The Firmament Saga: Book I: The Rains of Sorrow

Epilogue: Into the Rain

Epilogue: Into the Rain (Lou)

Waneday, Week 10, Month Duos, Year of God 489

After more than ten days of journeying uneventfully down the terraforming tunnels with his comrades, Lou finally beheld what was possibly the end of his journey. To his left was a ladder, extending into a hole in the ceiling. It consisted of countless thick metal bars that were arranged close together and attached to the wall itself.

"Do you suppose that this leads to the surface?" Kane asked. His beard and auburn hair had grown ever longer, and he had taken to tying the latter back in a ponytail a few days ago.

"Where else would it lead?" Eri quipped. Her dark hair had grown longer during the journey, reaching to her neck. Oftentimes during rest breaks, she had espoused the desire to find a knife or pair of scissors and crop it once more. Lou felt his hand running over his moustache, which had grown uncomfortably long and unkempt.

"Exactly," he said. "Hey Thyrian, can you climb?"

While the older man's head injury had mostly healed, leaving behind a pinkish patch of new skin, his leg injury had only gotten worse. According to his minimal medical knowledge, the would was infected and required treatment. It had gotten more and more painful with each passing day, and when Thyrian had rolled up his pants to wash and put new bandages on it, it had been colored an angry scarlet.

"I think so," he said. "I've been in worse pain before."

"All right, then!" Lou said. "Let's go!"

"I can't want to get out of here," Kane sighed. "I want to feel the rain in my hair again."

"I thought you disliked rain," Eri said.

"Being away from anything makes you want it more," Kane rebutted. "Also, it's mostly because I haven't properly bathed in more than a month!"

"Yeah, I know, you smell like turtle guts," Eri laughed. "But so do I. And Lou and Thyrian."

"Hey, don't compare me to turtle offal!" snapped Thyrian. "Actually, I smell more like rat guts."

Lou laughed. "Ew! Now those smell bad!"

Eri and Kane joined in the laugh, and Thyrian's eyes lit up with mirth. It was good to interact as a family.

Eri stopped laughing and her face turned somber. "I wish Sye was here."

At her words, Lou felt a pang of sadness and desire to see Van and his parents again. "We'll find her. We'll find all of our family."

"We can!" Eri said resolvedly. "We will. They can't all have died. Sye's too crafty to truly die. Also, we killed Dale; he was the only Rain Casteman in the village aside from Marquess Royce's wife and kids, and they probably don't know how to fight with Lux."

"So, let's go!" Kane exclaimed. "Onwards!" He began climbing the ladder. "It isn't breaking! It goes upwards into the distance."

"Good!" Thyrian called. "I'll go next. Lou, catch me if I fall."

"You won't," Lou said. "But I'll do so anyway."

The older man put down his cane, took a shaky breath, and began to climb up. After a dozen or so rungs, he stopped. "I'm fine! I think I can climb without falling!"

"Good!" Lou replied. "I'll go next." He stepped out onto the bottom rung and gripped a higher one with his hands. The metal was surprisingly cold, but it felt solid and sturdy.

He began to move upwards. As he did so, he heard Eri begin to climb up below him. The group climbed in silence for dozens of minutes, nobody uttering any words.