The Neverseen's Last Resort

29

"Oh, okay," she said, pulling as much water as she could from the air. Just enough to form a small handful. Any more, and the air would be too dry to breathe. 

Linh curled her fingers, unraveled them, and repeated the process until she had the water moving in a circular motion. Once moving, she moved her arms to direct the water out the cell's bars and into the next, where Dex heard a small splash! hit a surface and a girly shriek followed soon after. 

"What the-- Linh!" Tam snapped, and all Linh, Dex, and Marella burst into laughter. 

"Shut up!" another voice snapped. Stina. 

"Stina!" Marella called out, "Wake up."

"Is it lunch?" she moaned, groggily. 

"No. It's better," Dex answered, and Stina groaned from her cell. 

"What do you guys want?" Tam added, a sharp edge to his voice. 

"Dex found a way out," Marella informed, and everyone seemed to hold their breath in disbelief.

"It's true," Dex promised, showing Linh the contraption he'd found in his pocket.

"Where'd you get that?" she asked, reaching to touch it. Dex handed it to her, and she smiled as she twirled it between our fingers.

"It was from our battle with Illusion," Dex answered. Linh's smile widened.  

"We can escape," she breathed, answering the question the entire group had been wondering. 

"You guys realize we can't see you, right?" Stina asked, "What are you guys talking about?" 

"Dex has a weapon. A bomb." Linh answered. 

"And how will that break the metal? I mean-- without hurting us." Stina asked. 

"What was it that prevented us from escaping before?" Dex quizzed, and everyone took a moment to think. 

"We're too weak against the Neverseen right now," Linh answered, raising her hand as if in class. Dex nodded. 

"Right. With this bomb, we can create a diversion and escape without risking our lives."

Tam scoffed from the next cell over, "Just being here, we're risking our lives. And anyway, we're still stuck in these rusty, old cells." 

"Exactly," Dex said, and everyone seemed to hold their breaths once again as they awaited an explanation, "'Rusty'. What creates rust?"

"Water!" Linh cheered, raising her hand again. 

"We'll wait till lunch when we get our water. Linh will rust the bars enough to breaking point, and we'll go from there, got it?" 

"I don't trust that plan," Stina huffed, and Tam murmured his agreement.

"Do you have a better plan?" Marella countered, and both fell silent. 

Now in agreement, they waited. 

//

Linh POV

Linh played with two little pebbles as she waited for lunch. It kept her mind off the pressure she knew she'd have to face once the time finally came for their escape. Dex sat in the corner, examining his contraption for any kinks or problems that needed fixing. Luckily, he hadn't spotted any. His build was flawless. Amazing. Perfect.

"How's it going?" Dex asked her, squinting at his project. Linh shrugged.

"Just bored," she answered. She decided to leave out the fact that the her arms were covered in  goosebumps and her hands were frozen stiff from the cold. He nodded, and Linh watched as he cradled his creation. Her gaze drawn in by the way smoke emitted from his mouth as he breathed. Maybe she had enough water from the cold? Maybe there was snow outside that she could call in?