Chapter 65: Without A Doubt
Orion tried to hold back his laughter but failed, bursting into a loud laugh that echoed briefly across the plateau. When he saw the three glaring at him, he quickly became serious, clearing his throat and offering an apology.
The plateau stretched before them, the spires jutting up like the broken teeth of some ancient colossus. Silence hung over the area, and even the mist seemed to halt at the threshold, unwilling to enter.
Kyle broke the quiet first with a faint sigh.
"I suppose we can cross ’holiday destination’ off the list. This feels like the sort of place I would use to frighten children into obedience. Hell..."
Na-Ri adjusted her grip on her blade and, without altering her usual tone, summoned her floating orb once again.
"Good point." she said flatly.
Adela pressed her palms to her temples, closing her eyes to shut out the lingering afterimage of the path.
"The light is fading. I cannot see hidden lines here. Uh... I do not think my Element’s affinity can guide me further."
Orion studied her for a moment, then looked down with an unreadable expression.
"Then we advance with the floating orb of death, gently introduced by Lee. I suppose we are still in the eastern area, perhaps. What we see must be enough."
He cast his gaze across the nearest cluster of spires and added, "So..."
***
They began to move between the first row of spires. The ground was uneven but solid, with a few fractured stones slanting under their feet. Each spire towered above them like an unyielding sentinel, and their shadows stretched long despite the fragmented light.
The beautiful stranger’s attention flicked constantly to the gaps, while Kyle lingered half a pace behind her, his face set in a grimace.
Suddenly, Orion outstretched his hands with a mock drunken expression and exclaimed:
"If something jumps us here, it deserves the meal for effort alone. Look at this place. I feel like we are walking through a mausoleum designed by a drunk architect!"
Adela glanced over her shoulder to meet his eyes.
"Do you ever stop?"
Kyle watched him with visible scorn before turning his head away.
’I don’t think so. He is surely going to attract whatever lurks here.’
Honestly, the handsome youth truly lived up to the clown tag, and this was the second time he had confirmed it since they met him. They were already on a strange island, and now in a far stranger place, yet his jokes kept coming.
Sometimes he was serious and analytical, and most times he was all jokes, arts, and myth.
Even so, he remained the pumping red heart of the party, and he was far from useless.
"Not unless I am asleep," Orion finally said easily, chuckling lowly.
The beautiful stranger walked ahead, letting her hand graze one of the spires, her expression thoughtful as she murmured, "The surface is quite smooth."
She cast a sharp glance at Orion, who merely shook his head once.
Figuratively, her observation was obvious, yet it highlighted the odd fact that the spires seemed crafted rather than natural. They were perhaps many years old, but certainly not a century.
The air grew colder the deeper they went, and the spires crowded closer together until the sky above was reduced to a thin ribbon. Soon their steps began to echo along the narrow path traced by the floating orb.
At a bend between two taller spires, Na-Ri halted, raising her arm as the floating orb paused.
The others froze instantly.
She crouched, brushing her hand across a splintered patch of stone. Thin grooves etched the surface in a deliberate pattern.
"...These are tracks," she murmured.
Kyle leaned closer, his voice low and solemn.
"Do not tell me those belong to beasts. I already dislike the décor."
Na-Ri straightened, pressing her lips into a thin line. She glanced at him, then at one of the spires, hoisting her blade.
"Of course they do not belong to a human, and the size suggests a giant. The trail appears to have been dragged through here."
Adela’s fingers twitched at her side, and she swallowed audibly.
"Then what should we do? Are you thinking there is a Titan-type beast here, or something even worse?"
Biting his lower lip, he said to them:
"My shadow scout has not seen anything yet, but Lee’s floating orb stopped, which means there is something dangerous nearby."
He glanced at Adela.
"Now I am beginning to think it would have been better to head west, do you not agree?"
She hesitated, then shook her head.
"The whole island is a shifting mass. Going west does not guarantee we will avoid a far worse scenario. Besides, if we turn back, what certainty is there that we will find our way past the ridges? Accept it, Orion. We are lost, threading through a strange place. Remaining in one spot is unsafe, and Lee was right to lead us east."
Kyle sighed, running a hand through his damp hair.
"So, to summarise: we followed a ghostly road through a wall of clouds, ended up in a graveyard made of teeth, and now we might share it with something large enough to squash us flat. Quite the ordeal."
Na-Ri glanced at him coldly.
"If you are truly frightened, go back."
"I am not frightened," Kyle replied quickly, scowling. "I am realistic. Frightened people scream. Realists assess this kind of situation and know they are damned with no hope. Of course, you are proficient at this. Do your thing."
The two of them locked eyes in a murderous glare. The beautiful stranger tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade, while Kyle clenched his fists, remembering how they had all been trapped under the Glacial Skyscander at the temple, reduced to robotic-like stupidity.
Adela stepped between them to diffuse the tension.
"Guys, you can argue later. We cannot afford it here."
Her words settled them, at least for the moment.
After a short pause, the floating orb shifted its course, guiding the group deeper into the maze of spires.
Time passed without sense as the spires gradually thinned. Light returned slowly, dim but sufficient to reveal a break in the formations. The ground sloped downward into a wide clearing, the stone splitting into jagged patterns beneath their feet.
At the centre, a massive spire towered above the rest, its tip disappearing into the low clouds that seemed confined to this part of the sky.
Kyle exhaled slowly, tilting his head back.
"Well, there is your king of the hill. That one makes the rest look like fence posts."
Na-Ri’s brow furrowed as she said:
"Something is wrong with it."
"Oh, what now?" Kyle muttered, a sinking feeling settling in his chest. Everything the beautiful stranger said seemed to ignite tension and unease, no matter how strong one’s will was.
Perhaps it was a natural skill, or maybe her Element’s affinity contributed to it. Either way, Kyle’s thoughts drifted back to a question he had once forced aside when he experienced his breakthrough...
...Her Name.
Orion followed her gaze. The surface of the central spire pulsed faintly as light stirred beneath the stone. It shimmered once, then stilled.
Adela whispered, almost to herself:
"Umm... I think we’re back inside the forest."
The three turned to her with confusion etched across their faces, each silently processing how the forest seemed to reclaim the space around the dark spires.