The Quest TG - Chapter 4 (Part 1 of 2)

Disk 2 of The Quest

Previously…

Four teenagers are chosen and ripped from their high school lives with the fate of entire worlds placed in their hands.

Koral Strener, who possesses hidden strengths but also weaknesses which may be her undoing. When she is chosen, she is left, like the others, with changed possessions in an unfamiliar landscape. She walks across a massive field until she comes to a medieval-style farmhouse owned by a man named Penrose. She seeks help from him. He offers it in return for clearing his basement of vermin. What Koral suspects will be simple task becomes a life and death struggle with rodents of horrifying size and more questions about the nature of this new world around her. After surviving the onslaught, Koral's curiosity gets the better of her as she finds a strange mirror in a special area of the basement she was instructed not to enter. Once uncovered, a voice without gender speaks to her through the mirror. The voice offers her help, warnings about a woman named Chelle, and gifts, asking seemingly nothing in return. Though Koral is wary, she accepts. With the spoils of her struggle, she collects from Penrose in the form of room and board. She soon meets a child named Alex with a strange connection to her host and ponders what to do next…

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Arthur Davis, Jr., who holds a love of magical girls and a hope to heal the pain he feels in others. When he is chosen, he is dropped into a bustling urban space, which feels strangely familiar, with a young woman named Chelle who seems to know him well. Before long, Arthur realizes the strange world around him resembles the landscape of his high school. Chelle takes Arthur to a man named Trainer Ward with magical skills which involve mind-reading. Arthur soon finds this strange place is more like something out of the magical girl manga he enjoys, with talents, mystical stories, and the real ability to heal others. He also soon realizes that Chelle could be his male best friend, Michael, somehow transformed. Still processing the strangeness of this place, Arthur tries out a stream-powered spike weapon with Chelle, as she reveals being romantically-involved with Arthur. Suddenly, vein-like lightning in a clear sky strikes before a surprising arrival, Alex and a seriously-wounded Koral…  

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Trevor Hui, who would prefer to hide away in imaginary spaces and not be the social butterfly his mother wants. When he is chosen, he finds himself in a dune-filled desert similar to his favorite imaginings. He walks for a long time before coming to dark, imposing mountains and a cave. Once inside, it seems someone has been expecting him. In a cavern with bioluminescent roots, he brushes one and immediately feels physical and mental effects. As he passes out and changes into a girl, a cloaked figure takes him away to a home deep in a cavern town. The cloaked figure gives Trevor's mind a new identity, of a girl named Gwen Chow. When Gwen later wakes, he/she wrestles with being both Trevor and Gwen inside her mind. The figure apologies for this strife but assures Trevor/Gwen that it is for her protection. When the figure reveals its face, Trevor/Gwen can only respond with a startled question of, "Mom?!"…

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Lucas Peel, who loves theater and song and knows that the love he feels for a male classmate will never be requited. When he is chosen, he finds himself in a terrifying situation in a deep forest with a snake monster chasing after him. All hope seems lost for him until he suddenly breaks out into song and quells the monster's wrath. He tames it with show tunes and soon is able to ride it. The creature, which he names Zoe, carries him to a castle with a princess named Elaina who seems to know him and care deeply for him. Puzzled not only by this familiarity but by his own physical response to the princess, Lucas also tries to figure out what to do with a massive snake monster like Zoe. An answer and a complication is provided when Zoe suddenly shapeshifts into a humanoid form while still possessing an animal nature…

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Beyond the four is the entity which seems to have chosen them. It knows much about them, especially their fates. It knows one of them will have their heart poisoned. It knows one of them will make a terrible mistake. It knows one of them will lose something very important. And it knows that Koral will suffer and die...

Chapter 4 - Pieces

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The bathtub was a wooden rectangular box which reminded Koral of an open casket. The water, which didn't look particularly appealing, had been filled by bucket. Alex scolded her not mess up the floor or spill the water because it would need to be reused later in the latrine and then placed on the fields. Koral had just come from the latrine. Its crudeness horrified her but she needed it. However, she had to admit it was better cared for than the bathrooms in the older sections of Brookmore High.  

By comparison, the bath was surprisingly amazing. It was not too cold. Sunlight-heated, Alex said. Koral slipped in and tried to find a good position with the hard angles. She had a grayish, lumpy bar for soap but it smelled quite good with a hint of lavender.

She sniffed it deeply and shut her eyes. She could almost imagine herself in the tub in her mother's house with all those soaps and products giving off their scents, except for the way this tub scratched at her back.

The door behind her swung open and Koral whirled around to look, sloshing the water about. Just Alex.

"Here's your change of clothes. I'm washing your weirdo ones outside." Alex held out a dark green dress with long sleeves and almost as much of a neckline as her regular top. At least the material didn't look as coarse as what she'd seen so far. She gave a quick nod and Alex set it on a nearby table then left.

Koral lingered in the water longer than she usually did with baths. She washed her head several times and held her hands to her face. Her face quietly dripping, she renewed her resolve that, even if it just about killed her, she would find a way home.

