Chapter 15 - Part 5

The cold ground was humid and filled with slimy muck only Craters knew what lowly creature could secrete such substance. Haiden dimly lit the cavernous tunel with a bouncing light that stuck to the middle of the room allowing them to take a closer look to their surroundings. Now that the tension has been released, even the stuffy humid air that smelled of putrefaction felt fresh and clean. Although both of them felt light and bubble the situation did not change. They were still in mortal peril. The more Haiden thought about his future with Tasgal by his side, sharing his feelings the more he got discouraged. Outside held an empty promise of freedom while the very darkness that engulfed him felt safe from prying eyes.He knew for certain the fate that awaited them if they were to pursue their happiness. The woman in the plaza stood as a loud warning. Their lives would dangle by a thread fed by the slightest venomous whisper or spiteful rumor. Unsure of how to proceed he had fell silent, Tasgal following suit after exhausting every subject there is to talk about aside his past. He deflected question after question, answering very carefully about his Master, or Councilman Ameral, Bras' father. It was a strange position to be in. In love with a servant who belonged to the father of his enemy. An enemy that was neither weak or touchable made for a sour subject for conversation, entirely not suitable when your love had just confessed to you, but Haiden could not hold his scorn anymore.

"I'll fucking kill him." Haiden let out from time to time. Tasgal knew the person in question; Bras. The young wielder who Haiden had made an enemy of from week one. He always thought himself a fool for stepping in, but there was something inside him that did not let him look the other way. He pondered often on his actions, and most did not make sense. It wasn't that he cared, he didn't even know Maree back then, and yet he stepped in. He didn't know the woman in the plaza yet he wanted to take action. He will never truly know Mara, the one who gifted Haiden the ability of saving someone, and yet he yearned for her revenge. He never got to a reasonable answer. Just extrapolated guesses that made sense, but felt wrong. He was deprived of his past, so it was useless to even try and figure his actions out, but he tried nonetheless. His biggest mystery was his preference of the same sex. He wished he knew how it felt to grow up like a Yev'Ah. Did he had any crushes, or lovers before? Did he know more people like him? Did his parents know? And more importantly did they love or despise him for it? Those were questions that he never got to answer. He simply did not know, and there were no books in the entire library to show him the answer. He believed that's why he liked books so much, that's why it felt like he didn't read books, but they read themselves to him. Because they had answers etched into them with the knowledge of the past, forever recorded.

Tasgal laid on the floor, a shiver going through his spine as Haiden traced figure eights with his finger on the back go his hand. It was soft and gentle just like the jet black hair, now tousled, that tickled at Tasgal's face. Haiden laid with his head on the Ashen's chest sharing the heat of their bodies. Haiden could easily create a heat cloak without even batting an eye, but Tasgal came with the idea before Haiden could offer his solution to the cold draft. If he was honest with himself, he just wanted to be as close as humanly possible to Tasgal, and something that made his heart flutter with the wings of a thousand airbugs made him think that he did too.

Worms slid along the wall trying to find a patch of soft ground along with other skittling creatures that avoided the light as if it burned them. They nauseating little things, black with long antennae that probed excitedly at anything that might be sustenance. Their elongated bodies riddled with legs stickying from every which way made them an awful sight. Haiden preferred to close his eyes and just listen to Tasgal's heartbeat. Depending on how he moved or on what he did, his heartbeat would race or calm down. It was liberating to see that Tasgal reacted just like him. He traced the figure eight deliberately as he noticed when he reached a certain soft spot on Tasgal's hand, his heart flew into a frenzy. Haiden felt unstoppable and to his surprise happy. Even if he were to die in this Creators forsake maze of tunnels, at least he could say that he finally understood what happiness really was. Nevertheless, he could not let it overstage the shadow of his soul. Like Master Coner, that now nameless wielder in Haiden's memory that killed that poor woman in the plaza, even like Bras, he too was a murderer. His memories were the books that held his answers and someone had stolen them, just like he did with the Headmistress' book - probably just as easy. He thought,

Haiden did not know how long they've been waiting, but it felt like hours, maybe days. At least five. He told himself as he shifted in Tasgal's embrace. "You're comfortable." He said without a thought. Tasgal's lips curled into a handsome smile and leaned into a sweet kiss. He secretly hope this would never end. He thought he would rather meet his end here and live with Haiden in his arms than go out and face reality for what it was, were it not for the fallibility of man. He needed to drink, and eat, and sleep, and breathe something else other than stale aire and carrion. But Haiden nestled even more into his pectorals and his sudden needs centered on one desire too shameful to say. He sighed and inhaled Haiden's scent. It was earthy and sweet although he was certain he sweat just as much as he did. It was intoxicating.

