Drone

14 Wilbur's Interest.

Edgar sat reclined in his chair, counting gold on the table in his little apartment on the third level of Pit Two. The pile of gold was huge, covering the table completely.

"Edgar?" Niklas muttered as he sat up in his bunk. "You can't have that, it's illegal!"

Lill pushed the door open, and Rasmus and Trygve ran past her laughing. She carried a plate of steaming food. "Boys!" she hollered at the commotion, but they scampered away.

"Lill?" Niklas croaked, his tired mind not making the connection that the scenario was impossible.

She set the plate down, and Edgar stood to hug her. Niklas grimaced in discomfort and got out of his bunk.

"Come here, Niklas," Lill said with a smile as she walked up to him and hugged him. Niklas cried out, kicking and squirming, but her hug was bear-tight.

She dropped him, leaving him gasping for breath. Then Esther, Robin's sister, walked in. She smiled at Niklas, her eyes twinkling. Her face was practically glowing, with big eyes, thick hair, and a subtly vulpine face.

"Why did you run away from me?" she asked, seeming offended, but still her eyes twinkled. The stirring started again. Niklas just wanted to look at her, but he knew he would be trapped if he did.

Crying out in panic, he turned and ran.

Niklas ran down the long decks of the third level. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the Zealots chasing him, all three of them. He cried out and ran faster. "Don't break my face!" he shouted, clutching his Drone mask to his chest.

Niklas ran right into the Master Zealot and fell back. Somehow, the Master Zealot appeared before him, towering over him, and looked down at him as if he were a bug on the ground.

It was then that Niklas realized he wasn't alone on the deck. Relrin mothers completely surrounded him. They gawked at him in terror. "What's he doing here?" one of them snapped.

"Doesn't he know Drones aren't allowed on the fifth level?"

Niklas' head spun. The fifth level? The sanctuary of Mothers? "No!"

The Zealot took off his mask to reveal Esther's face. Her hazel eyes bore into Niklas. "Yes, Niklas," she said. "You have no valor. You haven't taken your med."

"I'm sorry!" Niklas cried, but the mothers murmured amongst themselves as they swarmed him.

"He's faceless!" one cried. "Back to the under level!"

"No!" Niklas pleaded as they caught hold of him and towed him to the black pit that would drop down all five levels.

"Faceless!" they all cried as they threw him in.

Niklas screamed as he dropped, but he didn't fall. Instead, he glided gracefully. To his surprise, he was wearing a red Zealot's coat. It caught the air and lowered him into the black until the mothers at the fifth level were a mere pinprick of light up above.

Niklas landed in the darkness. Everything was completely black. He looked around in panic. "Edgar!" he cried.

"No!" a rumbling voice cut the air like steel plates being scrapped together.

"Who are you?" Niklas asked, reaching out with his fingers like a blind man. A figure stepped out of the darkness before him, and Niklas scampered back several steps.

Hunched and dark, it stood taller than him by at least a foot and wore black rags. Its skin was wrong; it looked like it might have been twisted black marble. It had pure black eyes, as though it were looking everywhere and nowhere at once. But its most sickening feature was its horrible beak. Twisted and dark, it curved down like a hook seeking prey to latch onto.