The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 33

33

I drummed my hands on the stone wall, but it didn’t budge. There were no hidden levers or switches, no concealed buttons or doors. It was just a massive wall which had no intention of moving.

Confused, I scratched the back of my neck. “I don’t understand. That wasn’t here last time.”

“Are you sure?” Astrid sneered.

“Yeah. Damn sure.”

“Great. So we’re trapped in an underground maze,” Sim remarked, thudding his scythe on the ground. “What could possibly go wrong.”

“Just let me think.” I closed my eyes, trying to recall the route I walked with Brynhild. I thought we just went straight ahead, but we must’ve taken a turn somewhere that I missed.

“Why is there even a maze of tunnels under the school?” Astrid growled.

“I don’t know. Should we try and retrace our steps again?” Ryoko suggested.

Flavia sighed as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “We’ve done that three times now. It’s been hours. We keep getting more lost.”

“Is there such a thing as more lost? Once you’re lost, you can’t really get more lost,” Sim remarked.

“This is all Ylva’s fault.” Astrid kicked the wall, mewling in frustration. “I should’ve just gone to class!”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. The enclosed space was getting to us. We’d been fighting non-stop since we hit the first dead end. Everyone was growing tired and more irritated.

“Honestly, none of us should’ve been in this situation,” my classmate continued. “Ylva is just trouble. She’s always been that.”

“Just shut up!” I exclaimed. “I’m trying to think.”

“Oh yes? With what brain?”

“The one you’re lacking,” I sneered.

Sim suddenly shrieked. “Guys…”

“What now?”

He twirled his scythe and swung it out in front of him. “Dragon!”

I spun around and came face to face with the Shinigami teacher. His silver eyes flashed menacingly and power radiated off of him. Scales rippled across both his arms and a side of his face, making him almost unrecognisable from his elemental form.

He was blocking the tunnel, trapping us in the dead-end pocket. With a menacing chuckle, he drove us closer and closer together.

“Shadows,” he hissed. More scales grew on his face, stealing the last of his regular skin. “Walkers.”

Without warning, he charged at us with the same viciousness and speed as the first night. He was fast, unpredictable, and nothing like the bumbling fool we saw this morning.

He bowled Astrid and Ryoko out of the way, throwing them to the ground without much effort.

His eyes flickered as he honed in on me. I was his prey and we both knew it.

I prepared for the unavoidable collision. He just wanted my shadow magic. If he got it, he’d leave the rest alone. Or at least, I hoped so.

I closed my eyes, ready to be ripped apart, but the pain never came.

“What are you doing?” Flavia shouted with a strained voice. She conjured her wings and was using them to keep Ryuga at bay. “He’s after you. Run!”

“But—”

Sim’s scythe sung as he twirled it around. “We’ll hold him off for now. Go! Go!”

Astrid didn’t need to be told twice. Screaming, she took off into the darkness and took the moving light with her.

Encouraged, panicked, overwhelmed, I stumbled back into the wall. The Moon Dragon shimmered in the dark, but not bright enough that it gave us light to see what was going on.

A low snarl echoed through the tunnel and I heard claws scratching against leather wings.

A sudden hand clamped around my wrist and my heart stopped.

“Ylva!” Ryoko’s voice. “Let’s go.”

“I—”

“This is not the time to freeze. Come on!”

Finally, I sprung into action. My legs remembered how to walk, run, and with her egging me on, we ran as fast as the dark allowed us. With one hand on the wall to guide us, we fled from the monster.

Behind us, strains and struggles echoed against the walls. Ryuga’s low clicking growl turned into a pained shriek that brought hope to my heart.

Did they subdue him?

“Just keep running!” Ryoko’s voice spurred me.

Left, right, left, left, right, I couldn’t keep track of all the twists and turns we made. I didn’t know whether we were going the right way or were just venturing deeper into the heart of the maze.

Panic drummed between my ears, erasing everything but my instinct to flee and hide. At least I had Ryoko with me. That was all I needed. We were going to be fine together. We just had to.

After countless minutes of running, I collapsed. My chest was on fire, my muscles torn to shreds. I couldn’t take another step, not without a moment of respite.

“Are you… Are you okay?” Ryoko’s voice was a comfort in the dark.

“I… I…” I panted, gasping for a breath. “I’m… fine.”

“Let’s sit for a moment,” she suggested.

I slumped against the wall, struggling to keep myself up right. My legs were trembling, my arms were shaking. The memory of the first fight with Ryuga whipped fear into my heart. I didn’t want to go through that again.

A soft hand took hold of mine and Ryoko gave me a soft squeeze. “Do you think the others are okay?”

“I hope so. Astrid took off before us.” I blinked rapidly, trying to get my eyes used to the dark. Not that it made much difference. I could barely discern Ryoko’s shape and she was sitting right next to me.

Ryoko sighed. “What about Flavia and Sim?”

