Book 4 | Agent 34 and the Last Gem

Chapter 6 | Into the Bunker

"They went in there," Paöminar told them. "They haven't been out since,"

Thad nodded, venturing into the cave. Sercon and Marque followed close behind, weapons raised and prepared for the worst. The room was illuminated by a singular torch sat at against that sat against the wall, the flame flickering slowly.

They came to a stop when the cave descended and stopped abruptly. A metal plate sat under their feet, their feet making it rattle with each step.

"Why would there be a metal platform here?" Sercon asked.

"Stand back," Thad ordered, raising his hammer. He directed the two Destigems to stand back on the stone floor, away from the metal. He threw his weapon against the metal, sending it ringing and shaking. However, his attack only put a small dent in it. 

Thad threw his hammer down against, making the dent go in deeper. The nets rang more, shaking below his feet. He raised his weapon up against, this time throwing it down even harder. It collided with the metal, pushing its way through to turn the dent into a hole. 

Thad pulled his battle hammer out of the hole he just made, looking down into it. A stairwell sat below it, descending down into light.

"I knew it," The dwarf said. "Something was down there. I'm breaking it open even more," And that's what he did. He threw his hammer down more on the metal, creating the hole bigger and bigger until they could fit inside it. 

Thad lifted himself down into the hole, looking for the stairs. They were on the back wall and were luckily close to where the dwarf had made the hole. He thrusted his body towards it and let go, falling towards the stairs. He grabbed ahold quickly, pulling himself onto them and telling Sercon and Marque to come down.

"Who's there?" A familiar voice yelled at Thad from down below. A shadow stood in the doorway that connected to the stairwell.

"We don't mean harm," Thad tried to tell the voice.

"How'd you get down here?!" The lady called. "I have spent years trying to make my bunker impenetrable so that he can't hurt me anymore!"

"Who hurt you?" Thad asked, making his way down the stairs. Sercon plopped onto the stairs behind him, Marque's legs dangling from the hole they had created.

"I—I don't remember," The voice quivered. The shadow disappeared as the voice turned on its heel and ran into the bunker.

Marque plopped behind the two of them and Thad looked at the Destigems and nodded. 

The three of them ran down the stairs, preparing for some sort of fight. Their weapons were all raised, ready to attack whatever cane near them.

They walked into the doorway after the stairs ended. A kitchen greeted them, the light inside it flickering slightly. A doorway connected to the kitchen led to a living area, which then led to a long hallway with loads of doors. 

A woman stood in the living area, her hood down now. Her pointed ears drooped slightly, her white hair in a mess. Her fingers occasionally twitched as she reached up and placed her hands on her face, muttering things to herself.

"Miss?" Thad said, trying not to disturb her. He told everyone to lower their weapons to not scare the woman. The dwarf slowly walked into the room with her, reaching his hand out. "I'm not gonna hurt you,"

Thad placed his hand on her shoulder slowly, the elf whipping around slowly and backing to the wall. Her green eyes shut slightly and reopening once again to look at the man. Her eyes flickered downwards to see the dwarf, her mouth opening to reveal yellow teeth.

Thad studied her, the elf's face looking familiar to her. His brow thickened as his hand withdrew away from her, backing slowly away. 

The memories flooded back to him, shock filling him. He remembered this elf. This elf was a girl he had worked with for a few years, doing what the Destigems did now: protect the land of Renya.

"Harper?"

The elf looked shocked and taken aback a little. Thad reached out to her again, her eye twitching slightly. She recoiled a little, the dwarf taking it as a sign to stop. 

"Who are you?" She asked, backing away even more. "Why are you here?"

"Harper, it's me," Thad said, trying to calm her. "It's me, Thad,"

"Who are you?" The elf asked again, her muscles tense.

"Don't you remember me?" He asked again, trying to get his friend to remember their glory days.

"I haven't remembered anything since he took it from me!" The elf yelled, her voice trembling.

"What–" Thad asked, confusion filling every inch of his body. "Who?"

"Him," She repeated. "The king. He stole my memories,"