Act 3: Survival Instinct

The heavy steps in the grass reached her ears. The man had to bend over for her to see his face over his stomach.
“Give me your hand.”
Weakly, she forced her hand upwards. He grabbed her firmly but his hand felt so soft she did not mind. Her mind burst with chaos, what could she do to resist him? She let him pull her up like a puppet and carry her in his arms all the way to the students.
“Thank you,” she breathed out when he laid her down again.
“We should stay here until the winds end,” he said, looking everyone in their eyes.
“Will you tell us now what is happening here? This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” asked Ean.
“I don’t know either,” shrugged the man. “I was a part of a group sent here to study this island and the strange tremors in the past few moons. Whatever it is we should focus on establishing a camp before we go on. We might be here for a long time.”
Game chuckled but his face quickly grimaced from the pain as Arena bandaged his wounded leg. “That’s great.” He turned to the man. “Are you saying we just landed in a death trap?”
“Old man, you better tell us how to get out of here! They all need help!” sounded Kolor, still clutching onto the body of now unconscious Eyona.
“My name is Jonas Aarn, boy,” he scorned Kolor. “I am a geologist. The only ship we had just sunk into the ocean. So don’t expect me to do miracles for you.”
“That thing was actually a ship? Why would they send you here in this?” wondered Game.
“Secret business, boy. You shouldn’t ask for more,” replied Jonas firmly.
Ean shook his head in resignation. “He’s right. If we’re not ready for anything this place will eat us alive. We have to establish our position.”
“Establish it with what?” cried Soona. “We’ve lost almost everything!”
“Shut up,” said Ean, holding his palms on his forehead, trying to focus.
“She’s right. We’re going to die out here!” whined Kolor.
“Shut up!” shouted Ean and stood up.
He looked around him, meeting each one of them with his eyes.
“We have to move. The hove still has some cargo in it that we left behind. We can set up a camp around it. It will give us a shelter we need for now.”
“Are you insane?” asked Soona. “We have wounded. They won’t make it that far!”
“Then you better leave them. We are all at risk here,” suggested Game.
“Shut up, transfer student!” retaliated Soona. “We are all friends here! We don’t abandon each other!”
“You’d better move,” intervened Jonas. “When the night comes, you don’t want to stay out here in the open, unsheltered.”
“Why... what comes out at night?” asked Kolor with a sense of urgency.
“You’ll find out. Now, let me help you with these,” said Jonas and bent down to pick up one end of a crate. He looked at Ean and rose his eyebrows.
The boy nodded. “Let’s go, before it’s too late.”
“Wait.” Soona quickly rose to her feet. “Who put you in charge? You can’t decide for us.”
Kolor stood up as well to support that claim. “She’s right. You’re not an instructor.”
Game laughed to himself. “Isn’t leadership his talent? You should put more faith in this man.”
“Don’t tell us what to do, transfer student,” spat Soona. “You were never a part of our unit.”
He spread his arms as if to present himself to her. “Well, I am here now. You have a problem with it?”
Soona stood up right before him, looking up into his eyes. “If I do?”
In a flash he grabbed her head under the lower jaw, bringing the head even closer. “Then I’ll kill you right here. I don’t like unit breakers.” He would not break the eye contact and she knew he spoke the truth.
“We don’t have time for this,” seeped Ean. “Soona! We have to work together now.” He nodded at Game who let the girl go. She bashed the boy in his chest but he would not react to it. Offended, she turned around and knelt next to wounded Key.

They laid Key and Eyona on each one of the crates and the group set out to the east, right through the forest. At such load they took nearly an hour to reach the wreckage again. The fires have already stopped and, save for the massive supercell surrounding the island, the place become quite peaceful as well.
“This will do. Let’s put them down,” said Ean and they laid the cargo down next to the hovercraft’s damaged bulk.
“It looks good here,” acknowledged Game to Ean.
“Eyona! No!” shouted Kolor. He knelt next to the girl’s motionless body, holding her under her back.
“What’s going on?” asked Ean as everyone gathered around the two.
“She... doesn’t have any pulse,” he looked up. “She’s dead.”
Ean looked down into the ground, clenching his teeth.
“She must have lost too much blood. Nothing we could have done,” explained Arena.
“This is on you, leader!” said Kolor and pointed at Ean. “If Key dies his death is on you, too!”
“Don’t do this, Kolor. I’m still your friend,” said Ean with calm, yet urgent voice.
