Chapter 14 – Strange Lands.

Chris jumped back, expecting a landslide of dirt and rocks to flow in through the door as he opened it, given the brown wall of earth that greeted him, but nothing moved, which was a relief.

Feeling a little but silly, not that anyone had seen him apart from Spectre, he stepped back up the obstruction in the door for a closer look, praying that he wasn’t still deep underground. The dirt was a little damp, and interwoven with thin roots, which was a good sign. Down near the bottom of the door the roots were like a thick blanket over the earth, but nearer the top the dirt still had a majority stake on the surface of the door, both good signs. He was definitely at the surface, the dirt blocking his way having built up over time, but supporting plant life that was growing on its surface. Knocking the luminescent algae off the broom head and onto a corner of the floor, and praying that it would still be strong enough, he took aim at the top corner of the door frame and attempted to push the dirt away.

The dirt moved easily, and Chris was rewarded with a beam of sunlight that streamed in through the gap, warm and very much welcome. He was going to be able to get out of here. Filled with elation, he continued to push dirt out of the way, hearing it softly fall down the slope on the outside as he did so, a broom head section at a time. The gap got bigger, more light shinning through, Chris continuing to work methodically until he reached the distinct change in the density of roots. By that point, his arms now complaining about the effort, he had managed to clear the upper quarter of the door, a large enough space for him to fit through comfortably, assuming that he was able to clamber up there. He could see puffy clouds lazying across a pale blue sky, exactly as he had remembered it.

First things first though. He couldn’t leave Spectre trapped in here. Picking up the cat-fox, the first time he had actually done so, he placed it at the top of the earthen wall. It wasn’t cold as he had expected, but had a warmth to it, very light, more so than he had considered it could be, and it’s hide of tiny interlocking plates was actually very smooth and pleasant to the touch. It was an absolute marvel of technology, or whatever it was. Spectre disappeared from view.

‘It’s all clear.’

Trying his best to find patches of roots and dirt that would hold his weight, and grabbing onto the door frame with his hands, Chris scrambled up the wall of dirt and up to the opening, pulling himself through before he then unceremoniously tumbled down the bank on the other side, coming to a halt in the middle of a Rhododendron bush. A shower of lavender shaded petals then coated him. At least there was nobody there to witness that, and the flowers were pretty. Extracting himself from the bush he stood up and took in his surroundings.

The entranceway was located on the slope of what Chris would best describe as a mountain. The ground rose sharply behind the door, and was covered with grass and small shrubs, giving way to bare slate stone and the occasional small tree that attempted to cling to life there after a little bit, a couple of mountain goats eyeing him with curiosity. At least they still looked the same. Even further up the trees also gave up, the mountain a solid grey before low cloud started to obscure the rest of its height. He gathered that he was probably standing at the height of the stable ground, and he had no interest in going any further in that direction. Below the door, the initial sharp slope quickly eased into something much more gentle, grass and shrubs growing amongst the ruins of what Chris guessed was part of the remains of the city to which South Mall had belonged. While the section underground had been reasonably well preserved, all things considered, what he could see out here had not. But not just from the erosion of time either. While the buildings in his immediate vicinity seemed to retain some of their shape, at least as far as he could tell from looking almost directly down on some of them, after a certain point that seemed to be around four blocks, the buildings just became piles of rubble that nature was greedily reclaiming.

Further down, the remains of the city became lost in the beginnings of a verdant green forest, which in this light looked somewhat inviting. He could just make out some colourful birds flying around in the trees, a few more flying overhead. For a city though, the remains actually felt quite small, and he would have pegged what he could see as having been no larger the CBD of New Elderpass. Granted, he was now certain that there was a lot of it underground, and probably just as much that had been taken over by the forest, but still. Small.

