Aliatio

Chapter 16 - The Beginning

            "Well, this officially sucks," Misty reported. 

             "Oh? I'm so glad our pain is officially recognized," Eric sighed. 

            "Well, that was ... disgruntle," Misty noted. 

            "Yeah, I'm sorry. A tiny bit stressed at the moment," Eric said. 

           "Figured that one out. Euca, you still hanging in there?" Misty asked, leaning away from the wall causing the chains around her wrist to rattle as they constricted her movement. Euca shook their head, eyes fixated on the ground. "Okay, well, try and rattle your chains a lot if you feel sick or dehydrated." 

           Euca nodded in response, though barely moving. "I honestly didn't think that Euca stopping their tears would be scarier than them crying. Yet, here we are," Eric sighed, prompting Misty to kick their leg lightly. 

           "Elf, long ears, better hearing? Remember?" Misty asked with narrowed eyes. 

         "Oops, sorry," Eric apologized. Euca just stayed starring towards the floor. Misty turned her head to look at the chains that were locking her in place. She wound her arm up, then shot it forward. The restraints tensed up, making metallic clanks as the links pulled on each other. Misty's wrist decided to join in with the sounds, as it made a terrible crack sound. Her body tensed up from the pain. 

           "Owch... just a few more, and it's going to come loose," Misty unconvincingly said as she kicked the cave floor, trying to distract from the pain in her wrists.  

           "Not to be a bummer, you said that about fifty attempts ago," Eric pointed out. Misty simply glared at him, and he shut up. Then it fell to the moments of silence when no one had anything meaningful to say. Misty took these moments of silence to look around for something to help. She did see help, yet it was not something that she saw. It was someone, Terrisa. 

            "Terrisa? Over here!" Misty shouted. Terrisa skidded to a stop and turned down the tunnel, heading towards them. As they came closer, Misty noticed the sledgehammer in their hands. "Oh, okay, suddenly I don't know how safe I feel." 

              "Shut your trap, I'm here to help," Terrisa said, clearly in a rush, "Miss Beron and Zach are distracting her with a dumb ketchup packet thing. I don't know how to explain it, but I gotta hurry." 

             "Thank the world, I thought we were gonna die in here," Eric sighed, "Did you find a key?" 

            "No, I assume they're on Rowan. But these look pretty weak. Misty, duck," Terrisa ordered, winding the sledgehammer up. 

             "Wait, what?!" Misty exclaimed, slightly baffled. 

             "Just do it already!" Terrisa ordered. 

            "I swear if ghosts are real, I'm gonna haunt you!" Misty ducked. After several hits and loud noises, the chains snapped off. Misty groaned as she got to her feet, shaking wrists, wincing a bit. They were noticeably heavier since the shackles were still on. Yet, they were still manageable.  

            "Those look really fashionable on you," Terrisa snickered. Misty debated on kicking Terrisa but knew there was no time. 

                "Whatever, I'll go get my stuff to help you guys out," Misty explained. 

               "Gotcha," Terrisa nodded. She then held up the back of her hand towards Misty. "Hey, good luck." 

                 "I'll be there to help soon. I could even beat you there. Be careful getting those two out, and thanks," Misty turned away, bumping the back of their hand to Terrisa's before running out. Luckily, even though the cave was large, it wasn't a labyrinth, so it didn't take her too long to find storage. In said storage was her backpack, along with tons of papers, leatherbound books, and filing cabinets. She snagged her back, rummaging through it and pulling out the magical dagger. Misty then pulled it over her shoulder, getting to run back to the group.