Escape - Chapter 30.1
Chapter 30.1
“You don’t want to kill me? Is that not in your programming?”
A crack spiderwebbed across the floor beneath her feet. Adeline calmly looked down. There was nowhere to run.
“Eric, we need to use the return scroll.”
Geto, who had been anxiously watching the situation, spoke first, his voice unusually subdued.
Even for them, the only way to avoid this skill, manifested to its maximum potential, was to use a return scroll. The one they had would take them to District 10.
“Wait.”
Eric knew they had to leave, but the desire to see this through overrode his reason. He didn’t realize it, but when it came to her, the ever-rational Eric became anything but.
“Farewell. I’ll send your friend along shortly, so don’t worry.”
Shade smiled crookedly, gesturing towards the throne with his chin before flicking his fingers.
‘Skill: Thousand Hands of the Wraith, activate.’
A sudden touch around her ankle startled Adeline. Looking down, she saw the wraiths of the dead clawing their way up from the fiery abyss, reaching for her. She struggled, but to no avail. The pale, resentful hands clung to her legs, one becoming two, two becoming three, until her body was almost completely obscured.
The last bit of ground beneath her feet crumbled, and she plunged downwards, engulfed by the wraiths.
“Geto, the scroll, now!”
“What? But… that… what…”
A deafening roar filled the air. Geto stared blankly, mouth agape, as water from the distant lake began to surge towards them, a colossal tidal wave, the kind seen only in the vastest oceans.
The wave crashed into the fiery pit, erupting into a cloud of steam with a hissing sound. But the water, far exceeding the capacity of even the largest lake, surged onward.
This wasn’t the volume of a lake, or even a river. It was an ocean.
“Ah, I see. The master of the serpent.”
Shade began to laugh maniacally, as if struck by a revelation.
“Jörmungandr, was it?”
The sheer volume of water was impossible for a mere lake. 12 was the serpent, the world serpent Jörmungandr, its tail in its mouth, encircling the universe. This lake must be connected to the ocean, and within that ocean, humanity’s new frontier.
Realization dawned on Shade, and he burst into laughter. Such a cheap price for their lives. The reward for his comrades’ three years of effort was merely a path to District 8. ‘This damned game.’
A flash of light, and Eric and Geto vanished.
The towering wave now crashed down upon Shade and Adeline. Below, the scorching heat; above, the crushing water. Adeline closed her eyes.
The water slammed into the lava, sweeping away the wraiths that had been climbing the cliff. Then, the churning wave consumed Adeline and Shade.
She plunged into the water, air bubbles escaping her lips. Scalding water enveloped her, the clinging wraiths torn away, leaving her in a boundless void.
She thrashed, blinking. In the inky blue darkness, a massive form emerged from the depths. Her lungs filled with water. Adeline squeezed her eyes shut.
***
She opened her eyes to a sapphire world. Above, below, all around, an endless indigo darkness. She had never seen so much water. ‘This must be a dream.’ She couldn’t possibly be breathing so easily underwater.
A distant, muffled sound, like pressing her hands against her ears as a child, filled the silence. Complete tranquility. Why did she feel no fear in this open expanse? Perhaps it was true what they said, that the human body, being mostly water, found comfort in its presence.
This sense of safety felt unfamiliar, almost forgotten. She had been running for so long, searching for Damian, desperate to reach him.
‘I just want to rest,’ she thought, ‘to fall into a deep sleep, free from thought.’ As she relaxed, she realized she was lying on something: a hard, smooth surface. Immense scales. She knew this creature.
‘Ah, yes. This is…’
‘A serpent.’
And Adeline awoke.
***
The sound of rushing water was the first thing she heard, not the trickle of a faucet, but the gentle lapping of a vast body of water.
Next came sight. She blinked in the dim light. The ceiling was pitch black. Turning her head, she saw an endless horizon. So much water. Like the ocean she’d read about in books.
‘Am I still dreaming?’ As she stared at the dreamlike, dark blue expanse, she sensed a presence. Adeline pushed herself up, her waterlogged clothes heavy on her body.
At the same moment, 12, who had been gazing at the horizon, turned. His golden eyes, luminous in the darkness, met hers. His half-lidded gaze pierced through her.
“…Damian?”
“That name again.”
A gentle breeze stirred, ruffling his dark hair and the collar of his white shirt, soaked through like his skin.
“Did you save me?”
He didn’t answer, only returned his gaze to the sea.
“…I had a dream, or I thought it was a dream. But it was you, wasn’t it?”
The impossibly large serpent. The strong, reassuring scales in the vast ocean. His eyes narrowed. After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“The taboo has been broken.”
‘Taboo?’ Before she could ask, 12 turned back to her.
“‘Let’s leave together.’ Where do you want to go?”
He reached out, his hand closing around her slender throat, as if he might snap it at any moment.
