The House of Sept

Chapter 9

'I don't think it goes that way,' Sacha suggested, hesitantly. Last time, Unarel nearly took her eye out with a swipe of one hand that grew claws like a wild cat from the jungle. It did answer a few questions.

     Sacha winced, trying not to tighten her grip on the handle of the broken screwdriver she'd snapped on that magical wall that was the reason she got trapped here in the first place. Now they were both free, sort of, they retraced Sacha's footsteps and retrieved their only available tool in this place.

     Not that it was helping much. Sacha snorted. Nothing here was helping. Least of all me. There are only more questions we can't answer. More puzzles to solve. With no more time left to solve them.

     Food was scarce. On their travels within the labrinth, Unarel discovered a few rations, but no water other than what collected on the leaves of plants out in the courtyard with the broken fountain.

     When Unarel shredded her palms, apparently by accident, Sacha didn't get the chance to find out  where she found such a weapon. What with getting her mind took over by a supernatural force that for whatever reason required a blood scarifice in order to communicate. None of it made sense. Except...

     Unarel was Ailuran, capable of changing her form into a dangerous panther-like being that ran and apparently attacked on instinct. Often Unarel had no control over the change. Sometimes anger was the catalyst, more often than not, however, it was fear that caused her to alter form and lash out.

     Hense, Sacha's torn hands, now bandaged with a scrap of matress cover. She just hoped after all this she didn't keel over and die from an infection. Now that would be pathetically ironic.

     So much changed once she cracked the enigma of the Gate. The answer to how she did it was still a mystery. One Unarel wasn't about to providde a reason for. Likely, she didn't know herself. 

     Watching from a safe distance, Sacha decided not to give Unarel anymore deconstructive advice. The woman was determined to find out how to pass through to the other side. How to gain freedom.

     Although, Sacha didn't think poking at the the metal frame around the Gate would privide what she sought, other than maybe another mild static charge that would literally stick Unarel's hair on end.

     Unarel thought looping copper wire and trying to connect the Gate to some of the machinery would help them decipher yet another mystery.

     Sacha considered, whoever made up this stupid game they were being forced to play should have the common courtesy to provide a manual.   

     'Nothing!' Unarel flung down her armful of copper wires, tattered ends scraping against the ceramic tiles, rasping like snakes about to strike.

     'Another mystery.' Sacha slumped against one of the machines, its heavy wooden casing vibrating dully against her back, rumbling as it powered whatever devices they were yet to find and decipher.

     'We don't have time for this!' Unarel snarled, flexing her fingers.

     'I doubt that changing into a cat and chasing me round the room will help.'

     Unarel dropped her arms. 'Sorry.' She gave Sacha a look. 'I'll never live that down.'

     'Nope.' Sacha stood straight again. 'Not while we're stuck here with nothing else to do!'

     'Solving how to get out of here seems like a pretty big job to me.'

     'I think our first priority should be what do we eat now?'

     Sliding down the far wall, Unarel's expression turned sour. 'You just had to bring that up!'

     'It is kind of an emergency.' Sacha pointed out ruthlessly. 'It was all very well getting rid of all those damn tubes, but they were the only thing keeping us from starving to death.'

     Unarel nodded wearily. 'I know.' She sighed and rested her head against the rust splotched steel.

     'There are a few other doors we haven't tried yet,' Sacha offered.

     'Look how that turned out last time.' Unarel raised one bare arm and a valid, if unwelcome, point. Three angry looking  scratches ran down to her elbow, raised against her pale skin like scarlet tracks.

     Sacha winced. 'Yeah, well, not all the rooms contain scary demons that want to skin us alive.'

     'Oh, yes,' Unarel remarked bitterly. 'There was the room with a working fountain inside that turned out not to be water, but acid. Glad I figured that out before you drank the contents of that cup.'  

     'Thanks,' Sacha replied dryly. 'We did find those crates, though.'

     'Dry beans, we have no ability to cook, and empty flasks. Great.' 

     'I think this is purgatory. I mean, we need food, but we get things of no use, or of very little use, like all that dried beef and even drier crackers. It's like we're being taunted or something.'

     'Yes.' Unarel's gaze darkened to black. 'Eliat was one sick bastard.'

     'My thoughts exactly,' Sacha said, glancing about the room they were both starting to hate. 'Except I don't understand how we have the ability to free ourselves, but not make or find decent, real food?'

     'It's twisted all right.'

     'Let's explore those other rooms.' Sacha strode to the corridor she didn't remember entering when she first arrived, but was now so familiar she knew it like the back of her scarred hands.

     'Sure.' Unarel got to her feet. 'What else is there to do?'

     Sacha smiled. 'That's the spirit.'

     'Let's hope that isn't an omen.' Unarel lifted a heavy set of iron keys off a hook fixed to the wall.

     'Strange.' Sacha murmured as Unarel joined her. 'Why we need keys at all?'

     Unarel raised an eyebrow. 'A metaphor perhaps,' she suggested.

     Sacha snorted. 'Yeah, like everything else in this place it's just one great big puzz...' She fell quiet.

     'What's wrong?' Unarel followed her gaze.

     'Now what?' Sacha went to the Gate. The dark watery ripple they'd grown accustomed to was still. In fact...Sacha frowned, putting out a hand. Her palm met solid resistance. It was like glass or even...

     Her fingers slipped beneath ebony liquid as the Gate changed its mind and decided it wanted to let her in! She fell forward. No! She was being dragged. She firmly dug her heels into the smooth tiles...

      It didn't help. She continued to slip and slide her way into the watery substance that was so eager to pull her into its depths. Distantly, someone screamed...A hand grabbed at the back of her shirt...

     Sacha couldn't respond to the slash of pain that bit into her shoulder as Unarel desperately tried to save her from being consumed. Vaguely, Sacha caught a few curses, but again got no chance to act. 

     Her head went under...She drowned in a sea of black...