Lithoniel

Lithoniel moved in the dark, once again walking blindly in those paths of stone. It seemed like the continuation of that quiet nightmare that started at the moment she chose to get down here. But this time Lithoniel wasn't alone, she had someone else with her. Liara's small and sweaty hand was something real and tangible, probably the only thing that kept her grounded as they went forward.

Because their journey underground hadn't ended when they escaped those creatures, unfortunately. Just as they started to travel back to the surface, the only way out - the tunnel from which Liara came - caved in, leaving both of them lost in the darkness, searching for an alternative path to leave that graveyard of stone. Strangely, they had found one, or better, Liara did. Unfortunately, it was narrower and more tortuous than the first one.

As she wandered under the endless tunnels running beneath the Great Chasm, those dark paths stretching for most of the Hollows, an unsettling feeling started to take over her. It was the awareness, a growing conviction, they weren't the result of that Cataclysm which irremediably changed the entire northern continent more than one thousand years ago, but dug in time by someone. And there was just one thing which lived down here.

Lithoniel shook her head. She didn't want to think about those things. She watched Liara walking at her side, thinking about making conversation to fill the stifling silence. But then she remembered the small elf couldn't understand her, let alone talk with her. She seemed to have regressed, turning into a child, or maybe an animal, acting completely on instinct.

Another thing Garluin will have to answer for. Lithoniel was sure he'd planned this, probably tricking Liara and convincing her to come down here someway but at the same time, she couldn't understand how the small elf could know those dark tunnels so well. That wasn't all. The more she walked, the more she was sure there was something wrong with her leg and arm.

Not only they weren't getting worse, but they were healing. Even the pain was gone, though it had been replaced with a weird itching at the pit of her stomach. She had no way of knowing what was there, not until they left those dark tunnels at least. She didn't have to wait for long.

The tunnel kept going up, the slope getting so steep they had to start climbing to move forward. However, they saw a light at the end, a red glare coming from above. From the outside. Lithoniel and Liara didn't need words or signs this time. They moved as one, panting while they climbed up, their frenzied movements mirroring their wishes, the urge of leaving that never-ending darkness. When they finally emerged from it, Lithoniel took a deep breath, the fresh air Then she looked around her. She heard a gurgling sound and then saw the boiling and stormy waters of the river of Coals.

They were close to its east bank. But what left her without words were those fissures in the ground and the lava flowing like liquid fire deep beneath them. She knew exactly where they were, and it wasn't south of the Hollows, but north. They crossed the entire Chasm, and they were now just some miles away from those barren hills marking the beginning of the Great Penumbra.

Lithoniel was about to start walking again, heading north toward her tribe when she saw what Liara was doing. The small elf was crouching down, sniffing the dry soil. She looked confused like she couldn't recognize the smell. Then she got up and stood there, watching the river as she had never seen water before.

It's almost like her life started down there, in those dark tunnels. Once again Lithoniel wondered what happened to her, but concluded it wasn't the time for that. But there is nothing wrong in leaving her alone for a few minutes.

Besides, Lithoniel had something else to check it out. Her wounds. Problem was, there were none. She dropped her trousers just to discover there was only a scar, jagged and white, where that creature had bit her. Same thing when she looked her arm, finding just a black bruise and beneath that, solid bone.

It's not possible. But incredulity left space to horror when she lifted her shirt. There was something there, at the pit of her stomach. Something she'd already seen before.

It was a twisted branch or maybe a vine, like dark ink engraved on her pale skin. It looked very close to what she had seen down there, on that black tree near the temple. The breath caught in her throat when she touched it. Maybe it was just an impression, but she felt it, moving under her finger.

W-what...is this thing? It was like something lurked inside her, a foreign body crawling under her own skin. She was about to panic when that strange movement stopped, but that thing was still there. Lithoniel lowered her shirt and took a deep breath.

I can't think about this. Not now. She thought as she looked at the sky. It was late in the afternoon and from the position of the sun they had just a few hours of light left. They had spent almost a day wandering inside those dark tunnels.

They headed north, reaching the first hill when it was close to dusk. The rivers of fire running below their feet started to thin out until they disappeared for good as they went into the Great Penumbra. It was one of the few stable areas within the Embersea and probably the coldest, except maybe the frozen peaks of the Icy crinal, further north on the far edge of the continent.

It was already dark when Liara and Lithoniel saw something. It was a fire, atop one hill not far from them. As far as she knew there were no animals here, and no humans since the Great Penumbra was far from that bridge of stone they built over the Brimstone.

Elves. Our tribe maybe? However, that didn't mean they didn't have to be cautious. Their tribe wasn't the only one living in this area, and in the Embersea, where food and water were scarce, fights between different tribes were rare, but not impossible.

Therefore, Lithoniel and Liara didn't take the straight path, but went around the hill, approaching from the opposite side where the slope was steeper but the chances of getting caught much smaller. As they sneaked on the stony path, Lithoniel heard something coming from above them.

Voices. She raised her hand, signaling Liara to stop as she tried to listen to them.

"...we should have waited for her. Hell, we should have never stopped searching."

She recognized that voice at once. It was Kolvar.

"It wouldn't have done any good." The second voice was deeper, cavernous.

Rolim!

"At least we should've done something!" Kolvar again.

"We will." Rolim replied. "When the tribe is safe."

Inadvertently, Lithoniel smiled when she heard the sound of his voice. She was about to come out from her hiding place when she heard something else, or better someone she'd really hoped to avoid.

Garluin.

"Do something? And please tell me Kolvar, what would you have done differently?"

"You!" Kolvar hissed. "I don't want to hear a word from you! You're the reason she disappeared in the first place!"

"Oh, but I didn't force her to leave, did I?"

