(23) The Lands of Ranuulo: The Khalm (7.5k words)

After being defeated by King Zantii, Aero and Gweneva are sent to the Khalm - A harsh prison facility for those too powerful to be confined by normal means. They come across many criminals housed there, as well as a disfigured Ranuulan. Jirro, Valr, and Iguaruden seek to free their friends from the Khalm, as well as escaping the Lands of Ranuulo to pursue King Zantii. With General Edi's militia in their path, it will take all of them to have a chance to succeed.

(4/15/2023) Self edited, Audio edited, and Peer edited.

Peer edited by Mikrokosmostae

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~Chapter 1- The Prison City~

~Age 991 B~

The black-haired Aero awoke, finding himself in a wheeled metal cage, trapped in a cocoon of webbing. He thrashed around to break free, but the binds that restrained him were strong; it was the same webbing Edi captured he and Gweneva in. The young Arachna woman was beside him, trying to escape as well. She had a black and white body, with teal accents on her hands and feet. As they struggled, they felt it loosen.

The cage was being pulled along by a stone creature, a Densius beast. The cage started to go up a large ramp onto a large metal structure, one that seemed to cover kilometers of ground. Gweneva's large eyes widened, "We need to get out, now!"

The door of the cage opened, and several soldiers walked inside.

"Be careful with those two! They're strong!" A Ranuulan standing outside the cage exclaimed. The Ranuulan's eyes were luminescent, his body was spotted, and he had ebon arms and legs. Aero knew if he could just break free, then he would make short work of these soldiers.

They dragged them along the metal structure towards a large circular hatch at the top. They left Aero and Gweneva at the center of the hatch and walked away. The hatch opened beneath them, and they fell into a metal room. As soon as they landed on the floor, the hatch closed above them.

Aero and Gweneva squirmed in their cocoons, kicking and writhing as hard as they could until the threads began to snap apart. They stood and looked at the small metal room they found themselves in, one with a crease in the floor.

Aero jumped into the air and punched the ceiling, but the impact hurt his knuckle, "Oww! What's that made of?"

Gwenva placed her hand on the metal walls, "An extremely strong type of metal. It looks like this whole place is made of it."

Aero thought back to the metal they forged on Weld Mountain back in the Lands of Ralosia. It was used to form super durable cuffs and prison cells; perhaps this was the same material. That didn't discourage Aero, however.

Aero flexed his arms and a radiant red light formed around them. He began beating against the walls of the metal container. Gweneva did the same. But no matter how hard they hit it, they didn't dent the metal.

A voice came from above them, "Time to drop 'em."

The floor beneath Aero and Gweneva began to part at the middle. Near pitch darkness was revealed beneath them. Far below them they could see small flickering flames amidst the blackness. Soon, there was no ground for them to stand on, and they began to fall.

Gweneva fired two strands of webs from her hands, one at Aero, and another at the ceiling around them. She flung herself and Aero to the ceiling, and using her adhesive hands, she gripped the ceiling and held on tight. The opening they had fallen through promptly closed back up. They were trapped.

"Damn it," Gweneva said under her breath, "I'm going to lower us down where it's safe."

Gweneva crawled along the ceiling while carrying Aero with the three spider-like arms she had on her back. There were several flickers of light on the ground far beneath them, spread out across the dark area they found themselves in. They had to be at least 10 meters off the ground.

Gweneva spun a web and slowly lowered herself and Aero into a completely dark area, a good distance from the few lights that existed here. Even when Aero finally felt firm ground beneath him, he didn't feel any more comfortable. They were still trapped in that giant metal structure.

"What is this place?" Aero flourished his hand, and a dim orb of red light was formed at his fingertips. A Focus Light.

Gweneva looked at their surroundings, "This has to be the prison city; The Khalm."

Aero looked around the near-complete darkness they found themselves in. His eyes began to adjust, and he saw decrepit buildings around them. The ground beneath them was lined with loose dirt.

"A prison, huh? Okay, there's got to be a way out of here."

