New Chapter!
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Millie sighed as she rolled over. Her eyes cracked open as her mind began to awake up, wondering what had disturbed her from her slumber. An obnoxious voice carried up the stairs, followed by a hissing whisper. After a pause of a few seconds, footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. Millie sighed and sat up in bed. There was a gentle tap at the door before it swung open, revealing Erinn. Her face was a little pink and she seemed a little irritated.
"Oh, Millie. You're awake," Erinn said with surprise as she entered further into the room. "Sorry to come barging in, but you have a visitor." Millie raised an eyebrow, prompting Erinn to continue. "It's Ivor. There's something or the other that he wants to talk to you about."
Millie bit back a sigh, which the purple haired girl picked up on. She shook her head apologetically. "It's not like I can turn him away. He knows you're here. Just give him a few minutes of your time."
"Alright," Millie muttered. "Just give me a minute to get up." Erinn nodded and left, closing the door carefully behind her. Millie rolled out of the bed with a groan. The soreness from her fall was beginning to settle in again. Millie heaved herself off the ground with a grunt, reminding herself that she's had worse, especially when it came to the relentless training of Aquila.
She straightened up and stretched out her arms before changing quickly into her clothes. Out of habit, she strapped her sword to her back before heading downstairs. Erinn was standing at the sink, washing up some of the leftover dishes from last night. She nodded to the door where Ivor was standing, blocking the way out.
"Morning, Millie," Ivor greeted. Millie became immediately suspicious of his nice decent attitude. He just rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Don't look so surprised. There's just something that I want to talk to you about, that's all."
"Sure," Millie said, waiting for him to speak. Ivor cast a glance at Erinn, whose back was turned, before turning around and opening the door. "Not in here. Come on outside for a minute."
Millie's guard came up even further as she followed him outside. She watched him suspiciously as he led her to the side of the house before stopping and rounding on her.
"Alright, so here's the thing. You know the earthquake? How it blocked that path? Well, without the path, we're cut off from the rest of the world." He said all of this in a fast, low whisper. "It's the only way out of Angel Falls. It's a real problem for Erinn... I mean, for everyone," Ivor said, his face turning a bit red at his mistake. He shook it off before continuing. "So I was thinking that I should go clear the landslide."
At this last sentence, Millie just looked at him like he was crazy, which he basically was. How can someone clear an entire landslide on their own? Millie had seen quite a few in her long years as a Celestrian, so she had a good idea what they looked like. And how long it took to get rid of them.
"What does this have to do with me?" she asked after a pause.
"I'm getting to that," Ivor said crossly. "Anyway, if I clear the landslide, I'll be a hero. My dad will get off my back, and it'll make Erinn really happy." His face turned red again at the very mention of her name.
"What do you want me for?" Millie prompted again.
"Well, there's a teensy problem," Ivor said. "A lot of monster were woken up by that quake and now their running amok. It's pretty dangerous. That's why I was thinking that you can come and tag along."
"You want me to come with you?" Millie asked, a little confused.
"Yeah. You minstrels can handle yourselves pretty well in a fight, right? You think I can count on you to help me out?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with determination. Millie weighed her options while giving Ivor a once-over. He looked strong enough, but only in brute force. Something told Millie that, in an extended fight, Ivor would be at a disadvantage. She was almost tempted to say no.
But then she realized that, no matter what she said, Ivor would still go. On his own, he might be killed. With Millie, his chance of survival were a fair deal better. And who was Millie to let one of her flock die?
"Sure, count me in," Millie said. Ivor jumped with surprise, clearly not expecting her to say yes.
"I knew you'd say yes!" he lied obviously. "Let's go! You just need to leave the gates and head dead east. Lead the way!"
"Alright. I should tell Erinn that-"
"No! We need to keep this on the down low. I don't want anyone's noses in out business," he said, cutting her off.
"Okay, let's go then," Millie muttered. They walked quickly but casually through town, careful not to attract any unwanted attention. Most people just ignored them anyway. It was just the strange minstrel and the mayor's failure son. Nothing to be worried about.
The only person who tried to stop them was Hugo. He had been put on watch duty to keep an eye out for anything from friendly knights to evil monsters. He turned around when he heard the footsteps approaching him. His eyebrows shot up when he saw that it was Ivor and Millie.
"Oi! Where are you two going?" he asked. He noticed that they were armed and immediately frowned. "You can't go out there. There are monsters all over."
"Stop trying to scare people!" Ivan snapped. "We're going out to clear the landslide, and there is nothing you can do about it."