“Whatever you feel right now should wait for later,” intervened Jonas. “Remember why you’re here.”
Ean nodded slowly.
“Game,” he turned to the boy. “Scout the area. Cover as much as you can. Find anything that can be useful to us.”
Game nodded and immediately took off. His long legs brought him over the natural obstacles with unbelievable speed and soon he disappeared behind the foliage.
“Arena, Soona, take care of Key. Make sure he survives this. Kolor and Sehun, we’ll need some shelter. See what you can find to build some. Ask for help if you need it.”
Now he turned to Silveria. “Go through the supplies. Sort them out. We’ll need food and drinks in the first place. If you can, make a general list of what’s available.”
“Now,” he turned to Jonas. “You might want to tell us what’s happening here and how we can get out of it.”
“Very good, young man,” smiled Jonas. “I’ll tell you what I know.”
They sat down on top of a crate.
“Some moons ago there was a sailor fishing not far from here. On a calm day he encountered a strange happening. The ocean right before him opened and swallowed the water. Nearly a mile in radius, as he recalled. Using magic he saved himself from the pull and sailed here. But he was surprised by an immediate quake that drove him off and sail home to Edenia. Me and my team were sent to study the world’s surface and see what we can learn.”
“I assume you got more than you asked for,” guessed Ean.
“I won’t go into details with this. Just understand that we believe the world is made of massive rock plates that are always under pressure. Sometimes the pressure is so high that they move and grind against each other. When that happens we experience a worldquake. But as we searched here we found no ripples, no fissures and no overlapping plates. Whatever happens here is no worldquake.”
“It’s something different. Something unnatural,” realized Ean.
“Exactly. We thought we were getting close to finding what it could be, finally finding a pattern in the collapse of the world. Then out of nowhere came a group of worshippers and attacked us. I made them believe I was in the cargo hold and then sealed them there.”
“So this is all their doing,” said Ean and looked around.
Jonas shrugged. “I’m not sure. But it would make no sense. It’s not why they came here.”
“So why were they here?” inquired Ean.
“As they hunted us down they kept shouting something at each other, something that didn’t make sense to me until now.”
“What was it?”
“Hurry, kill them before they arrive!”
“They?”
“You. They were waiting for you.”
Everybody looked at Jonas in disbelief.
“That must be some mistake. We came here by accident,” wondered Ean while scratching his head.
Jonas pointed at Silveria. “Why don’t you ask her? Make her tell you what happened inside the ship.”
“Her?” Ean looked at the girl.
“Go ahead. Ask her,” suggested Jonas.
“Pri... Elenia! Come here!”
Startled, she looked up and watched him for a second. She dropped everything she held in her hands and with two long steps placed herself right before him.
Ean felt uneasy doing this. Nobody wanted to talk to Silveria. Nobody. Standing face to face with her made them that way.
“What happened when you followed the instructor inside that ship?” he asked her with his hands crossed on his chest, avoiding looking at her eyes.
“Why... why do you ask? I haven’t done anything bad,” she mumbled while looking into the ground, scratching her arm nervously.
“I know you did not, girl,” said Jonas. “That is why you can say the truth.”
Silveria kept staring into the ground for a moment longer, pressing her lips together, trying to decide but finally she opened her mouth again.
“I went down there, find our instructor and warn her. But I found her by the door, talking to somebody. She said they were our people. So we went to this room - control room, I think. Heer Aarn attacked her but I warned her. I thought he was one of them and she nearly killed him.”
“What happened then?” inquired Ean.
“She... released those men, then she attacked me, saying I could be useful to them. Then I... I killed her.”
“The instructor released them? Are you sure about this?” asked Ean.
Silveria nodded several times. “Yes.”
Kolor frowned. He pressed his lips together and threw everything in his arms on the ground. “Wait, so they actually came for you? The whole reason we’re here in this... is you?”
He approached her but Silveria cowered in fear and made several steps away from him.
“Step back, Kolor,” intervened Ean. “It’s not her fault.”
“It’s her fault she hasn’t died already! Now you see the rumors were true! People do die around her!” spat Kolor.
“Kolor...” started Ean but he would not be heard.
“It’s just a matter of time until the rest of us do,” said Kolor and dismissively waved his hand before turning around and heading back to his task.
In the corner of his eye Ean saw Soona crying while squatting next to Key. Arena stayed quiet, just like Key and Sehun, but unlike them, she hid her emotions quite well.
