Regius (13 page)

"I'm not telling you." He
didn't need to know that I didn't know.

"How does one destroy a
Keeper of the Dead?"
A
what
? I kept my expression
neutral.

"I'm not telling
you."

"Where are the boarding
houses?" I only knew the exact location of the one in Lithium
Village and was aware there was another in Cobalt City. I had no
idea if there were more, let alone where they could be.

When I didn't answer he
continued with another question. "Have the Palliums found a lead on
our location?"

"You will get nothing from
me, you hear?!" I shouted at him. Xania sighed heavily, shaking his
head at me in what seemed to be curious wonderment.

"I have not been confronted
with Altors on many occasions, but the very few times I have, I
come to learn time and again that you are stubborn." He stood,
gesturing with one finger for me to follow him down from the
balcony. "Maya will show you your quarters. We shall try again
tomorrow." When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Maya appeared
in the ballroom, bowing down when Xania made his way past her and
left me staring after his retreating figure.

Another Regius I’d met and
I was once again left confused more than terrified. Had he truly
just wanted to have a conversation with me? This was it? This was
all I was to expect? He was going to talk to me again and again
until I spilled the answers to his questions?

"Come with me." Maya
murmured, stepping out of the ballroom and taking a left, ignoring
the stairs we'd come down from earlier. The passage she was taking
me through was sloped downwards with stairs sporadically placed; we
were going further and further underground. I had silently hoped I
would have been able to return to the conservatory, speak more with
Mallow and take advantage of the comfort Seers gave one another,
but it didn’t look like it.

As we continued on our way,
I noticed a change in scenery. Everything became darker, the blue
tones vanishing with each step down the passage. Pale bricks turned
dreary and there was a draft coming from the small gaps between
them that smelled terrible. When we reached the end, Maya unlocked
a rotten wooden door and then nudged me inside. I wrinkled my nose
at the horrid smell assaulting me, blinking my eyes at the
darkness. Turning around quickly, I eyed Maya.

"Take this." She handed me
a flashlight. "And this." A bottle of water. My stomach fluttered
in warning and my Altor Vision came violently to life. "I bid you
luck." She added before swinging the wooden door shut, not leaving
me time to actually process anything or try to make my way out.
Staring for a split second, my heartbeat picked up in speed and I
slammed one of my fists against the wood as hard as I
could.

"Wait!" I shouted. "What's
going on?!" There was no answer though. "Let me out!" I
screamed.

Leaving my fist where it
was, I dropped my forehead against the door, sighing heavily before
taking a step back and knowing full well nobody was going to let me
out. I turned the flashlight over in my other hand, trying to
locate the switch with my fingers. Once it was on, I turned around
to see what my surroundings were. This was a dungeon. The stench
came from the stream of water running in between a small gap that
centered in the ground. It was just large enough to get my foot
stuck were I to misstep. There were no windows here but there was a
breeze flowing through the stone corridors. One I appreciated as it
offered some freshness, making the bad smell hanging around in this
place less horrid. There was the occasional stone arch opening,
though some were closed with bars.

I didn't walk too far,
wanting to know where the only exit known to me was and remember
it. I walked back the small distance I'd gone, digging out some
chalk from one of the many pockets Galax had sewn onto my pants.
Thankfully, they hadn't forced me to change my clothes or stripped
me from all the things I had. Although I carried no weapons, a
screwdriver could do damage.

As I drew a cross on the
door to mark it, momentarily thinking of tying a rope to the
doorknob but realizing it would be too short, I was interrupted by
a low growl coming from the far right. Turning towards the sound,
my Altor vision allowed me to detect two red glows. I couldn't tell
what they were though.

I pointed the light in that
direction, my eyes widened and I fell back against the door in fear
as I saw two large dogs crouching down threateningly, showing me
their teeth as they continued to growl. They were still quite far
away but there was nothing that blocked their coming to get me if
they wanted. And boy, did they want too.

"You're going to want to
run now." A voice said, coming from somewhere above the door.
Looking up, I pointed the flashlight. A loud speaker. "It's called
technology." He sounded utterly bored.

Gulping, I looked back at
the two angry hounds, realizing they were slowly making their way
towards me. I knew they would start running when I would. My
movements would set them off.

One of them was getting
impatient, jumping forward, forcing me to abandon the door and
stumble backwards into the corridor in the opposite direction of
the dogs. Snapping its jaw violently, I yelped in fear and decided
to just run, run like my ass was on fire, run like I'd never run
before.

The flashlight was bouncing
up and down with my movements. The stones beneath my feet were
humid, my shoes clattering noisily on top with each step I took. My
breathing echoed through the corridors, as did the dogs’ barks and
growls running right behind me. I had a head start on them,
luckily, but they were gaining on me.

"You'll want to turn right
at the next arch opening." I nearly slipped in surprise as the
voice resonated through the dungeon again, but managed to stabilize
myself, picking up speed, not bothering trying to locate the loud
speaker.

"My right?!" I shouted
breathlessly. I was in the Regius' hound guarded dungeon. Was it
wise to trust the voice? I didn't have time to ponder the
matter.

"Sic."

Pallium?! What the hell was
going on?! My eyes fixed on the arch opening he'd been talking
about and I grabbed the side of it, flinging myself through so I
wouldn't lose too much speed. My heart nearly stopped.

"Dead end?!"

"There's a ledge. You're a
jumper, right?" The voice said calmly. He was right, there was a
ledge. Not thinking twice about it, I made for the wall, pushing
myself off the ground, jumping high so I could grab onto the ledge
with one of my hands. I yelped as I dangled there, the hounds
having finally caught up with me. They were jumping upwards, teeth
trying to latch onto my feet but I managed to pull my knees up to
my chest and grasp the ledge with my other hand, the flashlight
nearly being crushed in the process.

