Much like the lands towards their east, these lands were quite similar. It was all dry, cracked, and barren. It left little to the imagination and made for a disorienting experience when figuring things out. At least the compass helped direct them in the right way. Without it, they’d be sunk out here.
At some point, he ended up walking beside Silvy. “Silvy,” he said getting her attention. “Tell me, does my skin look a lot paler to you?”
“Um.” As he lifted and stretched out his arm she observed the skin on it. “Honestly I can’t tell. I would assume so.”
“What, even with our enhanced vision you can’t really tell whether I’m paler or not?” She shook her head. He placed a finger to his chin observing her. “I think you’ve gotten paler.”
“You’ve noticed, have you?”
“Uh-huh. I’m fairly certain that we’re all going to be as white as ghosts in another few months.”
“Let’s hope we’ve been able to resolve things before then.”
He never would’ve thought he would miss the sun. Well, now that it was gone from this domain, he certainly felt that way. And unlike the sun, the moon had been gone but for different reasons.
“Yorais,” he said.
“Yes?” she asked from behind.
“Whatever happened to the moon? And the stars for that matter. I understand why I might not see them here in the fourth domain, but they were gone in the fifth domain as well.”
“I wish I had an answer,” she simply said.
“Really? You have no idea why the moon doesn’t exist anymore?”
“It is one of the many mysteries of our world. We know of its existence through literature and texts but with the passage of time, I imagine everyone still alive on this planet has never witnessed it with their own eyes.”
Then that makes me potentially the only one alive to this day that remembers what the moon looks like.
Although, while he remembered it existing, he also recalled the memory of it being destroyed. His past self had witnessed its destruction on the day that it met its end. He wasn’t sure what might’ve caused it, however. It had just started to crack and scatter in the sky.
“I am curious,” Yorais said. “Why are you asking me about the moon?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask for a while. I just kept forgetting to ask until now. At this point, you know me Yorais. I’ve got a million questions needing to be answered but I know better than to ask them all at once.”
“All I will say further about the moon itself, is that from my understanding of it, it was at the time of its existence, a source of immense power and of course a way to make the night not so dark. I cannot really say any more than that.”
Where there was power, there were people willing to attain it by any means possible. Many possible scenarios could’ve occurred with that in mind. It still didn’t explain why he couldn’t see any stars though. The moon he could understand since he did have a memory of its destruction. For all the other stars in the universe, that was still in question. Why can we not see you?
“Then what of the stars? Why was I not able to see them in the fifth domain?” He had seen them from his past so something had caused them to disappear as well. Or at least, something was preventing him and others from seeing them from the surface of their planet.
She uttered a slight sigh. “You have a real talent for asking questions beyond my own understanding. I am a sorceress, yes. I know a lot but I am only human. These questions you’re asking me come from a time that hasn’t existed for many centuries. Perhaps there are texts out there that would answer these questions for us, but without having access to these texts, and without me coming across them, I’m afraid I lack the ability to these many questions of yours and others you’d like to ask.”
Someone out there might know of these things. If only I could find them and then these mysteries wouldn’t be so mysterious any longer.
* * *
Thus far, they remained unseen and undiscovered since they began traversing through these western lands. The darkness made such a thing far easier than it otherwise would end up being.
But while they headed in the relatively right direction, Kiran did not know these lands well enough to direct them to that cave by just himself. He had hoped that by now the friendly butterfly would’ve revealed itself to him so that it could lead them to it. Unfortunately, it had yet to appear.
Perhaps they never will. Perhaps we’ll end up having to do this entirely on our own and somehow make it there without stumbling upon Lady Meredith or her people first.
It seemed at least to him, that the further east he went, the less frequently the butterfly came to visit him. He thought that if they kept heading west, eventually they would return. It was just a potential scenario that he entertained, however. He didn’t know whether that would matter in regards to them visiting him once more.
Lar must’ve noticed his concern. She pursed her lips and made a noise with her mouth. “You seem like you’re a little distraught.”
“Perhaps a little.”
“Need me to comfort you to help put you at ease?”
He shook his head and smiled a little.
“What?”
“I just find the thought of you trying to comfort me to be a bit amusing.”
“I can be many things. Comforting is but one of those things.”
“I won’t make you do such a thing. Trust me, I’m doing fine. I’m just a little worried is all.” Who wouldn’t be?
