Encumbrance

Descending - Act 2 | Chapter 20 - Encumbrance
Three Hours and Fifty-Two Minutes Since Juna Was Found Dead

‘Save me,’ Juna whispered. Her voice pressed against Theo’s ears.

Jack’s—Theo’s former classmate—voice followed second. Hollow. Out of tune. ‘A man’s got to make his own decisions at some point.’

Nia’s voice slipped in between each word from Jack, meshing in just enough to be understood. ‘You have to be diligent, Theo,’

Kaida.

‘Did you make more progress than me?’

Juna.

‘You're the one that left me.’ — ‘What does it matter if you tried to save me in the end? You never bother helping me until that point.’

A slight pause—a break in memory—then Juna again.

‘Did nothing.’

Nia.

‘The best therapy for Kaida is seeing you, Theo.’

Juna.

‘You sat by and watched.’

Nia.

‘She says it's a reward.’

Juna.

‘This place isn't any different.’

Nia.

'But you know, Theo, each time Kaida overcomes a new hurdle, she turns to me with stars in her eyes and asks:’

“Do you think Theo will be surprised?”

Theo woke with a gasp. His left ear stung and even blinking caused tremendous pain to surge within his head. Whatever place he currently sat in, wallowing in his own pain, was too dark to tell. There were no windows, the only light coming from a faint orange glowing stone in the corner. All Theo understood was that this was a room. The only other thing in the room he could make out was the pale man named Radu.

Ground Zero’s researcher.

“Theo, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Are you able to do that?” Radu asked, placing his hands on Theo’s shoulders.

“...what?”

“Listen,” Radu said, his voice buried behind his low tone, “I need you to listen.”

“...Radu they—”

“I know. I know.”

“No, they killed Juna. Radu they killed—”

“I know, Theo. I know and I need you to listen.”

Theo brushed one of Radu’s hands from his shoulder with what minuscule strength that could be mustered.

“You don’t know,” Theo said. “Someone died. Juna died. Why are you acting like you can understand that?”

Radu retracted the remaining hand from Theo’s shoulder and took a squat. “I know that she is dead, Theo. And I know about the commotion you caused with the Gritborn.”

“He killed her!” Theo found the strength to yell, yet the hand pressed against his mouth instructed him he shouldn’t.

“You must be quiet!” Radu commanded in a whisper, his palm mashed against Theo’s lips. “They are looking for you.”

The researcher slowly released his grip on Theo’s mouth.

“He killed her. That Gritborn killed her Radu.”

“Yes.”

“What do you mean, yes? Someone died. Don’t tell me you sick people also think lightly of death like you do the tremors and everything else.”

“We do not, Theo. Though we also understand the importance of maintaining our composer.”

“Bull crap!” Both of Radu’s hands compressed Theo’s mouth this time.

“Silence yourself Ignorant! This room is not sound proof!”

Theo struggled to strip the man’s hands from his mouth, his current strength not even being enough to pull a pale finger back. Eventually, Theo conceded and Radu took a sigh.

He released Theo’s mouth, allowing a second to pass to examine if Theo would be obedient, before nodding to someone behind him. A thin figure with short pearl white hair stepped into the dim stone light—Ilinca. A silver stone with streaks of faint red dangled around her neck, and cradled in her arms was Speck’s severed tail, limp as a perished snake.

“I must ask you to listen,” Radu instructed, turning to Theo. “Understand me and allow my words to simmer in the front of your mind. Do not disregard what I say. Can I ask that of you, Theo?”

Theo bit his lip, watched as Ilinca stood still until Radu lowered his hand.
“...okay,” Theo answered.”

Radu lowered his hand and Ilinca stepped forward, placing Speck’s tail in front of Theo. Dropping to a knee, Radu pulled a glass vial from the innards of his shirt. The vial was an inch long and the cork jammed into the opening seemed bigger than whatever muddied white liquid shifted inside. He unplugged the vial, checked to make certain Theo's eyes were diligent, and that Theo was diligent in listening.

Then Radu poured the mist white substance onto the severed tail. Barley even more than a plop sounded and there wasn’t even enough to spill from the tail onto the ground. All the liquid did was bubble on the surface before seeping into the flesh of Speck’s tail.

Theo looked up at Radu with a questioning eye. “What was that even supposed to be?”

“Listen!” Radu instructed, his eyes still focused on the tail beneath him.

Theo shifted his sight back down and watched as the severed part of Speck’s tail began branching off into clumps of meat and ligaments. Blood spewed from the opened wound as scales and skin wrapped around it. Bones appeared from the gush of blood that overflowed onto the floorboards until eventually there was nowhere else for the blood to escape and Speck’s was whole.

Alive.

The lizard-creature flared his tongue, looking with newly formed beady eyes around the room until he spotted Theo and waddled towards him. Specks rubbed against his leg, the animal's warmth reaching Theo. The beating of a heart drumming through his leg as Specks wagged his tail.

Theo didn’t question the miracle. Questioning hadn’t gotten him anywhere in this world yet. Believing it and moving on was this world's way of being diligent. And frankly he didn’t care what happened to the lizard-creature, only that it did happen, and if it could be repeated.

“Radu, where is the rest?”

The researcher shook his head and held his words a bit too long for Theo’s liking. His gaze remained on the living Specks, though he didn’t look a single bit pleased. Instead he almost seemed to be in pain. Let down.

Ilinca spoke on his behalf, her Stone necklace swaying forward as she properly knelt on two knees beside him. “The researcher only had one vial of The Chasm’s Mercy. The said vial was used on Speck just now. No more remains.”

