"Are you one of the oblivions?". the girl asked. "No, I'm not. One of them."
"You're dressed like them." she said cautiously. Her words stung but I ignored them, I turned toward the man my voice steady, "Let's get you out of here". I push past the looming dark shadows circling him. trapping him. I shield him with my body wrapping my cloak around him and lead him out of the cage, hearing is muffled screams as the shadow burned his skin. As we stepped away from the cage the silence shattered, voices, dozens., hundreds, crying out, begging, pleading, it wasn't just him or the girl. I froze as I slowly walked along side the cages, they were everywhere, thousands of cages, thousands of people, of voices. even kids. whispering one thing; "Help.
"We can't stay here we have to get out, right now". The man following behind me said.
I just stood there frozen in horror. only one question in mind - why?. "They'll be coming here any second now, we must leave. Now" he urged again, this time lightly taking hold of my arm, we walked up the stairs but the sound followed, like ghosts with lungs, echoing through the walls.
We walked through the never hall way, speeding through the darkness, into the light.
All while carrying this heaviness in my chest.
"So, who's this person who might now how to get the hell out of here" I began keeping my voice low, fearful someone might hear me.
"Her name's Cillith," he repeated, voice low. "She's an Oblivion, but not like the others. She's... different."
I narrowed my eyes. "Different how?"
"She's weaker," he said, almost apologetically. "She's almost like us but born an oblivion. She helps people when she can - quietly, carefully. Like an angel in a world full of demons. But she's trapped too. She works for the King. His guard. His slave. She wears the mark, carries the blade, but her heart doesn't belong to him."
I felt the weight of his words settle in my chest like ash.
"She knows the way out," he continued, "but she doesn't hold any power. If she shows even a flicker of empathy, they'll burn her like the rest of us. That's why she rarely leaves his side. It's not loyalty - it's survival."
The hallway stretched ahead, endless and dim. I could still hear the voices behind us, clawing at the silence.
"She's our only chance," he said. "But if we reach her, we'll have to move like shadows. One wrong word, one wrong look - and she'll fall with us."
The voice of the king rang in my mind like a warning. Making me freeze in my tracks
The haunting memory of him being inside my mind rushing back to me. I
" I'm not going anywhere near that monster" I said stopping in my tracks.
"You don't have to, we'll go in the morning when the king, Rigosten is charging". He said stopping beside me. "Charging? I said meeting his gaze, And Where will we stay until morning?"
"I know the way around this place, there are many untamed places, places they believe are, spectral." He continued as he started walking.
"I'll fill you in about everything you need to know once we're somewhere safe, so keep up and lay low, we probably won't be getting any attention right now, everyone is still busy putting out the fire".
The fire I started I thought to myself hoping no one finds that out.
Wait. How did he know there was a fire?
He spoke before I could ask, "we're here". This room was dimly lit by torches hanging on each side of the room. He locked the door behind us as I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the room. It looked like some sort of lab with restrains, chemicals, beds all of which was destroyed, the place was torn to shreds and had a distinct smell of chlorine and blood lingering in the air. "Are you sure we're safe here?". I asked in a whisper, my voice echoing across the old and moldy walls.
"I have been here for five years now, I hated the cages, all their scared whispers down there, I always ran away from the oblivions hiding in these places. They almost never came in here, but somehow they would always get ahold of me, punishing me in a more brutal way then before". He said as he tore off one of the sheet from the bed wrapping it around his body, he didn't show it but I could see the way he flinched as the sheet rubbed against his burns, wounds and cuts.
"This place holds their dark past, their pain - the reason they became what they are." He stopped for a second, sitting on one of the broken beds, wincing as he did. "They were brought here - dumped on this planet by scientists, meant to be experimented on. When the experiment failed, they were left here to bleed and die. But they didn't. They evolved. Turned into something no one could've ever predicted. Now, they're the most powerful beings in the universe. They can control our minds, shatter them. Break our bones with a glance. Take over our bodies, our thoughts. Destroy our world… Our people - Earth." He stopped to turn and look at me. "You are one of them". He said with an odd tone. Before I could usher out a single word - A loud thud erupted from behind the door. A voice following soon after.... " Kanth!, If you open this door without me having to break it, I'll let you go off easy".
This can't be happening he said they won't come here. I reach for the blade tucked in my belt - The biggest one, the one meant to kill. I position myself in the very corner engulfed by darkness, my eyes sharp, my heart pounding hard in my chest. I look toward the man as he nods and motions me to stay silent. The door bursts open, A man steps inside tall - intimidating , I could feel his anger from the corner of the room, thick and suffocating, radiating off him. He marches toward kanth, his eyes locked onto kanth's with a force that made the air tremble. I held my breath as I watched the color drain from kanth's face, as his hands shot up to his throat, gasping for air.
I can't let him die. He can't die, not now.
I adjusted my grip on the knife as I lunged toward the man, thrusting the knife into his back, piercing through his flesh, through his heart.
I didn't hesitate, not this time.