Chapter 65: Chapter 65

ROCK BOTTOM

Rock Bottom

The Tundra, Arctica

Sebastiaan moved a little bit closer to Aleksander. "The mist is moving." "What?" Kendra exclaimed, stretching her neck.

"The mist is moving. It's spreading out further over the town," Sebastiaan repeated. "It's also getting thicker toward the centre."

Tarja turned in the direction of town. Sure enough, the mist was getting bigger. It looked like it was trying to swallow Kitee. She watched as it turned, creating a whirl of multiple shades of green. It was like the Grinch had exploded. A large funnel formed, sending the green mass high into the sky, before collapsing like a black hole.

"You do have to admit that was kind of cool," Aleksander said.

"Yeah, maybe if it weren't trying to kill us." Tarja watched as the mist came even closer to her. She sniffed the air. "There's still no smell or nothing." Kendra nodded. "I know. I really don't think it's the mist that is the problem. It could just be here to draw our attention away from the real problem." "Like a mask," Sebastiaan suggested.

Kendra nodded. "Exactly. The real threat could be anywhere. I'm not saying that the mist is not dangerous, but it might not be the most dangerous thing out there."

Tarja stared at the mist, keeping her eyes and ears open. She listened closely. There! She could faintly make out the soft sounds of electric flying through the air. "Did you hear that?" Aleksander nodded. "Yeah, it's been going on for awhile." Tarja glared at him. "And you didn't think to tell us?" She paused. "It's gotten so much worse!" She had known about the battle, but this was far different. It sounded like they were on the border of causing another world war. "I didn't think it was important." "It was important."

Sebastiaan takes a small step closer to the mist. "It just started anyway. It could have been going on for awhile, but I just noticed it a few minutes ago. It sounds like magic." He allowed his ears to shift into those of a wolf's. "Yeah, that is magic. I can also hear wolves and something else. It is a battle, but I'm not sure of what." Tarja moved closer to Sebastiaan, stretching her hearing. She could hear the awful cries of people falling to their deaths and those who were victors letting out cries of joy. Their grunts, screams, and cries sent waves of shock right into her core. She closed her eyes. She had been in large scale battles before, but to actually stand back and hear it was an entirely different matter. In the heat of battle, you tended to forget that those were real live living beings that you were fitting, not some sort of robot.

It was harder to separate yourself from the height of something when were not actually face to face with it, then when you had the chance to step back and think fully about the current situation.

She slowly took a step back as a man's screams filled the air. "There has be something blocking it from the normal people. Otherwise, they probably would be fleeing." Kendra nodded. "Yeah."

Sebastiaan cleared his throat. "There is actually a blocking spell. It's very powerful. It puts whoever you want into some kind of deep sleep. It makes them think that time is not moving and they are completely unaware of what is going on. It does not harm anyone though, which is part of its' beauty."

Floor stared out at the rock covered space. That wasn't the odd part. In the middle of the area, there seemed to be a hole. It kept getting bigger and bigger; she was pretty sure that it was going to cover the whole field. She looked over at the newcomer. Why didn't they have anything to fear? That just didn't make one bit of sense. There was a hole growing in the middle of the field, one that would probably swallow them up.

The newcomer went out into the centre, so close to the hole that Floor feared she would fall into it. "Come on. This is the way that we are supposed to go."

Floor looked over at Tarja, who was staring at the newcomer with wide eyes. "What do we do?" Floor whispered.

"I don't know. I do think we are going to have to go through the hole or it's going to take us," Tarja muttered. She looked over her shoulder. "I just hope that Markus and Eelis find us soon."

"There's no way they made out of that alive," Floor pointed out. "We have to prepared to go on our own."

Tarja bit the inside of her mouth. "I know, but I don't want to think about it."

"We have to think about it," Floor pointed out. "There's no other choice."

The hole was so close to the newcomer now that she was struggling to stay on her rock. She smiled at them; her entire body seemed to be at peace. She opened her arms to the heavens, like she was inviting them to come and take her soul. She truly did look like she was offering herself up to the gods or whatever was out there.

Aleksander shook his head. "This is getting to be just downright insane."

Floor only nodded. "Shall we?"

They started toward the hole, the wind was starting to pick up. The only plus they had going for them was that there were no more giant snakes coming after them. The wind was blowing so hard that it was quiet difficult to remain upright. More than once, Floor found herself ducking down, trying to protect her body from the fierce fire of the wind.

