Chapter 24 – Definitely not a Coincidence
It had only been an hour since she had set off the following morning when Rachael found the road, as it intersected with the river, going right up to the rivers edge before it peeled off again. It appeared to have come from roughly the same direction that Rachael had, and at a guess she’d say that perhaps it went around the mountain range itself, not that she had any way of confirming that. Off in the distance she could still make out the mountain range behind her and off to the side, and it seemed like it was massive. From here it followed the overall direction of the river, though in more of of a straight line than the river itself that wound and snaked its way along. The quality of the road was questionable. It was just packed dirt, cleared of the long grass and with ruts starting to form from the vehicles that used it and small patches of weeds all over it. It didn’t look like it got much use, if any, with the grassland itself was attempting to reclaim it.
The presence of the road confirmed that she was indeed going in the right direction if she was looking for a village or larger, but now she had the issue of deciding if she wanted to switch to following the road or keep with the river. At least at this point it looked like they both went in the same direction, so right now it was just a terrain preference. If they deviated significantly then the decision would be a bit more difficult, given its apparent disuse. Opting for a change, she switched to the road.
Which didn’t last long. By late morning she had switched back to the river bank. While messier, it was somewhat more uniform and easier on her body than the road which was patchy, filled with potholes that were hidden by the weeds, and even undulated sharply at points. While she tried to keep to the clearest sections of the road she had managed to stumble a few times, even managing to dislodge Kitsune at one point, which the cat-fox was not happy about, putting up a vocal protest, mentally of course, at the treatment. So much for the benefits of civilization. If they ever went back to using the road on a regular basis it would need a lot of work. And then some.
However there would have to be a reason why it was in the state that it was. It was possible that those who had originally used the road were all gone, and there would be just a ghost town at it’s end. It was also possible that transportation had also evolved or changed. She was still uncertain of the scope of the Shattering, and it was equally possible that cars were no longer viable and horse and cart was the norm, or that everyone now had a flying vehicle of some sort. While magic was weak out here, it was still a possibility that it could be used as an energy source, especially since Kitsune had said that Odinsphere floated. She was somewhat curious as to exactly how large it was. She also wondered if those in the Innerlands, the area drenched in magic, rode dragons or griffins or the like. That would be kind of cool. If it was like a typical fantasy setting though they would be more medieval era, with such exotic means the realm of the rich and/or powerful.
‘It’s massive. I don’t have any frame of reference for you though.’
She’d find out when they eventually got there.
A little after the middle of the day the terrain took a significant and sudden change, the variable long grasses giving way to a shorter stubbier one that went up to her ankles at most, filling the plains ahead of her as far as she could see, with clusters of trees scattered around it. It was a distinctive border, unusual, with no real reason for it. Away from the river she could see some herds of animals, at a guess she would have said bison, zebras and some deer like creature. They looked similar enough, though there were some notable differences as well. No elephants, great cats or giraffes however. On the other side of the river the longer grass appeared to continue. Rachael shrugged and continued running. At least she couldn’t be ambushed, not that anything had tried to attack her since she had come out of the cave complex, and she was able to keep an eye on the road from the riverbank as well.
The rest of the day was largely uneventful. She deviated from the river to investigate any nearby groves of trees, finding some more of the nuts, as well as some trees that grew a yellow coloured fruit that tasted like a tangy pear and another that had a purplish fruit that reminded her of tomatoes. Both turned out to be edible, though she refrained from taking any with her, the nuts her preference and easier to carry while running. The remainder of the groves that she looked at had nothing of interest, all of the nearby creatures either ignoring her or taking leave from her presence. The evening was the same routine of a bath and clean with fish for dinner and sleeping in a tree. Yet again she was successful in avoiding setting the plains alight, which she counted as a personal achievement.
Overall she could say that the day was good, but she really wanted to find some people soon. Focusing in on her bond with Chris she knew that he was well, but she was still too far away from him for any indication of where he was. She wondered if he was alone as well, or if he had found some companions. She’d be a little jealous if he had, but then again his survival skills were a lot worse than hers and he could probably use the help, and she was hopefully that she would be with him soon enough.
