The Outlanders

Goodnight

KASPER

My body is tossed across a long stretch of tall grass. I roll through a hearty thicket, a collection of twigs halting my momentum. Some of the loose sticks break under my weight, but in turn, I feel some of them sticking against my back, and one even leaving a scratch on the back of my neck. My mouth lets out a grunt of pain, and I realize that I've been holding my breath for what feels like an eternity. When the sensation of teleporting had stopped, I begin to gasp, frantically desperate for any kind of consolatory air. "Shit!" I groan, twisting my body away from where I lay. Not only was it uncomfortable, but it was also incredibly painful to stay where I did.

"I everyone alrigh'?" I hear Willow not too far from where I landed, and I slowly push myself up. My head turns to scan the area around me, and then I realize why it had been so cold. So much so that the scratches on my neck and back had begun to numb, except that it's still oddly painful. We were all standing on a frozen tundra, an incredible amount of mountains sprawled across a long range. My first instinct was to look up to the sky, fully expecting it to be cracking and falling just like in Cassinvarya. It wasn't. The sky was clear, but in the midst of becoming night, which meant it was more of a warm purple than the bleak blood red back in the city.

Holy shit. Cassinvarya. My heart beats against my chest, the panic sets in, but I don't let the rest see.

"Yeah." Mars lets out, brushing both his hands against the long peasant-like shirt he got from Willow's shack.

Jackie's form of a response was an impressionable huff.

Meanwhile Lane gets up, fingers clawed through his scalp. "WHAT. THE. FUCK?"

Willow raises her brow, and pinches the bridge of her nose. "At least all are accounted for." I haven't said my piece, but she spots me from the distance.

"Wait wait wait." Mars speaks, walking ever closer to Willow. "We're supposed to save your world, from that?"

"Honestly speakin', Mars, even that was unexpected."

"What was that anyway?" He inquires.

"Those were demons of Underhell." Her response frightens me, but in a way, I guess if we didn't see the horror of what they could do, it would sound perfectly awesome. Yet, having to watch those creatures tear people limb from limb, murder without reason, well-- they start to sound less awesome.

Lane shoots out a hand and points to a distance, probably an attempt to direct everyone's attention to where he assumes Cassinvarya is. "Willow, I don't think any amount of training will ever prepare us for that."

She keeps her silence, and that's the scariest answer she could ever give. Because to me, it conveys an emotion of hopelessness, but has to grasp at straws to make sure that everything falls in it's place. Each and every time I start to think that it could be easy, my mind flashes back to the idea of watching what is supposedly a powerful kingdom, crumble in a matter of seconds. Although to be fair, I don't know just how much Xin can hold down the line. Instead of responding to Lane, Willow cocks her head, gesturing for us to follow her. The thing is, we've all already collectively agreed to go through with what Laethora wants us to do. I initiated it, but at the same time, I feel like I'm the first one who wants out.

Inevitably, we follow Willow in silence, every so often the four of us would cast each other glances, but we wouldn't share words. Not even jabs at each other for any light-hearted conversation. No talking about how stupid Lokasenna sounds, or anything else. Nothing. But I guess it's because everyone's dealing with what they saw. I don't blame them, I'm crumbling under the pressure. My mind already feels like shutting off. Like I've all of a sudden grown woozy, and not at all from the teleportation sequence. The closer we walked towards the mountain, the colder it got. Forcing some of us to hug ourselves, with Mars and Jackie embracing one another. Lane spots their hug, which he then looks my way. In return, I give him the most resentful head shake in history. He doesn't laugh, but instead, he chuckles. It disappears just as soon as it happens.