But a sudden light surged the cavern, hurting my eyes, distracting me, as well as everyone else from our revolt. Looking to the center of the cavern where the light blared, Cloaks swarmed the giant cauldron, bringing it to life with hellish flames. The dim of the place shattered with a blaze of orange reflecting in every sliver of crystal in the cavern walls. Like hot fingers the fire licked up toward the ceiling. Smoke billowed throughout the stretch of cavern, choking the underground.
A swell of sound brewed, feeling as though it started as a rumble beneath my feet, rising like murky flood waters. But this sound was not from the prisoners. It rose up, a dark hum, shifting into a chant that crawled out from the pallid lips of the Cloaks. The ill omened howl I’d heard in the dark of that pitch black hole before. The Cloaks lifted their faces to the jagged ceiling, its crystal reflecting with fire, to where the host of bats once swirled.
I sensed that they were not looking at the hollow place, but paying homage to it. I looked up to the black cavity. The bats were no longer there. They had disappeared out the main aperture some time ago. But as the bonfire beneath the colossal caldron illuminated, something up there glinted at me.
The chanting intensified, turning louder, and I kept my eyes up. The glint brightened, and as if it were birthing, and the cavity lowered a round crystal stone. Slowly. Presenting it above the cauldron. With all the Cloaks stopped in their place and chanting, there blind eyes uplifted and focused, I couldn’t tell how the stone was being lowered. Maybe it tethered to some sort of bindings, maybe it levitated by its own power, but either way it captivated every prisoner in the cavern. All of us stared on it, bewildered. I had never seen anything like it.
The further down it came, the more its features cleared, revealing that the crystal stone curved, likened to an egg shaped human skull. Completely transparent. The way the Cloaks worshipped before it, I reasoned it to be their God.
When the chanting stopped, my skin went cold. I looked back to the soldier’s wife and his child. The three faded in and out behind a sudden swirl of Cloaks. I strained my eyes in the burn of smoke, catching glimpses of the Cloaks as they towered over the boy.
"Mother!"
I heard the boy shriek, panic seizing his innocent face as a countless jumble of white fingers grabbed after him. The woman busted against her shackles as one of the robed demons smelled over her child. The boy squirmed into the wall as far back as he could, his eyes pinched closed, his tiny tears glistening in the fire light. But the Cloaks took a hold of the boy, loosening his wrists and ripping him from the shackles like a rag doll.
"No! Please!” The mother screamed, tears gushing as she begged, reaching after her son.
“Don’t touch him!” The soldier demanded through a clenched jaw, straining in his chains. “Take me!"
The woman’s cries soon turned to blubbering rambles, broken with wild sobs, but I could still make out every syllable the soldier threatened. His sharp and desperate words pierced in through my ears like a knife, stabbing into the deep of my heart. Bleeding to my soul. The mass of prisoners watched in a frenzy, voices rising again. Shaking chains. Stomping feet. The underground thundered once again with our rebellion.
"Mother!" The young boy wailed, over and over, his small voice somehow penetrating the thunder to find my ears. A Cloak had him, and under one monstrous pale hand, both of the boy’s elfin hands disappeared.
"Mother! Mother!" He screamed through tears, being yanked from his hysterical parents under a flow of black robes.
“We’ve got to help him!” The words shot from my lips. I turned to the Commander, only to find her still in a deep sleep.
“Laidea!” My mouth went dry, my chest heaving like I had been running the hills. The noise in the cavern elevated to such an intensity I could scarcely hear my own shouts now. “Why won’t you wake up!”
The Cloaks surrounded the flame blackened caldron. The panicked child scrambled, desperate to pull loose of the Cloak, but dwarfed by the demon, he possessed no chance of breaking free. More Cloaks appeared, spilling like a black flood through the cavern’s mouth. Every Cloak took a torch from the wall, turning to depart from the cavern. As they disappeared back under the gaping mouth, they let in the darkness. The cavern was of such size, that the edges grew dark, the only light being the blaze at the center of the prison.