"Wish we'd stay like this forever, Haid." Tasgal whispered.

"I would do with more fresh air, but I guess..." he paused for a second and looked up at the Ashen. "Haid?" he asked.

"Yeah, trying something new. Don't like it?" he stifled a laugh as Haiden blew hot air from his nostrils. "Alright, then I'm sticking to Den-Den."

"If you keep this up, Bras might get what he wants." Haiden warned and Tasgal laughed with a soft rumbled that touched Haiden's very soul.

"It's better than little guy, at least." he admitted.

"You can stick to Haid' for now," Haiden relented. "But only! ONLY if you stop with the little guy." he crossed his arms like a petulant child and sulked. "You're not even that tall." he said between his teeth.

"Haid, it is." Tasgal laughed again while gently patting his head, mocking him sweetly.

Screech's nose knows always. A voice resounded in Haiden's mind.

"Finally!" Haiden exploded on his two feet and looked around for the creature. "Screech?" He finally said out loud so that Tasgal was aware as well.

"That little fucker's here?" he asked looking around and over his shoulder.

Tall beast mad at Screech. Screech innocent!

"It's alright, Screech. He's not mad at you."

The why call Screech names. The creature made a pause as if he realised something important. Why know Screech?

"I told him about you. All of it." Haiden confessed. "Do you think you can show yourself to him?"

The green blob appeared from out of Haiden's vision. Rolls of viscous substance washed over Screech's rotund shape.

Kiss Tasgal - Bras will lure Haiden and Tasgal into the depths of the palace and there they will find Coner's lab and they will see what he was doing to the slaves. His vestigial appendage flapping through the air as if it could proppell such a voluminous globe. His always crooked eyes gave him a always suspicious look which, in this case, was greatly exaggerated by the surprise and confusion from Haiden's words.

Knows? He repeated the word in various magnitudes of loud, from a shout to a whisper then a murmur then stopped abruptly. Shows? He yelled in Haiden's mind.

"Stop acting like a buffoon and answer already." Haiden lost his patience.

Screech can show, but Screech need energy. It said in a sly voice, but Haiden didn't know what to make of it. He was nervous and eager for Tasgal to meet Screech. Sharing another secret with Tasgal was exhilarating. He had never known how powerful sharing a secret with someone is. Their lives depended on one another and he trusted Tasgal would never use it to hurt him.

"Take as much as you need." Haiden answered and released his energy with a wave, a static prickling his skin.

"What does that mean? Tasgal quickly asked.

"Meens Screech can speak." Tasgal turned quickly only to see the floating gree viscous ball that waved like a child in front of him. Its disfigured face and holes for a nose disgusted Tagal to his core. It kept waving its fragile bony hand that ended in just three digits. Pointy and flexible. It slowly stopped his hand as he began to recognise Tasgal's face of disgust.

"Wh-What is that?!" Tasgal grabbed Haiden's shoulders as if he was small enough to fit behind him.

"Screech is Screech!" Its left fist thumped his stout chest.

"Screech, Tas. Tas, Screech." Haiden quickly introduced and Screech reached in for a handshake which Tasgal never took. The creature awkwardly fumbled with his hand that laid in wait of a squeeze, as if the man could actually touch him.

"It's hideous!" Tasgal breathed.

"Rich coming tall handsome man!" Screech shouted back at Tasgal.

"I don't think that's how that works." Tasgal told Haiden, his blue eyes never leaving the floating orb of green ooze.

"He's a bit slow, but he's good. Trust me." Haiden said, leaning in from the ground to take his cape. They had been using it as a blanket while they waited.

"Fine, but I din't trust It." Tasgal replied.

"I was talking to Screech." Haiden laughed and Screech joined too. Tasgal pouted his lips and harrumphed. It was the most adorable sight he had ever laid his eyes on. At that moment, Haiden knew he had to do anything he could to see that face in the daylight. "Did you find the way out, Screech?" immediately the atmosphere changed and the creature backed down. "What is it?" Haiden followed up.

