Enlightened Empire

Chapter 408: Instinct

As if a giant hand was sweeping through the tunnel, Chalco was pulled off his feet and fell backwards. He heard a boom, and then only ringing in his ears.

When he looked back up, he saw that his men were lying on the floor as well, their life or death unknown. Chalco wanted to run back and save them immediately, but just as he tried to get up, he felt a deep thump from the ground between his fingers. As an architect with, by now, extensive experience in tunneling, it was all he needed to come to a horrible conclusion.

Oh no, they've managed to dislodge the supports already. When he looked at the place of combat, he could see that several of the supports had broken apart. Maybe his men had already started to dismantle them, and the explosion was the last rice grain that had sunk the boat.

The vibrations he was feeling between his fingers came from the earth that had begun to shift all around him. If it didn't settle itself soon, there would only be one outcome. The whole tunnel was about to go down.

As soon as he had the thought, several small clumps of dirt fell from the ceiling and covered his head and shoulders.

Oh Divines. Don't let me die like this.

Sure, the priests would claim that dying underground, closer to the underworld, was better than almost any alternative, but he still didn't want to be buried alive under tons of earth. Yes, he had thought before that his current life was miserable and hopeless, but now that he thought about it, he preferred a miserable life over a miserable death.

Confused, he looked around, and finally found some hope to cling to. In the dim light of the lamps, he could see water shimmer right next to himself. It was the flooded side-tunnel that he had almost tripped into earlier. Rather than trust the slipping structural integrity of the earth above him, he chose to trust his lungs.

"Run, the tunnel is about to collapse!" he shouted to warn his men. Although he couldn't hear anything, and didn't know if his people were even still alive, it was the last thing he could do for them. Then, he ran to the side tunnel and dove into the water.

Darkness enveloped Chalco. With no sound and no sight, he would have thought that he had left his body behind completely, if he hadn't been so miserably cold in the icy water. However, he didn't panic. He knew how the southerners had built their side-tunnels, so he knew he could make it through if only he remained calm.

Thus, he grabbed the rough earth to the side of the tunnel, and followed along. First down, and then soon back up. When he was half-way, he felt the earth shake violently. Something had collapsed, but he had no time to care. Instead, he continued to feel his way through the darkness until he emerged on the other side.

When he did, he took a deep breath of air to calm his burning lungs. Finally, he crawled out of the water, and used the wall to get back to his feet. Maybe he was still in the same tunnel as before, the one that may have been collapsed by this point. Everything around him was dark, and cold. He stood crouched as his arms clung around his shivering torso to warm himself. Frozen and terrified, Chalco thought just for a second that he hadn't survived his dive, and had in fact drowned and entered the underworld.

Finally, the cold in his body lessened slightly, so he stood back up straight, and felt for the wall again. The rough and wet earth was the same as anywhere else, and his eyes wouldn't get used to the darkness. There was no light to be had anywhere, and he had no idea where he was. Out of options, and unsure if he was even still alive, he finally called out, not too loud so he wouldn't disturb the damaged ceiling any further.

"Hello, is anyone there?"

In response, a sharp hiss sounded, and a bright, red light illuminated the entire corridor. The tunnel was now flame-red, as was the rubble that was lined up behind him and blocked his path. To his left, he found the side-tunnel he had used to save his life. Now, in the red light, it looked like blood. And in front, he finally saw the end of the tunnel.

Towards the end, the wide corridor narrowed, and it was lacking all supports. However, he couldn't tell whether or not the tunnel had reached the walls, or even if this was still the previous tunnel, because its end was covered by a number of barrels.

Atop the barrels sat a young man who held a bright red flame in his hand, which made his face hard to distinguish, while his whole bearing appeared ominous.

"And who're you?" the ominous being asked in a tense voice.

"This master..." Confused, Chalco looked around the place, before he blurted out: "What is this place? Have I reached the underworld?"

As he spoke, he walked a few timid steps towards the figure. Only now did he notice that the ominous creature wasn't all that tall, or imposing, and that he wore the uniform of Saniya that Chalco had become so familiar with over the course of the siege.

Now he wasn't quite sure why someone in the underworld would wear a uniform from Saniya, though he suspected that he may indeed still be alive.

"Well," the uniform leaned forward, maybe to measure up Chalco or to look at the destroyed tunnel behind them. Only then did he continue, his tone now less demanding, a barely audible tremble hidden within. "It seems like this is it, then. You can't see any holes back there, can you? Any way to get back out of here?"