Morning brought another glorious sunrise, Rachael wondering if this place actually had bad weather at all. Not that she was complaining, if it was going to pour down she would much rather be indoors than out in it, listening to the soothing sound of it pattering against the roof and windows as she snuggled up to her soulmate. A girl could dream. Fortunately though the skies were clear apart from a few wispy clouds attempting to look imposing but failing, the morning quickly warming up as the rising sun bathed it in its rays. She wasn’t as sore as the previous two mornings, her body adapting, with a helping of some healing magic to sooth things out. She would love a proper bed though. When she had done her ‘tour of duty’ she had been forced to sleep in her car a few times due to the physical locations of some of the anchor points or bad planning on her part, and she had always disliked doing that, the current situation reminding her a little of that time.
A curious dusty gold coloured dog like creature growled at her as she hopped down from the tree. She stared at it for a moment, wondering when it had turned up, probably during the night while she rested, before she then ignored it and headed back towards the river. Kitsune informed her that it just stayed by the tree as she walked away, a sensible decision for it. A drink of river water and some fruit from her resting tree that she had picked before leaving comprised her breakfast, and then she started running again. The road was still within sight, as vacant and lifeless as it had been the previous day. At least she would be somewhat fitter after all of this running.
The morning passed by uneventfully, Rachael able to maintain a good pace along the river side. She now ran a bit further out from the riverbank, on the short grass. It meant a lot less mud, and was still comfortable enough. The road itself was likely just for show and direction through here, as any vehicles travelling along it could just as easily travel across any other part of the plain. There was also the possibility that the road could be a relic from her time, and she was curious as to how well some of the modern road seals would have survived the years, especially if they weren’t used much. Probably not too well all things considered. Thoughts to keep her distracted from the run itself, and at least the landscape was nice enough to look at. She saw numerous animals out in the plains again, more of what she had seen the previous day, all maintaining a distance from her.
By the middle of the day it had gotten hotter than any other day thus far, and Rachael was not enjoying it. One major disadvantage of the plains was the overall lack of shade outside the small groves of trees, and at the moment she was a fair way from any of them. Running in this heat was not doing her any good at all, even when she took her hoodie off and tied it around her waist. Hoping it wasn’t an ominous sign of a change in weather, not that the sky looked any different than earlier, she stopped to take a swim in the river to cool off. The currents weren’t too strong, the river having spread out lazily, it’s water still very cold, even three days out from the mountain. She swam to the other side and back, and then hopped out, dressing once dry and resuming her run. It had certainly helped, but the temperature difference was quite significant.
She had only been running for a short time when she suddenly felt a heavy impact on her mind, her vision going blurry and her step faltering. A familiar yet foreign sensation. She stumbled and tried to correct herself, but failed, slamming face first into the ground. Pain seared through her as she faded from consciousness.
‘What happened there?’
Rachael groaned and rolled over, then forcing herself into a sitting position. Kitsune was sitting beside her, looking worried.
“How long was I out?” she asked. The sun was definitely lower now.
‘A couple of hours.’
At least the day was a bit cooler now. Rachael picked herself up and walked to the waters edge to have a look at the damage. Her modified clothes had prevented any grazing to most of her body, but her face looked a little bruised and smeared with blood. She gave her face a rinse, channelling healing magic into the only bruise that she had once she had cleaned up, the point of impact between her and the ground. Where the blood had come from she wasn’t sure.
“Something touched us, touched our soul,” she finally answered Kitsune. Touched Chris in particular. She knew that he had been the source, and she had just felt the side effects of it. As to exactly what had happened, she had no clue. She didn’t feel any different, and the presence had not had any ill intent. Focusing on Chris, she instinctively knew that he was still fine and in good health, nothing apparently amiss via their bond. But that was it. Nothing else remained of the presence; if it was still there it was hiding itself exceptionally well.
It had also been incredibly powerful. That much she did know.
Feeling a little unsettled, she ran till she arrived in the vicinity of the next grove, making her way over and happy to find that it did have fruit on some of the trees. Picking some, she settled underneath one of the trees and gazed back towards the river. That had been the first indication since she had awoken of a true power, but in that instant it had felt ancient, not something new, something of this age.
She no longer had any motivation to run for the moment, her mind still trying to find answers. She was also wary of any potential relapses, though that was probably just an excuse. Having finished the fruit and eating some of the remaining nuts, she just sat there, Kitsune snuggling up in her lap, like a true cat. It was warm, and she was sure she heard it purr a little as well.
What on earth had happened to Chris. She’d find out soon enough.