Slowly they reached the hole. The newcomer hadn't moved, she just stared at them with her wide open eyes as the hole reached her feet. "I will see you soon," she said as the hole swallowed her up.

Floor just stared in horror at the empty space. The hole was quickly approaching them, threatening to swallow them up whole as well. She looked back at the others. They were all but staring at the hole with their mouths hanging open.

"Well, that was interesting," Aleksander said.

The hole was at their feet now. Floor looked down at it; all it would take was one final sweep and they would be down inside it. She really was getting tired of falling into holes.

The ground gave way beneath her and she found herself falling. It wasn't as strong as a fall as she thought it would had been. In fact, it almost felt like she was floating. She looked over at the others, who seemed to be as confused and relieved as she was. This wasn't going to be so bad, she guessed. Maybe they would actually make it out of here alive. It was actually a nice thought to have.

She stared down at the bottom that she couldn't see. It was an eternal darkness. She looked back upwards; once again, only darkness greeted her. She blinked. She could no longer see the others, no longer see where this was going. She had been so stupid for thinking that everything was going to be okay.

Everything was not going to be okay. Nothing was ever just okay. She didn't care what others said to her or did. In the end, things did not always work out. It didn't matter what kind of a person you were, things were not going to go your way. There were plenty of good people who had never known nothing but suffering. There were plenty of bad people who simply lived the good life. The world just was not a fair place.

She could feel her body starting to slow down. She chanced a look down; she could still only see darkness. This was not good. She needed to know what was down below her in order for her to decide the best course of action. She didn't like not knowing what was going on.

"Go ahead and put your feet down," someone whispered below her.

Floor looked around, but couldn't see who the speaker was. How could she trust someone that she couldn't see?

"Go ahead, nothing will hurt you," the voice said again.

Floor looked around. "Who's there?" she whispered.

There was no answer. She wanted to stomp her foot, but didn't. What good would that even do her?

Still, she couldn't keep falling forever.

She carefully lowered her feet and found solid ground. She looked around, surprised that she could actually see. They were in some kind of rock chamber with a narrow passage on the south side. She looked back up at the hole, which seemed to had sealed itself off.

"Well, that was fun," Kaidan said, frowning. "Now, what are they going to throw at us?"

The newcomer only smiled. "Just have faith."

Floor just rolled her eyes. This whole having faith thing was not her thing. She stared down the tunnel. They might as well face the facts. This was all they were going to have in Ajatar's lair. The other two simply were not coming back

A light approached them. It was the same colour as the mist. It was so blinding that Floor actually closed her eyes. Slowly, the light behind her eyes began to fade away, until she was sure she could open them without being blinded.

The air started to turn colder again. She pulled her heavy clothes up tighter around herself. It wasn't the normal kind of cold; it was the kind that buried itself deep within her bone. It made her feel completely numb, like she was not going to be able to move away from the spot she was rooted on. She looked around. Everything had a hazy feel to it, like the world would never be clear again.

She tried to move her feet, but it was like they were frozen. She looked down again. Water was actually seeping around her feet. She looked over at the others, who were looking back at her with their eyes wide.

"I thought you said everything was going to be okay!" Tarja screamed at the newcomer.

"It is!" the newcomer exclaimed back. "Everything is going to be okay!"

The water kept rising higher and higher. Floor looked at Tarja with wide eyes. Everything was not going to be okay. It was up to her knees now. She looked up at the roof. There was no way out; no way that they were going to make it out of this alive.

She found herself gasping for air. Drowning was not the way she had wanted to go. She had heard it was a very long and very painful death with your body fighting every bit of the way. She could feel the water rushing around her. This was not how it was going to end. This was not how she was going to let herself go.

She looked over at Tarja, who still had her warrior face on. Maybe they were not going to die. Maybe they were going to actually fight their way out of this. Floor wanted to reach out to Tarja, wanted to tell her that she still was ready for the fight.

The water was now up to Floor's waist. It was so cold that she felt like she was going to be iced it. She could no longer feel the lower half of her body. She closed her eyes. This was not how it was going to end.

She stared up at the green mist, wondering how long it had been there. She felt something burning in her hip. Frowning, she reached into her pocket. The ring! How could she had forgotten about the ring.

Only, the odd thing about it was that its' centre was now the same green as the mist and it seemed to be trying to go toward the mist.