Chapter 20: Jack; Shauran 24th; 344SR; 9:00
The chains around his arms yanked, they bound him with an uncomforting tightness. Jack still struggled in fear and vain, as the chains pulled him and Eckleflor along through the air. Ajal broke free of his chains, but it was already too late. A massive skeleton that couldn't have belonged to a human crawled over the bridge, swiping and biting at Ajal.
"Let us go!" Jack demanded to no avail.
His feet dangled helplessly above the top of the fort, being brought closer to his captors. He was horrified to see what they really looked like. Vacant eye sockets with a green glow at the center, their skin pitch black, its teeth weren't behind lips. 'What the- that's its skull!' Its teeth rattled as it turned its head and stared at the other one Eckleflor was in front of. They both turned and began to float down into the fort, Jack continued to struggle, but Eckleflor remained calm. 'I need to use spirit arts! Breathe! You can't wait for Ajal right now if he's fighting that giant!' Jack took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
"Jack, wait!" Eckleflor suddenly called.
"Huh, wait?" Jack replied in confusion.
"These things won't kill us," Eckleflor stated confidently.
Jack looked at the various bodies of hybrids suspended in the air in the fort, 'What does he mean?'
"What are they going to do then?" Jack asked nervously.
"I- I don't know, I really don't want to know either," Eckleflor said hesitantly as he shook his head.
"What?"
"Hey! Hey ugly!" Eckleflor suddenly snapped at the ghoulish-looking woman.
The two strange creatures didn't respond. Jack and Eckleflor were lowered behind the wall, out of sight from Ajal. Jack glanced back over the wall and heard the sound of rocks crashing and water splashing violently. 'What was that?! What's going on over there!'
A third sorceress awaited the other two, this one stood in the middle of several hybrid bodies, suspended in the air by chains. The three mages simply looked at one another, turning their heads between the other while shaking inconsistently. The small courtyard stained with blood, skeletons in armor walked about, and multiple weapons lay around the ground. The weapons which had bright shining steel were different in design from the much rustier weapons. The rusty weapons had triangle-shaped guards, and their weapons were much more jagged, the edges serrated.
"It looks like they don't understand me, okay, Jack, when it takes us into that hole, I need you to scream and struggle," Eckleflor asked calmly.
"Huh?" Jack said.
"Just do it, it's the only way we get out of this."
"That sounds- pointless?"
"Just trust me."
"Uh-" Jack looked up at the hole Eckleflor was talking about. "Okay... as long as you have a plan that'll work... This better work..." Jack tried to remain calm.
"Heh, don't worry. It's not my first time dealing with the Damned."
"The Damned?"
"Yeah... That's what the angels call them, Not sure why, but I definitely don't wanna be them."
Without a word, the two skeletal women turned away from the third and started to move towards the hole like Eckleflor had said they would. 'How did he know that?' As Jack's mind started racing, he continued to breathe rhythmically and charged his spirit into his fist. Jack breathed in deeply, inhaling for several seconds until his chest felt tight. 'Okay!'
"Aaaah!"
Jack started to kick and shout frantically. The sorceresses slowly descended into the hole, and Jack screamed even louder. He struggled against the chains, as Eckleflor told him to. As Jack ran out of breath, his scream quieted down, he looked toward their captors. They didn't even notice, Jack looked to Eckleflor with a puzzled face.
"That was good," Eckleflor complimented.
'Huh?' Jack looked back, and he noticed a gold glint near the entrance to the hole. 'What is that? What did he do?' Eckleflor's expression remained calm and confident.
They descended further into the hole and Jack's nose was flooded with a putrid scent, it became difficult to focus as his nose stung. A dense wave of fog smothered Jack's face, it was much hotter within the hole as well. Around the hole was nothing but darkness, and far ahead was a faint light. They floated above a stream of dirty water, and the sides were elevated for people to walk on.
"Jack, Ajal said you were good at spirit arts right? " Eckleflor asked suddenly.
"No, I really don't know why he thinks so- I can't do a fraction of what he does," Jack exclaimed as he continued to struggle.
"Calm down, I just need to know, can you hit them really really hard?"
"Sure? I mean all I did was mine logorite..."
