Die Alone

Chapter Twenty-One

Adrian Alcado
Niveous

Adrian sat and stared at a weird looking deer while he waited for Amber to wake up. Cherry was somewhere up in a tree again, leaving the other two on the forest floor. It was now day three and they were in the Amaranthine biome.

It was the weirdest of all the Kingdom biomes. The trees were insanely tall and everything had a purple hue. Every now and then the forest morphed into a completely different layout making it incredibly easy to get lost.

Amber started to stir and the deer ran off, evaporating into thin air.

"You awake yet?" Adrian said quietly.

Amber groaned a no and rolled over, she then jumped up, catching Adrian off guard.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "This weird plant touched my face."

Just then Cherry cleared their throat behind the two, making both of them jump.

Adrian looked up and down from the tree Cherry seemingly was in. When did they climb down?

"Last day of walking, let's go," Cherry said. The hood and mask covered their appearances but every now and then a bright red hair would stick out.

Amber stuffed the clothes she'd been using as a pillow back into her sack before standing. Adrian got up as well, grabbing some food from his bag.

Adrians feet were so sore from walking and his back was screaming in pain.

It's fine, I get to see everyone today.

One thing training taught him is that pain is all in mentality. He has an end goal and he's so close to reaching it, he can't give in now.

Cherry is a messenger, how do they do this everyday. Adrian and Amber were dead tired and ready to pass out but Cherry carried on strong.

It was hard to know how long they walked before they stood behind tall kingdom walls. The daylight never seemed to change, infact, in the forest it was hard to even tell it was day.

Nonetheless, they had made it. Behind the gated walls was a weird town. Houses looked as if they were designed by someone drunk and pathways were inconsistent and off. It was still dark, even though Adrian was sure it was day.

Purple flames danced on torches framing the pathways and lighting the sky. It was a very odd place. It was eerily quiet despite people being out in the streets.

Walking through the town, they entered another, which carried the same bizarre energy to it.

Adrian stared at the absurd infrastructure of buildings. Weird ledges jutted out in weird spots, confusing him. It wasn't till he saw someone jump from one to another he realized they seemed to serve a purpose. He soon realized everything was designed almost as if a jungle gym or for cats.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" Adrian whispered.

"They don't talk out loud I guess," Amber said, slowly and quietly. "I don't know that I like it, it's like a creepy fever dream."

"Hey, have you noticed the sky is getting lighter?" Adrian whispers.

Meters ahead of them they hear Cherry's voice. "It does that a few times a day."

Adrian couldn't wrap his head around this place but that seemed to be the point; confuse outsiders, it was its own natural defence. Those who lived here thought it normal and clearly knew the ins and outs of the weird paths and illusions.

Finally they could see the castle ahead. Still a ways away, Adrian groaned.

-

"Cherry!" Niamh yelled happily. The loud noise threw Adrian off after three days of silence. She hugged Cherry tightly.