Beneath the Glass Dome

Chapter 6

The path leading to the swamps seemed to be far older than the one they traveled on before and far more neglected than any Aimee came across lately. There were weeds and even small trees growing throughout it as though nature itself attempted to hide any evidence of its existence. She held the lapel of her overcoat, bringing it in tightly towards her body to shield her from anything which may spring towards her. "Why is it things are always hidden in dank places where no one dares to go? Why not place these things in warmer places at least?"

The bird chuckled to itself in her rucksack.

"Was that a laugh from you?" She couldn't believe it. The entire time they'd known each other, the bird had always kept himself quiet and seldom said anything aside from a snide remark.

"If you must know, the reason I am laughing at you is because you are hopeless when it comes to this. Every time you speak it seems as though you have no idea about what you are supposed to be doing."

"Maybe it's because I really don't know what I'm doing."

The bird emitted a small whistle, no doubt steam emitting from its nostrils. It didn't warrant Aimee turning around to be sure.  If she did, she already knew it would want to continue berating her for whatever it deemed she did wrong. It was a constant back and forth with this creature.

"You should've been spending your entire life prepared for this moment. How could you not?"

"I didn't even know any of this existed. I thought the extent of my life would deal with the wonders of the small village, maybe a little in the big city until I left it. Swamps and searching through them never crossed my mind."

Her eyes searched through the hanging moss yet it was hard searching for something when she didn't know what she as looking for.

A rather large emerald bug landed on her arm, causing Aimee to jerk at the movement she felt against her arm. "Look at the size of that," she stated as the bug bounded off in another direction, flying about in circles as though lost.

"Help me," a female voice said off in the distance, striking through the trees as though it were a sword cutting through air. As Aimee's eyes drifted from the bug, she settled them upon a young woman running through the swamp, her dark skin caked in light toned mud along her knees. One of her arms caught the light of the faded sun and gave off a burst of silver; soon after, another burst of silver was seen yet this one was from two of the metallic men Aimee saw earlier. They appeared to be chasing this woman, their swords and shields drawn as they moved through the murk at a slowed pace.

Aimee picked up her pace, nearly running through the muck although at places it tried to slow her down. The bird perked in from the rucksack, "What do you think you're doing? You can't possibly be -"

"Going to help her? Yes. Who knows, I might be the only one out here."

"Aside from those metallic men. Do you not see them? Shall I put getting your eyes checked on the list of things which must be accomplished as soon as possible?" His voice sounded jostled from the way he was being tossed back about in her sack.

A part of her wanted to slow down when she heard him moving yet another deeper part of her wanted to increase her speed so she reached the young woman before anything happened. The dark curled hair of the woman disappeared in the moss yet the footprints from the men chasing her were easy to follow. They left deep impacts everywhere they wanted as though wanting to strike through the earth's surface into the world below.

"You'll never catch up to her. All you're doing is causing us to get in trouble we shouldn't be in," the bird chirped in once more.

Aimee reached at her side and retrieved her pistol, the gleam of it barely seen through the darkness of everything around them. "I will. Keep yourself in the bag if you want but I'm not going to let anyone get hurt because I'm being a coward."

"Are you calling me a coward?"

"Do you want to turn back?"

The bird remained silent as Aimee gave a small smirk, continuing her pace and jumping over a rather large rock covered with green slime. A grouping of tadpoles quickly scattered as her jump startled them. The men were closing in on the young girl. She needed to run faster if she dared stop them.

A thunderous sound was heard in the distance and Aimee paused fora moment, checking upwards. "Doesn't look like rain."

"Oh silly girl. Nothing is as it seems out here."

A flash of light caught her attention, barreling towards her in a straight line. Her eyes widened as she dodged off to the side in an attempt to avoid it. It continued traveling past her and disappearing into the distance.

"What was that?" the bird asked from behind her, its head peeking over her shoulder.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She moved away from the tree and continued in the direction of the chase.

"So you've nearly been hit by a massive burst of energy and you decide to run towards it?" The bird paused for a moment. "This is how I'm destroyed. Survived for decades on a shelf only to be destroyed after three days of being awoken. Wonderful."

Aimee ignored him and continued forward, stopping abruptly when she reached a small clearing. There was charred tree trunks surrounding her, the soggy ground even smoking from the searing flame which was emitted earlier. Standing in the center was the young woman she saw earlier, her yellowed clothing stained with black liquid and a pile of metallic parts at her feet. She looked up when Aimee approached, raising her hand.

"Who are you? Did she send you after me?" the woman asked, her arm shaking slightly as she kept it raised.

Raising her hands, Aimee her attention focused on the woman with the weapon, her own pistol held securely in her right hand. If this woman was capable of taking down these metallic men, there was no telling what she might do next.