"Then you're strong, much stronger than me."
"I-"
"When they let us go, that's when you strike."
"When they let us go?"
"The Damned normally take corpses back underground with them. However, they don't do this with non-unified, they specifically take us back alive. I don't know where that is, no one ever comes back, but I certainly don't want to go there. I'm kind of depending on you."
"The Damned? Is that what they're called? How do you know all of this?"
"I'm a smuggler, remember? It's not the first time I've been caught like this, when the chains start to disappear they'll recast the spell. That's when you should strike. Go for the head. You'll only have a few seconds..."
Jack felt his right arm fall freely to his side and he, the chain that restrained it had disappeared. 'This is it! Focus!' Jack immediately reached up and grabbed the chain around his waist with his palm, 'Break! Break! Break!' Jack focused his spirit into his hand, another chain came loose and his leg came free. The two women turned and began to waive their wands in the air again. The chain around Jack's other leg came off and he fell towards the floor onto his knees, Jack stopped squeezing on the chain keeping his left arm tied back 'It's not breaking!' Jack grunted as he tried to break the chain. He looked forward at the two mages and stopped for a moment, he suddenly grasped the chain around his waist.
"Come on, come on," Eckleflor repeated as sweat ran down his head.
'I'm.. Not going to die here!' The chain around Jack's left arm disappeared and he immediately pushed himself forward and grasped the chain at his waist with both hands. As he got close enough to strike, he felt his spirit pulse in at his palms. 'Spirit Ignition!' The chain snapped and Jack stumbled forward as he clenched his fist. He didn't think about it or prepare for it, he threw all his weight forward, planting his elbow into the sorceress's jaw and tackling them to the ground.
"Ah!" Jack screamed as they both hit the ground..
The skill shattered to Jack's surprise, his elbow struck the ground, but he didn't even think about the pain that rattled through. 'It's so brittle? She's so light?!' Jack quickly got to his feet and charged for the next. He clenched his fist and focused his spirit, 'Spirit Ignition!' Jack planted his foot and swung forward. He struck a green triangle-shaped gem in its chest, it looked and felt like Logorite. Its rib cage cracked, causing the skeletal sorceress to fall backward. Jack's heart beat quickly as he grasped his arm, 'Fuck! Ah!' Jack squeezed his arm as an uncomforting throb spread through, he struck his funny bone when he hit the stone earlier.
"It's still alive!" Eckleflor yelled.
Jack panicked as he realized his punch hadn't finished her. The ghoulish mage writhed on the ground, it was still alive. Before it could get back up, Jack quickly grasped the back of its skull, pulling it up by its dry white hair, and getting a good hold of the back of its skull. With all his strength he pushed the skull forward and smashed it against the wall. A loud clang echoed through the cave as shards of the skull dropped to the sewer floor.
"Ha...Ha..." Jack breathed in and out, and his heart rate slowed as he calmed down.
Jack held his arm as he looked down at the body on the ground. A screech broke his focus as he looked back at the other mage. Its head was broken, just the lower jaw remained. He looked up and noticed the purple cloud, the edges of the chains peaked out of the cloud. 'Shit-' Jack quickly jumped out of the way but two of the chains ensnared his right arm and leg. Jack pushed off the ground with his left foot and tried to hit her, but his fist swung through the air just out of reach.
"No!" said Eckleflor.
"Damn!" Jack grunted.
She raised her long staff in the air and started to wave it around in circles, the skulls at the end of it tapped against one another as Jack was pulled by the chains. Jack looked down and noticed the other staff, it had rolled out of the hand of the corpse. 'That's it!' Jack looked down at the other body, and quickly crouched down, picking up the other staff made of jagged wood with his left hand, and focusing his spirit into his shoulder. He hoisted it above his head and threw straight it toward the woman. The staff spun in the air, it was a bad throw, however, it still struck the skeletal woman, breaking her focus, and the chains around Jack disappeared. The ghoulish woman immediately tried to swing the staff, and Jack saw it coming, quickly catching it. Jack didn't hesitate, he raised his foot and kicked the skeleton to the ground, it let go of the staff. With a quick motion, he brought the weapon over his head and bludgeoned the wood into her bony body. Then raising the staff and bringing it down on its skull, breathing heavily he lifted it back up only to bring it back down on her head again, and again.