I could still hear the tireless screams of the boy’s mother, but could no longer see her. Her painful sobs were all that remained in the black edges of the place. Only shapes of people outlined in the flicker now. The lengthy procession of Cloaks returned, the torches gone from their hands, hundreds of black robes drifting passed me until a circle drew around the cavern. The caldron shined at their middle, a hot and hungry heart. Their hum rose up to resonate the underground again. At this, every prisoner fell under a hush. We knew. It was too late for the boy.
I flitted my eyes back to the child. He stood in front of a Cloak, paralyzed under the heavy white hands. His face pasted pale, eyes protruding as he shook at the fire‘s edge. Silence slithered into the cavern like a serpent, stealing sound from ever mouth. Even the cries of his parents dropped, stolen away by disbelief.
The Cloak slid ashen hands up the child‘s throat, slow and methodical, swallowing up the boy’s face in his hands like a Sookurie swallowing prey. Only white hands shown above the boy’s neck. A silent moment passed, every eye on the child, his little fingers scratching at the monster palms suffocating him. His muffled cries escaped the white fingers, rousing the sounds of his parents torment once again. These three were the only voices. The rest of us dropped speechless. In horror. My tongue felt like a suffocating lump of sand in my mouth, choking any words I might have.
And with a jerk of the Cloak‘s hands, the boy’s neck snapped. His little body went limp, only the tuffs of his hair peeking out from between the demon’s fingers. The boy was dead and the wailing of his parent’s pierced the shocked whispers, cutting my heart with a thousand stinging cuts.
The Cloak lifted the lifeless body up, the flames lighting in the dead boy’s blank stare. And the chanting began again. Filling the cavern again with their ghoulish uttering, the macabre clan moaned on for long moments, icing fear into my veins. Their chants proved clear. The boy was a sacrifice. An offering to the crystal skull hovering over the cauldron flame. No life proved sacred here. The Cloaks dropped the child into the caldron, letting his motionless body float face down in the hot bubbles.
The fire baked the cavern into a swelter and billowing smoke choked out the already dim colors of the crystal. A black line of robes streamed back out under the aperture, their white eyes reflecting the flames as they passed, leaving the cauldron to boil. Conjuring up the aroma of cooking flesh.
Chapter 31
The caldron loomed cold at the center of the cavern. The meat of the boy’s body, slipping off the bone like a well boiled chicken, had been stripped and collected into an urn. They’d carried it out of the cavern. I never saw a single Cloak lift the grotesque meat to his lips. The vulgar ceremony of sacrifice must not be over yet.
Laidea still slept. I wished for my own sleep, but it would not come. Not after what I had seen. And my arms tingled in the shackles, stinging me with imaginary pins. My back stiffened and hunger pained me far greater than I had ever known before. But most odd was the cold clutching at me. Chilling my skin and causing me shivers. Even my lips trembled in it. The fire had long ago been doused and the torches never brought back in. The once burning scorch of the cavern departed, leaving our prison colder than grave clothes. The only light fluttered from a single torch at the cavern’s mouth where a dwindled number of Cloaks kept guard.
Most of the cavern slept through the cold. All was quite. Another exchange of Cloaks came. I had spent most of my time bitterly awake, noticing the coming of fresh guards about every candle mark. In all this idle time of silence, I had observed everything, the Cloaks, the cavern, the prisoners. Already noticing the variety of tribes and clans people displayed in
the underground, their range in age now struck me. From children to people on the edge of death, all travelers were taken by surprise in the dead meadow. The meadow must be a trap.
And the skin of the Cloaks says they never go above ground... yet they have water. There must be water down here, other than this constant dripping in the cavern. A river. And if it comes in… it must lead out.
"Laidea." I waited a moment, then whispered again. "Laidea."
The Commander continued in her slumber, unflinching. I nudged the woman with my foot. No response. This wasn't right. Laidea slept very light. The sound of a twig snapping at a hundred paces would stir her. Yet she had slept through that boy’s murder and now she wouldn’t rouse at my nudging. Still, I brushed my elbow against her’s once more. Nothing. I sighed at what I was about to do.
