Spliced

Falco sat up confused. He looked at his chest and stomach. He was completely unharmed. The spikes had only touched his skin and then the ceiling had lifted. But where had the scream come from? He looked to Indi. She was curled in a ball, hands to her head mumbling to herself.

“Must focus, must focus . . .”

“Indi?” Falco asked. She appeared otherwise unharmed.

“I’ve almost got it,” she gasped.

“Got what?”

“I can almost tune out the sound. It hurts but I think I’ve figured it out.”

Falco stared at her not understanding.

“The mimics,” Indi replied. “I can hear them. They’re outside.”

Falco glanced nervously to the doors. Then he looked in the pit and really wished he hadn’t.

The scream he had heard had been Tanya’s. The box hadn’t been safe after all. When the ceiling had come down and reached its’ lowest point it had simply stopped, but in the box more spikes had appeared. Tanya’s body was punctured from head to toe but somehow she was still moving.

“Tanya!” Falco cried.

Indi sat up and crawled over to the box to have a look.

“No.” Falco tried to stop her but he was too slow.

“We have to get her out!”

Falco shooke his head. “She’ll bleed out.”

“She can heal. We have to take her off the spikes.”

Tanya mumbled something but it turned into a bloody cough.

“What?” Falco asked, leaning closer.

“One . . .” her breath rattled.

“One what?” Indi asked also leaning forwards.

“One . . . one spike” Tanya winched in pain. She tried to raise her head.

Falco reached forward and held her head where she’d raised it to but lifted it no further. Her hair was wet with blood but it didn’t seem to be coming from her head and somehow the spike had missed her brain and gone straight through her cheek instead. He watched in amazement as the skin started to reform over the hole in her jaw.

“One . . . one at a time,” Tanya spluttered.

“One spike?” Falco replied realising what she meant. “We have to move her off slowly, so she can heal without too much blood loss.” he told Indi.

“How slowly?”

Falco just replied with a grimace and turned his attention back to Tanya. Still holding her head he asked, “You ready?”

“Yeah,” she rasped.

Falco lowered his hands to her shoulders, while using his forearms to support her head. He lifted her up a few inches further.

She winced in pain.

He gave her a few seconds to heal the worst of it, just enough to stop herself bleeding to death.

“I might pass out,” she whispered.

“Keep focused. I’ll hold you upright.” Falco encouraged her.

“You can do it!” Indi pushed herself on to her knees. “I could help, I could . . .” Indi scrambled for words, trying to think of something she could do.

Falco shook his head.

Just then the doors to the room opened.

The dull pain in Indi’s head got immediately worse. She cried out drawing Falco’s attention.

He glanced at the doorway. “Shit!” he mumbled, still holding Tanya up. He’d managed to raise almost her entire upper body off the spikes but there was a lot more to go and the healing, if she could even pull it off would not be a quick process. Now, as if things weren’t bad enough, a group of Mimics stood in the doorway. The good news was they seemed hesitant to enter. What had been a well lit hallway was now dark, but the room they were in still had its torches and the mimics seem reluctant to come further into the light. They waited just within the limits of the shadow.

Indi stood up to face them. She’d managed to shut the screaming out mostly now although her head still hurt. She raised her hands and summoned her shield. It covered the whole doorway. “Focus on Tanya,” she ordered Falco.

He nodded and returned to the slow process of lifting Tanya from the spikes.

It took several minutes and Falco was starting to notice that some of the holes weren’t healing as quickly, although she was also bleeding less than he’d have expected. Tanya was drifting in and out of consciousness and whenever she was out the healing seemed to slow down even more, although it didn’t stop completely.

Eventually he managed to pull her out of the hole and lay her on the ground next to it. He shook his arms to ease the pain in his muscles and tried not to imagine how much worse Tanya felt. She’d been out of consciousness for at least a minute now and several of her wounds were still bleeding slowly. He took his shirt off and starting tearing strips off to work as makeshift bandages.

