The Thanaton Syndrome

Chapter Twenty Five: Pt. 1

That night, Seth had the most peaceful night in Alaisia he'd ever had before. He had no funny dreams, no trouble falling asleep, and no one woke him up early. Oddly, Spencer and Christian were the only ones on watch, so almost all the questers got a full eight hours of sleep. When Seth woke up, Miriam served stale bread and dried fruits, the best meal Seth had had in a while. He'd forgotten (or perhaps never realized) the comfort of sitting down and eating with all the other questers.

Once everyone was fed and ready to go, Spencer led them to the little area with all the packs.

"Find your things," he said. "If you find any food, give it to Miriam so she can sort it. Take your time- we have no reason to hurry."

Everyone eagerly began looking for their bag. Spencer's last command however, 'take your time,' mostly went on ignored. Whatever anyone said, there was a very prominent reason to hurry. No one wanted to spend one second longer than they had to in those wretched rock tunnels.

Seth found his pack, which he'd forgotten about when they first found them, along with Lydia's snowflake necklace. It was a wonder he still had it- he'd forgotten about it so many times. To make sure he didn't lose it again, he fastened it around his neck, deciding he didn't care if it looked girly. Everything about that necklace symbolized Lydia to him. Every time he saw it, he remembered her laying in the hospital in the Paramount Palace as something slowly sucked the life out her. He couldn't let her die like that. He wouldn't.

Within about five minutes, everyone was ready to move. By this point, Spencer let Seth and Jenna go in front in order to show the way. Seth mostly followed Jenna, and felt uncomfortable with everyone looking at him.

Finally, they reached the tunnel where they'd felt the light breeze one night before, but everything was still at the moment. Going into the tunnel gave Seth the greatest satisfaction, the one and only time he thought he'd be happy to enter a narrow rock tunnel. As they went, they started wading into mud going up to their shins. Soon, it went up to their knees.

After a while, Seth managed to slip from the front of the line closer to the back. He ended up walking with Jeremiah, something he actually found quite pleasant. Over the course of the last day, he realized he'd missed a lot about traveling with all the questers. Silly conversations with Jeremiah, perhaps, were missed most of all.

"You actually never really told me what happened to you guys," Seth said.

"What? With the Octruxes?" When Seth nodded, Jeremiah shrugged. "Not much to tell. They tracked us all down and captured us- all that. Then they kept us pinned up in little caves covered in webs. I got stuck with Christian, so they mostly had us in groups of twos and threes. I think they kept Peter on his own though. If we tried to get out, they'd sting us or whip us or something. Most of us tried to get out, Christian especially. They fed us all a tiny bit of nasty goop stuff everyday. Christian and I didn't eat it at first, but pretty soon, we couldn't hold out anymore. Plus, we still thought we'd escape somehow- those Octruxes haven't got much in their brains, I don't think."

"So how long did you guys stay there?"

Jeremiah shrugged again. "It was hard to keep track. It felt like about a year, but I bet it was closer to a few days or a week." He smiled. "Maybe you should tell me."

"They kept me asleep half the time," Seth said. "I have no idea."

Jeremiah sighed. "I wish I could know though... I've lost count of the days. I don't know how much time Hector has anymore."

Seth went quiet. How many days did Hector have when they left? He couldn't remember. How many days did Lydia have left? She'd had about thirty when he left. Many two or three weeks had gone by since then. Either way, they didn't have a whole lot of time left to get the cure, and then get back.

"How long to Fangalia, after we get out?" He asked.

"Well, we'll have probably a few days or so to get to Frell after we get out of the caves. Maybe a few days from Frell to Frangalia, but to get into Fangalia- I don't know. It could be simple, but I think they have pretty intense barriers and guards to get in over there. Once we do get in, who knows how long it will take to find the cure."

The more Jeremiah spoke, the lower Seth's heart sank. He gave it maybe a week and a half, if they were lucky, to find and retrieve the cure. To get back... Well, his head hurt even thinking about it.

They now waded through mud just above their torsos, so the going was slow.

To distract himself from deadlines and mud, Seth turned his attention to the actual act of finding the cure. He almost asked Jeremiah what the cure really was, but a deafening shout filled the tunnel, making Seth's ears ring.

He looked up to the front, trying to figure out what the noise was, but couldn't quite tell. Three seconds went by, and shouts started filling every inch of the cave. The news spread quickly- Light! There was daylight up ahead!

Though he'd already known they were getting out, actually hearing the confirmation made Seth's heart swell with happiness. Every part of him wanted to jump and dance and scream for joy, all in the most ridiculous fashion.

Everyone around him started running, at least, as well as they could in the mud. He and Jeremiah shared a look, then joined the race to the end.

After just a few feet, Seth saw it for himself. A tiny orange glow shined at the end of the tunnel, a beacon of joy and delight. He could hardly believe his eyes. Nothing had ever looked quite so wonderful.

Everyone ran and stomped and swam as best they could through the mud, trying to get to that glorious glow.

Seth and Jeremiah laughed, racing through the mud and trying to keep up with each other. With a shout Jeremiah jumped ahead, and Seth tried to catch up.

That's when it all turned sour.

Jeremiah glanced back, shouting playful taunts. Then he fell.

It looked as though something had grabbed a hold of his ankles and yanked him underneath the mud. Seth ran passed and stopped, looking back in horror. All at once, people all around began sinking beneath the mud. The joyful shouts turned to screams of terror.