"Jack..." Eckleflor spoke up.
"Huh?" Jack huffed.
"I think it's dead..."
Jack looked down at the skeleton on the ground, its skull and torso now a pile of shards. He dropped the stick, and the pain in his right hand caused his fingers to shake as his hand went numb. The skin on his knuckles was scraped to reveal red flesh, the putrid air irritated his wound, and he shook his hand in an attempt to ignore the itch.
"You're incredible, I didn't think you could do it... You only had a few seconds after that fourth chain breaking, but you did it," Eckleflor complimented.
"What the hell are these things, where did they come from?" Jack panted as he analyzed the strange triangle-like markings on the staff.
"The Damned aren't non-unified, demons or hybrids, in truth; I don't know what they are. We better keep going though, the ones below will send more."
"More?!"
"Yeah, let's go, this tunnel leads to Andurill."
"It does? What- what about the others?"
"Ajal will take care of them."
Eckleflor started walking towards the faint light in the distance, and Jack followed. They continued down the tunnel for several minutes, Eckleflor walked quite far in front while Jack slowed down to observe his surroundings. A small stream of water in the center of the tunnel rolled down the decline.
"Why is there water in here?" Jack said.
"This tunnel is used to transport water from the river we just crossed, those holes up there lead up to various other tunnels and channels for water to flow through," Eckleflor explained, his tone a little surprised by Jack's ignorance.
"Why are they sending water through pipes?"
"Huh? Oh- You've been in Logos too long for your own good, this is a sewer system. All of the hybrid countries which live under the law of the alliance are supplied clean water via these conduits at the turn of a knob."
"At the turn of a knob? They don't carry it?"
"Haha... Of course not, that's inefficient."
"If water comes through here... isn't it dangerous for us to be here?"
"Actually, no, this is a channel for water to go into the city, but the thing is-"
"What?"
"Those hybrid soldiers back there, the ones with the green robes- hm."
Eckleflor crossed his arms and looked down as he thought about his answer. Jack turned around, there was nothing but darkness behind him. Eckleflor started twirling his mustache while he continued to contemplate. They walked in silence for several more minutes, the light at the end of the tunnel grew in size the closer they got.
"How much do you know about the hybrids Jack?" Eckleflor suddenly asked.
"I know they use the logorite we mine against the demons. That and they are ferocious and have claws or wings and come in different shapes and sizes, and stuff," Jack rambled.
"Well, yeah that's- something? But there's more to them than that. The people who run this society, the upper government specifically, in Andurill are scholars, academics, and very knowledgeable people. Andurill and Dorad are ancient, it'll probably be one of the most unique places you ever see. The scholars wear a gray robe, specifically the descendants of Ophi and Wilo. The other countries belonging to the alliance are Welis, Baltin, and Lemen."
"Those soldiers back there with green robes, they were from Baltin's military right?"
"Yeah, that's what I was getting to. Not everyone in the Baltin's military is originally descendants of Morne, many are descendants of Jor, and only descendants from Jor were stationed at that outpost."
"What's the difference between descendants of Jor and Morne?"
"The majority of the descendants of Jor were once associated with someone who is now a renowned criminal, Banhu Uunan the inheritor of Jor's bell."
"Banhu? Jor's bell?"
"Banhu Uunan is one of Geral Murdok's three commanders. Because some of the descendants of Jor assisted him, their entire race was punished."
"That doesn't sound fair..."
"I mean- They are all radical extremist brutes, but... even the citizens who weren't associated with that monster aren't trusted. And thus you get the reason this tunnel is empty."
"Because of that Banhu guy?"
"Yeah, none of the forts or outposts or any citizen belonging to a descendant of a corrupt hybrid race receives the same rights as a non-corrupt one. So no water is sent through this pipe, it only smells bad because of the damned, rotting away down below."
'Non-corrupt?' "Rotting away? Those things back there are what make this whole place smell?"
"Huh? No- no that's not what I meant. We've walked by a couple, I don't know if you've noticed."
