James was too engrossed in staring at Juraman's weapon to speak. Uquin followed his gaze.
" Oh, the wendigo's Jawbone. Yes it must be a frightening thing to look at." She said halfheartedly before the shackles fell from his hands.
Rattle. Rattle.
James massaged his wrists. 'Wendigo?'
Rattle. Rattle.
The shackles clamped around his feet fell onto the dry coal. James watched as the young woman gained some distance from him. Her eyes were trained on his every move, for a second he was certain her pupils were like slits.
Uquin did not repeat herself. She watched James adjust himself patiently. 'How did this boy survive in the forest?'
" James." James quickly maneuvered to his feet answering her previous question. He scratched the left side of his exposed ass cheek and coughed. James kicked the chains away from his feet in disgust as he looked around.
" Why does this place smell like coal and ash? " James queried. The more he spoke the more it sounded like his voice was stunted, as if he was talking inches away from a room filled with mattresses.
Uquin ignored James' question and gestured for him to follow her. She quickly glanced at the flame dancing on the floor before returning her attention to James.
James sighed internally. 'I hope Ignazio was right about this place being safe'. He casually looked around for any signs of Ignazio within the darkness. It was empty, as if he was alone the entire time. There was not even a second pair of chains in his cell. 'I wonder where he is?'
He stepped out and began to follow Uquin. The two walked forward as the flame slowly extended forward to their right. Behind them, the dim flame that surrounded his cage began to slowly dwindle as it extended lighting a path forward. The coal that remained was now smoldering into a pale ash.
James continued to massage his tongue on the roof of his mouth trying to get rid of the taste of coal. He occasionally observed the floor and walls. They were crudely excavated as if they were flaked away with primitive tools.
" Can you at least tell me where we are?" James said running his fingers along the bumps and grooves of the walls. After a few seconds, James smelled the tip of his fingers, before twiddling them trying to remove the ash.
To his surprise Uquin responded. " Were in the Catacombs beneath the Kilin of the Firegarden."
James committed the names to his memory. ' Okay, Kilin, firegarden, coal. Outfits resembling firefighter gear. This place seems to have a certain motif.'
Left turn. The flame quickly made a sudden and abrupt left turn. Both Uquin and James turned the corner and saw the flame continuing on ahead.
It was now a greater distance away from them. "Hmm?"
"Tch" Uquin cursed beneath her tongue. Step... Step... Step
She increased her pace doing her best to keep level with the trail of fire. James picked up speed remaining slightly behind Uquin.
" Uhh? What was that? Fire's don't normally change directions on a whim?" James asked almost walking level with Uquin.
Grunt.
Uquin's blank expression twitched as she thought for a second. ' I should get him up to speed now before something bad happens...'
" S-"
Right turn! The flame once again made an abrupt turn changing their course and gaining some speed. Uquin paused her speech to once again catch up to the flame. The two were now in a light Jog, the sound of coal crunching beneath their feet getting louder.
James started running and without much difficulty he caught up to Uquin but there were now more questions to be answered. "Why is it doing that? Why are we following this trail in the first place?"
Uquin growled.
" It's a Guiding Flame, It's what Firekeepers use to navigate the catacombs. The flames are sentient, they often play games with the people that they guide."
Left turn! Right Turn!
The flame as if hearing her describe it, made two successive turns. The flame now raced forward like afterburn from a twin engine.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch
The two were now running, they were slowly falling behind, losing pace with the quickly escaping fire as it sped across the coal caked floor.
Uquin's attention grew more and more narrow as the flame escaped at a greater speed. Her brown overcoat fluttered in her own wake exposing her white marina. [1]
James who was now running asked more questions. "Is this one of it's games? What happens if we lose?"
Once again, Uquin greeted James with silent indifference. James was unsure if she chose not to respond or was focused on not losing the flame.
Right turn! Left Turn! Right turn!
There were other corridors , pathways, intersections and tunnels and even dead ends that were covered with doors. However, the flame sped away, turning corners and maneuvering in seemingly random directions.
James during this time noticed that he wasn't exhausted even though he was now sprinting. 'I've been running for 5 minutes straight and I don't even feel out of breath? What is happening?'
Uquin quickly glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened slightly at the platinum aura that leaked out of James. 'He's converting karma to energy? Who did he learn this from?'
James quickly made a deduction and superficially glanced at his karma lake. The rain had ceased and although the lake was full he could see portions of it bubbling like boiling water, evaporating like steam rising from a pot. Each second the level of the lake decreased by a small amount.
By some supernatural nature James was able to quantify that he could run uninhibited like this for another five minutes.