The air was warm, and Chris was enjoying being able to bask in sunlight again. He was guessing that it was morning, but he didn’t have any way of telling right at this point in time. Looking to both sides, the forest seemed to hug the lower reaches of the mountainside, before then very briefly stretching out across the flat before it abruptly finished, replace by a green and brown plain that seemed to drag out as far as he could see, the occasional rise in it giving it the appearance of a green ocean. At least two rivers snaked their way through it, and there were a smattering of landmarks that Chris was unable to make any details out for. On the horizon was another shape that reminded him of the smaller cities of his time, and he was certain that that was what it was. The landscape reminded him of the farming country between cities back home, though of course less developed and hence lacking in the square quilt pattern of crops.

‘It appears that we are still in the Outerlands.’ Spectre volunteered.

“You recognize some of the landmarks?” Chris queried, surprised at the free information.

‘As unfamiliar as everything else. However I am receiving a very weak signal from Odinsphere. Enough to confirm its presence, but that’s it. The signal doesn’t reach the Innerlands due to the Circle Sea interference, hence we must still be in the Outerlands.’

“That’s something I guess.”

It did make Chris curious however. Was the Odinsphere some form of massive computer or AI or something? What Spectre had mentioned, as little as it was, seemed to give him that impression, but in the age of magic such things would no longer exist. However then there was Spectre itself, which did not look magical, even though it needed mana to be active. An oxymoron if ever Chris knew one, or perhaps something else entirely. Mind you, his knowledge was based of material from his time, which was from over a thousand years ago, so who knew what was actually true now.

Spectre had also said that the Outerlands was lacking in magic, which was disappointing. If there was even a remote possibility, magic was something that he’d love to learn, after all wouldn’t anyone, but it’s lack here made that unlikely. Mind you, he didn’t actually have any clue what was required of the maidens either. So many questions, and so few answers.

Walking carefully down the slope, Chris made his way past the buildings. The first few buildings looked to be just a single level until Chris quickly realised that he was in fact looking at the top layer of the buildings, the rest of which much be under the ground. Which would of course align with South Mall. As to how much of the building would actually be accessible was another story, but it was not something that he was interested in finding out at this point in time.

As he made his way down the buildings became taller, well, more of them became visible above the ground, though in reality they were all of around the same height. He guessed that they would have been office or apartment buildings, or said on top of other retail buildings, as was often the case. Bottom floors for customers, upper floors for the staff and residents. It wasn’t until the third block of buildings, where the slope flattened out a little and became more gentle, that he finally was able to see the ground floor of the buildings. Still commercial, some even retaining their glass front windows. Nothing had survived out here, and by the looks of some they had been used as home for the larger animals, with the birds nesting in the upper levels. He imagined that at one point there may have been a massive flock of pigeons that had made their home here, but no longer.

Then, at the end of the forth block, the buildings became piles of rubble. A number of the buildings at the tail end of the fourth block had been looking worse for the wear, but those after had never survived the transition. From here he could see why as well. For whatever reason, the entire city had been moved here. However, while the city was originally built on flat terrain, here was not, nor was the size of available space the same. So some had ended up in the mountain, while the buildings from here down had obviously appeared in mid air, and had crashed to the ground. Dropped, and without their proper foundations it would have been like a massive earthquake had gone through them. The ones on the forth block had had a smaller distance to drop, but the edge of the block was the critical point, and after that they had just crumbled. The death toll must have been massive. Chris shuddered at the though. What exactly had caused and happened at the Shattering to do such as this?

“Was this normal for the Shattering?” he queried of Spectre. You never know what the cat-fox might actually know.

‘No. Not according to my records. Mostly just landmasses reshaped as a whole, and not individual parts. Mind you, we have no record of what it was like before the Shattering, and those who knew are long gone.’

“Apart from me...” It just reminded Chris that he was know all alone. He really needed to find Rachael.

Chris continued to walk down the slope, through the rubble towards the forest edge. It was reminiscent of his trip on that fateful day, the world around him peaceful and still. More memories, all ones that he had not had the time to fully process. Something seemed strange about it all. Rachael seemed to know more about what was going on, but he’d never had the chance to ask her. Chris wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass him when he finally found her, though in all likelihood they’d have a lot of other things to worry about as well.

