The Undercave [Incomplete]

Chapter 7 - Power of the Mind

Cliff gasped very suddenly and slid down the ditch as fast as he could. He then removed his jacket and covered the man over with it to starve the fire from oxygen. This only made the flames angrier, so he put the coat back on and started throwing dry leaves at the man. When they made contact with the fire, all that they did was ignite, however he didn't stop. Soon, the crying paused, and the man's head lifted up slowly. Cliff stopped chucking things at him when he revealed himself. His face was a light shade of orange, which was still visible through the yellow ribbons writhing on his skin. He was wearing a pair of black and red headphones, with a familiar symbol on both ears. The same symbol which the others had seen on the products in the factory. It was a circle with a quadrant in the top right, with two horizontal lines at the right and left of the circle and a vertical line at the top. It looked like a clock showing quarter past twelve or three o'clock.
"A-are you OK?" Cliff stuttered, angling his head so that he could study the man's face better. He didn't answer. He just stared at Cliff, focusing his eyes on the badge which was pinned onto his jacket. "How are you not burning?"
"Are you a Cuniculator?" He urged, after working out what the badge was.
"Oh, uh... Yeah!" He had to lie. He didn't want him to think that he had stolen it.
"Oh." The man stood up. "I'm Ignacia," he said kindly, offering his hand as the surfaced flames sunk into his knuckles. "I prefer the name Blaize, if you don't mind."
Cliff shook his hand. "I'm Cliff, it's nice to meet you!" He looked up at his friends and motioned his hand for them to come down. Once they did, Cliff introduced them all.
"You're all Cuniculators? Wow, I've never seen so many that look so much like humans!" He examined their faces carefully. "Were you all sentries? Or were you just lucky?"
"Um..." Cliff glanced at the others, waiting for one of them to answer, but they were all staring at him. "We were... just lucky," he responded, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
"Cool!" Blaize corrected his posture. "I was a factory worker," he explained. "Not so lucky, I know. I got thrown out for trying to help a Vitium out of its cell."
The others didn't know how to react, but all they wanted to do was get out of these woods. "Do you know the way to the Undercave?" Lana blurted out, realising that it didn't sound like they had ever been there. "From here, I mean."
"No," He replied, "And I don't know why you're asking me that. You should know that once they banish you, you can't get back through the barrier." He narrowed his eyes, "Or weren't you thrown out?"
They didn't know what to say. They didn't want to get themselves caught. "Uh... yes, we were," Lana replied, "We just... forgot..." She knew that her voice made them sound suspicious, but Blaize seemed to believe them. "Would you be able to help us out of here instead?"
He chuckled. "You should be able to do that yourself," he said, glancing at Cliff's badge again, "That is an ergokinetic badge, isn't it?"
"Um... I think so," Cliff responded, "I'm just not very good at controlling my powers."
"Oh. Well, you know how to activate it, don't you?" He asked. "Just twist it, then make a platform for you to rise."
Cliff looked down at his badge, and placed a hand on it, folding his fingers around its edges. He then turned it clockwise, sending a wave of energy through his body. He took his hand away from his jacket and stared at it, waiting for something to happen. Blaize watched him, amused.
"Concentrate," he advised, "Feel your power. Feel its potential."
Cliff closed his eyes tightly, hiding his emerald irises. He focused on his heartbeat. He focused on the blood running through his vains. He focused on the energy inside of him, now making its way to his fingertips. Suddenly, a transparent indigo orb appeared on the surface of his hand. He opened his eyes and stared at it in awe.
"You know what to do now," Blaize stated.
And he did.
He brung his other hand up to the floating sphere and then pulled it away. The orb stretched out and projected a floor of energy beneath their feet. He proudly looked up at Blaize, who had his thumb up encouragingly. He then lifted up his hands slightly, rising the sheet as the others tried to keep their balance. They elevated through the trees, the leaves brushing against the edges of it. Theo shut his eyes, trying not to look at the now distant trees underneath them.
"Over there!" Sheri exclaimed, pointing down at the red Ford on the dirt track.
Cliff thrusted his hands down to where she was pointing, and soon, they had already landed behind the car which Rachael was sat in, obliviously singing along to the radio. Cliff brought his arms down to his sides and relaxed his hands, causing the carpet of energy to vanish beneath them before he twisted the badge back into its original position.
"Don't call my name, don't call my name!" Rachael's voice erupted from the car as Cliff opened one of the doors in the back, "Alejandro!" She stopped singing when she saw the reflection of him in her mirror. "Oh, you're back!" She said in surprise, before realising that they had only been gone for about twenty minutes. "Haven't you got the stone?" She asked patiently.
Cliff looked side to side. "Um... We got lost," He confessed. "And we forgot this thing," he stated, picking up the device and bringing it with him as he stepped back out of the car.
"Wait!" Rachael halted him, "If you got lost, how did you find your way back so quickly?"
Cliff stopped halfway out of the car, staring his Aunt in the eyes. "Oh! Well, you see... uh..."
"Did you meet a Cuniculator?" She asked, a tinge of anxiety in her voice. "I told you not to talk with any!"
"N-no you didn't," he responded. Her face was now glowing red, and she had to take a few breaths to calm herself down.
"Who was it?" She asked, calmly looking through the windscreen at a juniper green woodpecker. She squinted at the bird, concentrating on the strange pattern on its feathers, but Cliff's answer cut her off.
"He said his name was... Ignacia." Her face was now burning with worry, but rage soon took its place.
"Get in the car." Her voice was blunt and shaky, but Cliff was stuck in his place. "Get in the car now!!" She screamed at him. Cliff quickly plumped down onto his seat and slammed the door shut. Rachael then locked the doors and windows, and twisted her head round to look at him. "Clifford, don't you dare talk to them. They're putting this world in danger! You wouldn't talk to someone who's started a war, would you?" He couldn't say anything. His throat was glued shut. She sighed to calm her nerves.
"He was thrown out." She looked back at him.
"For what?"
"He said something about... freeing a Vitium, or something like that."
"Oh." She sighed, seeming relieved now, but he still had more questions. "Maybe we should do this another day, I'm worn out now."
"Wait, what's a Vitium?" He asked curiously
She sighed again, frustratedly. "They're defects." She explained. "They're the ones that went wrong. They weren't developed properly, and their minds work differently than they're meant to. They're kept in jail cells so that they don't cause any problems."
"So... It's a good thing that he freed one, right?" She glanced at him for a second.
"Not good for him, or the Vitium. He won't be able to get back in. He'll be forced to live amongst humans. The Vitium, well, he'll either get locked back up, or he'll get executed." A shiver was sent down Cliff's spine, especially from how calm her voice sounded as she said it. "Come on, call the others. Let's go back now." She said, starting up the car and pulling the clutch.