Meanwhile Indi was starting to lose focus. This was nearing the longest she’d ever managed to hold a shield up and it was really sapping her energy. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out. Her shield flickered. So did the light in the room.

One of the torches went out, then another. One by one they all flickered out until only one remained.

“Falco...” Indi called softly. She swayed on her feet. Her shield dropped.

Falco dashed toward her and managed to catch her as she fell. The last light went out.

Falco’s first instinct was to freeze. He felt Indi, shifting in his arms. She wasn’t completely out evidently, just energy sapped from using too much magic. “Don’t move,” he whispered.

A soft growl filled the darkness. How was he going to get both Tanya and Indi out of here? Even if he managed to carry them both, the mimics would be on them in a second.

His thoughts briefly turned darker. He could leave Tanya. She was bleeding and they probably smelt that. As long as he and Indi moved slowly they might make it out. But could he leave someone to that fate? Did he even really have a choice?

Something brushed past his arm and he involuntary jerked it away. The mimic must have felt him move because out of the darkness something took a swipe at him. He dropped Indi to her hands and knees and pushed back at the mimic. Maybe he could fight them?

Its sharp claws ripped at him but he was getting the upper hand. He pushed it to the floor and found its neck.

A second mimic landed on his back. He twisted to try and shake it off. A third pushed its teeth into his side. He roared in pain. Another one joined it. He didn’t know what had happened to Indi now.

He still squeezed his hands around the neck of the mimic beneath him. He found he could just make out its white chimp like shape now. The room had gotten lighter in the last few seconds and seemed to be getting even more so. He didn’t have time to wonder where it was coming form. It was so light he could stare into the creature’s eyes. There was no colour to them, just white. It probably couldn’t even see him. He kicked out at the ones at his side and rolled. They piled on top of him.

Suddenly a dark shape leaped over him, collecting a couple of the mimics as it did.

He lay on his back and barely had time to react as a mimic lunged down toward his face then burst into flames, then nothing but ash. As did another mimic, near his left shoulder. The rest fled in shrieks.

He sat up, ready for the next one, but there were no more. Only one remained, locked in a fight with a large wolf. The wolf wouldn’t let it go. It had the mimic between its jaws and it shook it like a little toy. Falco turned to check for Indi. She sat hunched not far away, peaking over bloody hands. Her forearms were scratched and bitten but she seemed otherwise okay. Tanya lay on the ground so coated in blood that Falco couldn’t tell if she’d been attacked by the mimics as hard as he had or if it was just the blood she’d lost from the spiked trap. Her chest rose and fell in a slow beat so at least she was alive.

Amanda crouched over Tanya with a concerned look on her face. Nearby, a beaten up Zephyr was climbing to his feet.

“Whoa! What a fight!” Zephyr breathed, glad to be alive.

“You two okay?” Amanda asked Falco and Indi.

Falco nodded. He turned to see Indi nodding too, neither seemed to feel like speaking.

“You took your time getting here quickfoot.” Wolf chided Zephyr.

Zephyr shrugged. “I don’t have your strength and I didn’t want to leave Amanda too far behind.”

“Would you two stop bickering and come and help,” Amanda ordered. “Check Falco and Indi’s wounds.”

It was then that Falco realized what Amanda was doing. “You’re cauterizing her wounds? Won’t that increase her risk of infection?” he asked. It was something he’d always been warned about in training.

“Infection takes time to set in. Right now she’d bleeding out. Hopefully she can heal an infection later?” Amanda’s voice finished in a slight inflection, suggesting she wasn’t completely sure.

Tanya, who had come around again at least for now, gave a short nod and soft “mmm.” She was too tired to answer properly.

“What about you?” Wolf asked Falco as he walked over to check him out.

Falco finally gave himself the once over. Nothing was bleeding profusely. There was a nasty bite in his side. “Why are you naked?” he asked Wolf.

