Kiara closed her eyes and focused. She thought of everyone who mattered to her—Sable, Raiden, her mother—and how much she wanted to see them again. She heard their voices echoing around her.
“Relax, Kiara, I’m right here,” her mother’s voice said comfortingly. Kiara felt the soft touch of her mother’s hand running through her hair.
It’s not real, none of it! She thought, refusing to be distracted. Finally, the voices began to fade, and her mother’s warm touch turned to searing pain.
Kiara screamed, and she opened her eyes. Her heart raced as her entire body shivered in terrible agony, drenched in sweat. She was pinned up against the familiar, black-stoned prison wall. Only this time, she wasn’t alone. Three distorted, blood-thirsty men held her tightly against the wall. Their skin was wrinkled and black, their eyes dim and yellow. They snarled with hunger as they dug their long, sharp fingernails into her flesh. Kiara felt her life energy slipping away, and the men’s features began to heal.
Kiara tore her right hand loose in desperation and ripped the PDs off her head. And then, using whatever power she had left, she lit her entire body ablaze, screaming wildly. The men staggered back, patting the flames from their tattered clothing.
Kiara quickly scanned her surroundings. The remains of six other prisoners were strewn throughout the floor, their bodies mutilated. Memories of their gruesome deaths came back to her. She remembered the horrors which had caused her to hide within her PDs. Kiara recognized a couple of the faces from the village party. Across the room, Suriel was fighting off another two of the creatures, his amulet glowing with increasing intensity. With a roar, he pummeled his fist straight through the first one’s skull and swiped his foot at the second one’s legs as it ran at him, tripping it onto the floor. Without a second to spare, he smashed his fist towards the ground, shattering the creature’s chest. Kiara’s jaw dropped, surprised by his immense physical strength.
“Don’t just stand there!” Suriel yelled. “Move!”
The other three creatures charged at Kiara. She quickly formed a ball of fire in her right hand and launched it at the closest one, striking it in the chest, then dove out of the way as the other two tried to grab her. Suriel rushed to her aid and grabbed one of the creatures from behind, lifting it into the air. As he did, the light from his amulet shone intensely. It flowed from his chest, down his arms, and into the creature in his grasp. The creature shrieked as the color returned to its skin and eyes, and its wounds healed until it resembled an ordinary man. Suriel raised his eyebrows in surprise and dropped the man to the floor.
“What did you just do?” Kiara yelled as she shot another fireball at an oncoming creature.
“I-I believe I can heal them,” Suriel stammered, looking down at his amulet.
Kiara shaped another fireball in her hands, but before she could release it, one of the creatures lifted a loose brick from the floor and hurled it at her. Kiara dove to the side as fast as she could, but the brick struck her in the side. Kiara cried out in pain and tumbled to the floor. Suriel grabbed the last two creatures from behind and lifted them into the air. Focusing on the amulet, he watched as the light made its way into the creatures, and they returned to their previous human forms. He lay them onto the floor, unconscious, then hurried over to Kiara.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his expression fraught with concern. He bent down beside Kiara and supported her shoulders. Kiara groaned and sat up, gripping the wound on her side.
“I’ll live,” she muttered. “Thanks for saving my life.”
“We would both be dead if you hadn’t realized we were trapped by our PDs,” Suriel grinned. “So thank you, um…” Suriel hesitated awkwardly, realizing he had never asked for her name.
“Kiara,” she said. “My name is Kiara.”
As they shook hands, Kiara looked up into the man’s clear, green eyes and handsome smile. For just a moment, she felt a fluttering feeling in her stomach. For just a moment, she felt safe.
Suddenly, Suriel pulled away from her, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
“What is it?” Kiara asked, the warm feelings dissipating.
Suriel raised his eyebrows and nudged his head downwards at her body. Kiara gasped in humiliation as she realized she’d burnt off most of her clothes.
“Well don’t just stand there and gawk!” Kiara scolded, flinging her hands across her chest.
Suriel turned around and took off his royal silk shirt. He tossed it over his shoulder to Kiara.
“Thanks,” she said as she fit the shirt over her body. “You can look now.”
