Extra 12: The Path

This was it, this is how Chray was going to die, not by being cut down in battle or maimed by monsters beyond reckoning, but by getting lost in an underground labyrinth.

After being blocked off by the steam, Chray had reluctantly decided to move a bit deeper into the ruins and see if he could reconnect with his target’s path.

That was a stupid idea, not only did the only other option available to him not lead anywhere near where he needed to go, but it seemed to him like it was actively leading him away.

For Orsha knows how long, he had been following one massive corridor, which had been getting gradually smaller over time as whoever built this place was obviously in a rushed, and failed, to finish its construction.

He could, of course, just follow his own trail back to the surface, but he was blind not stupid, the administrator was unlikely to accept an excuse as lacking as “They went where I couldn't follow”.

This was about the only situation in which he, Chray, blessed by a Spirit of shrakring Hunting could become lost, and he was not enjoying the sensation.

He stamped his foot on the ground and listened for the echo, finding exactly what he feared.

Up ahead a lava flow had come through while this area was once filled with water, solidifying instantly in knives of black glass which jutted out from the walls.

With enough caution, Chray could certainly weave his way though, especially if he overcharged his blessing, but to what benefit would that bring him?

There was nothing special about this path, it was chosen at random and was near completely barren of any sign or marker which would indicate the slightest worth to his current situation.

What's more, while the air was fresh in the first layer of the ruins, down here it was getting staler and staler the deeper he went, and he wasn't comfortable with the risk.

The heat wasnt great either.

Shaking his head and trying again to alleviate the growing headache gnawing at his brain, Chray took a larger path to his right, hoping that it might lead upwards and maybe release him from the depths of the complex.

He took the path and found, to his surprise, that he was right in his hopes, as after a few halls filled with tables and chairs carved into the wall an unfinished but adequate path revealed itself and led upwards.

Glad to finally have something go his way, Chray expended some precious energy and sprinted up the steps.

After running for a long while, the Keeper stopped for breath and to drink some water, finding his reserves almost half depleted.

“How long have I been down here?”

The world was always dark for Chray, but the lack of sounds and life made time seem completely obscured to him.

In truth, Chray wasn't too worried about the water situation, half the ruin was flooded anyway and while stagnant water wasn't always the best, the Gitiriag’s constitution was greatly bolstered by star-silver’s power, and he would likely be ok.

To be honest, with how sterile the whole ruin was it was fifty-fifty on whether the water even would stagnate.

And that was another thing, despite how long Chray had been down here, there was no evidence of a single living thing, not a vermin feeding off long rotten rations nor a stray spore of mould could be found.

And while, in admittance, Chray’s sight was lacking, if there was an insect or animal anywhere in the dead silence, he would have heard it.

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It was like every living thing in the whole complex, despite its incredible size, left the place all at once and never so much as mentioned it again, leaving it to be forgotten by history.

It was unnerving.

As he was pondering this, a slight tremor rang through the earth, so small that Chray could only just feel it through the sole of his boots.

He was, however, fully aware of the dangers of such a tremor and it only made him want to find a way out all the more.

“Screw it, it doesn't matter if I lose the trail, I need to get out of here.”

The Keeper got back up and resumed his flight up the stairs, finishing the rest of the ascent and coming back to the upper ruin.

“How on Orsha did people live here?”

The whole complex’s construction was completely connected, and there didn't seem to be anything dictating one area to belong to one person, it was like the whole thing was one massive house.

What made the ancient Orshraka change their way of living so harshly?

Chray hardly even had to think on that, it was the Earliag that brought their single houses over to the desert, along with every other issue under the sun.

To think if he were born before the calamity, he would have lived in a place like this, living with a hundred other people like they were family.

He shook those thoughts away, the Earliag’s presence was mandated by Orsha, and there was little use in letting any resentment get out of hand.

Chray pushed those thoughts out of his head and focused on the issue, how was he going to get out of here.

The whole place was a maze, all buried deep underground and liable to collapse at any moment.

There was really only one thing he could do and he was dreading it already.

He turned through rooms and halls until he managed to find one, long passage with a great deal of doors and sub-passages on every side, as was highly favoured by the creators of this place.

Then he broke into run and turned his blessing on himself.

A sharp pain in his head flared and his own trail lit up orange behind him, his own actions always being harder to track than any others, though he had no idea why.

Despite his throbbing temples however, Chray pushed deeper and brought more of his power to light.

Now the orange light extended not only behind him, but ahead of him too, dictating his own future, his own best course of action.

Instantly his headache turned from painful to excruciating, but he kept running and would do so until he was given direction.

Ten, twenty, thirty steps passed and no out was provided, Chray wasn't sure how much longer he could go for, or how much further the passage went in all honesty.

Just when he was ready to give out, his ethereal self sharply turned to the right through a stone archway, a prophecy which he eagerly followed.

Another ten steps past, straining the Gitiriag to his very limit yet providing another vital pathway.

He managed to hold out for one more decision to be made, until he could bare it no longer and crashed into the leftmost pathway of a branching path.

Chray curled up on the floor in pain, he had pushed himself too far, determined to find a way out of the infinite mess of random concourses and bland rooms.

How many more times would he have to do this to get out of here, how long would it be till he saw the sun again?

He didn't want to think about it.

Chray awoke on the cold hard floor, having fallen asleep some time in his suffering.

He wondered how long he had slept for, there was no real way to tell, but it couldn't have been too long considering how much his head still hurt.

He didn't know what he was thinking, pushing himself that far, if anyone had been around to see him then he would have been openly disgraced for succumbing to his pain like that.

The Keeper got up and ignored the wetness behind his mask, he had taken an oath of stoicism the moment he had committed his sin, and he had already come far too close to breaking that today.

He walked down the path he had found with his blessing a little bit, up until he came to his first branch in the path.

He sighed and tried to call upon his blessing once again, yet found that he could not.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not bring himself to use its power, it was like trying to put his hand onto a pot of boiling water, his mind rebelled on an instinctual level.

He tried a little harder this time, and again was foiled.

No matter how hard he tried, the subconscious barrier grew with him, he had well and truly pushed himself too far.

A passionate pang of pain pulsed through his temples and brought him to his knees in the process.

His body was reminding him just why it was so against the use of the blessing.

He hadn't truly realised the extent of the damage and how far his migraine had gone, his nap had only held it at bay, but all the force was still there.

Chray was forced to consider that perhaps the reason why he couldn't use his blessing was because it would physically hurt him to do so.

The Orshraka slumped to the floor, how the hell was he gonna get out of here then?