Tear hugged her. It was not a friendly hug, but a hug meant to restrain her. "Weren't you listening? It wasn't his fault, he was just writing a story. It was the other villagers who gave him the idea. If you have to blame someone then blame them!"
The time for blaming was over. All Ellen cared about now was revenge. The boy was still in her sights. A few quick slashes would make all the difference in the world.
But Tear wouldn't let go. The more she tried to move forward, the tighter Tear's grip became.
"I've hugged you before," Tear said, "but I've been holding back. If you don't leave him alone you're really going to regret it!"
Her grip became so tight Ellen couldn't breathe. Then Tear started kicking at her legs, causing her to lose her balance. Ellen fell onto her side.
Tear stood over her, smiling triumphantly. "I know you're mad about the past, but I'm not going to let you hurt anyone."
She was mad, Tear had that much right, and outmaneuvering her once hadn't changed anything. Ellen stood up slowly, hoping to give Tear the impression that she'd settled down, then once she was back on her feet, she took off running.
"Stop, Ellen!" Tear begged.
Ellen charged towards the boy, who now looked very pale and afraid, and tackled him to the ground. Then she raised her knife into the air above his face.
"Don't do it!"
Tear probably thought she was going to kill him. She'd considered that briefly, but she was not that cruel. Not anymore.
Ellen slammed the paper she'd ripped from the boy's hands down beside his head, then stabbed it with her knife once, twice, and a third time. "Don't write any more stories about the Brazen Dimension," she told him, "or the Pillar of Immortality. There are a lot of hopeless, miserable people out there. If you tell them stories about magic stones that'll free them from all of their problems, they'll believe you, and then they'll go searching for those stones."
She stood up and moved away from the boy.
"One of your stories has gotten a lot of people hurt," Ellen added. She wanted to say killed, but the boy looked troubled enough already. "So... don't write anymore stories like that."
The boy nodded.
Her anger wasn't completely satiated, but Ellen forced herself to move on. She put her knife back in its sheath then marched down the pristine road, stopping only after the boy was too far off to see. It was almost incomprehensible how much impact one boy whose name she didn't even know could have on her life and so many other people's lives.
Tear followed behind her. "I'm glad you didn't hurt him, but that was still a bit much."
Not wanting to dwell on the subject, Ellen asked: "Where is everyone?"
"They're busy helping out. Even Alice volunteered to help. I was surprised. I didn't expect that from her."
It was hard to believe, but maybe Alice was finally changing her ways.
A boy was heading their way. Ellen watched him approach. He looked uncannily similar to the chief's son, the one she'd met last night. He was shorter and stouter but wore the exact same style of dress clothes.
"Excuse me," he greeted her, his voice very formal. "Is your name Ellen?"
"Yeah," Ellen said cautiously. "Is your father the village chief?"
The boy smiled. "How did you-"
"Excuse me."
Ellen turned around. Another boy dressed identical to the first was standing behind her.
"What are you doing here?" the first one snapped. "I'm supposed to meet her in the morning, and you're supposed to try her in the afternoon."
"You have that backwards," the second boy argued. "I'm supposed to meet her in the morning, and you-"
Ellen slipped away while they fought. Had they both really been sent out here to try and win her over? Was the boy from last night the same? That whole encounter suddenly felt very unromantic.
"There's something strange going on in this village," Tear said, "and it's not just the sickness."
Alice wandered over and joined them. "Something weird happened just now," she said.
"Did a boy wearing fancy clothes try to become your friend?" Ellen asked.
"How did you know?" Alice asked, surprised. "I told him I was taken, then he left."
"Oh, you have a boyfriend?" Tear asked. "Who is he?"
Alice's eyes opened wide. She looked away. "I didn't mean it. I just wanted him to leave me alone."
She was withholding something, Ellen suspected, but she didn't push the issue. "I think we've been here long enough. Have you seen the others?"