Drying off wasn't particularly pleasant and made worse by the woolen towels. The dress, clearly some kind of linen, was bad. She knew immediately it wasn't her style. At least her purple nails hadn't faded or peeled in the bath. Resting on her/Alex's bed, Koral looked at herself in her small mirror. She looked better than before, that much was sure. In the quiet as she looked, Koral thought she heard a whisper. She couldn't quite tell where it was coming from but figured it was just Penrose or Alex milling about. She put the mirror away and didn't notice any other strange sounds.

Koral kept a dagger hidden under the dress despite a more pleasant look on Penrose's face to her new attire. She took care of a few small chores around the farmhouse and made a deal with Penrose for a bigger cut of what the rats had dropped for some food along with their previous deal.  

It wasn't till the late afternoon that Alex learned what Koral planned to do. She already had everything settled and packed.

"I'm leaving. I need to keep moving."

Alex pouted and glared. "That's not fair! I didn't even get to kick you out of my room!" Koral rolled her eyes. Alex quieted when Koral told her that she was headed for the Torlan Valley. Penrose stared a bit but didn't say anything. Alex said loudly, "Why would you want to go to a stupid place like that! I already said so. Don't you listen?"

Koral said only, "I have my reasons." Alex shot back, "I bet they're dumb reasons…"

With a plenty of bread, a bit of meat, and some other foods stocked in her bag, Koral turned to go but Alex darted ahead, exclaiming, "I'm going with you! You have no choice! If you're so dumb you want to go to the Torlan Valley then you need someone with half a brain with you."

Koral was well ready to push past the kid but Penrose reached out for her first and pulled her back. He apologized but Alex continued to squirm. Koral was at the door. She reminded herself to follow the setting path of the sun as she reached for the lock. Behind her, Alex blurted out something she couldn't quite hear. A long span of silence followed. Koral turned her head to listen and wonder.

Penrose made his way out of the kitchen, gave a long sigh, and said, "Alex will be accompanying you. Please be safe, both of you."

Before Koral could protest, Alex had darted around upstairs and back again with a massive pack on her back which seemed prepared well in advance. Penrose offered Koral a map with even more detail than the one Alex had shown before. Alex clung to it and grinned widely as she read over it.

With a sigh, Penrose looked between the two of them and reiterated, "Safe journeys." Koral puzzled over the sudden change in Penrose and what Alex may have said to cause it. She asked, "You're sure? What about farm stuff? Doesn't Alex have responsibilities?"

Penrose held a strange look on Alex before saying, "Alex has accompanied me on very long journeys. I would…trust her on her own but for the creatures of the wild. You have shown yourself to resist such dangers. So I trust you to protect her."

This all felt so very befuddling to Koral. She'd only met this man mere hours ago and he refused to even let her in his house and then she had to kill a random number of huge rats to get his trust. And now that trust was enough to let her take care of this child…seemingly entrusted to him or however their relationship was. But, with how Alex was clinging to her with the new map in her hands, Koral doubted she was going to change the matter much.

All she could say was, "Alright…"

Penrose lingered in the doorway as they made their way past the well and to the fence. Koral still wore the dress (adding only her boots and pants underneath for comfort) but had the rest of her clothes in easy reach once they were out of range of Penrose and his glares. Her sword poked out of her bag in the most convenient way she could find and her shield was in a niche between the bag and her back. It wasn't the most comfortable arrangement.

Every heavy step made Koral suspicious her sword might suddenly try to slide out and take off her ear. She pondered a stopover in what Alex had called Rudandal for a…sword holder with a name Koral couldn't recall offhand. But something so she could hold it at her waist or back safely. Or she could hope some random beast of the fields dropped one of them if she sliced them open.

At her side, Alex was gleefully caught up in the map Penrose had given her and was already remarking about the detail. Koral nodded but wasn't listening. Her attention was locked on the marker of the sun dipping ahead of them.

It startled Koral when Alex suddenly asked, "Hey…do you have any secrets you can't tell anyone?" Blinking a little, Koral looked over. All of Alex's attention was on her and she had the map rolled up under her arm. Rubbing at her neck, Koral sighed and asked, "What brought this on?"

Alex gave a shrug and replied, "I'm just asking." Koral was sure it was more than that but she left it alone and pondered. The grass wasn't as tall as what Koral had first encountered. Some areas were even stony or dusty between patches of grass and easy to walk through.

"I keep secrets. Between friends. Stuff like who likes who. Gossip. And then there's my parents. Stressful stuff."

Alex frowned at her, all but asking 'go on…'. Koral kicked a little rock with her left boot and continued, "It's…well…they don't live together anymore but it's like they can't forget about each other. And I'm right there in the middle some days. Mom will say 'find out about what your dad is up to' or 'don't say this to him…instead do this'…and dad will ask everything and sometimes I slip up. He doesn't want me to tell things like when he's drinking or when he's not working because he says mom will just gloat about it. And those are the things I can't really talk much about… and it sucks…so there's that."

Scuffing her feet, Koral looked to Alex, who stared at the ground and didn't say anything. She waited until Koral had looked away to answer, "I'm sorry." She said it softly, so softly that Koral turned her head and looked confused for a moment till she repeated, "I'm sorry." Alex's voice was soft. Koral bowed her head a little and shrugged.

It took several steps before the quiet began to fade and Alex asked, "So....what's your supposed world like?"

Koral gazed at her a little and repeated, "Supposed?" Alex flicked out a bit of tongue and said, "Well, tell me about it."