Finally, Chalco fully believed that he hadn't landed in the underworld quite yet. This was just another soldier of Saniya, who was as lost in the tunnels as he himself. Again, he looked at his surroundings, but didn't spot anything of note.

"No," he finally replied. "Not apart from the water hole in the side-tunnel over there. Though it is not a path worth attempting. Its terminus should have already collapsed by now."

"Well, fine. Just means that I'll have to end it early."

As he spoke, the warrior swung around the stick that still had a bright red flame growing out of it, and in the process illuminated the area behind him. Finally, Chalco could fully confirm his position, since he recognized the smooth stone texture behind the man. They were standing right next to the foundations of Antila's walls.

Just as he realized as much, he also realized why a soldier of Saniya would be sitting here. Only a split second later, he understood what was in those barrels, too.

"Wait!" he shouted, before the man put the light to the rope that turned out to be a lute. "You will kill us all!"

"Yes, but we'd die anyways," the uniform said. His shoulders were low, his voice defeated. "And it's my orders."

"No! You cannot die for something as useless as orders, can you?" Chalco tried again as he took another step forward. His death was already sealed, but at the very least, he could still prevent the destruction of his life's greatest work. "Why die for an empty cause that has nothing to do with you? Only because your king told you?"

"Wait, Aren't you one of the traitor guys?" the uniform shot back. "Don't deny it. I can tell from the way you talk all uppity."

Chalco tried to make another step to prevent the man from doing anything rash, but the uniform lowered the flame in his hand even further towards the barrels.

"One step more and I blow us up right now," he growled. "Now answer."

"Yes, it is true," Chalco relented. "This master is part of Antila's brave defenders. However, both of us are still Medalans, still men of Sachay. Both of us are the same, is that not what your king has been preaching?"

"Now you're talking about peace and unity!?" The uniform shouted, and little kernels of dirt loosened off the ceiling and walls in response. "It was you bastards who caused all this! If you hadn't tried to kill our king and destroy our city, no one would have had to die! If you didn't sit here behind your damn walls like cowards, how many lives could have been saved? You say my death is useless? How many people died for no reason in this war? It's already over, you've lost, but you still keep going, until no one's left. Is your pride worth that much!? You know that we've had to expand our mass graves again last week!? If it wasn't for you, none of them would be dead! You hear me!? Not Qhatuq, and not me! And it's your fault!"

By the end of it, the commoner was screaming, barely in control of his faculties. In panic, Chalco stepped back and lowered his stance, all to calm down the mad commoner who was about to collapse the ceiling with his rage.

"Of course, I admit, it is all my fault," he said. Now Chalco's voice was trembling. "Just take away the flame. Not all hope is lost. We can still be saved if we just hold out here for a while. We can still survive. Just claim that your red flame got wet and failed to start. None of your commanders would ever have to know the truth."

"You really think we'd survive long enough for rescue to arrive? You're dreaming."

"When the tunnel collapsed earlier, I also survived by swimming through the water hole. All hope appeared lost, yet here I stand."

For a second, the commoner just stared at him, before he mumbled: "That's right, better to try something than to do nothing."

Though the commoner was talking more to himself, Chalco could still hear him. All of a sudden, the commoner off his barrel and walked towards Chalco.

"Good, so you have finally seen reason," the architect said, but before he could be too happy, the commoner bent down to the ground, and lowered the flame stick onto the lute.

"Please stop. What are you doing?"

As Chalco spoke, he realized that the flame had begun to sputter, and lose intensity. Under the fading light of the red flame. the man's grin looked like a true demon of the underworld.

"I'm Improvising," he said, before he dropped the flame onto the lute and began sprinting towards Chalco. A second later, just before the stick went out, a flame ignited on the ground. Horrified, Chalco watched as the flame slowly traveled along the ground, towards the barrels filled with explosive powder. Before he could do or say anything, the expanding figure of the commoner running towards him blocked his sight of the flame completely.

"Your water hole!" the shadow shouted. "Run!"

Before he could even think, Chalco reacted on instinct. He turned around, and rushed towards the side-tunnel again, exactly where he had just come from. Maybe if he had been calmer, he would have had the composure to just overpower the commoner and then step on the little flame before it reached the barrels. Maybe he would have even thrown himself onto the flame, rather burning himself to death than let the commoner from Saniya win.

But in this moment, he no longer thought about Pari, or about his wall, or about his home. Faced with imminent death, all his body could focus on was survival. Thus, he once again jumped into the flooded side tunnel, head-first this time. Right after, the commoner followed.

Seconds later, the lute burned down and disappeared into the barrels.