Pak

　　They gently tug my leash, beckoning for me to stop. I obey. The one with the white freckles lifts my chin and snaps her fingers in front of my face. Before, her eyes had darkened after lending me their light, but now I find a bright cluster, like shifting stars in a cloudless sky.

　　She points at me, then covers her eyes with her hand, then points down the tunnel, then presses her finger to her lips. She repeats the same series of gestures, then looks at me with her head tilted down, eyebrows raised, soliciting a response. I nod my head. She glances just past me, to one of the others&

　　SSSKAP

　　The light vanishes. The leash-handler moves me slowly and deliberately, like he`s leading a blind man down a street. I hesitate with every step, toes fearing every pebble. We go on like this for some time. Eventually, he tugs my leash again, and I stop. They have trained me well.

　　One of them speaks - the thick-necked one with the jerky, I think, judging by the tenor of his voice. It`s the loudest and clearest any of them have been. Another one responds, her voice light, but just as rough and dusty-sounding. A third voice chimes in, low and smooth, a bit further ahead. I sense he was not with us before. He speaks slowly, dubiously. They exchange a few more words, and footsteps approach from down the tunnel. My light-spoken captor halts him with a series of quick, panicked-sounding words. He pauses. Someone taps me on the shoulder-

　　SSSKAP

　　Before me stands a stern-looking Du閚. He`s clean, unlike my captors, wearing a plain, crisp, high-collared jacket with buttons affixed all the way up the center. His bright yellow-green hair is braided close to his head and bundled in the back. He exudes pride and severity, yet his posture is curved, slouched, the posture of a man who`s been creeping through tunnels for centuries. We appear to be at the end of this passage, confronted by a rock wall, nowhere to go but back from where we came. I can tell there is magic at play. The subtle odor gives it away, vaguely sweet in a way that nothing else is. It reminds me of the magic wards they had in place at the school library, but those wards were cheap and obvious. This& I don`t quite understand it.

　　My freckled captor waves her hand in front of my face. She points at the man, then pats her own body down from her shoulders to her legs, then points at me. My heart races. She repeats the movements, then points at me again. I think I understand. I hold my eyes open wide so that the welling tears stay behind them, and nod my head. The man bounds towards me. I stiffen, but don`t resist.

　　You can kill him, if you want.

　　I swallow hard. He pats down every crevice of my body, as if anything could hide in the air between my skin and my rags. His palms` impact sends ripples of panic from every point he hits, until I am an entity of pure fear, frozen in this place, my muscles ready to snap. A whimper escapes my throat. He stops with his hands on my calves and gives me a suspicious look. I squeeze my eyes shut. A tear breaks loose. He stands upright and steps away, satisfied. He and my captors exchange a few words. There`s always someone keeping an eye on me.

　　Coward&

　　I grit my teeth.

　　The one with the freckles taps my shoulder. She covers her eyes with one hand, then points at me.

　　SSSKAPIf you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

　　The light goes out again.

　　I hear a single heavy footstep, but it disappears into the air. I can`t tell which direction it went. It was only a single step, and then nothing at all. One of them nudges me forward, towards the end of the tunnel. I stumble and plant my feet firmly, resisting the next attempt to push me into the wall. They shove me harder. With a CRACK, my forehead hits the rock. The pain ripples from my crown, down my neck, my shoulders, my spine, and& it undulates...?

　　Everything becomes chilly and slow, like a winter ocean tide, lapping down my legs, swallowing my feet. I`m tumbling through dense, cold, viscous honey. Even my heartbeat slows, though each beat thrums through me as if my blood were a hammer, and my body, a drum. I try to draw in a breath, but there is no air to breathe. There`s nothing to breathe at all, not water, not honey, not rock, nothing. It takes all of my strength to part my eyelids. The cold penetrates my eyes and stabs through to my brain, the same feeling I`d get chewing ice with my sensitive teeth, but I glimpse the inside of this shimmering jelly. It`s deep purple, almost black, with sparkling flecks of color, like minerals in a rock - but I have to shut my eyes. It`s too much to bear.

　　How long does this go on for&?

　　Count your heartbeat&

　　One. Two&

　　Three. Four&

　　Five. Six&

　　Seven-

　　Suddenly, it spits me out. The panic picks up where it left off, flooding my body, resuming the pain in my head. My muscles contract, bracing for impact, and I clench my jaw to keep my teeth in place - but something softens my fall. It feels almost like a hug. They set me gently to my knees. Behind me, I hear a strange shump, like something being shunted through a laundry chute, followed by feet hitting the ground. My skin still feels sticky, cold and wet. Someone yanks me upright. My eyes fly open. My jaw drops.

　　A massive canyon greets me, illuminated by soft, glittering lights that creep up every crevice, hinting at the boxy outlines of squat buildings below. If it were Iridan, we`d be on the Plateau, but the city`s dark sister beneath us is breathtaking, a quiet, colorful dance of bioluminescence. Glowing mushroom caps line the streets like lampposts. Tiny lights drift in the air, like stars I could touch, flurrying away from my breath. From far, far above, a single sunbeam slips through what must be the peak of the mountain, the opening of an ancient volcano with no more lava left to give. It`s the first natural light I`ve seen in& I don`t know how long.

　　My freckled captor speaks, breaking me from my trance, her voice no longer bound by the Obsidian`s oppressive silence. Her timbre, sleek and direct, tugs my gaze to her face, and though she is addressing her comrades behind me, her eyes flicker to meet mine. Her irises glow a bright sapphire blue, then recede to a watery gray. She looks perturbed for a second, but switches her gaze back to the leash-handler. He barks a response, then tugs me. I turn, as commanded, and watch my tattered shoes drag along the rocky path.

　　It`s a long walk to the bottom of this canyon. There aren`t any merchant wagons or taxis going up or down the ramp, no crowds to weave in or out of. The few people we pass keep their faces hidden in the low light, but I still feel them staring at me. Every twenty paces or so, I see doors in the rock wall, lit by glowing lichen, with symbols I don`t recognize marking their faces. When we do reach the basin, the short, drab, windowless buildings crush this place`s whimsy. Only people in high-collared uniforms haunt the streets, barely visible under the mushroom lamps.

　　Where are we going&?

　　I twitch and look to the left. One of my escorts follows my gaze, but there`s nothing for them to see.

　　He`s their prisoner.

　　I gulp. Don`t speak out loud&

　　(Shut up. You don`t know anything.)

　　They hate him for being so pale,

　　just like the ones above hate him for being so dark.

　　"Sh&"

　　I bite my tongue. Nobody seems to notice.

　　The farther we go, the muggier the air becomes. It thickens in my lungs, like it`s turning the dirt inside them to mud. I`m getting lightheaded, wobbly, panting like a dog in the sun. My captors keep pace. The one holding my leash slows when he notices me stumbling, then stops and says something to the others. Another sighs, producing a canteen from their waist belt. They wave it in front of my face. It leaves a trail in the air. The dusty floating lights glow brighter and brighter, swallowing my vision. I`m spinning. My ears ring. I can`t breathe. My knees buckle. The world goes black.