The Elementals

And Yet Another Knife Is Stabbed In My Back

Author's note: Hello! Awfully sorry for the long wait. But it's better than not at all right?

So I hope you like the chapter! The action will pick up soon, we just need some build up.

This chapter is dedicated to Arjen66, because (of course) they vote and comment. I'm not sure you guys realize just how happy that makes me. It really is so awesome. So thank you!

I'll shut up now. Bye!

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I can't see anything but it's hot. Very hot. My skin starts to get clammy with the intense heat.

Where am I?

Head pounding, I stand from my crumpled position on the ground. My hand brushes along a rough surface, rock probably.

"Coal?" I call. "Caroline?"

My eyes sting, and when I go to rub them I discover I'm covered in a layer of soot. My lips are cracked and dry, and water sounds like the best thing in the world.

Water...

Muddled images come to mind. Coal, a plane, water...gulping it down. Caroline wasn't there. I put two and two together at an achingly slow pace. We must've gotten on the wrong plane. Shylock, the government, it has to be them. The water had to be drugged too.

But where am I now?

"Caroline!" I shout, voice echoing. "Coal!"

I start walking, hearing no reply. Where did they put us? I get a bad feeling once I realize that we may not be in the same place. Obviously this is some sort of sick experiment. I've been walking forward, tracing my hand along the wall for about five minutes.

I'm in a large, hot, tunnel that doesn't have any source of light. I sniff the strange smelling air, trying to find any other clues as to where I am. Sulfur and melting rock.

I stop dead.

Melting rock is magma.

I'm in a volcano.

I try to stay calm. Breathing steadily in the hot air is crucial. I must be in one of the lava tubes that are empty. For now.

"Caroline!" I shout. If Coal is here too, he should be fine for at least a little while. "Caroline!"

I wince as something in my ear crackles. Holding my head, I feel an earpiece attached to my right ear.

"Subject Tide. Other subjects are not in your test area. Your objective is to find your way out of a maze like situation in compromising conditions."

The thing buzzes again and clicks out.

Subjects?

Before I can think, I rip the earpiece out and smash it to the floor. Only when it's in twelve million parts across the ground do I consider that it was my only form of communication.

I turn around in circles. If the test is to be in a "compromising environment", then Coal isn't here. Assuming they want me alone, and if the message was true, neither is Carolina. It's really a shot in the dark, but I try to choose the direction that the heat is lessened. That will hopefully lead out of the center of the volcano.

It works for a while, until I hit a fork. There's nothing to mark the passages with, so I go out on a limb and pick right. If I always go right, I might be able to keep track.

My throat starts to hurt from breathing in the clouded air. My mouth is getting dryer, if that's possible. I can't tell of I'm getting closer or not. My brain has kind of gone crazy with the lack of fresh air and the heat. My steps are getting shorter and weaker. Half the time I trip.