TtEoaF - Chapter Thirty - Part One

                                                                     Through the Eyes of a Flareon

                                                         Chapter Thirty: Between Stone and Soil - Part One

Telling someone that climbing those pillars and ledges was difficult would be a massive understatement and for it, I deserved to be flattened by a rollout. There was not a single slope or block that I didn’t find extremely awkward to scramble onto using only my own strength. I had considered the fact that the rhyhorn could always use his massive head armour to throw me up, but that would have been a stupid idea given the fact that I could easily have hurt myself landing, or part of my legs could have slammed against the edge if the toss was miscalculated—or worse. I myself could have slammed into the side of a tall block if the throw wasn’t powerful enough.

Nevertheless, I needed not to worry of such a thing as the kirlia offered to use her psychic powers to lift both me and the rhyhorn. However, the amount of energy she spent on each mental lift was nearly equal to half the amount of energy it would have taken to lift us using her arms, or at least, that’s what she told us. I was glad it was only half; I couldn’t imagine that she would have been able to lift us at all if the full weight was converted to the psychic effort. Apparently it helped if we thought “light thoughts” since it was a mental operation, and so I resolved to thinking of a hoppip each time. I didn’t know why that would have helped, given I could have thought of a grain of sand instead, but for some reason my mind always wound back to a hoppip. Nevertheless, eventually – but slowly – I made it to the other end of the room. The ledge I was on, from which several others protruded down below, was against the cavern wall and had the entrance to the next room directly behind me. I couldn’t see a thing while looking through, however, and figured that when the others caught up, I could use my fire to illuminate the path.

“You coming?” I asked, watching as the rhyhorn carefully trekked along a narrow slant. He wasn’t far away, but the kirlia, trailing shortly behind him at a very leisurely rate, looked less than capable of lifting him another time. It was a little worrying, however, considering he would need to be lifted at least another two times until he reached my ledge. Unless, somehow, she could magically lift him with her mind and send him across far further than she had previously been in one go. I doubted she could do that.

“It’s not...as easy...for me...as it was for you,” growled the rock and ground pokémon, and I gave a shrug, figuring that his previous claim that he could scale rock easily was somewhat inaccurate.

“Shall I take a nap then?” I stretched, beginning to get comfortable.

“Can you stop being such a brat?” the rhyhorn grumbled, his patience clearing wearing thin.

“But look how much it’s affecting you. It’s kinda fun. And hey, if anything, it takes your mind of the hard work you’re doing.” I gave a shrug, tucking my paws under my mane.

The rhyhorn uttered a few words of resentment and came to a stop, glancing about. He turned back to the kirlia. “Are you okay to...send me over again?”

She trudged up behind him, arriving within a pawful of seconds. “Just...give...me a second,” she rasped, dropping to her hands and knees in order to breathe. I watched with a small frown of concern and hoped to myself that she wasn’t going to have to stop there. I was eager to get going.

“Rentana,” I began, pausing to make sure that was her name, “you can rest once both of you are this side of the ledge.” I questioned myself after I had spoken, wondering if I really had the right to instruct and persuade her like that. “Well, just saying...that would be more convenient.”

The kirlia probably thought my idea was a good one, and one she had obviously considered prior to the voiced suggestion, and I hoped she was going to make it a reality. “I will...try.”

Eventually she got him across one more chasm, but the strain it looked to put on her was far more than I previously thought. She could teleport herself over with little problem, as she either couldn’t lift herself with her psychic powers or chose to teleport because it may have been easier, and to that I was relieved. However, she still had one last chasm-like space to cross with the rhyhorn.

Realising it may be bad if she tried to push herself, I interjected, “Wait...wait, don’t you think it would be a good idea to rest first? You’re exhausted, clearly, and I don’t think overworking yourself is going to help.”

She threw a determined glare at me. “We...need to get across...as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, but if you drop him halfway through, you’ll never forgive yourself. It’s far too much effort to bring someone up than across, right?” I retorted, and she gritted her teeth, probably recognising that I was right.

She heaved a sigh and sunk into a sit, her knees meeting as her legs lay on the rock in opposite directions. Without looking at the rhyhorn she told him, “I will just...wait for a moment, then...before continuing.”

The rhyhorn, obviously a little agitated by her idea but understanding it, made the decision to remain standing. “How long will that take?” he questioned, and she looked up at him.