Eckleflor pointed up ahead at a broken hole in the side of the pipe. Jack's eyes had adjusted to the dark, and he noticed it 'Wait... We walked by a couple of these,' up ahead there was a large cracked open hole in the tunnel. Jack ran across the sewer and towards the hole and was about to peer inside, but he stopped when he looked at how dark it was. He felt anxious just thinking about putting his inside.
"Don't worry, you can hear them if they we're coming, they aren't on their way. The stench from thousands of them lingering deep below travels up those holes," Eckleflor assured.
"Wait... Thousands!?" Jack cried.
"They're under more than just Andurill, it's a complex cave system running underneath a lot of things, even part of the sea. It's odd... most incidents where people had encountered the damned, didn't have that many, and they walk around aimlessly. There were a lot of them back there... And they seemed to have a motive."
"How do you know about all of this? How many times have you gotten in and out? Have you been taken deep below the ground by the damned?"
"Andurill's libraries are a great source of information in regards to history, hybrids documented expeditions down there. But, information was limited due to soldiers being too scared to even try and go through there out of fear of being taken by the damned themselves. It's the current explanation for the strange types you'll see, like that big one that went after Ajal. There are probably more, more types that no one has ever seen before. The alliance has sworn that the damned will never reach the surface again."
"Again? Were they from the surface before?"
"I don't know, the alliance has always tried to stop the Damned. A portion of the logorite from Logos is even used to keep them at bay."
Jack heard those words and felt a hint of anger.
"The logorite? Isn't that... supposed to be used against the demons?" Jack asked, his tone having underlying anger boiling beneath.
"Jack!" An echo bounced through the tunnel, the voice sounded like John.
The light at the end of the tunnel drew closer and closer, Eckleflor started to jog towards it, Jack didn't know why. He looked over his shoulder and saw nothing but darkness behind him.
"Hey, Eckleflor! It's them, let's wait for them-" Jack turned to tell Eckleflor, but he was still jogging towards the exit. "Hey wait!"
Jack ran after Eckleflor, they slowly approached the light at the end of the tunnel. The outside light came closer and closer until the world came into view. The sun was rising and illuminated the sky with an early morning blue, Jack could see a group of children playing with an orange ball not far from Eckleflor. He looked up and saw two massive mountains, with two more large mountain peaks behind them and a city built around and in between them. In the mountains were massive towers which were of a design Jack had never seen before, the towers seemed to be built onto the mountainside. There were multiple red beams extending between buildings and the sounds of bells and drum beats from within the thicket of concrete overlapped one another. The buildings of the town seemed to grow larger the closer they got to the mountains. Eckleflor stood still, his back to Jack as he looked at the massive labyrinth of buildings, they were in a large pit made from concrete, and around the pit were puddles of water close to the exit of the pipe. Eckleflor giggled quietly.
The kids all had black hair, some had large sets of ears drooping over their heads. There were at least ten of them, four girls, and six boys, all darting around quickly one another jumping far and high to get the airborne ball. Atop the concrete ramp was a street at the edge of a dense city. Jack noticed an old man watching the kids while he sat on the bench, but upon a closer glance, he realized the old man was staring at him. One of the kids kicked the ball at the ramp and it hit the incline, flying directly up before it hit the ramp again and bounced toward Jack. Eckleflor turned to him as one of the children ran forward. Jack looked both ways as he approached, 'Oh crap... Is it okay for them to see me-'
"Excuse me, can you kick that back?" The black-haired boy asked.
"Huh," Jack looked at the kid with a blank expression.
"Uhm? Can you kick the ball back?" The child asked again.
Jack looked at the orange ball, made his way over to it, he looked back at the child, and then gave the ball a light tap with the front of his foot. It was light and it flew much farther than Jack thought it would, the kids looked up excitedly as the ball flew through the sky above him.
"Thanks!" The children cheered.
'What?' Jack scratched his head. 'What just happened?'
"You look more scared of the kids than they are of you," Eckleflor laughed
"They're scared of me? Why? What are they even doing?" Jack asked in confusion.
"What do you mean? They're playing? Whatever, anyways... this is where I think we part ways Jack," Eckleflor suddenly said.
"Part ways?" Jack replied.
