A Seahorse Tale

Chapter 25

Kenneth closed his eyes as he felt Endotuer press against his mind again. The mer insistence on finding him and panic was building in Kenneth's chest at every attempt. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold the man off. So far old breathing techniques he had learned to de-stress after work were working but they would only last so long against magic.

"We're almost there," Robert called, tugging on Kenneth's arms. Kenneth had to open his eyes, despite knowing that Endotuer was watching, to stop from falling over. He stumbled and tried to push Endotuer out. The presence faded but with a distinct taste of annoyance. 

Somehow, that was more frightening. Anger would make sense, but Endotuer was only annoyed. This was an inconvenience, not an issue. Endotuer wasn't taking this more seriously than he had too. Kenneth panted as they finally reached the room, clutching to a rail. He wasn't exactly in the best shape and they had been running through the tunnels for a while now. Endotuer thought they were going to fail. 

"Right," Robert breathed heavily, just as tired as Kenneth. "Let's see what we got," he said, stumbling over to a computer panel and typing on it. Kenneth closed his eyes, focusing for any more mental attacks from Endotuer. They couldn't be found. Not now. Not so close. "That poison starting to sink in?" Robert asked, his fingers typing fast. The maintenance bay had old style keyboards as supposed to a touchscreen. More reliable in an emergency. There was a certain level of reassurance to hear the clicking of the keys as Robert typed. 

"Something like that," Kenneth said, his mind almost sluggish now. The adrenaline was fading fast now and his muscles were starting to tense, and his eyes were starting to feel heavy. He forced himself to stay standing. He had to keep going now. He wasn't safe. "Magic," he murmured. "They have magic."

"That so," Robert hummed, not seemingly listening to his words. If anything sounding frustrated by what he was seeing on the screen. Suddenly he snarled and there was a loud bang as the man hit something. Kenneth opened his eyes" and saw Robert scowling deeply at the screen. "They got Louis. Geoff and David slipped away from best I can tell," he snarled. 

"Nothing we can do," Kenneth murmured. "We knew there was a risk some of us would get caught. Louis. Louis is sweet. He has no attachments like Geoff and David. I suspect he'll be treated better than you or I."

Robert's grimaced, a growl rolling from him with his teeth on show. He reminded Kenneth of an angry mer at that moment. Something more primal. His fists were shaking by his eyes and he slammed one down on to a container again. "You're right," he nodded darkly. "We had better worry about getting our arses away from here."  He took a second to calm himself before typing again. 

Pushing himself away from the rail he was still gripping too, Kenneth stumbled into the vehicle bay. The pods reminded him vaguely of old diving capsules. Round like a sphere, it had a more modern sleek look to the thing. Kenneth waited for Robert to trigger the locking mechanism. 

"Kenneth," Endotuer's voice whispered through his mind again and Kenneth slammed his eyes shut. "My darling pet, time to behave now." 

"Go away," Kenneth mentally yelled, clearing his mind again.