Dull Colours [EDITED EDITION]

Thirteen | Amadel Dust

Hera's feet felt as heavy as Amadel was rumoured to be. She re-read the diary entry from someone ancient - she had no idea who - that she found in the Book.

"Apparently Amadel dust could only be obtained in the 'darkest depths of the forest, when the trees' roots start to turn gold and there's meant to be a cave'?" Hera wondered out aloud. It sounded very mythical to her. She felt Jacob's hand on her shoulder, and when she turned to him, he glanced wordlessly up at the sky. It was getting quite dark and the moon was ascending slowly on the horizon. Hera planned to sleep then keep travelling when the sun came back up, which meant they had to go to sleep now because they would surely wake when the sun rose.

"Okay," Hera found a tree which had foliage quite low to the ground. Crawling under it, Hera rolled out a sleeping bag and crawled inside it. The cold still seeped in through the seams and pierced her skin in ice tendrils. She was relieved when she felt Jacob slip in quietly beside her a while after, probably thinking she was asleep. Stifling a yawn, Hera finally felt sleep take her into blissful silence.

The sunlight streamed under the tree branches, straight into Hera's eyes as she stirred. She sat up, trying not to wake Jacob but realising he was gone. Going straight into panic mode, Hera got up, catching her foot on the sleeping bag and stumbling. She suddenly felt arms wrap around her, stopping her fall. She sighed in relief when she saw it was Jacob. "You scared me," she punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Sorry," he laughed. Hera heard a rustle, and turned to see Is climbing out of another sleeping bag.

Stifling yet another yawn, Hera ripped into a food packet which Matthew - who was slowly gaining her approval - had to help her with. When she was finished, she shoved the packet into her backpack, flinching at the loud crinkle of plastic.

"We should probably start going. I think we have to head..." She double-checked in the book. "West." And, using the compass her mother gave her when she was little, she led the way.

~~~~~

It was nightfall when Hera first saw it. Her legs were aching, her feet had blisters and her shoulders seared with pain every step from the weight of her backpack. Seeing the first glimmering vein of gold twirling up the tree trunk gave her hope, which in turn was adrenaline, getting her moving, running faster and faster past everyone else, where the trees thickened and shone with mesmerising gold. It was almost too easy, yet here it was.

Delighted, Hera hugged the tree closest to her, stepping over any roots that might trip her up. "I can't believe it," she whispered, so happy it felt like she was cured already. Except for the voice, now constantly talking, which she had mentally pushed to the background of her thoughts.

When the others finally caught up to her, the excitement had faded fast. "Where's the cave?" Hera said when they were within earshot. "It must be around here som-" Suddenly, the ground fell away beneath her. She had been pacing back and forth, but now she fell into complete darkness, the only sound her screams.

It was so like in the movies; Hera was sliding down a long tunnel which was made of stone, with water running through it and slicking the surface so she couldn't help but slide all the way down to the bottom. One part that wasn't like the movies was the scraping. The rough stone caught on her clothes and any other fabric, tearing her bag away from her as it tumbled down just after her.

It seemed an age until she reached the bottom. When she did, it was around a metre drop into a puddle. Not a lake - a little puddle. Falling hard onto her knees, Hera flinched and her screams cut off abruptly as the memories of her death invaded her mind. "Go away," she whispered, the sound echoing into the silent cave.

Go away.

Away.

Away.

A gust of wind blew through a tunnel leading out of the cave. Hera was deciding this would theoretically lead outside when something landed on top of her. Or rather, someone landed on her with an "Oof!"

Hera wriggled around, shoving and kicking to get them off her. "Jacob!" She saw who it was. "Get off!" Eventually they struggled out of the pile just as Matthew and Is flew out behind them. Hera rubbed the back of her head, brushing Jacob off when he asked if she was okay.

And then she saw it.

The Amadel.

Again, it was almost too easy. But it was there. Shining gold in the dark cave, a mystic glow surrounding it. Entranced, Hera slowly stepped timidly towards the stone, embedded in the wall. Reaching out a hand, she reached out, touching the Amadel. It felt strangely alive under her touch; as if it was a little creature inside the glorious amber-gold colour straining for her touch. The stone was moving and warm as she softly stroked it – how was she to get dust from this? She would have to scrape it. But she knew she had to do it. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice hoarse. Pulling out a pocket knife from the seam of her pants, she held out a small glass bottle and leant against the cave wall, stones prodding her side. 

It happened almost in slow motion. Hera's blade shone briefly in the light, and touched the surface of the Amadel.

Hera was thrown into black.

Her own head?

She was suddenly surrounded by whispers. She was standing on the ground, in the cave maybe? It was complete black around her, but not a complete black like when she was in her head. "Guys?" She called softly, hoping the others would reply. 

"Hello."

Hera jumped and stiffened. That was not  the voice of one of her friends. Hera spun uselessly in circles, her eyes straining to find the speaker. A hand landed roughly on her shoulder, grabbing her and spinning her around. Hera closed her eyes, not wanting to see the thing that would surely drive her crazy at a glance.

The hand disappeared and she yelped, her eyes flicking open. She hugged herself, the terror invading her thoughts and she just wished for an escape, anything to get her out. 

The ground beneath her gave way and it gave her deja vu - she'd gotten into the cave by falling. When she landed, it was a perfect and graceful feet-on-ground landing, as if she'd been standing there the whole time. It was the same as the other room, but there were pale faces slowly appearing, and whispers starting. More and more pallid, almost see-through faces with no bodies were appearing around her and the whispers were getting louder oh if she didn't get out of here she'd surely go crazy -

And then it was all gone again. Hera whipped her head from left to right, mentally pleading to be gone from here, would she be stuck here forever? Where were her friends? 

She realised she had her hand stuck out in front of her, clenched. She slowly released it, but it was like the air was thicker around it and her hand didn't want to let go. The second her hand was open and she had pulled it back, she was ripped out of the fantasy and back into reality. 

She blinked rapidly as the Amadel, now glowing furiously bright, materialised in front of her. She gasped, stumbling backwards, her mind trying to piece together what had just happened. The others stared in silence. "Hera," Is breathed. "What was that?" Hera looked around at their worried faces and swallowed. "I," her voice shook. "Have no idea." She looked at her feet and walked forwards, eager to get what she came for and leave. It was getting unnaturally cold.

Scraping the Amadel's surface with the blade, Hera watched in despair as the light seeming to shine from the stone flickered and dimmed, until there was a decent amount of dust in the jar and the light in the stone was extinguished.

Capping the bottle, she felt an undeniable feeling of relief, but not physically. A mental relief. Hera turned to face the others, face burning. "Let's go." And she started walking through a tunnel leading out of the cave that she could feel a slight breeze coming out of.

"Uhh," she heard Matt say from behind her. "I think I broke my ankle?" Hera looked at him over her glasses. "Seriously?" She said. He tested it. "No," he flinched in pain, but tried to hide it. "Just sprained. I can walk," he protested when Isabelle volunteered to help him walk, but he didn't struggle when she wrapped an arm comfortingly around him and walked in step beside him. Staring at her feet as she walked, Hera made her way to the light at the end of the tunnel – no pun intended – and breathed in the fresh air, glad to be free of the musty and still smell from the tunnel. The cave came out on a hillside, so Hera laid down in the green grass, mentally and physically exhausted, and fell asleep.