There was really no place for Koral to start, so she began with the school first. She talked about how the school field was a much smaller version of a field like the one they were walking through. Sports were easy for Alex to grasp, as she added descriptions of various local games.

When it came to what school meant, Alex struggled a bit. Koral labored to find the words. She'd always had trouble with the summarization "in your own words" stuff in her English classes. After a lot of "hmm"s to herself, she finally said, "It's what I'm doing. Only an adult with a lot of books to read from and you learn about what things you don't know are like." She hoped that was clear enough. It was only in a moment later of quiet horror that she realized she'd just compared herself to a teacher.

Alex's reaction was to give a little nod and say, "Weird. I don't really see the point in it. Unless the books are about how to do your chores easier or make better maps." Koral noted that could be the case (she remembered a geography class back several years ago).

And that was where the point of understanding stopped. The rest of her explanations were beyond any sort of cultural meaning Koral could transmit. And that was before Koral even tried to get into cell phones and cars. She eventually conceded to Alex, "It's weird."

They stopped a few times in clear land or under one of the rare trees to rest. Alex didn't drink much water and spent most of the time studying the detailed map Penrose had given her as she looked around. Koral experimented a bit with her sword arrangement and motioned to slip off her dress before Alex blurted out, "What are you *doing*?!"

Koral held onto the dress and looked at Alex. She shrugged and said, "I like my 'weirdo', dark mage or whatever looking top and besides I'll sweat less in it."

Alex rolled her eyes and said, "Fine but don't undress in front of me!" There was an obvious blush on Alex's cheeks. Koral didn't see it as a big deal but she figured it was another one of those cultural things. Or Penrose. Whatever it was, Koral shrugged and slipped around behind the tree with her clothes and exchanged them. When she returned, Alex's face was down, nearly to ground and she still had the same blush on her cheeks. Koral folded her arms and glared a bit but Alex made no effort to respond.

With a sigh, Koral went back to her work with finding a better arrangement for her sword. Her efforts were interrupted by a sudden, animal growl. She looked up to see the stalking, muscular form of a huge wolf. Its fur was a light gray with bits of white. Alex ducked down where she was and Koral did the same. The creature didn't make a move.

It was bulkier and taller than any wolf Koral had ever seen. Not that she'd seen many wolves in the flesh. Koral watched it and gripped her sword. She tried to slip her hands around her shield without breaking eye contact with the wolf but she worried it might make too much noise. She took small, quiet breaths.

After a few tense moments, Koral noticed the wolf didn't seem to be looking in their direction. She held the sword up. The wolf sniffed at the ground. It was bending towards them. Through a patch of light, Koral could see the wolf's eyes were cloudy. Breaking eye contact for just a second, she picked up a small stone from the ground and tossed it past the wolf. Its eyes didn't catch the moment of the stone but its ears suddenly turned when it bounced off another tree. The wolf gave a quick growl and bent towards the tree.

Koral motioned for Alex to stay where she was and be quiet, hoping she would understand a palm motion down with a finger to her lips. In her head, Koral knew there were a few options. They could sneak away. But she didn't trust that something on or around them might make enough of a sound. They could wait for the wolf to go away but it would still be out there and they might run into it in the middle of the night. Koral rose slowly with her sword about at the wolf's level. She'd done it to tons of rats. It shouldn't have been hard. But just sniffing around, it looked like an overgrown dog exploring. She wished she'd grabbed her shield too.

Taking a very quiet breath, Koral raised her sword. Then, behind her, Koral heard Alex suddenly stumble and grunt. The wolf turned and lunged forward with its teeth out and claws digging into the dirt. Koral brought her sword down as quickly as she could. A sudden, pained whimper and then gurgling. Two more sounds Koral suddenly wished she'd never heard. She looked long enough to see that the wolf wasn't moving and then drew back her sword.

Alex didn't say anything for a while, nor did Koral. The blind wolf's body dropped, of all things, a holder for Koral's sword with a leather strap along with a pair of camping blankets made from what appeared to be animal fur along with two coins. Koral stared at the items for a long moment before putting them to use. She gave one blanket to Alex and kept one for herself. She tied the holder…scabbard…the word finally returned to her…and put it around her body. The strap also held her shield well. The weight was heavier but the sword was secured.

Koral didn't mind the good luck but the fact that what had dropped was exactly what she and Alex needed was something she reflected on long into the late evening as they made their way north.

The land became more forested, with heavy growth trees and slow, small brooks here and there. The grasses gave way to mosses. Every so often, they happened upon a dirt road wide enough for a horse but none of them went in their direction.

When it felt to Koral like a respectable amount of time had passed, she asked Alex, "Are you okay?"

Alex glanced over at her and answered swiftly and unconvincingly, "Yeah." Koral persisted, "It's okay. If you want to stop for a bit or if you want to talk, it's okay."

The shake of her head Alex gave looked more like a shiver. "No. Please." She buried herself in the map.

As it was getting dark, they made camp atop a small hill with a good view in all directions but with plenty of vegetation to hide their presence. Of course, Koral had no idea if it was the thoroughfare of a dozen different possible monsters or not but it looked nice enough. Alex made a small campfire and heated up a small meal of what food they had. The experience brought back memories for Koral of when her parents were still together and every summer was at her father's rented cabin in the mountains to the south-east of the city.

