The Heart Of Gaia - Chapter 8 Into The Shadows

“What are you doing here!?”

“How did you get here!?”

I heard the surprised voices of men as I sat on the concrete floor of what seems to be a large unfinished warehouse, the place seemed dark as the surrounding area was shrouded In shadows but it was illuminated by what seemed to be lanterns that burned bright except it had a greenish hue. The Knights all stared at me suspiciously, they all wore different kinds of armor that varied: light, heavy, and leather armor. One of the knights stomped towards me, as I saw his angry expression. He lifted me up by my collar and stared at me angrily.

“Who are you? and What are you doing here!?” he said angrily.

I was stuck on what I wanted to say so I just stared at him inconsiderately.

“You better say something or else I’m going to skin you alive!”

“I’m Knoxx Abbot! I’m a recruit under Instructor Bardel!” I said anxiously.

“Oh you mean Sir Bardel?”

“Y-yes!”

“Then why didn’t you say so from the very beginning!”

He suddenly smiled and let go of his tight grip. He pulled me to stand as I saw at least thirty of them. He motioned his hand in the air as one of the men behind him came to the front, this person had a cloak on thus covering his identity.

“Can you inform Madame Cordelia and Nolan Bardel that we have a recruit here, named of Knoxx Abbot.”

“So Knoxx care to tell me how did you get here? and how did you know?”

As he popped his knuckles in front of me with an intimidating smile. I couldn’t tell him that I eavesdropped on the council meeting as it would get me into a messy trouble.

“Uh… I was exploring the Fortress and then suddenly I got here!”

I lied as I tried to put up the best acting I could do. He nodded but I knew that he saw through my horrible acting, soon the cloaked man came. As they talked I saw his eyes slowly widened with shock.

“A change of plans! all of you will be proceeding to the designated location. Dale, John and Cain! come with me!”

The rest of the men hurriedly marched away as the five of us were left here. He pulled me to the left and told to follow him.

“Where are we going?! and who are you?!”

“We’re going to Sir Bardel as he’s the closest one here. I’m Harrison Trawly, Captain of 158th Squadron of the South Regional Liberators and right-hand man of Seneschal Nolan Bardel.”

“Please! Mr. Trawly sir! Please I don’t want to get sent back!”

For the past two whole days I’ve been keeping to myself, preparing to get here. I brought a sword and wore my necklace, wore the finest armor that I could find from the Fortress armory. But too bad it didn’t work out as I tried moving with the armor when we teleported but I failed pathetically as the full plated armor was too loose and heavy that it broke off from the binding I used to hold it together. Now that I thought of it I couldn’t tell the time it was constant darkness here and the pathways we’re illuminated by the green lanterns. When we left the Fortress It was early in the morning, this place had no hint of sunshine and any greenery. The stuffy air made it hard to breathe.

“I’m not going to send you back, If it we’re possible I would have already. Teleportation portals only work once they’re used. So I’m just sending you under the protection of a higher official, I don’t know what makes you special but I won’t question Sir Bardel and his orders.”

“I can’t, I need to find someone!”

“You can’t go anywhere! I won’t let you! and It’s not like you can survive this place…”

“Where are we anyway?”

As I said my eyes were blinded by a strong light from the horizon, I opened them and saw the same light from the lanterns except this burned bright like the sun. But I could stare at the beauty of it’s rays without straining or hurting my eyes. It had the same greenish hue, from afar I could see stone building and structures of all sizes. The place was riddled with piping which was weird, their sizes varied from small to large. The place seemed bustling with all kinds of trade, people busily scurried from place to place.

“Welcome to the Underground Black Market of Everglow, where all the oppressed and failures of their governance live.” said Harrison.

I stared at my surroundings as everything mesmerized my eyes, the look of dreariness in people we passed by, the gloomy alleyways screamed desolation and decay. The individuals that lurked here either had scarred eyes devoid of morality or eyes that trauma widened. Soon we walked through the dreary streets of Everglow, people stared at me with contempt. The streets were dirty, littered with muck in between the stones that make up the pathway. I saw a large warehouse with people chained together along the entrance guarded by several men.

“What’s happening there?”

As Cain an older looking man in our group leaned in and said…

“That’s a slavery, you don’t want to mess with them.”

They all looked so pitiful, malnourished and treated like animals.

“What you see here Knoxx is why the Liberators exist… Each and everyone one of them going through hell everyday.” Harrison blurted out.

I stared at him and saw the sad look in his eyes, he felt for this people, they’re complete strangers but somehow he stared at them with familiarity. Soon we arrived at a huge wall guarded by armed soldiers. The wall had towers with relatively long distances between them, there was a huge gated entrance and behind that was the largest Viscorr I had ever seen. It was the source of most lighting here, acting as the sun that radiated hope for everyone. From afar I could see the front entrance were crowded with people.

“Freedom to the true people of Everglow!”

“Equality for all!”

“We are the oppressed! we claim our rights!”

“Food, shelter, clothing for the poor!”

“We work the mines all day! while you lot at the top sit with luxury up your ass*s!”

“Keep quiet you filthy hooligans! stay back or we’ll be forced to open fire.”

“Try us!”

“Yeah! you don’t scare us!”

