Chapter 11: The Journey To Belmont Village
Once they had emerged in Aria, Zoe and Alex made their way toward Belmont Village. They exited the small cave which contained the gateway and found themselves in a forest. After a mere ten minutes of traveling, the two heard a loud buzzing sound as they approached a clearing.
“That can’t be good,” said Alex, unsheathing his sword. Zoe looked around as she armed herself with her scythe, attempting to find the source of the noise.
Without warning, an imp jumped out of a nearby bush and viciously charged her. Reacting swiftly, Zoe dodged the creature’s strike and sliced the foe across its neck. The imp collapsed as blood gushed from its wound.
“Are you hurt?” Alex asked.
“I’m fine,” Zoe replied. “Whatever’s causing that buzzing is what we should really be worried about.”
The noise grew louder as a large shadow appeared on the ground. Looking up, they saw a giant hornet with a body length of a full man. It lunged toward Alex, stinger first. Swiping at the stinger with his sword, he deflected the assault, causing the hornet to briefly spin out of control.
Thinking quickly, Zoe shouted “Umbra orbis!” conjuring a shadow orb in her right hand. Aiming toward the massive insect, she hurled the orb. However, within inches of impact, the hornet promptly ascended, causing her to miss. “Dammit!” she shouted, attempting to alter her orb’s trajectory, but to no avail; it exploded against a branch.
The bug pointed its stinger at Zoe and dashed toward her. Jumping to the side, she evaded the attack, causing the hornet to plunge its stinger deep into a tree. As it struggled to escape, Alex thrust his blade into the insect’s thorax, causing it to shudder violently before it went limp. “That was a close one,” Alex commented, removing his sword from the dead bug.
Zoe observed the hornet’s corpse. “Yeah. Its stinger could have easily killed us in one strike.” She turned to Alex. “We need to be on our toes out here. Let’s keep the talking to a minimum.” Alex nodded in agreement.
The pair continued walking. The forest was beautiful, quiet, and deceptively peaceful in appearance. Flowers were in bloom all around them. The tranquil sound of a distant babbling brook was barely audible. As they advanced, the duo kept their weapons drawn. Carefully, they scanned their surroundings in anticipation of the next onslaught. Neither of them said a single word as they moved.
Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by a rustling in the trees. Immediately, the pair froze. “Did you hear where it came from?” Alex whispered.
Her eyes fixed on the branches overhead, Zoe pointed to the source of the sound. She slowly walked forward, keeping a keen eye on the branches. Alex followed behind her, tightening his grip on the sword. The noise was audible once again as a squirrel leapt from one branch to another. Alex burst into loud, uncontrollable laughter.
Zoe promptly turned to him. “Shh!” He quickly shut his mouth, leaving his lips trembling in an attempt to silence his laughter. Rolling her eyes, Zoe couldn’t help smiling at his reaction. They proceeded through the forest.
Suddenly, the two stopped. In the distance, they could see a group of three tall, skinny creatures which resembled stick bugs. Alex cautiously moved closer to Zoe and quietly asked, “What do you think? Should we go around?”
Zoe observed the surrounding area. “It doesn’t look like that’s an option,” she replied softly, “There’s too much brush. They’ll most likely hear us. If we approach them head on, we’ll at least have combat advantage.”
Alex gave a quick nod, “Leave it to me.” He slowly sheathed his sword. Carefully raising two fingers to his lips, he whistled loudly. The beasts turned their heads toward Zoe and Alex and made bizarre clicking noises. With great speed, all three dashed toward them.
“What the hell was that?!” Zoe angrily shouted, gripping her scythe.
Alex glanced at her and continued focusing on the charging foes. “Just trust me.” Outstretching his arms with his palms facing the rapidly approaching enemies, he spread his fingers. “Glacies gelidus zephyrus!” Two swirling currents of snow-laced wind tunnels shot from his palms, expanding in diameter as they approached the creatures. As the spell swept over the monsters, they slowed considerably, eventually collapsing to the ground as their bodies were completely encased in ice.
Zoe was impressed by the maneuver. “I’ve never seen that one before.”
Alex turned to her. “I try to avoid using it unless I’m outnumbered. It rarely fails but it takes a lot out of me.”
“Let’s keep moving,” Zoe suggested as she resumed walking. “We’re going to have to make it to Belmont Village soon if we plan on getting any rest.” Looking back at Alex, her eyes suddenly widened. “Look out!” she shouted.
As Alex turned around he was tackled by an imp. Zoe lifted her scythe, but before she was able to assist him, she too was tackled. Caught completely off guard, her weapon came out of her hands when she hit the ground. The beast swiped at her face, breaking the skin beneath her left eye and drawing blood.
