The beginning of the next day was signified by an airy horn.

I hadn't slept a wink.

Constantly, I found myself thinking about tobacco. I had probably gone through significant withdrawals on the first and second floor but trying to stay alive made that a peripheral issue.

I thought about my mother. She was probably the only person missing me in the real world and the image of her mourning me nearly made me shed a tear...until I remembered that I was going to escape the tower and see her again.

As I rose from the ground and stretched by tense limbs, I realized that for the first time in a long-time agoraphobia did not exist in my world. When I thought about it (just the term itself used to make my heart ache) it was just that, a passing thought.

The rest of the cell arose, dusting themselves off and looking as sullen as ever.

"Don't worry Outworlders" said Savan, "Just stick with me and you'll survive the dive"

From the left of the bars emerged two guards piloting a lengthy cart. On it were already a fair number of Oshinite slaves tethered together by a chain with neck cuffs.

One of the guards unlocked our cell and led us out one by one. We were added to the passengers by getting cuffed around our necks as well. We skipped other cells on the way down and stopped outside some as other slaves were added on the cart.

"Must be a small herd," said Savan,

"The number of groups they take to Dive depends on the size of the herd, the picking is random by the way"

We were pulled down a coiling narrow path that snaked to the base of The Pit.

"So the lucky ones get to rest huh" remarked Jordan.

"There's no such thing as luck in this world Outworlder. Those who do not participate in a dive go to the refinery where the Essence is processed."

Next to the pool with the pretty flowers was a large heap of what looked like spears and large glass jars with satchel-like straps. In groups, we were offloaded and our cuffs unlocked. Everyone lined up in two files. From the heap, one of the guards withdrew a large metal syringe brimming with lime green liquid and gave it to a pair of Oshinites.

The remaining slaves in the respective groups grabbed short spears and slung jars over their shoulders.

A small slave boy gripped his spear tightly and made to stab one of the guards in the small exposed gap on their face. The guard wrapped his large hand around the slave's neck, held him upside down and drove his head in the hard ground. A mess of glistening cream and obsidian brain matter and tattered blue skin plastered the banks of the pool. The guard removed the cracked jar from the corpse. He unlatched his golden machete from his waist and dismembered the corpse, placing each limb into the jar before shutting it and tossing it onto the cart.

He looked at the slain rebel's group,

"If you come up short today you'll know who to blame"

From somewhere behind, a young Oshinite girl began to weep. Her tears were black like engine oil.

The first group approached the mouth of the pool. The pair carrying the syringe dived first, followed by the remaining six.The second group followed suite and so did the third.

When it came to our group, Savan urged Jordan to help her carry the giant syringe.

One of the guards picked up a small transparent plastic from somewhere within the heap of remaining sacks. He opened it and handed each of us 'Outworlders' a small orange pill. I looked at Kap, doubting if ingesting an unknown substance would be a wise decision.

But when I remembered how efficiently another slave was eradicated just a few moments ago because of disobedience. I threw it in my mouth and swallowed it with haste.

A few seconds later, the sides of my neck began to stretch and itch. When I made to scratch, my touch was met with three slits on each side. The world around me, the stone, the flowers, the water, it seemed like whoever was playing this fucked-up game we were in had just jacked up the visual settings to maximum. Everything looked brighter and more defined.

I looked at the others. Each one of us looked like a human/Oshinite hybrid. Our eyes had become ink black and we had grown gills. On our forearms we had also grown fins.

The guard handed each one of us a jar and a spear.

Savan urged us to the edge of the pool.

"Stay close"

She nodded to Jordan.

They dived into the pool. The rest of us followed.

NOTE FROM AUTHOR:
THANK YOU SO MUCH DEAR READER FOR STICKING AROUND. PLEASE VOTE AND LEAVE ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IF POSSIBLE.

-EMOLYON