"I only sought to get into Andurill... while also getting you and the others in. With this, I can finally achieve my dreams and ambitions. With that said, Jack, I'm curious, what is your goal?"
"My goal?"
"Yeah, your goal. What do you want from this world?"
Jack thought about the question for a moment, 'What... I want?' Jack thought about various things.
"Food? A nice bed? Maybe a place to live far away from the angels?" Jack replied.
"Ha~Haha!" Eckleflor broke out into a fit of laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"That was such a simple answer, didn't you have those things back in Logos," Eckleflor chuckled, even wiping a tear from his eye. "The curse of living as a slave still lingers over you, can't really blame you for that though."
"I'm cursed?"
"The people of Logos were very much successfully turned into perfect slaves, they had no ambitions for themselves, and their only ambition was living to see tomorrow. It may have not been calculated by the angels, but Alexander Rael's efforts to break the trust between the non-unified in Logos also supported this, creating a race of depressed slaves who refused to believe there could be a better outcome for their lives."
Jack felt a hint of anger within him when he heard Eckleflor say 'perfect slaves', but, he wasn't wrong. Jack still contemplated the question: 'What is my goal?' He glanced over at the massive city and the children smiling and running around innocently, as if unaware of the horrors in this world. He looked away, but part of him felt like the answer was right there in front of him.
"Jack, if you can't find your goal now, why don't you come with me? Abandon Ajal and the rest of the resistance," Eckleflor suddenly offered.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Jack replied with a confused expression.
"Ajal is strong, but strength alone won't get you anywhere on Grelt. And besides, it sounds like he has his own problems to attend to, he isn't even from this planet. He's also a pacifist, I think- I don't know he said he killed people in the past... So is he?"
"What do you mean? Ajal is our only chance to fight back and become free?"
"He's just a means to an end. And we don't even know if that would be the end of this nightmare. How long before the next corrupt bastard with the celestial on their side shows up to enforce their will."
"I..." Jack stuttered, he didn't know what to say. "What is your goal?"
"Me? I want a similar level of control as the angels, just not the notoriety. Some would think that's impossible without the celestial, but I believe in the power of people. Geral Murdok has escaped, it's only a matter of time now before the disasters start again."
"Disasters?"
"The powerful people like Ajal will throw power around with the flick of a wrist, but for us to be on top, we need to control those who wield the power."
Jack scratched his head, Eckleflor's words confused him. He noticed the old man again in the corner of his eye. The old man was no longer sitting on the bench, but instead, he was now pointing to his left and looking in Jack and Eckleflor's direction.
"Eckleflor, that old guy is looking at us..." Jack mentioned.
Eckleflor turned his head and saw the old man pointing. Jack looked to the right of the old man and saw an open entrance to a building.
"The locals over there are nice, they've helped me in the past, they know about what the non-unified go through, and are sympathetic. Oh, If you don't want to come with me, I should explain: This is the southeast district of Andurill, the city of Rea. In the southwest is Bellos, and in the northwest is Cabac. To the northeast is Ketova, and the wealthiest district in the center is called Anka. Rea is... It's- probably the poorest of the four, it's mostly full of descendants of Ophi which is why, after all, they only became a part of the hybrid alliance recently. You should be safe here for a bit, the gate to Argol is that way along this wall," Eckleflor said as he pointed to the left.
Jack turned around and noticed a giant black wall, it was at least fifty meters tall. Jack gulped, he didn't even notice it.
"That old man lives over there with his family, you and the others can stay here, you won't get caught by any guards. But, if you want to take your place by my side to change this world, come with me," Eckleflor offered.
Eckleflor raised his hand and Jack stared at it blankly for a moment, 'What is he talking about? Changing this world? Controlling the powerful?' Jack took a step back.
"I'll- I'll wait for the others," Jack decided.
"Very well, I understand. I hope the best for you Jack, you're a good person. Give the others my regards," Eckleflor turned and waved as he walked away.
"Wait! What about your ring!" Jack shouted.
"Keep it. It's not mine anyway," Eckleflor replied as he stepped up the concrete ramp and went further into the city.
'It's not his?' Jack watched him disappear from sight; he turned back to the old man and was immediately frightened to see him less than a meter away. 'What the!' Jack stepped back and shielded himself but the hunched-over old man was still pointing at the house from earlier.