“Keep your mouths shut!” shouted Jonas. “You are supposed to be soldiers! Your sole existence is to take lives! Accepting death is the first thing that comes with it!”
“I didn’t think it would be like this,” whined Soona. “We were supposed to go on missions, do things. And only the worst of us get killed. But not like this.”
“Do not be so eager to take a life if you’re not willing to sacrifice your own,” said Jonas.
“I saw you kill that man in the ship,” said Ean to Soona. “Was that hard for you?”
“I didn’t really think about it then,” shrugged Soona. “But now, looking back at it, I feel bad inside. I did not expect it to be like this.”
“How about the others? Has anyone else killed someone before?” He looked around. They were quiet, even Silveria who kept avoiding his look and rather returned to rummaging through the supplies.
“I used to be a soldier. Killed many, too,” said Jonas. He could see the doubt in their eyes. “I haven’t always looked like this, you know.”
“How did you end up here?” asked Ean.
“I became a soldier because of a woman. But as I fought I kept struggling with myself and eventually fell apart with our cause. So I was discharged. I just don’t care anymore.”
“How could you fall apart with the cause?” raged Kolor. “If we don’t fight the gods they will kill us!”
“I don’t know. Something in me broke. I just can’t care... about anything,” explained Jonas.
“It’s a mentality breakdown,” explained Arena. “People are unable to be excited about anything. Loss of euphoria.”
“Still, you saved Elenia,” objected Ean. “I’m sure you...”
His words were cut off by a sudden growl. Everyone turned to Silveria, who held both of her hands on her mouth. She wavered like a drunk and soon fell to her knees, separating her hands from her mouth to hold herself on her four like a dog. To surprise of all, her silvery blood kept pouring out of her mouth and she gargled on it as if she was vomiting.
Arena immediately took off, kneeling next to the girl and holding her shoulders. One look made it clear.
“She’s poisoned.”
Silveria lost control of her muscles and fell to the ground where she convoluted and spasmed while slowly descending into a septic shock.
“Poison? How?” shrieked Kolor.
“How can she be poisoned now?” wondered Ean. “We haven’t...”
“Food of the immortals brings death to mortals,” recited Sehun as he showed everyone what he just picked up from the ground - a half unwrapped ration of fat bread with one bite taken out of it.
“Our own food?” exclaimed Soona. “She was poisoned by what we brought from our own land? How?”
“The instructor, she had to poison it to get rid of us,” concluded Ean.
“There is your proof. You were never meant to leave this island,” said Jonas to Ean.
“We should feel honored. We are so good the enemies want us dead,” laughed Kolor even though every word sent chills down his spine.
Ean sat down into the grass. His head suddenly felt so heavy.
“Now we won’t be able to go home anyways. Elenius would have our heads for letting her die.”
“But this is not our fault!” insisted Kolor.
Ean just shook his head.
“He won’t listen to reason when his daughter is involved.”
“Wait!” interrupted Arena. “She’s not dead yet.”
They all gathered over Silveria’s body. She slowly moved all muscles, opening up like a flower, stretching her limbs. Her eyes remained closed making them wonder if she was even conscious. Her arms reached her head and once they touched she took a deep breath. As she opened her eyes she let out a shrieking scream that brought everyone down to her knees. To everyone’s perception, scream of this intensity reached far beyond being possible by any human.
Suddenly the shriek cut off and Silveria remained lying on her belly, stretching her arm before her while trying to push herself up with another.
Nobody moved, nobody spoke. Only the wind played with the blades of grass and among the leaves of the trees.
Kolor spoke first, his voice colored both by the ironic laughter and fearful crying.
“What... what was that?  Do you expect me to stay here with this? This is fate worse than death.”
He stood up and simply walked away from the wreckage back towards the west.
“Where are you going, Kolor?” asked Ean.
“Some place where I can be alone, Ean. I’m not staying here with this. If I have to die I want it to be in peace.”
Ean stood up and followed him. “Kolor, wait!”
“Don’t try to stop me, Ean. It won’t work. I’ve had enough.”
“Look, Kolor...”
“No, you look, Ean! I’m not going to be around her and that’s it! She’s a deathtrap! I won’t be in one place with her!”
“We can’t send her away. She’s too important,” insisted Ean.
Kolor shrugged. “I don’t care. We’re all going to die anyways.” He was about to turn around but Ean grabbed him by both shoulders.
“We don’t have to. Maybe we can find a way. Just... How about this? We’ll make her a shelter nearby so she’s not too close but not too far. What do you say?”
