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Zoe nodded, and Cosmic Stepped several times towards the peak until the group landed on the edge of the cliff with soft green grass beneath their feet and a dense forest a few kilometers inland.
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Brick nodded. “Would it be a problem if people knew about the valleys?"
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Zoe laughed, thinking of her own past.
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Spark shrugged. “Made it up.”
Zoe chuckled. “Fair enough.”
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Zoe tuned out a bit as they continued building up the backstory they’d share with people. She didn’t think it was all that necessary anyway, but if it made them feel more comfortable she had no reason to stop it. They ended up settling on siblings who left Lokra to try and find as many dungeons as they could. Each of them created a whole history for themselves, where they used to work and friends they used to have. It was all needlessly complicated and Zoe doubted most of it would ever even be useful to them.
But after a few hours of back and forth between them, they seemed to be satisfied with their backstories. Besides their names and classes, it seemed they decided to keep very little about themselves the same. Zoe wondered how much of what they’d shared with her was true, but decided not to pry.
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Brick shook their head. “Well, shall we find a town to stop in at? Do you have any way of finding your home, Zoe?”
“Stolen novel; please report.
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Brick and Blue both shrugged and Spark took off back towards the forest.
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Was that how others thought of her, Zoe wondered? A small child or animal, flailing its way through life? Maybe before, but she hoped that now she was at least competent enough to look somewhat normal. As normal as she wanted to anyway, her life was hardly normal for the people of Abyllan.
Though there must be others who had travelled down to the valleys too, others who could travel around the world in moments. Was there some secret society that ruled the world from the shadows that she could join?
Or did people who got as powerful as her just tend to leave and go explore the wilds, or even other planets? Maybe join groups of wanderers down below, if that existed? What was the point of having so much power anyway? Become a royal guard, live a life of luxury?
Walls that would survive a battering from its claws, or the buffeting winds from its wings, or a town of buildings that could sustain the flames dripping from its fangs?
Zoe couldn’t. Just the heat from the dragon’s presence alone was enough to almost overwhelm her. From so far away, the dragon merely moving pressed against her magic as she tried to keep them afloat. It was an incredible beast to witness, and just as terrifying.
Were creatures like that something that leaders of kingdoms and empires had to worry about? The purpose of the Injellar kingdom’s royal guard?
Or did they just hope they’d never encounter something like that and do their best to keep people safe in a catastrophe’s absence? She added visiting the capital to her todo list, someday in the future. It could be fun to visit anyway, see how people lived there.
Would there be noble houses, sprawling mansions with servants swarming the gardens and dusting the homes? Dozens of dungeons beneath, for each of the noble houses, pushing them towards their own niches?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a surge of excitement blasting her Vampyric Empathy as the group lit a bonfire in front of her. The flames engulfed the pile of wood and raced for the sky in a somewhat underwhelming explosion, after the recent dragon encounter.
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Zoe shrugged. “I mean it’s beautiful, and I like to watch them sometimes. But I never really cared enough to look into why they happen or anything. They’re just a part of life, I guess?”
Brick shook their head. “It’s incredible.”
Anxiety rose within the group as the sun set bit by bit, dripping through their excitement like a leaky faucet. It peaked when the sun dipped below the horizon and the wave of night rushed over them, beaten back by the stars shining down and the raging bonfire. The trees and branches cast long, dancing shadows as the fire roared, sending shivers of fear through Zoe’s companions.
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Brick laughed, and the other two joined in. The tension washed away as they looked at the stars in the night sky and watched the flames cast their flickering flame out across the forest floor.
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Zoe shrugged. “I guess so, in a way.”
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The night passed with few interruptions. Spark and Blue both fell asleep after a few hours, while Brick sat next to the fire, staring out at the forest. Every few minutes, Zoe would feel a wave of anxiety and fear race out from them as they watched the shadows frolic along the ground, but it was replace soon after with a sense of peace.
When morning came and the sun began to rise, Brick shoved Blue and Spark awake. “Light. It’s only been a few hours. Is that how long the night lasts?”
Zoe nodded. “Long days, short nights. That’s how I’ve always lived, really.”
Brick shook their head, and the group watched the sun rise on the horizon in silence. The orange and red hues shone down on the forest and the smouldering coals, making the fire seem to burn again.
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Zoe laughed. “Like I keep saying, yes. This is normal.”
Spark laughed. “I’m never going back down there again. To hell with all of them, to hell with the darkness. With the long nights, the wanderers. I’m never dealing with that again.”