Thunder - Imagine Dragons

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Minutes stretched into hours as we walked through total darkness. It was hot and stuffy, and my long dress was soon drenched in sweat, making it weight another five pounds. I pulled it up around my knees, my breath coming out in exhausted gasps.

    The small peepholes disappeared as we left the castle and entered the ground, throwing us into pure darkness. I stumbled and fell as we walked down the hallways, stumbling upon hidden stairs. Rayma fell down the first staircase, and we walked even slower after that. My brain hummed with alarms, and red spots danced in front of my eyes.

    "Are we almost there?" I asked for the umpteenth time, stopping for a moment to catch my breath.

    "Just a few more minutes, I think?" Rayma stopped beside me. "Out of breath, princess?"

    "No." I straightened up and began to walk swiftly forwards. Behind me, Rayma laughed.

    A few more minutes turned out to be a few more hours, or so it felt. The next bend started a long hallway that seemed to stretch forever. It widened, and soon me and Rayma were walking side by side, keeping our eyes opened. A small line of light caught my attention, and I found myself running towards it.

    A door.

    It was steel... and round. A wheel sat in the middle, rusted and dirty. White light poured in from cracks around it, casting long shadows down the hall.

    "Help me." Rayma groaned, struggling to turn the wheel. I placed my hands on it, grimacing as they slid on the slimy grit. Pushing with all my might, I watched in satisfaction as the wheel began to turn. The heat seemed to slowly disappear, being replaced with coldness. My sweat drenched body began to freeze, and soon I was shivering.

    "Just... a... little more..." Rayma wheezed, giving a hard wrench. The door flew opened, and I stumbled backwards.

    "Woah." I looked at the world outside, my mind whirling. We were several hundred feet up in the air, at the edge of a cliff. The castle was perched on a ledge above us, the city hidden by the huge towers and walls.

    "Where's the door?" I asked, stepping outside. My toes froze immediately, and my fingers went numb. My dress was starting to freeze solid.

    "Hidden behind those rocks." Rayma walked over to a small pile of rocks and disappeared behind them. I ran forwards and looked behind them. Rayma was pushing on another wheel, except this one was clean. I rushed down to help her, my hands freezing the instant they touched the metal wheel. It turned with ease, and the door flew opened. Out of the hole in the rock poured a crowd of men. They swiftly pulled guns out of their belts and pointed them at us.

    "Clear a path!" someone yelled. The men moved back, leaving a space between them. A tall, skinny guy walked out of the rock and towards us. His face was kind, though hard. His black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail.

    "Clanio!" Rayma walked forwards. "I've brought Silver." She gestured back at me, and I smiled.

    "Princess Silver." Clanio walked forwards, bowing before me. "I am glad you have decided to join our ranks."

    "As if I had a choice." I said, shivering as snow blew up in my face.

    "Sorry." Clanio apologized, seeing my discomfort. "Come on in." He stepped back, letting me go past him. I stepped into the narrow tunnel, cringing at the thought of spending more time in complete darkness.

    "We have headquarters just down the tunnel." Rayma said, stepping in beside me. "Don't worry, there's light down there."

    "Good, I hate all this darkness!" I mumbled. I followed her vague silhouette, stumbling on the small stones that were scattered on the sloped tunnel. It was steadily down until it reached a sudden staircase. I almost fell down them, my foot slipping into sudden emptiness. A surprised yelp escaped my lips, followed by a nervous giggle. Ahead of me, Rayma reached back and held onto me.

    "Wouldn't want you to fall." She said brightly, continuing. There were only three steps before the tunnel straightened out. Another door stood at the end of the hall, surrounded by a circle of bright yellow light. Rayma stepped back against the wall, instructing me to do the same. The guys walked past us, Clanio in the lead. He walked up to a small pad and punched in a sequence of numbers. The door clicked, sliding swiftly to one side.

    I followed the group into the bright room, squinting in the light of round circles hanging from the ceiling. I looked at the magical orbs in wonder, my eyes widening in awe.

    "What are those?" I asked Rayma, pointing at the lights.

    "They're a form of technology called light bulbs." She answered. "These are just some of the technological wonders of the world."

    "How are they lit up?" I reached up and touched a low hanging one, recoiling as my skin brushed against the hot glass.

    "Electricity." Rayma pointed at wires running along the ceiling and into the wall. "Energy races through those wires and lights up the round circle. The energy comes from a generator hidden in the rocks, from the pods that carried your grandma, and the others, to this desolate planet."

    I stopped talking, noticing the amused expressions on the men's faces. Instead, I looked around the room. Curious of the rebel base. It was a polygon shaped room, with several tunnels leading off the edges. The light bulbs lit up the whole place, as well as soft blue light coming from strange flat screens. I looked at the images and realized that they were battle and rescue plans.

A group of young girls jogged past me in black jumpsuits. They were all panting as they disappeared into one of the tunnels. I looked after them just in time to see a metal door close.

"Please come this way." Clanio led us down one of the halls. I stuck close beside Rayma, my hand clutching hers. The strange machines around me were foreign and opened up an entire world I'd never known.

The hall soon entered a room without a door. It was quite bare; solid gray walls with one large table in the middle. Several chairs lay haphazardly around, some tipped on their sides. Three of them were pulled close with inhabitants seated on them.

There was a young girl, no more than four feet, dressed in tight gray clothing. She had a black belt wrapped around her waist with several guns poking out. Her hair was chin length and uncombed, giving her a homeless appearance. Beside her sat two identical twins. They both had high foreheads, and black hair that was buzzed short. The one closest to me gave me a tense smile, while the farther one stared ahead at nothing, ignoring my presence.

Clanio sat on a chair at the head of the table and folded his hands on the cool metal. I sat on the left to him, Rayma beside me. The other armed men stood guard outside the room, their guns pointed down the short hall.

"Princess Silver, please meet your two guards, Nico and Gimmy." Clanio pointed at the twins. Nico gave me a nod of recognition, Gimmy following his lead. "And this is Sanh." He pointed at the girl. "She'll be there to help you with anything, from food to weapons. She knows this place inside and out, and will give you a tour later on."

"Princess Silver, it's nice to meet you." She commented, slightly dipping her head.

"Nice to meet you too." I smiled.

"Now, down to business." Clanio stood up and pushed a small button on the wall. It immediately lit up, showing us a map of the city and surrounding territories. Clanio used his hands to bring us into the city, flying down streets until reaching the castle. "Right now a rescue mission is being held to capture our lost soldier."

"He's in the castle?" I inquired.

"Yes..." Clanio brought us closer. "Our men are traveling through a side garden, and into the back rooms. From there they're hoping to get down the dungeon stairs unnoticed, and into the dungeon where they'll locate him and bring him back." He paused and looked at me. "Is that a good plan?"

"Well, as long as the patrol that walks the stairs doesn't catch them." I said, thinking back over the steps. "My grandma sends someone down them every five minutes."

"We already picked up on that, and it's taken care of." He zoomed out a little, showing the market square. "We're also creating a diversion here... Hopefully it'll distract the queen and her guards so that we can get in easier."

"Okay, that works." I looked over the map. "But why are you telling me all this?"

Rayma and Clanio exchanged a glance. I knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Tell me!" I stood up, slapping the table with my hand. "What's happened?"

"We didn't want to tell you..." Clanio paused. "But the man captured was Jed. And he's scheduled to execution tomorrow."