Kolor’s eyes raced as he tried to imagine that. Finally, he nodded in agreement. “This would better work.”
They’ve returned to the camp. Silveria stood up, still feeling quite uneasy, she could not stand firm and Arena had to hold her shoulders to keep up the posture. As she saw Kolor passing her by, she bowed to him.
“Please forgive me, I...”
“Save it for someone who cares, princess,” said dismissively Kolor. He was so obsessed with his hatred for Silveria that he completely missed Game standing before him.
“I’ve heard some scream. What happened?” asked Game, casually having his blade laid over his shoulder.
Ean explained what he has learned in the past few minutes.
Game rose one eyebrow. “I thought this might happen. Still, looks like we have more on our hands than we need at this time.”
“You know it,” agreed Ean. “Me and Kolor came up with the idea of making a separate part of the camp just for Elenia. It might be safer for us that way.”
“Troublesome girl, I see,” noted Game, clearly amused.
“Why are you so casual about this?!” shouted Kolor. “Can’t you see she only lives to make this world worse for everyone?!”
“That’s enough, Kolor!” scolded him Ean. “We already...”
His words faded away as he noticed Silveria simply take off and all by herself run into the wood.
“Now where is she going?” he sighed and looked at Game who nodded at him.
They both set out after her.
Even through her weakened state Silveria managed to run with a speed of a hind, perhaps leaving her subconsciousness control her body for her without much of an effort. But her wish to be alone was outgrown by Ean and Game’s determination to keep her within the flock. Game, with his long legs, managed to eventually outrun the poisoned girl but every time he would reach out and grab her she would slip through a narrow hole between a rock and a tree or crawl under a fallen trunk. The nature itself rose up against Game so he kept falling behind like Ean. But desperation made the girl careless. She stumbled over a something she never saw and fell. Game couldn’t see much of it but suddenly Silveria’s body was nowhere to be seen.
She’s gone! Game frantically looked around as he ran but suddenly he lost ground under his feet. He found himself in a ripple in the ground. Had he not stretched his legs he would have already fallen into the darkness below him, now he literally stood by pressing his legs against each wall of this bottomless pit.
He could see Silveria right below him, she held onto the wall but her hands kept slipping as the rocks slowly dislodged from the soil.
“Hey!” he heard Ean’s voice from above. “Give me your hand!”
Ean lied down on the ground and reached down into the ripple. Game slowly rose his hand above his head. He could feel his feet slipping on the crumbling soil, they would fail him very soon.
He felt a brief wave of relief as his and Ean’s hands touched. But at the very moment his feet slipped, betraying his stability. Their hands locked in a grip but it was too late. Game fell down and pulled Ean into the ripple along with him. With his own weight Game crushed any hopes Silveria would have for holding on. She shrieked in horror as they all plunged into the bottomless abyss which soon drowned any of their screams.

She felt something cold touching the back of her body. Somewhere in the midst of a dull pain around her shoulders the impulses of sharp pain kept barraging her brain. What did they come from? Only slowly she started to realize what happened to her. Did she fall and knock herself out? Surely, but why couldn’t she move her hand? As she opened her eyes everything suddenly dawned upon her.
Silveria let out a frightened shriek as she saw her severely bleeding palm impaled on a metallic spike. She hung from it like a flag on a pole in windless weather.
“Elenia!”
Down below she could barely make out two shapes in the water filling up the bottom of the cave. It was Game and Ean. They fell and brought her down with them into this cavernous space deep underground. There was only faint light coming from somewhere deep down the long corridor running west.
“I’ll get you down,” she heard Game’s voice echo through the cave. “Ean’s wounded, though.”
“I’m fine,” she heard Ean protest.
“Not with a broken leg, you’re not,” said Game and Silveria heard them wade through the knee-deep water closer to her. They both growled, Ean with pain and Game with the effort of supporting him.
Now she realized she hung only one or two yards above the water level. Game leaned Ean against the strange tubular object.
“She doesn’t like to be touched,” reminded him Ean.
“Sorry, that never stopped me,” said Game as if it didn’t concern him and reached upwards. Silveria felt his hands wrap around her knees and gasped instinctively, realizing a man just touched her body. The sharp pain in her hand has returned and immediately chased away any momentary thoughts.
She moaned in pain and as she did Game lifted her up enough for her to set herself free. He slowly lowered her down and Silveria realized her crotch was now right before his face. She quickly moved her hands onto her torso but she lost balance and fell over. Game stumbled and fell back after being hit by Silveria’s knee right in the top of his head. They both disappeared under the water after causing a mighty splash.