Suriel turned around. Kiara stood with her hands on her hips, wearing his shirt along with the traditional leather bottom from the party. Suriel’s lips began to curl into a smile, but Kiara stopped him, raising a stern finger his way.
“If you so much as chuckle, Your Majesty, I will burn your face off,” she grumbled.
Kiara glanced over to the floor, noticing that one of the unconscious men had woken up. Her eyes narrowed into an angry grimace as she formed another fireball in her hands.
“Wait,” Suriel said, holding his hand out in front of her. He placed his foot over the man’s throat and looked down at him.
“Who are you?” he asked, pressing down slightly.
“Please, I mean no harm,” the man gasped.
“Hah, right,” Kiara chuckled sarcastically, pressing against her bruise.
“My name is Keith. I’m a technician from the city of Agion.”
“You’re from the Capital?” Kiara asked, intrigued. She rarely met someone from outside her little village, let alone from the Capital, halfway across the planet.
“How did you get here?” Suriel asked. “And what did they do to you?”
“They put out fliers all around the city for work in the nearby town of Falron, where they claimed to be building a new PD factory. But when we showed up, they rounded us up and had us shipped off to here. We-”
“Don’t listen to a single word comin’ outa’ that rat’s filthy pipe,” A raspy voice interrupted from behind. A second man had awoken, struggling to sit up. The man was large and rugged, with greasy, black hair and rough, hardened hands. He glared at Kiara and Suriel with a bruised, lazy eye.
“And who are you?” Suriel asked cautiously, keeping the first man pinned down while watching the second.
“The name’s Riogard, but back at home they call me Rio,” the man grunted.
“Where is home?” Suriel asked.
“I’m from the Dinges, born and raised.”
Suriel turned away with guilt.
“The Dinges?” Kiara asked, never having heard of the place.
“Never heard of ‘em, aye?” Rio asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why don’t ya’ just ask your fair prince, he’ d be happy to share.”
Suriel glanced uncomfortably at Kiara, then looked back at the man, avoiding the incitement.
“You claimed this man Keith to be a liar?” Suriel asked.
“Damn right, I did. There were no fliers, and definitely no work. Never is and never was in His Majesty’s ‘glorious’ Capital,” Rio scoffed. “No offense, of course. We were taken from the prisons and brought here to be bitten by one of ‘em creepers. Fills you with a ragin’, blood-thirsty hunger for life. They work us in the mines ‘till we’re starvin’, and we obey, ‘cause afterward they treat us to some fresh meat.”
“You mean us,” Kiara cut in.
“Don’t take it personally, lady,” Rio said, swinging his lazy eye her way. “We couldn’t help ourselves.”
“Obviously,” Suriel replied cynically. “If you had a sense of self-restraint, you wouldn’t have been in prison to begin with.”
Rio’s mouth curved into a scowl. Suriel braced himself as Rio stood up and stomped towards him.
“You rich boys think you got it all figured out,” he growled. “You’ve got no idea what it’s like, growin’ up like I did. Fightin’ every day to survive. Turns lots’a men into monsters,
but not me.”
Rio hit his fist against his chest, defending his pride. “I kept my principals. I never raped, I never killed, and I never ganged up. I took the work when I could find it and starved when I couldn’t. You wanna know why I’m here, rich boy?”
Suriel curled his hand into a defensive fist as Rio stopped just a few inches away.
“I stole a loaf’a bread for my dyin’ nephew,” he growled, eyeing Suriel with an accusatory glare.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Kiara said, stepping between them. “There are no princes or criminals in here, only prisoners, and we need cooperation if we have any chance of making it out alive.”
“I’ll work with ya’,” Rio said to her, backing off. “And I’ll even work with the pretty prince. But there’s no way in hell I’m workin’ with that rat,” he said, glaring hatefully at Keith, still stuck under Suriel’s foot.
“Please, my prince,” Keith begged. “I have gone through unspeakable torture. I am a changed man. I would do anything-”
“A man like you doesn’t change,” Rio snarled at him. “There ain’t no redemption from the things you’ve done.”
“What did he do?” Kiara asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.
