Chapter 1: A Different Compromise
"Look, I can compromise here," Maddy sighed. Kab perked up.
"Mhm?" she asked, excitement glimmering in her eyes. The raw energy radiating from the young girl suddenly made Maddy feel very, very old.
"How about we can go look at the Warden," Maddy proposed. As expected, that did not go over well. Kab let out an exasperated sigh, but before she could continue her rant, Maddy held up a hand to stop her.
"Listen," the older girl told her as firmly as she could. To her surprise, Kab did, and went quiet. "You're talking about killing a potentially innocent being for no reason other than just to see if you can."
"I know I can kill it," Kab miffed, raising her chin indignantly. "The point is to prove that I can. And besides, we kill monsters all the time. How is this any different?"
"Because those monsters are undead creatures with the sole purpose of killing us," Maddy pointed out. "If anything, we were putting them out of their misery. But this isn't some undead monstrosity we're talking about. This is a living, breathing creature that has done nothing to us, but you want to go kill anyway just to prove that you're strong enough."
Kab stayed silent. Feeling like she might be finally getting through, Maddy pressed on: "That's wrong, Kab. And I think, deep down, you know it too."
Kad stayed silent a moment longer before releasing another sigh, less indignant than the last. "I'm sorry," she muttered, clear guilt and regret in her expression. "You're right. I just wanted to go on an adventure with you."
"We still can," Maddy assured her, placing her hands on her shoulders. "If you're so curious about this thing, we can go look at it from a safe distance, and preferably with diamond armor each."
"And if it attacks us, then we can fight it?" Kab asked hopefully, perking up once again.
"No," Maddy told her shortly. "If it tries to go after us, we will run away. And it's not going to attack us because we are going to stay a safe distance away, and are not going to attack or provoke it in any way."
"You're no fun," Kab pouted.
"And you're a pain in the arse," Maddy chuckled playfully. "Now go pack before I change my mind." Kab nodded quickly, before sprinting back to her house.
"What am I gonna do with that kid?" Maddy wondered as she headed back to her abode to pack her things as well. "She's so full of energy, life, spirit. I just hope she doesn't get herself hurt." Maddy paused at that thought before shaking it off. "She's not going to get hurt," Maddy thought firmly to herself. "Because I am going to protect her. Just like… no, I can't compare them. That's not fair to either of them. The point is, I'm going to take care of her, and teach her to be careful, which risks are okay to take and which aren't. Just like her mother should have." Maddy felt a spark of anger at the woman in question, one whom she had heard about but never met. "I can't believe she just let her own daughter leave and run off on her own when she was fourteen! It's a miracle she survived out here for as long as she did. I certainly wouldn't have. Focus, Maddy. This is fun; we're gonna have fun.
"Isn't this fun?" Kab giggled excitedly. "No," Maddy thought. "This isn't." But of course she couldn't say that aloud. She couldn't let Kab know how terrified she actually was. She should have listened to that cartographer when he told them about this place, his warnings to not come here. But she had let Kab's infectious energy and enthusiasm get to her, and laughed him off.
Now though, she was regretting it as she stared at the long abandoned underground city, only illuminated by the various candles and soul lanterns lying around. Those, and the sculk. Ugh, the stuff was everywhere. The glowing, squishy, moss-like alien substance covered the ground, walls, and ceilings of the cave, and, from what she could see, it looked like it was creeping into the ancient city as well. She was starting to think that maybe she should just tell Kab this was a mistake, and take her back to the village, drag her if she had to, but one look at her face and she knew she couldn't do it. Besides, they had already spent two days walking here. They couldn't waste the journey just because she was feeling a little apprehensive.
"Yeah, cool," Maddy muttered upon realizing Kab was waiting for a response. Seeming satisfied with her answer, Kab continued: "C'mon, let's go," getting up before Maddy pulled her back down.
"Remember the deal," Maddy admonished her. Kab rolled her eyes.
"Yeah yeah, stay a safe distance away," she whispered sarcastically. "But according to the book," she said while pulling out the novel that she had pilfered from Clown's library, "the warden is blind."
Maddy glared at her. "So it probably has other senses to make up for it. My point still stands."
"Fine, fine, now let's just go," Kab grumbled impatiently before getting up and creeping closer to the city. Maddy hesitantly followed behind her. They were just a few meters away from the outermost wall, which had an open pavilion on the corner, before they heard screams and what sounded like pounding footsteps coming their way. Maddy immediately pulled Kab down behind a nearby mound of sculk just before two girls who seemed a little younger than her but still older than Kab came vaulting through the pavilion while screaming and running for their lives. Immediately after, a huge beast that could only be the warden lumbered through after them, seeming far too fast for something so big and bulky. The creature looked like it was made of different types of sculk as flesh while normal bones made up its skeleton, evidenced by its ribs and spine poking out.
As soon as the warden passed by them, Kab leapt up, drew her sword, and charged at it from behind while screaming, "Leave them alone!"
"Kab!" Maddy screamed, reaching out for her but frozen in fear to her spot. Kab managed to slash the warden across the back with her sword once before it, with terrifying speed and accuracy, pivoted around and backhanded her so hard she went flying back into a pillar with a resounding crack before landing in an unmoving heap at its base. Maddy suppressed a scream and, while no longer caring for her own safety, sprinted over to Kab's side.
"Kab?" Maddy whispered in horror, noting her cracked chestplate before looking at her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes, that were once so bright and full of life, were now glassy and still. Maddy put two fingers to her neck, searching for a pulse she knew she would never find. In a single moment, Kab had been taken away from her. Forever.