Koral leaned back on the animal fur blanket. The ground still poked through the material. But, with the tiredness of her legs, the soreness in her shoulders, and the ringed pain around her eyes, it was enough. Alex tucked herself in with her map, reading a bit by firelight.

Eventually, Koral had to ask, "Is it because I killed the wolf or because it nearly attacked us?" The main question at the shallows of her thoughts.

Alex turned her head to look, her eyes lingering. Koral squished an insect crawling over her left ankle and groaned. Alex snorted and said, "You really think Penrose hasn't had to kill a creature out in the wilds when we're traveling and that I haven't faced down creatures with him before?" Put like that, Koral pondered, "So, you wish it was him here and not me?"

Plopping her head back, Alex remarked, "You really are pretty dense…weirdo."

Shaking her head, Koral settled onto the ground and squished a crawling bug. It didn't drop anything. She told Alex, "Whatever. Get some sleep." The campfire crackled softly. Koral watched the flames a bit and tried to rest.

The strange land woke her often in the night, especially with no precise way to tell the passage of time. The bugs sometimes jolted her to smack them dead. Most unsettling of all was the sounds. Strange, soft, and unknown. Some she was sure were made by birds but others sounded big and terrifying. Every so often in the night, she got up to scan the landscape. She couldn't see much. Utter darkness aside from their fire. Above were unfamiliar stars (but then she barely saw stars at night in the city) and no moon.

Alex had her eyes shut, breathing softly. Koral tried to settle back onto her blanket. She leaned against her pack as something of a pillow. Beside her ear, she heard the faintest voice calling her name.

She tried to ignore it for a long time, but it was persistent, like a cell phone call from far away. Lifting her head, she dug quietly into her pack and soon found the source of the sound. Her small mirror. She pressed her ear to it. Softly, she heard, "Koral, can you hear me?"

Koral stepped away from the fire a little and spoke softly into the mirror, "Who is this?"

The answer came softly but clearly, "Your friend, remember?"

Examining the mirror, Koral didn't notice anything strange with it but it was too dark to tell for sure. She asked back, "What do you want?"

"As I've said, just to help you. Alex is like the one I warned you about. Not to be trusted."

Koral peered into the mirror. Chelle. That had been the name. She glared into the mirror and asked, "And how would you know that?"

"I see so much. She is not with you for your sake."

Taking another step away from camp, Koral kept her voice down. "She hardly seems out to hurt me."

"You cannot imagine what will happen to you if you stay with her."

Clenching the mirror, Koral answered, "Oh yeah? And what about you?"

"I am a friend only trying to help both of us. That is all. Will you forsake my help?"

Turning the small mirror a bit, Koral tightened her lips. "I can make my own decisions about who or what I trust. And that includes some voice in the mirror."

She clenched the mirror as silence followed. When the voice spoke again, it didn't sound angry or louder. It spoke in the same genderless way as it answered, "That is your choice. I am only offering what I know. I will be here if you change your mind…"

And that was all the voice said. Koral lingered with the mirror in her hands. She turned it around a bit. It did seem a bit lighter but that may have been her eyes adjusting to the darkness. She tucked it away in her pack and settled in to sleep. At the back of her mind, she was full of doubt. If the voice was genuine then she may have turned away a powerful ally.

She pondered Alex's mood in the evening and her questions about secrets. For a moment, she wondered if Alex's feeling was actually disappointment that the wolf had not attacked Koral. She tossed the idea aside immediately. It was ridiculous but it had been thought and it couldn't be un-thought.

Despite her conflicted feelings, Koral eventually slept.

When she woke, it was misty morning with dew clinging to her blanket and trickling down from the trees above. Alex stood over steaming remnants of their fire, pouring a bit of water over it. Koral stretched and rubbed at her eyes. It took a good bit of stretching before she could shake the cold, uneven feeling of the forest ground.

After a cold breakfast of supper leftovers, Koral asked Alex, "Can I see your map?" The Torlan Valley was easy to find, as was Rudandal. Koral scanned for other places on the map. She found one between Rudandal and the Torlan Valley, not too far away and beside a large body of water. It was called Lansod.

Koral asked about it. Alex shrugged and noted, "Penrose never visited but he told me they have a lot of travelers when it's the dry season."

A tourist town, Koral figured. Not in the middle of things and probably with a decent place to stay. Hopefully the forty-four golden coins she had would be enough. As she thought that, she felt a mental poke at the back of her head. How was stopping in a vacation town going to get her any closer to home? At least the mysterious voice had given her a direction. If it wasn't a good one then she could deal with it when she got there. But at least it was a direction, not pointing to a random spot on the map. Even Rudandal would be a better objective. But she ignored the poke and told Alex of their new destination.

To her surprise, Alex was enthused for the first time in a while. She puzzled over what this town might be like from little fragments Penrose had told her. Alex imagined colorful tapestries, old buildings, and a market which stunk of freshly caught fish. Koral gave her a look but smiled slightly and made read to leave.

It wasn't but ten minutes after they had set out in the direction of the town that the weather set in. What had been a calm morning turned violent. The wind pressed at them from the side. Little pin-pricks of cold sleet turning into hail joined the harsh wind. The sleeping furs were waterproof but whipped about no matter how they held them above their head. They used the trees for protection where they could but there were fewer and fewer as they pushed through the sudden storm.