“I don’t know… Flavia’s wings are impressive, but I don’t know how effective they are against someone like Ryuga. He’s a Moon Dragon, right?”

“Yes. They’re not supposed to hostile. I don’t understand.”

“Power makes people crazy…”

“Still. I always thought he was really kind.”

I took a deep breath, trying to slow my racing heartbeat. “I guess not.”

“No, I guess not.” She pulled her hand from mine and stood back up. “Can you walk again?”

Everything groaned and protested as I stood up, but I forced through the pain. “I’ll have to.”

In tentative silence, we moved further into the tunnel. Whether it was the right way or not, we’d only find out at the end.

A low growl rumbled through the tunnel, shaking the walls and vibrating the floors.

“That’s scary,” I whispered.

“Terrifying,” Ryoko agreed. “Can we hold hands? I don’t want to get separated.”

“Okay.” Nervously, I wiped the sweat from my hands. My heartbeat drummed in my ears, making it really hard to hear anything properly.

A cold hand suddenly grazed past me.

“f**k!” I jumped, crashing into the wall.

“Ylva?”

That was Flavia’s voice.

Fuck.

“Yeah, it’s me. Ryoko is here too.”

“I found you.” Flavia let out a deep sigh, her voice shaking. “Where is Astrid?”

“I haven’t seen her.”

The Valkyrie cursed. “Shit.”

“Take my hand. I don’t want to lose you,” I suggested, feeling around for where she was standing.

“I’ve got my tie. I’ll use that to bind our wrists together.”

The fabric crinkled as she wound the satin around my arm.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, relieved that I found Flavia. “Where’s Ryuga?”

“I don’t know. We couldn’t hold him off and he escaped. I got separated from Sim.”

I tried to swallow a lump, but my mouth was too dry. “We need to find them.”

“Let’s keep moving.”

The three of us shuffled further into the tunnel, our breaths ragged and short. There was nothing to orientate us, nothing to give us a clue if we were going in the right direction. We just had to hope that we’d find the way out somehow.

“Aaaaah!” A loud scream echoed through the corridor and my heart stopped.

“That sounded like Sim,” Flavia muttered.

Ryoko whimpered. “He sounds in pain.”

“We have to help.” I squeezed Ryoko’s hand, unsure whether it was to reassure her or me. Maybe both.

“Let’s go,” Flavia agreed.

We moved towards the sounds. The closer we got, the lighter the tunnel became. That was a good sign.

“There!”

The three of us rushed forward, towards the patch of light where we found two figured back to back.

Sim swung his scythe and it narrowly swooshed past my nose, almost decapitating me.

“Woah, it’s us!” I shouted, my heart beating so fast it was just a hum at this point.

“Oh, fuck.” Astrid collapsed against the wall. Her shirt was torn and splattered with silver blood.

Flavia unfolded her wings again, shielding us with them. “Where’s Ryuga?”

“We lost him.” The Reaper gestured to his scythe. “I cut him good, but he’s not dead.”

“We need to keep moving then,” I said.

He nodded. “Agreed. But we have to stay together.”

I raised the hand with the tie. “Flavia came up with this.”

“Smart.” He opened his cape to reveal a standard uniform and pulled the tie from it. “Here.”

My hands were sweaty and shaky, but I managed to tie everyone together so that we wouldn’t be separated again.

“Now where do we go?”

“Does it matter?” I asked.

He sighed. “I guess not.”

With Sim at the front and Flavia at the back, we shuffled further into the tunnel. I didn’t particularly like being in the middle, but they all insisted it was safer for me there. Well, all but Astrid, but that was to be expected. She’d begrudgingly taken the position between me and Flavia.

In complete silence, we kept moving forward. Nobody spoke. There wasn’t anything to say. We needed to find the exit, there was no if.

“Stop.” Sim’s voice echoed. “There’s something in front of us. It looks like… It’s… It’s a door!”

The tie on my wrist yanked me forward and forced me to run. But this time, I couldn’t be happier about it. Everything ached, everything burned, but I forced my body to move. I wasn’t going to be the weak link.

Panting and huffing, I came to a half next to Sim and Ryoko. He was right, there was a door. But it wasn’t the headmistress’.

Round and made from solid metal and covered with studs, this one looked more like the entrance to a military bunker or something. It even had a type of wheel with spokes as a handle.

“Do you think it’s safe to go in?” Ryoko hesitated.

Flavia ran her hand along the metal. “It must go somewhere.”

“What are we waiting for?” Astrid pulled forward and started turning the spokes. The metal shrieked and protested, but slowly, it budged and the door clicked open.

More lights flicked on, illuminating the other side. Steel grates on the floor, bright white lights, and loads of shelves stocked with boxes and bottles.

I gasped. “Hah. It is a bunker.”

“We can probably close it off from the inside,” Sim said. “It’s our best shot for now.”

“Let’s do it,” Flavia agreed.

Shaking with nerves, I crossed the high threshold. “I mean… What’s the worst that could happen?”