Lauren

Lauren continued to mine away at the wall in front of her, she constantly came across small dark stones, which she readily absorbed. At this point, she has found slightly more than twenty stones.

Feeling the power in her body she felt as if she just hit a wall. No matter how much more energy she absorbed, she couldn't keep anymore within her body.

Figuring she had to stop she decided to start playing with her energy. Thinking back to Skyler using his fire, Lauren continued to mine but forced energy out of her body.

Darkness started seeping out of her skin, her eyes which were a dull black shone much brighter than normal.

Though at the same time the guard looked up from his sharpening. Seeing the darkness surrounding a small area in front of him he picked up his freshly sharpened and hardly ever used sword.

"What the..." He mumbled to himself. walking closer to the cloud of darkness, he turned, prepared to shout for backup. Just as he was going to shout, a pickaxe broke through the dark fog. The tip inserted itself straight into the guard's head. His body fell limp on the floor.

Lauren briefly stared at the dead guard, glanced at Sarah, then turned towards the cave where Skyler was brought down. Three magic users are stronger than one. That was her thought process. She would first find Skyler, then escape towards Grace.

Coming up with a short-term plan Lauren quietly sprinted towards the cave entrance, leaving behind a dead guard and two unsuspecting miners.

tap tap tap,

Laurens feet lightly touched the stone floor as she ran down the dark cave. Water trickled down from the ceiling, stalactites hung quietly, directing the drops of water to the cave floor.

Darkness shrouded Laurens's body, though her eyes shone a dark light. She was able to see clearly in front of her, the fog not obstructing her at all.

Her light breathing steadily continued as she made her way down the cave towards Skyler.

Minutes later she saw torchlights illuminating a tall wall, separating the cave. A young man was bound on top of the wall. Chains holding his feet and arms tightly. Guards flanked both sides of the young man, not forgetting to keep their distance from the bound boy.

Lauren stared at the boy's back, her eyes drooping slightly, her frown opened slightly as she counted the number of guards.

Counting nineteen guards, Lauren moved. Her body blended with the darkness. As she approached the torchlight she forced energy out of her body. Darkness invaded the light, surrounding a small portion of land. The torch soon was immersed in darkness then put out.

The guards noticing part of their light disappeared turned. Then another torch was put out. Noticing their precious light vanishing, the captain sent out an order "Craig go relight the torches" He turned towards a slightly skinner then average man.

Craig cursed under his breath as he walk towards the dead torches, holding a lit one in his hand.

Walking into the darkness, Craig disappeared from sight. "Weird" mumbled the captain as he stared at the darkness. "Why isn't the torch lighting it up?"

thud...

"Craig?" The captain shouted. Turning towards another soldier "Graig, go find your brother" The captain pointed towards the darkness.

Graig, a taller-than-average man sighed and picked up a spare torch heading towards the darkness.

On the opposite side of the cave, Lauren made her way over to another lit torch, quickly extinguishing it.

More light left the cave.

thud...

Another thud silently resounded through the cave.

Feeling danger from the darkness, the captain turned towards the archers. "Fire a few fire arrows, illuminate the cave," he ordered.

Archers stood in line and all raised their bows. Pulling back they released the flaming arrows notched, illuminating the cave.

The arrows soared through the dark cave, illuminating the surroundings. Then briefly a small girl could be seen. She was holding a pickaxe, blood dripping from it. Her eyes were staring at the captain. Two dead bodies lay on the ground around her.

Then her body was shrouded in darkness, covering a radius of several meters around her.

Seeing the small girl staring at him the captain shivered. "Fuck." he mumbled under his breath.

Lauren, producing as much darkness as possible charged towards the wall. Her darkness quickly covered half the wall drowning the light.

Arriving at the nearest soldier, she swung her pickaxe at the blinded man. Her pickaxe stabbed into his calf, forcing him to yell out and kneel. Another swing later, the pickaxe was stuck in his head. His body plopping towards the ground.

Lauren grabbed the guard's sword. Charging at the next guard.

The captain stood on the far end of the wall. The darkness flowed towards his position, but he couldn't see anything. All he could hear was the screams of his soldiers and the slashes of a sword against skin.

Shuddering, the guard's eyes grew dull as he stared at the darkness. It quickly engulfed him. Cold iron slashed against his neck drowning himself in his own blood.

Lauren, stood on the wall staring at Skyler chained to the cave wall. Dead bodies surrounded her small body. Her black hair and eyes seemed to shine slightly, her lips frowning.

Seconds later she reached her hand out towards Skyler, in her hand was a key, which she quickly used to release Skyler's bindings.

"Thank you," Skyler said he rubbed his wrist, his head glancing towards the darkness the 'wall' was protecting from. "We need to leave now." he turned his head and looked down at Lauren. Her black eyes were looking up at him. Her frown was still plastered on her face. Nodding slightly she stood in Skyler's shadow.

Seeing her ready, Skyler started running back towards the surface. Scuttling noises resounded behind them as they ran up the dark cave, Skyler's brown hair brushed past his face, flowing behind him as he sprinted. Lauren, matched his pace perfectly, running right behind Skyler.

They were going to leave this fucking cave.