Lua didn't trust them one bit. Not the blind girl and definitely not her boyfriend. And he didn't believe their bullshit underground settlement story. If there truly was a whole population of people beneath his feet, he would've caught a whiff of it sooner. How could no one have known? How could such a place exist? None of it made sense.

These people were liars and opportunist. They must've kept him for a ransom. Made up a story to control him, keep him calm and quiet until his father paid up. They didn't truly care. Lua saw right through their scheme, and he wouldn't let them take advantage of him.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Lua asked the bull of a man, who was the blind girl's boyfriend.

The bull scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "She isn't—she's the princess and I'm her guard."

Lua smirked. "Right. Cultural difference I suppose. Any men who looks at a girl like you look at her, is what we call interested."

The bull regarded Lua, sizing him up and down. Probably contemplating the quickest way to kill him. "What do you want? You're obviously not one to start conversation."

"I want to leave. But you can't give that to me. So I'd rather just take a piss. Where do I go to do that?"

The minotaur flicked his head towards the other door. The door that he wasn't guarding with his massive body.

Lua felt the pain travel the length of his leg when he stood and crossed the room to the bathroom door. And limped more than he needed to as a show of weakness. Though much of the pain couldn't be faked. The hounding ache was very much real.

The bathroom was so small that Lua could reach up and touch the ceiling. Four blinding white walls and no mirror. Why would a blind girl need a mirror? He chuckled to himself.

He looked through every drawer and cabinet, but when he found nothing he could use to knock someone unconscious with something glistened in the corner of his eye. The tap. He let the tap run till it flowed past the sink to the floor then waited.

When Lua couldn't wait any longer, he began to groan and moan, making sure he was loud enough to be heard.

The first pound on the door came. "Oi what's going on in there? If this is some trick you're going to regret it."

"It hurts too much to stand." Lua dragged his words and heaved his breaths.

The minotaur hesitated. One. Two. Three. The door clicked open. The big fellow stepped behind the door to find Lua slumped against the wall. He stared down at Lua, but there was no sympathy in his gaze, only satisfaction.

"Look," Lua groaned. "I know you don't like me. But I think the princess would be pretty upset if I died." He raised his left arm.

The bull gave him his right arm. His real arm. Lua pulled with all the might he could muster. The bulk of a man fell face first onto the floor. Lua climbed to his feet and bolted out the door. But the bull caught his ankle just as he passed the threshold. Lua crashed to the floor and the pain flared. He bit back the agony and slammed a foot into the door, back into the bathroom and right into the bull's head.

Lua scrambled to his feet and made for the bedroom door, forcing down the reverberating ache that clawed its way to the rest of his body. The bedroom had been left unlocked, which Lua thought was stupid of them. That door led to a sitting area, which he crossed to get to what looked like the main door.

Lua expected to find behind the main door the outdoors and sunshine. Instead he was met with a corridor lined with matching metal doors. He froze, his thoughts splitting, then he chose at random and ran. Or limped rather. But one grey corridor led to another whichever way he turned. And with every step he took the pain grew worse and worse.

He slowed, holding onto the walls to steady himself. The blood soaked through the bandages and his shirt. He saw black spots and found himself falling against a door. But he didn't let himself black out, not out here in the open not when he was most vulnerable.

The door behind him fell open and he heard a voice in the background.

"Are you alri—" The voice came to an abrupt halt.

Lua's eyes snapped open to the sight of a man. Lua's hand flew to grasp the man by the throat. He heaved himself off the floor and the man whose body merely dangled in his hand, frozen in terror. Lua stepped through the door and into his captive's home.

Warm light fell over them, relieving the prickles of pain across his body. Unbeknownst to Lua, flames had curled around his eyeballs, engulfing each eye in a pit of fire.

Fear stricken, the man didn't dare fight back. He was as pale as the blind girl and the bull. And as small as her too. This man could have just been another accomplice. Lua's fist tightened around his throat.

"Dada?" A baby girl entered from the door behind them, holding a black bunny doll in her tiny fists. Her big blue eyes took in the scene before her as her bottom lip quivered. "Dada?"

At the sound of her voice the man snapped into action. He clawed Lua's arm and writhed in the air. But however hard he fought, he couldn't and wouldn't win against Lua. Lua let him drop and turned away, limping down the hall once again.

He refused to believe it. This place couldn't have been real. There was no world beneath the earth. And the sun wasn't dangerous. How could it ever be?

Just when he thought he'd lost himself in a maze, he found the end. And he found the light, beyond the edge. Hope surged through him. He'd return to his tribe and he'd beg for forgiveness.

He reached out over the rails to take in the sunlight. Flames burst to life in his palm and trickled down his arm, ceasing where the light ended. He hefted himself over the edge, basking his upper body in the sun's brilliance.  Reaching out to grasp its full greatness.

But it didn't feel quite the same. That was when he saw it. The frames that held the glass in place. Where the surface began and the world beneath ended.

The echo of a bark met him from the right. He turned to see the great beast lunge at him, knocking him to the floor with the full force of its body.

~~~

King Zev waited in a dark room situated in the upper folds. Two men stood guard behind the doors that led directly into Dhulka. While the other pair of doors opposite the King led to an enclosed space that led directly to the surface. Where the full force of the sun shone down on the earth. Where his guest would arrive.

The King tapped his foot and thrummed his fingers along the wooden table. Two nights earlier he had received a call from his guest, warning him of an imminent danger. And since that night he'd barely slept. And he would never have a good night's rest until he knew the people of Dhulka would be safe.

Metal scraped against metal. The door knob twisted and his guest entered. The King rose to his feet and took a bow as his guest did the same.

His Majesty motioned to the empty seat before him. "Have a seat, Chief Shan, I believe we have much to discuss."

They were a reflection of each other, both restless and anxious. Both aged men, whose years of leadership had drawn wrinkles along their features, grayed their hairs and tempered their resolves.

"You believe war to be impending," began the king.

The chief nodded, his countenance hardened. "I believe this is the calm before the storm. The cadits will strike at any moment. My warriors are ready to defend their tribe and I do not doubt their strength. But you understand that the Cadits wield water in all its forms including that which runs through our veins."

"Chief Shan, allow me to send some of my men to assist you."

The chief's eyes widened. "You do realize what you are proposing? Your men on land would draw too much attention to themselves. You shouldn't risk it."

"My researchers have been working on material that allows whoever dons it to be hidden from the eye. It would be as if they aren't even there. They'd be invisible. But if they are ever to be found, I can promise you that they'd sooner take their own lives then reveal their home."

"Thank you, your majesty." The chief dropped his head. "But I did not come here to receive help, I came here to warn you. Should Drait be taken you must be ready to defend your kingdom, for the Cadits are as ruthless as they are bloodthirsty."

The King stepped out of his chair, and lowered to his knees before the chief. The latter raised his head to the sight before him.

"Your Majesty..." The chief was lost for words. He was humbled.

The King hung his head. "The people of Dhulka will never know your sacrifices and those of your warriors. We will forever be in your debt. If you are ever in need of assistance, my people will provide."

A/n: 🚹⚠️🔅🚫 hel-low? Jk jk, hi! Thanks for reading thus far, you are very much appreciated. What do you think of the story so far...?