Eternal Blue 4: Alone Again
#4 of Eternal Blue
Tireal awoke slowly; his arms limp and stinging from loss of circulation. He cursed to himself and rose to his feet; shaking his arms to get blood moving through them again. He looked around him after his arms stopped tingling. This wasn't the hospital room he fell asleep in. He was in a small room with one window high up on the wall, a chair and a sink were next to each other in one corner of the room and a small bed sat on the far wall. Tireal felt uneasy. Something wasn't right about this room, but nothing seemed odd at first glance. He let his eyes wander around the room once more and then he noticed it. The door was ajar. If this was a prison, it certainly wasn't very well fortified. He cautiously pushed the door the rest of the way open and peered out into the relatively short hallway outside. When he was sure that the coast was clear, he slid out of the room and looked around. The hallway was uneventful in itself; it appeared to be like any other stone-walled, wood-floored hallway with torches lighting it. The otter felt a chill run down his spine as there wasn't another creature to be found. There were no scents either, not even of himself. The otter started to wonder if he was dreaming.
"H-hello?" he tentatively called, but there was no answer.
The otter started to feel frightened. He cautiously started to walk down the hallway; looking from side to side nervously. He wasn't used to doing things alone; usually Quint was there to help him. He hoped the hyena was alright. Tireal wouldn't know what to do if the worst happened to him. A thought entered his mind:
"Why am I still walking...?"
If his assumptions of space were correct, he should have reached the end of the hallway by now, but it looked just as far away as when he started. The otter looked behind him and saw that he had indeed walked quite a ways from the other end of the hallway. Tireal felt more ill at ease and decided that he would watch where he was going this time. He made his feet move again and watched, dismayed as the end of the hallway moved with him. He started to run. The otter's mind played through all of the bad scenarios that could have possibly gotten him into this mess. A teleportation spell gone wrong, misuse of a particular artifact, angering someone of great power; they circled his mind like an angry swarm of bees. The otter stopped running and collapsed to his knees, breathless. He looked around him, genuinely scared now, as if suspecting some sort of fiend to appear and end his life. Tireal sat with his back against the wall, looking both ways down the hallway with his knees tucked to his chest. Silence followed.
Tireal was alone.
He just wanted Quint by his side. The hyena would have some witty remark to lighten the otter's spirits were he here. Loneliness be damned. The otter was determined to find his way out of this place. The thought still nagged at his mind and he couldn't seem to shake it off.
He was alone.
It was true; he was alone in this place, but... but... Tireal felt a tear drip down his cheek.
"I'm alone..." He sobbed. "I'm alone and I don't know what to do!"
The otter propped his arms on his knees and cried into them. Where was he? Where was Quint? Tireal tried to guess what his life would be like if the hyena was gone for good, but it only brought more tears.
"Someone... ANYONE," he shouted, "...someone help me... I can't be on my own"
The otter cried still, thoughts swarming through his mind like maggots through rotting meat. Something was wrong. Tireal lifted his head and sniffed the air. He smelled a vague scent of smoke, but he shrugged it off; assuming it was the torches.
"Quint... where are you...?"
The otter lifted his head and he saw through tear blurred eyes that the hallway still stretched away from him in both directions. He shakily got to his feet. How was he going to get out of this? The otter started walking again. What else was he supposed to do? Indeed, what else could he do? A chilled breeze sped towards him from the direction he was walking, freezing his blood with its presence. The torches flickered in the breeze, but didn't go out; leaving Tireal shivering and clutching his heart as he leaned against the wall. The otter's eyes were wide with fright, but he made himself move again. He had to try to reach the end of this hallway.
Noises touched his ears a few steps later, but not long enough for him to discern what they were.
He kept walking.
Another breeze, colder than the last, threatened to blow out the torches lighting the dark hall.
He kept walking. And then the torches went out.
Tireal stopped moving.
