked to sit here and watching the never-changing screens.
While one broke off the conversation to have a sip of his near-empty cup, the other flicked his eyes over the screens. He frowned as he saw one cell empty, certain that there had been occupants in it before.
"Hey, uh, was cell 2B54 taken into the room?" he asked his mate, reading the little letters on the black and white camera feed.
"Don't think so, I think we're up to 2A17 or something," the other said. "Why?"
"Cause it's empty and I swear it was full before."
The other looks over his shoulder and swears softly. "We are in so much trouble," he mutters. "We'd better tell someone."
While the two warriors dash to their nearest commanding officer, a paver in a dark side street of the Capital moves. Eric lifts it ever so slightly, peering out. It is dark with no moon, meaning it is either midnight or the moon is black. There are no guards on the street. The recruit lifts the paver fully and sets it out of the way, climbing out of the tunnel. The others quickly follow, pressing themselves up against the cold wall of the house nearby until Philip leaves and Eric places the paver back.
"Remember, everyone we see is an enemy," Eliza reminds. "The civilians have all left, there are only Squid warriors here."
"Great, so now that we're out of the cells, where are we going to hide?" Ryan asks.
"The caverns," Julia says as if it's obvious. "There were a lot of recruits here in the city, including the General. We found caverns under the Capital when we first came and we hid in them. It's still all there and stocked."
"Sounds like a plan."
Julia leads the nine through the streets to the nearest tunnel down into the caverns. They see no other soul but they stick to the shadows, just in case. Julia reaches down and lifts a part of the path, revealing a tunnel heading down at a slant. The recruits run down and Julia closes the hatch behind them.
"All this was natural?" Philip asks as they go down the twisting passages.
"Most of it was," Julia says. "We added some parts though, for security." Here she taps an open metal door.
"So what do we do now that we're out?" Ryan asks.
"We get the rest of them out," Eric says as if it's obvious. "Julia, you know where food and medical supplies are?"
Julia nods and grins. "Come on, I'll show you around."
I know that some of you are starting to get aggravated at the lack of information on the Amulet and why it's so important. Like every book, this one is a puzzle, and I've already given you two pieces.
Or, dare I say...
... two Pieces?
YOU ARE READING
Rising to Fall
Action"We can't fight. Not anymore." When General Mitchell of the Benjas starts poking his nose into places it shouldn't go, he uncovers more than he bargained for. Can he enlist the help of the defeated army? Are the rulers destined to slowly take over a...
