Sky: Unorthodox (V)

II

Eli walked through the path for a long time. Either he was walking very slow, or the path was absurdly long. He got used to the cold breeze that blew around him, but he was getting tired.

"I don't remember any path in Flockya being this long..." Eli said to himself. "Does this even lead anywhere? What if it's a trap? Sh- Should I go back!?"

He felt a small pain on his chest, and he started breathing really fast. He started to feel weaker and weaker, but he closed his eyes and tried to relax.

"I'm just overthinking everything... Calm down Eli, you're okay..." He said as he started to steady his breathing.

He closed his eyes and stood still, trying to relax and not lose his cool. He took deep breaths, and he felt the pain slowly disappear. He put his hand to his chest, and sighed in relief as he felt more calm. He slowly opened his eyes, and he was ready to keep walking. And as he did, he heard a voice.

"Thank you..." The voice whispered.

"Wha-" Eli said as he aggressively turned around to try and see who was speaking, yet he saw nothing.

"Demille, if it's you again I swear to god I'm going to fucking end you..."

He laughed a little as he realized how unnecessarily aggressive that comment was, and he decided to keep walking. The further he went down the path, the more the fog started to dissipate. He knew this had to mean something, so he started to move faster, eager to find out what he would find. The path slowly got more narrow as he kept walking through it, and it ended at the edge of a cliff.

"Woah!" He screamed as he nearly fell off. "Oh, they put a sign to show the way here but they don't warn you about this!? What the fuck!"

He looked down, and he noticed that it was a pretty long drop. He could jump down if his cape still worked correctly, but he didn't know that yet.

"Well, this could end really badly..." Eli said. "Welp, you only live twice!"

He gathered some courage and jumped off the cliff. Throughout the whole drop, he was a little nervous. But at the same time, he wasn't afraid. He closed his eyes, and he channeled all his energy to his cape. It felt like nothing was happening, but he still didn't freak out. He wasn't that far from the bottom, so he had to act quick.

"You got this, Eli..." He said to himself. And after focusing one last time, his cape reacted.

He was able to glide calmly to the floor and have a steady landing. He was relieved to know that it still worked, but it still had no color to it. It was a little confusing, but he didn't question it that much. He was now in unknown territory, so he didn't let his guard down. He kept walking, and he started to hear something in the distance.

"Do I hear... Voices?" He wondered.

He was very curious over what he was hearing, so he started to run. He didn't feel as tired after that intense fall, so he could handle going a little faster. The voices got louder and louder, and a pair of silhouettes started to appear in front of him. He didn't want to be spotted, so he crouched and started to listen closely to the voices, which were now comprehensible.

"You need to understand that he's making you live a lie!" A female voice yelled aggressively.

"Shut up already kid! Our lord has spoken! You need to go!" A deep voice spat back.

"HE'S A LIAR! Let me go! I don't want to go to the Drylands!" The female voice screamed.

Eli felt like he had to do something. Someone out there was in danger, and his instinct to help those in need kicked in. He stood up and ran towards the voices, now being able to see the two in full detail.