“Until...I am rested enough to levitate you across.” The kirlia grew a minor look of concern as she realised that the rock type was less than content with the decision.

“But we’re stranded here,” he protested, and at that I rolled my eyes.

“If she tries to carry you across now and you drop, who are you going to blame? She wants to rest and you want to keep going. It won’t be her fault, and it’ll be a whole lot longer before she’ll be able to lift you all those times again over the rocks, as opposed to waiting a little longer this time.” My face was etched with a frown while I looked at him, and he heaved a sigh and snorted.

“Okay, I get you.”

He stood while we both sat, and it was a fair few minutes before Rentana got back up again and was ready to transport him across. “Okay...ya ready?” I called without much volume, and the psychic type hesitated before nodding. She raised her arms and began her rhythmic breathing before she exhaled again, and the rhyhorn began to float. With a considerable amount of strain and effort, as if she had forgotten how heavy he was, the rhyhorn slowly made his way across, glancing down at the room’s floor, which was a fair few metres down. I saw a flash of nervousness cross his face before he was finally let down on my side, and the kirlia fell to her knees with a series of pants.

The rhyhorn looked happy to have solid ground under his rocky legs, which suddenly made me thankful as well. I got the feeling that he was a little too proud to thank her, but on the inside, he was certainly grateful. It would have been relatively impossible for him to make it so far on his own – despite what he had earlier claimed – and therefore it was extremely useful that the kirlia could help on such a large scale.

I rested my eyes on her, watching as the effort seemed to weigh her heavily down. For the first moment since she had started doing this, I felt a legitimately concerned for her. “Hey...Rentana? Are you alright?”

She winced, trying to control her breathing, and bound her eyes. She gritted her teeth and exposed them as her lips stretched, clearly suffering somewhat from the effort she had just applied to such a difficult task.

“Y...yes, I am...just...a little...” She drew a lengthy breath, stilling herself for a moment as she stared at a particular mark on the ground near her arm, which supported her as she leant on her knees. Her other arm was situated on her head, and slowly the other one came up as well when she leaned back, supported by her kneel. She pressed her hands against the side of her head, as if trying to dull the swelling inside. I guessed that was a very possible scenario. “I’m alright,” she responded, getting to her feet and closing her eyes. Instantly she vanished and reappeared right before me, and I jumped back in surprise. “Sorry,” she uttered.

I cleared my throat. “Anyway...we should keep going,” I suggested, and the other two nodded in turn. “Uhh...good job, Rentana,” I complimented, but before I waited for a response, I walked through the tiny tunnel leading to the next room.

Bizarrely, the following room had a slope leading down to the floor, which was completely covered in holes and bunches of dug-out burrows. For a moment I was confused, but it became clear that they were nests, and most were inhabited by pokémon. I froze at the top of the slant, unable to identify the pokémon for a minute before my eyes adjusted probably. Given the fact that flareon were occasionally nocturnal, our eyes were able to adjust well to the darkness, and even if I could have used my fire to better see my surroundings, I knew that disturbing sleeping pokémon in their territory was less than wise.

As the other two came up beside me and the rhyhorn began speaking loudly, whom I proceeded to shush, I realised I could make out the figures closest to us. They were scattered across the floor with barely any space between them, and the nest construction was completely tactless. My mind wound immediately back to the colony, and how astounded I had been when I first saw their huts and houses, and in comparison, these pokémon’s method seemed excruciatingly primitive.

As I slowly padded forward, reaching the very edge of the rock before it angled to the floor the crude nests were spread across, I could see that the pokémon were an odd shape of a faded yellow colour. No limbs were attached to their bodies, but two tiny white wings rested on their backs, and their round heads had rings of blue around closed eyes. The tail was peculiar, as it was shaped like a drill similar to that of what a beedrill has on the end of its arms. Only, these pokémon’s tails looked useless and composed of regular flesh, as opposed to anything that could actually bore through something solid. Overall, they were a strangely designed elongated blob with miniature wings and odd tails. It was immediately apparent to me that I had never seen one of these creatures before, and frankly, I couldn’t figure out what type they could possibly be.

Slowly edging my face away from the creatures, although still keeping an eye on them for as long as I could before I met the kirlia’s gaze, I asked, “What are those things?”

“Dunsparce,” the rhyhorn responded, a little amusement to his tone. I wasn’t sure if it was directed at the creatures themselves or at me, who lacked the knowledge to identify them. However, it was clear when he added, “They’re harmless.”

