Under the Weight

4802 words

Episode 6: Under the Weight The rope bites into Elias’s palms, the coarse fibers scraping raw skin as he lowers himself inch by inch into the suffocating dark of the shaft. His breath rasps loud in his ears, a ragged counterpoint to the distant drip of water echoing off the stone walls. The air down here is damp, heavy with the smell of mold and something metallic, like old blood. His arms tremble, muscles screaming from the strain, and below him, Rylan’s muttered curses bounce up, sharp and impatient. “Move your ass, Elias,” Rylan growls, his voice strained, barely carrying over the scrape of his own boots against the uneven rock. “I ain’t holdin’ this forever.” Elias grits his teeth, ignoring the burn in his shoulders as he adjusts his grip. The rope sways slightly, a nauseating reminder of the drop beneath them—hundreds of feet, maybe more, into a black nothing that swallows every flicker of light from the torch tied to Rylan’s belt. They’ve been descending for what feels like hours, though it can’t be more than twenty minutes since they squeezed through the grate at the top. The Warden’s latest game had been clear: find the cache hidden in the underbelly of the prison, or don’t come back at all. No second chances. No mercy. The shaft narrows...