A Small Spark

Amaris

Amaris pulled the mask down of her face and watched as Dimitri and John did the same. Audrey had insisted on making the masks, and she used a fine cloth that she was not accustomed to. They all knew that they needed something to cover their faces from the cameras in the prison and Audrey volunteered to make them. She claimed it was the least she could do since she was not accompanying them.

All of a sudden, the sky gave a loud clap and they watched the bolt of lightning descend on the prison. Well, there was their distraction. Amaris took a running leap and grabbed a hold of the lowest window sill. There was no room for her to pull herself up completely. Dimitri handed her a stick and she did not hesitate before she smashed the glass and pulled herself through. Amaris turned to help John up, then immediately headed off towards the cells at the basement of the prison. John and Dimitri followed closely behind her.

Amaris could hear the commotion form the top level of the prison. Ahab was in the interrogation room. Amaris frowned, wondering what he had been doing there. She had told Adam that if anything went amiss, his one objective was to get King Jonathan’s son out of the castle.

Amaris took the stairs down to the basement. That was where they met the first round of the Keepers. She took her knife and quickly sent it into the heart of the man in the front. Marinus pushed passed her and shoved one of the guards’ head against the railing. Meanwhile, John kicked a man down the stairs. “You good?” Stephen asked John while Dimitri plunged his sword into the guard John had thrown down the stairs. John nodded, but Amaris could see that he was fading quickly.

They did not stop running until they reached the basement. It was imperative that they kept going. Any delay could cost one of the prisoners’ life. Because Amaris knew Ahab would order that to prove a point. Surely, but now he knew they were in the prison, here for the Surfacers. They were racing for their lives.

Amaris felt the prison shake as another bolt of lightning struck. Finally they reached the basement level.

The basement level of the prison was reserved for the criminals that Ahab wanted to hide. The prisoners he labeled dangerous but were in actuality those who had tried to defy his leadership. The Surfacers would be there for sure.

Ten guards patrolled the basement level every night. One of them sat at a desk all night with the keys to the cells above his chair hanging from a peg. Amaris knew when each guard would move where. She knew what each guard liked to taunt the prisoners with. She knew everything. All those years watching Atlantis were finally paying off.

John, Dimitri, and Amaris ducked into the shadows. A guard walked passed them. Dimitri easily knocked him in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. They did this, sitting patiently, until every single one of those guards walked passed them. They were about to go for the guard at the desk, when the desk phone rang.

“Hello?” answered the guard. “Yes…? Yes, sir…all of them, sir…? It will be done.” He hung up the phone. “Matthews! Mitchell!” he shouted. “Come help me execute all of the prisoners.” Amaris’s eyes widened a little. Dimitri walked forward and easily slid his word through the guard’s chest.

“All of them?” she whispered. John stared at Amaris intensely and she knew. “But if the Surfacers are down here, why would he order them to be executed?”

“Ahab was in the interrogation room, Mare,” Dimitri muttered. “He already has who he needs.”

Amaris took a deep breath, her eyes meeting John’s once more. He was not going to allow them to leave without helping those people. Sighing, Amaris said, “Let’s go save them all, I guess.” They knew if they did no let all of the prisoners out now that tomorrow when the damage was surveyed, they would execute anyone remaining.

Amaris grabbed the keys and yanked off half of them from the circular metal ring, of which they were all attached and tossed them to John. He caught them, but a few landed on the floor. He quickly gathered the fallen keys and started down the hallway to free the prisoners. Amaris followed hastily.

As they set the prisoners free, they gathered in the center of the hall, waiting for them and help each other. When Amaris opened one of the cells, two young men ran out to Dimitri. “Ben, Bay!” he exclaimed. “May I introduce the princess and John Stravos,” he pointed to them. They really did not have time for a Lykoi reunion. The mask on her face began to itch, so she took it off for a few minutes.

“See,” Bay said, “didn’ I tell ya we’d make I’ out alive?” Ben just smiled. Amaris guessed that they were cousins. Ignoring the reunion, she quickly unlocked cell number 27.