“WHAT DO YOU—”

Theo forgot he couldn’t yell, though this time there wasn’t a firm hand around his mouth to stop him. Instead the hollow glare from Ilinca’s barren eyes shut him up quick enough. He retired to a reluctant whisper.

“What do you mean that’s all you had? Why use it on some stupid reptile and not on Juna?”

“The liquid wasn’t potent enough to restore a whole human body and soul. The researcher himself didn’t even expect it to be strong enough to bring back Specks.”

Theo shot his look towards Radu, and finally the man looked back up. Rubbing his right brow Radu spoke,

“There is more of that substance. Plenty more in fact. Untouched.”

Theo knew better to raise his hopes and ask where, and the curl of Radu’s bottom lip confirmed such belief.

“You must descend,” Radu growled. “The Chasm’s Mercy is said to have a property that can supercharge the body's own function and kickstart it even if lacking a beating heart or functioning brain. Simply put—the substance can bring the dead back to life.

“I only just now confirmed such a belief,” Radu continued. “I had planned on finding a way to duplicate the substance’s property before fully committing to a test. Though I never found such a process to be possible. As it stands the only way to get more is by draining it from The Chasm’s Fourth Layer with your own hands.”

My own hands? Theo thought.

“Why can’t someone else do it? Don’t you know other Gritborns? Can’t you just buy it again somewhere else?” Theo asked.

“The value of a trip down into The Forth Layer can only be paid with someone from The Fourth Layer itself.” Ilinca nodded at the empty vial, then continued. “If we were to sell off the vial of The Chasm’s Mercy, then someone would consider descending into The Fourth Layer. Buying the substance is out of the question as well. In all of the four Grounds, Radu’s vial was the only known source of The Chasm’s Mercy. There is no more left to offer above The Forth Layer.”

“Then how did you get it before and why can’t you do that again? Neither one of you is making any sense.”

“Not possible,” Radu answered. “A miracle took place in order for just an inch of the substance to end up in my hands at Ground Zero. To replicate that would take a trillion tries and more.”

Radu raised a single finger.

“In all my years of studying, I have only ever known one man to descend into The Chasm’s Forth Layer and return back alive. Everyone else who does never returns. No one knows what lies below The Forth Layer except him. Though the journey has caused his mind to be driven to madness, and his memory of the excursion remains scrambled. I’ve tried speaking to the man. There is no value in the rubbish he spits out.”

Radu took an uneasy breath and nodded to Ilinca, in return she stood and brushed off her loose pitch-black gown before stepping into a darkened section of the room.

Radu turned back to Theo and spoke in a stern and confronting tone,

“Men wish to kill you. To harm a Gritborn is as treacherous an act as they come.” He raised the index finger again in a hush, like he knew Theo was about to argue the point. “Even if a Gritborn does something horrendous, most get away with it. In some cases Gritborns are needed to protect the villages and Grounds. So much that a few hiccups from them here and there can be looked over. Though it isn’t a system I agree with, it is one I am forced to live with.

“In Ground One and below though this isn’t exactly the case. There are enough good-hearted Gritborn’s to keep the scandalous ones in check. The same cannot be said about up here.” Radu pulled the empty vial back into his shirt and stood. He seemed more menacing standing above Theo. Less like a simple researcher.

“Regardless of the reason, you assaulted a Gritborn—Doru, who contributed to Ground Zero’s prosperity. Multiple witnesses were there to testify that fact, and multiple more Gritborns will gladly take up arms to hunt you down if Doru deems it necessary. Doru might not be the most influential Gritborn, but that is not needed in the public eye. It is that cursed DepthStone strapped to their neck that matters to the sheep who live in the Grounds. Nothing I say will change their mind, and certainly not the death of some outsider. Your only choice is to descend into The Chasm yourself. If somehow you manage to make it to Ground One you should be safe from Doru’s wrath. Though eventually you must continue your journey into The Second Layer.

“Becoming complacent will only give Doru time to hunt you down. Your true goal is not to evade Doru, but to reach The Fourth Layer. Do I make myself clear, Theo?”

Of course the pale man didn’t make a lick of sense. Who in their right mind would be able to accept the death of someone as an invitation to be hunted down by a mad man and told to delve into an unknown pit of death that no one else has even escaped from. Ridiculous.

“I will assist you with company,” Radu said. “A trio of Gritborn I know have already been called to meet you at The Chasm’s Entrance Section in approximately forty minutes. They will ensure your safety up until reaching Ground One. There are only a few Gritborns I place my trust in, and this group is one of them.”

“And what then?” Theo asked with a snarl. “Say I go with them into The Chasm. Say I make it all the way down to Ground One and on. What then?”

“That I am not certain of.”

“I’ll die before I can even relax, Radu.”

“That you might. But you are from the Chasm, Theo, and all things that belong to The Chasm must, at some point, return into it.” Radu turned, and once more nodded behind him to Ilinca.

“That includes the girl,” Radu said.

A second Stone was lit and orange light prevailed from the darkened corner. Ilinca stood with an uneasy hand propped against a large mesh sack that rose to her chest. She gently un-did a string at the top, and flipped the open the sack, then stepped to the side for Theo to see.

A corpse with bruised eyes and gashes carved across her forehead sat upright inside the sack. Her mercury hair dripped along the cuts across her cheek and faded into her half opened abyss of eyes. White tape was wrapped around her thin neck and a gauze had been placed with it so the bleeding from Juna’s slit throat wouldn’t sully the sack.

“The girl goes with you,” Radu said. His voice matching the darkened silhouette coming from the Stone light behind him. “Descend and revive her at The Forth Layer. That is now your purpose.”