Page 79 of Sands of Atonement

His eyelids were still blinking. He was still alive. For now.

I didn’t have time to think about what I just did.

Run.

The thudding of my heart rang in my ears as I sprinted through the dark limestone tunnel, placing my new wardrobe over my body. More like hanging from my body, but semantics.

The hallways were dimly lit with small torches every twenty feet or so. My eyes barely adjusted each moment I went from darkness into light. It was giving me a headache. What was this place?

It was so cold that it was as if I were hundreds of feet below the ground. The faint glow of the torches reflected off the tunnel, showing glistening water trickling down the walls. I could almost smell the fresh water seeping into the limestone, telling me it must be close.

My ears perked up. There was sound, and a lot of it, coming from ahead of me. I quickened my pace and then eventually slowed down. Ahead of me was a large cave or hole in the ground, showing off multiple floors of this cave, circling the center floor below. Stairs from opposite sides stood so that people could go from level to level. Light came from the many torches of fire spread throughout the different levels and around the staircases. I quickly counted four levels, but there may be more. I couldn’t see from where I crouched. Men dressed in white hoods walked in all directions, speaking to each other, some in hushed tones, some using more passion in their vocal sounds.

I knew the Atrove had a secret society, but I had no idea of the extent of it until I silently crept through their underground world. The tunnel kept going, hugging to the right and back deeper into the ground, and showed no life at the end of it.

The only sounds I heard were my heavy breathing and my footsteps.

Before I continued into the tunnel, I glanced once more at the center of these floors. An arena. Many were already training. I couldn’t help the tingle running through my body. What was it like, training to be an Atrovian? To be a part of this society, this militia? From the brief moment I stared, their training was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It was… mesmerizing. The way they barely grunted, they were quiet, quick, and ruthless. They swung their arms, legs, and shoulders into each other, effortlessly dodging each other’s attacks.

Flashes of metal from both hands gleamed in the light.

They trained with real weapons.

No mistakes could be made.

I could see the blood trickling from all the opponents, along with their sweat dripping over their tan chests.

I swallowed, doubting for a moment if I’d be able to take more than one on. I was a warrior, but I wasn’t an idiot. I knew when I could win a fight.

Choose your battles wisely, words by Garamgai.

On my right, I rushed back into the tunnel to see where it could lead. Running past several tempting doors, I heard some more voices ahead of me. I crept forward, keeping my footsteps to a minimum, hiding in the shadows until I came to a candlelit chamber that was open.

“What do you mean ‘he slipped from my hands’?!” This man’s voice shook the walls I hid behind.

“Look, Lazerak, calm down. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. He has an entire army surrounding him day and night. He’s a Qahl!”

A noise of something slamming down on a table rang in the chambers.

“What about the girl?”

They didn’t have my brother. A wave of relief fluttered through my body. I smiled, knowing that my brother had not been taken. He was safe. For now.

“She became light as sands with one strike.” Heat rose to my cheeks thinking about how easily I lost consciousness. I was going to have to work on that, somehow.

So he was the one who hit me and carried me out of my tent. The anticipation to creep further just to see the face I want to pummel sparked my veins.

“We needed him. This won’t show him any kind of message,” the man—Lazerak—grunted. He seemed to be the leader of this Atrove. He spoke with an authoritative presence that demanded to be heard.

“I think taking his sister sends a pretty loud message.”

“Not loud enough.”

There was shouting from behind me, perhaps from another tunnel or from the main center of the cave. More commotion echoed from the chamber I heard the two voices in.

“She escaped!” A voice bellowed through the tunnels.

“What do you mean she escaped?” The man I heard previously barged out of the chamber on the other side, and his shouting faded into the thick air.