Burning Road

Rally- Part I

Prince struggled against his restraints, to no avail. Each movement made the chains bite deeper into his skin. How'd he end up chained up in darkness? Who'd betrayed him? As he racked his brain he was filled with the sinking feeling that the lives of those he cared about hung in the balance. Khouri tried to get a sense of his surroundings but the darkness was total.

Frustrated, he tried the chains for the dozenth time. Metal whined, links shattered, and two lengths of chain unraveled. The bindings tore across his chest, ripping open his skin. He could suddenly move and as he took a labored step forward a man and woman screamed in the dark.

A row of distant dim lights illuminated their bodies as they fell. Prince didn't need to see their faces. He knew his parents' voices, they were burned into his memories by countless regrets.The couple fell past the lights and back into the darkness... and it was all his fault.

Angry, Prince resumed his struggle against the bonds which held him. He railed against the chains with his newly earned leverage.  Again; the whine of metal, the shattering of links, and two more chains unraveled. His thigh and back tore open, the price of his freedom.

More lights appeared in the distance and this time he could see Charlie and Jamie on platforms suspended in the air by chains. Those chains went slack and they were spilled from into the darkness, both plummeted out of sight. Charlie called his name before she went abruptly silent.

More lights brought a series of levers into view as well as new platforms. Helsing, Sullivan, Mimi, and Cali were all there, each teetering by a single chain. A voice echoed through the dark chamber.

"You can save them, if you can save them," it taunted.

Khouri pulled on the restricting chains, inching closer and closer to the levers. A chain snapped and Sullivan fell to his death. Khouri froze, fully realizing the nature of his prison. His actions threatened everything he cared about at risk. He cautiously moved backwards, bringing stability to his companions' precarious perch. Khouri would do anything to protect his loved ones even if it meant remaining trapped forever. He refused to play fate's game.

The voice laughed.

"Do nothing, and there is nothing!"

A chain shattered like brittle glass and Helsing too was lost to the darkness. Khouri's inaction proved just as dangerous as his continued struggles.

"CHOOSE."

A poke to the chest brought Khouri back to the waking world. He opened his eyes to the light of a cooking fire. Even open flame in the land below The Under was a dull thing casting very little light. Mimi turned a hefty hunk of meat on a spit while Little Charlie chewed on a mushroom near their belongings. Khouri sat up and stretched.

Smelling the roasting meat made his mouth watered. He just hoped it wasn't more cave rat. Mimi had stewed the three she'd pocketed during his scuffle with the troll. Rat hadn't tasted bad, but it was tough to chew and unforgiving to his stomach. The ordeal that followed was a reminder that just because you can eat something doesn't mean you should. Khouri's stomach rumbled.

"What is that, it smells good," he asked with caution.

"It is not cave rat, if that is what you fear." Mimi always used English if he spoke it first.

"Okay, not rat, but what is it?"

"Might be better that I don't tell you... smells good though."

"Yeah."

He suddenly wondered if eating rat was safer. At least he knew the side effects only involved a visit to the hole they used as a toilet. She cut him a thick slice and served it on a large mushroom cap. He said a silent prayer and took a few bites.