Chapter 41: A Grim Sight

"A what?!" I shouted, covering my mouth after. "Did you say a person?"

"Yes! Behind this wall, a woman is shackled to a table. Her body looked like it was in rough shape... like someone has been..." She winced slightly before finishing. "...beating her."

Like an activation word, my blood began to boil. My heart thumped against my chest like an aggravated assault. My vision darkened and narrowed.

"We have to help. Vera! Did you hear all that?"

"Of course I did," she said, already slowly looking over the stone wall. "I’m not strong enough to break through this. But she got in there somehow." She turned to Kat and Damara. "Look around for some way to bypass this wall. It could be anything, a trap door, maybe a switch if we’re lucky."

With my blood boiling, I balled my fist and punched the stone as hard as I could.

"FUCK!" I yelled, reeling my hand back to blow on my knuckles. "Damnit, that hurt. I’m not trying that again. Super strength my ass," I added, shifting my gaze upward.

"I would have tried that if I thought it would have worked," Vera said, offering me a green vial. "Healing tonic. Down the hatch," she added, gesturing to drink it all. "Like I said earlier, small wounds are easy."

The more time passed, the higher the tension in the room got. The dripping noises no longer served as just noise; it was a countdown constantly bearing down on us.

The green liquid tasted like bitter copper, but the throbbing in my knuckles vanished almost instantly. I tossed the empty vial aside and threw myself right back at the barrier.

My hands frantically clawed at the wet stone. I dragged my fingertips along every jagged crack and deep fissure, looking for a hidden lever or a loose brick.

"There has to be a way in," I muttered. My breathing grew ragged. I kicked a heavy chunk of rubble out of my way and ripped a massive patch of glowing moss off the wall. I prayed to find a keyhole hidden underneath the slime. Nothing. Just more solid rock staring back at me.

The relentless dripping echoing around us felt deafening now. High tide was coming fast. A woman was chained up in the dark just inches away from us.

"Sam, you need to breathe," Damara called out. Her hands traced the metallic veins nearby with focused precision.

"I can’t just stand here!" I snapped back. The thought of someone bleeding out while we played puzzle games drove me absolutely insane. I shoved my shoulder against the stone face and pushed until my boots slipped on the wet floor. "We are running out of time!"

"Sam! Calm down!" Damara shouted, stepping forward and swinging her hand at my face.

The sound from the slap echoed off the cavern wall. I blinked a few times, allowing the room to stop spinning. Pain roiled up as my cheek flushed.

"Ouch," I murmured, rubbing my cheek. "That really hurt," I added, laughing a few times after. "Thank you, though. My head is much clearer now."

"We will get to her, Sam, don’t worry," Micro-Sarah chimed in, drifting around me.

"I agree," Kat said, nodding.

Taking both of my hands, I slapped both of my cheeks, worsening the sting to ground me further. "Alright. Let’s keep looking."

I pressed my hands against the cold stone, ignoring the lingering sting in my face. Instead of trying to force my way through, I let my fingers follow the faint, glowing veins of metal stretching across the surface.

Katrina dropped to all fours beside me, pressing her ear against the floor, listening closely for any hollow spots beneath the damp rock.

A few feet away, Vera inspected the shattered archway, sliding the tip of her dagger along the decaying mortar seams. Above us, Micro-Sarah darted back and forth, casting a pale green glow over the ceiling to check for overhead levers.

The dripping water felt heavier than before. Each splash marked another second lost to the incoming tide. I wiped a mixture of sweat and condensation from my forehead, tracing the edge of a rusted groove. It refused to budge.

Damara stood completely still near the far edge of the barrier. It didn’t appear that she blindly clawed at the wall like I had. Her eyes scanned the intersection of the glowing metal lines with absolute focus. Crouching down low, she brushed away a thick layer of wet dirt near the base of the rock.

"It is not a stone mechanism," Damara muttered, her voice laced with quiet triumph.

She wedged her fingers into a narrow gap where the exposed wiring met the floor. She took a breath and pushed inward with a sharp thrust. A loud, mechanical click echoed through the cavern, immediately followed by the deep, grinding groan of shifting rock.

"Nice work, Damara!" I shouted, jogging over to the new opening. "Oh my god! This is awful..." I trailed off, looking over the women.

The stone door scraped into the wall, releasing the stench of blood and rot, hitting me in the face. The space inside resembled a forgotten torture cell, bare metal walls closing in tight around a central iron slab.

A woman lay strapped to the metal, heavy cuffs locking her wrists and ankles to the corners. Her clothes hung in shredded ribbons, allowing dried blood and grime to cake her pale skin. Dark bruises colored her ribs and arms, and a rusted tray beside her head held an assortment of crude instruments.

She barely moved, her chest hitching with shallow, struggling breaths as matted dark hair completely obscured her face.

Katrina stepped forward, her magic illuminating the cramped room. The woman flinched away from the sudden light, her chains clanking loudly against the iron table. That hollow sound triggered another surge of raw fury inside my chest.

Vera ran in last. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but water is beginning to fill the caverns. We need to move. Now!"