My brow tugged, a small amount of confusion shaping it. “Wait...actually? Like, their attacks are about as effective as a magikarp?”

The rhyhorn took a breath and responded, “If that strong.”

The answer took me by surprise, and I shared his amusement as I scanned the room. The renewal of any lost confidence to cross without trouble was instantaneous, and with a grin, I figured that the task ahead would be easy. “Alright, well, let’s go!”

I stepped down the slope quietly, unwilling to wake the pokémon in case they did have hidden tricks none of us were aware of, and simply because I had no desire to intentionally wake them. I knew how annoying it was to be woken when you really didn’t want to be, so I avoided doing the same to them—even if I didn’t know them or have much reason to concern myself with them. Once at the bottom, I turned my head and raised my brow, daring the others to follow. The rhyhorn only smirked and followed, sure not to slip down the slant, before the kirlia took a series of breaths and also warily followed. It occurred to me that she was the most hesitant of us all, and I made a quick suggestion that she should ride atop the rhyhorn, but his rejection was clear, and I only huffed at him in response.

We stepped carefully between the many nests, which consisted of shallow dips in the ground filled with dried grass for comfort, and the pokémon were generally flat against them. A few of them were coiled, and I assumed that was either for protection of comfort. Whatever it was, it amused me, as their tiny wings stuck up and remained there, as if they were fruit on display to be picked. I didn’t touch them though, and instead we kept walking.

“This is easy!” I exclaimed in a whisper, my head over my shoulders. The rhyhorn barely looked where he was going and the kirlia was much more careful with her movements, ensuring she didn’t step in any of the potholes that the dunsparce lay in. I nearly asked her how she was doing, but decided against it and focused on the path ahead.

In the midst of walking through, I felt myself stand on something. Quickly I retracted my paw, leaning back on my hind legs for support, and deduced that it was, in fact, a wing of one of the pokémon. I hadn’t meant to step on it, obviously, and for a moment I was confused; how could I have stood on a wing? The answer was clear as I realised that the pokémon had been one of the ones coiled, but it rested on its side, so its wings lay out of the nest’s borders, one against the ground.

I gritted my teeth as it began to screech, waking instantly, and turned my head as if it would protect my ears from the sound. A sudden eruption of similar cries from around me sounded as well, and the pokémon began to uncoil. The ones already straightened opened their odd mouths and continued their screeching, and quickly the piercing noise became nearly unbearable.

Not a moment too soon, I wrenched myself away from the pokémon and raced through the room as it slammed its tail down, making a reasonably sized indent in the solid ground. I watched it as I ran, wondering quickly what the rhyhorn and Rentana were going to do, and suddenly I found myself throwing my gaze in assorted directions against my will, the world tossing and tussling as pain suddenly struck me.

I tumbled along the ground, skidding and shrieking with the intense pain that awoke once more in my side, and already felt my fur moisten with fresh blood. I tried to gather myself, groaning with the effort, before something slammed into my spine, forcing me back down and agitating the wound even further. Again I bellowed, unable to grasp the situation before I forced my eyes to the right, where one of those creatures was. I could only see its rear and the mound of its back as its drill-like tail reared, and with a sweeping feeling of alarm, I tried to scramble out of its range, only to be hit on my shoulders by the same thing, but to my left.

I was nearly winded as I struggled to get back up, in extreme discomfort as my side wound pulsed with the previous intensity it threatened me with, and tried with all my might to scramble away.

With the relief of a hundred stranded finneon suddenly returned to the ocean, I heard the crash of the tails behind me, keeping my eyes on the road ahead in case more of them threatened to squash my body parts. To my dismay there were, and I noticed with a feeling of imminent dread that just about all the opposing pokémon had banded together, and were pounding the floor with their strangely solid tails.

“I’m sorry!” I shouted, attempting to calm them as I blurted out the apology, but the screeching, still high-pitched and extremely disturbing, was far too loud; I could barely even hear myself.

Suddenly I remembered the others and wound my head around, spotting the rhyhorn looking to attempt to protect Rentana, who had obviously been given permission to jump on his back. The tails barely affected him, it seemed, and upon witnessing the good news, I focused on my own path and powered on. The wound leaked with painful consistency, and with continuous groans and whines, I felt tears dripping from my eyes. I felt utterly horrible as I continued, regretting the stupidity of my right paw as I remembered that it was to blame for standing on one of the pokémon’s wings.