"And what are you doing with him, Millie?" Hugo asked, sounding a little hurt. "Since when were you two best friends?" Millie opened her mouth to explain, but Ivan cut her off as he grabbed her shoulders and pushed past Hugo.
"We're just clearing the landslide," Ivan said again. Hugo watched them go with a frown.
"Be careful!" he shouted.
"Yeah yeah. No problem," Ivan said with a wave. "We'll be fine."
...
"So, where exactly are we heading?" Millie asked once they were out of earshot. Ivor pointed at the road ahead of them with his sword.
"Just follow this path east. It's pretty easy. But there are monsters about," Ivor said. "We're going to want to be quick." Millie nodded and took off, leading the way in a light run along the dirt path. There was a good deal of grass between the road and the tree line, so they would see a monster if it decided to run at them. There were strange brown sacks moving through the grass, and weird fluffy rodents with bat wings. They took one look at the sharp swords and ran away. They didn't come across any trouble until they reached the steps.
"Up these babies and then it's just a short distance to the forest," Ivor panted. He was out of breath. Millie frowned. She wasn't so sure how safe it was to be out in the wilderness with him. Not that she couldn't take any of the monsters. She was just used to being able to attack from the air with Master Aquila watching on in case something went wrong.
They walked up the steps and Ivor paused to take a breath. He looked at Millie. "Aren't you tired? I figure myself to be in good shape, but you-"
He let out a strangled noise as Millie yanked him aside, a spear landing where he had just been standing.
"What the heck was that for?" he yelled, ripping himself free of her hand.
"Look," Millie ordered, pointing ahead of them. A monster had jumped out from behind a rock and thrown it's spear at them.
"Great. A cruelcumber. How are we supposed to fight that?" Ivor asked. Millie stepped past him and picked up the spear, waving it towards the monster.
"Hey, buddy! You want your spear back?" Millie asked. The cruelcumber just watched her. She shrugged saying, "I guess not," and snapped the spear in half over her leg. The cruelcumber immediately charged, closing the distance between them in seconds.
"Millie, what are you doing?" Ivor shouted, backing up. The cruelcumber was almost on top of them. Millie ran forward, straight towards the charging cucumber beast. She jumped right before they collided, shoving her bronze sword through its heart. It vanished in a puff of black, leaving behind a tiny bag.
"That's interesting," Millie muttered, picking up the bag and shaking it, making the coins inside bounce around. She pocketed the money before turning to Ivor. He was staring at her with an open mouth.
"You just baited and attacked the monster," Ivor said.
"Yes," Millie agreed.
"You could have just run away," Ivor pointed out, quickly regaining his composure. "That's what I would have done."
"It would have chased us," Millie said. "And besides, how far would you have gotten? You're tired and out of breath."
Ivor just looked at her for a second. "You're a strange one, even for a minstrel."
Millie shrugged. "You know what's strange? Monsters dropping money."
"Are you kidding me? They do that everywhere," Ivor said.
"That's not possible. Not every monster can steal from people," Millie pointed out. "How is it possible?"
"Don't they do it where you're from?" Ivor asked.
"Nope," Millie answered simply.
"It's that way. The landslide," Ivor said, pointing into the forest ahead of him. "Or, that's what I heard someone say, at least."
...
It took them less than a minute to get to the forest that Ivor mentioned. There were several paths cutting through it. The trees looked old and grew high into the sky, blocking out a lot of the early sun. Ivor was walking beside Millie now, clearly feeling much safer in the woods than on the open path.
"Which way?" Millie asked as they hit a three way split in the road.
"Well, the right one is a dead end, and I've never seen the middle one before in my life, so go left," Ivor said, pointing his sword for emphasis. Millie's brows furrowed.
"What do you mean you've never seen the middle path?" Millie asked, walking towards it. She only got a few steps before freezing.
In front of her was the locomotive of a train. It shined like benevolessence, emitting a sapphire glow. Underneath the aura around it, Millie could make out golden metal with bright blue detailing. There was no mistaking it. It was the Celestial Carriage.
The Starflight Express.
"Millie?" Ivor asked, waving a hand in front of her. "What are you staring at?"
Millie shook her head. Of course Ivor couldn't see it, but why could she? Millie felt herself smile a little as she realized that she kept more of her Celestrian abilities than she first thought.
"Come on!" Ivor said, grabbing her and dragging her away. "It's just a fallen tree!"
"Sorry. I thought I saw another cruelcumber," she said sheepishly. Ivor froze.
