The Orb And The Onslaught {COMPLETE}

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    Florence's eyes were still adjusting but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make anything out.

"There's nothing here, Skyrah."

And there wasn't. It was a sprawling landscape of snowy hills and mountains beyond. The impossible trees grew here and there, but nothing to hint that a village or town was ever there.

    Skyrah didn't seem perturbed or even fazed by this fact, she leaned over her tolah and said something to it. It appeared to do what she wanted because they veered to the side of one of the hills. They stopped moments later and Skyrah climbed down from her tolah, she gestured for them to do the same. Skyrah was speaking to her tolah when they approached closer, and before they could question her decision, the tolah were off. Running flat out the way they'd just come.

     "They're just... leaving us here? In the middle of this frozen wasteland?" Quentin asked with a dramatic shiver.

Florence half smiled at him, while glancing at Skyrah. "I'm sorry, dear but I do have to agree with Quentin, minus the dramatics." She smiled wider when Quentin huffed. "If we freeze out here, I'm going to be a little put out."

Skyrah didn't react in the amused way Florence thought she might, instead she turned away from them without another word.

     She sidled up to one of the snowy hills and without warning, plunged herself deep into it. Digging away with her hands like she thought something valuable was beneath it. The snow falling all around them didn't make it any easier, snow kept filling the hole she'd dug but she persisted. Florence and Quentin tried to help, despite not understanding the situation, but she declined. She claimed she wanted to do this herself, what this was however was a mystery to everyone except Skyrah.

      A few minutes later and a call of elation roused Florence and Quentin from their daydreams. They peered into the hole Skyrah had made to find her kneeling in front of a white stone door. Skyrah's emotions were hard to read but she soon settled on determination and she reached for the handle. The door opened easily inwards, letting a miniature avalanche of snow inside. Skyrah took the lead and they followed her through the doorway.

     They emerged into a stairway, it led down in a spiral until darkness enveloped the lower levels. Skyrah glanced around, apparently looking for something that she found a second later. A pile of wooden torches and a box of matches were laying on the ground at the top of the steps. Skyrah picked up one of each and lit the torch with the match. It burst into life, illuminating the steps and their shocked faces.

"Your people live underground?" Florence asked, unable to hide the shock from her voice either.

    "They do, it's the only way they've managed to survive for as long as they have. Almost all of the towns live this way, some try to live topside but eventually they come back down where it's warmer."

They glanced around at the icy walls surrounding them, subconsciously huddling towards the torch.

"It definitely feels warmer than outside, and at least it's not snowing in here." Quentin noted, pulling down his hood and taking off his gloves.

     They neared the steps for a better look and the cats resurfaced from their bags, sniffing the air curiously.

"I'm a little surprised you remembered everything in order to get in here." Florence remarked, trying to sound impressed rather than invoke the memories of where Skyrah had been all this time.

"As am I... I suppose it stuck with me more than I realised. I thought I had suppressed most of it to the point of no return."

     Her face fell and Florence kicked herself internally for bringing it up.