By JBV and Joel Quill
The corridors wove and shifted, forming a maze of metal that wore on Jay's spirit. Initially he was gung ho about leaving after getting through the first door, but finding a way out of the ship was a trial of its own. He and Lily had gone upstairs, and back down. Moved far to the left and then were taken in the opposite direction. In all this time and running Jay had only formed one conclusion, this ship was more massive than he previously thought. At some point the group had lost their pursuers, but Jay almost wished he knew where they were for some clue of how to escape. In this situation he couldn't help remember the tales of Theseus he heard as a kid; and he knew the Minotaur could be lurking around any corner of this labyrinth. Jay became very conscious of Lily's arm that he was still holding. She had not spoken nor protested since they left the room, Jay knew that she was in a bit shell shocked from the betrayal of her friend and his consequential decision to slam Yokinna's head against the wall. In his turmoil he knew there could have been another answer that didn't lead to a possible concussion against the one that had given them at least a bit of comfort; but in the heat of the moment only one path prevailed. He knew he had to apologize and try to return her comfort, but that goal took the back burner to their current predicament.After a dozen more minutes of endless winding, they found themselves facing yet another door. There were no distinguishing factors to try and tell one part of the ship from another. Metal pipes and walls with signs in a language that could not be read were abundant and led to numerous dead ends. However, this one seemed different. What laid before them was very clearly a door but it was slightly different from the rest of the ship. It was heavily reinforced with a small slit at the bottom, Jay assumed it was there to insert items into the room without actually stepping inside; to protect people from whatever was inside. Jay released his grip upon Lily's arm and leaned down towards the slot. He struggled to open the slot and eventually just used his telekinesis to hold it open. To get a better understanding, he leaned his head down towards the small opening to peer inside. The room was illuminated in a red glow. Jay couldn't see very high off the floor but he saw two sets of chains that seemed to hold someone's feet suspended in the air. Despite the alarmingness of the depiction, the strangest part was the floor was covered in withered forms of different plants. The more Jay stared at the floor, the more he saw that plants seemed to bud and grow, then die just as fast, as if their life cycle was accelerated. Jay observed the room for a couple of minutes before a voice called out from within the room in the same language as the foreigners on the ship. Jay scooted back fast, trying to get as much distance between him and the door as possible. Jay pushed himself and Lily away a couple of yards in case any danger would come from the door. The person inside spoke again once more, but this time it was in Jay and Lily's language.
"Did y'all forget your own language? Give me my damn food, I'm starving in here!" the voice didn't sound happy. However, it did give Jay a glimmer of clarity and hope, the person inside was not a foreigner. Jay moved closer to the door once more.
"You speak our language and theirs? How?" Jay asked cautiously.The sound of rattling chains came from the slot under the door.
"Woah! Who am I speaking to! You obviously aren't a YAK, you speak Illver too well!" Lily stared puzzled at Jay and mouthed the word "Yak". The hostility in the man's voice completely defused and now was close to jovial. Jay didn't share his excitement.
"Answer my question first...how do you know both languages…" Jay asked. He ignited his magic ready for anything unexpected. A laugh came from the door, it reminded Jay slightly of the carefree laugh that Hector erupted through the halls of his castle.
"Of course! Sorry it was rude of me to not answer. I have been stuck here since I was around 9 years old, you pick up the language as the years go by." He laughed even more but his humor did not resonate with his audience.
"Years? That's impossible this ship just appeared in Illverstand…" Jay said.
"AH SO WE ARE BACK!" The voice yelled, "Good! I was wondering why they started firing again. The Yaks sure do like to test their strength, I can't believe I am actually home."
"Home?" The pieces suddenly fit together in Jay's head. "So that's how you speak our language. What is a Yak? And when di…" Jay gets cut off by the undercutting voice from behind the door.
"You know, you are asking a lot of questions for someone who isn't willing to give something in return…" the man's voice changed to ice, Jay was shocked at this person's charisma. He could cause a range of emotions to be affected by whoever he is speaking to just by simple inflectional changes in his voice. "Let's strike a deal…" The voice said jovial once more. Jay felt a pit in his stomach, an ever growing fear of what the voice might say next, The voice continued. "If you let me out of this room, I will not only answer your questions, I will help you off this ship." Lily and Jay looked at each other. They deeply desired a way off the ship, however they also desired safety. The fact that this person knew their language was not enough proof to say that he was not hostile. "You may be thinking to yourselves 'just because he speaks our language doesn't mean he is safe'...But let me give you, what I believe, to be full reason to trust me" the voice said. Lily and Jay both craned their neck towards the door intrigued by his statement. "I am a druid."