Soon, the wind was blasting gale force right into their faces. They hid from it behind the largest tree they could find. The curtain of air still pressed against them, trying to force them off the tree, which shook and creaked as though it could barely hold on itself.

Clinging to the bark, Koral shook her head as the wind lashed at her face. She wanted to scream into the tempest. The tree bent towards them. Bowing her head, she felt the cold ice torture of the hail against her arms and pushed the idea of Lansod from her mind. But the weather didn't relent.

Alex reached out for her, barely able to stand. Koral grabbed her hand and tried to find a way through the storm. The visibility was dropping rapidly. The tree gave a horrifying groan and Koral dragged Alex away from it as it went crashing to the ground.

Coughing against the onslaught, Koral made the decision to turn their backs to the wind. The weather would pelt their packs but they could dry out the food and other things that weren't waterproof later. For now, they needed to get to safety. Alex nodded, rain and ice dripping off her hair.

It was even harder to stand with the wind blasting at their backs. Koral had to be careful her load didn't topple and send her into the wet moss and mud. Just when it seemed the waves of violent wind and weather would never end, Koral sighted a dark shadow just over the next crest. The wind was pushing them right for it. She led Alex along. The shadow revealed itself as a downward sloping hole in a hill, a small cavern leading out of sight.

They both took shelter in the opening, which was dry further back and sheltered from the wind. In the dark, they panted and took a moment to relax. Coughing into her hands, Koral called out to Alex, "You okay?" Alex answered back with a cough and, "I guess."

The weather got even worse outside the cave. Koral knew they would have to stay put for a while and wait it out. In the darkness, they made their way deeper into the cave. Eventually, it opened out into a larger area that led underground. A strange, glowing moss allowed them a dim light but enough to check on their provisions. Alex's map was fine. She said her father treated all his maps to keep them waterproof.

However, Koral's medical folio was badly drenched, and the cigarettes and perishable food she had would need to be left out to dry once the storm passed. All in all, no real losses. Glad to at least be able to see her hand in front of her face, Koral glanced out at the descending cavern and, for the briefest of moments, saw one of the shadows move.

Her eyes stayed on the place where she'd seen the movement. She tried to recapture exactly what she'd glimpsed in the dim light. It had to be a trick of the light. Koral took a long breath and took a step forward. Her foot kicked something heavy. She ducked down, narrowed her eyes and checked what it was. A satchel, one larger than hers. A lot of rotten food. An old map she couldn't read. And then, something useful. A small torch, wooden with a metal top. Alex pointed out a fire lighting kit at the bottom of the bag with a bit of tinder and sealed container of oil. Letting Alex work, Koral scanned around, wary of what she may have seen. She didn't draw her sword but she made sure it and her shield were positioned to draw easily.   

After a few frustrated tries, Alex had a flaming torch blazing brightly. As the light flashed around the room, it filled every corner for a sudden moment. Not far away, a few of their eight legs out from their hiding spaces, were spiders as large as the wolf Koral had faced.

Swiftly, Koral seized Alex by the hand and dragged her towards the narrower cave opening. She took the torch from her and held it out protectively. No way she was going any further down into that. Alex cupped her mouth and leaned into Koral, who could feel her shaking.

The smaller cave area was narrow enough the spiders would have to squeeze through to attack. This far back, they could hear the storm lashing above. It felt like a good idea to leave, not matter how bad the weather was. Then came the rumbling.

Another tree ripped from its roots outside. Only this one upset the ground around the cave entrance. The entire thing came down, loose dirt, stones, and all, blocking their only way out in a heavy, black curtain.  

Koral pressed at the sinking earth but that only caused it to cave in deeper, taking more of the passageway with it and forcing them to move back towards the den of spiders.

Cursing in her head, Koral coughed and saw little flashes of leg try at the opening of the passageway. She passed the torch to Alex and drew her sword and shield. She swiped at the closest leg and took it off with a sudden motion. The torchlight showed a flash of yellow fluid and the room filled a horrifying gurgle and a hiss which sounded halfway between rubbing sandpaper and an angry cat. They stayed away for a little bit with that.

Koral tried to catch her breath. The passageway shifted again, caving further. There was still enough room to hide but she doubted it would hold up much longer. The end closest to the cavern was getting soft as well, which meant if that end went then they would be buried and suffocated. Swallowing, Koral knew there was only one way ahead.

Alex offered some ideas for using the oil as a weapon to burn the spiders as Koral jabbed the torch ahead of her to keep them from thinking about sneaking in while they planned. While their resources were limited, they used the oil and a bit of the materials they had with stones to make flaming rocks which worked pretty well at dispersing the spiders and providing light. Still, Koral almost burned her hand a few times trying to aim at a spider in particular.

One of the throws actually got lucky and ignited a spider. It screamed in what almost sounded like a human voice until it collapsed into a gaunt, burning husk.

Side by side, with Koral using her sword and shield and Alex with the torch and the oil, they made their way over to the satchel in the room. The old food and other provisions made for good, flammable material. Where the spider was still burning, it dropped a shield which was suspiciously well-sized for Alex, who actually preferred using the torch as her shield. Tracing the wall and flushing out spiders as they went, Koral noticed that there was a better light deeper in the cavern. Still wary, Koral kept the spiders away with angry slashes so they couldn't be ambushed from behind or above.