“The scum was a cyborg trader. He kidnapped them young, sold their organs on the black market, replaced them with bionics, had some fun with ‘em, then sold ‘em for slaves.” Rio spit on the ground, disgusted by the thought. Kiara and Suriel looked at each other, then down at Keith, whose face turned white in fear.
“Is this true?” Suriel asked him.
“As I said, my lord,” Keith stammered. “I regret my past, and I have changed. Please, have mercy. You must believe me.”
“Just kill him already.” Rio rolled his eyes and turned away, leaving Kiara and Suriel to deal with Keith. He walked over to the third unconscious figure—a young, thin man with long, brown hair and a sharp chin.
“Pete,” Rio whispered, gently slapping him. He slowly opened one eye, then the next.
“Sir?” Pete mumbled, confused. “What happened?”
“We were saved,” Rio replied, glancing at the others to make sure they weren’t paying attention. “By the…Prince.”
Pete’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Does he know?”
“He knows nothin’.”
Pete breathed a sigh of relief, but when he saw his bloody hands, his face turned white with panic. Tears welled in his bright blue eyes.
“Rio, the things I’ve done-”
“Listen, boy,” Rio interrupted, glaring fiercely into his eyes. He spoke with a convincing tone of reassurance. “I know it’s a lot, everythin’ we’ve gone through, but I need that big, beefy brain of yours to focus. We gotta get out’a here.”
The two of them glanced again at the others, finding Kiara staring their way suspiciously.
“He’s with me,” Rio grunted. “Pete was in for thievery, the cunning type, and if anyone can get us out’a here, it’s him.”
“This one’s coming as well,” Suriel said, lifting Keith off the ground by his hair. “He’ll face punishment once we make it out alive. For now, we need a plan. What are each of your abilities?”
“I’m a Burner, as you all know already,” Kiara said, pointing to their burn wounds.
“I’m a Builder,” Pete said next.
“Same,” Keith croaked, rubbing his head.
“And you?” Suriel asked Rio, all eyes turning towards him.
“You first, rich boy,” Rio jibed challengingly.
“Why, have you something to hide?” Suriel taunted.
“Me?” Rio scoffed. “You’re the one with the glowy, magic hands and shiny necklace. What in Gavriel’s name are ya’?”
“Come on, guys,” Kiara intervened. “In order to make a plan, we need to know what abilities we have to work with.”
“Well then, after you, Your Great Majesty,” Rio insisted.
Suriel took a deep breath, trying to remain calm despite the constant disrespect.
“Just go first, Suriel,” Kiara said, sick of the bickering. “Truth is, I don’t even know what your power is.”
Suriel looked from Kiara to Rio. Feeling cornered, his face flushed with anger. “Well, Kiara, I guess we’re just going to have to keep it that way,” he grumbled, and he turned stubbornly away.
“Seriously?!” Kiara yelled angrily. “We’re stuck in a death trap, and all you guys can think about is your god-damn egos! Uch, I hate men!”
The room grew quiet for a moment as Rio and Suriel gazed angrily and awkwardly in opposite directions. Keith looked uncomfortably at the floor. Pete stood next to Rio, unsure of what he should do.
“Dang,” he whispered to Rio, raising an eyebrow. “His girl’s got a temper.”
“Shut up,” Kiara snapped, overhearing. “And I’m not his girl.”
Pete’s cheeks flushed timidly. Finally, Rio broke the silence.
“Those damned creepers will be here any minute to take us back to the mines. We need to make a plan, and fast.”
“Why don’t we pretend to still be bitten?” Keith suggested.
“How would that help, you idiot?” Rio shut him down coldly.
“Well, Suriel could heal more of the slaves, and we could fight our way out,” Kiara chimed in. “Could you do it again?” she asked, looking at Suriel.
“I…I don’t know,” Suriel answered, palming his amulet.
“They wouldn’t fall for it anyway,” Rio said dreadfully. “They can smell fresh blood a mile away. Forget about startin’ a slave rebellion. Let’s first find a way out’a this room.”
