Where?

.…??

“Look who finally decided to get up,

Had a good snooze?”

….??

Urrgg

(Is this another dream?)

Blinking profusely, I attempt to discern the area,

The void surrounds me, all directions coated in an endless night sky only without the stars,

The ground littered with bones, skeletons,

The figure of a short man in armour stands in front me tapping their feet impatiently,

“Kage?

Can you hear me?

Does your mouth still work?”

Though muffled by the helmet, I recognise that voice,

“Pinoki?”

“Who else would be?”

“Where am I Pinoki, what happened to everybody, and why are you dressed like a knight?”

“Slow down Kage, one question at a time,

I guess I’ll have to catch you up to everything,” he sighs

“How long have I been out?”

“A little over a week”

“What!?”

A beam of light flashes briefly in the dim void,

A little man comes hurrying along his eyes glowing with excitement.

(I have to tell Kage and the others about this!)

Boom!

The sound of an explosion echoes, followed by lights beaming upward,

(Hmm, people just left,

It’s coming from the direction of the orphanage)

Pinoki speedily makes his way over to the site,

………

“What in the hell!” he gasps

The entire area now completely scorched, only Darius’ massive sword remains, it lay on top of something, steam erupting from below,

“Errrrghhh!” Pinoki struggles to drag the sword off

!!??

“Kage!?”

Pinoki looks in terror at the steaming body his hair burnt off skin charred though the strange device still remains fastened to his hand, unharmed.

“Does this mean it’s all over?

Is everyone else dead too?” Pinoki laments

“Kage,

I’ll be joining you soon.”

Pinoki begins walking, past the rubble,

Past the few people who remain, now scrouging around like rats,

Past the despair

Past everything he walks as all view of life fades into the background, his shadow magic pulling Kage’s body in tow,

The deeper into the void he gets more skeletons begin appearing, people who wandered into the void

People like him, who gave up too…...

“Pinoki!

Pinoki?

Are you hearing me?”

“Huh?”

Pinoki turns around confusedly at the void to see where the voice is coming form

“Karina?

Am I hallucinating?”

“Pinoki?”

“Umm, yes voice that sounds exactly like my dead acquaintance,”

“I’m not dead and were not acquaintances,”

“Ok I have officially gone crazy”

“Would you shut up and listen, Pinoki

I don’t have long so I’ll be as brief as possible,

We got captured by the king, Murdoc, the name of the man they call God wants us for something sinister,

The queen is a lying bitch

Kage maybe dead,

They also want you too,

My magic evolved again that’s why I can communicate with you from where I am,

I need you to help me rescue myself and the others,

That’s all.” Karina blurts

“So, you’re telling me the adventure isn’t over?” Pinoki’s face brightens, he smiles widely,

“One final mission, do or die, eh?”

“Would you quit with the thrill obsession Pinoki!? this is serious,

Where are you now?”

“Deep in the void,”

“Why?”

“Were you planning to die-”

“-No,” Pinoki cuts her off, “surely not, I came to put Kage to rest, it’s the least I could do for the poor guy.”

“He really is dead.” Karina’s voice sounding disappointed

“Sadly,” Pinoki relents, walking over to the body,

“Even though I knew you for a short time, you were a great ally,” he places his hand on Kage’s chest,

“…?

Wait!

His heart is still beating?”

****

“I have been checking every day to see if you would awaken,

Are you even human at all?”

“What else happened?” I press ignoring, Pinoki’s question,

“You stole the key from Lyra and left us remember?”

“Well, err,

I had a sneaking suspicion something was off the moment we returned to the unholy city being ransacked,

I went back to the cathedral and sure enough groups of our people were being escorted in to be dedicated,

I snuck into the group to see the process.”

Pinoki pauses his eyes glowing with excitement,

“Well….” I wait impatiently,

“I’m building suspense, wait,” Pinoki gushes,

……

“So, when I got to the throne room there was a diamond there, but….

In it was a person,

But not just any person,

A baby!

“What?” I ask dumbfoundedly,

“’God’ is a child?”

“Well, not exactly,

I’m not too sure on the details, but I presume the process of dedication is nothing more than a power transfer, and maybe some form of hypnotism.

Who knows how old that body actually is,

Speaking of bodies,

Put those on,” Pinoki points to a pile of armour on the ground near me,

“Why?”

