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warrior-thief-and-intelectual · 5 years

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Chapter 5

Emily had been awoken with a start as she sat up and looked around frantically, just like a few days ago. She was warm, with a light sheet over her, in a bed, in a house, but that was not her own. Recalling previous events, she realized suddenly that she was in Vida’s house. She had yet to ask herself where the girl was. Last she had remembered the girl had crawled into the bed with her, which she wasn’t personally fond of.

But this…

… this was her home, not Emily’s.

Carefully, Emily rose from the bed, belatedly noticing she was still wearing the dress and wandered out to the main room. Looking around she saw that there were some pillows missing from the floor and as she looked to the wall she saw something draping down it, brown, silky and wavy. Following the trail she noticed Vida, sleeping in the large shelf in the wall, on a pile of pillows.

“So that’s where she went,” Emily muttered, feeling guilt churning in her gut. Walking over she reached out to the girl’s hair, being that she was too high up for her to jostle her shoulder. Carefully touching the tresses she was delightfully surprised to feel that they were soft and smooth on her fingers. Carefully, she grasped and tugged lightly on the girl’s hair, only to get a soft groan in response and a shift in position nestled up on the shelf. Tugging once more she watched as Vida rolled towards her. Emily immediately let go and stepped back, watching in surprise as she began to fall off the shelf since she rolled towards where Emily was standing. Before Emily could wrench a squeak of alarm the girl reacted and landed quite gracefully being that she was falling to being with. She looked at Emily.

“Good morning,” she yawned and stretched her arms as if what she just did was the most common thing in the world.

“What happened?” Emily asked, wanting answers and not having enough patience for Vida to tell her when she felt like it.

“I didn’t really fall asleep, so I left for a while, got tired, but when I came back you looked relaxed and comfortable so I decided I’d sleep up there,” she said casually and pointed up to the indent where she was previously sleeping. “But now your clothes are clean so~” she trailed off and walked past her, picking up a bundle of cloth and handing it to her. “R-... The big guy said he wanted to see you once we were up, he said the two of you talked last night and you told him what was up,” she shrugged and walked into the other room to put on proper clothing, Emily getting dressed. When both were done, Vida grabbed her stuff and they stepped out, the tan girl leading the way to the meeting place.

~*~*~*~

Emily felt a little overwhelmed by the pure presence in the room, and she felt almost slightly cold for once, from the draft leading through it. Vida was standing in her gear and had fetched their things from a stand where they had been placed after dropping her off here. She’d be somewhat disgusted by the thought of admitting it, perhaps be loathed even, but she had wished that the bright girl had stayed there with her. She found herself relieved when she returned with their things. In the room, now that the brunette was back, was the man she had spoken to the other day, his wife, Vida - looking more serious than Emily was used to, but still smiling - and about three others; two men and a woman. She had reiterated her plan to them and where she needed to go. Once Vida returned the big guy pulled out a map.

“You see this huge hole behind me?” he asked, obviously rhetorical, but she had nodded nonetheless. “It leads out of here, as far as we know” he explained and showed her a yellowing, tattered at the edges, map that showed tunnel systems and two other countries.

“So this tunnel… would bring me closer to Glorantis?” she asked to check if where her mind was running was, in fact, the right idea. He nodded and the woman she recognized as Corellia stepped up and pointed to the tunnel on the map that corresponded to the one behind them, pulling in a draft.

“It’s old and we’re not sure if the other end is still intact, let alone where exactly it lets out. From what we understand though, it’d be a completely different country, but it’s the only way out that doesn’t go through or over the mountains,” she had stated.

“So it’s the best way out, with minimal danger?” Emily proceeded to receive a nod in response.

“Yes, but it’s still dangerous and you still need to find your mother. You’ll need help,” The chief spoke steadily, causing Emily to look up from the map and into his eyes. “We’re sending someone with you to keep you company. It’s safer to travel in pairs after all,” he continued. Emily arched a thin brow at that.

“Who?” she asked slowly.

Corellia nodded her head in Vida ’s direction. Said girl was talking animatedly with the other three people there, beaming at them as they spoke.

“I can’t do that to her,” Emily said, letting her compassion seep through. “This is her home, I can’t take her from here,” she explained.

“No, no. It’s fine, she’d want to, always been a curious soul. Probably why she found you,” the tall man spoke calmly. “Anyways, you’ll need someone to light and control the fire,” he finished, waving his hand loosely, signaling Vida to come over, which she did immediately. “Go say bye. You and your friend are about to leave,” he said sternly. Vida nodded and ran off so she could see everyone before they left.