A young man, around twenty, stepped forward and looked at Amaris in shock. She immediately returned this startled expression. His skin was darker than she had ever seen in all her life. He must have come with the foreigner. “Who are you?” Amaris heard John ask him. But he just stood there, staring at her.

“He can’t understand us,” Amaris told John. She motioned for the Surfacer and his friend to follow them, hoping he would understand. But he continued to stare at her like he had never seen a person with pale skin before. A young woman around the same age stepped forward, pushing him out of her way, yelling at him in some language.

Amaris motioned for the Surfacers to follow John. She pulled her mask back on covering her identity once again. Dimitri unlocked the last cell, emitting a very pregnant woman and a child. Strangely, the woman did not look sick or emaciated as the others did. Rather, she looked healthy, the way a pregnant woman should. Amaris pushed those thoughts out of her mind, as they did not have time to consider things. Amaris nodded to Dimitri. He motioned for the people to follow him and John. She looked around, making sure no guard was hiding, preparing to attack. She walked cautiously to a bridge they had passed earlier, but she had paid no mind to. Amaris looked down, over it, but could not see anything in the abyss. She held the keys over it and dropped them. A roar answered her. She breathed in deeply, no time to worry about what Ahab was hiding down there.

Amaris ran back to the cells and through the doors on the other side. A white room with three doors stood stately, glaring at Amaris. She took the door to the left, knowing it would lead to the staircase. They knew exactly where this staircase would lead them to Arcadia, the capital of Atlantis. When she reached the top of the staircase, she opened the door to her right. A long, dark tunnel awaited her, but she knew what she was doing. She withdrew her flashlight, which hung off of her belt, and switched it on.

Amaris started to run. The others could not be that far ahead.

It took her ten minutes before she started seeing glimmers of light. It was a tiny light that could only come from a flashlight. John.

Bay, who was in the back of the pack, turned when he saw Amaris’s light. He gave her a smile and trudge forward. She caught up to him. “I always knew Dimitri would come for us.” She took off her mask once more, annoyed with it, and no longer needing it. Bay had such confidence, she realized. She hoped no one would ever disappoint him.

They plodded on quietly. No one dared to speak. Suddenly, John stopped walking in the front. Amaris saw a few people run into each other up ahead, John told everyone to quietly wait for a moment. She noticed a tiny ladder in front of him. John scaled the ladder and opened a tiny hatch above him. Light streamed into the underground tunnels. Amaris turned off her flashlight. John looked around and told them it was safe.

John first helped the pregnant woman up into the city before the rest of them had a turn. When there was only three of them left in the tunnel, Amaris heard a noise behind her. She turned to see at least twenty Keepers racing towards them, with one distinguishable man in the front.

Alstor.

He ran with a bellum in his hand. Amaris knew that even in his anger, Alstor had deadly aim.

Amaris pushed Ben up the hatch. “Come on, Bay,” she shouted, pulling at him. He stared, unafraid, at the enemies behind them.

“You go,” he yelled back, even though they were standing next to each other. They did not have time for this arguing, so Amaris quickly climbed up the ladder. She turned around the help Bay. As she reached for his hand, she heard a bellum fire.

No.

Amaris quickly pulled Bay up, but she was not fast enough.

Dimitri sealed the hatch. He placed a sticky substance that would cover the hatch, it would not be able to be opened again. Ben knelt down next to his cousin. Tears started forming in his eyes. Amaris knelt down, too. “Thank you, Bay,” she told him. He gave me a slight smile.

“Anything for you, Princess,” he stammered out. A strange feeling creeped up inside of her, seeing him. Amaris examined his wound. It was directly under his heart. There was no way he would survive this, not without a very skilled Healer. They could not risk that safety of everyone over Bay. She thought that was the worst thing. She could not save everyone. Not tonight.

She could not save Bay.

Bay looked back at his cousin. He looked like he was about to say something, but at the last moment, gasped for a breath that he could not reach and fell in the snow. Blood tainted the snow and turned it into a strange pinkish color. John leaned over and closed Bay’s eyes.