A small grove of trees amongst the rubble took Chris’ attention, and he wandered over, curious. The trees were a patchy coat of white blossoms, fruit hanging heavy in their branches. Hope swelled up in Chris, and he ran over to the trees, looking to see if any of the fruit was within reach, his stomach reminding him that it hadn’t eaten in ages. Which wasn’t too hard. The orchard was unkempt and messy, no one had probably pruned the trees ever, and it was likely the result of natural propagation from a tree or two that someone had growing in their back yard. Chris grabbed the first red fruit that he could find, giving it a quick look over before he took a cautious bite. It was juicy and sweet, and most definitely an apple. He had no idea what variety, not that it mattered nor did he care. He quickly consumed the apple, sans core, and then picked a few more and sat down on a nearby piece of rubble to continue his meal. Food had never tasted so good. He ate his fill, and then stretched out on the rubble in the sun to digest for a little bit.

The downside to the fruit, was that while there was a lot of it, there was no way for him to take any of it with him. While the pockets in the harness fit the jewellery easily enough, there was no hope that he was going to be able to fit anything in there that was much larger, let alone an apple. Most of his clothes were not suitable either, and there was no way he was going to strip down to any less than what he was wearing. Spectre didn’t provide any useful solutions either. If he could find civilization soon enough it wouldn’t be too much of an issue, and if he couldn’t, then well he could always return here he guessed. And eating too much of a single fruit probably would make him sick as well. He would just have to bank on the grove here being a precedence.

After a short rest, and noting that the sun was still rising in the sky so it was indeed still morning, though tending towards late morning by now, Chris got back up. He collected a few more apples, enough that he could carry in his hands, as dirty as they were, and continued down to the edge of the forest. It was very green, mostly trees that he did not recognize, and at this point not too dense so he wouldn’t have much issue walking through it. With no better plan in mind, they picked the direction that seemed to most go down, in the hope that at the lowest point they might be able to find a small stream. Chris definitely needed a drink and a partial wash, and as water flows down it was as good a plan as any. Wilderness survival was not amongst his skill set, being city bred and all, and Spectre wasn’t much use in that area either.

Taking it carefully, the walk into the forest ended up being a lot easier and more pleasant that Chris had expected. At this point at least the trees were spaced far enough apart that he was able to easily pass between them, the floor of the forest covered in a bed of leaves and small plants. The colourful birds flew overhead, tweeting to each other, while insects buzzed around. He lost one apple after almost tripping on an exposed root that he didn’t spot, but was able to retrieve it without issue, though he was sure that Spectre had snickered at him. Other than that the cat-fox mostly kept to itself.

After about an hour of walking, Chris picked up the sound of running water, and changing directly slightly they walked towards it. Sure enough they came across a small stream that was winding its way lazily through the forest, likely from somewhere in the city ruins and down to the plains. Chris wondered if it would join up with one of the two large rivers that he had seen, but there was no guarantee of that. Happy to have found water irrespective, he took a long drink, and then washed himself up as best he could (not his clothes though, that would be a task for another time). The water was clean and refreshing, better tasting than the city water that he had been drinking his entire life.

As the stream actually went somewhere rather than being a fixed location, Chris decided to follow the flow of the stream, so that at the least he would have a source of water nearby, Spectre congratulating him on a sensible decision. Chris just ignored Spectre’s comment. They travelled as close to the stream as they were able, Chris trying to maintain a good pace, hoping to be out of the forest by nightfall but unsure if they would be. He consumed the remaining apples as they walked, as well as some berries that Spectre assured him were eatable, not that he was confident that Spectre’s survival skills were any better than his own, but certain that the cat-fox had more to lose from his demise that he did. He was still alive a few hours later so at least in that instance Spectre had been right.

