Adventure in Ayremus

Chapter Nine: The Face of New Adventure

"I can point you towards the town nearby, maybe if you get everyone talking about an uprising against the central city, we could take over." The mayor sounded pleased with that statement, his humble gaze never once left me. Ruby whispered an agreement in my ear, so I nodded. It seemed like a cause worth looking into. I gathered our stuff, slung my pouch across my back and led the way out of the gates, the villagers reverently standing at attention, watching us go. The mayor waved us off then vanished into the crowd.

Our walk started and ended just a short distance away from the Revuelian gates. Hushed whispers coming from within the heart of the forest had our curiosity piqued. I took Ruby's hand and pulled her down into a crouch as a rustle and a snap nearby signaled me to someone's presence. Moments later, two uniformed soldiers sauntered past, barely a hair's width away from me. They were speaking in hushed tones, and I could not make sense of anything they were saying through the piece of cloth they wore over their faces. A rogue idea crossed our minds as we locked eyes, both determined to find out where it came from. As if it wasn't hard enough to traverse the land quietly, the ground was littered with a thick bed of wet soggy leaves. The rain was thinning, and the forest was also almost silent, a noticeable lack of activity as a result of its inhabitants being chased out by the early settlers of the land. Not wanting to lose the stumbling duo in front of us, we followed. Keeping to the shadows of the trees, we synchronized our footsteps with theirs to further hide our clumsy movement behind them. Although they were mumbling about irrelevant topics, their attention never wavered as they glanced around at every sound they heard. The noise of a nearby waterfall soon could be heard, so I quickly scanned the area for signs of traps or fortifications and felt my gaze lingering on Ruby every time I looked. She broke my train of thought with a quick tap on my shoulder and pointed up at a crack in the cliff face. Water spilled out of the crevasse in the side of the rock wall and noisily splashed its way down the stream, probably flowing into a larger river. The two soldiers had stopped in the clearing in front of us for a rest, looking up longingly at the waterfall.

"We've only got a short way to go, come on, you know I want a drink too," the more rowdy of the duo gave his partner a friendly punch on the shoulder. My ears pricked up at the new information, but Ruby shifted beside me, unfazed by the happenings. She watched them lift their weary bodies off the ground in amusement, then pointed off to the side that was closer to the waterfall. "It'll cover all the sounds we're making" I nodded gratefully, straightening my back and stretching my sore limbs. Now with the constant drone of the waterfall, which shrouded our footsteps, we could move around more freely now. The sky darkened as the cliff face loomed over our heads, blocking out the sun as it tried to peek through the rain clouds. I struggled with my pouch as it clung painfully to my back, I cursed inwardly at it and moved on. The soldiers quickly jumped towards the water and landed with a thud, my eyes widened in disbelief, they were... floating on its surface? Ruby shot me a quizzical look as we watched them hop along the water, following a particular path until they completely vanished into the waterfall. We looked for a way around, but to no avail. Everything was taken care of, all its entrances were covered up to perfection. Even the waterfall didn't immediately spell 'secret door' as it seemed impossible to go through the water that barreled downwards from above.

I kicked a stone angrily into the waterfall, racking my brains for another way through the mist, into what lay ahead. The cave could stretch on for miles underground, there was no way we would be digging for it. The ether could easily transport us across the pond, at the cost of our stealth. I was very sure that they would notice two people floating through the front entrance on a flat rock. We walked around the place, combing the ground and gazing at the rock face for ages, our eyes glazed over for staring so long. Ruby motioned to leave, finally giving up our futile search. I took one last look at the wall and noticed something odd.

A man stood precariously on an edge, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. I looked at him in surprise and immediately ducked down low behind a bush as his eyes scanned the ground. Ruby was quick to follow, although confused as to what I had seen. I quickly whispered the situation to her, and she nodded in understanding. The figure finally left, and I made a mental note of his position as he slowly descended the rock wall. Ruby tapped me on the shoulder to tell me her plan of action. I glanced at her to tell her to wait, but when I looked back, the man had vanished from sight. My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped in shock, surprised at what had just happened. In the short moment that I wasn't looking, he had completely vanished without a trace.

I stepped out from our hiding spot and gazed out at the cliff face, squinting hard at it. I was determined to find out how he could have left so quickly. Ruby was riled up, she kept making up theories on how he could have left while I lifted her up from the ground with the power of my broken tablet. I dusted myself off and begun my search, but there was nothing I could see. I stared high and low, at every crack and crevasse I could find. I turned back to see Ruby leaning heavily on the wall, apparently afraid of falling off, she mumbled something to herself as she realized I was looking at her. She quickly looked away and walked past me, trying to hide the fact that she was scared. I looked downwards awkwardly and stifled a laugh.

Thud.

I jerked my head up at the sound and Ruby had vanished. I stared down at where she could have fallen, but I could not see anyone. I heard a groan behind me and turned around again. I saw the tip of Ruby's foot sticking out from the rock wall and leant down towards it. I put my hand on the rock wall to try to steady and re-position myself, but my hands groped aimlessly at nothing and I tipped over into the rock face.

The rock wall blew past me as I tumbled through. A soft and soothing rip could be heard as I passed through the thin film and landed on the ground with a thud. I looked around for Ruby and watched her as she leant heavily on a boulder. I stood up and felt weirdly disorientated, feeling my legs falling away from beneath me as I tried to walk. I sat down for a while before Ruby came over to help me up. I stared into the darkness, but nothing could be seen, I looked at where I just came through and caught a faded glimpse of another patrol walking out into the forest. The surroundings confused me, and I did not like it, a soft hum filled my ears and I finally noticed that I could not hear the waterfall anymore.