As they descended, Koral knew the spiders were keeping pace. They were light on their legs but their presence was palpable. One tried to sneak in from the side but Koral bashed it with her shield, which made for a surprisingly effective weapon. Alex's little bombs helped to clear them back but now they were effectively cornered if this way didn't lead somewhere.

It wasn't long before the cave started to level out. The walls became even. Far ahead, the light was brighter, a focused source taller than it was long. And it looked almost the same shade as Koral's purple hair. She dared not turn her attention from the creatures but she urged Alex along. This was their only chance. Luckily, the spiders didn't pursue them as closely and there didn't seem to be any ahead.

The walls formed into angles, as though carved from the rock. It was a chamber. She hoped not a tomb. On the strangely smooth stone floor ahead, she noticed a heap of clothes. Koral grimaced. A skull with holes poked all through the forehead sat as lone vigil. The rest of the clothes sat there without a body, no sign of blood, flesh, or bone aside from the skull.

The spiders stayed further back, a bad sign to Koral. She crouched over the clothes. The figure had a nice cloak of a leathery material, might be good for protection, she grabbed it quickly and apologized to the dead, wondering this was the same person who had left the oil. They continued as Koral tried to keep track of how many spiders she could see hissing and hugging the far wall.

The purple glow was from what would've seemed strange to Koral a day before, a door made entirely of violet light. It made her think of tinted moonlight. There wasn't a door knob and nothing was supporting it but it was set upon a small platform.

Alex suddenly screamed and pressed into Koral. A spider lunged at her. Koral bent forward to intercept it and hack through it. Then, right as she moved to strike, she saw it. There was another spider hiding under the first. She didn't have time to move her shield to protect herself as the slimy face of the beast reached for her and one of its claws unsheathed and slashed across her gut like a barbed coat hanger. Only brutal kicking finally got it away.

Koral's heart raced as she cursed to herself. It didn't hurt that much, she told herself. But her top was getting wet quickly. She tried not to think too much. Had to focus. Keep her eyes on the spiders. She lowered her right arm with her shield to put pressure on the wound. A lot of blood. She'd left herself open to attack, which came suddenly.    

She thought it was a bunch of them but it was just one big one. It drove its barbed, bony fang into her shoulder. Koral looked on in terror as it held onto her. Her heart raced. She could feel something pumping into her, with tingles and acidic pain. Alex screamed behind her. Koral was sure she saw flames flying.

Numbness radiated from her shoulder down to her hand. She could imagine herself falling as countless spiders went to work on finishing her and eternal sleep followed. She'd written poems about it with gothic script and read countless more. Lyrics of music with mournful voices echoed in her head. It would be so easy to fall and to die. So easy. So expected.

But against the dragging pain and burning, Koral felt herself set her feet. She gritted her teeth and thought of Alex's cries.

She leaned forward and hacked at the spider with the sword in her unhurt hand. The beast flailed, scratching and slashing back at her. Koral widened her eyes, panted, and ripped the spider from its claw and spread its body all over. She yelled with more fury than a hundred fights with her parents and cleaved another spider, which looked suddenly terrified. Koral showed it no mercy.

Her shoulder and gut both burning with pain, Koral noticed the spiders had all receded, or at least it seemed like they had. She staggered backwards and coughed. Alex was nearby, sobbing. She tried to put pressure on the wound. She urged Koral backwards as she started coughing. The spiders were still there, but not for long. The chamber wall back the way they came suddenly gave way and spread everywhere, collapsing the passageway between them and the spider cavern. Koral had to give a quick smile to that as she noticed there were some dropped coins from the spider she'd cleaved. She couldn't see if the others had dropped anything.

As she looked, Alex looked at the claw. Koral looked at it too and groaned. She was starting to feel hot. She figured that wasn't a good sign. The torch illuminated the collapse. There were web-like things showing through the dirt. Koral thought they were spider webs, would make sense, but they looked more like veins. Alex told her those were the roots.

Koral was about to say something to this when it suddenly felt like she'd been stabbed in the shoulder again. Had to be the venom moving, she told herself. Even though she had no idea how spiders worked in this world. She collapsed on her knees with Alex trying to hold her up.

Panting, Koral leaned toward the strange door and asked, "Is it…it…is a way out?" Her jaw began trembling. Alex looked at the door with a look Koral didn't quite understand, like it was something she'd seen before. However, Alex said swiftly, "I don't know."

Clutching her gut wound, Koral took shallow breaths and said, "We have….to try…it."

Alex clenched her teeth and didn't nod but she picked up what she had and helped Koral to her feet. Together, they stepped towards the door. Koral didn't feel anything when they reached it. She figured it would feel tingly or at least like going inside an air conditioned store. But all she felt was the sensation of being underground one moment, followed by being outside.

She figured she was home because the area made her think of the gymnasium. Same colors and hard ground. She fell, the pain spreading. Her hand felt like it wasn't even attached to her anymore.

Alex screamed something but Koral wasn't sure what it was. She could feel her arms around her though.

Panting, Koral looked up from the ground. There was another teenager standing over her. A black boy, very tall with short, curly black hair. He looked very kind. Gathering as much breath as she had, Koral managed, "Help me…please."

