Having found a bedroom to rest in, Lilith tossed her sleeping bag on top and slept the night away. It was far more peaceful than the night before, as there was no stress of anything going wrong. There was no need to keep a barrier up and no worry about any demons lurking around.
Things were working out far too well, and although that wasn’t a bad thing, it caused a weird sense of anxiety. It contradicted what she believed the north was, which caused her to worry something would happen. Yet, nothing did, and even though she had been blindly following a mage she had never met before, there was still a sense of trust she had in him. It was hard to believe he would ever lead her astray.
“Do I stay one more day… or do I leave now?” Lilith asked herself, as she leaned back in her chair. However, the answer was simple. There was no need to rush. It would be better to stay a day longer, fully rest up, and do some research.
The rest of the day was calm. Lilith had proper meals, relaxed a bit, looked through the library, and read the book Arthur left for her until night came and it was time to sleep.
It was early in the morning, and Lilith stood in front of the statue once again, but this time, she wrote the description of the statue, going into every minor detail she could, followed by a crude drawing to the best of her ability. It wasn’t pretty, but she hoped the description was enough.
“Alright,” she said while closing the notebook and grabbing her barrier and activating it before heading out into the scorching heat. It was hot. Far hotter than the day before. But she couldn’t wait around any longer, so she headed out to the next location Arthur pointed out.
……
Slumped over, Lilith lifted her hat, wiped her brow and head, then tossed her hat into the void. “How long has it been?” she said, her voice a bit horse from the extreme heat. Only a few hours had passed since she left the temple, but the temperature took a turn for the worse. An unbearable amount of heat that far exceeded the deserts of the south she would painfully traverse when needed to. The only upside the north had over the desert was the lack of sand.
Checking her compass to confirm she was still headed north, she looked around. Although there were no demons in sight, there were also no structures of any kind. Only large holes every so often, which set off far too many alarms to not worry about.
A sudden rumble from beneath her feet caused Lilith to stumble and balance herself to not fall over while clenching as hard as she could to her crystal. These same rumbles had been happening every so often, but she slowly got used to it. However, the farther she traveled into this deserted area, the more frequent they happened and the stronger they became.
Something traveling beneath her feet, and the crystal in her hand was the only protection she had. Stopping at a hole as she passed by, she leaned over, hoping to get any hint she could. Yet that hope quickly shattered after realizing how dark it was. “Do I throw a torch down?” She asked herself, but quickly dismissed the idea after talking herself down from it. There was no telling what else was down there, and she didn’t wish to mess with the nest. “Or do I?” she attempted to cross her arms, but after struggling to, she sighed, letting them rest to the side. “They really need to improve this crystal. Make it a necklace or something.” Bringing the crystal back to her chest, she clenched it tightly while thinking about what to do. The smart thing would be to ignore the hole and continue to move on. But it also wouldn’t be a bad idea to find out what’s in there. If anything.
She stood there, struggling with an angel and demon on each shoulder. Do I throw one down? Do I move on? These two questions went back and forth as she fought with herself, giving reasons for both sides. “Fuck it!” she finally exclaimed before immediately taking out a torch and lighting it. “I have the crystal. I should be fine… Right?” Yeah, totally, she answered herself in her head before tossing the torch down the hole.
Unfortunately, it showed little, but it gave Lilith more than enough information than she needed. From the quick few seconds of light, she noticed several holes going in several directions and webbing similar to a spider, yet far larger than any spider she was familiar with. After the light had disappeared, what had pursued was the echoing sound of feet… no taping? She couldn’t make it out, but she knew what was behind that sound and, more quickly than ever before, Lilith made a mad dash away from the hole, waiting at a distance. Two spiders far larger than herself crawled out of the hole shortly after. Eight furry legs and black beating eyes with brown skin. Subconsciously, Lilith held her breath and stood still like a stick. It was clear they didn’t notice her, yet that didn’t stop her from freezing.
On high alert, the spiders creeped around the hole, moving cautiously. They stayed together and from Lilith’s perspective; it looked like they were protecting each other. Covering any blindsides they could. It was only after they deemed it safe did they split up and search farther away. There wasn’t a single soul within miles of where they were and not a single place to hide, yet they still double checked their surroundings.
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While one went the opposite direction, the other continued to creep closer and closer to her barrier. There was something she had been avoiding to test up to this moment. It only hit her much later on, but Lilith wasn’t sure what would happen if a demon walked into her barrier’s range. Did it hit into an invisible wall? Did it enter? These were questions she wasn’t willing to have answered anytime soon.