While the duo struggled to get the hostile creatures off of them, more imps emerged from the surrounding brush. Alex finally managed to throw his attacker off of him as two more approached. He hastily jumped to his feet and drew his sword, quickly finishing off all three imps. Glancing at Zoe, he saw that she had also gained control of her situation, mercilessly bashing the imp’s head against a nearby tree. Spotting yet another imp approaching her, he raised a finger and shouted, “Glacies stiria telum!” Instantly conjuring a sharp icicle over two feet in length, he pointed his finger toward the foe. The icicle bolted directly to the impending threat, impaling its body on contact.
Alex scanned the area as Zoe finished off her attacker. She threw the dazed imp to the ground. Hovering her hands over the struggling creature she yelled, “Umbra vitam deductorium!” Glowing rays of dark-purple shot from her palms, causing the imp to convulse wildly as the beams met its skin. The wound beneath Zoe’s eye slowly vanished as the imp gradually ceased moving. By the time the beast was motionless, her injury had completely healed.
The two took a few seconds to catch their breath. “Those things are vicious when they attack in groups like that,” said Alex.
Zoe picked up her scythe, muttering, “Stupid imps.”
“I didn’t expect we’d encounter so many monsters,” Alex remarked. “It seems like there’s more and more of them every time I come back to Aria.”
Digging through the sack she had prepared, Zoe pulled out a bottle filled with gray water that was collected when the duo had ventured through the In Between. She drank half of it. “Need a drink?” she offered. Alex nodded. She handed him the bottle and started walking again.
Alex followed, finishing the container’s contents. “What was that last spell you cast?” he asked, stuffing the empty bottle into his sack.
Zoe glanced back at him. “It’s a draining spell. If I’m injured, I can use my assaulter’s life force to heal me.”
“Nice,” he commented. “You know all kinds of useful tricks.”
“It’s really nothing special,” she replied. “I was just fortunate enough to be born with a Shadow center. The spell itself is only intermediate level.”
Alex shrugged. “Seems pretty cool to me.”
Their journey remained uninterrupted as the edge of the forest was in sight. In the distance, they could see a large field. Alex dug through his sack and removed a piece of bread.
“Belmont Village isn’t too much farther,” he said before taking a bite. “Hopefully we won’t run into any more trouble.”
“That’s doubtful,” Zoe responded pessimistically. They proceeded through the field, making their way over several small hills. Belmont Village was now visible in the distance.
Just then, Alex saw something out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head to the left, he observed a large plant in the distance with gigantic leaves. In the center was a massive trumpet-shaped flower, pointing toward the sky. Several green vine-like roots were visible, stemming from the base of the flower and delving deeply into the ground. “Look at the size of that thing,” he said.
Zoe looked straight forward, ignoring it. “Don’t go near it. It’s another monster.” At that moment, they heard an all too familiar sound quickly approaching from behind. “More hornets!” Zoe shouted as she quickly turned around. Alex turned to see four of the flying insects approaching. Zoe glanced at him. “Think you can pull off that freezing wind thing again?”
Alex sheathed his sword and outstretched both of his hands, facing his palms toward the oncoming swarm and spreading his fingers. “Glacies gelidus zephyrus!” Two icy wind tunnels shot from his palms and swept over the heard of hornets. All four of them quickly fell to the ground, encased in ice.
Alex fell to his knees. Zoe rushed to him. “Alex? You okay?”
“I’m alright,” he responded, “but I think that’s the last I’ll be able to conjure until I get some sleep.”
Zoe helped him to his feet. “Just take it easy until we get to Belmont Village. We don’t have much farther to go.”
“Oh crap, it’s moving!” Alex suddenly shouted. Zoe turned to see the massive flower walking toward them, its vine-like roots now acting as legs.
“Just stay here!” she ordered before running off. Getting as far from Alex as possible, she shouted, “Umbra orbis!” and hurled a shadow orb at the giant plant. It staggered slightly as the dark-purple orb collided with it. Apparently annoyed by the assault, the vicious flower charged toward Zoe.
She dropped her scythe and positioned her arms just below her waist. When the botanical beast drew near, she abruptly exclaimed, “Umbra obscurum crystallinus!” As she raised her arms above her head, a large black crystal jutted from the ground below the flower. The dark rock’s razor-sharp point sliced into the bottom of the plant, ripping it to shreds. The crystal suddenly vanished after impaling its victim.
Picking up her scythe, Zoe motioned to Alex. He ran over to her, inspecting the remains of the monstrous flower as he passed by. He noticed that the crystal had left no mark in the ground below. “You just keep on surprising me with those spells,” he said. Zoe smiled and made a bowing gesture. Alex chuckled.
Turning toward Belmont Village, Zoe spoke. “We’re almost there. I think we could both use some time off our feet.”