Chapter 18: Underground

I am awoken by a not so gracious shove. The night before, I was allowed some sleep as I would not have been much help in finding the tools necessary for our trip. Thus I was to be hated by almost all my fellow dragons.

 We had decided to leave at daybreak, so as to have the most time getting to the sewer entrance. It seems that this was the time we traveled at to reach the CN tower. At that time we had no further casualties so we decided that we would try the same tactic again. 

"Seth," Clair called from the front, "get up here, you are our eyes remember." 

"Yeah Seth, hurry up, your girlfriend is calling you." One of the boys says snidely, shoving me hard in Clair's direction. I stumble, but I don't fall, for steady hands catch me. 

"Don't you all have something better to be doing?" Aqua's calm voice asks, "Like surviving the next couple hours. Just because it is light out doesn't mean it's safe." 

"Thank you." I say to her, but I get no reply. 

We walk quietly across the open expanse of Toronto, Clair leading me around invisible blockades. I, in turn, keeping us away from the Ethereals, a name I have given the ghosts due to their wispy forms. 

We arrive safely at the sewer entrance, and descend into a world smelling of dead things.

A smell oddly lacking from the world above. It gets stronger as I continue to descend into the sloshy grounds below.
Splosh
The sound echoes around the sewer pipes, it's light going off like a flare in both directions. Eventually the light fades into the distance and the world falls back into the disorienting waves of the underground.
I wave my flashlight towards the manhole cover, my signal that I say no Ethereals. It takes a moment after that, but I soon hear footsteps clanging on metal rungs. Clair was the first to reach the bottom, I could tell by the way she breathed; rugged and worn by the tiring days and sleepless nights. Her strength amazed me, the way she still held herself strong despite the pressure put on her. Yet I was surprised when she didn't comment on the state of the sewer. No witty remarks or anything. The only thing I got was a 'come on Seth' and then a hand tugging on my arm.

Soon most of us where on the floor. It took a while due to the slippery rungs, and each moment more brought my heart to a stand still. At any second we could have the Ethereals decend upon us, but nothing came, only the patterned waves of light from the underground paths. Finally it looked like we might make it with everyone alive, but it was not meant to be. There was no warning when they struck, the sewer had blocked out any noise from above. I saw the flashes, yellow and green, and the screams of those around me. In the confined space, the sound was deftening. Over it I could only make out two distinct sounds. The sickening thud as the two bodies hit the ground, and the sound of humming resonating from the end of the tunnel.

Crunch.

I see the giant  hand clasp the corner, sharp talons on its glowing amber fingers. I instinctively took a step back.

"Clair, we have to go." I croak. Slowly the face reveals itself, ape like but seemingly mutilated. What surprises me most though, is when it opens its mouth and releases a horrible roar. The kind that rattles your bones and sends the hairs on the back of your neck straight.

The screaming stops and I know that something is wrong. I was not the only one to hear the roar.

"Seth?" I hear Clair's questioning tone. I'd rather not answer her. Instead I keep backing away, keeping dead eyes on the ghostly giant. 

Step, step, step. 

Then I turn and run. For a moment it is quiet and it truly seems I am running from a ghost.

Boom, boom, boom.

The monstrous thing charges and the screaming starts up again. In all the noise I loose sight of the walls, I am running through pure light. I peel through the pipe straight ahead until I am thrown from the side into another tunnel. 

"Watch where you're going Idiot." I hear Clair say as she tugs at my arm.

Roar!

I can hear the beastial ghost right behind us, it feels only inches away. 

Clair and I race onwards, the beast right on our tails.

Once again however I am pulled to the side and a hand is clamped around my mouth.

A moment later I see the Ethereal pause in front of me, my face only inches away from my own. I can't breathe, my lungs refuse to work. I whips its head in my direction and my heart stops. We stand like that for ages, no-one moving not a sound uttered.

Finally the beast takes a different route leading farther into the sewers and the hand is released from my mouth.

"What was that for?" Clair asks our silent ally. Her voice is defending after the partial silence.

"It was following your sound." Aqua says, her voice barely a whisper.

"Oh..." Clair seems lost for words. These days were hard for her, someone who always felt she knew everything, finds out she knows nothing. 

"Aqua?" I ask, but pause before continuing. "How many of us are left?"

There is no answer for a long time. Neither girl wanted to think about how many just died.

"Three."

Aquas some reply lingers on the stale air and quiets me. Three left. Myself and two others. From twenty to three in a few short minutes. How can that be?

"Come now," Aqua says, "we must keep moving."

It is some time before I am able talk again. Even still I did not want to, but I had to know something.

"Aqua, how did you know where the Ethereals was?"

"Ethereal?" Clair asks. I had forgotten that I hadn't told them about the name I had given them.

"The ghosts, sorry." 

"I could sense it, much like you can Seth." She starts to explain, but her sentence is cut off.

"Aqua?"

That is when a gag is placed around my mouth, and I am blindfolded, for all the good that would do. Still, with a knife placed over my neck I don't make any attempts at movement.

"Well well, what have we here?" A snide voice whispers in my ear. "Looks to me like a couple of trespassers."

Reviews

[Silent Wolf]

This is a really good chapter, though really short. Granted, the action made up for that. :)

[Lucy Morningstar &heart..]

You know I always fan-girl over new chapters and stuff, but I'd just like to say that this is a really wonderful addition to the story; it's fast paced, it's exciting, and every time you mentioned the Ethereals and the screams n stuff...I got goosebumps. You have a lot of great descriptive words in it and great diction. Well done, love
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