The Firmament Saga: Book I: The Rains of Sorrow

Chapter 15: Asphodel

Chapter 15: Asphodel (Lou)

Around five days after entering the tunnels

Monotony was the perfect world to describe Lou's life for the past week or so. That and the discomfort of endless walking. The tunnel, which had originally been so new and interesting, was nothing but repetitive at this point. The shiny corridors stretched on and on into the distance, the constant light boring into his mind. The faint sound of the stagnant water being disturbed by currents in the air was the only thing that broke up the deafening silence of the chambers.

For the fifth day in a row, Lou trudged down the tunnel. His mind was clogged with tiredness, as he had gotten barely any sleep over the past few days. Thyrian had packed enough rations to last for a month, but they were bland, boring pieces of stale bread, for the most part. The water flowing through the tunnel was only moderately dirty, but was slightly worse than the water in Urbs Sacer. Lou hadn't thrown up or got sick, so he wasn't worried about the quality of his hydration. His calves ached like they had been run over by a wild turtle, and he was constantly out of breath.

"Look there," said Thyrian, abruptly breaking the silence. He seemed chipper as ever, with the monotony of their trek not breaking his spirits whatsoever, at least on the outside. "See?"

Lou squinted. He just saw endless tunnel. Wait... There! Off in the distance was a sight that filled him with sheer annoyance and agony.

The tunnel had caved in completely around a thousand feet ahead of them. The shiny chrome blended with thousands of tons of rock, looking almost like two pieces of paper being stuck together at the end. The lights within a few hundred feet were completely broken, casting the area into darkness.

"Yeah," Thyrian said. "We're going to have to retrace our steps." He sighed. "When you get to my age, boy, the exertion of oneself sure gets to you."

"You're only, what, 35?" Lou asked exasperatedly. "You're only a decade older than me! You're in perfect health."

"Ahh, to be young and healthy," Thyrian said in a fond, reminicing voice. "To not have grey hair."

"You literally have black hair!" Lou shouted. "You're in the prime of your life! You're weird."

"Continue!" Thyrian said, turning around and retreating his steps.

"Can't I rest my sundamn calves for one sundamn minute?" gasped Lou.

"No!" Thyrian said cheerily. "Walking forth makes four!" He giggled to himself. He walked down the corridor.

Lou was flabbergasted. Thyrian was so strange sometimes. This roadblock would cause them to lose over five days of travel time, but Thyrian seemed significantly happier than before. What went on inside his head?

"West!" Thyrian shouted, breaking up the silence. Lou jerked in surprise. The past forty minutes had involved walking down the endless tunnel, with silence coming from the two of them.

"What?" Lou asked.

"We're going west!" Thyrian said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We can find the old stuff!"

"The what now?" Lou asked. "What 'old stuff?'"

"The tunnels, boy!" Thyrian said. "The tunnels have secrets! Yea, secrets!"

"What secrets?" Lou asked. "This tunnel? It probably extends forever!"

"No, my boy," Thyrian said. He giggled to himself. "The tunnel ends in paradise, yes, yes, yes!"

"Paradise?" Lou asked. "Sounds like what those Rain Castemen wanted."

"No, no!" Thyrian said. "Old paradise! Hee hee!" He abruptly went silent.