The guards were carrying weird tubular weapons slung around them as most of them struggled with controlling the gathered rallying men, Harrison dragged me towards the crowd as we slipped through each men. We stopped directly at the middle of the chaos and there I saw a familiar face.

“I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to come here recruit, Knoxx Abbot!” he whispered sternly.

I saw Bardel hooded with a disappointed look on his face, he motioned Harrison to follow him as he pushed me towards his direction.

“Hey you don’t have to push!” I complained.

“Move too slow I’ll beat you.” he threatened.

Soon we arrived in a dark alleyway as Bardel removed his hood.

“What are you doing here?! the operation is delayed because of you!”

“I c-came to look for my father!”

“You could jeopardize the whole operation by doing this selfish act! You have to go back at Bardel Fortress!”

“But I’m ready! I’m prepared even if it takes me my life to find my father!”

“Your father might be dead already! our lead towards his location is not even concluded yet!”

“YOU DON’T KNOW THAT! HE’S STILL ALIVE! I KNOW IT!”

“How can you be so sure?! huh?!”

“I-I JUST KNOW SO!”

“ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE!” He shouted.

“Hackman! escort this child towards one of the escape routes by the near end of the wall, take your men with you. I wan’t him back as soon as possible and have him tied I don’t want him ruining our plans… I don’t have time for this.”

“Sir! yes sir!” said Harrison.

They dragged me away as they tied me up with a rope, I felt my anger filling to the brim, my body felt burning hot as I clenched my fists; a tear fell down my cheek.

“I’m sorry son.” as I heard the rugged voice of Dale.

“Don’t patronize him, orders are orders!” followed by Cain.

“But he’s just a boy.” said John.

“Boy or not! he wronged the organization by being here, good thing they only let him off by sending him back.” remarked Hackman.

As they dragged me away, I thought of a plan to get away from them. I didn’t see anyone as they must have passed through a very secluded area. I tried to struggle against the bindings but they were on too tight.

“Don’t try moving, it’ll only hurt.” said Dale.

“Argh! please let me go! I can’t leave yet!”

“If you do anymore, I’ll be forced to use my hand!” shouted Cain.

Soon we paved way through the main streets, I saw a group of thuggish vagrants by a metal fence we passed, they stared at me with disdain in their eyes. An idea popped in my head as I already have their attention.

“Rats like you deserve to live in a dreadful place like this!”

“I said quiet!”

*Smack!*

As Cain smacked my head and thought I was referring to them, I grinned wickedly to the best of my abilities to further anger the Thugs. It worked as I saw them following us foolishly. After a short while I couldn’t see the thuggish vagrants anymore and thought that they must’ve let it go. We arrive at yet another discontinued warehouse we some men from the Liberators guarding it.

“You there! activate the circle towards Bardel Fortress.”

“Yes sir!”

They place me in the middle of the circle as I struggled to move away.

“Stay put!” shouted Hackman.

As I saw five men surrounding the circle to prepare it, I struggled to move away and there from the entrance the vagrants came dashing in. They stirred a commotion by beating the men near the entrance as more of them came with random weapons.

“Who are you?!” screamed Hackman

As he went away into the fray to help his men from the attackers, I quickly focused my Corr on my hands to burn them off. The constant clashing of men resounded in the warehouse. Finally free from my bondage, I immediately took off by blasting the wall to my right with magic and made a hasty retreat. I ran through the dark and musty alleyway beside the building.

“COME BACK HERE KNOXX!” shouted Hackman.

I heard Hackman shouting at me from behind as I retreated away from him, I ran as much as I could and surprisingly the training at Bardel Fortress helped a bit. I didn’t want to do this but they left me no choice, I just wanted to look for my father. I ran and ran through the crowded people of a trading market nearby as I passed through the countless stalls.

*Crash!*

“HEY WATCH IT!”

“I’M SORRY!”

I turned, dashing towards a dark alleyway.

“Someone stop that child!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

“Stop following me!”

I held my hand behind me as started blasting blindly as I passed through an alleyway, The walls beside me started crumbling down. I stopped at the end trying to catch my breath. I turned around and saw piles of debris stacked on top of each other while under a cloud of dust. “I must’ve lost them.” I thought. Now where would I go, I guess I’ll have to look at every nook and cranny this place has. A few blocks away I saw a beggar on the street, I went to approach him as I wanted to ask him at least the location of where I was.

“Excuse me sir, where are we?” I politely asked.

“The end is near…” he whispered.

“Sorry, but could you please repeat that?”

“The end is near…”

I still couldn’t hear him… Suddenly, the darkness dimmed my vision of the old man. The only light source that was keeping him visible was right beside me. I turned to take a look and saw a huge man staring directly at me with a horrid look on his face. He had a scar that followed the left side of his mouth and was wearing a coat with a top hat on.

“Sorry, please excuse me.” I said anxiously

He grinned wickedly while lifting his top hat as my senses told me to run but my vision blurred as I turned around. Slowly I tried to get away as my knees felt weak and I lost balance. I fell on all fours, trying to keep myself steady. I felt so weak that I fell laying on the ground, I could feel my consciousness fading away.

“Well aren’t you strong willed?”

I tried to turn but eventually my body couldn’t move leaving me in an awkward position, he hoisted me up to his shoulders and carried me away.