Lily looked confused, but Jay understood entirely. Druids are an extinct group of magic users that lived deep in the forest. They all inherited a form of magic that was a mutation of earth magic that allowed them to control plant life. They were originally a group of warriors that many people feared and were far respected for their use of combat magic, however they were also seen as mercenaries, just looking for worthy battle. Around the time of Heather's rebellion many years ago, the druids were part of his personal army that he used to take over most of Illverstand, and the rest of the world. After Heather's was defeated by the Alliance of Aristocracy, the druids were either put to death, or imprisoned. A group of druids escaped from jail and didn't resurface until years later in a small group and proclaimed that they had taken a pact of non-violence, that the only time they would attack would be in self defense. Many of the nations of the world did not accept this, but Jay's grandfather did and allowed the newly formed druids to retain residence within Illverstand. From then, little was known about their presence after they drifted off into the wilderness, they had been assumed to have naturally died over the many years. Now they were mainly regarded as legends rather than an actual people. Jay only knew of their presence because his father would tell him stories of the king and queen sparring with the druids, even making it to the level of reaching the druidic rite of passage, but never took full steps to become a member. As far as the former king knew, most of the druids died out as many of the members of the community rejected their new way of life, and sought the Draconic kingdom to find true combat instead of peaceful botany. Jay knew that if he truly was a druid, which based off the plants growing and dying in the room he could assume he was telling the truth; the pact of non-violence was extremely binding. He could not attack them, if they didn't attack first.
"Please…" the voice became solemn, "based on your silence I can assume you know what that means. I just want to be let go." Jay began to wrestle with his thoughts. He had no true reasons to trust the person behind the door but his rational side and sympathetics over took his conflict. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the voice inside, even if it was laced with manipulation.
"Let's say I decided to free you....How would I go about doing that?" Jay asked quizzically. A loud huzzah came from the other side of the door.
"Oh this is great! All you will need to do is find the key, or get me a fresh seed, or if you have strong enough magic; rip the door off!" The voice yelled out to them. All three ideas were unreasonable and improbable.
"Do you know where any of those might be? I am not able to navigate this ship...That is why we need you…" Jay stated, they all stopped for a second and realized their predicament. Lily, forgetting herself, spoke up.
"How are we supposed to get you out then! Also why do you need a seed?" The voice laughed again. His laughter began to be a little annoying in the face of their dilemma.
"That is a good point little girl who I didn't know was there! I control plants, so if I had a fresh seed I could break myself out. All the ones in here are withered and dying, despite my best efforts." The voice gave a chuckle but it was more weary and frustrated than happy. "There is a redlight that they placed above me that withers my plants each time I try to grow them.
"Why don't you just destroy the red light?" Lily asked. Jay contemplated for a second. He and the man on the other side both felt stupid, they just didn't know they both were thinking the same thing. Jay walked back towards the door and lowered himself so he could see inside the room. He moved around trying to get different angles so he could see the ceiling, and in the uncomfortable position of laying on his back with his head tilted almost to its full extent, he finally was able to see the bulb. He imagined the ethereal hand that existed within his mind grabbing the bulb, and with one pull, the bulb shattered out of its socket. The room became pitch black, and an orchestra of destructive sounds began to come from the room. The sound of rapid growth, a large amassing, chains breaking and shattering into multiple pieces, and finally a loud bang against the door that caused a huge dent in its center. The moment the dent appeared the lights throughout the corridor became red and a horrible screeching sound emanated from the ceiling. Along with the screeching, a voice came from the ceiling that sounded like the foreigners' language. Jay scooted across the floor and jumped to his feet. Another bang then dent appeared in the door, then another, then after the fifth hit, the door finally fell flat. Red light illuminated the black room slightly, just enough to make out the silhouettes that were present within. A small figure stood in the middle of a mass of flowing large greenish red entities. The figure laughed and smiled, his smile was the only fully visible thing in the room, which gave the whole scene an eire horror. Lily and Jay both grabbed onto each other, searching for support from what they have just released. Jay and Lily heard a group of foreign voices behind them, they had been found. A group of five soldiers came running down the corridor, full armor, carrying assault rifles and dawning their demonic mask. Jay froze for a moment in their sight. He desired the ability to react but instead felt stuck, like a child, he found that their weapons scared him. A mass of green foliage burst forth from the door and heads straight towards Jay and Lily. Before it makes contact with them, it separates into different points and spreads around them, before coming back together on the other side forming a shield around them. Bullets flew through the air making a thud noise against the green mass. Lily screamed at the sound but none of the bullets made it through the shield. A green glow ignited from the eyes of the figure in the door, and its smile grew wider. He stuck his hand forward, and slowly extended his five fingers, one at a time, from his palm. With each that extended, a tendril of green plant life appeared behind him like a tail. He took his open hand and turned in so his palm was facing the adjacent wall rather than the front of him. He made a fist once more and the tendril thrust forth at an incredible speed. They flew through the air, becoming thin as a needles point. The five tendrils each pierce a different soldier directly through their hearts. No blood poured out of them, nor was the scene extremely grotesque. They just seem to kinda go limp and dropped to the floor. The tendrils retracted themselves to the room, and the figure inside began to step out. Jay and Lily uncoiled themselves after the ordeal had ended and looked towards their savior. In their heads, the voice on the other side was most likely a tall, brutish, happy man that was imbued with the characteristics of a hero. Instead, who stared back at them was the smile of a 5 foot young boy, with light brown skin, messy black hair, and emerald green eyes. He was scrawny, but his presence was huge. They both looked at him in amazement and he laughed at their faces.
"My name is Kins Sell. You may grovel before your savior." Kins said to them beaming with pure joy. Lily and Jay both maintained their puzzled demeanor. Their savior was a kid like them.