I hit the floor of the hovercraft next to Valerie. A jolt of pain shot through my teeth as the muzzle slammed painfully into my jaw. I blinked away tears as I glanced around.

  I didn’t see Mother.

  They had said something about taking her in for questioning, right? Did that mean we were getting sent to those ‘lower realms’ the guard had mentioned?

  By the way Valerie was still struggling, she must know something I didn’t. Were they really that bad? If the city was so advanced, why would such a place exist? Couldn’t they just solve most, if not all issues using technology?

  I didn’t know what to think about Mother’s accused crimes, but with the way she and Valerie reacted, it made them seem innocent, at the very least.

  My thoughts were interrupted as I felt the hovercraft hum below me as its engine spooled up.

  The guards didn’t say a word, maybe they had some kind of tech that mimicked telepathy or some other form of nonverbal communication, but their eerie silence was unnerving.

  I turned my head to Valerie again. She had stopped her struggling, so that was good. But I could see her muscles tense up every time the guards moved in their seats on either side of us.

  The floor was cold and uncomfortable, its textured surface digging into my body through the thin clothing I had been wearing. I hoped that the flight was short.

  I relaxed my aching, weak muscles as much as I could, given the circumstances, and closed my eyes. With my weakened body, I would need to conserve as much energy as I could.

  It wasn’t long before exhaustion pulled me under.

  ———

  I startled awake as something slammed into my face. Sharp pain spread from my cheek, making me see stars dancing around my vision.

  What had just happened?

  “Wake up.” the guard growled, pulling his boot back and reaching down to hoist me up and out of the hovercraft.

  The dick-head had kicked me in the face! What the hell was wrong with these people!

  I glared at him, wincing through the pain spreading through my skull. I hadn’t even done anything to warrant that level of force.

  I could sue them for unjustified use of force, if such laws even existed here.

  “If you keep glaring, I’ll break your arm too.” The guard warned with a dangerous tone.

  I quickly dropped my gaze, my flash of anger instantly replaced by cold fear. I wasn’t in control. They held all the power here.

  I doubted that they would care even if there were laws against what they were doing.

  Valerie was already strapped into some kind of wall restraints in a big, box-like room surrounded by grates. She had a few new bruises, but managed to keep up her defiant glare at the surrounding guards.

  “You can’t do this! I was framed!”

  My gaze followed the voice to the other side of the room, where two other prisoners were being strapped in.

  The one that had just yelled out looked like what you would get if you crossed a wolf with a human, he was desperately thrashing against his restraints, his eyes flashing to each of the guards stationed around the box.

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  The other was definitely a dwarf, or at least this worlds equivalent of one anyway. Bushy beard and all. He was just silently staring at nothing, looking like he had given up completely.

  Wait… why weren’t they muzzled! Were the guards who brought us here just being assholes?

  They dragged me past the two restrained men and to the open spot next to Valerie, strapping me in place. The restraints clicking tightly around my arms and legs. Preventing any movement. I looked down to a grated floor, and that’s when I realized what this box was.

  It was an elevator.

  A long, seemingly endless pit stretched down below me. Its depths obscured by darkness.

  So this was the entrance to the lower realms? What was down there that had terrified the two other prisoners so much?

  “All prisoners are secured and ready for descent, sir.” It seemed we were out of time.

  “Good, let’s get this over with.” The only guard not wearing a helmet nodded to the rest.

  My heart was pounding in my chest. This world was advanced, but it also had elements of fantasy. Did that mean monsters also existed here? Was that why everyone seemed so afraid of these lower realms?

  My thoughts were interrupted by a sharp clang in each of the corners of the lift.

  “Brakes disengaged,” I looked at the guard in charge. His eyes met mine and a sinister smile spread across his features. “Drop ‘em.”

  My gut clenched as we plummeted into the dark below. Cold, musty air whipped around me, sending shivers down my scales. The light quickly shrinking into a faint pinprick above me as my ears popped from the sudden pressure drop. The rattling and grinding coming from the guide rails was not reassuring.

  It felt like we were falling for a small eternity, even though I knew that was impossible, when the lift started spitting out sparks and the screeching of metal on metal pierced my ears.

  Our descent gradually slowed down enough that I didn’t think the impact would kill us outright. But the lack of light terrified me. Just what could be hiding in the dark? Would there be monsters awaiting helpless prey? Is that why they had strapped us down so tightly?

  I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, attempting to calm myself. Even if that was the case, panicking wouldn’t help. I would make a plan once I had more to go on. For now I focused on my immediate surroundings.

  It was still too dark to see anything, but I still had my hearing. The grinding had faded into a loud clanking rhythm. But the way it echoed made me think we had exited the shaft and entered some kind of large open cavern.

  I could feel the lift continuing to slow before coming to an abrupt halt. A loud hiss startled me, but it was only our restraints opening on their own. I stumbled weakly to the floor as a few terrifying moments passed by, but nothing came out of the darkness to kill us.

  I heard some clanking coming from my right where Valerie had been restrained.

  “Nyxia, are you okay?” Her worried voice pierced the darkness as she shuffled in my direction, her warm hands finding my shoulders.

  That clanking sound I heard must have been her muzzle, she had probably taken it off once her hands were free. I quickly reached to my face and the straps securing it and disengaged them, pulling it from my face before answering.

  “I’m alright, Valerie, I’m okay.”

  “Oh thank the Admin. I was worried, for a bit there. Here, let me help you up.” She helped me adjust so I was leaning against the wall of the elevator instead of the floor.

  The dwarf was still silent as a stone, but I could hear a low whimpering coming from the wolf-man.

  “I-I can smell them… b-beasts… i-in the dark…” His muttering devolved into mad chuckles and giggles.

  My eyes widened as I felt a shiver run down my spine and across my scales as I processed what he had just said.

  I stilled and strained my ears, hoping to pick up anything that could warn us of monsters.

  Valerie must have heard him too, because she had gone silent as well.

  And then… I heard it.

  *Click-clack*

  *C-click-click*

  The clicking and scraping of claws on stone. Getting louder as something approached…

  No… many somethings.

  “Something’s out there, Valerie. And it’s getting closer.” I couldn’t hide the terror in my voice as my gaze darted around, attempting and failing to pierce the void around us.

  I jumped slightly as I heard movement to my right as Valerie bent down and wrapped her trembling arms beneath mine and slowly, carefully, lifted me onto her back. I assisted her as much as I could in my weakened state, and soon I was secure. The sound had grown closer, but with the echo, I couldn’t tell how much time we had left.

  Could they see in the dark? Or did the creatures rely on sound or smell? I hoped for the latter. If they could see us sneak away then we were done for. But we might be able to use the whimpers of the wolf-man or the smell of the dwarf to distract it while we escaped if they were just as blind as us.

  Valerie took a deep breath beneath me, and made her first steps into the abyssal darkness.

  The sounds of the clicking drawing ever closer.

  We were running out of time.