"And did you? Actually see one, I mean?" Ivor asked, sounding a bit frightened.
"No. It was just all this green playing tricks on my eyes," Millie said. Ivor didn't look convinced.
"How about you double check? Just to be safe." Ivor suggested. "I'll go ahead, and you watch my back to make sure nothing attacks me." Millie nodded, eyeing him closely. He didn't sound like he was leaving her to be eaten by a monster. He sounded like he had quickly thought up his plan, and decided that it was the best way to proceed.
Ivor walked ahead quickly, looking around for the cruelcumber. Millie watched him go.
"Did you see anything?" Ivor asked once he was far enough away.
"Nothing!" Millie shouted back. "I'll double check, though, just to be safe!"
"Alright! I'll go on ahead!" Ivor replied before moving out of Millie's line of sight.
Millie waited for a few seconds, making sure he was gone before approaching the locomotive. She walked up the steps slowly, her shoes echoing on the thin metal. She grabbed the latch on the door and tried to open it, finding it impossible. She assumed that it was locked magically. Millie frowned and stepped back, looking at the forest around her. She could just make out two train cars to the left and one to the right. She distinctly remembered that there were seven in all the legends that she had been told. Maybe they were just missing.
She stepped back from the door and heard something metal fall down the steps. Millie looked, finding a small ring with a tiny gem in it. Millie pocketed it, figuring that it had come from someone on the train. She would return it to whoever it belonged to when she came back.
"Millie! Come here!" Ivor voice came from down the path.
"Coming!" Millie shouted back to him, breaking into a run.
As she turned the corner, a pink light floated down, hovering near the door.
"That was weird. It was like she could actually see the Starflight Express!" the light said. "Strange."
...
"There was no cruelcumber. I'm sure of it," Millie said as she came up next to Ivor. He just pointed ahead of him.
"That's the landslide," he said. "This is worse that I thought."
"Wow," Millie said. It looked like the two cliffs on either side of the path decided to shift and crumble into each other. It was massive. "I mean, it is a landslide. What did you expect?"
"You and I will never be able to clear all of this!" he muttered. He kicked the nearest boulder. "Stupid landslide."
"It's okay," Millie said.
"I just wanted to see the look on my dad's face when I came back as the hero who cleared the landslide," Ivor frowned, looking upset.
"It's okay," Millie repeated. "You can always be a hero in other stuff."
Ivor muttered under his breath, kicking another rock. This one clattered out of the way, causing the dirt above it slide. "Woah!" he shouted, backing up.
"Hellooo!" A voice from the other side of the landslide shouted. "Is somebody over there?"
Ivor shared a look with Millie before taking a step forward. "Uh, yeah! I'm Ivor, from Angel Falls!"
"We are soldiers from Stornway! We are here to clear the landslide, under orders from King Schott!" the voice shouted again. Ivor turned to Millie.
"The King of Stornway must really care about this dingy place if he decides to help us out!" Ivor said excitedly.
"I guess we aren't needed here then," Millie said.
"Yeah. We should just go," Ivor said. "I wish we hadn't come all this way." They turned to leave when the voice shouted again.
"Wait! We must ask you something! It is urgent!"
"What is it?" Ivor asked.
"Did a woman named Patty make her way to Angel Falls recently? She's an inn owner in Stornway, but left for Angel Falls a day ago! We haven't heard from her since she left! Do you know anything of it?" the soldier asked.
"Nope!" Ivor shouted. "Sorry! What would she want with Angel Falls?"
"We're not sure. We assumed that she was going to visit family or take a vacation! Anyway, she went through the Hexagon! That path is blocked too, so we have no way of checking on her," the soldier shouted.
"What's the Hexagon?" Millie asked.
"It's an old ruin that used to be the only way from Angel Falls to Stornway. It's full of twists and turns and took forever. Then this easy pass was built and no one set foot in the ruin afterwards." Ivor frowned and turned back to the landslide. "Why would she go that way? It full of monsters and is falling apart! Didn't anyone warn her about that?"
"We don't know! No one knows what Patty does, or at least no one questions it for fear of a smack over the head!" the soldier said. "Can you at least tell your village that the pass should be open pretty soon? Maybe tomorrow or the next day? And could you ask around about Patty, maybe find out who she was visiting, that'd be grand."
"Yeah, no problem. You can always count on me!" Ivor declared. He turned back to Millie. "Alright! Home time. I'm sure everyone will be pretty pleased with this news!"
Chapter done!
Yay!