To my surprise, some of the dunsparce, while others continued to bash needlessly with their tails, reared up on their back-ends and began directing their screeches straight at me. I continued to watch them, frantically throwing my gaze left and right to avoid missing anything, and came to spot one such pokémon with its eyes open. The shock nearly threw me off balance, and as the tiny pupils pointed themselves at me, I felt a wave of shock hit me like something tangible. Instantly my legs froze and I literally felt myself falling with no way to brace myself, meeting the rock with unwelcome force and bouncing along the ground with stiff limps and a flapping half-tail, unable to do anything to prevent further injury to my wound or any other part of my body. I couldn’t even call out.

When I rolled to a stop, I found myself able to use my voice again and cried out at the top of my lungs, as my body had landed on top of my wound and it was pressing into the ground. It felt as if it was as bad as it had been when the flesh was first torn, and I wished I could do something to aid it as my vision began to fuzz. A rush of air blew onto my face as a tail slammed down right before my nose, and I cringed, squeezing out tears and whining with the pain.

When my eyes opened again, I saw with shock that a dunsparce flew across the room and into my line of sight. At first I thought it was his or her own doing, but they were tumbling through the air, as if someone had just thrown them, before crashing into a group of other dunsparce. Alarm knotted my brow as I wondered what on earth had happened before another one soared into view and slammed into the ground not a few metres from me. The surrounding pokémon were distracted by the sudden landings and all turned their bodies, and I was extremely thankful for the momentary distraction. I still couldn’t move, however, and struggled to wiggle my toes or even move my head. Some of the screeching ceased, and I realised that the rhyhorn was grunting and growling. It soon struck me that he was bowling them into the air after crashing into them, and although I couldn’t see, I could tell he was getting closer.

By the time he neared, the ground was rumbling, and suddenly I was picked up. I had no idea what was happening as I soared behind the rhyhorn in my stiff state, until I noticed an odd glow surrounding my contour.

At that moment, I realised I was being dragged behind them, courtesy of Rentana, who was using her psychic powers to lift me. Although I was still paralysed, the psychic energy surrounding my body made me feel as if I could actually move, and after another ten or so seconds, I felt that I could finally wriggle my toes. Tyring my hardest to move my head, I craned it around, cringing at the wound that would bother me for a long while to come. We were only halfway through the cavern. “Oh, great...” I uttered through tears and a blubbery voice, which I tried to clear several times.

Not long into the odd voyage, the dunsparce suddenly stopped their attacks. The rhyhorn continued to power through, however, a little concerned as he wondered – as well as I, and probably the kirlia – why the pokémon had stopped their assault. My first guess was that they realised that their feeble attacks were useless against a rhyhorn, a creature with armour and one that was barely affected by normal type moves as it was, and decided to stop. It seemed as if they didn’t choose another action to replace it with, however, until suddenly a tail on one of them began spinning rapidly. Once the tail was pointed toward the ground, the earth around it began to break and a hole was quickly bored. It was then that I realised the ground wasn’t as hard as I thought it was, and was actually compact dirt, which was a perfect habitat for these creatures whose tails...clearly did allow them to burrow.

The creature disappeared, snaking and then vanishing quickly. Suddenly all those around us began to do the same thing, and soon, I was sure the entire room-full of dunsparce were digging, and one-by-one they disappeared. The whole room looked like it was shaking – and probably was – although it was hard to tell while suspended with psychic energy. Frantically I searched the room, trying to ignore my wound, for anything that could indicate actual danger. All these pokémon were fleeing...so it seemed they had given up hope. ‘Well that’s kinda typ—’

Suddenly the rhyhorn’s front leg, while he was running, became lodged in a tunnel created by one of the pokémon who had fled before we reached them, and the kirlia jolted and flew off, causing me to do the same thing. She accidentally released her mental hold on me, and I dropped like a dead fly, landing roughly on the ground beside her and grunting in pain. I was only glad I landed on the opposite side to the one the wound was on, although it still hurt like hell. Flicking my head back around to the sound of the rhyhorn’s cursing, I noticed in shock that the holes, given that the pokémon were longer than the rhyhorn, were big enough to capture his foot, as well as part of his head, and it was clearly difficult for him to remove himself.