By early evening she was finally ready to start running again, having not managed to come to any conclusions nor any the wiser. It was starting to get cold now, the sky clear and the moon rising. The weather had definitely shifted, as the previous nights had all been warm, but this one was not. She had wasted enough time, and needed to find somewhere a little more sheltered to rest, not that she was sure what she would find out here. She hadn’t come across anything remotely sheltered at all in the last two days, but she also hadn’t worried about it given the warm nights. Now though was a different story.
Placing Kitsune back on her shoulder, she made her way back to the river’s edge, and then followed along nearby as she had been doing, her steps and pace measured. She focused on the running, forgetting about the days events, Kitsune responsible for keeping an eye out for suitable locations. As the light faded and night rolled in, so too did the mists from the river, blanketing the ground in a wispy white. Rachael moved further away from the river, to make sure she could still see where she was going, the mists continuing to thicken. It gave everything around it an ethereal quality, not that it worried her.
‘There.’
Rachael stopped to look where Kitsune was indicating, and then headed in that direction. At bit further in from the river bank, out of the mists and barely able to be made out from where Kitsune had spotted it was a small cluster of run down buildings. They reminded Rachael of storage sheds, but as to why they would be out here in the middle of nowhere was a mystery. It was the first buildings that she had seen since been woken up by Angel. There would have been four at one stage, though one had collapsed and was a pile of timber slats and iron sheets strewn chaotically on the ground. One had more holes in its walls than Swiss cheese, but the remaining two looked suitable. Piles of grass and dried leaves coated the floor, blown in at some stage from the nearby grove. Doing a quick inspection aided by her magic light, she found nothing amiss, the temperature here warmer than by the rivers edge. Choosing one of the huts at random and then shifting a couple of the loose iron sheets that were used for the roof over, she made a makeshift door, and then settled down into one corner.
Kitsune snuggling up against her, she focused on Chris again. He was still fine, which was a relief. Rachael tried to make herself as comfortable as possible, and then closed her eyes. Sleep came instantly, the day having taken more out of her than she had thought.
Rachael dreamed of Pyre. Or was it Crystal. She wasn’t quite sure, the person she saw a mixture of the two. Proud, confident, determined, and beautiful. Long fiery hair, literally, the energy coercing through it, giving the straight hair a wavy look. Cute golden draconic horns curving up and back from the forehead. Intense eyes reflecting her inner energy, and a soft face with delicate curves. Deep orange-red lips that drew you in with promises. The ruby necklace that she had made, along with a matching pair of gold earrings with crystalline rubies hanging impossibly from them. An alluring, sensual and athletic figure with the hint of curves, one that had known battles and emerged victorious from them, and would turn heads just by being present. A chest that she was a little bit jealous of.
Pyre had on the complete set of the armour that they had found in the anchor temple. A scaled breastplate that fit her curves too perfectly and gave her a lot of cleavage, the metal white with gold accents, intricate silver swirls with gold accents over her chest, and a brown gold mesh that ran up through the middle of the armour from her waist, over the top of her breasts and up to her neck. It fit her too well, too tightly, to be proper metal though, especially the mesh. Perhaps it was some other form of magical material, given that she didn’t appear to be wearing anything under it. The shoulders were bare, a small intricate plate just below them, before the armour continued down the arm. A pair of bracers adorned her lower arms, a similar silver and gold scheme, with suns on each. It also formed a scaled mini skirt, just the white with gold accents at the front and an intricate gold brown mesh at the side, with a slim light golden brown belt at its top. Attached to the belt were a couple of small pouches, reminiscent of the modern age, and something else that she couldn’t quite make out was at her back. It reminded Rachael of a holster. Deep tan scaled tights, very similar to what Rachael had done with her own, adorned her legs, and she was of course wearing the armoured heels, threads of white and gold weaving their way up the length of the white metal, blossoming around the three suns positioned at the top. She was definitely owning the outfit.
She was also wielding the sword and shield, but they looked different. While the shield was still the white metal with the gold seam and sun blazing in the middle, it was no longer a buckler, but instead a heater shield with a triangular top. The sword was now the size of a long sword, flames dancing along its white blade, the emblem of the sun at the top of the hilt, which like the pommel was a mixture of the white and gold. She held them with ease and experience.
