To Be A Rebel

Chapter 52: Cold As Ice

"Well," I hum, standing and looking around the cave, "this is interesting-"

I'm cut off by a shout, and the next thing I know someone is slamming into the back of my legs. My flashlight flies out of my hand, and I hit the ground with a heavy thud, the only thing softening the landing being the furs that were at the bottom of the chute.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Sam apologizes, turning on his headlamp. I twist around to look at him, and he smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean mean to slam into you. Here."

He pulls back so I can sit up, and he taps his leg as he looks around. "That wasn't so bad, actually. I mean, the furs and you broke my fall, so..."

"Yeah. So..." I roll my eyes, but I hear more yelling from chute, so I hastily grab Sam and pull him out of the way just before Amelia slides out, letting out an 'oof' when she gets to the bottom, hitting the furs.

"Oh, good Lord," She huffs, standing and dusting herself off. "Adventuring-ending up on some ratty old animal skins in a-what is this cave, anyway?"

"Yeah, well, yeah, it's weird," Sam says, glancing around. "There's a mist so you can't see the edges of the cave."

"Woo-hoo!" Maxine yells, and Amelia steps out of the way as the tall woman emerges from the chute, her hair sticking up in every direction. She giggles like a child. "Wow. Oh, wow! I want to do that again!"

"That is a good point," Amelia hums. "I wonder how I'm getting out of here."

I frown at the fact that she's said 'I'm' instead of 'we're', although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised over the fact that she's only thinking about herself. It's typical Amelia.

But I don't comment on it. The muffled sounds of gunshots distract me.

"Hear that?" I ask. "Looks like Runner Seven and Tom are distracting Sigrid's soldiers."

Janine plops down onto the furs, her sudden appearance actually causing me to flinch, even though she was silent on her way down. She didn't even grunt when falling onto the furs. She stands and dusts herself off.

"Good," She says calmly. "A safe landing. Have you explored? Have you placed the bracelet into that nook?"

"Nook?" I repeat, and she grabs a flashlight and strides past me to gesture to a carved niche perfectly sized for the Viking armlet. "How-you've been down here for ten seconds. How did you even see that?"

"I saw it because I was looking for it. Who has the armlet?"

"Oh, uh, I have it," Sam says, and he pulls it out of his jacket pocket, awkwardly shuffling around Janine to put the bracelet into the niche. As soon as he does, a sound comes from the bracelet, sounding kind of like it did yesterday when Ellie blew on it.

"So it plays a musical note," Maxine states, her bottom lip jutting out slightly while her brows furrow in confusion.

"Great. Some ambiance for when the Minister's people find us and kill us," Amelia says dramatically. "There are two exits from the chamber, left and right. I'm a natural leader. I suggest we take the right hand route."

"Absent a map, it's as good a direction as the other," Janine says with a curt nod. "Five, take the armlet with you. Run."

We head down the right hand tunnel, and I grab the armlet as we do so. I stare at it as we run, turning on my headlamp to get a better view of things. I nudge Sam with my elbow, getting his attention, and I speak quietly since I don't want to get reprimanded by Janine by thinking up such a silly question.

"I know this is like, supposed to be our guide, but you know in all those movies where a character puts on some kind of ancient bracelet or necklace and the gets cursed or possessed by an ancient spirit? I wonder if I put this on... do you think I'd be cursed or suddenly have a Viking spirit come haunt me?"