His arms were around her quickly and that was all Koral knew as the world around her began to blur into chaos and confusion.

----

Arthur ran with Koral in his arms back to the opening in the building where he and Chelle had gone to see Trainer Ward. Fortunately, Ward was standing in the entrance with his arms out. He looked to Arthur and then over the girl. He called, "Koral? Can you hear me?"

For a moment, Arthur wondered how Ward knew her name but then realized he probably got it from Arthur's mind. Although he only suspected that was her name from what the young girl who was rushing to catch up with them had said.

Ward urged Arthur to carry the girl over to a stone table in a side area of the building. He instructed Chelle to hurry and summon, "Patcher from down the hall."

Slipping a glove on, Ward tested the bony claw that was deep in the girl's shoulder. Seeing that the barbs were swept back and would probably tear up the flesh coming out, he left it for now and wrapped it with a torn piece of the girl's cloak to keep it stable. He made a simple pressure wrap from the rest of the cloth, which slowed the worst of the bleeding. The little girl stood nearby, watching on with her hands cupped around her mouth.

Arthur used a quiet moment to return for the girls' bags and stand by the younger one. He offered her a calm smile and asked her name. She softly said, "Alex…" not taking her eyes off of Koral. He tried to ask her more but she tightened her lips and grabbed the bags, holding the larger one close.

Koral's jaw clenched and she pressed her left hand to the table again and again. Her eyes were shut but it looked like she was in agony to Arthur. He wished he could do something.

When Chelle returned, Ward didn't look pleased, immediately saying, "That's not Patcher. What's going on?"

The man with Chelle had flowing gray hair but a youthful face and a long, simple robe with a belt full of vials, tools, and strangely-colored substances. He attended to Koral, touched her softly, and said, "I should ask you the same. This girl is dying. She needs a healer not a man who dabbles with death. Stand aside." Though rigid, Ward stepped aside, saying, "With that kind of wound, she is sure to die. But death is not always permanent in the right hands."

The gray-haired man didn't bother to look back. He reached over and ripped the fang from Koral's shoulder with his bare hands. She screamed, her eyes flashing open and trembling. Arthur held his hands to his mouth and watched Chelle grimace. She came over to where Arthur and Alex were standing and crouched to say hi to Alex.

The two girls shared a long look at each other and Chelle offered to take Alex somewhere else while they cared for Koral. Only after giving another hug to the pack did Alex let Chelle take her out of the room. Arthur stayed close and breathed onto his hands. Ward lingered in the shadows as the gray-haired man cursed to himself, glanced quickly at Arthur, and asked, "What's your class?"

Arthur paused a moment and the man spoke again, manipulating Koral's arm gently, "Tell me your class. If you're a healer, then come here. If you're anything else, then go find me one."

Taking a step forward, Arthur asked, "Aren't you a healer?"

The man gave a quick shake of his head. "I deal in poisons but her wounds are great even if I stop the venom. I need the right moment." He reached for what looked like a rudimentary syringe at his hip. "So, healer or not?"

Arthur took another step forward. "I don't know. I haven't chosen."

Ward peered at Arthur with a strange look, his arms folded. Arthur knew he was reading his mind and he didn't care. The gray-haired man glanced up and rubbed what looked like alcohol against Koral's skin before inserting the syringe. "If you want to be a healer, decide soon. I'm sure she'll thank you for it."

It was Ward's turn to take a step and say, "This is Arthur."

The gray-haired man smiled at the fluid filling his syringe and grimaced at the paleness in Koral's cheeks and the grayness spreading down her arm. "I see and I'm sure there's more to it than that but I'm certain this girl would rather I save her life instead of listening to long and detailed tales. Ah…yes. I have just the serum." He reached into his back pocket and filled another syringe.

This time, he injected a light-yellow substance around the spot where the claw had been, then packed the wound before muttering, "Blast…I see she's been bleeding long. This will help but she needs a healer to really tend to her wounds and purge the venom." He looked to Arthur again with raised, gray eyebrows, then added, "Hedley, is what you can call me, if you so wish, Arthur."

Arthur nodded and looked at Koral's face. He'd never met her before, that much was sure. But she seemed out of place with the rest of the people in this world. She seemed like someone from his world. He wasn't sure how he knew that but he felt it. Maybe she had answers to his questions. But even if she didn't, he knew with every ounce of his being he wasn't going to let her die.

He looked over at Hedley and said, "What do I need to do become a healer?" He glanced at Ward as well, who looked suddenly calm. Hedley reached into his belt and took out a glass container. He passed it to Arthur and said, "Like they say in orientation. Just eat it and focus on your chosen class." He watched Arthur's confusion a moment and added, "I'll assume you know about the roots. They empower. These little bits of power growing in our world. I can't assure you how it'll turn out…"

Arthur looked at the bottle. He gave himself a long moment to consider and wish Chelle was around before he popped off the top and ingested the root. The root itself looked like some extra strange version of the kind of salads Arthur never bothered to try. The taste was tingly, like something spicy. And it went right to his head. He felt a little woozy at first, like standing up too quickly.

He also felt sweaty and strange. Hedley's voice boomed at him in his ears as he reiterated, "Focus on your class. You want to be a healer."

