NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42: Fork in the Road
We quickly made our way through the overgrowth, away from the sounds of battle and the encroaching machines. I don't know how long we ran for, only that my little legs felt like they were going to break off and that my heart was going to explode. At some point, Isa scooped me off the ground, and eventually, all sounds faded.
We stumbled into a rocky clearing; large boulders lay strewn about as Isa and Oscar panted heavily as they both set Anne and me down. The foreigner, Oscar, bent over with his hands on his knees as he muttered words in his native tongue before wiping his brow of sweat.
It was at this point that, as Isa raised her arms above her head and extended out her chest to expand her lungs, she said something that I assumed to be in Oscar's native tongue. The man's eyes widened as he straightened up and said something questioningly, and Isa nodded.
The man smiled and continued to speak, and I asked, "Isa, what are you guys saying?" I was somewhat frustrated that I felt out of the loop.
Yet before Isa could respond, Anne said tiredly, "Uncle is surprised that Isa can speak in Yanky."
"Yanky?" I turned to look at the redhead, surprised.
She can speak American? I thought jokingly and smirked a little before thinking seriously. Well, Isa did say she spent time in Yankston many years ago.
Anne nodded her head slowly, her hand still clutching where her old wound was. "Uncle Oscar is a Yanky," she said monotonously as she yawned. "He's not good at speaking, Maurich."
I looked back at the two as they chatted briefly. "Well, he wasn't doing so badly earlier," I said, muttering as Isa took out her canteen and passed it to Oscar, who took it and drank from it happily.
After a moment, he came over to Anne and me and said, "Anne. Drink. Try to feel better." He passed her the canteen.
"Uncle, you can speak to me normally if you want." She muttered as she drank from the canteen.
"No." He shook his head. "Best I learn. You, good practice." He smiled widely.
I couldn't help but smirk a little as Isa came over to me and knelt. "How are you feeling, Luna? Are you okay?"
I looked at her and bit my lower lip. "Scared," I admitted. "But a bit better than earlier."
Isa nodded. "I understand. We're going to go a bit further into the night now to get as far away from Dredsten as we can."
"Dredsten?" I asked and tilted my head.
Isa nodded. "Oscar said that's where all that chaos was happening. Apparently, we were near its outskirts when the invaders began to sack the town."
"Aye!" Oscar nodded. "Invaders come from the big bullet that fell from the sky! Landed many gilos from Dredsten. Open it did. Monsters come out!" He gestured with his arms out wide. "Took people they did." He then put a hand on his chest. "Barely made it out alive; we did."
Isa sighed. "So my theory was right."
"That doesn't make sense, though," I muttered, and she glanced at me. "How the hell can something so large travel like that? Let alone survive the impact? Can you imagine how big of a gun they'd need to shoot those things?"
Isa shrugged. "I don't know, Luna. The Rusivites have walking, soul-filled machines. Honestly, they could throw anything at us, and I won't be surprised now."
She has a point there. I thought. This world is bizarre. Everything I knew from my old high school physics classes goes out the window when magic is involved. Dammit.
"So, they got massive airships, drop pods, and fighting machines that run as fast as striders… How're we going to outrun these things?" I asked softly as my pessimistic side began to show. "Aside from magic and big cannons, how do we fight these things?"
Isa's expression faltered a bit as she looked at me with pity, an expression that only made me feel worse. She shook her head, steeled herself, and said, "Luna, listen to me. We'll make it out. We got away just now; we can keep doing so. We just need to play smart. Yes, they're fast, but they're big and dumb. We can avoid them by hiding and moving in the shadows." She patted my shoulder and smiled at me. "We'll move like the rogues in your mother's old adventuring books."
I appreciate you trying to cheer me up. I thought. Maybe if I was more like Anne, who seemed to be intrigued by your words and had that childish innocence, I would play along. Yet I just can't. I took a deep breath. The woman screaming in the cage—her face is still in my mind. I can't help but picture Mother in her position, or Varis, or anyone. What if they were taken? Wouldn't that be better than being outright killed? Or Worse?
