VI
Jenna
Travel to the ruins became somewhat tiring because the weather had grown hotter than the day before, and a bit more humid. But other than that, it was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky, and the sun felt bright and warm on her face.
The land between Miller's Port and Symahrna became more hilly and wooded, with bits of stone protruding from the ground the closer they got to the mountain. Trees stood in random batches, but there were large clumps of dead flat, red stone of unknown origin between them.
A slight breeze blew, and a cloud passed over the sun, but quickly went past. When Jenna looked up into the sky, she saw that same strange bird circling high up in the sky. It must have been a vulture flying over a dead animal.
They walked around a small mountain. But that term was relative, however, because the thing stood taller than any business building she'd ever seen back on Atlantica. The mountains were a sight to behold -- wondrous and eternal. This one was different from others that she had seen; it had angled, flat, wall-like structures sticking out of it in random places, and some caves that had once been chambers. On the outskirts of the mountain she could see an occasional corner or piece of wall sticking out of the ground.
They skirted some outcroppings from the ground, and then walked down a natural slope to a set of three foothills. The foothills were jagged and curvy, except for a few pieces of wall sticking out of them.
In between the first of the foothills and the mountain she saw the cave entrance.
As she looked into it, she got this feeling of grief and loss, followed by a release from the pains of the world...
"We have to hurry. Adahra won't last much longer."
"You know her name?" Fearless stopped in midstride.
Moonshine looked at her and then after a moment of thought, said: "How long have you been linked to her?"
"A few days now. How did you know?"
"Healers can often sense things. Not just pain and suffering or injury, but also when people call out for psychic help."
Jenna saw no guards standing outside of the cave.
"Something's wrong here. There should be at least 2 guards at the door and 2 archers in the forest. A patrol group should have met us by now."
"Knife," Fearless said.
"I'm on it." Louie responded. For once he didn't have something smart to say. That seemed so unlike him. The serious look in his eyes told her something else too. There was a darkness to him, a callous cruelty, a hardness that came from having to fight, beg, or steal everything that he ever had. A phrase came to mind when she saw for that split second that inner darkness of his:
Kill'em all and let the Gods sort'em out.
The cave was drenched in residual magical energy. It was old magic, yes, but whatever spells had been used on it had dissipated long ago, leaving only scars behind. 4 cave entrances stood at the 5 meter level, with one more at ground level, which Louie snuck into. The 4 higher up caves were so shallow that she could see the backs of them from where she stood. There were no other holes that she could see at that level, but near the jagged crown of the upshot of warped stone she could see a few crows flying out from some unseen cave, which was probably just big enough to house them.
