Part 1

Wherein the author elaborates on a pretty decent premise, and in which hope yet remains that something may come of it.

1.1 Over The Edge

“Open your eyes, Sylvia.”

Sylvia jumped awake at the sudden rumbling of the deep voice. It sounded like thunder in the forbidding shadows of the chamber in which she found herself. She could make out no details in the darkness, but she could certainly feel the cold stone of her rough slab bed pressing into her back. She stood, arching her spine in an attempt to lessen the deep ache that had set into her bones.

“Follow the signs, Sylvia. Your destiny does not lie in death here. Go, and find me in the Three Toes Tavern.”

“Who are you?” Sylvia croaked into the night.

“You’ll have your answers soon enough. Now be quick! The guards will come to hang you any minute now. Follow the siiiiiiiign!” And the rumble was gone.

Up ahead, a dim yellow light appeared in the arch of a stone corridor. Footsteps echoed down the stone stairs beyond and into Sylvia’s stone cell with its stone walls and stone cobbles. “We’re coming for you, worm!” chuckled a cruel voice as the steps quickened.

Sylvia stumbled around the room, panic and confusion rising in her chest. Hanged? For what? Where was she? Who was her guide? And where, gods above, where was the sign?

She ran her fingers around the bottom of the bed. Nothing. She scoured the damp walls in the flickering light. Still nothing. The footsteps clopped on. “Almost there!” snarled the guard, and his companion cackled in delight.

Sylvia fought back tears and crossed the room to a stone basin in the far corner. She scanned up and down, up and down as a desperate horror clutched at her lungs. Where was it? “We’re coming for you, worm!” chuckled the cruel voice as the steps rolled on.

Over to the shattered crate on the other side. Only rotten planks remained. “Almost there!” snarled the guard, and his companion cackled in delight.

Suddenly, just as Sylvia had lost all hope, a bright red light flashed out to her right. She rushed over to the wall, gazing at the glowing brick in wonder. But there was no time for that. She reached out, and as her shaking fingers touched the sandstone, a sudden crack rent the fetid air. “We’re coming for you, worm!” chuckled the cruel voice as the steps rolled on.

Sylvia jumped away as the bricks drew back to reveal a rectangular hole stretching out of the prison. A secret passage!

“She’s escaping! Quick, grab her!” howled a gruff man close by. Sylvia turned round and watched in terror as two soldiers dropped their spears to wrestle with the latch of the grated door. There was only one option now. The woman snapped her attention back to the tunnel and took a step inside just as the guards swung open the door with an ear-splitting screech. In an instant, they were over by the passage, leering down on Sylvia as she scrambled down the ladder a few feet beyond the threshold. She closed her eyes. She had been too slow. A fate worse than hanging surely awaited her now.

“Great Gurzlewuck! She’s over the edge!” roared the taller guard, glaring at Sylvia’s frozen form on the ladder. He tensed by the opening and brandished a knife at the escapee.

The other soldier slouched forward and locked eyes with the terrified woman. His face was pale and sorrowful. He moved his hand to his sword-handle, and then sank to his knees with a clank. “Why did you leave?” he sobbed through his tears. “What will we tell Master?”

Sylvia swayed on the ladder, a sea of panic drowning her mind. Numbly, she looked down into pitch blackness and descended into the pit.