Secrets of the silver dome

|:| O O C |:|

I was cross-country skiing over the week-end. The report cards were given out on Thursday as well... .:gulp:.

|:| I C |:|

The laboratory was all gleaming and polished and white. Diods built into walls emitted enough light to make the whole room visible, which was a pleasant change after the darkness before. It was also probably the only pleasant thing on this whole situation. Ronnica crawled over to the bars and pulled herself upwards, wobbling on the jelly-like substance that she was standing on. Her paws locked themselves around cold iron and she pressed her face through, her brown eyes standing even more as her skin was held back. But Ronnie managed to squint anyway, and she looked around curiously.

Her prison was in the center of the room, an odd cage growing out of the floor like some fosilised bamboo cove. Along the border of the laboratory ran a long workbench, it's surface shining, not a single grain of dirt in sight. Different sorts of machines were placed here and there, in a symetrical pattern. Lastly, scattered around were small glass cells, evidently designed for experiments that were life-threatening in some way. Ronnica spied a door - one single door - set in the far wall, but otherwise then that, there was no hint of any communication with the outside world. You can't really count the hole that the pale pendragoness fell through.

"Blast it," muttered Ronnica, trying to shake the bars. They didn't move an inch, "What is this place? And where is everyone?"

It was a good question. The whole place was deserted, and for a second Ronnica considered climbing back out and slipping off before anyone noticed. One look at the steep walls though, and she quickly gave up hope. The chute was at least forty feet high and its walls were as smooth as icebergs. There wouldn't be a point in even trying to get out of here. Ronnica chewed on the insides of her cheeks in frustration, but then decided she had nothing to loose.

"Hey!" she yelled as loud as she could.
"Hey!" came a small echo as Ronnica's voice bounced around the room. The gray pendragon grumbled and subtracted some decibels. In a hushed voice, she cried out again.

"Anyone here?"

 

The silence around her was disturbed by faint yells from above. Ronnica frowned and backed to the centre of the large jelly-pillow, squinting upwards to see what was the matter. High above her, shadows danced and skittered feverishly across the ceiling - someone had brought a torch or some sort of light source. Ronnie gritted her teeth and prayed to all the deities she could remember, hoping Xela was safe. She had half-a-mind to call out to her, but then decided against it. After all, she had no idea what was happening up there and she could easily harm Xela by letting on she had a companion. Instead, the pale pendragon turned back to the laboratory. Imagine her surprise when she found out she was not alone anymore.

"Hi," chuckled a warrit, it's huge comical ears flopping over its eyes. It had appeared out of nowhere, perhaps entering silently through one of the doors while Ronnica was busy staring up the chute. Anyway, it was here now, sitting in front of Ronnica's prison and baring its molars at her in a silly smile.

"What might you be doing here, bunny?" it asked, doing a small twirl but crashing down to the floor a second later, its tail becoming entangled between its legs. Ronnica felt her mouth widening and a smile creeping into her eyes. She shook her head solemnly and tried to be serious, remembering the sticky situation that she was in. It was enough to wipe the smile of anyone's face, even when being comfronted by a laughing-beast.

"Having a nice bounce, of course," she snapped and made a small leap around the jelly-pillow, "What about you?"

She hadn't really expected the warrit to answer, but it was worth a try. To her surprise, the creature puffed up its chest and half-closed its eyes, a stupid smile settling on its face.

"I'm special, you know?" it remarked, its face shining with pride, "There's no other warrit in this world... I was the side-effect of some experiment the scientists here took. Just... created, y'know? They're all scared of me, even if they don't let it on. They've cancelled other experiments of that category, wiped any evidence of them from the face of Ramath-lehi. Now the only remnant is me, and they're always plotting how to arrange a small murder. I know it, I've been eavesdroppin'. What more can you do, hanging around the corridors and the lab all day, not knowing what to do."

"But... but you were in the jungle earlier today, no?" asked Ronnica. She had no idea if this warrit was pulling her leg or telling the truth, but she was more inclined not to believe it just yet. Who knows whether warrits are trustworthy.

"Yeah," grimaced the warrit sadly. It looked so downhearted in a funny way. Ronnica pursed her lips and thought about her parents and the day they just sent her off without a word of warning. All the laughter that had been collecting in her for some time now dissolved, and the pendragon was able to pay attention to the warrit once again.

"I ran away. Managed to find a crack in the wall. But it's not very nice out there... so hostile. And not a soul around 'cept for you and your friend, and blimey, if every pendragony is as immune to laughter as you two, I have no idea what I could survive on. Between," the warrit looked around for the first time, "Where is the second pendragony? The striped one?"

"She didn't fall into this trap," grumbled Ronnica, "Say, do you know how to open this cage? I wouldn't mind a little walk and this jelly is starting to annoy me."

"Sure," said the warrit and walked over to a pannel. It lifted one of its over-flopping ears and looked closely at the controls, selcting one and pushing it down with its paw. The bars hummed and then they lifted, drawn into the rock wall above. Ronnie didn't wait. She jumped down and started looking around energetically, looking for a way out. She decided the warrit was to be trusted, otherwise it wouldnt've helped her.

