DarkLight

Part 7: Down The Rabbit Hole

“Wait, isn’t this guy that famous Captain Harris?”

“Nah, can’t be-he’s one of Rammy’s favourites. Not him”

“But look at his hair - normal people ain’t got hair like that. I swear this is him!”

“Wow, he must of been baaad! Haha! Wonder what he did? Rammy don’y exile people for no minor crime”.

The smell of metal filled his nose. He wasn’t sure if it was from his blood or from his surroundings. Behind the metallic smell was something sweet and rancid.

“Well I heard last night tha...”

“Silence please, gentlemen” That was the only of the three voices that the semi conscious Soran recognised.

“No more talk.” It sounded young, angry and agitated at this idle chatter. “Do your job and keep it down.” It was distinctive of him.

“Yes sir, Lord Draz”. The two guardsmen ceased their talking. Soran’s head was splitting. He could just about work out the circular metallic dimly lit corridor around them-dark and damp. The walls were barely lit by the tiny electric spotlights every five meters. They cast strange long shadows over the old and rusting curved metal corridor around them.

“...continental plates...” Soran muttered.

“Ah welcome back, Captain!” Draz sneered. “Yes, we’re inside the continental plate corridor system. I decided to bring you the same route that I brought your wife when she was banished-I thought it fitting”

“N, no! You b-b-bastard. I’ll k-kill y-you” Soran fumbled for his sword. It was no use, he felt so weak, he could hardly lift his arms. But the pain in his head was overwhelming - a pressure that pushed on the inside of his skull and threatened to tear it apart with explosive consequences. And those words that wondered in and out of his mind… Arcadia, Alexandria, Serene, Arcane… Most frightening of all, the Darklight Sword was missing from its sheath on his back.

“Looking for this?” Draz laughed, holding the Darklight Sword between his two hands in front of Soran’s barely functioning eyes. A small part of Soran’s fragile consciousness humoured at the fact that Draz could only carry the weapon between two hands - he wasn’t strong enough to handle the sword. He was not worthy of it.

“Wh-what have you d-done to m-me?” Soran asked weakly. His vision was starting to blur again, streaks of light refused to fade as he was dragged by the two men through the tunnel.

“Oh, that was the high Matriarch. She decided to drain you of the majority of your life force. Don't worry, you’ll recover in time… but of course you’ll be dead by then anyway”. His voice was haughty and shrill, dripping with an arrogance that angered Soran.

They took a sharp left and the tunnel started to slope downwards. There was a strong warm breeze flowing up the tunnel and forcing Soran’s dreadlocks back out of his face. His shoulders ached from being carried and his head still throbbed with pressure. As they descended the only noise was the dripping of water on metal, the sound of the warm and sweet smelling breeze in Soran’s hair and the stepping and dragging of feet on metal.

“And now” Draz announced, as they reached the end of the tunnel “This is your final resting place”. The tunnel just stopped, seemingly in mid construction. All Soran could make out was black past it, a great black that could swallow him whole. But as his eyes adjusted he could make out shapes in the darkness. He looked down at the mile-high space in front of him. 

The continental plates themselves were massive sheets of metal containing a network of maintenance tunnels onto which Utopia City was built. They completely sealed off Utopia from the ancient ruins of the Undercity, the only access were the secured authorised personnel-only tunnels. These tunnels, along with the fact that the behemoth city was build atop a much older one, were highly classified.

“Good-bye, Captain Harris. Shame, you’re such a beautiful man...its a waste” His voice was full of melancholy.

“I could of had my fun with you. Farewell” And with this Lord Draz shoved Soran in the centre of the chest, sending Soran flying into the darkness. He was falling, Lord Draz and the guardsmen went out of sight. There was a cry of pain and a flash of light, the DarkLight flew over the edge towards Soran’s open hand.

Another cry of pain, but this time it came from Soran’s mouth. His eyes glowed a faint blue and there was a sound of rushing water. The water from an underground lake flew into the air, creating a column of water which formed under the falling Soran. He blacked out from the pain, but Lord Draz heard a satisfying splash.

“It is done” he said smugly.

“Sir, what about the DarkLight?” One of the guardsmen asked.

“But who needs a DarkLight Sword when the high Matriarch gave me this?”  he replied, pulling a dark blue battle-axe from its holster on his back.

“And with the beautiful Captain Harris now dead and the DarkLight Sword lost, who is here to stand in the High Matriarch’s way? Its almost time, the Sorceress draws nearer...”