After shaking herself out of her fear, every time the spider took a step closer, Lilith took a step backwards. This continued for a bit longer, until, like clockwork, the rumble once again happened, causing the two spiders to look at each other and scramble back from where they came from.
Giving it a long moment, she took a few more steps backwards, keeping her eyes on the hole, before turning around and picking up the pace. From what Lilith could guess, there was probably an entire colony down there of spiders.
“What are they, spiders?” She asked.
They seem like it, Lilith thought.
For a moment, she figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to explore. To uncover the mysteries of the north, but that no longer seemed tempting. She got ahead of herself. She was no scholar capable of knowing what to write about and record, nor was she a fighter which would allow her to fight her way into deeper parts of these caverns to see what was at the end. Lilith was a simple carrier. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Let’s not do that again,” Lilith said.
Although the rumbling kept up, it was the most quiet she had experienced outside of the ruins. Sure, there was a monster -demon- traveling underneath her which might kill her without Lilith even knowing, but it didn’t seem to notice her because of the barrier. Also, was there only one of these things down there? And are there only spiders? She continued to question herself, but it was hard not to when you didn’t have anyone to talk to, nor anyone to actually talk you out of a stupid idea.
She kept up the pace, taking brief breaks as she could, but it wasn’t fast enough and the sun quickly set. It got darker and darker, and now with a torch out, Lilith kept moving. Although it may seem safe, Lilith didn’t wish to take the risk. It didn’t feel right or smart to fall asleep in such an obvious place, even with the protection she had. It would be smarter to push forward and head to the next location marked on the map. After a taste of safety from the last place, it was hard to deny.
As time continued to pass, Lilith kept herself on alert and when it became hard to keep her eyes open, she drank one of her potions. She had a large stockpile courtesy of Alex, but she needed to keep the usage of them to a minimum for as long as possible while making sure, when she crashed, it would be in a ruin where it was safe and capable of recovering. However, based on the map that was left for her, it was hard to know how much longer she had to go. The map Arthur left had the topography of what the north used to look like, while the one given by Bram was different as well. Neither of them helped her perfectly since there was no point of interest in sight to go off of.
Sitting down, she placed the crystal in her lap, stabbed and dug the torch into the ground, and took out both maps. “I started here…” Lilith looked them over, trying to guestimate where she was. “I should be around here,” she concluded after taking into consideration how much she walked. It wasn’t a perfect indication, but it was enough. She didn’t need to take too many breaks since she was extremely used to walking and alongside the shoes with their enhancements, it was quite easy to cover a ton of ground without her legs giving up on her.
“That’s weird…” Lilith said, while looking at Arthur’s map. “Did I guess a bit too much? The next ruin should be close by…” She looked around and sighed. “What do I do now…” Lilith quickly came to two options. One, she would wait it out, drinking a potion whenever she needed. Or two, look around aimlessly, hoping to find the ruins while draining away her stamina.
“Why not both?” She said, after mulling it over a bit. “If I can find the ruins quick enough, then I save on potions, but if I don’t, then I use a bit more than I would like.” It was a gamble, but not one that would make things harder for her in the long run, as long as she didn’t take these gambles every single time.
But what if I get too far away from the area? She thought.
“I should be fine if I don’t go that far…” Lilith said as she put away the map, grabbed the crystal and torch then stood up. “If I don’t go too far, then there should be no issue and either way, I need to stay awake, so I’ll be using these potions. It’s just too dark to see much.” With a sip of the next potion, she looked around and walked off slowly, keeping an eye out for anything abnormal.
……….
“Finally…” she said as the sun rose higher into the sky. She lost the gamble and after finding the ruins, she realized it was a gamble she wasn’t going to win. There was no building like the temple or a large statue to pinpoint the location. Just four simple stone pillars placed in four corners of a stone floor and stairs which lead down. "I mean... if it's the only thing remaining, it should be fine." Lilith’s face was a mixture of confusion and wonder, as the only thing within miles was a simple staircase heading down. She hesitated for a moment, hovering her foot over the stone, but as soon as she took her first step, a familiar feeling rushed through her.
It was safe, and it was doubtful anything would seriously happen, but it still scared her, so she continued clutching onto her crystal while taking slow and cautious steps down. Similar to how the previous ruins were, torches lit up her path.