Thinking but probably not quite making a nod, Arthur swallowed, trying to clear the tingles from his mouth and think about healing. His mind naturally slipped to Yumeko and her purification rituals and how she healed others. He wasn't sure if those examples were helping but he presented them in his thoughts and he held onto them with firm conviction. He was going to heal this girl.

While he'd never tried strange drugs before (plenty of his classmates talked about them in passing), Arthur couldn't help but think that this had to be what those drugs felt like. All of reality seemed to slip around him. He didn't focus on that or the noises. He focused on serenity, on Yumeko, her smile and her healing of others. Slowly, the dissonance ebbed away, the noise quieting. He still felt strange but in different ways.

Healer. He was a healer. He had to be a healer. He just had to be. But what did he do? He looked to Koral. Immediately, he could tell something was different. He didn't see her as he had before, lying there bleeding. He saw her as a light, dimming with each moment. He could see little embers flowing out of her right side and at her shoulder. Darkness consumed the length of her arm.

He stepped towards her, ignoring the strange sensations his body was now giving him. He was focused completely on Koral. The table seemed a little higher than a moment ago but he figured that was just a visual illusion from the root. His clothes felt loose all over, another thing he ignored. He slid back his sleeves and touched his small, smooth hands to Koral. With a soft, high-toned breath, he focused on the light. He kindled it but it slid out.

Hedley came closer and advised, "You won't be able to do much but focus on what you can. Stop the bleeding. Tell it to her body. Tell it to heal. Tell it to renew and cast the venom out."

That was fine advice but Arthur felt overwhelmed as to how. Grimacing, he looked right and saw Chelle standing there by herself. Her eyes was wide. He tried not to think about what that meant as he brushed his suddenly long, black hair over his shoulder and looked beyond a pair of bulges at his chest. He was only focused on Koral. Her light was getting even dimmer.

Focusing, straining, he tried. He really tried. He held her and he saw the light and he focused on it staying. It had to stay. It had to stop leaving her. But it wouldn't. He wanted to scream. Then, a sudden calm came over him. He remembered something in an older volume of Yumeko as she tried her best to make a spell happen and her teacher simply told her, "Know it will happen. Will it. Believe it."

Arthur took a breath and looked at the draining spots on Koral. He focused on the abdomen. He knew it would stop. He knew it would seal and she should heal. Nothing happened at first but he held onto the thought. And slowly, almost too slowly, the opening thinned until the light was no longer flowing out.

Letting go of the breath, Arthur suddenly felt a terrible pain like an aching paper cut across his entire side. He clutched the table to keep from falling. Hedley supported him and Ward even offered a hand. Hedley nodded and said, "Good. Very good. But you will feel it for a while. That's the downside to a healer. And the slow, inexorable poisoning of their hearts with everything they take upon their shoulders…"

Arthur's flesh moved strangely as he picked himself up. The shoulder wound took much longer to knit itself together and it left a large, obvious scar. He was ready for the tearing, burning sensation in his own shoulder which refused to go away as he moved on to relighting the darkness.

But he couldn't make progress. It was like tossing matches into an endless pit, even with the serum in place and a bit of the poison draining out. Arthur could see what was already obvious at the surface, some of Koral's flesh was already dead. Her ring and pinkie fingers were a terrible gray and the dark veins were still all over her arm. There seemed to be nothing he could do.

Still, he persisted. He focused on the veins. Relighting them didn't work. They were dying. The venom had done its damage and it was still there. Clamping his hands around the arm, he took a long inhale and willed taking the poison and death into himself before anyone could tell him to stop.

He took two long breathes and realized it was working. The veins were starting to light up, they were starting to heal. Then came the downside. Arthur could hardly breathe. Chelle screamed for him to stop and Hedley yelled the same as Ward rushed close.

Arthur cleaned up the veins but the fingers refused to heal as he tumbled to the ground, barely able to see past a black haze over his vision. Hedley pulled him away and supported him, his arms enveloping him. He told him, "Arthur, you've done all you can do. Any more and you will die."

A feeling like a thick sludge passed through his entire body as he tried to breathe. Hedley gave him a quick injection of the serum and said, "Your body should be strong enough to flush the venom but honestly…you can't do everything yourself. Remember your safe healing spells education…" He gave a look as Arthur looked blankly and sighed, "…Or not. Must be quite complicated. But still, you've saved her life. I can take care of the rest."

Coughing as Chelle came over to help hold him up, Arthur said, in a voice he didn't recognize, "Her hand."

Hedley looked back a moment and offered only, "We will do what we can and sacrifice what must be sacrificed."  

Hobbling along, Arthur leaned on Chelle and made his way past the main bath and storage area. She led Arthur to a place to rest and he immediately took it, slipping off to sleep within moments. Chelle sighed and looked down at Arthur with a calm smile and let him sleep. But she knew he would be in for a surprise when he woke up and realized the root had turned him into what Chelle considered an adorable girl.

Koral finally slept comfortably through what Hedley and Ward did next. She didn't wince or fidget or cry out. But then Hedley's hands were skilled ones and Ward managed to help her relax a little. When they were done, Hedley looked Ward in the eye and said, "And now, I want to know what the hell this was all about and why you chose to give up on this young woman."

Ward stared back and began simply, "It's a matter of time…"