Ignatius-Valdis: Book 0# [Heaven's Curse]

Chapter 19

Quickly, Gothalia reached for the thick vines that draped from the opening above her, charring the bare skin of her hands as she fell, straining to grip onto the thick vines. To her surprise, she stopped herself, inches from sharp wooden man-made stakes. Gothalia studied them, confused. "Another trap?"

"Gothalia!" Leviathan called from the entrance above.

"Are you ok?" Demetria asked, equally worried.

"I'm fine," Gothalia replied, suddenly reminded of their presence.

"We'll get you up." Leviathan said, reaching for a vine.

"Don't worry about me," she responded urgently. "They're coming! Keep going."

"But—" he began.

"Go! Before they come! Hurry!" Gothalia prompted. Leviathan hesitated to leave. She saw from within the pit, but she hoped he and Demetria did. They didn't have that much time and she didn't want them to waste what little time they had on saving her. "Go! I'll be fine."

His attention drifted to Demetria, and he spoke. "We'll be back. Just hold on." Then they were gone.

Gothalia relaxed, knowing that Leviathan and Demetria were gone. However, she couldn't help but feel a little scared and alone in the dark until she heard feet prodding around the edges of the pit.

As quietly and as quickly as she could, she lowered herself on the ground where the skulls were before moving towards the edge where the light didn't reach. With every step she took, she was cautious of making noise. The crack of a bone caused the monsters above to peer into the pit once Gothalia was out of sight, but not by much. How she wished she was like Danteus. Having the ability to manipulate earth would be beneficial right now.

She shook her head, at the thought, and focused on the task at hand. She had to stay hidden. If she didn't, they'd kill her and unlike those a part of the simulation, she wouldn't be able to be rebooted.

Gothalia regarded the surrounding darkness. She was certain the monsters had vanished a while ago, but now she recognised she had other problems, like how she was going to get out. She knew she could jump high enough, out of the hole, but the problem was she'd hit the stone ceiling above. Instead of hopping straight out of the trench. Anaphora had always said that because of her mixed blood, she was a little stronger and faster than the average Excelian, but she knew it was her mixed blood everyone detested. She realised that maybe Leviathan and Demetria couldn't jump as high as she could.

Until she dismissed it. "Doubt it," she muttered to herself, then she wondered if she could get out herself. She studied the uneven dirt walls. Gothalia traced her hand over the earth and felt the most clay beneath her fingers. She pressed her weight against it before pulling away and considered the composition before recognising that it might hold her, but not for long. She'd have to be fast and if she fell, she'd land on the spikes. She regarded the pikes on the ground, pursed her lips and narrowed her brows deep in thought.

There was a way out, she knew. She just had to try.

*

Maximus regarded the wall opposite him as he tossed the ball at the wall and waited for it to return to him before throwing it once again. "Can you stop?" Anton said opposite the room.

Maximus stopped throwing the ball. "What? Aren't you at least bit curious?" he asked.

"No. Not really," Anton replied.

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

Maximus groaned into his pillow, forgetting about the ball as it rolled into the centre of the room, before picking up his pillow and tossing it at his brother on the opposite bed across the room. Anton caught it without looking up before tucking it behind his back, comfortably securing it. "Hey that's mine!"