Unexpected

chapter twenty-seven: goddess

"Where are you taking me?" Elara asks, ducking her head as she follows the Aleena King through a crumbled structure.

Of course, the King's response is incoherent to her. He tugs on her hand as the other Aleena scurry ahead and she sighs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She does her best to keep up.

The creatures stop once they reach some sort of hole burrowing into the ground, partially covered by a thick golden seal.

"Wow." Elara sighs breathlessly, assuming the place to be the remnants of some sort of temple.

The Aleena begin bowing as their hushed chants fill the air around them. Elara looks around at them as the ground begins shaking again. A puff of dust escapes the uncovered hole and one of the creatures begins coughing as another quickly pulls him away.

Elara furrows her eyebrows and peeks through the hole in the ground to find nothing but darkness. She can't help but wonder how far down it goes.

"Mistress Elara!" C-3PO's robotic voice calls from behind her and she turns to find the protocol droid walking ahead of Commander Wolffe.

The Aleena begin speaking to the golden hunk of metal and C-3PO looks over at the broken seal. Before any words can be exchanged, the ground begins to shake again—a bit more violently this time.

"Hey! Get away from that hole!" Wolffe yells as he shoves 3PO aside, but the crumbling ground beneath Elara's feet causes her to slip down into the unknown before Wolffe can reach her.

The Aleena begin running around frantically as C-3PO translates their worries for the woman they assume is a goddess.

Wolffe insures that the ground beneath him is stable once the quaking stops and looks down the slim opening. "Princess, you down there?" He calls but receives no answer.

The Commander runs a worried hand through his hair. What will General Plo say about this? This will most likely do nothing his status in the GAR, but will surely affect his relationship with the General.

Elara, on the other hand, stands at the bottom of the tunnel, looking up the steep hole as she dusts herself off. She turns to find another passage in the tunnel, this one horizontal instead of vertical, and decides to take her luck in following it. It's not like she'll be able to climb her way out of this one.

She cautiously navigates her way through the darkness, using a hand against the side of the wall to guide herself. A faint glowing appears in the distance and she squints to make sure she's not imagining it.

As she approaches the small fairy-like lights, a slight laugh puts a smile on her face as they surround her. The lights form a trail further into the tunnel and Elara follows curiously. It's not until she feels movement around her that she questions the mysterious lights.

"Why have you come?" A deep voice asks, startling Elara.

She jumps back as she looks up at the talking.. Tree?

"You do not belong here." Another one speaks from behind her.

"Go! Leave us!" A third yells.

Elara looks around at the intimidating tree creatures. "I'd be more than happy to get out of here if you could just point me in the right direction."

"Why have the surface dwellers destroyed the peace?" The first and biggest tree asks. "The ground shakes to keep out their foul air, which poisons and destroys us."

"The quakes you refer to are the reason I'm here. Many have died, I've come to help." Elara explains.

"There is not much time." The second tree hums. "Find what you were sent here to do."