“Well first of all Kage your naked and secondly…...you’ll find out,

Also, we need to find you a healer, being bald does not suit you,”

***

A cold evening breeze slightly touches my face through the cracks in my helmet,

Pinoki and I make our way through the peaceful city, formerly known as Soterra,

People bustle around happily greeting each other at every passing, blissfully unaware of the reality of their ‘Holy City,’

I hate it.

…….

“I like this,” Pinoki comments as we both gorge down on some stewed mutton and potatoes at a local dinner,

“I don’t like meat,” I reply, even though I ravenously devour it, my stomach feels bottomless at this point,

“No not the food, I mean the life, being a knight, people respect you for no reason, plus the food is dirt cheap,

If I, wasn’t you know, me, I would be content with this lifestyle,”

“Don’t tell me this is why we’re in this armour…” I groan,

“Of course not,

The reason is to recue Karina and the others,

I don’t want to do it alone, an adventure is more fun with multiple people,”

“This isn’t an adventure,”

“Suit yourself,” Pinoki sasses

“So, your plan?” I ask finishing up the meal,

“Well…...”

****

“Good afternoon!” A guard greets,

“Pleasures,” Pinoki replies as we both step inside the cathedral,

“Are you serious?” I whisper, “all you needed to do was wear their armour to get inside,”

“Hmm, well if you put it that way, I guess I could’ve done this sooner,

Buttttt what fun would it be alone.

This wa-”

“I know the way,”

(I’ve only been here a couple of times, yet I know the layout like the back of my hand,

That dream, it has to be real, I feel like I’ve lived here,

I know where the kitchen is, all the bedrooms, even a stash of gold I saved and hid as a boy,

No, that wasn’t me,

What am I thinking,

It was Omari, his memories.)

“Would you stop daydreaming Kage?

Listen I have been using my time as a guard to get familiar with the area, I knew I had to think this cleverly I couldn’t just come barging in trying to rescue anyone,

And so far from the information I have gathered,

Zinnia is in the central tower, the queen took Apollo somewhere upstairs to deal with him personally,

The rest are in the cells,

The ‘enlightenment’ they spoke of won’t happen until Murdoc has subjugated the ones, he deems most useful,”

……..

A guard looks at us suspiciously as we head down to the basement area,

He says nothing letting us pass,

“Security here is pretty lax,” Pinoki explains

“Since everyone is connected to ‘God’ they don’t necessarily have to doubt each other’s intentions,”

“L…M..O..!”

“L…M..O…N..!”

Bam, Bam, Bam!

The moment we step into the cell-area the atmosphere changes becoming thick and musty, faint shouting accompanied by banging can be heard,

“Wou…Y.o..t.p.w.th.t..e.ba.g..g!”

“No!”

“I.wi.l..kil..t.em!”

“Making..ise.won’..h.lp…u!”

“It will!”

“Lyra!?” Pinoki calls,

The banging stops,

“Pinoki!?”

“See. I told you he was coming,” Karina’s voice gloats,

“I never said he wasn’t,”

“Yes, you did, you said he would probably run away,”

“Shouldn’t you be helping Zinnia right now doing your whispering?”

“I am, stop pestering me”

“I am not pes-”

“-I see you two are doing well for captives,”

“Kage!” The two girls exclaim

“You survived!”

“Just barley,” I say approaching the cells,

“Wasn’t Darius supposed to be down here?” Pinoki asks,

“He’s at the end, hasn’t said a word since they put us here,

Now hurry up and let us out,”

The two girls stay in cells both opposite and adjacent to each other,

At the end of the row of cells one remains open, inside, Darius, heavily chained to a wall, even his mouth gagged by a chain,

Click!

Pinoki easily unlocks Lyra and Karina’s cells with his shadows

“Took you long enough,” Lyra grumbles

“Stop complaining and free Darius quickly,” Karina instructs

“I want us to move quickly,”

……

Lyra freezes Darius’ chains, we then beat at them continuously eventually they break.

Thud!

Darius’s feet shake the floor as he drops to it,

He doesn’t say anything instead brushing past us gruffly,

“Where are you going?” Lyra demands,

He stops and turns,

“First, I’m going to get some water,” his voice sounding faint

“They tried to drain me of my energy to weaken me by dehydration and hunger,

After I’ve had a drink, I’ll eat whatever is in their kitchen,”

He stops and thinks,

“We ended up in this situation because I promised Apollo, I would try not to kill anyone,

Ultimately that cost us,

After we find him and Zinnia,

The Queen and King,

I’m going to kill them both.”