Chapter 41 - A Downpour of Loss
The next morning, Adam was the last to wake. He shook up, gasping for breath, as his eyes wildly confirmed where he was. He’d dreamt of Alef’s dead blue eyes again. Of the empty, euphoric smiles of the Pure, and the blood-spattered version of himself that consumed him. Adam groaned and wiped the sweat off his face. You’re all right, Adam, you’re safe and with friends. It wasn’t your fault.
Maybe, one day, he’d actually stop blaming himself and sleep like a normal person.
He sat up from his makeshift mat, yawned and stretched out his arms. “Morning,’ ” He mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Two grumbled replies came from two opposite sides of their camp.
Oliver sat to the left of him, hunched over in front of what used to be their campfire. With tense movements and a glare so grim it’d make a murderer jealous, he poked into the charred remains with a stick. Working his jaw muscles, he muttered soft curses under his breath.
Emily sat to the right of Adam, pointlessly organising the contents of her gourd pouch. As far as Adam could remember, it was the first time he saw her organising anything. When Oliver looked at her over his shoulder, she quickly turned away and hastily started to repack again. Oliver sighed and got back to sulking.
The awkward tension between the two, stretching all the distance between both sides of the camp like a field of static electricity, almost made Adam flop down on his mat again.
Well, that must have been a jolly nice conversation… Nothing better to spice up our teamwork in getting our asses out of here alive than a little drama.
Adam suppressed a forbidden smile of relief, knowing he shouldn’t be feeling that way.
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In the following days, Adam, Oliver, and Emily made their way through the broad tunnels back to Eulenschloss’ Node. After refilling their supplies, they picked the tunnel towards the Ziecherhein Node. Since Oliver and Emily were keeping quite a distance from each other in unspoken agreement, Adam was walking in the middle most of the time, which was just a tiny bit awkward.
Wishing they could return to the time before Oliver’s disastrous conversation with Emily, Adam valiantly tried to alleviate the tension between his friends. However, Oliver was silent as much as possible and brushed off any attempt to talk about the subject, even when Emily was asleep. Resisting the urge to knock some sense into him, Adam let him be. As she probably had no clue what to do, Emily said the minimum to Oliver, only talking in a stiff un-Emily-like politeness. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t make things better at all.
After a while, they were making their way through thick vegetation. With a frown of frustration, as if the overhanging tree branches and bushes were determined enemies, Oliver brusquely swept them aside to make a path.
Meanwhile, Emily chatted with Adam, seemingly relieved she had someone uninvolved to talk with. Jumping over small streams of water, she told about friends who must’ve been worried about her disappearance. She also explained how much she preferred the Starwing Order as it used to be before Zachalynn became the Archpriest. Of course, she still firmly believed in Aves. However, she adhered to the style of Achamond, who saw the religion of Aves as a voluntary lifestyle that shouldn’t be ‘shoved down people’s throats.’ She explained how Achamond was using his influence and connections in an attempt to turn the rising tide of intolerance and discrimination within the Starwing Order.
Adam was happy to talk and laughed at how she mimicked the ‘withered, power-hungry bureaucrats’ at the top of the hierarchy. Yet he steeled his mind, trying to suppress any thought or feeling of liking her too much.
Every now and then, Oliver shot them a venomous glare. Adam had already ignored it a couple of times when he finally answered Oliver’s gaze and raised an eyebrow. Oliver looked away and went back to sulking.
It’s not my fault she sees you as a friend! And every time I try and talk to you, you give me the cold shoulder. Can’t expect me to stay silent all the time!
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The surroundings gradually changed. Grass made way for small streams and puddles of water. The trees with their merry blossoms were replaced with dreary mangrove trees. Soon, the only dry spot to walk on was the patterned trail of Association at the centre of the tunnel.
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Eventually, the pattern led into a huge open space; they had found a new Node.
Inside, rain gushed down in thick drops, obscuring the Node’s contents with a bluish-grey veil. Small strips of land were visible between large bodies of water and huge mangrove trees. To their right, an enormous mass of thorned tree trunks, fleshy flower petals, and purple tendrils of the Overgrowth had claimed a large part of the cave’s surface.
At the centre of the Node, around the grand pyramid, a Thaler town was built on stone columns and wooden poles to stick out above the water. Adam groaned; familiar thorned vines and flowers of the Overgrowth had grown over the wooden huts and buildings. Luckily, the pyramid itself wasn’t entangled somehow, although that could be a matter of time.
