Void Walker

Chapter Three: Orichon

Shadowing Luca's footsteps, Miklos had walked briefly down a straight, spacious passageway upon entering the mouth of the beast, before the ceiling abruptly vanished above his head. Presently, he found himself standing in a massive, spectacular dome-like interior flattened at the top; the presence of stairs on his right suggested that there were even more levels beyond this one.

For all his imaginative capabilities were worth, he had envisioned a dingy, grimy, and an all-round primitive dwelling for a community deranged enough to call the Wildlands their home. It was in fact quite the contrary, and to say that the exiled mages had completely and utterly revolutionized the entirety of the volcano's interior would have been nothing short of the truth.

For one, Miklos hadn't counted on visibility, but the dark basalt smoothened and refined by years of grueling hard work were cast with a warm, welcoming glow by the multitude of oil lamps which hung on its walls. Openings of varying shapes and sizes cut into the rock allowed drafts of wind and sunlight to flood in, exposing the rowdy, ongoing bustle of activity inside.

Above all, four great pillars forming the points of a rectangle dominated the central area with their sheer height and build - yet Miklos's astonished gaze upon them also drew a sense of peculiarity. He imagined that the mountain's occupants once embarked on an ambitious mission to force upon artistic embellishments in the pillars' makeup, but that had only resulted in several oddly-misshapen bulges. In Miklos's own residence, pillars adorned the vast halls and along ivory corridors. He didn't know the means through which craftsmen produced them, but he figured this probably wasn't it.

As he took in his surroundings, Miklos became faintly aware that several heads were now turned towards him, having already taken notice of his entrance into Orichon. They assessed him with sharp, intense stares. Instinctively, Miklos shrank closer to Luca and adopted a hard, resolute look of defiance.

"I don't care, you're going to Leina! Right now!" a voice asserted.

A few steps ahead of them, Rei was being assaulted by a feisty, ginger-haired girl as she tried to disentangle herself from the stubborn grip of the twelve-year-old. Krea, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

"NOW!" the girl screeched. Miklos winced, then glared at her.

How annoying.

"Well, there goes the little banshee again," he heard Luca mutter.

"I'll look her up later," Rei said as she tried to ease her wrists out of the younger girl's grasp. "After dinner, perhaps?"

"No! What do you have to do that's so urgent anyway?" Bright amber eyes scrutinized Rei with piercing skepticism.

"We brought back a newblood," Rei answered.

Miklos figured that meant him.

"Too bad then, that's gonna have to wait. Loric isn't back yet."

"He's not? Then-"

She didn't let her finish. "And that also means, off to Leina you go!" she yelled. "What are you thinking putting this off anyway? You're gonna have some real ugly scars!"

"Okay, alright. Alright. I'll go now," Rei relented, letting loose a tired, exasperated sigh. Clearly, that brief conversation had drained her, and she allowed herself to be dragged right past the duo. Before she could be compelled up the stairs beside them and out of their sights, Rei managed to exchange cryptic nods with Luca.

They disappeared from view.

"Who on earth was that?" Miklos scowled. "She's annoying."

"A word of advice, kid. Unless if you intend to be pestered and hounded every day for the rest of your life, it will serve you well not to get on her bad side. She can be quite the little devil when she wants to be." Luca grimaced, as though the mention of it evoked several unpleasant memories in his head. "Her name is Mirabelle. She is the daughter of our cooks."