"Which way now?" she asked, running a hand through her black hair, "I need to find Xela. She may be in trouble."

"Try that door," the warrit waved over to the one in the far wall, but then seemed to change its mind, "Or never mind, I'll come with you. I could use a little adventure now and then." It raced out of the room, Ronnica at its heels. Even though she was bigger, she had some trouble keeping up and had to concentrate on not losing her strange guide.

 

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"Where - are - we - going?" wheezed Ronnica, her breath coming out in large doses as the warrit led her down a corridor, up a spiral staircase and through a set of rooms, each resembling a bare cell with shelves along the wall. An eerie blue light glowed out of the walls and fell on the tanks that stood upon the shelves, basking them in a strange elctric glow. Embrio-like beings floated around in the blue liquid, squirming in a silent battle. Ronnica would've gulped if she had enough spit and air. This way, she just raced after the warrit, giving the aquariums a nervous glance and deciding not to inquire too much about them.

At last her guide slowed down. It slid to a stop in front of a stone paneled wall and raised its front paw, pressing it to a corner between two stone blocks. A secret mechanism hummed and a panel slid sideways into the wall, revealing a black hole.

"What's in there?" asked Ronnica suspiciously, glaring at the dark opening.

"A way out," answered the warrit, "You'll come back to the main hall from where you fell into the chute. You just have to go through a short passage. It won't be long."

"You?" asked Ronnie, surprised, "Aren't you coming with you?"

"Nope," was the sober reply, "They'd look for me and find me eventually. I'll just live in the laboratory until the end of my days. Then all traces will be deleted and no one except you will know what happened. And, no offense, no one will believe you."

"You're right. But are you completely sure...?"

"I am. Go now, before someone comes. I'll close the panel behind you."

"All right. Good bye and thanks for all," said Ronnica, grabbing the warrit's paw and giving it a shake. She was rather moved when she imagined his sad fate. So warrits weren't that nasty, sly and calculating creatures after all. This one was quite nice at least. Ronnica gave one last smile and crawled into the hole, her belly scratching against the uneven ground. Soon the passage heightened and widened into a small round cavern. At least Ronnica thought it did. She couldn't see a thing in the dark and looked for her way by touching and feeling the walls.

"For the second time today," she growled angrily and ran her palm along the side of the wall. She was looking for the continuation of the passage, but to her surprise, she couldn't feel anything except cool rock. Finally she ran out of patience and, mumbling angrily, fumbled with the strings on the pouches around her neck. The pale femme managed to take out a leaf and she held it between her thumb and her index. With her second hand, she ripped off a centimetre from the top. The rest of the leaf started glowing a bright white, illuminating the small cave she was standing in in an instant.

Ronnica gasped. She was in a round cell-like cave, with no entrance except the one she came through. She managed to triple check before her makeshift lamp went out, leaving a whiff of smoke trailing around her prison.

It was now that the girl finally understood. The warrit wasn't being friendly - far from it. It feigned friendship, rescued her from her cage only to provide some excitement for itself. Which, theoretically, meant that all it had said could be lies.

"I'll skin him alive," cried Ronnie furiously as she crawled back to the secret panel. It was too late of course, the stone was set back firmly into place. She spent some time feeling around for some secret mechanism to open the door from inside, but found none. She returned to the strange stone dome and sat down to think. She had a few shakhal leaves to use as makeshift lamps, but of what use were they if she had no way of getting out. She'll probably die of thirst here.

She was still wondering about what to do, thinking if it wouldn't be better to slice her throat right now. It would be better than to die of thirst or suffocation. But then suddenly a clearly audible growl echo around the cave. Ronnica sprang to her feet and moved a few steps away from the source of the sound, hurriedly whipping out another shakhal leaf. White light glowed around her confines once more, but there was no one around. She was alone. Puzzled, Ronnica walked over to the place where she heard the growl. She leaned against the wall, the light around her dimming as the leaf lost its magical ability. Ronnica chucked it aside as darkness clamed the enclosure once again. She let her arm swing back and suddenly her elbow crashed into the wall behind her. Searing pain flowed to her fingertips, but Ronnica didn't even notice. Far more interesting was the effect the crash had on the wall. Part of it heaved out and a small chunk tumbled to the ground. Ronnica examined it.

Imagine her surprise and joy when she realised that part of the wall was made from bricks, painted and disguised as the rock wall. They were riddeled with age and crumbled like bread under Ronnie's eager fingers. Soon she broke a hole large enough to crawl through. She dropped to the ground on the other side, rolling over a couple of times. From her uneven position on the ground, she saw something dark towering above her.

Ronnica didn't scream. Instead, she tore her next-to-last shakhal leaf and narrowed her eyes, ready to spring for cover. Instead she froze to the spot, eye wide in horror.

Xela was standing in front of her on bent knees, something writhering all around her...
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