Adam stiffly avoided the top of the pyramid with his gaze; he knew all too well what he’d see up there. And he was in no rush to look at the replica of the cold stone walls with their ominous inscriptions. Even thinking about it made his breaths short and shallow. Although he tried to breathe calmly, he felt the colour drain from his face and his heart rate increase. He exhaled with a shiver. Easy, Adam, we’ve got another task first, which might be even worse.
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With a truly reluctant curl in his lips, Adam sloshed through the knee-high water. Rubbing the scars on his wrist, he consciously picked the shallowest parts to walk through. Otters, pink river dolphins, and horned fish swam by and eyed the group curiously.
Eventually, the group found a close gathering of trees, far away from the Overgrowth, where they could hide behind the broad trunks. Relieved to be out of the muck, Adam climbed onto the trees’ slippery, thick roots that stuck out above the water and lay down upon them.
Emily raised an eyebrow at him.
“What, I fell down the last two times I looked at one of those emotion monsters,” Adam said. “Might as well save me a bruise or two.”
Emily chuckled. “Sure, I won’t judge. It saves me the trouble of catching your heavy ass again.”
Oliver worked his jaw and nodded stiffly at Adam, avoiding Emily with his gaze. He stood on the lookout near the tree trunk, probably hoping it would shield him from the rain.
Adam sighed. Something inside him was curious as to what he would see up there and whether he’d unlock new Invocations. However, compared to looking up at whatever creature was hanging near the ceiling, there sure was a long list of comfier, safer things he’d rather be doing. Like wrestling a shark or something. “So, if our theory is correct, both this Node and the odd smoke that Desdemona conjured should be associated with sadness.”
Emily nodded at the relentless downpour. “Sounds fitting, judging by the cosy atmosphere around here. So, it should be one sad, pitiful monster up there. Maybe that charming little dog of Mrs. Ludeaux?”
Adam chuckled, remembering when that insane, bulging-eyed mutt had bitten his ankle. It had been hanging on for two whole streets while Adam ran from a shopkeeper. “Nah, I’d say murderous rage is more fitting for that rat. Anyway, let’s get to it.”
Adam puffed out his cheeks and looked up.
A thick, dark grey mass of shifting clouds covered the ceiling, unleashing their endless rain. Each cloud consisted of the howling faces of humans and animals, who cried in soundless anguish before their face was absorbed into the mass again. Amidst them, a long, skeletal creature swam slowly. With its translucent bones that glowed in a bluish-grey, the creature reminded Adam of the remains of blue whales. Smaller skeletal shapes followed it like an unshakable swarm of parasites, nibbling on the whale’s tail.
Adam gasped for breath as a bitter cold washed over him. All warm or positive feelings like academic wonder evaporated. A deep, black void seemed to grow inside him, leaving nothing but emptiness. Adam tried to resist, to remind himself of good times, but the merciless hole of loss and ruin swallowed all.
“Worhaelis,” a slow, deep voice echoed in Adam’s head. “Worhaelis.”
Old memories flashed through Adam’s mind. He saw how he lay in bed as a kid, clutching his pillow. His asshole father had left them to their fate. Again. Crying his eyes out, Adam tore up the drawings he’d made for him as a present. Drawings of the ancient ruins and wondrous civilisations his dad had described in epic tales by the hearth fire. Tales Adam could have listened to for hours. With the hollow grumble of his stomach, Adam blamed himself for hoping things would change and wondered what he’d done wrong for his father to leave them.
Suddenly, Adam was on a boat. He clenched the wooden railing in a white-knuckled grip as he screamed at the waves. There, in the distance, should be the island his sweet old mother was on. Always caring more for others than herself, she had been making sure the population who had survived the Pure’s raid could escape in time. However, all Adam saw was a damned tendril of the Mist; a humongous mass of thick white smoke that reached from the sea to the sky that had consumed the island. Slowly, the Mist’s tendril, shaped vaguely like limb of a sea star, kept growing and curving, swallowing all it covered into oblivion. For nothing that entered the Mist ever escaped.
Adam’s lips quivered. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried so hard to hold back the tears. The ship’s crew was all around him after all, the brave people he’d have to lead into battle. But he didn’t care for the war right now. All he thought about was the woman who used to hug him when his knees had been bloody again. Who had done all she could—no matter how exhausted or busy she had been or how little money they had—to make Adam a little birthday cake. To make him feel special.
“Mom…” Adam breathed.
The wooden railing cracked and splintered under Adam’s grip as Adam realised the only family member who had truly cared about him was gone.
However, the vicious ability of Worhaelis wasn’t done with him yet as he was taken away to the next memory.