Pyre was not alone. There were others there as well, people that she knew, but could not identify, aspects rather than actual identities at the moment. That feature of dreams that populates things but still keeps them just out of reach. She was there as well, herself but also not quite the same as she had been. As to the changes, they were outside of her reach, a teasing of possibilities.
They had reached their destination, a place forgotten by time, but itself had not forgotten of time, and that time had arrived. It was their hunt, their challenge. And they would succeed.
Rachael woke to find that the weather, if anything, had gotten worse. The sky was overcast with thick grey clouds, threatening to rain, and the mist was lapping at the entrance to the hut. Fortunately it appeared that her makeshift door had prevented any from actually coming in, but it was still cold, and she was shivering a little. If she didn’t become active soon she would actually run the risk of becoming sick, something that she was of course keen to avoid. She was however grateful that she had the hoodie, and with the use of a little bit of magic she would be able to stave away the worst of it.
Standing, she created a flame in front of her, then absorbing it back into herself, letting the heat flow through her. It wasn’t particularly efficient or effective, but it did remove the edge of the cold. Pulling the last of the remaining nuts out of her pocket, she ate them while she thought on the dream. It had been the most vivid image of anyone that she had ever had, and while she had seen Pyre in intricate detail, everything else had been obscure. It was strange, even her visions of Chris had never been quite that clear. Pyre had been absolutely gorgeous, she couldn’t deny the appeal, but still she was suspicious of the dream in the first place.
Exiting the hut, Rachael discovered that the entirety of the plains appeared to be covered in a blanket of knee high mist. It was thin enough that she was able to make out the ground ahead of her, but after a few meters everything was lost in a murky white. The mist got thicker and higher by the river, and she couldn’t make out anything at all on the other side. It was as if the world itself was trying to hide something, and right now she wouldn’t put it past it.
Shrugging, she broke into a run, continuing to head down river as she had been, keeping herself far enough away from the edge of the river that the ground was as dry as it could be given the current conditions. Her plans hadn’t changed.
The sun remained an indistinct glow in the sky as it rose, and while it didn’t get any warmer, it also wasn’t getting any colder either. The terrain flowed past her as she ran, any character lost in the mists, not that she was paying much attention. Her thoughts kept wandering back to the dream, to Pyre. There was something else about her that she couldn’t quite place her finger on. Some important detail that had been there, that she had seen, but now was escaping her. It was frustrating. Pyre had also had quite a number of companions, besides herself. Was it four, or perhaps six? She couldn’t pin that down either.
It took three groves of trees before Rachael found anything edible. With all the sustenance out here, it felt like the area was an untapped potential with no one else around, except the wildlife who were disliking the mists as much as she was. Even the tree-bears had climbed up higher than normal, even though they were initially well out of its reach. She found some more of the yellow fruits, munching on one as she sat in one of the lower branches, swinging her legs as the nearby tree-bears stared at her curiously. She thought for a minute that she heard the sound of an engine, but she was nothing, and then it was gone. She wasn’t even certain that cars still existed. Polishing off another coupe of fruits, she returned to the river’s edge for a drink, and then resumed her run. The km’s flew by, Rachael still lost in thought.
cross the river
Rachael stopped dead in her tracks. The presence was back, and strong. It hadn’t gone after all, it had been masking it’s presence.
“Why? Who are you?” It was pointless saying it out loud she knew, but it was a natural reflex and she preferred it that way.
cross the river
you are needed.
There was a sense of authority in the voice. It wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and to be honest she didn’t really see a reason not to humour it at the moment. It was powerful enough to force a connection to them, and it reminded her of the Core’s presence that she use to feel. The same, yet different. That made her curious.
‘Yes, I can feel it too,’ Kitsune provided for her unasked question. That was interesting in itself as well.
Rachael walked up to the riverbank. She wasn’t sure how wide it was at the moment, but there was no way that she was going to swing across. While the currents weren’t that strong, the water would be icy cold. That would be a recipe for disaster. Making her best guess based on what she remembered from when she last saw it, she walked back away from the bank for a good fifty paces. She turned, checking that Kitsune was secure on her shoulder. She then pulled and fused a whole lot more of her magic into her body, and sprinted back towards the river, jumping as hard as she could when she hit the waters edge.
Patreon
They both are each other's dream girls❣️❣️
Heehee. That they are.
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for reading and commenting :)