Rentana got up from beside me and padded weakly over, always on the tips of her toes, I had noticed, and stood beside the rhyhorn’s head. “Do you need any help?” she asked, but the rock and ground type only growled and attempted to lift his heavy face from the hole again. It was rather useless, however, and he was clearly having a lot of trouble. Rentana repeated her question, and as she stood confidently, I was glad that she didn’t endure any serious injuries upon meeting with the ground.

“N...no!” he grumbled, but I shouted in angry objection, and it was clear that the kirlia sided with me on the matter.

“I’m going to help you,” she told him, and took a deep breath. I couldn’t see from behind, but she probably closed her eyes as well and formed an expressionless face. Despite the rhyhorn’s protests, the psychic type continued, and used her mental power to lift his head from the ground, aiding him as he pushed, and eventually he popped out and he was nearly sent bowling over backwards. He steadied himself appropriately though and instead stood noble again.

“...I didn’t need your help,” he grunted, angrily stomping past the psychic type and heading my way. He didn’t meet with my eyes as he approached, and nor did he as he walked by.

“Manners,” I blurted, a little incredulous at his rudeness. I shook my head with a notable frown and passed the expression to Rentana, who moved her mouth a little, but other than that, she didn’t show signs of more expression.

She began to walk my way, and it was then that I realised I would have to get to my feet and walk as well. Even the idea was painful, but even so, I knew I had to do it. I wrenched myself off the ground once she passed and trailed slowly behind, a heavy limb impairing my back left leg as I avoided putting proper pressure around the wounded area. The pain ate at me like a ravenous totodile whose jaws released only to gain a better hold. I continuously released pent-up breath in sections and intervals, cringing the entire way through the cavern. It was eerily quiet after all the tails had stopped slamming and the screeches faded to nothing whilst they drilled away, and the sheer number of holes in the hardened earth was nearly as astounding as the fact that the rhyhorn barely slipped another time. I assumed he was taking care not to endanger himself or inconvenience Rentana – as she had spent more than his share of energy on him and would likely continue to aid him whether he wanted it or not – and therefore, he managed to avoid them for the most part.

Once we had crossed the cavern, despite the small hardships I encountered along the way (such as nearly entering a hole myself), I felt relieved. I was still in severe pain, of course, but luckily I was able to block some of that out with the help of sharp rocks that prodded my paw pads and my bullet wound, which also pulsed. Even if it was annoying to have more than one active wound, it was good to be able to take my mind off it even just a little through means of distraction.

“So...” I cringed, trying to wait for a burst of pain to clear as I rested before carrying on. “...What about those creatures again? Not dangerous, I heard you say,” A fleck of anger swelled in my mind before I threw my glare to him. “Are you freaking deluded?”

“Don’t blame this on me!” shouted the rock and ground type, immediately arching up at the accusatorial comment.

“Yeah? If I can’t blame you then who am I supposed to blame?” I questioned, wincing as I accidentally jerked my body and felt my wound pulse. “When there’s no risk of danger, I don’t usually take care to avoid it.”

“Make you would take care where you stand. It was your foolish movements that set off the entire swarm!” he rumbled, lowering his head. The kirlia sat against the wall, resting as she was involuntarily subjected to our bickering.

“It’s called a mistake,” I hissed, unsure quite how to defend myself in that instance.

The rhyhorn eyed me with condescending confusion and cruel amusement. “If you tripped by mistake, then how does the information that they are or are not dangerous going to affect that? You would have screwed up regardless.”

Realising he was right, I merely glared at him before tearing myself away, storming toward the entrance to the next room as best I could in my condition. Moving too much caused my wounds to once again screech with discomfort, and I felt my breath catch in my throat, forcing me to stop walking. With extreme reluctance, I stayed on the spot just before the entrance, taking note of the next area: it was a simple tunnel. It was darker than the dunsparce cavern so I knew I would have to light the path with flame, and just the thought of having to do so was enough to make me groan. I was already injured, and using fire would only accelerate the pain I felt and drain the energy I needed to recover.

