Rune and Ruin

21 - Ink Black

391 B.C.E. - The Hidden Path, The Hills of the Tasurian Peninsula, Spring, Month of Maius

Thania

Faster, Thania.

I run, following the shadows, but it's growing darker and darker, and everything is falling into shadows.

I don't know where I am anymore. I'm lost and utterly confused. The sky is growing darker, but I still fly over the rough-hewn stone streets. My feet are more sure than ever before. Despite the sky growing dimmer, fading to dark blue, purple, and then finally inky black, I run.

I can't see a thing when I finally slow.

Follow the shadows

Everything is a shadow. Night has fallen. I don't recognize any of the rubble around me, and even if I did, it would be too dark to see the details.

Yet, I follow the shadow. I've run three times in my life. Once to escape my village as the shaper barbarians burned, looted, and raped all around me. Then, from Falx. I was terrified both of those times. Frightened but determined.

I'm not afraid right now. I'm too exhausted to be scared. Before, when my body and mind were spent, I stopped running. My feet don't stop, though, and I wonder if my new-found strength is from my bond. I bet Falx and Quint can run for ages without getting tired.

Huffing, I climb over a short wall, only realizing the road has ended after I've started rushing across a smoother surface than before. I'm fully blind in the dark now, but I carry on without hesitation. The goddess is guiding me.

An age passes. My legs and chest have long since stopped burning, falling into a strange state of numbness. My feet, on fire at some point, feel like tree stumps. My fingers and toes are solid ice. My mind is quiet, but for the small, niggling thought that this bizarre race through the inky blackness may kill me.

I notice the ground changing first. Smooth gives way to stone again. Then, the smell of dust and ash begins to filter into my nose, replacing the damp scent of dirt. My legs are trembling. My run has slowed to a walk. I fear I'm on the brink of collapse.

The sky begins to lighten as the stars finally appear. My eyes fight through the low light until I can see again. I gasp. I'm in the hills. Gods, help me.

I stumble, looking down, then behind me. I'm on a thin road tucked between two grassy hills. The road stretches and winds in both directions before disappearing around bends hidden by the hills.

How... How did I get here? Nothing like this hidden road exists around Caere. How did I cross the chasm?

Tunnels

Tunnels. No wonder it was so dark. Pain lances through my feet. I audibly groan, then cut off the sound abruptly, not wanting to draw attention to myself if anyone else happens to be nearby. Hugging myself, I force my legs to keep going, to carry me forward.

I reach the end of the road just as the sky begins to lighten. The weak dawn light filters through my tired, grainy eyes. The sun is just ahead to my left, so I am walking east.

Toward Rune.

My knees shake, threatening collapse, but fear is now my motivator. I am helpless, all alone except for the voice of a goddess who has trapped me in her unknown, secretive plans.

Hurry

Obediently, I pick up my speed, swallowing my whimpers as I head toward certain doom. My goddess has a sense of urgency in her tone. Nothing remains of the laughing jokester from earlier. Or yesterday? Gods, yesterday, I suppose.