Beyond the Void

Chapter 25, There's someone here

ANDREW

One moon and one ten since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

It was cold and dark. Andrew could not see a thing as a wall of pitch black tar surrounded him. For a moment he recalled the sensation of being tied down in the endless flowing darkness, and panic rose in his mind. But this time he could not feel the flow, he could move, although with difficulty.

He was freezing, come to think of it. Something sticky was covering his head. His entire body felt heavy and stiff. He shifted and scraped his boots on the ground, trying to find support to get up. There was something keeping him pinned to the ground.

A sudden gasp and a terrified sob followed his efforts.
"Wh... Who's. Who's there?" The woman's voice trembled, and he could hear metal scraping against stone.

"Anna?" Andrew's voice was hoarse, and he realised his throat was sore.

"Andrew! Holy crap, Andrew! I thought you got crushed!" Something metallic was thrown on the floor and scraping and shuffling sounds told him she was crawling towards him.

"Is it you? Just you? The others?" Andrew demanded.

"I don't know, last I saw them, they were all running down the passage. I fell." She was sniffling and sobbing. "Where are you? You need to keep talking."

"Here. I can't get up." From Andrew's right, a sudden scrape sounded and he felt someone's hand touch his legs. Anna let out a small yelp. "How long?"

"I don't know." She sobbed for a moment. "I lost track of time. But the rumbling lasted for a while after. Then it was quiet. And dark for the longest time. I think I slept." Anna's hands were touching Andrew everywhere. "There is a belt or something stuck to something heavy. I can't see."

"Let me try something. Be careful." He felt and heard Anna crawl away. At least he could move his left arm. It was not burning with pain anymore. He raised it up and concentrated on the flowing sensation underneath his skin.

A dark flame flashed and blinded him. Anna let out another yelp. That was the wrong flame. I need... There. A small orange flame rose from his palm. Feeling more confident, Andrew let it grow a little.

The next moment his entire arm was on fire, not exactly what he had wanted. But it wasn't hot, it barely gave off any warmth at all. They needed more light. The orange glow wobbled and brightened. For a moment the flame tried to burn dark again. It was a struggle to keep it under control. Slowly it calmed down and emitted enough light to see.

There were three massive woven belts across Andrew's body. The belts connected two stone slabs that seemed to have come from the ceiling. There was an enormous slab on both sides of him. Only now did he realise how painful his neck was, lying against the wall.

"I think I can cut through these! I have a sword!" Anna crawled away and returned with one of the small swords they had taken with them from the gateway village.

It was a hassle to get a clean cut. Andrew thought the belts would be leather, but it took a long while until enough of the belts had been cut apart for Andrew to wiggle out.

"Wait. Can you raise that flame higher?" Anna said as Andrew had gotten on his feet. He did as she asked and she gasped. "The back of your head is covered in blood! But I think it's stopped. It's all dried up."

"It's cold." Andrew was not feeling too good. He touched the back of his head, but pulled his hand quickly away, feeling all the slimy blood.

He took a closer look at Anna. Dust covered her face, but streaks of cleaner skin showed she had been crying. Andrew walked up the passage a little. The gate had fallen down, completely settled in its place. There was no visible way to open it. Downwards a huge rockfall had blocked the passage entirely.