“Long story,” Wolf replied.

“You okay?” Zephyr asked Indi.

Indi nodded and leaned her head against the wall. “You saved me,” she replied with a smile.

“You saved her?” Falco asked.

Indi nodded again. “He knocked the mimic off me.”

Zephyr grinned proudly.

“Thanks.” Falco gave him a nod of approval.

Amanda had finished cauterizing Tanya’s wounds so she moved on to investigate Falco.

“He’s not as bad as he looks. Most of the blood seems to be Tanya’s. There’s just that bite.” Wolf observed.

Amanda nodded and frowned. She was trying to decide if it was worth cauterizing. Falco was right, infection thrived on burnt skin so it was usually only worth cauterizing if blood loss was life threatening.

“I’d just bandage it, it’s not bleeding much.” Wolf added.

Amanda nodded in agreement.

“Or leave it open,” Falco replied. “The air will speed up the healing.”

Amanda frowned, glanced at Tanya, then up at Wolf.

Wolf shrugged and gave a short laugh. “This place isn’t exactly the cleanest.”

Amanda nodded, eyeing the wound in Falco’s side. “I think you should bandage it.”

Falco groaned but nodded and reached for the remains of his shirt which he’d begun tearing up for Tanya earlier.

Wolf frowned. “I wouldn’t say that’s exactly clean either.”

“Better than nothing,” Amanda replied then held her hand out for it. “Give it here, I’ve got an idea.”

Falco handed her the t-shirt.

She held it in her hands and focused. For a brief few seconds the strip of t-shirt was soaked in flames. She gave it a quick shake. A moment later it was back to its original state, only it did look cleaner. She handed it back to Falco.

“Nice!” he commented, amazed she had enough control to only burn away the dirt.

Wolf looked impressed too.

“What happens if you get bitten by a mimic?” Zephyr asked.

No one replied for a moment. Then Indi gave a soft laugh. “You get bit.”

“But . . . if a vampire . . .”

“That’s a myth,” Indi replied, “and those things aren’t like us anyway.”

“It looks more like a wingless bat really,” Wolf observed, looking at the one he’d killed.

“You need a blood transfusion to become a vampire,” Amanda told Zephyr. “It can happen with bites, and saliva, but it’s extremely rare.” She gave Indi an apologetic look. Indi didn’t say anything, she just looked slightly sad.

“How’d you find us?” Falco asked, changing the subject.

“We heard a scream,” Wolf explained.

“Probably Tanya’s,” Falco replied, “and you didn’t think it was the mimics?”

“We considered it.” Amanda replied “but they don’t seem to pose much of a threat to us.” She held up her forearm and summoned a flame as a visual explanation.

Falco nodded. “Makes sense, now what?”

“Sleep?” Indi suggested.

Amanda nodded. “We should rest awhile. You okay Indi?”

Indi nodded.

“She used a lot of magic trying to shield us,” Falco explained.

Meanwhile, Wolf was studying the ceiling. “Is this room safe?”

Amanda followed his eyes upwards and grimaced. “Maybe we should move to the hallway?”

“Nah,” Falco interrupted. “It’s fine, it doesn’t come all the way down.

Amanda didn’t look so sure. “All the same.” she jerked her head to the exit.

“We’re going the way you guys came from?” Falco asked.

Amanda nodded. “We found something.”

Falco got unsteadily to his feet with the help of Amanda and Wolf. He turned to see Indi pushing Zephyr’s help away.

“No, I don’t want to move.”Indi complained “Can’t we just sit here for a bit?”

Falco moved over to her. “Let me do it,” he told Zephyr. He bent down and picked Indi up. He winced as a sharp pain pierced through his side.

“No, put me down. Don’t hurt yourself.” Indi struggled.

Wolf intervened, taking Indi from a reluctant Falco. Wolf was exactly the same height as Indi so he put her arm around his shoulder and lowered her feet to the floor then quite comfortably supported a decent portion of her weight.