"Screech, uh...Screech.... Yes...Exit? Maybe...Don't know?" It mumbled and shrugged at Haiden.

"Please, creators, tell me you've found something." Haiden let out a sigh.

"Maybe other way?" Screech proposed.

"What other way? There's only that arch over there!" Tasgal pointed at the velvety black just beyond the room.

"What's wrong with this one, Screech?" Haiden pushed for an answer.

"Not, good. Not good." it repeated.

"There's no other way. Come, Screech. Show me." Haiden finally managed to get the grime out of his cloak with a bit of wielding and placed it neatly on. He reached out for a hand and, as if he knew, Tasgal's rough hand clasped together with his. "Are you coming?" Haiden asked from behind his shoulder.

"Screech come." it finally said with its neckless head downward in a sulking position.

The tunnel that followed beyond the arch wasn't as tall as the room they were in with Tasgal having to duck his head so he could pass. It wasn't as intimidating now that Haiden managed to lit their entire way until the next crossroad. Luckily for them, it was wide, just enough berth for both Tasgal and Haiden. Screech had lead them through a few twists and turns and left and right as they pushed forward. There were a lot of landslides and broken bricks that flooded with dirt or mud. At points they would thread through knee high water and at times swim through cobwebs thick as Haiden's hair. He didn't know where Screech was taking him, but he had to trust the thing. He never did anything to hurt Haiden so far. They were tied together after all

Another sudden change in behavior as they approached another arch that opened to a wider room. Screech became fearful, his small hands rubbed against each other and he looked cautiously around, behind every stone, stray chair, or pieces of furniture so rotten even the faintest of breaths would have turned them into dust.

"Quick. Quick." it whispered. Haiden put his finger to his lips signaling Tasgal to keep quiet and pulled on his hand to follow. The threaded carefully on the uneven brick ground. There smooth dips and valleys in the floor as if people had walked thousands of years through these tunnels, while others were just holes made by something powerful. Haiden didn't pay them too much attention as his sole focus was getting Tasgal out of here and probably murder the third person in line for the throne. Depending on the mood, he affirmed. "Quicker!" Screech insisted as it tried to push tasgal from behind only to pass through him, leaving him with an icy chill in his spine.

"Fuck!" Tasgal clasped his mouth as fast as he could as if it would have turned back time to stop him from yelling. "That's not a great feeling." he whispered

"No. No. No!. It wakens." Screech said, bolting past Haiden and Tasgal hiding behind a stone.

Haiden readied his fighting stance, putting himself between him and Tasgal. An arm stretched as if it solely could protect his man from anything in the world.

A smile crept on Tasgal's face. "This is the first time someone actually tried to protect me." he laughed.

"You're useless without your sword, you know?"

"We'll see about that." he stepped next to Haiden and readied his fighting stance while moving slowly towards the other entrance of the room.

To Haiden, the room seemed quiet enough, but Tasgal looked like he followed something with his focused gaze. Haiden perched his ears and waited to see if he could pick anything up. A moment a absolute silence from their steps allowed him to catch a slither from behind a few rocks away.

"Can you make more of those?" tasgal asked pointing at the light Haiden held above their heads. Haiden nodded and quickly procured a few spheres of light that bounced softly across the room. At once the creature that stalked them in the dark moved with haste behind some stone pillars that crumbled under their own weight. It weaved sinuously without error in movement across multiple structures until it was out of sight in the dark.

"What was that?" Haiden asked bewildered.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out. Don't let your guard down, Haid." Tasgal said concerned, but he wasn't aware that Haiden had raised a very strong barrier around them already.

"Screech, stay with us." He called out.

"It doesn't have anywhere to go. A cornered creature is a dangerous one. Move slowly but move away." Tasgal warned. They were almost clear of the creature, but thanks to Haiden's innate clumsiness he stumbled on a dislodged brock, fumbling to the ground giving the creature the perfect opportunity to strike. And it did so.

It slithered in a lighting fast strike which was only met by the strong barrier with a thunk. It reatreated too fast for Haiden to catch a glimpse, but something told him that he didn't want another creature to haunt his dreams.

Tasgal rushed to his aid pulling Haiden on his feet with only one arm.

"I got you, Heid." he said warmly. Haiden hid his embarrassment, giving a quick nod and moving forward.