"Now what?!"

"If my memory serves me
right, there should be an opening at the top of the wall leading to
the right wing of the dungeon."

"Thank you." I
grumbled.

"Welcome."

Rolling my eyes at the
situation, I cringed as I felt wind shooting along one of my legs,
the dogs still relentless. Pulling my weight up, I placed my
forearm onto the narrow stone that stuck out of the wall, looking
up to see that, yes, there was indeed an opening at the top. The
ledge offered enough space to crouch. With one hand flat against
the wall to keep me steady, I used the other with the flashlight to
point it up. The short alley wasn't very wide and the opening was
large enough to get through if I wormed my way in on my
belly.

Shakily, I stood up on my
legs, trying to balance on the narrow ledge. I'd need the
flashlight to see, but I would also need both hands. Leaning myself
against the wall, I stuck the flashlight beneath my chin and chest
and then patted my back pockets to find the one that contained the
rope.

"If you have duct tape I
would use that. The last time someone used rope they ended up
blind. You know, since the rope slipped and the flashlight died on
impact." The voice was back. I wasn't sure if I was grateful. "I
have to be honest and tell you that after that it wasn't much of a
success." Frowning for a moment, I nodded, then began patting my
pants to find the one with tape. Once I had the tape, I ripped off
two pieces and stuck them against the flashlight and then onto my
forehead. I'd kill for a miner helmet right about now.

"I really can't wait to see
how you'll pull this one off."

If I ever got my hands on
that voice...

"You weren't sure I could
actually do this before sending me here?" I felt frustration. Pure
frustration.

"You could be more
thankful, I could have just turned the cameras off and let you fend
for yourself."

I huffed. "Right, I'm very
thankful to have been forced down here." I tried to calculate the
distance between the ledge and the opening. Pursing my lips, I
nodded to myself, bending through my knees as I mentally prepared
to jump.

"Do you have a hook?" The
voice suddenly asked, startling me and I shrieked as I'd nearly
tumbled down the ledge straight into the dogs mouths.

"What is your problem?!" I
shouted. "Save me and then kill me?!"

"I'm just curious, that's
all." I'd offended him, I could hear it in his voice.

"I don't have a hook." I
replied more calmly.

"Then how-" Groaning, I cut
him off.

"Just watch, okay?" I
waited for a moment after having said that and then nodded in
satisfaction, as he remained silent.

Bending through my knees
again, I tensed my posture, preparing myself as I took a deep
breath. I wondered why I was so determined to stay alive. They
obviously wanted me dead. Why would that guy be helping me
though?

Shaking my head, I assumed
I was just not ready to stop breathing yet. With that in mind, I
pushed hard off my feet, jumping for the wall on my right. The
barking below me stopped, most likely having been surprised at my
sudden move. Once my feet touched the wall, I pressed off it again
as quickly as I could manage, flinging myself to the left, much
higher up. Once my left foot and left hand connected with the
bricks, I pushed up and then hoped that my hands would reach the
edge of the opening.

While I was dangling in the
air again with my right hand firmly closed around the opening’s
edge, I breathed in deeply, letting my forehead and nose touch the
cold stone as I took a moment before beginning the process of
worming my way through.

"You did it!" The voice
announced in awe. "It was like a video game!"

Not sharing his excitement
and overall happiness, I pulled myself up so I could stick my head
through the opening. It would be a tight fit, but manageable. I was
glad for my lack of curves now.

Peeking my head out on the
other side, I looked around this new area. It was small, still part
of the dungeon, with a ledge in the middle of the wall, exactly
like the other side, just that bars here blocked the arch
opening.

"Another dead end?" I
didn't even have the energy to shout and wasn't even all that
surprised. I was so not in LV anymore.

"True, but you didn't get
eaten by dogs, did you?" The voice said.

Grunting back at him, I
pushed myself through, feeling fear prickle through me as I was
forced to let myself drop. It was deep enough to give me time to
flip over so I could land with my feet on the ledge. Looking at the
ground below, I made sure there were no dogs before dropping
down.

"I didn't." I answered him.
"But now I'll starve or die of boredom."

"Well," He began, the
warning flutter returning to my stomach. "Not exactly. That was
just the first part. If you defy the Steward again tomorrow, you'll
have to go through the second part." He paused. "And repeat that
until you die or answer."

I sagged against the wall
behind me.

"Xania is trying to break
me?" My muscles unlocked and I let myself sit. "This isn't exactly
your general method of torture."

"Torture it is, no less."
He pointed out.

"So," I started, not sure I
could process everything that had happened to me up until this very
moment. "You're what? My guide? A loud map to make sure I don't die
in here?" I knew I sounded snappy.

"Sort of. Think of me as
the player and you the character inside the game."

I winced. "That's what you
meant with video game." He hummed in agreement, sounding cheerful
at the idea of our future adventures together.

I cleared my throat.
"Person who holds the fate of my life in their hands; how many of
your 'game characters' died in the first part because you didn't
push the button on your keyboard fast enough?" The concerning
silence that followed scared me down to my bones, more so when the
sound of an audible click reached my ears informing me that I was
now truly alone in this small space.

Letting my head fall back
against the stone wall, I closed my eyes, trying to find a
comfortable position to sleep in. I reached up with one hand,
turning off the flashlight and thinking it best to keep as much
battery as possible if this was to keep on…Well, for however long
it would take me to break.