“What fire?” Emily asked as Vida left the room.

“The flames of passion!” Vida yelled in response as she ran out and through the echo of the cave they heard a cry, some laughter, some sobs. They couldn’t see anything, but the sounds echoing, reverberating, were enough to paint a clear picture. Once Emily composed herself again she looked back at the two figures.

“Are you sure you want to send her with me and that this is a good idea?” Emily asked softly and their facial expressions softened, looking almost sad. They nodded wordlessly.

“This will be good for her,” Corellia said.

“This could help us,” the man at her side added. Emily watched as he subtly squeezed her, comforting his partner. After a moment, they could hear fast footsteps down the cave and out re-emerged Vida, a teary-eyed smile on her face, hands shaking a little.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked, her voice softer and more delicate than Emily had ever heard it. It sounded wobbly, so to save Vida the trouble, she nodded and began to walk toward the cavernous tunnel, turning around at the precipice once she heard the rustling of fabric just in time to see the five other people in the room while embracing her new companion, whispering to her, sniffling and trying to tell her everything they could before she went.

When the other three in the room let go, they left, probably not wanting to make things harder. Corellia and her partner still holding her tight, Vida managed to disentangle herself enough to take a step back and look up at them. For such talkative people, they were suddenly very silent. Then it hit Emily: The emotions they were feeling couldn’t be adequately expressed through words, only looks, and touches. They themselves seemed to understand that because once Vida nodded and turned around, a smile plastered on her face, did they finally let the tears fall. Vida didn’t look back, just went forward - halberd on her back, pouches, and daggers on her hips and head held high, walking straight into the dark tunnel. Emily moved to follow before stopping and turning towards them.

“Chief-” she calmed and he looked at her. “What’s your name? Would be a shame not to know the name of a new ally,” she continued. The man smiled down at her.

“It’s Reed,” he replied. “But I prefer Chief,” he smiled calmly at her and she nodded.

“Goodbye Chief, and thank you.”

And with those final words, she was off, trying to catch up to the girl ahead of her.

~*~*~*~

Solid ground. Fairly even, yet old and dirty walls. Torches attached to them. The sound of dripping water that had created erosion on all sides.

The two had spent thirty minutes walking through the tunnel by the time Emily had recovered from the farewell and had stopped paying attention to the details of the tunnel, rather starting to reflect.

“Amazing! I can’t wait to see what else is out there!” Vida exclaimed as she kept going, lighting the torches one by one. Although her breathing was still level, she managed to keep her enthusiasm at a surprisingly high, which was probably where all her energy was going.

“Hold on a second,” Emily suddenly said. “If I’m leaving for Glorantis…” she began, hesitating for a bit.

“Yeah? What?” Vida asked, turning her head to Emily.

“... that’s nearly on the other side of the entire continent!” Emily ended in shock. She hadn’t previously considered the potential consequences of having ended up in Lumanata in the first place. “Good grief, this turned out more complicated than I expected, she then sighed.

“Hey, we’ve already come a long way! Besides; more to see, right? No turning back now!” Vida said cheerfully, hoping to open her companion’s mind to more opportunities despite the harsh realization. Emily took a deep breath.

“Right. You’re absolutely right,” she said in response.

Dear Lord, help us through this. Be near, she thought to herself.

“What would you say is our estimated time of arrival?” she proceeded to ask.

“Well, if I know mountains, and we keep walking this fast, two or three hours should do,” Vida replied with a thoughtful expression on her face.

“At this speed? Under the mountains?” Emily asked surprised, only to continue: “They must be larger than I expected. Then again, it’s not easy to tell exactly where the tunnel leads, just like Corellia said.”

“Uh-huh!” Vida replied and nodded her head in agreement.

They decided to stay silent once again, as they had to focus all their energy on advancing. Emily was panting, and her armor was gradually becoming heavier, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. They were getting closer by the second, that was all they knew - and they had no time to lose.

~*~*~*~

Nothing changed. The tunnel still looked the same, even though they had been on the move for a long time. It twisted and turned, and the somewhat dense air was starting to take its toll.

“It must have been more than three hours by now,” Emily said while breathing heavily, breaking the silence. Vida couldn’t help but agree on this and looked at Emily with a less exhausted expression on her face.

“Yeah, I guess I was wrong. What’s up with this tunnel, anyway?” she replied. She noticed Emily was falling behind, so she slowed down. “We should take a break, what do you say?” she proposed kindly, ignoring her fatigue.

“Yes, did you bring any food?” Emily said before they both stopped.

