Night had fallen by the time Gareth; Anwen and their involuntary Black Shield companion had reached the shore. The air had become cool, almost chilly. Marius was still in the north, barricaded from anything resembling neighbors to the south by both a sizeable lake and a range of mountains.
“Gareth,” Anwen said as the trio traveled by foot along Marius’ secondary road which went north to south in contrast to its main road which connected its east to its west, straddling nearly all buildings as Marius had been built along the lake. As a result, the road they were on was almost completely barren save for two or three travelers coming in to stay for the night in town. Such was the state of the sparsely populated north’s largest town. “Can we stop at the Bernards’ for just a couple of minutes?”
“Why?” Gareth said, looking on at the path his feet took him.
“I just… I might not see them again, so—
“Time is of the essence,” Gareth interrupted. “The sooner we reach our destination, the sooner we accomplish our goal and the sooner we can get back to Stefan and Leon.”
“Not even a word of goodbye?” Anwen frowned.
Gareth continued walking, ignoring his daughter.
Anwen took a brief glance over her shoulder, reminding herself that she and Gareth were not alone. Though it lasted for a mere moment, she could see the Black Shield member following her and her father. The cover of the night and the mask Vi wore made Anwen unable to read any expression they had, if they had one at all.
‘This is my fault,’ thought Anwen. ‘But I can’t complain. Gareth’s always gonna be Gareth, but if this is the only way I can stay with him and the boys, then so be it.’
“Gareth…” Anwen called, as her train of thought had slowed her pace and caused her to drift from the man. But she did also have an inquiry.
“Speak.” Gareth said bluntly.
“You aren’t even using a map. How are you supposed to know where this warehouse is?”
“Because I already know where it is.”
“How so?”
Anwen heard a hint of an amused snort escape Gareth’s nose. For a moment, Anwen believed he was showing emotion besides utter indifference.
“Because you and I have lived there for ten years,” he responded.
“W-W-Wait, hold on!” Anwen cried. “The base? It used to be a Titanian warehouse?”
“You think I could’ve built that with my own two hands?” Gareth scoffed.
“N-No,” Anwen admitted with a mutter. “But if we’re going back home… that’ll take a long time! It took a week to get to Marius, and that was with Esperance, so going on foot—
“Incorrect. There is a faster way, but we couldn’t fit a carriage into it. If we use it, it’ll take the same time on foot as it took to reach Marius by horse.”
“Really?” Anwen said in amusement. “Well, tell me what it is!”
--
“It’s… a well,” Anwen said, a defeated look on her face after a two-hour walk. “You could’ve saved me the disappointment by telling me this super fast way of yours was a stupid well back when we were in Marius.”
‘I don’t know how I’ve been able to deal with his lack of straightforwardness until now,’ she thought, peering down into the dark cavity. ‘I can’t imagine how Stefan had to deal with it. I can’t even imagine how he feels right now.’
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“You wouldn’t have believed me if I told you it led to an underground tunnel back then, and you would’ve nagged me about it the entire way.”
“I guess that’s fair,” Anwen sighed. “But why is it even here?”
“There used to be aquifers in the north until the Titanians tried to completely colonize the continent. They redirected the water and created Lake Marius, which resulted in the tunnel we have ending there and starting at glaciers in the very far north.”
“Woah,” Anwen said. “That was quite an explanation. Be like that more often, please.”
“Just follow me. And make sure our escort is aware too.” Gareth said, entering the well feet first. Anwen didn’t have to turn around to know that Vi was aware of the happenings. Vi was always there. Vi was always watching.
Gareth opened his rucksack and took out a torch which he lit to guide the trio through the dark tunnels. The walls were comically small, being a meter wide and two meters tall. Any shorter and the six-and-a-half foot tall Gareth wouldn’t have been able to walk with his back straight. They walked in almost total silence for the next eight hours, stopping every other hour for no more than 15 minutes to eat and rest their sore legs. The latter wasn’t that much of a problem to Anwen though, since she only had one leg that would ache. What she was worried about was having to travel in a claustrophobia-inducing subterranean path, with her unhelpful, distant father in front of her, and her own potential killer never more than a few meters to her back always. That was excluding her endless pondering over Stefan and Leon’s wellbeing in the hands of an organization whose actions were visible but whose intentions were not.
--
Three days passed, apparently enough for Anwen to believe that she was going mad. With minimal communication between her father, and not a single word spoken to her by the person who was authorized to take her life with the occurrence of one mistake, it was bearing down on her, hard. They were hardly halfway to their destination—10 leagues had been traveled, and they had 14 more left to go. The distance between Marius to the mountains was seven leagues, not very much less than the distance they had traveled under the tunnels, but the difference was underground, they could not see their goal. Only the tiny glimpses of sunlight shining through the wells above them at daytime which were granted to them every three and a half leagues offered them any respite. At the start of every day, Anwen longed to go back to sleep—the only way she could break out of the mind-numbing cycle.
So, when Gareth announced that their rations had been depleted, and that they would have to return to the surface, she was beyond elated. Gareth climbed out of the well first, after which he had to help Anwen out. Her artificial leg was phenomenal at keeping her walking for long distances, but when it came to using it to grip onto flat, vertical surfaces she was at a loss. Their guest, for a lack of better words, followed them last.
‘I’ll have to make a couple improvements on this thing.’ she said, rapping against her pant-covered leg with her knuckle.
The sun shone but was dimmed down by the presence of endless clouds, but the air wasn’t quite as cold despite their northbound voyage due to the decrease in elevation. As much as she wished to bask underneath its subtle warmth, she had somewhere to go. The town in question was called Velves, about one and a half times larger than Stefan’s hometown of Derban. Anwen couldn’t help but notice its population’s age, as no small children were seen roaming its square—the closest thing it had to bustling streets—only a handful of teens and younger adolescents. She wondered how the populations looked the more north in Yeupis she’d go. Only a few minutes were needed to find a merchant who sold preserved food that would last them until they reached Gareth’s base.
“You, whose face is obscured,” the vendor said, pointing behind Gareth and Anwen to Vi who loomed over, quietly observing the transaction. “Might you be a member of the Black Shield?”
Vi simply stepped up to the stall, pushing past the father and daughter. “I am.”
“My, oh my! I never would’ve expected one of you heroes to be showing up to our humble little town! Here.”
The vendor handed back Gareth the silver coins he’d used to purchase the provisions.
“What’s this for?” Gareth said with a raised eyebrow. “I just bought your stuff.”
“No, no! It’s all on me. This is the least I could do to show you some gratitude, since the Black Shield is the only group that still has the heart to go up against the Angel freaks that keep us chained!”
As Gareth awkwardly put his coins back in his pocket ignoring the merchant’s rant of appreciation, Vi put a gloved hand over their heart, responding to the merchant in kind.
“I accept your sentimentality. Our group firmly stands behind our goal of eradicating the Titanian scum from our continent.”
“Of course!” the merchant said. “Oh, and before you leave… I have something I must warn you about.”
“What would that be?” Gareth asked.
“There’s been… rumours, that some kind of group has been recruiting followers up north. I don’t know how true they are, but it’s been said that they’re led by a man named Hugo. Please be wary of any strange people coming your way.”