“Bay,” Ben shook Bay’s shoulder. “No, no, no, no, no. Bay. Bay. Please, Bay. Please wake up. Please, Bay.” Ben himself started shaking, tears began to stream down his face. Ben stared hopelessly at his beloved cousin. “Please, Bay.” But Bay remained, unmoving.

“Ben,” Dimitri said quietly. “We need to go.” He looked up with anger, rage, and sorrow. He said something about not being able to leave his cousin like this and Amaris understood.

“Then, we carry him.”

They carried him on a horse all the way back to Jasper City. For now, it was safe for them all to be there. These people were criminals, though. They would have to flee for the mountains. However, it was late and they were all tired. But for now, they were all safe.

All because of Bay.

A heaviness weighed down on all of them as they walked to Jasper. It was a beautiful night. Snow had begun to fall, blanketing the ground.

The pregnant woman shivered in her seat on a horse. John took off his jacket and handed it to her. She took it gratefully. “Her name is Eileen,” John whispered to Amaris. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Her husband was Spencer Jovos.” That was news to Amaris. Spencer was three years older than them. Back when Amaris lived in the orphanage, and went to John’s house nearly every day, she knew him.

“Spencer’s dead?” Amaris said quietly. John nodded. Spencer and Amaris were never good friends, but they did talk on occasion.

Death seems to plague existence.

Martin was waiting for them when they returned. He started to pass out drinks to everyone. Amaris asked him if Adam, Shane, and Kane had entered yet. He stated that they had not and were taking the long trip to the mountains. Amaris asked Martin about Damon. “They’re still in the forest.” They needed to clear out soon, she thought. Ahab will eventually trace the attack back to them.

Amaris stood before everyone and called them all to attention. She explained that there were rooms upstairs for them. Four people to a room. She also explicated they were now criminals. Ahab would be after them soon. “Tomorrow, we will lead those of you who are interested into the mountains. We can help you there. If you decided not to join us, understand we cannot prevent anything that might happen to you. Thank you.”

Conversations commenced after that. Amaris noticed the Surfacers huddling together in a corner. It suddenly occurred to her they had no idea what was happening. She had not thought of them since they left the prison. Her mind had been on other things.

Amaris noticed Martin at the bar. She went over and asked him to find the translator that Kane and Shane had left for them. She wanted to explain to the Surfacers what was happening. He nodded and ran off for the translator upstairs.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Ben and Dimitri heading for the back door of the pub. Amaris followed them to a tree. There they began to dig. She had to admire their efforts. The snow piled up, but they worked until they had a decently sized hole. Big enough for the body. They carefully placed Bay in the hole and quickly covered it up.

Ben looked sadly at the fallen hero. “I wish I could give you a right Atlantean send off. But I can’t. You were more than me cousin. You were me best friend. You were me only family. I’ll miss you more than anythin’,” he said. Tears welled up in her eyes. Amaris turned and left the sad scene.

Damon, Lyla, and Matthias had returned when she re-entered the tavern. Matthias walked over and sat at the bar. Damon followed her there. They sat in silence for a few minutes, she though he knew she needed the quiet. Half an hour later, she asked him how the forest looked and he replied, “Those animals are taking over. We better go back and show them who really owns the forest.” Absentmindedly, her face contorted into a smile.

He did not ask her about the trip into the prison, even though Amaris knew he wanted to. But Damon knew her better than she knew herself. He must have known she was grieving in her own way. Amaris did not know Bay, but it was her fault he died.

It was all her fault.

“You seen him yet?” Damon inquired. Amaris shook her head and laid her head on the counter.

All she wanted was to escape this endless night, but she knew sleep would not come. No matter how much she craved it, sleep for her now was the ghost of tonight, forever haunting her. For the first time in his life, Amaris wanted to drown in a sea of alcohol. Amaris wanted to lose control. She asked Martin to pour her a drink, but Damon told him not to. “Giving into temptation never ends well,” he told her. Amaris lightly punched him in the arm, but when she turned to Martin, as asked for water instead.

