07-06-2024, 10:01 PM
Relief flooded through her, bringing with it a tide of giddy exhilaration. Meanwhile the power swept away whether she cared to release it or not. Thalia’s wobbly legs wanted nothing more than to fold underneath her, but she wasn’t sure she’d easily stand again if she did. Instead she caught her breath while Tristan flexed into renewed freedom, her smile bright and unguarded with joy. It felt indescribably triumphant. She’d seen him grin sometimes, when lighter moods pierced the sombre caution that ruled his judgement of their strange travels, but his smile then, in this place of darkness, made her flutter warmly inside.
Whatever made him pause and tense a moment later, Thalia couldn’t hear it, but she trusted his instincts like they were an extension of her own. Fear had receded though, leaving only certainty despite the oppressive shadows and the creature’s cooling corpse by their feet. She squeezed his hand in return, and welcomed him into the current of motion that would see them free – far less cautious than he as she led him to retrace her steps.
If his shoulder pained him on the journey he said nothing, and for now she did not ask him about it again. Soon she was talking of her memories of waking instead: the enormous snake-like creature that had been coiled around her; how large a single scale had been under her hand, and how her whole arm moved with the weight of its breath. She offered no rumination on what it had been, or where they were, or how they had been separated. Rather she lingered on the small treasures, content to have someone with which to share the things which fascinated her.
By the time they reached the junction where the Nemesyne had left her, their roles reversed as naturally as day shifting to night. Thalia hugged herself loosely as the temperature began to plummet, and she trailed closely after him as he sought them a path through the natural tunnels. The closing jaws of whatever reality they returned to was not exactly welcome, yet she did not look back. Adventurous of spirit as she was, she had no desire to become lost.
One thing became rapidly clear as they left the blistering prison behind. It was cold. Colder by far than Baikal had been when they left it. She didn’t ask the obvious question, but it began to circle around her thoughts. Tristan must be wondering the same.
Where were they?
They emerged into the hollow of a cave, sheltered from the worst of the elements. Breath already ached Thalia’s chest, but for a moment at least curiosity led her onwards. In the weak light she noticed her hands were sooty dark to the forearms, but she barely noticed the oddness as she curled them around herself. A wild fall of curls blanketed down her shoulders, but it was meagre comfort; she shivered in her own skin. And still stared out, wide-eyed; a little in awe, a little in fear.
Beyond the cave mouth, utter desolation greeted them.
Volcanic ash striped the snow dark. A few abandoned buildings littered the distant vista, some mere carcasses of whatever they had once been, and large cylinders struck the earth like the carelessly flung toys of a giant. Grey water churned behind the black sand of a curling cove. Nothing stirred, just the solitary beat of her own heart.
Whatever made him pause and tense a moment later, Thalia couldn’t hear it, but she trusted his instincts like they were an extension of her own. Fear had receded though, leaving only certainty despite the oppressive shadows and the creature’s cooling corpse by their feet. She squeezed his hand in return, and welcomed him into the current of motion that would see them free – far less cautious than he as she led him to retrace her steps.
If his shoulder pained him on the journey he said nothing, and for now she did not ask him about it again. Soon she was talking of her memories of waking instead: the enormous snake-like creature that had been coiled around her; how large a single scale had been under her hand, and how her whole arm moved with the weight of its breath. She offered no rumination on what it had been, or where they were, or how they had been separated. Rather she lingered on the small treasures, content to have someone with which to share the things which fascinated her.
By the time they reached the junction where the Nemesyne had left her, their roles reversed as naturally as day shifting to night. Thalia hugged herself loosely as the temperature began to plummet, and she trailed closely after him as he sought them a path through the natural tunnels. The closing jaws of whatever reality they returned to was not exactly welcome, yet she did not look back. Adventurous of spirit as she was, she had no desire to become lost.
One thing became rapidly clear as they left the blistering prison behind. It was cold. Colder by far than Baikal had been when they left it. She didn’t ask the obvious question, but it began to circle around her thoughts. Tristan must be wondering the same.
Where were they?
They emerged into the hollow of a cave, sheltered from the worst of the elements. Breath already ached Thalia’s chest, but for a moment at least curiosity led her onwards. In the weak light she noticed her hands were sooty dark to the forearms, but she barely noticed the oddness as she curled them around herself. A wild fall of curls blanketed down her shoulders, but it was meagre comfort; she shivered in her own skin. And still stared out, wide-eyed; a little in awe, a little in fear.
Beyond the cave mouth, utter desolation greeted them.
Volcanic ash striped the snow dark. A few abandoned buildings littered the distant vista, some mere carcasses of whatever they had once been, and large cylinders struck the earth like the carelessly flung toys of a giant. Grey water churned behind the black sand of a curling cove. Nothing stirred, just the solitary beat of her own heart.
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