"Sycamore and Lindsey are at one of the hospitals," Alice said. "I'd show you the way, but I don't want to face them alone. Brendon is visiting the village chief's home. It's the large one down the road."
Tear agreed to help Alice track down L.L. and Sycamore, leaving Ellen to find Brendon.
She drifted down the pristine road in search of the village chief's home. It was not hard to find. No other home had a second story, nor its own fenced off garden.
She approached the front door and knocked twice. After waiting a moment and not hearing so much as a footstep, she moved towards the garden.
Brendon and the chief were seated at a table near the center, talking. She ducked out of sight, but stayed close enough to hear them speak.
"Forget about that, we can handle ourselves," the chief said, his voice so energetic and proud it bordered on arrogant. He was wearing heavy armor with a yellow tint. "Let's talk about you. I've never seen a group like yours before. Why do you drag so many girls into the wilderness with you?"
Brendon chuckled. "There's a lot more to our situation than you think."
"Are they under contract to you? Is that why you do it? I'd like you to know that I think it's highly inappropriate for you to put so many girls in such great danger."
"I'm not making anyone do anything," Brendon said.
He sounded tired. Ellen considered interrupting the conversation, but she was curious to see how it would end.
"Have you ever heard of the Monad Fortress?" Brendon asked. "Lindsey and I used to serve in its army as special forces soldiers."
"Soldiers?" the chief asked. "Get out. We won't be intimidated."
"But the fortress was destroyed, and now we're... nothing."
"Good. You can stay here. You saw what crawled out of the dark last night. Same thing happens every other week, and we could use more fighters. We could use your girls as well."
Brendon sighed. Ellen wanted to as well. While the chief had an admirable amount of passion for the village, his range of interests was outstandingly narrow.
"The two... twins," Brendon said. "They have friends they're searching for. Both have been through a lot, and I'd like to see something good happen to them before my age catches up to me. The younger one seems to have a thing for... Well, you're not going to convince her to do anything without reaching her friend first."
"Handle the search yourself," the chief said dismissively. "Let them stay here where it's safe."
"This village of yours isn't all that safe," Brendon reminded him. "How many people died last night while you were stumbling around sick out of your mind?"
"True, but they'll be much happier here, especially once it starts to affect them."
Ellen shuddered. The sickness would come for her eventually, there was no hiding from it. She had to make her time count and not spend it idling.
She stepped out into the open. "Everyone's ready to leave," she called out.
"Just a minute," Brendon said, waving her away. "Our trek here was... odd. Early on, we passed by a bunch of abandoned buildings. A few of them looked like they might've been used recently, but we couldn't find the occupants anywhere. Then a part of the forest exploded as we passed by. We never found the source, but I've never seen anything like it before. And it seems a few people were caught in the blast. We found their clothes, but not much else. We also found a bunch of underground tunnels. Not only were they full of monsters, they didn't look like anything a human would ma
ke."
Brendon leaned forward and gave the chief a stern look.
"Do you have any idea what's going on in this dimension?"
The chief shrugged. "No clue."
Brendon continued eyeing him, but the chief stayed silent. Either he was completely oblivious to the world outside his village, or he wasn't willing to talk about it.
Brendon leaned away. "We're grateful for the supplies and the shelter. I hope you don't mind us leaving so suddenly."
"Don't worry about it," the chief said. "Just remember who fed you and housed you when you and your girls are looking for a place to call home."
He seemed very concerned about her and Alice and Tear, almost uncomfortably so. Ellen had to ask: "Did you send your sons after me?"
The chief nodded. "I wanted them to charm you," he said bluntly. "Did it work?"
"No, sorry."
"Useless kids," the chief grumbled. "The world is dangerous. I shouldn't have to tell you that. Women, bless your tender hearts, aren't built to survive out in the wilderness. That's why I want you to stay here and help repopulate the world. It's dirty work, but humanity isn't going to last another decade if it doesn't get done."
Ellen was speechless. What could she say to a proposal like that?