They were almost to the dark arch when the creature decided to let out a squeal so ear shattering it froze them in place. The ground shook as thousands of slithering bodies brushed the brick ground and walls from whence they came.

"Hurry up!" Tasgal shouted, grabbing Haiden's hand and pulling him along. Haiden never thought he could run so fast in his life. They ran through corridors of brick and dirt, ignoring the awkwardly placed objects that found themselves in these Creators forsaken ways. They followed Screech's lead bobbing and weaving through a dark maze.

Haiden's feet burned with exhaustion, not even his training with Tasgal prepared him for such a marathon. They had been running away for more than half an hour with their pursuers still in tail. Screech kept promising that they're almost there became a tiresome loop until finally they reached a dead end.

"You said you knew the way, you bastard!" Tasgal shouted at Screech.

"This way! Only way!" It insisted as it went through the solid metal door that blocked their way. He stuck his head again waiting for them to follow, only after realising that, unlike him, they couldn't pass through solid objects.

Both Tasgal and Haiden pressed their backs to the metal door. It was cold and rough to the touch. Where have I seen this before!? Haiden asked himself. He didn't get a second more to think before another thunk resounded through the dark, damp space. Then another. And another. And soon it came one after another, constantly beating at Haiden's barrier.

"Shit, they're too many." Tasgal said between hardened breaths.

"I'll handle this." Haiden detached himself from the door and moved just out of the slithering creatures reach.

"Be careful." Tasgal warned.

"Careful. Yes." Scratch repeated and ducked his head back behind the door. The creatures stopped bashing themselves at the barrier but instead grabbed at it with human-like hands. It was a fluid motion, with their heads covered by a mane of white haire, the scaly beings ripped through the energy of the barrier with their bare hands.

A sense of urgency surged through Haiden "Fuck!" he bit his lip. He had no choice. Haiden felt the static on his skin as it danced with joy. He will not let these failed creations kill Tasgal. Thinking back to that wretched night in the forest to his first day at the Academy and finally to his parents. The blaze he once feared and despised, that hurt him so much would now serve to protect. He held a hand to the creatures that reached at him with sickeningly five digit hands that webbed between each finger. With a single whim of Haiden's will, flames flowed with the waves of an ocean. They engulfed the whole tunnel in a bright spectacle of dancing oranges and yellows as everything lit ablaze. The silhouette of the creatures writhed in the inferno Haiden unleashed, squealing with too much unbotheredsome.

They squealed for a few solid minutes until Haiden closed the gates to his Fios. The flames had singed everything but the creatures to ash. The stones around them had partially melted red while flesh beings stood without even soot on them. "Creators..." Haiden managed to let out as his knees gave out. He had released too much energy during his short burst, but he had enough to maintain the barrier.

"They're unscaved even after that?" Tasgal said in shock. "No...Slithering monsters, immune to wielding, human-like features. No..." Tasgal repeated.

"What is it? Say it already!" Haiden scrambled to his feet and backed away from his barrier. The creatures began to tear away at the barrier again with the same fluid motions of their humanoid hands.

"I think this is a nest of Shrill! They absorb Fios." Tasgal said with a tremor in his voice.

"Fuck!" he backed up to the door again. The creatures were getting closer. And ripping through multiple layers of strong shield.

"I wish we had more time together, like that time where we read perverted facts about creatures." Tasgal said closing in on Haiden and giving him a tight embrace.

"They weren't perverted." he laughed.

"Yeah, tell that to the grass ghyt that has 1 foot long penis that's used as a shovel. Is that what you do with every Ashen you heal? Sequestre them for a week and then read perverted facts to them?"

"Heal! Tasgal, you're a genius!" At that moment, it clicked. The door. He saw the same exact door when Master Coner dragged Mara through the castle. He quickly looked at the top of the door to see some strange signs. He ran back to touch it. It wasn't rough, it was full of small rigged channels. "Think, Haiden. Think!" he told himself trying to remember what Master Coner was doing to unlock the door. He had been out of it that time to remember clearly but he saw Master Coner placing a palm and closing his eyes.

