Sky Returns - Rewritten/Revised

Chapter Two

Cerra fell without anything to grab onto for several heart-stopping moments. His jacket bellowed out around him and he almost couldn't stop the scream that formed in his throat. He reached out, groping for something to grab when his hand hit something metal. He didn't even feel the pain that shot through his knuckles as his hand wrapped around the next bar of metal that came, and his body swung forward from his sudden spot. Another metal bar stuck his stomach and he let out a soft wheeze but didn't let go, hanging on for dear life. After a couple of moments, he took the time to place his feet on another metal bar underneath him. A ladder. He hoped it wasn't rusted considering how deep into the earth he was.

He began to climb down, going slowly but steadily as he went along. Then, instead of another bar, his foot met a floor. Once both of them were on the ground and he trusted himself to stay on them he pulled his hands back from the bars. He turned and looked around but found that he couldn't see anything. He was surrounded by complete darkness. He swallowed. Maybe he had found some old cellar for a house that wasn't here anymore. He really hoped that he wouldn't find some weird bones or something down here. He had gone through enough tonight, thank you! He reached out to find any walls near him but found that he could only feel the stale air around him. He couldn't decide if that was good or not. What if this was some old mining shaft? If he took one wrong step he could go plummeting to his death!

Slowly, he stepped forward. He sighed in relief when he felt a solid floor underneath him, and then shouted out as the room around him suddenly flooded with light. He stumbled back and covered his eyes with the palms of his hands and he felt his back dig into the ladder from before. After his eyes stopped stinging he lowered his hands and squinted. He found he was in a room with stone floors and stone walls with designs carved into them. There were torches lined along the wall, now lit and letting off the light that had blinded him previously. In front of him was a long hallway that curved sharply to the left.

He found himself moving. He couldn't really go back and he didn't want to be a sitting duck in case those Quidills found the hatch. He sighed softly as he went along. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He should've never let his guard down and wonder right into Quidill territory. Though he had never left New Byrne even he knew that you never went into Quidill territory unless you wanted to die. Laverdure knew about them since they were border-buddies, and New Byrne usually knew more because they 'shared' a forest. And share was a very, very loose term. The Quidills were a dangerous, primal species. Their army was one to be feared. Their Kingdom was smaller in comparison to most, especially Laverdure, but they weren't one to be messed with. There were rumors that they were descendants from the famed Kraken, and that was where they'd gotten their six tentacles and varying skin colors. They could be a dark blue to seafoam green, and their hair was often from the same range of shades.

Cerra didn't know any Quidills personally, but there was a good handful that lived in New Byrne. They were just like all the other Byrners, loud and brash but loyal to the very end. Every Byrner was like that, each and every one of them was loyal to someone. It could be their family, their work, the crew they ran around with or all three. For Cerra, it had been his Abuela and his crew. He wondered if they'd be able to survive without him. He knew the others would take care of his Abuela for him, they owed him that much after all he had sacrificed to keep them alive in their childhood.

Heh. Childhood. Cerra himself was only just beginning to approach his seventeenth birthday. But that was just life in New Byrne. It was rough and the softies died young. He shook his head. He was doing it again, he was diving into his thoughts and he had to stop. He had to be aware of his surroundings. He focused on what was in front of him, which was the corridor he was walking down. He was coming up to the turn when he suddenly heard something around the corner. He stiffened and his hand went to his dagger which he had pushed into his shoe, pulling it out by the metal handle. He leaned against the wall as he did and took the time to peer around the stone. His stomach dropped.

The hallway opened up into a large, circle shaped room. The walls were covered in paintings he couldn't make out just yet and a red carpet with a black trim came up was rolled over the floor. Lined up beside the carpet was long, steel rods that held candles on the very top. This would've all been fine, a little creepy but fine if it weren't for what was at the end of the strip of carpet. It was a coffin. Cerra found himself in some weird, underground chasm and before him was a coffin. A. Coffin.

"No," He muttered to himself. "Nope, nope, nope!" He turned away. "Not happening, not..." He trailed off as he suddenly heard clambering down the hallway. The voices were distant but harsh and he couldn't pick up what they were saying but there was no doubt in his mind that they were Quidills. He stepped back as panic flared in his chest. There was nowhere to hide. He turned and his eyes scanned the room. The voices were getting louder.

"He's in here! Where else would he have gone! The torches are lit and everything!"

Definitely Quidills. He needed to hide, now! His eyes scanned the walls, looking for some crook, some sort of cranny, some more stairs he could run up. But he couldn't see anything. He could face the Quidills coming but it sounded like there was at least two of them, maybe three. He had already probably killed one of their own, they'd be out for blood if the stories Cerra had heard growing up were true. But where in the world could he hide?!

Suddenly his eyes landed on the coffin. He paused and his face paled before he sprinted towards it. I can't believe I'm doing this! He thought as he sprinted soundlessly across the line of carpet. This is beyond disrespectful! He came up to the coffin and he began to shove at the top, which gradually pushed back. God, I'm so sorry! He swung his leg over the coffin edge when there was enough space for him to swing through. But you're dead, and I'm not, and I gotta keep it that way! He yanked himself into the coffin and shoved his shoulders back against the coffin lid, lifting it up and moving it back in place so that it was covered.

He let out a shaky sigh and found that he could breathe easier then he expected. It was stale, but it was air. He looked down and fully expected to see a skeleton. But he didn't and it took all he had to not scream.