I tossed my angry but guarded look to Rentana, wondering feebly if somehow her psychic powers could heal me in any way, and pondered how that would possibly affect her ability to heal. It didn’t hurt to wonder, however, as I certainly was in need of healing. Without someone who could do that, I felt lost for what to do. I stood on the spot, contemplating the very few options laid before me. I couldn’t go back, and even if I could cross the room with slopes and blocks of enormous height to get past the barricade of fallen rocks blocking the entrance back to the room where the rebel rhyhorn turned on the rest of its herd, I would either run into more predators such as the massive steelix that originally drove us all out, or get completely lost in the underground maze-like tunnels. My choices were totally limited to the path ahead, but before I could think more on that, I focused again on my thoughts of the steelix.

After not a moment longer to mull over the thought, I snapped around, regretting injuring my wound yet again, and glared at Rentana with accidental over-enthusiasm. At my odd expression, she seemed a little startled. “The granbull...the steelix!” I blurted, unable to remember the granbull’s name and unsure how to word the rest. “They were in the cavern when it collapsed. The granbull...he made sure everyone else was out alive and he stayed behind the fend the creature off. But what...happened to him?” As I continued staring at her, she only blinked a few times, her shocked expression still showing. “Aren’t you worried for him?”

Rentana gave a light frown. “Not at all,” she responded, and to her remark I was utterly confused. I protested about the type differences and how the granbull had a huge disadvantage, but she stopped me before I could finish. “The steelix, Undol, is the colony’s friend.”

I stared with whirring thoughts. I blinked a few times and my expression dulled to one of pure perplexity. The kirlia’s look was soft and hesitant. “...What?”

“Ya deaf or something?” murmured the rhyhorn, and I snarled quickly at him.

“But-but...wh... Uhh... okay,” I started, still trying to get a handle on this strangeness. “Then why was he attacking everyone?”

The kirlia blinked confusedly. “He...wasn’t attacking anyone.”

“That’s certainly inaccurate,” I retorted, remembering his sweeping tail over my head. “He tossed his gigantic flippin’ tail at me and...” I tried different subtle movements with my mouth before I gave up on trying to remember his name. “...The granbull! And why’d he try to block off all of the entrances?”

My curiosity must have been either annoying or intimidating, but she showed no sign of reacting to either as she thought about my answer for mere moments. “I assume he showed up in the first place because the fight between the halves of the rhyhorn herd was out of control, and, well, he lives there so he probably didn’t want his home to be destroyed at all, and similarly, he does not want an outbreak of violence. The tail could very well have been a mistake as he was turning around, and perhaps he blocked off the tunnel entrances so that the separate parties of enemies couldn’t return to the room and resume fighting, or pursue the enemy through another tunnel.”

“Yeah, I...guess that makes sense...but when me and the granbull were the only ones left in the cavern, he still blocked my path! And then I was told to run, so what’s up with that?”

“Does she look like an alakazam?” the rock and ground type shot from the other wall, and I sneered at him, not bothering to credit his speech with a response.

The kirlia looked as if she waited until she was sure nobody was going to speak before she addressed my concern. “Perhaps he wanted you to remain in the cavern so he could help with your wound, if he had any means of doing so,” she said, and to that I froze.

“...What?” I went through my mind, detailing my experience since then and how my wound had worsened due to the actions I took. “But...the boulder he threw could have crushed me. And...”

“Maybe Derino told you to run because he thought you should catch up with one of us, so you could leave the tunnels quicker, not knowing why Undol was blocking your path. It’s possible he even attacked him to gain his attention, as sometimes the steelix has trouble hearing, especially in such a loud environment. Similarly, he would have first tried his tactics to gain your attention before speaking, which would be why he did not stop to address you and explain himself. That is his way.”

I stilled myself, processing her words and shaking my head slowly. I couldn’t believe this... The pokémon who I figured was my enemy was actually trying...to help me? I found the prospect unbelievable. I didn’t know what had happened or why he attacked us...and I dearly hoped that he didn’t want to help me for fear of feeling like an idiot for not realising, but also hoping that he was, in fact, friendly as the kirlia explained. If he was, then Derino, as she mentioned his name was, who would, would be okay.

Biting my lip, I turned away and strolled towards the entrance to the tunnel. I peered through and spotted nothing but a passage, silence overcoming me as the wound burned with consistency and my spine reminded me that it was also injured. I assumed I had countless other wounds as well, but I wasn’t ready to address them, and nor were they imperative enough to gain my attention. Discovering how much suffering my body was enduring would probably only make matters worse in the current situation, as I had no way to help them.

I stared into the growing darkness of the passageway, hoping that it was cooler than the room we had just traversed. Perhaps the cold would help to soothe my pain.

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