I began to tremble slightly, and Isa took my hands and gripped them tightly. "Luna, look at me." My eyes hesitantly flicked to meet hers. "We'll be okay." She smiled gently. "We're a team, remember? Adventurers. We'll get through this. You just need to try to stay strong and focus on the here and now. Thoughts are not truths. Do not let them consume you."
Thoughts aren't truths? I blinked, and my eyes widened a bit. She's right. They aren't. I shook my head, clearing my mind of the horrific imagery.
"Y-You're right!" I said it out loud, but more so for my sake than hers. "They aren't. I-I just… We should get moving." I gulped as Anne handed me the canteen. Isa smiled, sighed with relief, and released my hands, allowing me to take the canteen and drink from it greedily.
"Well, then, if you're ready, let's go moving." Isa smiled down at Anne and me.
It's been a day since we fled from the nightmare in the forest. Dark clouds had begun to roll in, and a drizzle poured down on us as we continued deeper into the forest. We continued to hunt what few critters we could, but without the voice in my head to alert us of any fighting machines. Every time we fired the gun, it was a risk. Not only that, but Isa also made it clear she only had about ten rounds of ammunition left. So, to make things last, we began to ration what meat we had left, and Isa began to teach me more about foraging throughout the day as we walked by pointing out various edible plants and roots.
Despite the dreary rain, today was quiet—no fighting machines, guns, or screams. It was honestly refreshing, and the pessimism from the day before began to ease a bit as we moved. We told Oscar and Anne about our escape plan—finding the cabin in the woods with the boat to get across the river. How we came to that knowledge, we didn't disclose. Isa simply said we heard it from a passerby and were hedging our bets.
Oscar didn't seem to care or press on the issue; honestly, he just seemed happy to have capable company.
Anne, however, seemed a bit off. Or should I say she reminded me of Varis? She seemed very upset about our situation, reasonably so, of course, yet I could see the anger and hatred behind her eyes every time we encountered remnants of our invaders. Whether it be the massive footprints left by the machines or the occasional corpse we stumble upon, again, her reaction is one hundred percent reasonable. Yet maybe I was just hoping to see another cheerful child again.
It wasn't until some point in the mid-afternoon that we came across a dirt path in the forest, cutting down from the north to the south. Isa stopped upon seeing this, held her hand up, and glanced at me. I looked at the path and pursed my lips.
Voice man, are you awake? We found a path. Is this it?
No response.
Dammit. How long are you going to be ghosting us?
No response.
I took a deep breath. "I think we should follow it." I said to Isa. "If it leads to nowhere, we can just come back here and continue on."
Isa nodded. "It might waste time, but… I have no other idea." She admitted this, and she relayed this to Oscar, who simply nodded.
"You go, we follow." He smiled.
Making a left down the straight path, we began walking south toward the river. We continued like this for about an hour, until finally we came across a T junction as, from the west, another path met the one we were on. Isa stopped and glanced at me, and I frowned.
There is not a fork in the road. Yet the right path leads into the woods again. I thought. Hello, voice dude. Master, are you awake?
No response.
God dammit. I sighed and made my decision.
"I think we should go west again." I pointed to the path. "Let's follow this path and see where it goes."
Isa didn't question my choice and nodded before motioning for Oscar and Anne to trail behind us as we turned and went down the westward path. The forest thicket became thicker around us as we made our way further down the path. The overgrowth gradually began to eat up the road around us as the canopy thickened and blocked much of the rain. Around us, the sounds of birds and bugs grew louder as nature here seemed to be mostly untouched by the ongoing conflict, further soothing my fears of any Rusivite fighting machines lurking about.
Eventually, we finally encountered what I assumed to be a fork in the road. Split down the center, the path broke off into two separate directions, one continuing off to the right and the other left towards the river.