First to emerge back was Game, angry look on his face. He frowned and clenched his teeth like an angry wolf. Silveria watched him carefully with eyes wide open.
“What was that?!” shouted Game.
“I... I’m sorry. It’s just...”
Game waded through the water towards her and she slowly backed off. She could not resist, however. He grabbed her under her lower jaw just like he did with Soona, except this time he pushed her down, having her head just above the water level.
“We’re risking our lives to keep you safe and you just can’t get over yourself?! What’s wrong with you? Why the insecurity? Don’t you realize we are dying here because of you? Do you?”
Silveria did not answer, she just bulged her white eyes at him, both in pain and fear. However much she wanted to answer she just couldn’t. None of them would understand, she did not understand either. It was just a feeling, something inside her that did that and however she tried to understand it it remained closed to her.
Game’s stare was unbearable. Most people couldn’t bear looking into her eyes for so long but he was different, almost as if he could pierce that white shroud on her eyeballs and look at the person behind it. He grabbed her shoulders and held her for a moment longer. Neither of them made a sound and so he just pushed her away from him, letting her fall back into the water.
“She won’t tell,” echoed Ean’s voice all around them.
Even in the dark Silveria saw Game just standing before her, frowning, having his arms crossed on his chest. She clenched her teeth and stood up while closing her fist in anger.
“Leave me alone! And don’t touch me!” she screamed and ran into the cave corridor, following the light.
Game now faced a dilemma. He would chase after the girl or stay with Ean to try to find their way out of this place together.
“I’ll be fine. Go for her,” suddenly said Ean, as if he was reading his mind.
Game sighed. “Maybe it would be better if I don’t. This girl annoys me and I can’t care about what happens to her anymore.”
“What will we do, then?” inquired Ean.
“Go after her but in our own pace. How far can she get?” replied Game and helped Ean stand upright again.
“She’s so much pain,” he growled as they shuffled down the cave corridor, heading towards the light like the girl did.
As they walked neither one of them could stop looking at the large metallic object by their side.
“What do you think this is?” asked Game, reaching out to touch the peculiar thing.
“I’ve never seen this. It looks like a man made structure. A conduit, maybe,” guessed Ean.
A conduit. Game had to agree to this idea. It stretched all the way into the distance, its dark metal body covered with ancient dust. For how long has it been there? They could only wonder.
It took only a minute’s walk to finally see the bright light at the end. Even from the distance they could see the end of the corridor. Behind it glittered the streams of falling water. The metallic object ended there as well and next to it, in the shallow water, knelt the girl they were after. Game exhaled in relief when he saw her and the fact she had nowhere to run.
“Remember, don’t scare her now. If she finds the way past us we won’t ever see her again,” reminded him Ean.
“What’s her talent anyways?” asked Game just by the way.
“She can disappear and you’ll never find her. Really good at climbing and sneaking into places.”
“Much like them spies and assassins, eh?”chuckled Game.
“Or thieves,” nodded Ean.
Game left Ean behind, approaching her only by himself. He tried to walk slowly, without disturbing the water too much. As he drew closer he noticed a large gap between the end of the corridor and the waterfall. The world has been torn apart there and he dared not to think how far down the tear would go. Still, the noise of the waterfall would provide a good cover for his movement.
The land shook before he could reach her. He stumbled and fell into the water. Silveria snapped out of her stillness and turned around. He could see the fear and repulse in her face.
“Leave me alone!” she pleaded with tearful eyes.
“No, you are the part of our team!” shouted Game back at her.
They could feel each other’s tension. She wanted to leave, he stood in her way. If she made a run for it who would win?
 “Elenia, you need to stop this,” said Ean, limping towards them. “We are a team and we need you.”
“You didn’t seem to want me around,” she reminded him.
Ean limped past Game who would still not let his guard down. He tried to keep the eye contact with her but she could feel it and shied away from it.
Before he could speak the world around them shook in a violent quake and the cave wall crumbled once more.
Game turned after a loud humming sound emerged from afar and accelerated with each passing second. More and more orange light kept building in the distance inside the corridor through which they came and drew closer. It came from the large metallic object filling the corridor. Its surface was covered with hatches that opened one by one, revealing the insides made of rushing energy obstructed only by the sharp-edged design of technology completely alien to them. And one by one each released a raging inferno of this energy right into the corridor.
“Get down!” he shouted and ducked immediately.