“Not much, but it’s probably enough. I’m not as hungry though, so feel free to take some extra!” Vida said and handed the other a pouch from her hip. “I’ll walk a bit farther ahead. You know, just to light a few torches.”

Emily nodded as she sat down and opened the pouch, and as she had said, Vida continued moving. After lighting about twenty torches, she returned, a bit more energetic. She sat by Emily’s side, the armored girl giving the pouch back to her.

“Thank you,” her Emily said gratefully.

“No problem at all!” her friend replied. Her happy smile and energy had returned to normal. A lot had happened recently, but the two were getting used to each other. They got along well, and this was only the beginning of the journey. No matter how long it might take, they certainly weren’t alone about it. Vida gobbled up what was left of the food after resting for a bit and took to get back on her feet. Emily responded by doing the same and they continued along the tunnel. The tanned girl prepared to light more torches and was centimeters in front of Emily.

“Ah!” she heard Vida exclaim as she saw something fly past the corner of her eye. Before she could react, she felt a push and a painful shock run through her. She landed on the ground with a thump and struggled to breathe. “Emily! Are you okay?!” Vida exclaimed.

“W-wha-” Emily started through coughs before she got a screeching headache that made her body tighten like a cramp. She turned onto her stomach. “Ow-!” The pain was followed by a sound and sensation that reminded her of thunder, growing stronger.

“Emily!” Vida yelled and rushed to her side. Suddenly, a loud howl reverberated.

What the…

She pulled herself together and turned onto her back again. What she saw made her realize that the thunder wasn’t a part of her imagination. Vida had thrown herself in front of her and thrown one of her knives at a beast that had charged towards them. Emily immediately drew her sword and got off the ground, fighting the pain. Vida ’s agile body sprinted and jumped, and she grabbed ahold of its arm and threw herself onto its back, then pulled out another knife and stabbed its eyes.

That really is her technique, Emily thought.

“Go for it!” Vida exclaimed while avoiding it’s huge arms and holding on despite its quick movements. Emily charged towards the demon and paused a split second in front of it, only to swing her blade horizontally against its throat. It was paralyzed a few seconds before falling to the ground, spewing oddly colored blood all over.

“You did it! Your first kill!” Vida chirped excitedly and jumped off the dead demon’s back.

“How can you say something like that after just being exposed to the sudden attack of an enemy?” Emily asked, not knowing whether to be shocked or not. “Wait, why didn’t you just finish it off yourself?”

Vida looked at her and grinned: “That demon is a pretty weak type of all I’ve ever seen. I had it covered from the start! Why not give you a shot?” she explained casually.

“Why, you… You know what, never mind,” Emily hesitated and gave up the argument. The most important thing now was to get this tunnel over with.

But that shock and pain… What was that?

~*~*~*~

“Oh, finally. Is this it?” Emily sighed relieved.

“Looks like it. And about time too!” Vida said, also relieved to have found something that looked like a way out, the problem is that there seemed to be no way of opening it. After spending hours getting here, it appeared they had encountered something that looked more like a wall than anything else. “Can’t say I’ve seen anything like this before, though,” she continued and went over to it. She glanced over at its surface which had symbols carved into it. “I wonder what it is…”

“Me too,” Emily reached out her hand to touch them. She was instantly pushed back and landed on the floor. “Ah! Again?!” Emily exclaimed in temporary shock.

“Wha!” Vida, also taken by surprise, exclaimed.

“Why does this keep happening?” Emily said, both annoyed and in pain. “And I’m thinking this might be a dead end after all,” she said and stood.

“It doesn’t feel like that, honestly” Vida looked at Emily and replied. She then turned towards the wall, drew a knife from her knife sheath and threw it at the wall. It, too, was pushed back - and shattered into pieces. “My knife! Seriously, this is freaky!” she commented surprised after the millions of shards had fallen to the ground. “At least you didn’t break!” she tried to joke and lift the mood.

“Yea, that would’ve been a real shame,” Emily muttered sarcastically.

Suddenly, a bright, golden light inhabited the entire tunnel way and outshone the torches. It was the wall and the symbols that were shining. “Ah!” both of them yelled in sync. The brightness toned down, disappearing after a few seconds. Emily could see the wall moving aside.

So it really is an entrance! Emily thought, but couldn’t get herself to say it. They both stood and looked at that which unfolded in front of them. At last, the wall was out of site, and the light of the day took over. None of them moved. Emily squinted to get a better look.

It didn’t take long before she saw what appeared to be the dark silhouette of a person on the outside.

#story #original #work in progress #original characters #fantasy world #fantasy #adventure #Magic #i'm really proud of this #I swear this is good

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