Kael stares at you in shock, clenching and unclenching her fists. Then she rushes through the last several feet of the tunnel like a kid on Christmas day.
On the other side is the small cavern from the map. Small pinpricks of light filter in through holes in the ceiling, though there is no sky on the other side. A pool of water stands in one corner, ripples cover its surface where water drips from the ceiling.
In the center of the pool is a rock with the two glowing symbols from the map. The Owl glows a faint, emerald green, the same green that you saw in Kael’s eyes. This is the first time you’ve been able to really stop and consider the color and you realize that it is nothing like the pale, sickly green that the husks filled the husks. No, it is a deep, endless, healthy green like the leaves on a tree in a library's courtyard.
The Trident glows a contrasting icy blue, filling the space with a certain chill, though for you it is just a sensation. Once, while in Sweden, you jumped from a hot tub into a frozen lake, and you are reminded of that brutal, yet disembodied chill here. It is like night and day compared to the calm of the Wisdom Ley.
You approach the stone to get a better view and isolate this new feeling, reaching for your case and the four stones there. It would be nice to see the magic of the tree again and examine it in more detail. Just as you fumble with the lock on the case, Kael shoulders you aside, crossing the cavern with quick strides.
“Wait!” Opal shouts, taking off after her and grabbing her shoulder. Kael shrugs her off, barely looking at her. She turns enough for you to see her eyes. They are glowing green as they never have before.
Kael breaks into a sprint, but Opal reacts faster than you think possible and tackles her to the ground. They roll forward, Kael kicking and scratching like a wild animal caught in a trap. Opal holds on grimly, desperation in her green eyes. Kael’s eyes flare and she swipes a hand at Opal, fingernails like claws.
Opal reels back, her cheek reduced to several bloody gauges. She snarls and leaps from a crouch, taking down Kael as she regains her feet.
You run over to try to help and Kael fights with increased fervor, clawing toward the glowing symbols. You grab her hands with a grip of iron, somehow overpowering her desperate swings. Opal throws her over her shoulder and the two of you hurry to the entrance.
You reach out as you pass through the opening, finding the wisps of the Wisdom Ley after a tense moment of searching and yank the door closed. The moment it appears, Kael collapses like her strings have been cut, eyes no longer green, but unseeing. You sit heavily against the wall and catch your breath, still watching Kael out of the corner of your eye.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Opal’s face is bleeding freely, but she pays it no mind, moving Kael so that she is on a dry spot on the ground and speaking to her softly.
“What the hell was that?” you say, after your breathing steadies.
Opal looks at you angrily, “She can’t help it.”
“I didn’t see you go all feral.”
“I…” Opal sighs and sits against the wall, still holding onto Kael’s hand, “I had Kael to guide me on the old way. She herself wasn’t so lucky.”
“Apollo,” you guess.
Opal clenches her jaw but doesn’t answer.
Apollo must have messed her up badly to turn such a careful and collected woman into a rampaging animal at the drop of a hat.
You stand up and go over to her, pulling off your jacket and then the sweat shirt underneath. She eyes you then turns her face and lets you clean out the scratches. They aren’t as deep as they looked, but she will likely have a scar.
“Keep pressure on it,” you say gruffly when you finish, handing her a piece of your shirt.
You kneel in front of Kael and snap a finger in front of her eyes. She doesn’t react.
Opal pulls her to her feet anyway and she allows herself to be led down the tunnel in a slow shuffle.
“How long will she be like this?” you ask, following Kael and Opal as they totter along.
“I’m not sure,” Opal responds with a sigh. She leads the way with one hand on Kael and one on her flashlight so it is impossible to see her expression. “Sometimes it’s only a few minutes”
The way she emphasizes her words makes it sound like this is not one of those times.
Kael shuffles along as placid as a cow. There is no indication of the kicking and screaming animal that tore open Opal’s face. Nor is there any indication of the intelligent, hard bitten woman that you had come to know. Her eyes are as glassy as a doll’s.
The ceiling of the tunnel gets lower, the only indication that you are coming to the entrance. Opal feels around then slides the stone to the side again, blinding the both of you with daylight. She turns and helps Kael up the steep stairs.
“Who is this Apollo?” You ask, helping her with Kael. She is heavier than she looks, as if every square inch of her body is covered in corded muscle.
You think she isn’t going to respond like normal, but she takes a deep breath. “He is -” she starts then looks across the field and her breath catches.
You follow her gaze across the field to a handsome, blonde man, grinning from the front of a ragged group of people.
“That is Apollo,” she says, as her face morphs into a strange mix of anger and determination.