"If this man here is trying to claim you and your friends for himself," the chief added, gesturing to Brendon, "I can help free you."
"I'm not going to tell you again," Brendon warned, "there's nothing like that going on here."
"He's right," Ellen said. "Our group sticks together because we want to help each other." That's what she wanted to believe, but the more she learned about the others the less true it was becoming. "Brendon is the one who should stay here. He's-"
"How many times are we going to do this," Brendon said with a chuckle. "I told you I'm going to see this through to the end, and I meant it." He stood up, then faced the chief. "Before we leave, I want to warn you. I've seen large groups of people living together in the past. They always seem to attract the largest, nastiest monsters around. If this village of yours gets any bigger, something massive is going to show up and crash your party. It might be here already. We don't know how deep these underground tunnels run."
"You think I don't know that?" the chief scoffed. "The Village of Majula has moved dimensions once before. Both times we suffered too many losses to count, but we survived."
Brendon chuckled. "Well, I hope you're still here when we're done with our mission. This does seem like an alright place to call home."
The chief lowered his head. His expression became dark. "If we're not here, it's because we were wiped out. There's no way we can move again, not with this sickness overpowering us. If a colossus does find us, this dimension will be our final resting spot."
He sounded so discouraged Ellen felt bad for him. At least when the Monad Fortress was attacked, everyone had had a chance to escape. This village wouldn't have the same opportunity, not if the source of the sickness wasn't found.
And what was the source? Her only guess was the yellow mysterious stone, the one she'd seen scribbled inside Sycamore's books. If they could find it and then destroy it, they might be able to cure everyone's sickness.
But that was assuming it existed. The crude drawings inside Sycamore's books didn't prove anything, nor did they give any indication as to where the stone might be located.
"Everyone seems pretty lively now," Brendon said. "I'm sure you can handle a few monsters."
"For now, sure," the chief agreed. "But the sickness will return. It always does. You can shake it off from time to time, but you can never truly escape it, not unless you leave this dimension."
Brendon stood watching him for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words, then gave the chief an awkward pat on the shoulder. "This is a quiet dimension, for the most part. I'm sure you'll be alright."
The chief didn't respond.
Brendon pulled his hand back. "I think it's time for us to head out," he told Ellen.
They headed first for the visitor center; Ellen to grab her new clothes and her backpack and Brendon the supplies he'd prepared the night before. Then Ellen led Brendon to the area she'd last seen Alice and Tear. Both were there waiting for her. So were L.L. and Sycamore.
"This isn't a bad village," Brendon said, "but we need to wrap things up while we're still ourselves." He gave his forehead a gentle rub, then turned to Ellen, took her backpack from her and shoved her forward. "Let's get going."
Ellen faced forward, but before she set out, she first reached into her pocket and felt her coin pouch. It was right where it belonged, and her friends, despite the distance between them now, would soon be where they belonged as well: at her side.
Chapter 12
The forest to the north of the Village of Majula was exactly the same as the forest to its south. The bright, pink-leafed trees stretched out endlessly in all directions, breaking only for the pristine road, which continued forward without any end in sight.
Several parts of the forest had been trampled by something large and powerful, Ellen noticed, but fortunately that something had died back in the village.
"How much of their food did you take?" L.L. asked, sizing up Brendon's backpack.
"Enough," Brendon said, eyeing L.L.'s backpack. It was packed so full its latches groaned with each step she took. "How much did you take?"
"Enough," L.L. said coolly. "They owe it to us. Who knows what shape their village would be in right now if we hadn't been there to help. I took this as well."
She gestured to her coat. It was thick and blue and reached down to her knees. Unlike the uniform she'd been wearing before, it didn't stand out at all. It also had a hood, which she used to hide her face in lieu of her cowl. It didn't cover her face nearly as well, but it didn't need to. Her face was not the bloody red mess Ellen remembered from the Forlorn Dimension. She'd mostly healed, and needed only a few small bandages to hide her injury.
