Getting back to Andy's mind was like lifting my hand from a hot kettle; like a huge weight was lifted from me. The pain was still there, in my body waiting for me whenever I got back to it...
Andy rose to the air, hovering a few distance from the ground but it wasn't going berserk any time...
Sky stood behind my body that leaned completely on her, like something that had lost its control and was dead.
I had told her to hold my body because I was about to do the mind transfer thing and wouldn't want my body to fall to its death. Mind transfers couldn't possibly have a spare body?
There was an expression of fear and shock on her pale face revealing an inner turmoil within her; probably because she was finding it hard to take in everything that had happened, just like I was.
There was no way for Andy to communicate with Sky. But that wasn't any problem at all because all she had to do was hide in the wooden cart and be driven out to safety by Andy.
Sky struggled as she tried to lead my body to the cart. It was practically a mindless body so there was no consciousness to hold back some weight.
'Let me do that ' I said but these words only came out as growls. I was finding it hard to get used to not communicating with my fellow human in such a dire situation.
Moving closer to Sky to help her carry my body she jerked backwards leaving my body to almost fall to the ground.
I got to my body on time just before it landed on the ground, causing Sky to shiver in fear as her buttocks found their way to the ground. She had forgotten that it wasn't the creature in control of its own body.
I was sure I'd do the exact same thing if I was in her position. Andy wasn't a pleasant sight to see up close and its speed when I sent it to save my falling body must have sent a new wave of fear firing inside every fiber of Sky's being.
"I'm so sorry," Sky said but her trembling voice gave her fear away. It was totally okay to be terrified.
Even though Andy gave me some kind of leverage I was still terribly frightened by all the ways everything could go wrong.
"I didn't mean to do that. I just got thrown out of balance by that thing" Sky was walking to the wooden cart that Hassan was in as she watched me place my body just next to Hassan's.
There was enough space for up to seven humans.
" Is that thing a ghost? " Sky was still shocked and afraid but beneath that, there was a rising curiosity. You'd think the creatures with claws would find it difficult to maneuver intricate and delicate objects without clawing into them or causing a huge mess.
Raising Andy's shoulders I made it to shrug. Judging from the expression on Sky's face it was an odd sight but that was better than terrifying her with growls that she wouldn't even understand.
Before she climbed into the wooden cart she took a last look at the terrifying creature that was about to cover her with a strange piece of clothing.
Her expression was that of an unwilling trust; like she had no other choice than to trust the strange creature that housed the mind of a bloodthirsty creature and a stranger she had just met.
'Oh shit' Kept on repeating in my mind as I walked out of the storage room. Somehow none of the creatures had noticed the mess I had made in that heated place and that was to our advantage.
I made Andy move fast because we couldn't afford to cross paths with the top creature. Move fast to where? I only had vivid images of where Andy had been and that wasn't that helpful because the Cave pavers team Andy had belonged to didn't ever leave the caves.
On the bright side, we could use Andy's cave paving experience to get away from a multitude of those creatures.
Finding a balance between moving at a fast enough pace before the creatures notice the fishy thing going on and not moving too fast that Andy would look suspicious was not an easy thing but it worked out for us not to get noticed.
When we got to the door that led to a new set of caves I felt a bit of relief but a new sense of fear dawned on me. It's been long since Andy had been there.
Would they notice when an outcast tries to move amongst them with a wooden cart that was supposed to be only seen with the hunters?
There was a possibility that the place would be empty and also a possibility that it would be filled to the brim with creatures busy with cave paving and the ones that are there to help with the miniature tasks.
Leaving the center room was enough nice luck for us. The new cave was filled with different cave pavers fully invested in clawing their way through the cave stones.
They were unbelievably strong as their claws made random stone particles fly into the air.
They hadn't made much progress but the ones they had done were so fine that it would have been easier to believe that the caves were paved in a slower, finer process rather than the rapid and crude way the creatures worked.
These creatures also made me wonder about how strong the hunters were especially when they were supposedly lower than them in the caste system.
Their numbers weren't anything to us because our presence was drowned out by the noise that was echoed by the cave making it hard for the hunters that were engrossed in their work.
From the door, there was space; not as huge as the center space we had just left. It served as an entrance that had two already paved ways on the side with a third one near it.
You could see the hunters paving the third one. It was evident that the third one hadn't gone deep because the lights from the crystals didn't run deep unlike the first two paths.
We had to choose between the first two paths that we would have to follow. And by "we " I was the only one to make that decision.
My only guide was to avoid as many creatures as I could to avoid fighting any.
One of the two paved paths had lighted crystals that went all the way deep till even Andy's eyes could reach while the second one had been lighted halfway through.
With the former less filled than the latter it was safer to go through it, but who knew what lay beyond what Andy's sight could reach?
The second paved path could still be uncompleted...
I had to think fast so I wouldn't meet any creature. None of the paths could possibly lead outside or maybe they could.
That wasn't something I could decide based on the little information I could divulge from Andy's brain from time to time.
'If I could somehow gain access to everything I need to escape '
But things just don't work that way; things weren't just handed to people, they'd have to fight for them. And that was what I was going to do; fight with every drop of whatever juice Andy was made of.
The lighted path was the chosen choice. It didn't take much time to pass through it because we didn't encounter any creatures.
Some points in the path had holes in them, in the shape of doors. The doors led to dark parts so I couldn't make any sense of anything there.
There weren't any growls heard so I just assumed that there weren't any creatures in there.
As Andy hovered through the path I wondered
'What are the odds that this path would lead us out of this hellhole? '
What was the probability that we would leave the caves without any fight?
'Zero' I thought answering the last question but the answer to the thought about 'What are the odds that this path would lead us out of this hellhole? ' was a hundred percent.
The path I chose was the right one; it was one out of nine paths that led outside into a clearing that was the outer part of the cave.
Just beyond the clearing, we could see heavy snow falling through the air. We were in the right place but would we survive the many creatures that stared at us completely aware that an outcast shouldn't be with a hunter's wooden cart?