"Laidea." Kicking the warrior’s leg, hard, I raised my voice. “Commander.”
Laidea slumped against the wall, unaware and lifeless, head hanging. I reached out a shackled hand, pulling at the woman’s limp fingers.
"Laidea. Wake up."
Murmuring, the Commander attempted to raise her head, but soon after dropped back asleep. The Commander did not have a reputation for this. She was well known to possess senses above slumber. She commanded her own company. Stood as the Queen's left hand to Masseeia's right. The woman was too experienced to sleep this deeply. I took her motionless fingers in mine, caressing them.
“You can't do this to me, Laidea. Not now.”
As I caressed the Commander’s fingers, a wisp of her auburn hair tickled across my cheek. I pulled in a sharp breath. It was the first breeze I had felt since the capture. The thought tensed my whole body. That small breath of wind meant the cavern must have an opening or a tunnel leading above ground… nearby. I searched the cavern with a grave eye, eyeballing every speck of crystal.
After a near hour passed, I found it. My heart leapt wild. I couldn’t believe it. Hidden in plain sight, it called to me, a crack in the cavern so discreet I hadn't noticed it in the hours, the days, I’d been trapped. I didn't know where it led, except that it must lead out of the cavern. A narrow cut, it would only permit passage to one person at a time. I studied the nook hidden across the cavern for an eternity. Remote. Secluded. Free of Cloaks and prisoners.
If I could get out of my shackles and to that break in the wall…. My thoughts raced. I didn’t know where it would go or if it went far, but it was a chance. Our only chance. I glanced to the Cloaks. They huddled slackly around the lone torch at the mouth of the cavern, seemingly absorbed in conversation and unconcerned with the sleeping prisoners.
I stared on the Cloaks as I tugged at my chains, quick jerks, trying to determine if they could possibly break. I attempted several times, but it only loosened my discouragement. The shackles were solid. I‘d known that ahead of time, but I had to try.
But then a trickle made its way down my hand. I looked up to find blood dribbling down my finger, running into my palm. I flexed my hand, examining the cut. A deep scratch oozed blood down the back of my thumb. I turned my eyes to the wall behind me. A jagged piece of crystal. As I pulled to remove the bothersome sliver, my foot squished into something cold and mushy. I kicked the muck from my foot. It flung from my toes, reminding me of the Cloak that had attempted to force feed it to me earlier that day, or night. Whichever it was. With my rejection, the Cloak had flung it at my feet. I sifted over the mush with my toe. The texture felt odd for meat. Gritty. One thing after another connected in my mind. I looked to Laidea, then across the dim cavern. Most of the prisoners were asleep.
"Askca." Came the whisper. I flitted my eyes at the sound of the Commander’s voice. Laidea stared back at me, discomfort tensing heavy on her face.
"Laidea?” The name escaped me in a relieved sigh. “Gods, are you alright?"
"I'm not certain. I don't remember falling asleep.”
“You were acting like you were…” I searched my words carefully, “not you.”
“It feels like I'm waking up from battle.” Laidea squinted hard. “Like I’ve suffered a hard blow to the head."
“You were scaring me. Like you’d lost your wit and-” And then it rushed back to me. Pulling posture up in my chains, I leaned into the Commander. "Never mind that now. Laidea… I think I found it!"
"Found what?" She stretched in her shackles, still squinting at the pain in her head.
"A way out."
Laidea's eyes brightened, bringing her to life. "Where? How?"
"It’s the reason you feel so odd.” I whispered in a rush of excitement.
"Yeah?"
"There’s a strange herb."
"What?"
“In the meat. The Cloaks must use it to cast the prisoners into a deep sleep. It’s why they terry so unconcerned at the entrance.” I paused. “Commander, you slept so heavy you didn't wake at my kicking you."
Laidea’s forehead wrinkled. "You kicked me?"
"Look." I smeared my toe back into the mush of meat again. “Look at the color. There are specs of root all through it."
Laidea examined the dull green specs dotting the pink flesh. Her eyes lifted. “And I ate a full stomach of it.”
I nodded. “You slept longer than most of the prisoners.”
