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THE AIR SHE INHALED was filled with dust, thick around her face as it obscured most of her vision. Taylor felt weighed down as she attempted to regain her senses, entirely unsure of what had just happened.
Her vision cleared and in front of her she now saw the rubble of the council chamber around her. Concrete piled up in giant rocks and not a single candle was to be found. Beams from the building stuck up at a jagged angle and she heard a soft pinging sound from the metal just a few feet away.
"Kane?" she asked hesitantly when she spotted the hand moving the piece of metal against the beam in hopes of signaling someone.
"Taylor?" he coughed, shifting slightly only to wince in pain. "You're okay."
Looking down at herself, it seemed as though she had been mostly unscathed. She felt detached from herself — the shock, she assumed. The only issue was her left arm, positioned unfavorably under a larger piece of rubble.
"For the most part," she responded, coughing now on the thick air. "You're hurt."
The man winced under the rubble as he denied, "Don't worry about me, worry about yourself."
Taylor shifted, perhaps a little too fast under the rubble, freeing her arm, but yelling out in complete and utter pain in the process.
"Mom?" she called out, now realizing the notable absence of her mother's voice. "Where are you?"
"She's over...here," Kane struggled, gesturing beside him with his free arm. The crackle of a fire reached her ears and she glanced over, noticing that a fire had emerged from the rubble beside them.
With them trapped underground, she knew that wasn't good.
"I'm going to try and get over there," she told him, ignoring the searing pain that shot up and down her arm. Kane continued to pull the metal rod against the beam loudly.
"Someone's bound to hear us," he said, somewhat hopefully.
"Taylor?" Elara's voice finally said, sounding just as hoarse as the rest of them.
"Mom? Are you hurt?" she pressed immediately, her mother's voice humming in confirmation.
"Marcus, this is bad," Elara stated, the shuffling of rocks making it apparent that she was mobile. Taylor could barely see, trying to get over to them without disrupting the rocks too quickly. Most of her body ached horribly as she shifted about.
