Chained to You

Mashed Cantaloupe

I was silent for the rest of the walk after Kai's response. "Mutants" he had said. Mutants like me had been held captive, beaten and probably starved in these tunnels, just because they didn't have the perfect genes. Disgusting.

"We're here." Kai's voice broke through my turmoil of thoughts, loud and strong. The tunnel opened up into a spacious cavern, with glittering limestone crystals dangling down from the top. Multiple weapon racks were lined up against the left wall, loaded with dangerous looking spears, knives, and katanas. "We need to set up in the sleeping chambers first."

Crow stalked past us and disappeared into a dark entrance to the right, flashing his light up and down. Instead of following, Kai strode over to one of the smaller racks and pulled a tattered packet from under it. He held it up for me to see. "Matches," he said. I watched as he lit one of them and approached a torch on the wall next to him, lighting it and dropping the match.

"You can go find Crow, this might take a while," he added, using the torch to light another one on the adjacent wall. I nodded and stumbled over to the rocky opening Crow had disappeared into.

Crow's flashlight was lying on the sandy floor, illuminating just one of the walls of the cave. It had hand drawn pictures covering it from top to bottom, reminding me of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Crow was shaking out dusty, ancient looking quilts, but he dropped them when he saw me walk in.

"Those have been there for years," he said, motioning to the drawings with one hand. I moved closer, grabbing one of the quilts he had dropped and started to shake it out.

"What do they-" I broke off with a cough as the dust went straight in my mouth and up my nose. I went on when the coughing subsided. "What do they mean?"

Crow sighed and sat down on a hay-filled pillow beside him. "It shows the First Capture."

"First Capture?" I echoed, sitting down beside him. I was surprised when he didn't move.

"When the umbra bellator was becoming popular among warlocks, they decided to take advantage of it," he explained. "The leader at the time, Neo Corbin, ordered the mass capture of mutants. Nobody knows why he didn't just kill them outright if he hated them so much. Maybe he just wanted them to suffer." I paused, remembering my conversation with Valkyrie and the hit list she had showed me.

"But they did kill mutants, didn't they?" I asked. "They wanted to kill me."

"They do kill mutants now, and anyone who protects them," he responded, pulling a strand of hay out of the pillow absentmindedly. My eyes widened.

"So...Valkyrie and Christian...they're going to be killed?" I was horrified. I was responsible for the death of people that just wanted to protect me.

"Well no, not necessarily," Crow said, furrowing his brows. "They'll most likely be kept alive as bait, to lure us out." I let out an unwanted sob, knowing that that was worse than being killed. They would probably be tortured at the hands of the enemy.

I jumped when I felt Crow's hand on my shoulder. "Hey, but it's okay. Kai and I are going to train you so we can find them together," he reassured me. I looked from his hand to his face and he quickly let go, looking embarrassed.

Kai walked in with into the cave with a lit torch in one hand and a few cans nestled in the crook of his arm. "Anyone hungry?" Crow shifted away from me and reached for one of the cans.

"Mashed peaches," he read, grimacing. "Yum."

"What time is it?" I asked, grabbing the can Kai held out to me. "Is this breakfast, lunch, or dinner?" Crow chuckled and I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. I had been a while since I had made someone laugh.

Kai set the torch in a bracket on the wall and  looked at the watch on his wrist. "It's 9 o'clock, so I would say this is a very late dinner."

"Doesn't make it any tastier," Crow grumbled, stirring his peaches with a finger.

"Don't complain, I got mashed cantaloupe," I said, making a face. "Why does it have to be mashed?"

"Makes it easier to preserve and store," Kai clarified, tearing the lid off of his own can. "Huh, strawberries."

"Mashed?" I joked, grabbing some of the orange slime with a hand. Kai flashed me a smile, digging into his own red paste.

"Of course." There was a loud ringing and Kai snatched his sleeve away from his watch. The screen was flashing a bright green and when he tapped it, the sound subsided. I watched as his eyes skimmed over the text that was showing up on the illuminated screen.

"What is it?" Crow asked quickly and I could tell he was alarmed. Kai opened and closed his mouth and stood there silently for a moment before answering.

"It's Christian," he said breathlessly. "He says he escaped, but they still have Valkyrie. He wants us to find him."