An arm lunged out and grabbed the slave from Tosa by the wrist, yanking him back from the edge of the cliff. The slave from Tosa stumbled backwards, choking out a few broken curses. Luc whirled around, eyes wide and seeking the one who had foiled his attempt.

Standing behind him was Dante, blue eyes emotionless in the dim light.

“You filthy mongrel!” roared the slave from Tosa, lunging at Luc. “You dirty backstabbing coward!”

Before Luc could react, the slave from Tosa’s fist crashed into his cheek. Sharp pain burst in Luc’s head, and his vision blurred for a moment. Reaching an arm out, Luc’s hand dug into the sharp stones of the cavern wall, preventing his fall.

“Calm yourself,” said Dante. It was the first time that Luc had heard him speak. Despite the pain shooting through his head, Luc felt that the large man’s voice was smooth and soothing. Not that it did anything to ease the aching of his skull.

“That bugger of a kid tried to kill me!” shouted the slave from Tosa, straining against Dante’s arms. “I’ll kill him!”

Two of the other slaves had rushed over and were helping hold the slave from Tosa back. However, the more they tried to contain him, the wilder he became. Thrashing his arms and legs, the slave from Tosa momentarily broke free from the arms holding him. He lunged forth and grabbed Luc by the front of his robes. Luc, still woozy from the blow he had taken, got yanked in by the slave, weakly trying to break from his grip.

“What’s going on over there?” shouted Maho, cracking his whip.

Because only the slaves had been sent to explore the cavern for treasures, the wagon drivers were quite a long way away. The closest one to the tussle was Maho, who dashed over as quickly as he could. Swinging his whip, he struck at the group of tussling men.

“I’ll kill him!” screamed the slave from Tosa. “I’ll kill him! I’ll kill him and then his father!”

Luc, who had finally regained some sense after the punch, realized that the group of men was moving back towards the cliff’s edge. The slave from Tosa, who refused to relinquish his grip on Luc, kept trying to pull Luc towards him. Dante and the two other slaves tried to haul them apart, with Dante pulling on the slave from Tosa and the other two slaves pulling on Luc. However, it appeared that Dante was stronger than the two slaves combined. Every time he pulled on the slave from Tosa, the entire group staggered with him, moving closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. It didn’t help that Maho’s whip made all the slaves lower their heads, blinding them to the danger they were moving towards.

“Watch out!” shouted Luc. “Watch out behind you!”

His voice was drowned out by the maniacal screams from the slave from Tosa.

“I told you to break it up!” shouted Maho, throwing down his whip. Popping a glowing gemstone into his mouth, he shoved his way towards the center of the tussling group.

That force that Maho used was too much.

Dante lost his footing first. Stepping backwards, the stone beneath his right foot crumbled and broke. Balance lost, Dante’s legs buckled, and he fell back first into the pit. Human instinct taking over, Dante grabbed onto whatever he could to stop his fall.

The thing he grabbed onto was the slave from Tosa.

The slave from Tosa, never realizing what was happening, kept his grip on Luc’s robes. The two other slaves, heads lowered from initial blows from the whip, kept ahold of Luc’s waist. Luc, the only one who knew what was happening, turned and grabbed onto the first thing his hand came into contact with – Maho. By the time Maho understood the situation, it was too late. As one, they all tumbled off the edge of the cliff, plummeting into the endless pit and heading towards certain death.

-

This can’t be happening again, thought Luc, hurtling into the darkness of the pit. He remembered the fall from last night and how he had survived it. From what he had seen when it was illuminated, this pit was just a hole of darkness. There weren’t any spiderwebs to save him this time.

A lot of people talked about seeing their life flash before their eyes in these types of situations. Luc didn’t experience that at all. Instead, as he plunged towards the bottom of the pit, all he felt was an empty sense of doom growing inside of him. He wasn’t sure when he was going to hit the ground, but he knew it was coming. Instead of seeing his beloved memories, his mind was occupied with thoughts of whether or not the next moment was going to be his last.

Just get it over with. I don’t –

A burst of hot air exploded out around from underneath Luc’s body, searing the back of his body. He couldn’t see what had happened, but in that instant, the entire pit lit up with brilliant light. He could see the vast walls of the pit rise around him, their jagged contours casting an ominous shadow over him. The force of the rising hot air momentarily suspended Luc in midair. Then the bright light vanished, and Luc thumped onto a hard, stone floor.

Staring in the direction that Luc supposed was up, his chest rose and fell rapidly. A trickle of sweat leaked down his temple. I’m still alive. Did the same miracle happen to the others?

The darkness was pierced by a loud scream.

“My leg!” shouted someone in the darkness. “My blasted leg!”

“We need light!” said another voice. Luc recognized Dante’s calm and steady tone.

“I’m going to kill that kid!” screamed the slave from Tosa.

A dim blue light flared to life in the midst of the darkness. A short distance away from Luc, Maho lay slumped against a large rock. Several glowing gemstones lay scattered around him, and he cradled his left leg in his hands. Even in the dim light, Luc could see that the leg was bent in a direction it was not supposed to be bent.

Luc, like a moth next to a lamp, found himself moving towards the dim blue light. In the pressing darkness surrounding him, Luc discovered that the light, no matter how faint, had a certain warmth that drew him towards it. As he neared Maho and the glowing gemstones, he saw that the others were of the same mindset. He saw the two slaves he didn’t know, Dante, and –

“I got you now!” roared the slave from Tosa.

An arm wrapped around Luc’s neck. His head was yanked back and pinned in between the slave from Tosa’s arms in a headlock. Try as he might, Luc couldn’t move his mouth to make any words.

“Matthias,” said Dante, blue eyes smoldering. “Let the boy go.”

“Give me one good reason to do that,” said Matthias, sneering. “You’ve got nothing you can give me. Nothing more you can take away. After I kill this wretched scumling, I’m going to - ”

“You’re going to leave Erie again?” asked Dante.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Luc felt Matthias’ arms releasing his head. Luc immediately scampered to his feet and hid on the other side of Dante.

“Where did you hear that name?” said Matthias, voice far colder than Luc had ever heard it.

“We travel in the same wagon,” said Dante. “And you talk in your sleep.”

Matthias directed his eyes downward. The hatred had vanished from his eyes, replaced with a hollow emptiness.

“What happened?” asked Dante, placing a hand on Maho’s shoulder.

Maho raised his head, brow scrunched with pain. Wheezing, he muttered something too quiet to hear.

“What was that?” asked Dante, leaning in.

Maho gritted his teeth. “There’s something in this pit.”