Ean only had couple of seconds to realize what was coming. He laid his hands on Silveria, wanting to pull her down along with him.
“Don’t touch...” She instinctively pushed him away, right into the way of the opening hatches.
Like a wave of scorching heat the particles ejected from the conduit filled the air. The noise was nearly deafening, like a jet engine of a hovercraft that somebody lodged inside her head.
Lying on the ground, her mouth under the water she looked up. In a slow motion she saw the dance of energy lash out and lick the cave wall directly to the side of each hatch. It was beautiful. But at the same time she saw Game’s face, full of anger, screaming all of his breath out. He saw what she had done, he saw the figure of his friend disintegrate right before him. All within less than two seconds.
The hatches have shut and it was silent again. Ean was gone.
The beast of a young man has risen from the water, she could feel the hatred he had for her. She tried to stand up but instead fell back on her butt again. His hands were upon her, this time she didn’t resist.
 “You just killed Ean, you rotten gorgon!” roared Game. “I saw you pushing him right into it!”
Silveria was in shock. Sure, she has seen people die before but not like this, not in this way. She could feel his hands on her and see his face somehow but her mind shut any of his words away from her. She felt empty, as if her mind was just void of thoughts.
“How could you? How could...” He noticed her nearly comatose state and pressed his teeth together until they hurt. He could not let his rage out. What would be the point?
“He tried to touch me,” she whispered.
“What?” asked confused Game.
“He tried to touch me!” shouted Silveria in anger.
“To gods with your insecurity, you hear me?!” screamed Game into her face. “Your classmates were right, weren’t they?! How many people have you killed so far?!”
“I can’t count them anymore,” she cried through her tears, swallowing to expand her throat contracted from anguish.
He put his hand on her shoulder, keeping their eyes locked to prevent her from any other violent reaction.
“We will go back to the camp, you understand?! You will go there and you will cooperate with us or I swear to my ancestors that I will kill you! I don’t care who your father is, I can’t let a monster like you run free in this world!”
She could feel his anger from all he did, the way his hand squeezed her shoulder, the way his dire eyes watched her under the angry frown and how he spat the words through his teeth like a dog barking to warn his enemy there will be blood.
With crooked lips she nodded couple of times to acknowledge that yes, she will go with him and as she did he pulled his arm back.
“We need to return up there.” He approached the edge of the tunnel and looked down. There was nothing, just darkness sucking onto the endless stream of the waterfall. “Do you have any idea?”
“No. Not really,” she shrugged.
“This tunnel continues beyond the waterfall. It has to lead somewhere. We will jump there.”
Silveria failed to hide her surprise. She knew the gap to be more than twelve feet wide. She only jumped that much at the peak of her condition. Not when she was stressed and weakened by poison.
Game felt that uncertainty in her.
“You can either stay here and die or come with me. Either way, I’m going there.”
He measured twenty four feet from the edge, double of the jumping distance.
“See you on the other side.”
He launched himself forward, sprinting at the top of his strength. Silveria watched him take a giant leap and in a moment his figure disappeared behind the falling water.
She leaned against the cave wall, breathing in and out rapidly.
I can’t do it, she thought to herself. I just can’t.
Seconds passed and she remained still, cursing herself for ending up like this. After all she has been through in her life it will end here?
Her chain of thoughts interrupted the familiar noise in the distance that terrified her to the bone. The world around her began to quake again.
The distant corner of the corridor lit up in the orange light again and Silveria knew that taking her chances was better than facing certain death. She took a deep breath and forced herself to the maximum speed her legs allowed. Behind her she heard the mechanical sound of the hatches opening and the jet stream energy burst following closely. She jumped off the edge and left her fate to the outcome of this effort, whatever it may be. But before she reached half of the distance the end of the conduit exploded and shockwave hit her in the back, detouring her away from her current course beyond the waterfall. Silveria missed her destination and hit the land wall, splattering on it like a frog. With nothing to hold onto she fell back into the infinite depths.

Game stood at the edge of the corridor, impatiently watching the waterfall. He could see nothing past it but he hoped that Silveria would follow him. The world shook again and when he saw the orange glow behind the water he lowered his head.
He turned around; if the girl survived somehow he was unable to help her. His suspicion proved true, apparently. The conduit did indeed continue here and now turned down, deeper into the world. As he followed this twisted route the light faded away, having him to walk simply using his other senses. He wondered, who built all this and why? This corridor obviously was not meant for anybody to walk through, it was merely as if something drilled the whole way and simply placed this conduit here. Over the time the walls lost their smoothness and decayed which made him wonder for how long it has really been there.
