Theocriles

Chapter 2 ~ South

As we hiked along the soft dust, I looked longingly up at the sky. It was no longer a blank canvas. It was painted with strokes of colour in a spread of blues and greens. The dust cloud glittered across the expanding light, intertwining like a golden ribbon, which gradually increased in vibrancy. The majestic mountains before us were coated in brilliant white snow, reflecting the cold light of the sky. The ground beneath us grew firmer, as we roved on across the vast crater, and eventually merged; becoming a great plain of mosaic plates. Between the plates were bottomless ravines, delving deep into the earth; exposing the Illumium which ran throughout the rocks like rivers. The intricate maze of caverns wound their way, guiding us through the night, when the light had faded. My strength was never fully restored so we had to stop and rest regularly, setting up camp whenever we could.  It was much warmer in the ravines as the Illumium lent its subtle heat to us but our food supplies were dwindling and all we had left was some dried Canju berries and some pieces of almost stale kjek bread. Occasionally little springs of water bubbled up through the rocks which was a blessing, as dehydration was never too far away.

Sometimes our path would lead us back up to the surface where we could survey the horizon. That's when the cold would hit us and journeying became difficult. The planet had become unstable and the weather patterns unpredictable. The only heat we had lay at the centre of the illumium mines which ran deep underground whilst the surface was always cool. Now and then terrible storms raged. Ice blasts and freezing fog. The more exposed we became and the higher we climbed, the more ferocious the wind would bite at our freezing faces. The boy held my hand tighlty and we walked and walked, a nameless time, into the wind which wrapped itself around our struggling bodies. Our lips cracked and our skin chaffed, pressing on until our lungs felt as if they would burst and our feet were abraded.

Constantly the numbers ran through my head. 21;08, 21;08, 21;08 and the words on that crumpled yellowing paper surfaced and faded in my minds eye; the letters merging, then blurring, before fading away.

On the eighth day we had light and could see the surface of the great plates. The terrain began to change again. This time the ravines were closing, creating huge steps of sheer rock face in the distance which pressed themselves into the mountainside. Steps leading up to where? The mountains. What was beyond? As I gazed upwards the road looked treacherous. Icy walls and frozen waterfalls, tumbling streams of pure white glistening snow out of which arose rugged black rocks. How could we possibly continue in that direction with so little supplies. We would be exposed to the elements on the side of the mountain. Surely it would lead us to our deaths. 

The boy told me to wait as he scouted a small distance to see if there was a path. I watched as his figure grew smaller and then disappeared from sight. For the first time I felt insecure. Alone. My nerves began to trouble me. My protector had gone out of sight and I sat once again starring up at the sky. It seemed that the light from the cupola was somehow faded. Less impressive tonight.  It always seemed to be night time. I had lost track of when I should be awake and when I should be asleep and relied on my body to tell me when to rest. As I sat there I pondered on where this journey might lead us. 'What will we do when we reached wherever we end up? Will we stay together?' Concentrating on my thoughts I barely noticed the small creature fluttering by the nearest crack. It's metallic plum feathers glowed like Foxfire, trailing a faint trace of light as it flapped it's delicate wings. The bird eyed me cautiously and hesitantly flew towards me. Smiling, I reached out my hand but it flinched backwards. As I clumsily pulled my hand back, the small winged creature landed gracefully on the ground and hopped closer to me.

"Hello," I said. The bird hopped around and tweeted playfully. I tried again reaching my hand out in wonder, but it flew away, disappearing into the crack. I sighed, a little disappointed and turned looking in the direction the boy had gone. He still wasn't back and I began to worry. I don't know how long he had been gone.