The Forgotten Kingdom

Chapter 10

Carina panted softly as she stood facing Mato. The Nailmaster had just taught her his favorite attack, The Cyclone Slash. She smiled, bowing to her teacher as they put away their nails. She smiled. "That was fun." Mato nods. "Indeed it was. You are a quick learner. I am proud to have been able to teach you, but, sadly, as we discussed last night, this will be our last training session. I have taught you everything I could. Only my brothers, should you ever meet them, can teach you more." She nods. He had told her several stories of when he was still training under The Great Nailsage. 

Mato looked almost sad as he put his nail away on his rack, and Carina felt reluctant to leave. She sighed. "I'm going to miss you. I never felt so at home somewhere, not like this." The Nailmaster nods sadly. "It will feel empty without you here. I am sad to see you go. But, knowing you, you will come back to visit." She grinned. "You know I will." The room was awkwardly silent. Neither of them were good with goodbyes. "You should go. You have your mission to fulfill. I hope that my teachings will help bring you closer to your goal." She nods, gathering her things. "I'm sure they will. I glad i met you Mato. And I will come to visit you. It's a promise." 

She nods to him, gathering her things, then making her way out. She felt her throat tighten, tears threatening to well up, but she shook her head and smiled, confident that now, she was prepared for anything. 

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Carina scaled the last of the howling cliffs with ease, finding herself on a steep cliff. Looking down she worried about the safety of her landing. She shook her head, trusting herself. Mato had shown her how to land from a fall from any height with minimal damage to herself. So she jumped. She felt like she had been falling for hours before she hit the ground, feeling her knees rattle. She stood after a moment, shaking herself to restore feeling. Then looked up. She looked around, frowning. She couldn't see any exits other than broken doors, easily broken if struck. She approached the door, kicking it down. 

It was a short hallway of doors, all of which she broke easily. She looked around. It was eerily quiet. She felt there should be something alive here, but there was nothing. It was empty. She climbed through what her maps called 'King's Pass'. Shaking her head as she climbed, she found a large tablet. Strange markings covered the surface, and began to glow the closer she got. Stopping to investigate, she shivered when she saw deep claw marks had labelled the words illegible. 

She moved on quickly, not wanting to see what had made those marks. She continued through the pass, glancing curiously at a butterfly nearby, along with several flowers that looked and moved like them, a blue glow emanated from the room that the flowers surrounded, so she investigated. Above her sat a large, blue, wiggling cocoon. She frowned, feeling that it was a bad idea, but drawing her nail and poking it. Thick blue liquid oozed out, smelling delicately sweet, she thinks. This looked like what many bugs called 'lifeblood'. 

Drinking it improved ones constitution and durability, but it was rare and hard to come by, costing millions to just get a drop. She looked at her empty water flask, then opened it, poking a larger hole into the cocoon, holding her flask under the flow of Lifeblood, watching as it filled and overflowed. She lifted her hand, licking away some of the sticky fluid, smiling at the taste. She looked at the still wiggling cocoon, then slashed it open, two tiny scuttling creatures falling out and trying to flee from her, just running into the wall repeatedly. she walked over, picking one up, it struggled in her hand, it almost looked like a seed that had grown legs. Its 'head' sloshed, full of lifeblood. 

Thinking it would be a good idea to have some extra, she picked up the other one, tying them together and tucking them in her bag, she continued on through the pass, looking at a large chasm, making her way down, glaring at the spikes. There were also a few loose stalactites. She thinks, trying to measure the distance, then jumps, leaping from platform to platform without thinking. Once she was safe she made her way out of the hole, heading to another tablet. 

As she grew closer she saw this one was undamaged. She walked up, looking closely, barely able to read it.

 'Higher beings, these words are for you alone. Beyond this point you enter the land of King and Creator. Step across this threshold and obey out laws. Bear witness to the last and only civilization, the eternal Kingdom. Hallownest.' 

She frowned, looking at the massive doorway, broken bits of what used to be the door scattered on the ground. "Well... At least I know this is hallownest... But what is this about higher beings...?" She shook her head, chastising herself for speaking aloud, then heading through the doorway to the next cliff. There was a small town at the bottom. Probably Dirtmouth... She jumped down again, glad this was a shorter fall, then approaches the town.