He couldn't see anything. The otter lifted his hand in front of his face and saw only darkness. Well this was just wonderful. Tireal put his hand on the wall and slowly kept walking down the now pitch black hallway. With nothing to see, the otter's thoughts and fears blew themselves out of proportion. His heart started to race in his chest and he felt sweat start to drip down his forehead. The noises he had heard before reached his ears more clearly now, only adding to the fear that the young otter felt. His hand touched something warm that was different from the cold stone of the wall. His fears dwindled for a second as curiosity took over. He let his hand explore this warm thing. He traced the curves and dips in the object's surface, trying to figure out what it was. He got his answer when the thing pulled him into a passionate kiss without warning. Tireal struggled for only a moment and then gave in to the sensation and pleasure of the embrace. The other fur released him and then it whispered into his ear,
"Fear is freedom." It said, "Embrace your fear and you will no longer be afraid."
Tireal touched cold stone once again. That voice... could it really have been Quint? The otter was alone once again in the darkness, but he hadn't lost his way, not yet. He put his hand against the wall and marched more determined down the corridor. The noises returned; distant screams and wails from unknown creatures.
Tireal heard them and took them into himself; drawing the fear through him.
He would not fear.
The noises brought back the wind.
He would not fear.
The noises and wind grew stronger.
"I'm not afraid!"
Everything stopped.
Tireal kept walking and shortly afterwards, the torches relit themselves.
"That wasn't so bad," He thought as he continued to walk towards the much closer end of the hallway. He let go of the wall and walked the last few feet more confidently, but as he reached the end of the hallway, he realized that that's all it was: an end. There was only one door in the wall in front of him and no other exits to this strange hall he was in. Tireal steeled himself and pulled open the door slowly. Intense heat hit him suddenly and the door slammed open as a large back-draft threw the young otter backwards down the hall. Dazed, Tireal lay on his stomach on the cold stone of the floor; groaning in pain. He lifted his head to see the flames from the room beyond lapping at the door and the stone walls. His vision blurred and he fell into unconsciousness.
***
Two rats watched the otter slip into sleep once more in a glowing orb-like object. Quint lay unconscious on the floor at their feet.
"Most interesting fantasies this otter has," said one rat.
He was dressed in a dark blue uniform with a black, flowing cape hanging lazily behind him; leaning on a black cane with the Kathseran royal crest under his palm. He twirled a long whisker with a finger idly as he watched the orb. The other rat nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, General his actions only prove the worth of the two as a pair."
This rat wore a white coat almost like a lab-coat. The general looked down at the clothes-less hyena. On the floor and gestured to him with a foot.
"Prepare this one." He said sternly to the other rat. "I want of a full report when this test is complete." He lifted the cane under his arm before turning on his heel and marching out the door.
The other rat looked down at Quint and dragged him into an adjoining room.
***
Quint awoke; head throbbing in pain. This was not the hospital room he had fallen asleep in. There was a table, his guns with holsters and a lamp in the corner. He lay on a bed, completely without any clothing, revealing just how many scars painted his body. He sat up and frowned. They could have at least given him something to wear. He strapped his pistols to his waist and checked each one for ammunition; great; only eight shots between the two of them. The hyena walked to the door and pushed it open. Pulling out his pistol just in time as the door revealed an armed rat guard. The hyena shot the gun out of the rat's hand and tackled the startled rodent to the floor; tying his hands with the shoulder strap of the guard's rifle.
"Thank you." He took the rifle and walked down the hallway ahead.
Quint winced as a bullet whizzed passed his head.
"Dammit," he thought as two more guards rounded the corner.
There was no cover; he was going to have to wing it. Silence followed as Quint stared at the two guards; waiting for them to make their move. A gun went off and Quint was already moving. He jumped towards the wall and kicked off of it with his left foot as bullets flew around him; expertly shooting both guns from the guards' hands. The rats cried out in alarm and sunk to their knees. One of them scrambled for his missing weapon as Quint descended upon him with the butt of the rifle. The other guard held up his hands in defense. The hyena struck him as well and tied their hands and feet; picking up their guns and continuing on his way down the corridor.
He heard a noise; a scream.
"Tireal...!?" The hyena sped up his steps, hoping that he wouldn't be too late to save his friend.
END?