"Hey! Keep up," someone shouts.
Mariah snapped out of her contemplation and focused on her environment. She was walking at a slower pace, taking in her surroundings. The burly man ahead of her was standing on a rock – surveying the landscape. The group was filing past him. Everyone had a weapon of some sort ranging from spears, to AK-47s to grenades. Mariah was the outlier in the group; She just had a Swiss army knife and a bag full of supplies. It didn't occur to her to question where everyone got such weapons. She wasn't quite sure where they were headed... she wasn't even sure what they were supposed to be doing. Everything felt …disjointed. She felt obligated to follow along, nonetheless.
Aimlessly they march until they discover an expanse. It was as massive as the Grand Canyon. The faces of the cliffs towered over the group like skyscrapers, it was almost as though the earth was looking at them through a magnifying glass. The surrounding earth and flora are akin to the landmark. The ground appeared fragmented and jagged in some areas - rolling and smooth in others. Spiky yucca, large agave, and tiny flame-red and pale-yellow blossoms covered the sweeping canyon floor. There were some juniper trees growing on the broken rock of the floor. A speeding river tirelessly carved its way through the basin. That was where the similarities between the forefather of geologic phenomena and this place ended. Something about this place felt … off. The walls of the ravine had mauve, cornflower and copper streaks in them. There were odd violet boulders scattered around the area. The dirt beneath them even had a lilac tint. The leader of the group looks towards the other side of the canyon. "We need to find a way to cross this."
Mariah put her bag on the ground and digs through it. She thought she had something with her that would help, but she couldn't find it. Then she remembered where it was. "Hey! I think I have something back at the camp that could help us. Let me go get it!"
Before she knew it, she was lost in the woods. She had taken several winding paths trying to find her way back. With each path she took, the forest got thicker. She eventually came across a clearing. Mariah felt her heart skip. A wave of relief washed over her like she finally found a place that had eluded her. Her excitement waned when it became increasingly clear to her that she was alone. She began to feel small as the forest grew and trapped her inside. Suddenly she felt like she was in peril. She tried to turn around and retrace her steps, but the path disappeared. Then she heard a low growling coming from behind her. She whirls around to see a pack of five pitch black wolves with sinister red eyes pacing towards her, blocking her path. She attempted to back away, but she ended up tripping and falling. The wolves used this as an opportunity to pounce on her. Mariah shrieked. She tried to scramble to her feet, but the wolves had already grabbed her. She felt the burning pain of teeth tearing flesh as panic began to fill her prone form. As she kicked and screamed, she could only think of her inevitable death. Before she realized it, the wolves were holding her down as the pack leader strode forward. He was bigger by far than the others. He seemed almost monstrous! The evil dire wolf stared at her mockingly, slowly going for her throat. Before he could make contact, he abruptly stopped. It jumps off of Mariah . She gazed upward to see an ivory wolf with a golden glow standing on top of a boulder overlooking the scene. It howls, causing the dark wolves to cringe and shriek. The pack then runs whimpering back into the shadows. Mariah turns her attention back to the white wolf. Feelings of peace and hope washed over her as her vision faded to black.
She then finds herself wandering alone in a dark, misty forest looking for the exit. Which was impossible since whenever it looked like she reached the end, the forest kept on expanding. Although it was dark, Mariah could still see somewhat as the woods were lit by soft, blue moonlight. The place was entirely silent, save for the crunching of twigs and leaves beneath her feet. There was no wildlife. No wind whistling through the trees. No rushing streams of water. Nothing. It was as though the forest was frozen in time.
Mariah could have sworn she wasn't alone, yet whenever she periodically stopped to scan the area, she found no one around. She decided to check behind her once again, only to predictably not see anyone. She heard something rustle in the trees. She looked up towards the canopy but couldn't find what was making that sound. Something that felt like bark started to loop around her ankle and wrap up her leg. She immediately attempted to kick and pull it off. That was when another root dragged her down on the ground. As she struggles to get up, more tree roots grabbed hold of her, pulling her down. One encircled her waist while another bound itself to her ankle. She kept kicking, yanking the roots and scratching the ground as they kept pulling her underground. She woke up just before she was submerged under the earth.
She was breathing heavily. She then calmed down enough to check her palm. Okay, I can see my hand clearly. But just to double check… Mariah quietly opens her book bag to take out her ebony purse. She then gingerly opens it up to retrieve her compact mirror. Okay, my reflection's clear too, so I'm definitely in the real world. She then took out her space-themed journal and a pen from her bookbag and recorded everything she could remember from her dream.