“Gods.”
“Commander.” I lowered my voice again, making certain the Cloaks wouldn’t overhear. “I have a plan that might get us out of here.”
Chapter 32
“Keep your words low.” Laidea whispered.
I gave a cautious glance to the Cloaks, then went on.
“They are using a potent root of some sort to poison the prisoners. I didn't eat it, so I didn't pass under. You did and you’ve been sleeping like the dead.”
Laidea looked to me, the pain in her head still plaguing her expression. “How does that get us out?”
“We poison the Cloaks.” My words brightened. I had thought long thoughts in the dim torchlight of the cavern, finding a piece of my plan here, another morsel there. Discovering the root came as the final piece.
Laidea sounded less than convinced. “What?”
“They'll fall asleep and then we escape."
"Askca…” the woman sighed, dropping her face from me to roll her shoulders, trying to work the tension out of her neck. “We are still in shackles."
I couldn’t help but smile. "I know,” I gestured my finger to the split in the cavern wall, “but look."
The Commander squinted in the dim light. "What?"
"Just off those shadows there."
Laidea stared for a long moment, then another. Just when I feared she’d given up, her mouth dropped.
"Gods…."
"It's not guarded.” I leaned into her. “If we can get to it, I'm certain we could escape through there.”
Laidea took in a deep breath, staring at the split. I could tell by the look on her face, even with the tension creasing her forehead, that she was thinking. Spinning it around in her mind.
“It‘s a start, but it still doesn’t get us out of these shackles.”
“I know, but hear me.” I leaned in even close, hiding my words in the lowest of whispers. “One of the Cloaks must carry the key. Most likely one of the two that brought us in. If just one of us could get loose, we could-"
"If anyone could break loose” Laidea jingled her chains, “don’t you think they would have? Even the children stand in tight shackles, and their wrists are considerably smaller than our own.”
“Why?” I cut in, anxious and on the edge of my words. “Where would they go? Now, we have somewhere to go.”
The Commander nodded, but I knew when she started rolling her neck, that she wasn’t persuaded. Laidea’s actions always spoke the truth, and I’d learned by this point, if her eyes weren’t pinning yours, she wasn’t pulled in.
“We'd have to poison every Cloak in the cavern. And even if we only poisoned one shift of guards…” her thoughts trailed off, ending her neck rolls. “How do you plan to poison t
hem in the first place? They may be primitive, but they‘re never going to be foolish enough to-"
Laidea cut herself off, her gaze at last pinned into mine. She could see it on my face. In my eyes. There was only one way to make certain the Cloaks ate the poison root.
"Oh gods.” Her face contorted with disgust. “I ate human meat."
"And you slept."
"What you’re thinking, Askca, is heinous."
"If what you say is truth, they’re going to eat us anyway."
Laidea's jaw dropped at my words, but I needed to prove myself, and getting my sisters out of this wretched underworld would do it. I didn’t plan to die down here. Not as food or sacrifice. And I hadn’t forgot about Queen Perseathea. Or GarTaynia. Our quest would not end this way. I’d never give Masseeia the satisfaction, no matter what we had to do.
"If we don’t get out of here Queen Perseathea is dead.”
I left it at that, knowing the words would sink deep enough to stir the Commander. I knew she would do whatever it took to get us out of the cavern, but what I was proposing was an Amazon sacrilege. And I knew that. Eating human flesh, or encouraging others to eat human flesh, went explicitly against our blessed creed. It was foul. Forbidden. Savage. I never before believed that any tribe, no matter how barbaric, did such a thing. Not until now.
Laidea looked on me, here eyes serious. Penetrating. "It’s human sacrifice."
"It's the only way."
“To think the day has come that human sacrifice is ‘the only way’.” Her tone revealed her distaste, her disappointment, and I knew that those feelings were directed mostly at herself. For sleeping under the root. For ending up here in the first place. For what she felt was failure.
“This isn’t your fault, Laidea. If anything, it’s mine. I’m the one who didn’t listen to you. I’m the one who got us into this quest. I’m the one-”
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