The Forgotten Kingdom

Chapter 3

Carina had never regretted anything more in her life, than tossing a stone into what she had thought was a great black sea. Because the moment the stone touched the surface, a horrible, mind rattling screech filled the air, black tendrils whipping up from the surface of the sea, lashing out at anything close. She scrambled to grab her things, darting away as fast as she could, panicked and afraid for her life. 

Once it was out of sight, she calmed a little, heart racing in her chest, breathing erratic. She sat down with a soft thud, trying to figure out what had just happened, and praying that... Thing. Didn't come after her. She shuddered, going into her satchel, pulling out the journal, flipping through it for any information it may have, stopping on a page written in someone else's handwriting. An illustration of something similar to what  she had just seen made her head swim. 

"Void sea." She read aloud, voice shaking. "The void sea is a physical and aggressive manifestation of The Void. The Void sea will attack anything that comes near, or touches it. The only way to calm the void sea so it may be crossed is to shine a light across its full expanse, or have a light bright enough to keep it at bay in all directions. Also reacts to Delicate flowers. Delicate flowers? What..?"

She again flipped through the journal, finding a picture of the same kind of flower that had been pressed into its pages. "The delicate flower. This rare bloom is not native to Hallownest, only growing in a few select places. The queens gardens, at the grave of the traitors child, and in the grey mansion found in the resting grounds. This flower is very fragile, and taking any damage will destroy it. It gives off a faint glow, and makes a wonderful gift due to its difficulty to transport. The void will shy away from its glow, no matter how faint." 

She blinked a few times, picking up the flower, looking it over. She knew it seemed to glow. She smiled, feeling a little more calm looking at the beautiful bloom. She put away the journal, then looked over the maps, finding one that reminded her of the tunnel she was in. there was no mention of a void sea on it, so she figured it must be a new thing. She thinks, looking again at the flower. The map showed the tunnel went deeper, to a place called the forgotten wastelands. A small warning about potential memory loss scrawled in the corner. She frowned. 

Standing again when she finally stopped shaking, she looked around, there were no off tunnels to the cave she was in. So her only way further was past the void sea. She didn't like that thought. But she had no choice. Looking again at the flower, she hoped the journal was right, and the void would part for it. 

She took a deep breath, slowly walking back towards it, lantern held high, her stomach twisting uncomfortably. When the void appeared again in her sight, she was relieved to see that it had calmed, but it seemed to have risen. Which unsettled her more. "Well.... here goes." She began to slowly approach the void sea again, holding the flower in her hand. Shaking, she walked directly up to the void. Then squeezed her eyes shut as she stepped into it. 

Nothing. She opened her eyes to look down, the void had receded around her foot, she took another step, and again it receded. She relaxed slightly, still on edge, and began to walk again. every step the void withdrew from her, the delicate flower in her hand seeming to glow brighter. the void was now up to her waist, a foot away on all sides of her. But not coming closer. She gulped as the void reached her shoulders. then took one big step, the void surrounding her completely. 

She sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly realizing she had claustrophobia. And that being surrounded on all sides with only a foot of maneuver room made her feel trapped. She wanted to turn around, run back to the shore, back to the surface. but she couldn't. She had to keep going. To Hallownest. She took another shaky breath, slowly tying the stem of the flower to the top of her lantern, taking one of her tent poles, bending it slightly and attaching the lantern, raising it above her head. 

Thankfully this action made the bubble around her a little bigger, but she still felt trapped. So, she tried to distract herself. She began humming the song Cornifer would always be humming when he was reading. And she found it calmed her a little more. She took another, thankfully less shaky breath, continuing on as straight as she could. Not noticing the flower glowing brighter and brighter as she walked deeper down into the earth. 

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She didn't know how long she had been walking, but she was getting tired. Dizzy even. She looked around, then turned at a ninety degree angle, walking until she hit a wall. She planted her flower lantern as firmly into the ground as she could, sitting down, legs trembling and sore, her stomach twisting in knots and growling at her. She was starving. 

She opened her satchel, leaning on the wall, pulling out some of her rations and eating quietly. She opened the journal again, grabbing a quill and some ink, flipping to the page with the void sea, scribbling at the bottom of the page "NOT FOR BUGS WITH CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!" Then sighed. She leaned on the wall, thinking. Closing her eyes for a little while wouldn't hurt. Would it? 

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She was running from something. But what she did not know. All she knew was there was something behind her, and she was scared. She didn't know where she was. Her surroundings unfamiliar. Her heart raced faster as footsteps behind her quickened. He was catching up. Wait. He? Who was he? She tried to turn and look back, but could not see, the path behind her was black. A low, raspy, and cruel chuckle rang in her ears, making her scream. She ran faster, then began to feel heat at her back, the edges of her vision turning red. She looked back again, heart stopping as she only saw scarlet flames. She let out another scream as the flames surged around her. Swallowing her up. 

She sat up with a gasp and a broken cry, looking frantically around. No flames... No long path. No footsteps. Just void. She took a shaky breath, this place was messing with her head. "What... The actual FUCK. Was THAT." She stood, legs shaking from fear, still sore, but not as bad. She took a breath. "Ignore it... It was a dream. You're fine..." She paused. "You're also talking to yourself. Time to stop and keep moving. Just. Stay near the wall." 

She grabbed her lantern pole, looking at it, blinking at the delicate flower and bringing it closer. She touched the thin petal. It no longer felt like paper, but was soft, supple. How was that possible... The flower was alive again! She shook her head quickly, putting it out of her mind as she began walking again. following the wall. Trying not to think of the nightmare she had, or the fact that the dead flower was no longer dead. 

She stared at the ground, thinking, then nearly tripped when her foot touched something that wasn't rock. She looked down, confused. It was sand. She moved a little faster, then gasped a breath of relief as stepped out of the void. She clutched the pole, looking at the wall of darkness in front of her. She blinked. Then looked away, not seeing as the void blinked back at her. Eight eyes following her movements. She sighed, looking at the path ahead. 

A massive desert stretched in front of her. Wind blowing harshly. The forgotten wastelands no doubt. She frowned, thinking about the note about losing memories. She removed her lantern from the pole, taking the flower from the lantern, it had returned to being a dead, flat flower that had been pressed into a book. She frowned. Maybe it had been a hallucination? Her mind still felt a little foggy from the fear in the void. Maybe she had just imagined the flower was alive. She tucked it back into her journal without a second thought, attaching the lantern to her belt, pulling her cloak close, then setting off into the strangely lit desert, thankful that the winds were too her back. With any luck. She would get through faster than it took for her to lose her memories.