"Hi-Hello," Jack greeted the man nervously.
The old man didn't reply. He had bushy eyebrows and a full beard. 'He doesn't want to eat me right... 'Jack couldn't see his mouth or his eyes. His lack of responses made him hard to read, and even harder to notice. He was hunched over, one hand behind his back, the other wrinkled finger pointed to the house still, his hand shook weakly. 'He's really old, he can barely stand... What does he want from me...' Jack scratched his head nervously.
"Grandpa! We told you not to get up!" One of the girls ran forward and hugged his side.
She and all the other kids had full heads of dense black hair, she didn't have large ears on the top of her head, but rather ears similar to Jack, only much smaller. The old man's weak hand patted the girl's head softly, she looked up at Jack with a puzzled face.
"Are you hungry?" The little girl asked.
"Huh? Uh, no?" Jack replied.
"Good. You look like you wanted to eat my grandpa," The girl said with childish seriousness.
"Eat? No, I- what?"
"Don't try lying to me! I watch that hole every day, and just today alone I've seen four monsters. Three if I don't count you!"
"Monsters?"
'You're the monsters...'
"I'm not one of those things!" Jack angrily tried to assure her.
"Prove it," she gave him a sharp stare.
Jack cringed as this little girl no older than twelve failed to trust him, 'How am I supposed to prove that?'
"Korra stop, you dummy he's too fat to be that monster, he's probably a non-unified." A boy said in a lazy tone.
He had a helmet of hair, an almost perfect globe that wrapped around the top of his skinny head. He and Korra both wore dirty and ragged clothing.
"Yeah! I'm not fat enough to-" Jack stopped, suddenly confused at what he heard.
"Yeah! Tell em' how much of a dummy he is Yorrin!"
"I called you that... You're so dumb Korra..."
"Huh! What do you mean? I have better grades than you!"
"Yeah, grade. Only one of your grades is better than mine, out of like... eight. Dummy..."
'What's with these kids...' Jack wondered but felt his stomach grumble. The old man tugged at Jack's shirt and pointed at the building again. Then tugged harder suddenly and Jack stumbled forward slightly 'Holy shit, where did that strength come from... What does he want from me? '
Jack started towards the blue-painted building, he looked to the left at the red pillars stretching between buildings, covering the streets in shadow lit up by blue paper lanterns. The buildings were covered in drawings, the one Jack approached was painted blue with warm-colored flowers childishly drawn around the outside. 'What if they try to make me a slave here since I escaped Logos...'
The doors of all of the buildings were nothing but black cloth. Jack walked up the ramp, the ground was made of concrete as well, he felt nervous as he grabbed the black cloth and pulled it to the side. 'What's up with these massive buildings... Scary... '
There was a dirty black and white tile floor, and various shoes and sandals were collected on it. Jack walked onto the dirty yellow mat, the tiled floor was lower than the rest of the floor which was a grey carpet. There was a stairwell to the left, and a path to the right leading to a room with a garbage can in between a cut section of a counter. A green light illuminated the room. 'Green light?'
Jack noticed movement in the room up ahead, his head turned quickly and his legs tensed up. A short woman walked over to the garbage and dumped a pile of onion skins into it, she turned around and noticed Jack.
She had her hair tied up in a bun, wearing a black apron over a white sleeveless shirt, a black skirt, and some plain sandals. Her arms were small but she was a little chubby. Her big yellow eyes scanned Jack from head to toe as he did the same. Jack noticed the silver blade she held, it was covered in blood, and her hand was also stained red. Jack's eyes went wide as he saw it, 'Oh no... no way!'
"Are you-" The lady tried to ask.
Jack's heart beat quickly, he stumbled backward into a shoe rack. His fear of the angels and hybrids overpowered him. The lady walked forward and raised her hands, with the knife. Jack turned and sprinted out of the building. The old man outside turned around with wide eyes when he saw Jack run out, a terrified expression on his face. He raised a hand but Jack ran to the right down the sidewalk towards a path leading into the city.
"Wait!" She tried to call, but Jack turned the corner and bolted down the sidewalk as fast as he could.