The five of them peered around the room, analyzing their surroundings. They were in a rectangular prison of sorts, with grimy black-bricked walls and dusty, blood-stained floors. The air was cold and murky and smelled of mold. The light was scarce, and a small beam shone faintly from a window on the outer side of the room. The only thing about the room that had changed since Kiara removed her PDs was the thick iron door at the center of the innermost wall. As Rio, Keith, and Pete went to take a look at the window, Kiara walked up to the door, inspecting it.
“There’s something written here,” she said, looking closely. She wiped away some of the grime and rust, revealing a series of archaic symbols carved into the iron.
“Well, what does it say?” Suriel asked, the only one paying attention to her.
“I don’t know…I’ve never seen these symbols before.”
“Let me take a look,” Suriel said, walking closer.
“Wait,” Kiara stopped him. “Move back. I want to try melting the door down first.”
Suriel stepped back as Kiara placed her palms against the cold metal. Her eyes glowed a dark red as she channeled nuclear energy into heat and released it through her hands into the door. As its temperature rose, the door began to glow a neon red. Heat radiated throughout the room, turning everyone’s attention to Kiara.
“Careful, girl,” Rio said, wiping a drop of sweat from his brow. “I’m not sure what’s going to melt first, us or the door.”
Sweat poured down Kiara’s cheeks and soaked her shirt as she radiated more and more heat into the iron, but no matter how hard she tried, the metal wouldn’t melt.
“Alright, enough,” Rio said, flapping his shirt to cool down. “It ain’t workin.’” Pete and Keith fled to the farthest corner of the room, trying to avoid the heat.
Kiara removed her hands from the door, and her eyes returned to their normal color. She turned to the group and rested her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. She looked up at Suriel, upset and disappointed.
“It’s alright,” Suriel said softly, walking up to her. “Thanks for trying.” He placed a hand on her shoulder.
“That door should’ve melted,” Kiara panted. “I’ve never seen any metal like that before.”
Suriel looked back at the door. Although it had begun to cool, it retained the red-orange glow, emphasizing the symbols carved along its surface.
“Wait a second,” Suriel said, his eyes widening. “This is the ancient tongue. The language of the Rai.”
“Can you read it?” Rio asked, curling his pointy mustache.
“I was taught the language as a child, although I may be a bit rusty.”
“You’re a bit rusty?” Pete chimed in. “Well, so’s that door. You’ve’s already got that in common, so it shouldn’t be too hard to understand one another. Aye?”
Kiara smirked at the joke.
“Aye,” Suriel chuckled, gazing closer. “I’ll give it a shot.” He ran his fingers slowly across the symbols, mumbling to himself. As Kiara and Pete were busy watching Suriel work, Keith snuck up beside Rio, nudging him. Rio turned around, his lips tensed into a scowl.
“What’ya want, scum?” Rio grumbled.
“You think yourself clever, Riogard?” Keith whispered hostilely. “If you are, you’d be clever to leave off me.”
“Yeah? And why’s that, dirtbag?”
“The Prince is our only way out of here, we both know that,” Keith answered. “I wonder how willing he’d be to help if he knew who you really were.”
Rio grew silent and looked the other way as if ignoring the threat.
“Play it cool, whatever you’d like,” Keith sneered. “But I know your little secret.”
“Guys, I figured it out,” Suriel called out excitedly, ending their conversation.
“Well? What does it say?” Rio asked, hurrying eagerly away from Keith to the door.
“It’s a quote from some holy book. ‘The path of light leads to redemption.’”
“The path of light,” Pete repeated slowly, glancing around the room. His gaze fell upon the beam of light shining in from the window, thick with dust and haze. It reached down to the floor, focusing directly onto a single stone brick.
“I’ve got it,” Pete mumbled to himself, scurrying over to the brick. He knelt to the floor, feeling around the edges of the stone.
“That’s it,” Rio smirked, nudging Suriel as they watched. “We’re gettin’ outa’ here. Once Pete gets started, there’s no stoppin’ him.”
Pete knocked his knuckles twice against the hard, black stone, then nervously patted his pant pockets, as if searching for something.
The Chamber of Genesis Page 8
