BXBX NOVEL Chapter 30: Jumpscare
Still, the half orb looked intact. It was only after a couple of seconds that it finally fell apart, much like it had done initially when it struck the floor. Yanael sighed in slight relief and let her sword return to its bracelet form before kneeling down and pulling up her sleeves.
Yanael touched both quarters of the orb with her bracelets. Similarly to how the Sentinel had absorbed its half, Yanael\'s bracelets slurped up the quarters without leaving as much as a trace behind.
Yanael stood up while adjusting her bracelets. She pulled down her sleeves again and looked at Zach.
"I will not be able to use my weapons for a short while as they recover and adjust, Master. Please pardon me."
"I would love to say it\'s fine, but if more of those fighters come, I\'m not sure how to deal with them if you don\'t have a weapon."
"Don\'t worry, Master. I\'ll protect you."
"Should we…" Zach trailed off as he glanced around the room and saw the Mannequin rolling around on the floor in the puddle of dirty mud-like liquid. He frowned and tilted his head.
\'Is it jealous?\'
The Sentinel and Yanael had gotten something useful from that polished orb of dirt. But the Mannequin hadn\'t. It hadn\'t seemed like it wanted or could make use of it, either.
Zach looked at Yanael for guidance. Maybe she knew what the familiar was doing.
"I can only guess. But if possible, I would like to refrain from giving you a false impression of the situation, Master."
"Well, I\'m sure it\'s not anything bad. Julius can probably figure it out—Ah! We have to save those two before it\'s too late!"
Yanael noticed the alarm in Zach\'s voice and expression and grabbed the Mannequin before following him with light steps.
Zach sprinted through the tunnel, doing his best to ignore the pain of his injuries. Surprisingly, he chose the same tunnel he came from.
However, when he arrived at the corner of the turn, the unconscious tasker he left there was nowhere to be seen.
\'Shit.\'
Zach increased his pace by ignoring the burning in his lungs and legs and the stinging in his chest, arms, and face.
Soon, he came out of the tunnel and looked from side to side. There weren\'t any signs of anyone or anything else that indicated the tasker had alerted anyone.
But Zach didn\'t know which way to go. If his friends\' lives hadn\'t been on the line, he would have just taken a gamble. But he couldn\'t do that now.
Zach was beginning to panic as he looked down both tunnels. One of them looked more familiar than the others. Zach was about to pick it when a wooden hand tapped his shoulder.
It was the Mannequin.
Zach looked back at it, despite being jumpscared, and looked calmly, albeit impatiently at it.
The Mannequin pointed at the tunnel Zach hadn\'t been about to choose.
"That way?" Zach asked, stupefied.
The Mannequin nodded.
\'Was it always this smart?\'
"Okay. I\'ll trust you."
Zach wasn\'t sure how good the Mannequin would be at finding its way through a place it had never been before since Zach couldn\'t see how or why any of the familiars would have been outside the Center.
But Zach was at least somewhat aware of his horrible sense of direction. Even if he tried for days, he still might not find the others. And by then, it would be too late.
It was like he was made to get lost, rather than being slow at finding the right way.
Every time they came to a crossroads, the Mannequin pointed them in the right direction. The Sentinel flew in the lead, and Yanael carried Zach in the back since he was too tired and injured to run.
After a while, they came to the entrance to the prison. This time, Zach actually recognized it. It didn\'t just feel like he did.
It was also the place the Mannequin had been searching for, so they entered.
The place reeked more than the last time Zach had been there, but he didn\'t pay much attention to it and just buried his face in Yanael\'s neck, enjoying her scent instead. He did look up occasionally.
But if the familiars couldn\'t find anything, he doubted he would.
After seeing the remains of a couple of other prisoners, Zach also decided it would be best not to watch too much.
However, the Mannequin stopped moving, so Julius and Dukiel were probably still alive.
Or the Mannequin was looking for a corpse or revenge.
The group traveled through the corridors lined with cells as quickly as possible.
Finally, they heard noise ahead. The prison that had been as quiet as death was no longer silent.
Zach got out of Yanael\'s arms as they approached, both for the sake of his dignity and to let Yanael fight.
The noises they heard were clearly ones of violence. It sounded like someone, someone strong, was trying to break the metal bars of a cell.
As the group of familiars and Zach turned a corner, they saw a figure shorter than a leg ramming its fists against the broken lock of a cell.
Zach also saw a skull-like thing on the floor on a mat next to the tasker. He gulped and slowed down. He wanted to ask the other familiars to take it easy so he could explain what he had discovered earlier.
But the Mannequin wasn\'t interested in listening and stumbled forward as quickly as it could with outstretched hands.
The Mannequin wasn\'t subtle, and the tasker noticed its approach. The tasker clicked its tongue and turned to the mannequin. It unleashed a punch toward the Mannequin\'s arms.
The tasker\'s hand barely reached, but it broke through the wooden arms with worrying ease. Still, the Mannequin didn\'t stop for even a second and ran into the tasker, falling over the tiny butler.
Surprisingly enough, the tasker didn\'t fight back.