One of the foreigners walked over to Amaris. She was the girl who had made the young man move. She had dark skin, too, but it was not as dark as the young man. She introduced herself as Julie. Amaris noticed the translator in her hand. “Amaris,” she replied. “This is Damon.” She only glanced at him.

“Are you related to Stephen?” she asked. Amaris shrugged her shoulders, not completely sure who Stephen was. She assumed it was her brother,, as that was the only logical conclusion. “Well, thank you for saving us, anyway,” she said. Amaris just looked at her, trying to figure her out.

“You’re welcome,” Damon said for her. He then went on to say that she was not very good at manners. Amaris rolled her eyes and looked around. John was conversing with the pregnant woman at one of the tables. She looked exhausted. She must have muttered something about needing sleep because she stood up and she, and her little girl, walked up stairs to the rooms. Amaris grimaced, slightly wondering if they should have been letting a pregnant woman scale the stairs.

John strode over and sat down at the bar with us; quickly accompanied by Dimitri, who took the seat beside him. John began to ask him why he had killed all those guards, instead of simply hindering their ability to follow them. He asked in such a polite way, Dimitri’s answer was civil. More civil than when Amaris reprimanded him for anything.

Amaris watched John for a moment, worried for him. His face was pale, an indication of the weariness the night had on him. When he said he was feeling fine, Amaris reached over Dimitri and pressed her hand to John’s forehead. He was burning. Immediately, she told him to go find Audrey. After a moment, he nodded and did as she had told him.

The last thing they needed was for him to get a cold or something worse.

Before John made it to the stairs, the Surfacer girl raced over and thanked him for his work.

The time passed slowly. Soon, the sun began to seep light into the windows of the pub. The criminals trickled down the stairs for breakfast. The Surfacers, Amaris noticed, barely spoke to anyone other than themselves. Eileen walked over to them. Amaris was struck again by how healthy she looked. When Amaris asked her about it, she said that the other prisoners had shared their food with her out of the kindness of their hearts.

Every now and then, like moments like these, people can restore hope in humanity.

That was until the TV turned itself on, which could only mean one thing. The conversations in the room ended abruptly. Everyone crowded together to watch the announcement by the King of Atlantis herself.

“A freak bolt of lightning, followed by an earthquake, the prison of Flykai was infiltrated by rebels and they released numerous criminals. However, these rebels made a mistake.” The scene changed to an old man. He looked down as dozens of guards pointed bellums at the old man. The bellums fired and the man fell down, dead. “That is all.” Amaris heard Ahab say with an edge of amusement in his voice. The TV went dark. Amaris stood still in complete shock.

John’s blue eyes met Amaris’s. “But we got everyone out,” Amaris said. “We grabbed all of the keys. We opened all of the cells.”

“Maybe he was a civilian who Ahab decided to kill as a warning,” Dimitri suggested.

“You are mistaken,” said the pregnant lady. “That was Old Man Edgar. He was in the dungeons with us. He can’t–he couldn’t–speak. Ahab had his tongue cut out.” Guilt was over her. They missed an innocent, and now he was dead because of them. And he could not have even cried out to them in the escape because the “king” had cut out his tongue.

“When you tossed the keys to me, I dropped some,” John recalled in realization. They missed on. Amaris wanted to lie down and cry. Could she do nothing? In the span of six hours, Amaris was responsible for the death of two innocent people.

Amaris should just return to the forest where she could not interfere anymore.

She grabbed a jacket and ran from the pub.

Jasper City was not far from the Poseidon Sea. As it was early morning, and with the announcement from the king, the place was completely empty. Sighing, she sat down at the edge of the water.

Amaris took a deep breath and then screamed at the top of her lungs. It was a sweet release for a few moments. Anger turned slowly into frustration and tears stung her eyes. Eventually, she laid down on the fake grass, her decision finally made.

Amaris was going to return to the forest.

She was done with this insane vendetta against Ahab, the Rising was going to die out, like all rebellions that came before it. Amaris was done. She was done with it all.

Below her, the waters of the Poseidon Sea began to stir.