I think he said to head left. I recalled as I motioned for the others to follow me down the path. As we walked, the smell of the river's water as well as the faint roar of the waves lapping against the bank caught my ears, and I felt my heart beating with excitement.
The thought of finally getting away from this hell hole made me almost want to skip with joy down the path. Yet I kept myself reserved. So far, every chance at escape has ended in tragedy. I best keep myself in check. I mentally prepared myself.
As the afternoon sun drifted into the evening, we could now see the river clearly through the trees on our left. Its wide and blue expanse was inviting to the eyes as the trees became sparser, to the point where we stepped into a large clearing.
A big hill stood tall before us, and on it was a quaint cabin. Not like the one Isa and I encountered previously, no. For one, this one had lights, and down by the river was a jetty and building that I assumed housed the boat.
I felt my stomach sink upon seeing this. Does the voice want us to steal the boat?
Perhaps Isa could read my mind, or maybe it was obvious by the look on my face, but she placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Perhaps we can ask, Luna." She glanced down at me.
I gulped and nodded. "Yeah, it's… not like we're keeping it. Maybe they can ferry us across?" Isa smiled lightly.
With a deep breath, I did my best to hype myself up and began to walk towards the cabin.
Isa was the one who lightly knocked on the cabin door. Inside, we had heard what sounded like a family of people speaking and laughing, and upon the sudden wrapping at their door, an eerie silence fell over them.
At first, there was no response, and Isa raised her hand to knock again when suddenly the door opened partially. A chain lock kept it from opening entirely.
Yellow light spilled out onto the slab path leading to the cabin, and the silhouette of a tall, rotund man peered down at us, in a low, gravelly voice, he said, "Can I help you?"
Isa nodded. "Apologies for the intrusion, but yes." She gestured to us as she took on a very kind and pleading voice—a light tone I'd yet to hear from her. "My friends and I are refugees from Kassel. The invaders sacked the town and destroyed the ferries. We desperately need help crossing the river, and we see you have a boat house." She gestured to the shack by the jetty.
The smell of a delicious meal wafted out of the man's house and into my nose, and immediately my stomach growled loudly along with Oscar's and Anne's.
"If you could help us, Mister, we have two children." Isa clasped her hands together and shook them as she pleaded.
A low voice from a woman called from inside. "Gortak, who's at the door?"
"Kreshnakor!" The man barked back in a tongue I'd never heard. "Refugees. They say that the invaders destroyed Kassel."
We heard gasps and murmurs coming from inside, and soon another man's voice called from within, one sounding light and a bit pompous.
"More refugees? I do say, are they injured? I can take a look at them." I saw Isa's ears perk up, and she glanced up at the man.
"Dr. Kegan, is that you?" Isa called past the large man at the door.
"Oh ho! Is that one of my many patients?" The man beyond the door replied smugly.
The rotund individual, known as Gortak, gazed down at Isa. "Are you familiar with the good doctor?"
Isa nodded. "Yes. He helped the little one here, Luna." She gestured down at me. "We found him along the road when leaving the Heinland Valley."
"OOoh, you're the Ashflow family?" The good doctor chuckled from beyond the door. "Please, Gortak, let them in; they're good people. I can vouch for them!"
The grumbling voice of the woman beyond the door added, "The good doctor seems genuine, dear. Let them in. I made enough for everyone, and then some."
Gortak took a deep breath. "We can't be taking everyone in, Kannore. But fine, I'll make an exception this once." His massive hand reached up and unlatched the door, and he opened it fully. It was here that I gasped softly when I saw that the large man was a massive orc. He had large, thick tusks protruding out of his lower jaw and massive, broad shoulders to put any football player to shame, though as a nice contrast, he wore a fine white shirt and brown vest with matching pants.
Gortak ran a hand through his long, black hair and gestured for us to come in. "Welcome to House Tenorahn. Make yourself comfortable, and we can discuss what you need."