Please Don't Cry; Third Book in the Sky Army's Defeat Series

Chapter Fifteen

Jerome stuck to the shadows as he crept along the walls of the squid's underground castle, trying to find where his friends where. The overwhelming scent of fish blocked his ability to smell out any of his comrades, but he could still see in the dark with his bacca eyes, so he used that to his advantage and stuck to low light areas.

This strategy led him to the more dangerous areas of the castle where the sorcerer that had kidnapped him and his friends worked. Back to square one again, it seemed to him when he found himself back at his cell.

To think that the last time he had been here, he was human. He wasn't a feral beast of legends his family obsessed over tracking, or someone many cowered in fear from when they first laid eyes on him. He was a human being, and he belonged in the world. Not that being a bacca bothered him much, but it sometimes brought him down when strangers would hide their kids from his glance. He sighed at the thought of the days when he was furless, shaking his head. The squids made him stronger, and that was their mistake. Now it was time to show them as such, but first he had to get some food to clear his senses.

His instincts were telling him fish were nearby, but they were vile creatures, and not the raw kind that he loved. Then he caught the faint scent of something raw, something vile to the human nose, but to his it was perfect. He took one more long inhale to be able to see if the squid scent came through at all, and when it seemed clear by scent, he went onward.

The lights faded in intensity as he went to find this stash of raw food, every hallway he followed was getting darker and darker, which only worked to heighten his senses. Finally he found the collection of raw fish and sniffed around for any poison.

The pile appeared to have come from a small hole in the floor just big enough for fish to jump through, and for some reason quite a few had. It seemed to Jerome that there was a flaw in the construction of the condemned room that was left uncorrected, which served Jerome his delicious lunch.

With a now full stomach his nose could better sense a foe's scent versus a friends, and there was one really familiar smell growing stronger with each breath. Slowly, with great caution, Jerome crept towards the source, heading back into the dungeon area and through a different hallway of cells.

Faint, agonized moans met his sensitive ears almost as soon as he entered the hallway and it shook him to the core with flashbacks of his recruits' suffering before the first war. As he walked and the sounds grew louder he could make out writhing bodies behind the metal bars of each cell. Blue splotches of skin forcing its way out from under the human skin and tentacles slowly cutting through slits in the backs of many fetal bodies drawing out cries of pain from the victims. The further down he went the worse it got for each victim, up until he found the source of the familiar scent.

"Biggums? Oh my god, Mitch, no." He breathed, staring at the curled up body of his friend. There were many spots of blue covering his exposed skin, and his shaking hands gripping his head told Jerome there was much more going on below the surface. "How far gone are you, Mitch?"

"'M not gone yet, Biggums," he seethed through gritted teeth, "Just los'n it slightly."

Jerome picked the lock to the cell the same way he had to his own and made his way inside, helping his friend sit up against the damp wall. "Is it a potion? What is it?"

Mitch looked at his friend with a lazy, blue-grey stare. "Stuff you won't fix with a bucket of milk. I'm loos'n the Hunger Games this time."

The bacca shook his head. "We're not done yet, Biggums. C'mon, man. As far as I know we're the only ones left. If you go down we can't win."

Mitch groaned, seething and gripping his head again. "Trust me, Jerome. Th' guy that did th's won't let me go. I'm already the squids' puppet. You have a shot. Go win the games for me."

Jerome hugged his friend tightly as if it would be the last time he'd ever see him for a moment, before pulling back and giving him a firm nod. "You'll be a general again soon enough. I promise you."

The bacca received a faint smile and a nod from his falling friend before Jerome had to leave and lock the cell once again. They shared a final glance before the bacca took off down the hall. He had an itch that would only be satisfied by bloodshed.

Word Count: 831