The Fallen Throne

Chapter 10.3 ✦ Mystic Forest

"When you feel my heat,
Look into my eyes;
It's where my demons hide."
~ Kai (Imagine Dragons, Demons)

♚♚♚♚♚

The forest doesn't take a break from trying to ward off the unwelcome intruders.

And when the forest doesn't stop attacking, they are left with no choice but to never stop evading its unfriendly way of welcoming them.

Lloyd, who had been walking slowest behind the group before, now walks faster than he's ever did in his life after tripping over a root that grabbed him by the leg in return, almost swinging him to the ends of the forest if Lancaster hadn't sliced it in two.

"Just how far do these vines grow?" Alaina pants, bending over to take short breaths after a long run, one that they narrowly escaped being pecked to death and turned to stone by a cockatrice.

Flames burst suddenly forward, stretching several miles before them and lighting up the path ahead with Lancaster narrowly avoiding them. "Still not close enough," Kai says as the flames vanish.

Behind Kai, Lloyd doesn't seem to be surprised at all by the sudden outburst of flames. Instead, he beams for the first time upon stepping into the forest. "What can't you do with those flames of yours?"

Although Lloyd's words are obviously a compliment, Kai seems to be taken aback by them. He turns to Lloyd and eyes him curiously for a short moment before saying in an impatient tone, "I can burn you."

"The flames are unable to help you control your temper, that is certain," Lancaster says immediately, shaking his head at his reaction. Alaina stifles a laugh beside him, and Kai turns red.

Swallowing words of denial threatening to escape his mouth as it'll only prove Lancaster right, Kai turns away furiously to hide his scarlet face of embarrassment. He continues forward, refusing to look back, trying his best to contain his flaring temper in an attempt to prove Lancaster wrong.

"Your highness," Lancaster says softly as they slowly follow behind. "How did you even manage to convince him to help, anyway?" Lancaster whispers as softly as he can manage and at the same time loud enough so that Alaina can hear.

Smiling satisfactorily to herself, she whispers back, "you just have to know the right words."

"I have to say, your highness, you improvise well," Lloyd says, clearly impressed. "Now we have a human torch --"

"Hey, I hear you crystal clear," Kai snaps from the front. All previous efforts of his to contain his anger disappear the moment he turns to glare at them through angry eyes. "For the millionth time," Kai nearly yells of frustration, taking a step towards them, "will you quit talking like I'm invisi --" a string of thuds takes over his voice and he never finishes, for he trips and falls, returning darkness to its rightful throne in the process as his fire extinguishes and disappears once again, this time not by his own will.

Alaina, who is -- was -- standing nearest him, jerks her head around to where he was standing last she remembers, only to find empty darkness. Eyes wide with alert, she calls out to him, "Kai?"

Soft moans near her feet pull her gaze downwards, and she squints her eyes and barely makes out Kai. His figure shifts in the dark, and Alaina bends down slightly to find him hanging on to the ground they stand on. As for what's underneath or rather how far deep the hole goes, she hasn't a clue, but the way Kai holds on to the edge of the ground -- clinging for the grass or the roots and logs of nearby trees -- suggests to her that the hole isn't one to be fallen into.

Pulling his weight together, he uses his arm he'd managed back on the ground to support and to lift his body up, his legs still dangling dangerously over the seemingly infinite hole.

Already beginning to adjust her eyes to the dark in the absence of Kai's fire, Alaina takes a few small, careful steps towards him, stretching her hand out for him. But as she gets close, his face only displays additional panic.

"Don't -- wait, stop --" he tries to warn, but it's too late.

However careful Alaina had been a few seconds ago, the effort vanishes into thin air as she too slips, the culprit being the disgusting greenish gooey slime she'd sworn to avoid not too long ago.

She falls, directly knocking into Kai and the impact forces them down the hole, even when she tries clinging to whatever she sees in an attempt to prevent the inevitable.

In the blink of an eye, they are falling. The hole is definitely larger than what Alaina imagines from just its looks -- it is able to swallow them both. As they fall, distant yells from Lancaster and Lloyd gradually fade as they bump into each other constantly, scraping down the dirt around them and occasionally trying to stop the fall by hanging on to the sides to no avail.

Kai finds Alaina in the midst of their fall and pulls her close to shield her, carefully not allowing his skin to touch hers; it is, after all, half his fault -- the other half being her own -- that she's in this mess. No matter how hard they try to make their fall easier, however, as they fall down the hole and then roll down a tiny slope, they both still gain scars and scrapes in the process.

Hearing a thud echoing from below, Lancaster's heart skips a beat. He draws near the hole, the blurry image of Alaina reaching her hand out to Kai appearing before him. He had been near them, but not near enough to stop their fall. Yet he blames himself, thinking he wasn't fast enough.

Taking several steps closer to the hole, he shuts his eyes, allowing guilt to swallow him. He means to call out to them to check if they are fine, but his rationale is clouded by fear -- something he hasn't felt in many years.

A hand on Lancaster's shoulder stops his advancing footsteps. "Don't get too close; do you want to fall, too?"

Pushing Lloyd's hand away, Lancaster returns to his senses. "I am not going to fall."

"Just making sure," Lloyd shrugs, "that nothing else like that happens to either of us. We shouldn't be separated. They'll be fine, at least they're both together. Rose, on the other hand --"

"Will you be afraid, if you were to be left alone?" Lancaster raises a brow.

"No! Why would I be?" Lloyd stammers, almost tripping over air at Lancaster's sudden question regarding his fear. "Anyway, we should check on them," he says quickly, changing the subject.

He takes a few careful steps towards the hole, and when he is close enough, he peers into it. "Your highness?" His voice echoes through the hole, and he crosses his fingers, hoping his voice is able to reach them with the help of the echo.

Lloyd patiently await their reply, but the dead silence only challenges his patience and increases his fear. Turning to Lancaster, he asks, "do you think they are... still in one piece?"

"Do not talk as if they are already dead," Lancaster glares, although he, too, is worried. Frowning, he turns to the hole. "Your highness?" he calls, allowing the echo of his voice to travel down the deep hole.

Lancaster's mind flashes to their main motive, Rose, and he stares straight down the dark hole where Alaina and Kai had just fell into, conflicted.

Right now, they can only hope and wait.