The heart's voice (Chapter 8)

Ambrose was inside his half occupied cabin. The bed rested on one side of the room while the carpet stretched emptily across to the other side where Ambrose stood cleaning his cupboard. He grimaced at the sight of the cleaning cloth in his hands. It had been only five minutes and already the cloth was covered in dust. Ambrose scratched his head, stepping through the bathroom door beside the cupboard.

When he came out with a cleaned piece of cloth, Sky and Terra burst into the room announcing the news.

“They’re wrong about Glore. She wouldn’t do that,” Ambrose stated the obvious, sweeping the lower shelves in the cupboard.

“I know… we all know but none of us has any proof of Glore NOT attacking those people,” Terra answered. Sky shook his head in annoyance.

“They don’t need proof! They know what kind of a person Glore is. It must’ve been an illusion,” he exclaimed, his voice echoed back to him from several directions.

“Sorry about that. The room’s quite empty.” Ambrose answered with a half smile.

“We can see that. You only have one study table that could be added as furniture besides your bed and that thing you’re trying to scrub at.” Sky pointed towards a metal table beside the bed with a small lantern placed on it.

“Illusion…” Terra murmured, not paying attention to the two boys. Her mind gave her a variety of logical explanations. They stood silently for a while, forcing their minds to think until Ambrose finally offered them to sit on the bed. He was almost done with the cupboard and said that he would be joining them in a jiffy.

Flo moved her head, checking whether it was functioning properly. It ached when she turned it left. She tried to stretch both hands and realized that she could only move one. She looked over to the immobile body part, wriggling her fingers. That worked fine but as she tried to lift her arm, a sudden pain shot through her and she let out a gasp.

“Where on Earth am I?” she said in a voice merely above a whisper. For the first time, Flo noticed that she was surrounded by grass. It wasn’t like the grass on Earth. This was dead, long grass; or something like it because they didn’t have grass in the demon realm. And the way the grass was laid out in a circular formation, Flo would’ve mistaken it for a giant nest. “Not possible. Why would there be a nest in the middle of a small open hall like this? But it sure stalled my death by softening my landing.”

The place was lit properly with lanterns hanging in a straight line, high on the walls. Flo struggled, pushing herself up into sitting position with her left hand. She made sure not to insert any pressure on her right hand as she slowly managed to stand up straight. Her bones clicked when she straightened herself, letting her injured arm dangle loosely from her shoulder. It didn’t hurt as long as she didn’t try to move it.

“Now where am I?  It doesn’t look like any of the quarters. Of course, I fell down so I must be underground. I’m not sure how far down I am… there’s got to be a transporter or just stairs.” Flo gazed at the several hallways surrounding her from all sides. She had to pick one randomly so she decided to walk into the one in front of her. The pathway led her to a gigantic, circular room with pillars going all around. She stared at the sight blankly and then sighed, feeling the disappointment crawling onto her.

“A dead end… there isn’t a single transporter here, nor is there any other door. And I walked so far just to get here…” “hey wait a minute…” she whispered, looking up suddenly. She saw something glint in the shadows behind a pillar far away. She tiptoed towards it, holding her breath. Something flashed a yellow color and then scampered into the darkness. There was a rapid sound of footsteps but it faded quickly.

Flo felt her legs freeze when she heard it. She wasn’t alone in here that was for certain. She felt heaviness in her chest and realized that she was still holding her breath. Exhaling heavily, Flo turned around to run away when the thought came to her. ‘What if that thing or person knows something? This could be my only chance to escape and find the brain part.’

Flo turned back towards the pillar with fearful eyes. Her heart was thundering inside her and no matter how hard she tried, it was like her feet were nailed to the floor. They didn’t budge. Fear was recoiling in her mind when she gripped her right arm, twisting it. “Ahh…” she let out a painful groan. The pain dissolved her fear so she didn’t have to force herself to walk up behind the pillar.

Still engulfed in the dizzying pain, Flo stretched her good arm in front of her to feel for any walls. Thankfully there weren’t any and she was unveiled with a hidden passageway. She walked into the empty darkness, feeling for walls in front of her. “There it is again…” Flo murmured at the sight of the tiny yellow flash. Then another one appeared just beside it making it seem like a pair of glinting eyes. She balled her hand to a fist, ready to smack the thing if it dared to come near her. But instead, it scurried sideways, disappearing again.