“We could always change our plans a little if need be.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we make contact with one of the villages or towns and get someone there to direct us in such a way so that we can gain an audience with Lady Meredith. Then from there, we use whatever excuse we have to meet with her as cover for us sneaking out and uncovering that cave while they’re not looking. This is at least one possible option for us to pursue if we have to.”
“There’s too much risk involved with that scenario. I’m not exactly the deceitful kind of guy either. Or at least I try not to be if I can at all help it.”
“Is that your concern?” she asked with one hand on her left hip. “A lie or two won’t compromise you or your morals if that’s what you’re worried about. And if this lady is responsible for the state of this domain, I couldn’t care less what she might think about us lying to her.”
It was seeming likely she was in some way involved in it. He didn’t have absolute proof, but with the nature of arcane roots and how they interfere with reality, it wasn’t so hard to believe that a cave full of them—with a direct link to her no less—very well may have something to do with the problems plaguing this domain.
If there was any possibility of her being innocent, he wanted to confirm it. It would do none of them good for tensions to rise and relationships to falter especially if she was innocent. Although if she was innocent, they needed to keep their operations a secret from her.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Much of it relied on the butterfly coming to him, however. Without them, finding the cave was going to be a really difficult task if not impossible.
Come on. I know you’re out here somewhere. Find me again like you did throughout my time out here.
“Whatever the case is,” Lar continued to say, “if this butterfly friend of yours doesn’t show itself to you, we’re going to have to change our tactics a little. Neither you nor any of us know these lands well enough to find it ourselves. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if we were to search for an entire year, we still might not find that cave in time. And as you know, we don’t have that much time to spare until all of those survivors start starving to death with or without Lucias or Lady Meredith’s help.”
Time is of the essence. Yes, I know that. I know how important it is for us to get to the bottom of all of this. If we aren’t quick enough, so many more will undoubtedly perish.
* * *
More days passed by and the butterfly had not yet come to them. He was growing increasingly concerned that they may never reappear. He wasn’t the only one feeling that way either.
“Are you sure you weren’t imagining this, butterfly or whatever this thing happens to be?” Frederek sat with his legs crossed as they all found themselves in some abandoned ruins with a fire to help keep them warm.
“I’m completely certain that they’re real.”
“When they came in contact with you,” Yorais said, “they did not speak to you, correct?”
He nodded his head.
“But they understood what you were saying.”
“I believe so. They were able to communicate yes’s and no’s quite clearly when I would ask them questions or make requests to them.”
“So this entity, which doesn’t appear human nor seems to be a familiar, can fully understand us mortals.”
“Any idea what kind of being they may be?” Frederek asked.
“A spirit perhaps. Although I cannot say for certain.” Yorais pondered on this entity trying to make sense of them. “I am without a doubt, not an expert on spirits so I’m not the right person to ask. I still find it odd that you’re the only one who can see them. Considering your rather, peculiar existence, perhaps there is something to it that is allowing you to sense them, unlike the rest of us.”
Kiran sighed. “Whatever they are, it matters little compared to the use they can fulfill to us.” They could speculate every day about them as they kept traveling aimlessly, but he didn’t feel like they would fully grasp what this thing was no matter how much they speculated together. He just knew that they were the key to leading them to their destination.
As he thought about it however, he found himself feeling rather cold and empty towards them. His own thoughts saw them merely as a tool to be used, rather than something more. He realized that he ought to maybe not think that way about them.
They likely don’t deserve to be diminished to a mere tool. They’re clearly sentient much like us.
He tried to rethink his manner of thinking about them in a more positive direction since his thoughts became twisted in some capacity.
As they all rested their feet, he found himself asleep for a short while. When he awoke, he blinked several times and noticed a butterfly with a light translucent orb surrounding them hovering above him.
His eyes widened and he quickly pulled himself up causing others to become startled.
“What is it?” Silvy asked.
“It’s them,” he said staring at the butterfly staring at himself. “I can see them.”
“Really?” Lar said.
“They’re right here,” he said stretching out his hand and fingertips towards them. “I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me. I’ve missed you.” The butterfly flew around a little before returning back to where it hovered once before. He walked over towards it and saw the rest of them looking at him strangely. “This must look a bit odd to you all.”
“Just a little,” Silvy said. “But if you truly see them, we’ll believe you.”