Bastard! Lithoniel gritted her teeth. The mocking undertone of his voice was driving her crazy and he wasn't even talking to her.

"Stop joking around Garluin! She wouldn't have taken that absurd oath if it wasn't for you!"

"I just asked, and she accepted. After that, it was only her duty to uphold the vow." Garluin said. "Besides, it wasn't me who forced her to slip out, alone in the night. But it's no wonder, really. She probably carried enough burdens as it was, she didn't need another one."

"What are you talking about?" Kolvar asked.

"Shut up, Garluin" Rolim hissed.

"Oh no, I think your brother should listen to this, Rolim."

"Listen to what, Garluin?" Kolvar asked. "What burden are you talking about?"

"But of course the heaviest burden of all of them. You, Kolvar."

Lithoniel heard someone taking a sharp intake of breath.

"Don't listen to him, Kolvar." Rolim said.

"Why do you think Lithoniel disappeared?" Garluin continued. "She knew you wanted to tag along, so she decided to go on her own." A laugh, short but derisive.

Lithoniel clenched her fists. She could almost picture Garluin in her mind, imagine the smug smile on his face.

"Well, I don't blame her. After all, what can you do other than following her around? You have no brawl or brain. You're useless." Garluin mocked.

"Shut your mouth, Garluin, or I will." It was Rolim, his voice so threatening that even Lithoniel felt a shiver running down her spine.

She would be scared if she were in his place. But Garluin wasn't, apparently.

"It's not me who killed her, Kolvar. It's you."

Enough! Lithoniel couldn't hear any more of this. She came out of her hiding place, climbing the few meters separating her from the top of the hill when she heard someone roaring.

It was Kolvar and he wasn't simply roaring but charging, his head down as he dashed toward Garluin, likely to tackle him.

A pity Lithoniel was in the way. He slowed down when he saw something coming out of nowhere, but he didn't have time to stop completely. He bumped into her and both of them fell, Kolvar atop her.

"Lithoniel?!" Kolvar looked and sounded dismayed like he had just seen a ghost.

"Kolvar..." Lithoniel tried to say, but his name came out like a wheeze.

"What?" Kolvar asked, but Lithoniel was having trouble breathing.

"She can't answer. Let her breathe." Rolim said, practical as usual while he lifted his brother.

But he was shocked, though not as much as his brother and even less than the other man around. Garluin was aghast, his green eyes impossibly wide.

It seems I succeeded where all the others failed: leaving Garluin with nothing to say.

"Are you fine?" Kolvar asked after he helped her up. "Why did you leave without saying a word? What happened to you? Do you..."

"She is safe." Rolim said, interrupting that string of questions. "And tired."

"But..." Kolvar started to say, but Rolim interrupted him again.

"We'll talk about the rest later. I don't want to wake up the others." He said, glancing at the fires scattered on the hillside below them.

Kolvar opened his mouth but closed it when Rolim glared at him. And that's when Liara came out from her hiding place. She looked warily at the people around, sniffing the air like a small dog for a second or two before hiding behind Lithoniel.

"You found her." Kolvar said, astonished.

Lithoniel started to nod when someone she forgot, or at least she tried to, cleared his throat. Garluin seemed to have recovered from his astonishment, but he still looked uncomfortable, staring at them as if he didn't know to react to the new situation.

I ruined his plans. Best if he gets used to it. She enjoyed seeing him that way, though she had no illusions. She knew this situation couldn't last. She was right.

"Lithoniel, you're alive. And Liara too." He looked at her, showing one of his smiles. "I'm glad you are well, little one."

He raised his hand like to pat her head, but Liara avoided it, growling at him like she wanted to bite his hand off.

"You're happy to see her, but she doesn't seem to feel the same way, Garluin." Lithoniel said.

Garluin's smile faltered, "She is shocked. I don't blame her, not after what she went through,"

Lithoniel snorted, "How generous of you."

Kolvar smirked, and Garluin glared at him. He didn't seem to like when others mocked him.

"Generous, Lithoniel?" Kolvar asked her but kept looking at Garluin. "I didn't think Garluin knew the meaning of that word."

When Garluin opened his mouth, no doubt to answer in kind, Rolim intervened.

"Enough." Rolim said quietly. "Both of you, leave."

Useless to say, neither of them liked that order. But they did as he said anyway. When they were gone, Rolim looked at her for an instant or two before going toward her.

Liara backed away as he came forward, but Lithoniel didn't blame her. At that moment, Rolim looked exactly like a predator getting ready to pounce on his prey. However, it wasn't Liara his target, but her.

He stared at her with such intensity Lithoniel was forced to avert her gaze. A pity Rolim had other ideas in her mind. He lifted her chin with his hand until she had to look at him, his face so close to her, their noses were almost touching.

"It was very noble of you." He said, his voice growing harsher as he spoke. "And very stupid."

"I..." She stammered as she searched for something to say but without avail. And yet she had her own reasons for what she did, though now that Rolim was so close to her they completely disappeared from her mind.

Rolim waited a bit like he wanted to give her a chance to justify herself. But when she didn't, his mouth came dangerously close to her own before going around her cheek and then up, brushing on her earlobe.

"Don't do it again." He whispered, very slowly, pronouncing every word clearly. When he was certain she heard him, Rolim turned around and walked away, leaving her alone and completely speechless.

Lithoniel stared at his retreating back until he disappeared from her sight. Only then she remembered to breathe. She shook her head and sighed, trying to get a hold of herself.

"Let's find a place to sleep." She said to Liara.

Obviously, the small elf didn't answer her. Instead, Liara stared at her, her small brown eyes confused like she didn't understand what just happened.

Don't worry. You aren't the only one.

For better or worse she was back, though something even worse than the Zaruk was waiting for her. Her own home.