In the middle of that thought he felt the adrenaline rush as he realized he stepped into nothingness. The corridor just abruptly ended and now ran directly downwards. He grabbed onto a sharp peak that his hand found by chance and carefully descended into the unknown.
As he climbed down he closed his eyes, focusing on his other senses. He could not tell how far down he has reached so far but with each new foot he felt the constricting feeling that weighed upon him. The way back up will be arduous.

Silveria was lost in the darkness, her consciousness sucked into the void. She felt nothing and her mind only barraged her with uncertain images and sounds. Was she dreaming?
She only felt loneliness and despair, longing to return to the normal world.
“Silveria.” This deep voice, where did it come from? Before her she saw a burst of yellow light, glowing like a sun. It burned her mind and kept drawing her in.
“Father?”
The glow exploded and turned into million sparks. One by one they burned out and she found herself in void again, feeling of anxiety and loss being her only companions.
Please, take me back.
Warmth has returned to her heart as the blackness first turned into a dark orange color, gradually changing into yellow. The senses have returned, she felt her body being there again. And as that happened it grew and grew and became uncomfortable beyond any tolerance.
She snapped back to life, immediately agonized by an intense burning pain all over her body. Her muscles would not listen to her, they just twitched and bent in the shock and made her want to escape from her own body.
She stared at a rocky canopy far above her in the place colored with fiery orange and the feeling of anxious confusion took over her mind. While fighting to retain her sanity and block off the pain she realized all her clothes were missing and she lied naked on a rock floor. To make the matter worse she recognized Game standing above her, calmly watching her while holding a strange long black item in his hand.
“You fell into the lava,” she heard his voice over the ringing in her ears.
As if being stung by a bee she jumped back, away from him but her body would not listen to her that well yet and she just squirmed half way.
Lava, she thought, it burned my clothes. What has really happened to me? Why am I still alive?
“Stop moving. You’ll hurt yourself,” said Game and handed her his jacket. With her body still trembling she put it on and covered as much of herself as possible.
“D-don’t look,” she stuttered as she tried to stabilize her breathing.
“I’ve seen a lot of naked girls before. You all don’t look so different,” said Game with sincere honesty.
Silveria ignored it, what did she care if he has seen some other girls? Nobody was going to look at her.
“You fell really far,” continued Game. “I had to climb for a while. People in the camp probably wonder if we’re dead by now.”
“What have you done to me?” she slowly let out, not trying too hard to focus her mind yet.
“I followed the tunnel all the way here. This cave alone is interesting but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you flushed down here in the lava. So I pulled you out with this thing,” he explained and lifted the metallic rod in his hand. Since it proved useless by now he just cast it aside.
“I... I should have been dead,” she realized.
“Yes, you should. It would have made things easier for me,” agreed Game.
“Why did you save me?” asked Silveria, not sure what answer to expect. Did he save her because of her father? No, he said he wouldn’t care. Or did he feel something towards her? That was the last thing she needed. She hated turning men down, despite being still so young, actually even younger than everyone else in the class. At the back of her mind she wondered if she cared at all about what he might say. He will probably say...
“It might be easier to escape from here if we work together.”
The answer resonated within her mind. Not what she expected. He basically wanted to use her. A typical man, or not?
Yet she leveled all her emotions with her reason. They were both trapped deep underground. Without cooperation they would never get back up. She had to admit it would be a good time to work with him, as long as he would not touch her again.
“What is this place? How can we leave it?” she asked surveyed the cave in her field of vision.
“Look behind you and tell me,” said Game and nodded towards her a couple of times.
She twisted her body as to bring her head into the opposite direction. Before her spread a subterranean lava lake with a massive artificial device protruding out of it, rising hundreds of feet all the way to the top. The construction tapered towards the top and on its sides spread out wing-like structures, repeating themselves all the way to the top like a pattern of a comb.
“What is it?!” she screamed in horror and nearly slipped with her hands, holding herself upright by the sheer force of will.
“Wait for it,” said calmly Game.
Silveria wondered what he meant by ‘it’. She looked at him, confused but when the ground started shaking, she quickly turned back.
A number of explosions created bulges on the lava surface and a couple of rocks fell into it as they broke off from the ceiling. A strange mechanic humming filled the cave and kept accelerating. Behind the intricate pattern of the device’s body lit up a column of energy that filled it all the way to the top. The whole cave exploded in white light and the accelerated humming decreased. The device was now empty.