However odd it may look for me to communicate with you, I’ll do so anyways. “Listen,” he said to the butterfly. “I really need your help once again. We’re trying to find that cave that you showed to me that one time. Would you be able to help us out?”
They motioned up and down. Good. At least they seem willing to help me again.
* * *
After multiple days of travel, the butterfly was still with them. It hadn’t left since its return to him. They had always come and gone so quickly previously but this time around, they stuck around.
He was grateful for that. He just wished that they would be able to speak directly with him.
Due to the light that exuded off of them, he didn’t have to necessarily rely on sight enhancement potions like the rest of them. It was still rather strange though how they couldn’t perceive them or the light that they produced. It was certainly a different kind of light. It was hard to describe, but it didn’t have the exact properties like the kind of light the sun or a torch might produce or even a spell for that matter.
They eventually found themselves in a thick forest full of dead trees.
“Do you recognize this area?” Silvy asked.
“Maybe,” he said. “If this is where I think we are, then we’re in the forest surrounding Lady Meredith’s estate.”
He just hoped the butterfly knew better than to take him directly to that estate. He was almost certain that he had nothing to worry about on that end. They knew he wanted to go directly to that cave and do so without alerting anybody of their presence.
Every so often, the trees creaked and swayed. He imagined a forest such as this would’ve once looked incredibly beautiful. He could imagine the entire ground covered in colorful leaves. As things were right now, the ground was entirely bare and there was not a leaf anywhere around. The forest was simply deprecated and somewhat creepy.
After wandering carefully through for many miles, the trees began to break up. They became more spaced out and the terrain became a little more tolerable to wander around in.
He quickened his pace since the ground became clearer and they could all afford to spread out a little more rather than bunching up together to navigate through the tightly packed trees. More and more open space appeared the further they went on with little to no trees up ahead. Soon they found that there was nothing but flat ground up ahead with the trees behind them. This place definitely feels familiar. We’re not far now from the cave. It should be up here someplace close by.
The butterfly flew a few feet ahead of himself. It led them towards their left a little as they began to step up to the edge of a cliff. They began moving down a leftward path that would leave them through a narrow slither path of land with two tall cliffs on each side. As they made their way down it, the path became more constricted forcing everyone to walk in a line rather than next to one another. The cliffs reached far above at the sides and he’d be lying if he suggested he didn’t feel a little nervous as they found themselves even closer to the cave.
We’re headed in the right direction. They were heading to a place, a place of which that Lady Meredith did not want others to know about. He had accidentally stumbled upon this place due to his own incessant curiosity that could seldom be squashed. And here he was again, trampling upon a place that he nor others were ever meant to go.
He did so knowing that it would upset Aphelia. She had trusted him to keep this place a secret from others. Yet here he was freely breaking it. It’s for a good reason. I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise. We have to investigate every avenue available to us to try to fix things. If we were to instead turn a blind eye to this lead, we’d be likely dooming many people to their deaths when that could be avoided.
Due to their surroundings, they felt confident enough to produce some kind of tangible light that everyone could see, not just him. Frederek began to hold onto a lantern that dangled from his left hand as he held it up for them. Due to his height, the light spread out much more than it otherwise would.
The light began to reveal a round opening that he fully recognized. This is it. This is the cave. More and more of it appeared as they found themselves right at the entrance. All that stared back at them was immense darkness gathering inside there. In some strange way, the darkness within this place was darker than the darkness outside of it.
“We’ve made it,” Kiran said.
A sigh of relief came from Lar. “It’s about time. I was beginning to question whether we’d ever find this place or not.”
“Have a little more confidence Lar,” Silvy said.
She smirked a little. “You know I’m just giving him a hard time. I knew he’d get us to this place. It was just a matter of time before we accomplished it.”
“Frederek,” Yorais said.
He looked over his shoulder towards her.
“Would you lead the way for us?”
“If you’d like,” he said with a simple nod.
The butterfly came over to Kiran. He held out his palm allowing them to hover right above it. “Thanks for bringing us here. I can’t begin to thank you enough.”
While they couldn’t directly say thank you or anything like that, he felt as if they wanted him to know that they appreciated his kind comments. A warm presence exuded off of them and they clearly liked him even if neither of them could clearly communicate with one another beyond simple yes’s and no’s.
“Hey, what’re you doing back there?” Lar said calling out to him from inside the cave.
He pulled his hand away from the butterfly and gave her a stern look. “I’m coming.”