Flo figured there was a turning at that point and soon saw that she was right. The turning led her to a dimly lit area. There was only a small space to walk whilst a line of cages ran from both sides. Flo frowned at each of them. There seemed to be dark, dense liquid figures inside some of the cages while the rest were empty. They were gruesome and looked up with dull black eyes when Flo walked past them. Some had arms but no legs whilst some had legs and arms both. Each of them was drooping around the place lifelessly and would stare at Flo as if she were something to eat.

Flo felt uneasy, walking around the soundless things but it was a good thing they were caged. She was glad, though, when she reached the doorway at the end of the room. But that gladness did not last long. The next room looked bare. There were no lanterns to light the place. Luckily Flo had picked one up from the previous room. She shone it all over the place and only found chains attached to the walls, along with a few bones scattered here and there.

“H-hello?” Flo squeaked, feeling her fear return to her. She hadn’t expected anyone to answer but a sudden moan made her heart jump. What in the world was lying ahead for her? She moved closer to the area where the moan had come from. The yellow eyes blinked from the bright light of the lantern, shining on them. The creature backed away and Flo saw it. It was nothing more than a dark shadow, about three feet tall. It had very thin arms and legs and blood was dripping from the corner of its mouth.

Flo panted in alarm. She wanted to scream but wasn’t sure how many of these creatures were hiding in the darkness, waiting to chew her up with their miniature teeth. She dropped the lantern and whirled around when she heard a terrible screech. It was an ear-splitting sound. Flo clutched one hand on her ear, dropping to her knees. She half turned her head to see the thing shy away from the lantern. It obviously did not enjoy the light being thrown at it this way and fled into another passageway. Flo once again heard the tiny footsteps fade into the darkness. And this time, she did not wish to go after it.

Steadying her breath, Flo stood up, walking towards the lantern when her eyes spotted someone. It was a small girl drenched in blood. Her dark, shoulder-length hair covered her face. Flo forgot about the lantern and rushed over to the her.

“Glore? Glore!” she yelled, not caring this time if any of the creatures returned. Glore’s unconscious body was terrifying enough. Flo wiped the hair out of the girl’s sleeping face. She brought the lantern close to her so that she could inspect Glore’s arms. The blood was still fresh out of the wound. “That creature must’ve reopened her scars. How do I stop the bleeding?” she panicked, looking around intensely, “I bet there’s some cloth lying around here somewhere.”

Flo took the lantern in her hand again. By now, she’d completely forgotten about her second arm. The pain had dulled out and she couldn’t care less about it at a time like this. “Found it!” Flo’s eyes sparkled with hope. There was a piece of cloth stuck in between a pile of dusty bones. As she approached it, the sparkle in her eyes died. The sight of the bones made Flo want to puke. There were several tiny holes inside those bones that were probably haunted by some nasty insects.

“It’s a good thing I haven’t eaten anything…” Flo whispered, wincing at it. She put the lantern down on the smooth, stone floor and grabbed the piece of cloth with the tips of her fingers. Making a face, she yanked at it but it was stuck. “Oh no… why me?” she complained while gripping it properly this time and pulled. The bones budged and several centipedes and unknown insects crawled out of it. Flo yelped and fell backwards. She noticed that the insects all crawled away from the bright light of the lantern and into the dark corners.

Her head throbbed from the sudden alarms but she ignored it. Grabbing the cloth again, Flo pulled with all her remaining strength and succeeded. She hurried back to where Glore lay and tied the cloth around her arms. “This might have hurt you like crazy if you were awake so you should be thanking Hugo for making you fall asleep like that. It saved you from further pain…”

Glore grumbled in her sleep. Flo rubbed her hands gently. The lantern was another source of heat for them and Flo had placed it near Glore’s face to wake her up. “Come on, girl. I know you’re starting to come around.” She spoke in a soft voice.

“Flo…” Glore’s tiny voice escaped her lips.

“That’s right, brave girl. I’m here to get you out… once I find a way out but I promise you that I will.” Glore attempted a smile but failed terribly due to the burning sensation in both her arms.

“My arms… hurt.”

“Real bad? Bad enough that you can’t get up?”

“No…” Glore whispered, taking in a deep breath and pulling herself up. Flo’s hand never left her back until she was standing again. She didn’t need much support, though. The dragon power inside of her had already begun resealing the scars on her arms and absorbing the pain.

