Chapter 33: Shelter & Security

What relief I had found at finding the river bed had been slowly eroded over the following hours monotonously walking down it. I mean the riverbed was far superior to the treacherous overgrown hills from this morning, superior even to much of the terrain we had crossed the previous day.

The problem was that it was nearly easy terrain that never ended. It wasn’t engaging enough to hold my attention on its own, but the riverbed was uneven enough to be a trip hazard if I didn’t pay attention. 

A lesson I had learned earlier when my face came within inches of impacting the riverbed.

And we were yearning to see clear sky after a day marching through the thickest parts of the forest. 

There wasn’t much sunlight down here outside of a jagged line of sun shafts that ran down the middle of the streambed to dance on the thin layer of water that bubbled over the river stones. Our path down here might have been clear of vegetation, but the branches of the trees that grew on the slopes either side of us reached across overhead as if they were trying to close the canopy above.

Going off the angle of the sun shafts and my system clock, we had been marching for almost twelve hours including our morning in those overgrown hills. And of our river trek only stopping to drink, pull rations from their packs to eat while walking or to squat behind the brush at the edge of the stream. Gross.

CORA’s realism can really suck, especially when you’re in the wild without paper or water. 

So at least we had plenty of fresh water with which to wash our hands afterwards. Which is something, I guess…

Well I bet you can imagine my relief when I saw the light at the end of the forest. The light of the forest opening up ahead, centered on our riverbed path. Despite our shared exhaustion, our pace quickened at the sight.

While the transition was stark, the forest didn’t just drop away all at once. It thinned and thinned suddenly. Ahead the trees were far enough apart that thick grass was growing between them. The hills either side of us dropped away and we found ourselves in a transitory place that lay between thick hilly forest and swampy wetlands that continued westward uninterrupted for miles all the way to the horizon and the sea.

In places the hills of the forest seemed to fall away as if they were being eroded by the marsh, roots and soil sliding away in sections falling down to lightly forested grassy islands or into brackish water to be slowly washed out to sea. 

Here hills, dense forest, light forest, streams, grassy fields and marsh all came together and mixed in a thin band. Standing on the forest’s edge I could see a number of different streams flowing out of the forest to empty into the swamp, sometimes in small waterfalls where the riverbed had collapsed.

Clear sky above.

The sun was directly ahead, a handspan or two above the horizon and smudged across a dark blue almost black sky that was turning an explosion of orange, pink and red. Then there was the air. 

The air felt so much lighter and cooler, not the heavy stillness of the forest that was only broken by the rare breeze that had managed to travel upstream across the riverbed. Which made up for the slight smell of mud and decay that was coming from beyond the transitory zone.

I wasn’t alone in standing here taking it all in, Roxi looked like she was almost breathing it all in, setting the scene sight, feel and smell to memory. And Gael, she was embracing the moment as well, but I could also see there was a part of her that was even now scanning ahead and around us from potential threats.

Then suddenly she was jumping down to the grass of one of the forested grassy islands several feet below. “Come on you two, time to park your asses and get some rest while I find us somewhere to camp for the night!”

Following her, I landed on the thick grass in a balanced crouch before letting my arms slide free of my back as it fell to the ground behind me. Turning to my side I steadied the Amazon who’d landed with a wobble beside me.

“Thanks kitty,” Roxi smiled, removing her pack one handedly to fling it to one side and turning to grab me with her other arm to squish me against her side.

“Ok that’s enough playing you two,” smirked Gael. “Park your asses and get some rest, we may have to start moving again when I get back depending on if I can find a safe place to sleep nearby.”

* * *

Gael had barely stalked off when I was pulled down to tumble on the soft grass and my sides were submitted to a wiggling ten finger attack. The assault lasted several minutes before the Death Priestess relented and ceased her torture to leave me laying on my back in the grass staring up at the wine dark sky as I gasped to regain my breath.

By the time our guide returned the sun had almost touched down on the horizon and the air was beginning to cool.

