The Zero Hour | #Wattys2016

Chapter 5 - A Warm Reunion (Part 3)

"You're not doing anything you idiot, you're just closing your eyes! Now open your eyes and watch me do it," shouted Waldo impatiently.

Amadeus furrowed his brow and strained his eyes, trying to make out what the Nobles were up to. All he could see were their shadows behind the thick mist. He glanced at Rei who was immobilized on the ground and fear started building up within him. Sorry Rei, he thought. You're as good as dead, and I need to escape. Thanks for saving me, but this is goodbye. His old instincts kicked in, from when bullies came looking for him. He fumbled around, looking for a way out.

He searched frantically for a weapon, only to find the ground stripped of debris - they had all been engulfed, and used to form Waldo's huge mansion. In the ensuing panic, Amadeus crouched down and picked up the only thing available - a handful of soil from the ground. It was wet and soggy to the touch, good for flinging. The three figures were blocking his only way out. I have to get past them somehow, he thought as he ran towards the three shadows in the distance. As he got closer and closer to them, the mist cleared and he could make out the familiar faces of the shadowy figures. Instinctively, Amadeus scanned for the biggest threat impeding his escape.

First, he spotted two bodies on the ground, and they seemed to be bleeding – no threat there. Next, he saw a Noble whom he recognized as Willie standing over the two bodies. He seemed to be having a panic attack, mumbling to himself about icicles – again, not a threat. Next to Willie, there was Waldo and Turney. Turney was not paying any attention to Amadeus and was deep in concentration. Waldo on the other hand, was in battle stance and just about to cast another fireball at him.

SPLOSH! The handful of soil made contact with Waldo's face which caused his well-aimed fireball to shoot off harmlessly towards the sky. "ARGH!" shouted Waldo. "My face my face! Get it off my beautiful face!" Waldo shook his head violently trying to shake the specks of soggy soil which had stuck to his face. Amadeus took this fleeting opportunity to plunge both his hands into the earth and piled not one, but two heaps of soggy soil onto Waldo's head. His silky blonde locks were now dirty brown and looked filthy.

Waldo's beautiful day was beginning to turn into a nightmare. He was furious! He began to blindly shoot fireballs in all directions angrily. Dodging the barrage of fire, Amadeus weaved between the Nobles who were blocking his escape route.

As he was running pass the Nobles, Amadeus turned his attention onto Turney. Turney looked up calmly and opened his eyes. A chill ran up his spine as he stared straight into Turney's cold eyes which glowed dark red.

Turney mouth curved upwards into a cunning grin as he brushed a lock of black hair from his eyes. He mouthed two words, "Got you."

What did he mean by that? How could he have achieved anything by just standing there with his eyes closed? Visions of Turney's victims in the commoner camp came to mind. Amadeus felt fear tangibly rise in his stomach. It would definitely take more than a few handfuls of soil to defeat Turney, who hardly cared about his appearance. His only chance was to make a run for it before Turney had the chance to attack. Fear and panic started to overwhelm him.

Amadeus exerted all of his remaining strength to sprint away with all of his might. What's wrong? His feet could not lift off the ground. Instead of sprinting away, he collided right into the ground - face first. It was as though someone had tied his feet to the ground while he was not looking.

Amadeus scanned his feet, only to find that the entire ground had swallowed up his feet, right up to his ankles. As he attempted to lift himself off the ground with his hands, he found that the ground was beginning to cover his hands as well. As much as he struggled, he seemed stuck to the ground for good. The more the struggled, the deeper into the ground he sank. He continued to claw desperately, trying to escape.

"How do you like that? It's an area spell. Takes some time to cast but it covers a wide area. Can't dodge that, can you?" said Turney as he laughed to himself smugly.

"Good job Turney, the Drake shall see that you are rewarded for this," said Waldo, who immediately stopped his tantrum and no longer seemed to mind that he was covered in soil. He gave a swift kick to Amadeus' head, making his ears ring and blurring his vision. "That's for ruining my perfect hair."

"How did you know I was here?" Amadeus asked in a defeated tone. He was too tired to struggle any further.

"It was all too easy. Every night the White Harrow guards use magic to count all of the commoners in the camp. That night, two commoners were missing. Father cast a spell which located you right at the edge of the Lost Valley. No one knew how you bypassed our detection wards, but when the Drake found out it was you who had fled the camp, he jumped at the chance to be the one who capture and torture you. It did not take long for us to come here and set up camp. We just had to wait for you to wander into the valley, and here you are." Waldo explained proudly.

"I've failed," Amadeus muttered to himself. The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. 'Two commoners were missing' - Waldo's words rang in his head. Uthaes. Amadeus turned to Waldo to speak, "What about the other missing commoner?"

"Don't you worry about him; father has the battle-wizards out looking for him too. While he is faster than you, he will be found eventually, I promise you that." Waldo admired his perfectly manicured nails as he was speaking. "Father wanted to send battle-wizards out to look for you too, but I insisted he let me do this personally. I owe you big time for what you did me, you miserable commoner." Waldo gave another kick at Amadeus' torso for good measure. Each kick seemed to improve Waldo's mood. I should do this more, he thought. "Of course, don't think that you're so important that five of us had to come get you. I could do it myself if it weren't for those pesky Exiles poking their noses at our camp."

"What are you going to do with them?" Amadeus gasped, recoiling from the impact of the kick.

"All types of nasty things," Turney answered as he licked his lips. The edges of his mouth curled upwards. "The experiments are my favorite part. We are going to cut them open and find out what makes them tick. It's not every day we get to capture Exiles alive. We are going to find out where Exiles get their unnatural power from."

Waldo pointed at Rei who lay motionless on the floor, "That Exile is going to get it the worse. He injured Gene and Lockheed. The torture he's going to get will probably make him lose his mind. I wonder how many minutes of torture he'd be able to withstand before he loses his mind. The current record stands at ten minutes."

"So the only reason you came here was because of me?" asked Amadeus, whose guilt began to build up. I'm the reason that both Rei and his daughter were captured.

"That's right, if it weren't for you, these Exiles would still be living in peace; hiding like cowards from the awesome presence of the Nobles. But now, because you fled the camp and came to this valley, those two Exiles we captured are as good as dead. In fact, they'll probably wish they were already dead when the experiments begin."

"If you're only here for me, let them go. They have nothing to do with this." Amadeus pleaded.

"You're not in a position to be bargaining with us," said Turney. He placed one foot on Amadeus head just to make a point. Shifting his weight onto his foot, he made a twisting motion, driving Amadeus' head further into the ground. Amadeus saw that the ground was beginning to swallow up his entire body; he would soon be buried alive.

Turney seemed to know what Amadeus was thinking. He patted Amadeus on the head and said, "Don't worry, you're not going to die here, it would be too easy. We have very special plans for you. We are going to take you back to White Harrow to be tortured publicly in the middle of the commoner camp. We are going to make an example out of you in case any of the other commoners get any bright ideas."

"And the fantabulous Drake," Waldo paused as he ran his fingers through his perfectly styled blonde hair "is going to enjoy every minute of it." With a smile, he waved goodbye mockingly to Amadeus. The edges of Amadeus' vision began to darken as the soil crept up his face. Soon, all he could see was pitch darkness.

Author's Note: Amadeus is now royally screwed. Let the fun begin... as always, vote and comment cause it matters :)