"I guess I should've grabbed something before we left," Sycamore said, then he shrugged. "Of course, I did find a few good treasures while we were there." He smiled.
"I spent most of the night putting out fires and I didn't get anything," Tear said sadly. She perked up. "I don't really mind, though. Everything I want is right here in our group!"
She lunged forward and grabbed Ellen's arm.
Ellen hardly noticed her. The village chief's words were still echoing around in her head, distracting her. Was humanity really in such bad shape that it wouldn't last more than a decade? If that was true, her time might be better spent back in the village, doing what the chief had suggested, rather than wandering aimlessly through the wilderness.
"Are you feeling sick?" Tear asked.
"I'm alright," Ellen said, but Tear still looked concerned. So did the others. "I was just thinking about what the chief said."
"About you repopulating the world?" Brendon asked. "If he's your type of man, we can head back there and the two of you-"
"Stop!" Ellen blurted out. Even if she was going to do what the chief had suggested, it would not be with someone as cocky and single-minded as him.
Brendon chuckled, softly at first, then louder when Ellen's face started heating up. He chuckled so hard he lost his balance and fell onto his backside.
His chuckling immediately stopped, and for several moments he sat very still, his face buried in his hands.
"Are you feeling sick?" Tear asked him.
"A little bit, yeah," Brendon admitted. He heaved himself up. "But I have a long ways to go before I end up like those people back there."
His assuredness didn't help Tear, who looked more worried than ever.
Ellen put one hand on her back and urged her forward. "He'll get better as soon as we leave this place," she said. "That's why we have to hurry and find Alice's friend."
If the village chief was right then Alice's friend couldn't be that far ahead, but there was no telling how much of his information had been dreamed up.
Aft
er a period of silence, L.L. said: "Worrying about our population is completely pointless until we can find another safe haven like the Monad Fortress. If that fortress was the only one of its kind then we might as well die off right now."
Ellen glanced back at her. Was this really the same L.L. who'd once stood up to the colossal monster attacking the Monad Fortress? She sounded like a completely different person.
"Well it's true," L.L. said skittishly. "The other option is we find the source of all these monsters and destroy it, but that's easier said than done. For all we know there might not even be a source."
That was a lofty task, and probably an impossible one, but Ellen still enjoyed the idea of a world without monsters. Never again would she have to worry about a hideous abomination crawling out of the dark and putting an axe through her head, or eating her, plus she might get a full night of sleep more than once in a fortnight.
"These temporary safe pockets we find every now and then aren't worth anything," L.L. went on. "Most of them don't last long enough to handle a single pregnancy."
"Um," Tear said cautiously, "is that something you've dealt with before?"
For a second L.L. looked frustrated enough that she might lash out and attack Tear, but then she sighed and buried her face in her hands.
She was probably starting to feel the effects of the sickness. Sycamore would be next, then it would be her turn. Ellen picked up her pace.
Hours passed by with nothing but the sound of footsteps to break the silence. Aside from the occasional breeze, the forest of pink leaves remained perfectly still.
As the sky started turning orange, yet another watchtower came into view. Its upper half had collapsed onto the pristine road, but the base was still in good enough shape to use as a shelter.
The next day started off with the same dreamlike tranquility that every other day bar one had started. As she ate her breakfast, a few pieces of well-done monster meat and some dried fruit, Ellen felt strangely at peace. Her mind was free of worries, and the future felt brighter and more secure than ever. They were going to find Alice's friend soon, maybe tomorrow, or at the latest, the day after, then they'd start searching for her friends. The search might take a few weeks, or at worst a few months, but there was no way she'd need more than a year. After that she'd look for her guardian, or maybe he'd find her, then she'd seek out a nice, safe place to live. Despite L.L.'s claim, there were plenty of peaceful places in the world. She'd find one of them, then with help from all her friends, she'd finally build herself a real home.
Scouring Majula Page 10