“H-how do we get out of here?!” she screamed, terrified, at Game who struggled to remain calm and focused.
“There is no way out of here besides the one I came from,” he thought out loud.
His eyes laid upon a rock column on right before them, slightly to the side of the view on the giant machine. A hint of a smooth surface behind it caught his attention. He ran closer to it, trying to see it from the side. There, in the back of the formation, stood a large cylindrical device several yards in diameter and covered with mechanical arms resembling spider legs. Its top also disappeared in the ceiling of the cave.
“Hey!” he shouted at Silveria. “Come look at this!”
“I... I rather not move,” answered Silveria, still sitting on the ground.
Game sighed. He took his shoes and pants off, then tossed it to her. She put them on and followed him.
“What does it do?” she asked as soon as she saw the device.
“I don’t know yet. It seems like a funnel of some sorts,” guessed Game.
They stood on the shore, watching anything the device might do. They needed not to wait for long. A strange rushing noise sounded from the inside and the lava erupted again, among the raging inferno Game noticed something move nearly at the bottom. Some mechanical part has opened and let out a cloud of steam. In a matter of seconds it closed again.
Game, curious to find out what that was, climbed onto the rock, finding his way towards the device.
Silveria stood in place. She was afraid. But she hated herself for being so stupid. What has she done? Being so far underground felt like a metaphor of how low one can sink. She sullied herself and her family name before everyone. If her father saw her now. Maybe she should apologize to him for being like this and reach for help. She wanted to become a better person and make him proud. Not the she could from where she stood. Yes, let’s get up there and give it all! Determined, she followed Game.
“Water, there’s water in it!” shouted Game at her as soon as they reached it. Really, behind the glass of sorts she could see something swimming around, maybe ocean debris sucked in from above.
“We need to get in there. We can swim up into wherever it’s coming from!” decided Game.
“Are you sure? What if we drown?”
“We can’t stay here. I’m willing to risk it. If you want to stay here then go ahead. But I’m going in there.”
Silveria nearly fainted as she realized this was a life or death hazard, one she preferred to avoid. Still, her determination would not allow her to stay here.
Game carefully studied the hatch. It would open from the bottom as the hinge was on its top. All they had to do was wait at the side, then jump in as soon as they get a chance.
It took nearly a minute until the familiar noise came back in. Game nearly lost concentration and Silveria started having her doubts. As the shaking started to recede the hatch opened and let the steam out. Silveria couldn’t notice if Game slipped in but she assumed he did and climbed inside.
She would have fallen down had he not grab her by the hand. He hung from the edge of the details that decorated the whole inner wall. Down below her she saw a complicated construction resembling ribs riddled with pipes.
“Keep moving, we don’t have much time,” encouraged her Game and started climbing upwards. Silveria did her best trying to keep up with him. All of her muscles ached and she felt like vomiting. Yet at the same time she really wanted to see the light of day, or quick death, whichever comes first. Everything in-between felt like a nightmare.
The large gate at the top started moving while they were still only half way up. Game looked down at her.
“Keep climbing, we need to get there before it closes.”
She nodded briefly and put all her remaining strength into this soul crushing ascent. Game managed to stay one step ahead of her and showed her the easiest way to climb so she would not have to guess.
They made it there just as the gate began to close again. Only by pure luck they reached it at the point where they could slip through just before it closed.
It was dark now and Silveria worried they climbed into yet another death trap.
“What do we do now?” she asked Game.
“We’ll wait,” echoed Game’s voice all around her.
A mechanical noise shook the world around them, as if a building-sized ratchet fell into place. Yet another gate above them started to open and a tiny bit of light slipped through along with a stream of water.
“Take a deep breath. I’ll see you...”
Game’s voice was lost under the noise of a massive splash the nearly immediately filled the room with water. Silveria managed to breathe in just in the nick of time and hopefully Game did so as well.
She swung her hands and flapped her legs to swim upwards, following Game’s shape that was only visible against the light coming from high above. Her heart filled with hope, the boy was right. This would lead them all the way to the surface. Rejoicing, she pushed harder, unable to guess the right distance proportionally to how much air she had in her lungs. Yet the surface would not come any closer. She felt at the end of her effort and her muscles tensed as the body’s reaction to the lack of oxygen, trying to reduce its use in motoric functions.
No, she was so close! If only she could take one breath, one little...