Right Turn!
the two were now trailing behind the flame. It was now about a meter ahead of them, their only sign of its presence at certain points was the quickly dimming light and trail of ash it left in its wake.
Left Turn! Right Turn!
The flame was now out of sight after the two made the left turn. The only guide they had was the thin smoldering trail of ash.
Uquin spoke for the first time. "Whatever you do, do not slow down or look behind you."
Naturally, James immediately looked behind him.
There was nothing. "Huh?"
'That was anticlimactic.' James quickly turned his attention forward as Uquin made a left turn.
"Shit!" Uquin turned back and headed straight through the intersection. James wheeled to a stop using his right foot almost losing balance and followed Uquin once again.
A green hue began to leak from Uquin's pores as her posture grew more feral. The frequency of her feet colliding with the floor doubled and was now a deep thump as if her body was rapidly gaining mass.
Her running form shifted from something bipedal to quadrupedal. Her body began to swell and buldge, her rib cage expanding and gaining unprecedented volume. Her calf muscles and forearms doubled in mass and the sparse hairs on her body thickened and grew into dark spots as her speed once again increased.
" What the fuck?" James exclaimed as he watched her posture shift and fold into that of a feline.
Roar! The walls quaked and a light sprinkling of coal dust fell from the ceiling.
James blinked rapidly even slowing down for a second. That's when he felt it.
Left turn
"Ahhh!" Something cold touched James shoulder. It cuddled his spine like a hug from a sex offender. It quaked him to his core. James immediately regained pace, half of what remained of his karma lake evaporated as he pushed his body to its limits.
He was now tailing behind Uquin by a few meters.
Right turn!
The tunnels were getting darker and darker, and even the smoldering ash was not long to provide him any more visibility.
Left turn! Thats when he finally saw it, the flame. It was there in the distance.
" Yes!" He could also see the green aura of Uquin barreling forawrd without hesitation. However, James realized that he was not moving fast enough.
THe hairs on the back of his neck were standing up again. It felt like there were things behind him that were getting closer.
James thought for a second. 'How can I gain speed?'
James considered himself for a moment. He remembered applying a force on his leg to close the wound. ' It was a compression force, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, how is that useful to me?'
James felt as though numerous hot sweaty hands were tickling his waist.
' Hands?! No feet. I need my feet to move faster. Compression... Compression is a contact force... Contact. Yes! '
Suddenly more karma boiled from James' body.
Vosh!
James suddenly accelerated once more. " YES! IT's working"
Beneath his feet, James could no longer feel the crunch of coal but something invisible. Using his karma he created platforms of contact for his feet acting like spring boards; compressing the air beneath him and releasing it like blocks for a sprinter.
Pock! Pock! Pock! Pock!
James caught up to Uquin who was already feet infront of the door, the guiding flame stopped and flowed up towards a series of tight tubing that formed a simple 'seal' in the shape of a fire axe.
The heat generated in the tubing caused some metallic portion of the system to expand, the axe which was upright then inverted releasing the tension of the doorway.
The doorway which was open was not going to be for long. James watched as Uquin dashed through the door and focused all of his power into control. Timing every compression and expansion of his karma into elastic energy that propelled him forward.
The mechanism that kept the door open was slowly going out, Uquin who was beyond the doors stared at James with awe. ' How is he moving like that? Ive never seen karma used in that way? What is his karmic ability?'
Before she could marvel anymore, A humanoid blur shot past her.
James spread his hands and stared at the world above him, his eyes grew wide as his gaze locked onto an enormous seven spoked star that hung in the sky like a dazzling chandelier casting light down on all things.
For the first time since he arrived, James felt the warmth of the sun on his skin. For the first time since he arrived, James had survived. For the first time in his life, James felt alive.
Flap.
A piece of brown clothing was quickly tossed over him covering his back which was now bare and covered in palm prints. The pain he felt was nothing compared to the freedom he felt in this moment. In fact, the pain was the greatest reminder that he was alive.
James stared out into the distance. He stood atop a hill in the centre a bustling city of iron and coal. To his right was an expanse of forest. To his left was a great river that snaked and curled past the horizon. But in front of him. In front of him.
In front of him were endless possibilities.
The Jacket Uquin threw over his shoulder's fluttered in the wind. His hands still outstretched to the sky. James breathed in a breath of fresh air. It filled his lungs like water from the highest of springs.
" Wow...Just wow...Im finally here? I really made it Somewhere... Somewhere far away. A place where i can change who I am. A place where I can reinvent what it means to be me" Joyful and wonderful tones flowed out from his lips, a weight floated off of his chest
" Im here..." His voice trailed off into infinity.
" Hollow Wild's, Im here"
A.N - [1] Marina is a Jamaican term for Wife-beater/undershirt