“Are you sure you can walk?” Flo was unsure. Her anxious eyes kept falling on the cloth she’d wrapped around Glore’s arm.

“Yes, Flo. I’m fine. It just stings a little but it will heal in less than an hour.”

Flo breathed out with relief. “That’s good,” she said, “now we just have to focus on getting out of here. We have to get you back to your room­–”

“No,” Glore cut her off, “I can’t go back.”

“What do you mean you can’t?” Flo looked surprised.

“They took all my stuff away. My cabin’s empty now. There’s no place for me to stay unless I figure out who the attacker was.”

Flo smiled encouragingly, “No need for you to stress out. Hugo and I already figured that out.”

“Hugo?” Glore looked up at her, puzzled. So Flo told her about her entire adventure the day before and about how Keegan had planned this all just to get his revenge from her.

“I’m sorry you have to suffer because of me. But we’ll show that Keegan. Who does he think he’s messing with?” Glore laughed at that when she noticed Flo’s limp arm. Her eyes became serious and she glanced up at her.

“What happened to your arm?”

“Huh? I don’t know. I think I dislocated it.”

“Well, let me fix that.”

“Can you?” Flo asked in surprise as Glore came to her side.

“I don’t know,” she said. Flo’s eyes widened but it was too late. Glore had already gripped her upper arm and twisted it. A sudden current went through Flo’s body when her bone clicked into its rightful place. Her jaw was hanging open, waiting for that scream which was usually out pretty quick but the pain was gone.

“You can breathe now. It’s fixed.”

It took her a while to get over the shock and when she was able to speak again, she said, “don’t ever do that to anyone… ever again…” Flo’s words had turned to a whisper by the end of the sentence as a wave of dizziness tried to overcome her. Glore acted quickly and shook Flo by the shoulder, making her wide awake.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah… just a little… nothing. Come on. We’ve been here long enough. Any ideas on where we should go?” Flo questioned and Glore nodded.

“I can already sense it. There is a path hidden somewhere in the darkness. It is the only path that I feel is pure but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. Most of this place is filled with prisoners who’re close to death but will not die unless someone kills them. They’re demons who haven’t had a single soul in ages.”

“The liquid figures… so that’s what a demon becomes if it hasn’t had a soul in years?”

“Yes. Demons live for less than two hundred years. They start turning old when they’re about a hundred and fifty. They die a normal death if they’re eating souls. Souls bring us closer to our death as well as give us life and strength. Without a soul, a demon will become weak and it will never die.”

Flo thought about the right thing to say to that and ended up saying, “that’s just icky,” instead. “Anyway, I know where that pathway is. It’s in that corner. I saw a tiny creature go that way and then disappear.” She directed her lantern towards the dark area. It shone onto a cave hole, large enough to fit the two girls easily. The girls took each other’s hand and walked into it.

“So where’s Flo?” Ambrose asked, breaking the silence. They hadn’t talked much except share their ideas about the current situation. Terra looked at him with disbelief.

“We don’t know. We didn’t find her yesterday, remember? The only two people who should have a clue about where she is are Glore and Dro. And speaking of Dro, where’s he?”

Ambrose’s face went pale and he lowered his gaze to the carpet. “I don’t know,” he said and then, “Why was Glore in Flo’s quarter anyway?” he changed the subject.

“That is strange. She never goes anywhere without us–”

“She was mad at us.” Sky said suddenly.

“Correction. She was mad at you… so maybe she went to look for Flo alone.”

“I still feel like we’re missing something. Glore is a thoughtful person. She wouldn’t just go to an unfamiliar place unless she’s sure that Flo would be there,” Ambrose said, getting the two back on track. They glanced at him.

“You’re right,” Terra and Sky both said together.

“So she knew where Flo was going to be. She always has been one step ahead of us but something or someone didn’t want her to find Flo. That must be why the person created an illusion of her attacking the people in the gathering hall… getting Glore in trouble instead.” The boys looked at Terra with doubtful eyes and she shrugged, “It’s the best explanation of all this and we know that such power exists in the demon realm. We just don’t know the demon wielding this power.”

Ambrose felt queasy all of a sudden. His forehead got warmer and he knew it was obvious to his friends that he was tensed. Terra just didn’t know what she was saying. ‘She has no idea… how very true her words can be at times… Dro, how long are you going to take? What if they find out I’m hiding something and then your secret will be…. Ugh! Someone help me…’ he thought, wiping a trickle of sweat from his forehead.