Mariah had her first lucid dream when she was seven years old. It occurred spontaneously more often when she was around eleven years of age. At first it excited her, it was like having a superpower! However, she began to be afraid of not being able to distinguish reality from dreams and also of losing this power. She went on the internet and discovered that there were other people with the same ability she had. She learned about reality checks - which were simple ways one could tell if he or she was dreaming. For example, checking the letters on a page then seeing if they have changed. If they were altered somehow, she could be sure she was in a dream. After she learned about ways to induce lucid dreams, she didn't worry as much about losing her ability. She began a dream journal to help remember her dreams and recognize patterns in them.
It was the dead of night and everyone was sleeping. Some slept on the plane, others out in the open – even though the huts were poorly built. The moonlight was brighter than usual, which was a bit strange to Mariah - but it was useful for writing by. After she was done recording her dream, she took a good look at the night sky. Thousands upon thousands of diamonds were scattered across the heavens. There were even red and blue dots sprinkled in the mix. What she assumed to be a part of the Milky Way galaxy stretched its purplish arm across the sky and lit it up. She tried to find some constellations, but to no avail. Which was to be expected since Mariah was a city girl – she had never seen the night sky like this before. Only in photos. Then a thought pops into her mind. Light pollution from urban areas can spread into rural areas. How is it that I'm seeing the night sky like this in rural Pennsylvania? We could have landed in one of the few places where the Milky Way can be seen clearly. But what are the chances of that?"
Annie was deep in slumber, breathing softly and occasionally mumbling nonsensical poetry like, "your heart is made of chemical cyanide." Cass was sleeping on her stomach and spread out like a starfish. The rest of the group chose to sleep on the plane. Mariah tried to go back to sleep, but something made it very difficult to do so. The work from the day still wore on her. She and Elwin tried to help the crew fix the aircraft's radio as best as they could. Alas, they still couldn't reach anyone. They gave up on fixing the radio and helped to build the bonfire. One group went into the woods to gather kindling and wood. After they got back, they reported seeing strange creatures like spiders as large as cars (which made Elwin freeze) and a golden fox with three tails. Maybe there were undiscovered species here… or maybe the group was just seeing things. She didn't give it much more thought than that, what concerned her more was getting a bonfire started and being found. The bonfire was still being maintained by two night watchers. Five more night watchers sat at the edge of the camp, looking bored out of their minds as they kept watch.
She sat criss-crossed and rested her chin in her hand. Maybe now would be a good time to read. Might also be nice to have a Jack Daniels and Coke. She peered up at the shimmering sky. Though isn't it a bit late or early for one? Eh, who cares? Wait… Coke has caffeine so maybe I should think of something else. I hope we are found soon.
It turns out that the plane was seen. Earlier in the day a group of twelve men were walking along a ramp towards the summit of an enormous mountain. The men were all carrying tools ranging from pickaxes to hammers and chisels. They all had unlit lanterns dangling at their sides. Each of them carried containers filled to the brim with spring water and sacks with a meager portion of food their families packed. All the men were filthy. Their clothes were all tattered and dirty - some of them had patches of fabric that came from other pieces of clothing! Their shoes were worn out, a few of them even had holes in them. Their skin was also covered in grime from the mine.
One of the men felt the urge to cough and pulled out a rag from his pocket. He continued to keep up with the rest of the group as he coughs violently into his "handkerchief". Worry lines stretched across his forehead as he thought to himself, this job will be the death of me. From that initial thought he descends into his usual worrying. If I die, how will my family manage? Will Dilan be able to make the transition from working the village farm to mining iron and providing for the family? What if the mine runs out of iron? Where will my family go? Will they become beggars in another town or city? Will Hola have to whore herself to support the family? What of Imi and Faria? I doubt they would be able to find a decent job or even a husband since they are not well learned and they are of humble birth. Would they be able to find work as maids regardless? Or will they eventually have to whore themselves? And what about Dilan? How would he support himself if he moved to another town?
His worrying was interrupted when there was a bright flash of light in the sky. Then he heard a sound he never heard before. He couldn't describe it. It was loud and it was a kind of shrill "vmmm" noise. As soon as his eyes adjusted, he saw a giant metal bird descending towards the deadly forest. One of its wings was even smoking a storm! Its sound echoed as it passed by.
The men stood there in shock as they watched the scene. The man with the handkerchief in a surprised voice said, "What in Nayru's name was that?!"
"I couldn't tell yeh. Ne'er seen anything like it," the man next to him said in a thick accent.
"Shouldn't we go and investigate it?"
"It's in the evil forest, can't just walk in there all Willy-nilly searching for something. And the thing itself may be dangerous. And how are we s'posed to look for it?"
