Permafrost

55: Candescent

⭐️Chapter 55: Candescent

The Infernos watched the walls as they were dragged down the long hallways. The Wave Crashers didn't even have enough decency to to least pick them up. Well, chances were they'd still held a grudge for so long, and now that they had their revenge, they would drag it on as long as they possibly could. What really stuck with the Infernos however, was the fact Fang betrayed them. Jack's blood boiled just thinking about it.

Thy shouldn't have left him alone, that was their mistake. Or was it their mistake from the start? Should they have just left him alone on the side of the mountain? Would Thrash have found him anyway? The Infernos could only hope something would persuade Fang to switch sides soon enough.

As the halls and crystal designs and blue colors passed by, the Infernos began wondering if there was a way out of this. Chances were, the Wave Crashers would take their weapons, and Ryn couldn't use her ink to free them. Maybe they would defrost over time, but then what? None of them knew how to lockpick. Maybe Corrin would come to their rescue.

They figured they might as well close their eyes as they were dragged. They were too cold to transform into squid form, and the floor wasn't bumpy. The Wave Crashers said nothing about it anyway, so it wasn't like it mattered. As the Infernos closed their eyes, they began thinking to themselves. About how they'd come all this way, only to end up where they were now.

It was just meant to be a turf war. How had it escalated to a kingdom? Why did today have to coincidentally be the day the Ice Kingdom decided to raid Laocrah town? Why did the Wave Crashers of all people survive the attack so they could come back later? And what about...everyone else?

The Thistlins. What were they doing? The last the Infernos heard of them, they were screaming for help. They hoped they would see them in the dungeon, but there was no sure bet. What about their families? How were they doing, and where even were they?

Well, the Infernos knew that they needed to wait for the Wave Crashers to finish up. Then they could plot escape from there and resume planning how to free their village members and the Rinklings. For now though, they were stuck. They just hated it all right now. The bullies they had defeated once before had come around to bite them back.

Their lives depended on what the Wave Crashers wanted to DO to them. If they were thrown into the dungeon, then so they were. If they were taken to the king to be executed, there really wasn't much they could do either. The Infernos were quite literally on a leash here, but also their bodies wouldn't move.
They hoped Corrin was okay. He'd taken a pretty hard blow, and without a proper turf weapon he couldn't defend himself. The Infernos wondered if he had any royal friends that could help him out. A hit to the head snapped them out of their thoughts and opened their eyes, but it turned out to be them going around a corner and hitting their heads on the walls. All of them tried to stay quiet, but...

"Ow! That hurt!" Cosmo squeaked.

Silvia sighed. The Wave Crashers would NOT care, and chances were, things were about to go downhill from here.

"It hurts? What, do you need someone to kiss away the pain?" Thrash sneered.

"Yes! Or...no, I don't know! It just hurt!" Cosmo replied, somewhat oblivious to the mocking.

"Should we?" Thorne asked, looking at the other three.

"Come on, we can't beat up their brains TOO badly before we get to our destination. We don't want them to die, just suffer. It's more fun that way," Spyke replied.

"Man, but I just want to hear them scream..."

"Later, man. Later."

"Fiiiine."

Ryn sighed, hoping Cosmo wouldn't bring up that again. The group had a close call with getting head injuries, and they were not about to cross that line again, no matter how much they wanted tonight back. Ryn was just surprised that her hot ink hadn't made we thaw out more and therefore gotten her free sooner. She supposed it was just a Pyroling thing, and that she had more to learn about what she actually was. Then again, it was also horribly inconvenient.

"We could probably shoot them with out weapons, though," Thrash said.

Spyke gave him a look, ignoring the clearly angry Infernos behind him.

"Eh. I don't think there's a RESPAWN POINT in the castle though."

"That's the point, we want them to be scared of us," Thrash responded.

"Well yeah but we can't just splat them like that, remember? Besides, two of or weapons are one-hit KOs if they land direct hits, and that's no fun," Spyke explained.

"How about Thorne and I shoot a little ink on them, but not enough to splat?" Thrash asked.

"I guess that would work..."

"That's fine with me," Thorne replied with a sly grin.

And so began the now made-worse journey to...wherever the Wave Crashers were taking them, as Thrash and Thorne would fire droplets of ink onto the Infernos' faces. It was cold, it was torture, but the Infernos rested easy knowing the Wave Crashers didn't plan on killing them. Man, who knew revenge could be taken so far. It kinda sounded like these squids were salty.

"You guys ever had losses before?" Silvia asked in a clearly annoyed tone.

"You're one to talk, missy," Thrash growled.

"Just sayin'. What do you do to all the people you lose to, huh? I'm sure you can't drag ALL of them to icy prisons on mountains."

Ryn and Jack held back a snicker.

"We challenge them to a rematch until we win! Or we move on if we don't think they're worth it," Thorne replied.

"Oh yeah? And what about the people who get away with defeating you in turf, hmm?"

Spyke looked back at her with a smug smile.

"We beat 'em up. Duh."

"You guys are weak."

The Infernos felt a hard YANK on their rope, but no response came from the Wave Crashers. As much as the Infernos wanted to agitate them, they were in no position to do so. They would just have to wait until later. They closed their eyes once more, feeling their bodies go over bumps and dirt and collide with walls without care. Soon enough though, they came to an abrupt halt, and the sound of a door opening was heard. As the Infernos opened their eyes, they saw a familiar sight.

Dark yet cold stone.

Bars of metal.

Strangely lit hallways.

They were at the dungeon.