Intertwine

58 - Enough Sewer Systems

ROARA

The feeling of air being sucked out of my lungs was excruciating. I felt like a tube was being wrapped around my body and squeezing tightly. I couldn't see, there was no solid ground under me, and my brain was unable to land on any coherent thought. 

I gripped harder to Loki, holding his body tightly to my own as we were pushed and pulled, this way and that, the universe sucking us in one end, ready to spit us out the other. I wanted to scream but there was no oxygen to scream with.

I'd never teleported unassisted before, and never used someone's powers when they weren't conscious. I had no idea what I was doing or where we would end up. The feeling of being squeezed pressed tighter to my throat, my lungs, my diaphragm, I felt sick, my body was both on fire and ice cold. 

Loki was suddenly wrenched from my hands, his form disappearing from me into the abyss. I tried to reach out for him, but my hands were pinned to my body as I spun. I didn't know which way up I was, all sense of direction and time was lost when I tried to leave that falling building. 

And then I was being thrown down, my back landing on hard ground. I rolled over and began to cough so hard I thought I would hack out a lung. I gasped in a deep breath of air and began to cough again. When my coughing fit was over I spat out some blood and got shakily to my feet.

"Loki?" I croaked. He'd never have been able to answer me anyway, he'd been out cold when I'd teleported. I looked around, my legs wobbling as I moved. My left leg felt unusually numb.

I held out a weak hand and a ball of fire appeared. I held it out in front of me as a light source. I was in some sort of cavern, the smell was musky and old, like the air was stale. I coughed again and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. 

With one hand on the cave wall for support I made my way around the edge of the room like structure, stopping every so often when I thought my legs might collapse or when I needed to cough again. 

At the edge of the cavern was a small opening. I had to get onto my belly and shimmy my way through, my arms scraping on the rough stone as I went, my face pressed into the dusty ground. At least it was dry, which meant there must be some sort of air source, even if it was small. I hated damp places - I'd hidden in enough sewer systems to know. 

I emerged out the other side, into a tunnel like cave. God I was not going to be a fan of darkness after this was I? I shuddered at the thought of might be lurking where my firelight couldn't uncover. I tried to make my flame in my hand bigger, but it just sputtered at me. 

"Great." I muttered. "First a building collapses on me, I teleport into a fucking cave, and now you're not going to work." I raised my eyebrows at the small flame in my hand. It threw a flame towards me, like a long yellow tongue. "Very mature." I said in response, before pulling myself upwards, using the stone for support again. 

I held my flame out and moved it this way and that, making sure I covered every inch of the floor. Loki might be on another planet, or he might be five meters away from me, I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to find him before he bled out.

I picked up my pace, limping slightly as I went. My left leg must have landed weirdly when I'd been thrown onto the cavern floor, because I now had shooting pains up it every time I put too much pressure on it. I'm going to say it. This was not an ideal situation to be in.

After about fifteen minutes of making my way down the tunnel, I sank down the wall, leaning against it and breathing hard. Teleporting had taken it out of me, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to get up again. I'd also just exhausted my powers, using them in an extreme way not only to defeat the man with the rounded spear, but also to try and revive Fiona. When I'd managed to save Loki before I'd been exhausted as soon as the surge of power left me, sleeping nearly the whole way back. I didn't have time to sleep now.