Typical Otho response. The first man thought to himself as he gazed out over the thick forest. He's got a point though. But shouldn't we try to figure out what it is anyway?
Otho began walking away to catch up with the rest of the miners. He called back, "Raul! Aren't you comin'?"
Raul broke from his gaze and walked over towards Otho and the rest of the group. His pointed ears perked when he thought he heard a crash in the distance. He turned his head towards the green ocean to try to find where it came from.
A lizard soldier (Stickytoe) made his way to the throne room in the Palace of Winds. He saw a great metal bird drop from the sky while he was patrolling the grounds of the Tower of Flames. He had spent the next half hour deciding whether or not to tell the King of Darkness and the Lord of Winds what he saw. It was not his place to bother his masters with trivial matters, however, this could end up being very serious. He could not send a regiment to investigate without their permission. The guards opened the doors to the throne room after a brief security check. The room itself was grand. It was shaped like an octagon and each side had relief sculptures depicting scenes from Hyrulean mythology. The arches that framed them had designs of clouds, swirls and loftwings carved into them and were gilded. The ceiling was a massive dome that depicted the creation of the Triforce and the Sacred Realm. The lowest area of the dome had Din, Nayru and Farore each doing their part in their creation of the world. In the innermost and smallest section of the dome was a fresco of the golden triangles - the Triforce. And around it like a wreath was the Sacred Realm - the spot where the golden trio came to the world from the heavens. It was to the lizard-man's understanding that this was the only piece of religious art that was not desecrated in the entire palace. On the other side of the room the King sat on a throne gilded with gold. Beside him sat Lord Vaati. They looked like they were going over battle strategies by the fact that there was a map with some wooden blocks sitting on a table in front of them. The lizalfos felt humbled as he knelt down in front of them.
"Your majesssty." Stickytoe bowed reverently to the king. "My lord." He bowed to Vaati. "I... bring you urgent newsss... from the Death Mountain region." He drew out his response a little, testing to see if his masters would be interested in hearing what he had to tell them. When he was absolutely certain that they wanted to know, he sped up his declaration. "The patrol troop and I were doing our roundsss when we saw… sssomething unusual. There wasss a sssearing light from the heavensss then all the sssudden there wasss a giant metal bird. One of itsss wingsss was aflame and it crassshed into the Northern Foressst."
Vaati was silent for a few moments, processing what he heard and trying to decide what he wanted to do with the information. After three minutes he said to the king, "Why don't we use the Dark Mirror to assay this and determine what to do?"
The king rose up from his throne. "Very well," he grumbled. He walked over to the mirror, his cape billowing slightly behind him. The king had the appearance of a man who could shake the earth with every step he took, yet he possessed a grace that was akin to gliding across the stone floor. He made his way to a grand archway covered by a cloth. He removed the covering to reveal the Dark Mirror. The mirror itself was very opulent. It was similar to the size of a large door and was of an arch-like shape. The frame was made of metal with abstract patterns carved into it. All the sides of the mirror had one red gemstone each. Aside from the inky glass surface, the most striking feature was its horned demon skull with its open jaw on the top of the mirror. Wrapped around it was a snake with heads on both ends. On either side of the skull were two massive claws. The king reached out and touched the black glass. A sharp picture materialized after a few seconds of blurriness. It was the strange object the soldier had reported! What's more was that there were people coming out of it, some appeared to be unconscious and were being carried out.
"Humansss?! That thing was carrying humansss?! What is that thing!?" asked the bewildered lizalfos.
The king studied the scene in the mirror. He remembered what the soldier had said about there being a blinding light in the sky. Then his mind wandered back to when Vaati cast the spell, there was also a bright flash back then as well. He asks, "Vaati, do you think this may have something to do with your spell?"
The wind mage grimaced. There went the king again, blaming others for HIS mistakes. "MY spell?! YOU were the one who modified what I had written down!"
The king shrugged off Vaati's disgust. "You were the one who cast it, and it was you who couldn't make it work properly until I fixed it. Anyway… I wonder where they came from? I've never seen anyone dress like they do, nor have I seen a contraption like that metal bird. I also never heard anything that remotely resembles their language. Regardless, it may well be worth our time to keep a close eye on this group. They may end up being a thorn in our side that we will have to deal with. Or they may end up being useful for us."
Vaati scoffed. "Not if they don't die first."
Author's Notes
This chapter was edited by Fenrir013 and me.
April 4th, 2020: I changed this story's rating from M to T as there is neither graphic violence nor anything sexual so far. However, if and when those themes come into the story, I will be changing back to an M rating.
