TDR: Life as a Traveller

Escape Part 1, Chapter 4

Part 1 — Lost World

I'm not sure how long I was out for, but when I came to, my brother was no longer on top of me and was sleeping close by. I could see all that because it wasn't pitch black anymore. There was a bioluminescent vine lining the walls, or something resembling one, that had reacted to motion, almost as bright as the lights from before. It was a sight for sore eyes.

'Good, you're awake, child.'

'...you...' I thought groggily, '...make it sound like you were waiting for me to wake up.'

'...Indeed. I was.' I hadn't really thought about it until now, but I wondered when she slept. Her voice sounded quite normal, like she had been awake for at least an hour.

'Don't you sleep when I do?'

'That is incorrect, in fact, I never truly go to sleep.'

'Huh!? But don't we share senses and whatnot. What do you do if you I'm asleep?'

'It's true, when you sleep, I'm unable to feel, see or sense much.'

'Oh... isn't that kind of... awful?' I thought, realising how it must feel to never actually sleep.

'More so unbearably dull than awful, I am used to it. But I digress, it gave me time to consider our options now that more is known.'

'Wait, before that,' I began to remember something that had been on my mind since it happened, 'what was the ability I used back there?'

'It's something you and all your kind have, an ability rarely used in this age.'

'Okay, but what exactly happened? How was I able to run so quick?'

'Æther. As your mother said, Æther is all around us, but it is also within us, and under certain conditions or training, you can make use of both. Æther coursed through your veins, it enhanced your reflexes, and your strength. However, to use as much as you did came at a cost, one you have experienced yourself.'

'So then when you said I wasn't helpless, that was what you meant?'

'Correct, child. As for our options, it is best to make as much distance as we can and head to the centre: All, you need to do is follow this corridor. Now, time to get your brother, we must move.'

Shoving Kun a little woke him from his light slumber. He freaked out a little at first, but soon barraged me with questions I was physically incapable of answering. Honestly, not being able to speak was such a blessing at a time like this.

He soon realised the only questions he could ask were of the 'yes' or 'no' variety. I brought him up to speed as fast as I could with that, however, it was time to move on. I gestured for him to follow, which, luckily, he did without complaints. He seemed far removed from the bratty envious kid that was going to be a tattletale just a day ago.

We followed the glowing moss down the corridor, soon, the corridor took on a transformation. It was newer, cleaner, and in much better condition than any of the previous corridors. As it transformed, the plain and barren walls grew more intricate with pipes jutting out, some dripping what seemed to be water, others with an unknown blue liquid. The leaks went into grated drains on either side of the corridor. The pipes themselves looked relatively new and intact too, so I wasn't sure why they were leaking, but, if I had to guess, they expected leaking to happen, hence the drains.