Gweneva said, "Haven't heard of anyone breaking out of this place."

Aero looked at one of the flickering fires in the distance, "Maybe, we should ask whoever is over there?"

Aero casually began walking, but Gweneva somersaulted over him, and grabbed him by the shoulders, "We don't want to do that! From the stories I've heard about this place, I doubt the people here will be very welcoming."

"What do you think we should do then?"

Gweneva released him and looked around the shapeless darkness around them, "We should figure out exactly how much space we're working with. Try and find the boundaries."

They carefully maneuvered through the darkness. The black-haired Aero was curious about the flickering fires dotting the area. It looked like small communities were gathered around them. It took them a while before finding a metal wall serving as a boundary of the Khalm.

Aero gave the wall a few quick jabs to test its durability; it was made of the same resilient material as the rest of the structure. "Okay, we probably won't be able to break through the wall..."

Gweneva picked at the loose dirt beneath their feet, "What about digging underneath?"

Without another word, the two raked their hands through the ground, pulling mounds of dirt aside. But after digging for a moment, their hands met another metallic surface. Even the ground beneath them was lined with that material.

"...That's not good."

"Looks like our only way out might be the hatch we came in through," Gweneva looked around their environment, "We should look for other Arachna."

"Why's that?"

"They'll be able to crawl on the ceilings like me. They might figure out a way to get that hatch open," Gweneva placed a hand beneath her chin, nearly touching the palps that formed around her mouth, "If I were trapped in here... I'd probably stay up high so no one could get to me. Maybe, in one of the corners of this place. Maybe we'll find some Arachna there?"

Aero shrugged, "I don't have any other ideas right now."

The two followed the walls of the Khalm, looking for any structural weaknesses. There were none. They walked along it until they came to a corner. They looked up and saw what appeared to be a nest created from webbing, as well as a few dim Focus Lights.

"Okay... Wait here," Gweneva said as she began to scale the wall.

"Shouldn't I come?" Aero asked.

Gweneva looked down at Aero from the wall, "People here aren't used to seeing Ralosians like you, remember? Our best chance of making friends with them is if one of their own kind talks to them first. Just sit tight for a little bit."

Aero nodded and watched as she approached the nest. As he waited, he kicked at dirt and leaned against the wall, anxious to get moving. He didn't like the idea of being trapped.

As he waited, he heard the faint shuffling of feet approaching him. He flourished his hands and created a Focus Light, shining light on the group that approached him.

The small group had many of the reptilian-like Regenek people. They all looked dirty and skinny. Their skin was scarred and scabbed. Aero noticed many of the Regeneks appeared to have dull bite marks along their arms and tails.

One of the Regenek men sneered, "No food drops in days, and they think it's a good idea to throw more prisoners in here. A funny-looking one at that."

One of them licked his lips, "He'll do."

Aero winced, "I don't want any trouble. I just want to get out of this place. Maybe we could help each other?"

Aero heard faint rustling behind him. He turned and saw three Regenek stalking him. They lunged forward, baring their claws and fangs. The black-haired boy readied himself.

He struck one in the snout and another in the ribs, and they fell over. But the third managed to bite Aero's arm but their teeth didn't manage to break his skin. Fortunately, the boy's body was strong.

Aero smashed the Regenek on his head and tossed him aside, and the rest of the group charged at him. The boy landed stern strikes on them, knocking them back. He was stronger than any one of them, but they weren't weak either. None of Aero's attacks seemed to keep them down. It took all he could just to keep them off of him.

Aero heard a rustling from above him. Gweneva descended from above, with a series of other Arachna prisoners following behind her. She was under attack too. She landed beside Aero, ready to fight with him.

But the Arachna group that chased after Gweneva clashed with the Regenek group that attacked Aero. It appeared as if they were rival gangs within the facility. While the two groups fought amongst each other, Aero and Gweneva snuck away into the darkness of the Khalm.

As the two ran, Aero asked, "I guess those Arachna weren't very friendly?"

"No, not at all."