Then barely minutes later, our unforgiving maid overlord had us with packs on and moving again. Following her and the forest swamp belt northward, until we came to yet another spot where the forest’s edge had sharply subsided falling away to join the fringe creating an eight foot cliff face of packed soil, rock, clay and roots holding it all together.

A tree stood right at the very edge with half of its thick roots sticking out exposed, like the vertical bars of a bell-shaped birdcage.

Gael had obviously already spent some time preparing this spot while we rested. A thick layer of leafy fallen branches had been propped against the outside of the roots to close off the root’s interior from the outside.

Crawling into the space below the roots through an entrance she’d left where the roots met the cliff face, we found that it had been previously used as an animal’s nest or den. Covering the hollow’s dire floor was a layer of dried leaves, grass, feathers and tufts of loose fur and at the back where the wall of earth should have been, something had burrowed into the dirt and clay expanding the hollow.

“Make yourselves comfortable for the night. We should be safe, sheltered and out of sight here, hell we should even be safe to have a fire,” she instructed. “Nothing like a good dry hole in the dirt to hide in,” she muttered appreciatively as she got to work with a small pile of dry wood.

Beneath the ceiling of thick tree roots there was neither room to stand or crawl about much. It was a tight fit with the three of us, but pulling out our bedrolls and rations, we laid out our blankets before piling our packs against the opening to seal it.

As we settled down to eat dinner we ended up sitting on our bedrolls in a rough semi-circle, leaning back against the roots that surrounded us like the weathered ribs of a dinosaur or long dead whale. Conversation was sparse as we ate quietly and allowed ourselves to relax, recuperate and unwind from our exertions and the tension of the last twenty four hours. It must have been the perceived safety of our hidden shelter, but I could feel stress that I had been unaware of and carrying since last night, slowly leaving my body.

Unlike back in the real world, I had started to take for granted the peace of being able to fall asleep feeling safe from danger. And aside from our run in with the Basiphusis and my failed log out attempt, we’d been able to sleep peacefully without fear each night we’d been here. At least until last night. 

In addition to her security concerns, Gael must have known how important that feeling of safety would be for us tonight in order to recover.

Roxi must have been following the same line of thought when she commented on our shelter and Gael’s experience as a soldier, asking her how she felt being back in the thick of it.

“As thankful as I am for M—, umm Enfys and the Duchess for providing me a safe place and my peaceful employment in the Palace, this all comes naturally to me at this point,” she answered, gesturing around.

“Naturally?” Roxi inquired, tilting her head slightly.

“Well… It's like I was made for this shit, like I was born with a sword in hand, like protection and security is in my blood. I’ve been doing this a while and I have a lot of experience following commands, accomplishing mission objectives. I’ve had both powerful and shady employers, some I never want to fucking be under the thumb of ever again. The shit I’ve seen. I’ve served and protected the interests of scum who disgust me. Never again,” she spat, lobbing a wad of spit into the fire.

Fuck, I winced. That sounded bad, worse even than what she had revealed the last time she had opened up and that had included mention of a four day bloodbath. I’ve done work for criminal gangs and not had as visceral recollections as that.

“Let's just say I have a shitload of experience and that un-fucking-ending vigilance and threat detection is a part of what, a part of who I am,” she concluded with a sigh before cracking a grin. 

“Not that this job is anything like what I used to do, this is a pleasant bloody holiday with friends in comparison,” still wearing a grin as she relaxed back against her root and closing her eyes signaled the conversation’s end.

* * *

Darkness in all directions.

I was standing in the rain. I could hear it falling all around me. Strange… I couldn’t feel it hitting me. 

There was a girl standing in the darkness before me. Rain was pelting down around her, but she wasn’t wet. She was just standing there. Unmoving. Not reacting or responding to the rain.

She was speaking. Her voice was distant, barely audible over the rain pounding down around us. Audible enough to know she was speaking, but not enough to make out what she was saying.

I tried moving closer. Closer to hear what she was saying. Except I couldn’t. I was frozen in place. Paralysed…

Hours seemed to pass as we stood there in the rain and dark. Focusing on her I tried to read her lips. She had blonde hair… She was just saying, repeating, one word? Two syllables.

What was she saying?

Testing?

Huh?…