“I’m fine. I can walk,” Indi objected.

Wolf nodded but didn’t remove his support. Indi was too tired to fight him on it. They walked into the hallway and Wolf let her down just outside against the wall.

Indi laid her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She missed her bed and oh god was she hungry.

Falco sat down next to her a moment later and she leaned her head on his shoulder. He clutched his side where he’d been bitten.

Amanda and Zephyr carried Tanya and laid her down on the floor in the corridor. Then they sat down as well. Everyone was quiet.

Amanda periodically checked Tanya was alive. Tanya seemed to come in and out of consciousness. Eventually she managed to move herself into a sitting position.

The burns on her body didn’t appear to have healed much but it was likely she’d been busy focusing on the internal injuries.

She gave a sheepish smile and studied some of the burns. “These are going to take awhile.”

“Sorry.” Amanda apologised.

“No, it’s alright, that was good thinking. Better than bleeding to death. I wasn’t sure I could heal myself up fast enough to stop the bleeding.”

Amanda smiled and studied Tanya’s face, then narrowed her eyes. A small red mark was all that was left of the hole that had been in Tanya’s cheek. “No offence, but you probably shouldn’t have healed the wound in your face before the other wounds.”

“Oh I know, but having a gaping hole in your face is really disconcerting and it was just the first thing I could focus on.” Tanya replied then sighed.” Your magic’s kind of amazing.”

Amanda gave a brief raise of the eyebrows and a shy smile, unusual for her, but her powers were a soft topic. “Yeah.” she agreed softly.

“I’ve never seen a Firestarter who can control their flames, let alone to the extent that you could cauterize a wound with so little pain.”

“It didn’t hurt?” Amanda sounded surprised, maybe even a little worried.

“Well yeah but not like what I’d expect.”

Amanda seemed to relax and nodded.

“Your injuries are healed?” Zephyr asked Tanya.

Tanya nodded. “Most of them. I should recover. I just need to rest, and some food would probably help.”

“Unfortunately we don’t have any food.” Amanda replied.

Tanya nodded. “I won’t heal too much more. I don’t want to risk overdoing it, in case I need some magic later. The human body is surprisingly resilient anyway.”

“Should we keep moving?” Falco asked. He glanced at Indi, who was napping on his shoulder. He wasn’t sure how awake she was.

Amanda noticed his gaze, briefly weighed up everyone’s states and made a decision. “Let’s get out of this place.”

“Wait till you see what we found.” Wolf commented as he helped Tanya too her feet.

“You’re naked,” she observed, surprised, only realising for the first time.

“Yeah,” Wolf sighed.

Tanya blushed and averted her eyes.

Falco roused Indi and helped her to her feet.

“God I wish we had coffee,” Indi said as she stood up.

Falco smiled at that. She couldn’t be too bad if she was complaining about not having coffee.

Amanda eyed Indi and considered something. “You could . . .” she paused not sure if she should continue. “You could . . . Indi, you’re the only one of us who can get energy back without food, maybe you should consider . . .”

Indi looked horrified. “No way.”

“It might be worth . . .”

“No, I don’t drink blood. Besides that would just take energy from someone else.”

“Someone who’s not as tired.” Amanda replied softly.

Indi just shook her head.

Amanda gave a nod and dropped the topic. “Everyone ready?” she asked.

They all gave a mix of nods and ‘yes.’

As they walked Amanda wondered about the others. She hadn’t missed that they were short a few people, most of all Sirius, and the groups had changed. She was afraid to ask though.

They reached the hole they’d discovered earlier. Amanda was relieved that it was still there. The walls hadn’t reshifted. Maybe whoever had been doing it earlier wasn’t paying attention any longer.

“Is that . . ?” Falco started.

“The Splice?” Indi finished for him.

Wolf nodded.

“I believe so,” Amanda confirmed.

