Chapter 18~~~ Lost and Found
Razakiel's POV
The inky darkness almost tangible presence; oppressive and almost suffocating in its thickness. It is so constricting in its very existence that the mere process of taking a breath is a task in itself and with each passing moment my breathing become shallower and more labored until the process is near impossible. And yet the slow descent, at least I believe we are descanting the inherent darkness makes it feel as if we may not be moving at all, to our destination continues for eternity.
As my lungs continue to feel constricted and my breath labored, I begin to think I will run out of oxygen and die before I ever make it to my destination. And yet we continue even after the slight trickle of fear in my veins has turned to flood and even my belief that the others are somewhere nearby in the darkness has abandoned me.
And finally, I close my eyes giving up on any attempt to see, any attempt to find an end to the darkness. Moments later the suffocating presence disappears and there is a small amount of light pressing against the outside of my eyelids. The shock of finding light after being in darkness for so long causes me to squint against it despite my already closed eyes.
Taking a few relieving deep breathes, filled with scorching heat that feels like it should burn through my lungs, I open my eyes.
The air around me seems to shimmer in the heat, the rocky walls are black as tar and spider webbed with cracks that glow a fiery red as if there is a raging fire burning deep within their depths. Even as I slowly turn in a circle to see if any of the others are with me a fine sheen of perspiration develops on my skin and the heat continues to scotch my lungs until I am dripping with sweat and struggling to function in the overwhelming heat.
As I turn it becomes clear that I am in a small round room with only one exit; a narrow tunnel leads away from where I stand, its walls the same glassy black as the room I stand with veins of fire running through it. None of the others stand in the room with me. I wait, hoping my isolation will come to an end, until the whispering echo of distant voices reaches me through the long narrow tunnel and I begin to wonder if the others haven't already found their way from this room.
With only silence surrounding me down here, I take a few steps towards the tunnel, glancing back as I reach the entrance to find I am still alone, I take the first step into the unknown, hoping that I'll find the others down here somewhere. Hoping Lucia is down here somewhere safe with them.
I force the thoughts to the back of my mind to prevent my worry for Luc from overpowering me; thinking about her fear of the dark will not help me find her any faster. It doesn't stop the spike in my heart rate or the increase as I determine I need to find her, find them I remind myself, as quickly as possible. The heat makes it next to impossible to move at speed and so I am left to walk as quickly as I am able to through the tunnel which starts of as straight as an arrow before it starts a steep winding descent that leaves me with completely at a loss as to where I am going.
Eventually the narrow path begins to widen until it could easily cater seven people standing abreast and soon after it opens into a giant vaulted cavern astounding in its sheer size; I can barely discern the walls on the far side across me, the glowing embers barely visible at the distance. Taking another step forward to get a better view I discover I am at the very edge of the platform, a two-meter-wide ledge runs from where I stand as far as I can see around the outside of the gaping black hole in the center, so deep it seems to swallow any sound rather than echoing it back.
Tilting my head back, a shiver runs through me at the almost mirror image above me, a gaping black hole, spreading who knows how far up. Glancing back and forth between the gaping hole below and the gaping hole above me. The plan we devised to take down Lucifer starts to seem idiotic; we had absolutely no idea what Stagnum Ignis would be. I don't even know if I will be able to find the others let alone get from here to wherever Lucifer's 'Hell' is.
The crackling of rocks under my foot has my gaze settling on the wall a few meters above me, where another ledge hangs perpendicular to the wall.
"Hello?" I call the words almost instantly swallowed by the silence of the endless cavern, "Is someone up there?" Without further thought as to who it could be, I spring into the air, spreading my wings and speeding up to the ledge above, only to find it empty of life. My gaze travel first one way, then the other and back again. Brow knitted I can't stop the niggling of doubt that begins to creep in.
"Well, would ya look at this." A deep gravel voice murmurs from behind me, "I've found the last of em boys." before I can turn to face the voice, a crowd of shadows fall from above blocking both exits.
"Who are you?" I ask. A soft laugh sends chill down my spine and I take a step closer to the edge.
"Don't think about taking off, boy. We have both of your friends with us already. Less you want me to give em to my boys, you'd best not turn this into a chase." The grating voice was like steel; there would be no arguing with it and the heavy feeling in my chest as if desperately trying to break free off its cavity for a moment and I fear it may succeed, but with a few deep breaths I calm it enough to focus on the shadows before me.
"Okay, I'll come with you." I murmur, please don't hurt the others almost slipping form my lips as well, knowing all too well from my experience with Lucifer that for creatures like this begging only makes them want to hurt you that much more. The spine-chilling chuckle fills the air once more and I fight the edge to move away from whatever is capable of making such a noise.