By nightfall they were still in the forest, Chris unsure how close they might be to the edge of the forest, and the light fading too fast for them to be able to travel much further. Without any real options, they elected to travel a little bit further and a little bit in from the stream, hoping to find somewhere suitable to rest for the night. Heading off at an angle from the stream, but still trying to keep it within hearing range, they walked carefully, Chris keeping his eyes peeled for anything that might be suitable. Just when it got dark enough that he could barely make out what was ahead and his hope was starting to fade, they stumbled into a small clearing, lit in a soft glow from fireflies that danced around its edges, Chris wondering why he hadn’t been able to spot them before they had entered it.

“This place is strange,” he commented to Spectre as he had a look around.

‘Yes, that it is. But it also feel safe here...’

The clearing itself was only around ten meters across, a lazy circle with leaves and moss covering the ground just like the rest of the forest. A canopy of leaves covered the top of the clearing, a few rays of moonlight managing to trickle in but illuminating naught compared to the fireflies, the forest outside the clearing now looking dark and foreboding. Three small shrubs grew in the middle of the clearing, their branches each forming a crescent moon shape. Actually quite beautiful and unique, and perfect for resting on. And hence also highly suspicious. Chris walked up to them, examining them and around them carefully. They looked just like normal sturdy shrubs, apart from their shape. He tested one. It would easily hold his weight.

‘Suspicious yes, but I can’t see any reason not to sleep here. I don’t detect anything unusual.’

Chris was about to argue the point, role-playing bred paranoia threatening to kick in, but he realized that he was dead tired and needed to rest. He didn’t fancy sleeping on the forest floor, so this small miracle, as suspect as it was, was actually quite welcome.

‘I don’t need to sleep either, so I will keep watch.’

That of course sealed the deal.

Chris hoisted himself onto one of the shrubs, which he decided to call moon shrubs till he found out what they actually were, manoeuvring himself around to try and get as comfortable as possible. Overall the shrub was pretty comfortable, apart from a few stray twigs that he pushed out of the way. In a campaign this would likely be some magical beast luring weary travellers in with the promise of a soft resting place, Chris reverently praying that it wasn’t the case here. After all, this was the real world, right?

Spectre jumped up onto the shrub beside him, snuggling in close, he metallic body still warm, and comforting. Chris stared at the edges of the clearing, watching the fireflies in their lazy dance, the days events flooding through his mind.

He was all alone now. All alone in a foreign land, everything he once knew was gone. No job, no home. His family were long gone, as well as almost all of his friends. He hadn’t left them on quite the best of terms either. In fact his old life was completely gone, and he had no idea at all what the future held for him.

Loneliness clawed at him. He couldn’t deny it. He was afraid. Terrified of what the future held. Scared of the unknown. Petrified of being alone in the new world. Everything he had known was gone. Lost. There was no way that he was ever going to get it back, and he also didn’t know how this world would work out, and if he would be accepted for being him. Things had worked out well so far by some miracle, but that could just be luck, and death could just be waiting around the corner for him for all that he knew.

And he missed Rachael something fierce. Granted they hadn’t been that close over the years, but that last day had been something special, even taking into account it’s end, and he could feel her. Sense that she was also out there somewhere in this new world. Hopefully faring better than he was. His heart ached, and he just wanted to be with her. Needed to be with her.

He curled up, emotions raging throughout him, tears welling up unbidden. He tried to hold them back, but he couldn’t, and they flowed freely as he sobbed as quietly as he could manage, till sleep finally took him.

Spectre watched, but did not judge.

mogust

And so ends Chris' first day in this strange new world.

Okay, it's not that strange, being the world of Dawn Weaver, but certainly foreign to him (and Rachael, whatever has happened to her).

Either the land is indeed dotted with comfortable resting spots for the lost and weary traveler, or something is indeed watching out for him. As to the truth of that, we shall have to wait and see. ^^

Writing is going well at the moment, and I am just about to start on Chapter 23 (Definitely not a coincidence). Chapter 15 (Ghosts from the Past) will be up later this week.

Thanks for reading (and commenting if you do).