Haiden tried multiple places and touched the door randomly. The channels formed a beautiful pattern, intricate and delicate, only visible to those who would search for it Haiden closed his eyes and sent as much energy as he could spare, without exposing themselves, into the door, exploring. It was frightening. The metal was no simple iron or steel, it absorbed the Fios, but Haiden was wary of it. They were still alive thanks to his strong shield, if his energy were to vanish all of the sudden, it would mean their demise. He quickly sent probing energy to see if he would sense anything, and he did. The door's inner mechanism had small notches arranged in the same pattern of the door. Those notches housed a material that fed on Fios. It was incredible, even in his limited knowledge on the world and naive mind he would have never thought something like this would exist.

"If you're going to do something, do it now, Haid!" Tasgal said as he covered Haiden's body with his own, ready to punch a few fuckers in their deformed faces.

"What do you think I'm doing here, drinking tea?" he snapped. Haiden didn't need Tasgal's warnings. He felt how little energy he had left and how weak his shields had become. One grasp at the barrier would tear it away. The rest of the creatures seemed to toy with him, taunting knowingly he stood no chance - it was just a matter of time. They enjoyed the thrill of an anticipated meal. But Haiden would not give up so easily. In a desperate move for survival, Haiden poured all of his remaining energy into the notches. The mechanism turned slightly and the door opened just as his barrier collapsed allowing a few dozen of creatures to rush towards them with a triumphant squeal and hiss.

"Not ready to die yet!" Tasgal shouted and hoisted Haiden over his shoulder in a quick fluid motion and pushed the heavy door with all of his might. Once beyond the doorstep, he threw Haiden to the ground and with both hands he pushed the door closing it full. The mechanism reacted and the door sealed. The advancing creatures hit the metal door hard. They banged on it with the sense of preservation and squealed a gut wrenching sound.

"You could be more gentle, you know." Haiden said, rubbing a sore bump on his head.

"Hey, If there was time for any...pleasantries," Tasgal wiggled his eyebrow as soon as Haiden procured a light,

"We just escaped death! You could be a bit more serious." Haiden warned.

"Yeah, what's new?" He said, nearing in on Haiden and wrapping his long arms around him. A soft peck on his head where the bump was melted Haiden's heart. Tasgal thought that for one second Haiden had purred but passed it off as possible a reaction from a near death experience. Haiden wished he had more time to rest inTasgal's arms, but he was now in a just as dangerous place as any. Master Coner's room. The same room he wanted to drag Mara mara in were it not for that man that intervened.

He broke free from Tasgal's embrace and looked around. It was dark and so created another light and sent it in the center while the first he kept it on his person. As soon as the room was illuminated all sorts of metal contraptions, tables, rags of blood and modies came to light. The tables were littered with body parts and glass substances that were tightly sealed with wax.

Disemboweled people laid sprawled around the room. Some were as if they were posed in a grotesque position intentionally. It chilled Haiden to the bone and Tasgal simply puked next one of the bodies.

"This is Master Coner's room." Haiden said.

"No, it can't be. He's a healer!"

"Believe me. It can. He's a monster." Haiden said, his lips curling downward in disgust. The room was not big, but it housed a few metal containers and other devices he didn't know what they would be used for. As they moved forward to the door on the other side of the room Haiden stopped and dropped to his knees.

Before him, laid naked, with black jet hair and pale complection, Mara. She was tied up on a vertical table, dangling lifeless by hier hands. Strange runes were etched into her skin, with bits of flesh missing and scarring all over her body. One of her hands was a brown color as opposed to the powdery white of the rest. Her skin turned into scales by the time it reached her fingers which now were tied together by a thin membrane. Haidne touched her cheek with a gentle touch. He knew there was no point in trying but he hoped that a gasp would welcome him before he could help Mara get away from a monster like Master Coner. But such gasp never came. Her head laid limp, dangling from her neck. She already smelled of decaying flesh, putrid, sweet, painful. Haiden collapsed on his knees and sobbed quietly at the girl he thought he had helped. Haiden grabbed a clump of dirt from the ground and punched the hole he had just made by clawing at the dirt.

"Haiden, i know you're hurt, but right now, we need to take care of ourselves." Tasgal crouched down for Haiden and helped him get up.

Once the tears had dried, and the creatures still beating at the door, they decided to move to the next one once

Haiden had enough energy, which didn't last long to accumulate. With a final push the opposite, and only, door opened. Haiden stole another glance of Mara, forever to be etched in his memory. "You didn't deserve this," he said a quick prayer in his mind and followed Tasgal to freedom.