Epiphany

Chapter 43 Part 2~Fault

“We’re here.”

I shifted my gaze from the ground to one of the shelters affixed to the tree directly above us. But it wasn’t as high off the ground as the other shelters in Tresor, and it wasn’t in its best condition either.

The wood was scratched off and large blocks of the wood were barely hanging from the small treehouse. Not to mention that it was a block-shaped cabin, which was not the same style as the ones that were in Tresor.

A pair of hands gripped my knees and lifted me from the ground to pass through the hole in the center of the cabin’s floor that looked like it was the only way in.

“Alyssa, reach for it. Quick.”

I raised my arms above my head but I still couldn’t reach for the edge of the squared opening.

“Alyssa!”

I huffed as I straightened my spine, but I only managed to touch the wooden edge with the tips of my fingers.

With a low groan coming from beneath me, I was lifted even higher, but for only a few seconds, and I grabbed onto the edge.

I groaned as I tried pulling my body up. Normally I would’ve pulled my whole body upwards thanks to my upper strength, but now I couldn’t even hold tight onto the wooden edge. Not only were my fingers soaring, but I had absolutely no energy left in me.

Just before my hands could slip, I found myself being pushed through the hole and when I made it through, I rolled on my back. I stared at the ceiling, taking deep breaths as if I had trained for four hours straight, when it should have been my mother the one heaving for air as she was the one who helped me in getting through the hole.

From my position on the ground, I allowed my eyes to wander around the place. The corners were covered with cobwebs and the place that seemed bigger from the inside than outside was completely empty, ignoring the wooden twigs and pieces lying on the floor. The tree’s trunk protruded from the wooden floor to the ceiling at one of the corners.

My attention was back on the opening when a grunt sounded beside me. My mother pulled herself through the hole with power I never thought she had.

I wasn’t surprised though. When life was normal and much happier, she always woke up early to run around town. Sometimes I tagged along and sometimes not.

Training is as important as studying for school, Alyssa. I remembered her smiling at me and said, So you better apply for this academy and train consistently.

She stood up and ushered for me to follow. “Come on, Alyssa.”

I closed my eyes, feeling drowsy.

I heard her footsteps shuffling around the area before she vanished.

I just stayed like that for a whole minute until she called for me again, voice laced with urgency and dread. But most importantly, the voice seemed distant.

I opened my eyes, perplexed at the proximity. I twisted my torso in every direction, eyes searching each corner of this ill-lit room.

Did she leave?

“Mama?!”

“Alyssa, come quick!”

I sighed when my mother's head peeked through a hole in the trunk. As I got a better look at the trunk, I noticed an arch doorway and a hole dug through the trunk that looked like a tunnel leading downwards. It was a hidden passageway that led down.

I saw my mother holding onto bars nailed inside the trunk, like a ladder, and I mimicked her actions, clutching the wooden bars tightly so I didn’t fall on my mother.