“We can get out?” Falco asked.

“If we can get up.” Amanda hesitated not wanting to ask the next question. But given they were presented with a possible escape it needed to be asked. “Were the others with you?”

“Cat and Kass got separated from us,” Indi replied “but last I saw they were alive and they’ve probably got a better shot than we do, although Cat did take a bit of a beating in a fight when we got attacked earlier...”

Amanda nodded. “And Sirius?”

“He was with me,” Falco started, “but the wall came down, up, I don’t know. There were mimics . . . I’m sorry.”

Amanda felt like she’d been punched in the gut. “You saw them get him?”

Falco shook his head. “No. I couldn’t get through the wall. But he was on the other side, with them.”

Maybe, just maybe. Amanda stared out at the empty space over the Splice. Fluorescent lights lit the wall from a few floors up. Their way out. She looked back down the hallway they had come from. “He was with you though? Back that way?”

Falco nodded.

“And so were Cat and Kass?” Amanda asked Indi.

“Yeah” she replied.

Amanda licked her lips thinking.

Wolf frowned, guessing at her thoughts. He too glanced out at the Splice. Escape. But Sirius was his best friend. “You’re thinking I could sniff them out?”

Amanda nodded.

“Go back into the maze?” Tanya asked.

“Not all of us” Amanda replied “Just me and Wolf.”

“And leave us here?” Zephyr wasn’t sure he liked the idea. But then didn’t like the idea of going back into the maze either.

“What if the wall closes?” Falco asked.

“I think I could blast through it, maybe. I don’t know what happened earlier.”

“Someone’s toying with us is what happened,” Falco replied. “What if they’re not done?”

“I haven’t seen much sign of them since then.” Amanda replied.

“If we go up, we’ve got a better chance of figuring out what’s happening.” Indi argued.

Amanda nodded. “That’s why you guys should go up while Wolf and I find the others. There’s a good trail now. We can follow yours back and then find them.”

“And if you can’t get through the walls?” Falco asked.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“You don’t know that.”

“What if we get attacked here?” Zephyr added.

Amanda hesitated.

“Indi managed to shield before,” Wolf argued.

“She’s too tired,” Falco objected.

“How are we going to get up?” Tanya interrupted their debate with the one question none of them had voiced yet. No one answered.

“We have a flyer,” Wolf answered eventually.

Falco’s eyes widened. “No way.”

“A flyer afraid of heights.” Amanda pointed out then she turned to Falco. “Granted you did manage it a bit before.”

“Well I’m not sure I can fly all the way up there,” Falco objected. “Let alone carry others.”

“I used my shield for longer than I ever have before,” Indi told Falco as she gazed softly up at him. “I’m sure you could fly up there if you really tried.

Falco smiled endearingly down at her. “I appreciate the faith, but even if I could, what about the rest of us. I can’t fly us all.”

“You don’t have to, at least not very far.” Amanda replied “I have a rope in my bag. If you manage to get it, you could hang it off the side. It’s not a long one, but enough to shorten the flight. You’d have to get it from my room though.” She glanced back towards the hallway, obviously torn between wanting to make sure everyone was safe here and going and finding Sirius and the others.

“Okay.” Falco said hesitantly. He stepped closer to the Splice and looked upwards. It didn’t look so far, but then he looked down. He couldn’t even see the bottom.

“You can do it,” Amanda encouraged.

Falco nodded. “Maybe.” He took a deep breath, started to rise slightly off the floor, then fell back down and took a step away from the edge. He breathed in deeply. “Just gimme a sec.”

Amanda nodded, resisting the urge to hurry him along.

“You got this babe,” Indi encouraged softly.

Falco reached over for her, pulled her close, and kissed her on the head. He turned to face the gaping hole and, without stopping to let himself feel the fear again, he ran and leaped out in to the air. He flew out to the middle in a gentle arch, then dropped, not so gently, straight down.