"Let's be on our way than." The grading voice sounds once more. The shadows converge, their large hands grasping at my arm and shirt, the solid feel of them conflicting with their partial invisibility; feeling hands in me dragging me to an unknown destination without being able to see those hands creates an odd sense of discord within my mind send I am left walking with my eyes glued to the ground inches in front of my feet simply to stop the whirlwind of confusion swirling in my mind at the sight.
We walk around the edge of the gapping chasm heading further and further down its depths with each circle. Walking around the chasm once must take at least an hour, how these guys live down here without a better method of getting around preoccupies my mind for almost an entire round preoccupies my mind for almost an entire round before I open my mouth to question it.
"Oh, we 'ave 'em alright lad. You'll be joining 'em soon enough." A higher pitch voice, almost female sounding, answers my unspoken thought and my eyes widen, a brief chuckle, almost human sounding fills the silence, "Your angel powers don't work down here, lad." Laughter fills the voice and I remain silent at the revelation, searching my mind for any signs I am a shield, only to find nothing stands between my thoughts and the world. This is worse than any of us could possibly imagined.
Too many steps later shadows start disappearing, one at a time until only three remain and finally we turn one of the tunnels that lead of the path every couple of hundred meters. The heat seeming even worse once we enter the tunnel, my already wet clothing starts to cling to my body like a second skin as we delve further into the tunnel. We come to a stop and I am shoving to the side and falling to the ground sliding against the rough stone floor. The sight of jagged metal bars locking me in a small cell has me climbing to my feet once more.
My hands grip the bars of my cell. A hiss escapes my lips and I jump back at the contact. That chuckle sounds once again and I hesitate to move closer to the bars.
"I wouldn't be getting close to those bars, boy. Designed to torture angels like you tha' is." He chuckles again and almost disappears from sight completely as he takes a step back.
"Wait! Where are the others! You said you were taking me to the others." Before I even finish speaking a shadowy hand moves towards me becoming more and more substantial as it comes closer, until a clawed skeletal hand is hanging before the bars pointing into the cell behind me. Almost immediately it vanishes into the shadows once more and the three silhouettes move away from the cell until I can no longer see them.
Only then I do turn to follow the direction the hand pointed in. At the back of the cell in the far corner furthest from where I stand lay two figures. I rush towards them hoping they are alive, hoping Luc isn't hurt.
The larger one is Carita, his chest clearly rising and falling with life. Turning to the second body I collapsed to the ground when I realized it is Mili and not Luc. My hand grasps my hair in a tight fist and the urge to yell is almost unbearable. Where is she? Without a thought my hands move towards Carita and shake him until his eyes open and meets mine.
"Razakiel?" he asks, then he sits up, too fast judging by the hand he places on his head and the momentary blinking of his eyes as he adjusts to the change in posture, "So you're the third one they couldn't find. Mikheal and his angels must have gotten the other three before they could follow us down here." His words send my heart racing and too many thoughts of what could happen to her in heaven of all places tumble through my mind in a clutter.
"We have to get out of here." I push the desperate fear for Luc's safety and focus on what I can do; get out of here and help her before it's too late.
"Those are Shadow Reapers, Zak there is no way of getting away from them. And the bars on the cells are cursed, you can burlily touch them for a moment without getting burnt, Mili and I might last slightly longer as Nephilim but even we can only be near them for so longer before the effects hits us as well. We can't out of this cell unless they let us out. And even then, I have no idea how to get from here to wherever Lucifer is. The Reapers might know, in fact they probably do, but getting them to speak is near impossible unless they're taunting you in some way."
"What about with your powers? There must be something we can do to get out. We have to get to the others before it's too late; the angels will kill her for what she is. I can't just sit down here and do nothing until that happens.
"Our powers are weakened down here not as hopeless as yours but enough to make it impossible to get out. Ahreal and Carli are with her. They will ensure she is not harmed; I assure you. Without both you and Lucia our plan will never work. Ahreal must have some friends up there who will help get them out." Knowing his words are plausible doesn't stop the frantic beat of my heart or the terror of my thoughts but I try to force myself back to calm rather than irrationality as Carita turns to Mili and gently shakes her shoulder till she's awake.
"Did we make it?" she asks, her voice barely a whisper and Carita smile down at her, before helping her up in a sitting position, with her back against the wall.
"We made it, Mili," he answers in a gentle voice. She glances up at him, eyes wide and then around us, eyes pausing briefly at the barred gate, a flash of fear in her eyes before she flicks her gaze back to Carita.
"The shadows found us then," she says, "I hate it when the shadows find me. No one else ever does." She murmurs the last part almost to herself but Carita stiffens at the words.
"You've met the Shadow Reapers before, Mili?"