Ethereal

~Marcie~

The first thing I did when I woke up was try to open my eyes. But the blindfold didn't really help, and so instead I tried to move my hands--they were tied together.

"Shhhh," said a voice in my ear, and I jumped.

I realized I was being carried. Somehow, I hadn't noticed it right away, but I was slung over someone's back, unable to move. I squirmed, scared of falling on my face, and the person shifted me forward.

"Charlotte?" I whispered. My voice sounded hoarse. How long had I been out for?

There was no answer.

Gradually, the hill got steeper. I was suddenly lifted up and placed carefully on the ground to walk, and I stumbled, falling into my captor. Strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me upright, and then pushed me forward into the tunnel.

I felt a tickle near my ear, and realized Deca must still be on my shoulder, his light out, unnoticed. Somehow the thought comforted me.

We walked for what felt like an hour.

I stumbled blindly over a rock, and this time hands grabbed me and pulled me sharply to the right. I felt a sudden change in the air, and the hands fumbled with my blindfold.

It fell away and I gasped.

The underground city stretched on for miles. The houses, haphazardly placed and strangely shaped, didn't show and sign of streets or organization. They were all made of dark gray stone, or a clay-like substance, and in the distance a huge black tower rose out of sight into the inescapably black ceiling.

I was pushed forward, and this time I turned to look at my captor. He had wild auburn curls that fell over his eyes, but everything else about him was upright and neat, unlike the buildings we walked past. He seemed young, though, perhaps only a little older than me. He wore a dark gray uniform, with unidentifiable badges across his chest, randomly placed, it seemed, and covered with a strange form of writing. I squinted closely at them, thinking they resembled Anglo-Saxon runes, but he pushed me forward and we continued on our winding path past the houses.

The people we saw were dark, gray, and bent forward, in a hurry to get somewhere or do something, and old woman crouched over her basket of what looked like dead grass, hobbling past us without looking up.

Everything was silent.

We turned past a small, sunken house and a huge circular building came into view. The only rule of this place it seemed to follow was the color scheme--everything else about it was orderly and upright.

We walked up to the imposing door, and he pushed it open, leading me inside.

The first thing I saw was Charlotte, still blindfolded and sitting on the ground, tied to a post. A little girl with was braiding Charlotte's hair into tiny pieces, humming to herself. There were more people in the gray uniforms, gathered in a dark corner of the room.

"Ashan! What took you so long?" another young boy turned around as we walked in. His faded blond hair was cut short, and his dark eyes looked preoccupied.

"This one took a while to wake up," he said calmly.

"Marcie?" Charlotte said quizzically, turning her blindfolded head and pulling a braid out of the small girl's grasp.

"Charlotte--"

The door behind us burst open.

Everyone turned to stare at the newcomer, a boy in haphazard gray clothing who was out of breath and stared at us with wild eyes.

"Don't kill them," he said breathlessly, looked at the blonde boy. He pointed a shaking finger at Charlotte. "She's the Koreask!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

We were sitting around a huge stone fire pit. Charlotte and I were holding mugs of something warm, though I'd been hesitant to drink mine. Blankets had been thrown around our shoulders, and all of those in uniform were whispering frantically to each other, glancing at us.

But the blonde-hair boy sat next to Charlotte, throwing logs in the fire and gazing at them perplexedly. Every now and then a spark would fall to the ground, blazing brightly. He nodded, as if it had spoken to him.

"So...could you explain exactly what a Koreask is?" Charlotte said softly, looking at the boy. He had told us his name was Tenin, but not much else.

He looked into the fire with a ponderous expression, before addressing Charlotte.

"It is our Champion," he said, staring into the flames. "Golden hair and Sky-blue eyes, in darkest Night the Sun shall rise..." he looked up then and twirled a finger around Charlotte's hair, and he laughed. "That is you of course--and it does not get darker than here!" he said, gesturing around us.

I coughed and they turned to me.

"There seems to be a flaw in your logic," I said pointedly.

Tenin looked at me with blank eyes.

"This little rhyme everyone keeps repeating. Darkest Night. How can you have darkest Night in a place with no Day?"

Charlotte looked at Tenin, running her fingers through her hair.

His face darkened and he tilted his head at me.

"Be careful what you say, girl. The prophecy has been set in it's course." he stood up. "And Sub-Tërra does not take kindly to blasphemers."