136 The Sound of Thunder (2/2)

That leaves the third group, my own kind. I still lack any answer for why I exist or why the eldritch desire what they desire. The difference between me and then nihilists is that I want an answer.

Dimension C-138, Harbinger of Cataclysm(Time: Undefined) - Well, we’re just animals, like anything else. You just have to find your own reason to go on I guess. I haven’t really thought about philosophy or anything like that in all honesty. I’m too busy just trying to get by.

Amara, the Lost One(Time: Undefined) - While in my prison, why I exist is one of the thoughts I dwelled on. I don’t know the answer, but I’ll discover it.

Dimension C-138, Harbinger of Cataclysm(Time: Undefined) - How are you going to figure something like that out?

Amara, the Lost One(Time: Undefined) - I’ll create a place of learning. Somewhere I can be safe in, and somewhere with more books than I could ever read. I’ll learn until I can devise a satisfying answer. I’ll enlist other eldritch and sentients, and we’ll hunt out the answers to our questions.

I’ll discover a way to educate the eldritch, and I’ll elevate our kind above mere animals.

Dimension C-138, Harbinger of Cataclysm(Time: Undefined) - Damn...that’s pretty awesome. I wish I had some overarching goal like that.

Amara, the Lost One(Time: Undefined) - Help me build my place of learning, and you might hunt down the answer you seek.

Dimension C-138, Harbinger of Cataclysm(Time: Undefined) - Eh, maybe. For now, I’m focusing on getting past Yawm. Thanks for giving me something to think about though. I’ll, uh, chew on that later.

Amara moved one of her hands, pointing an eye at me,

Amara, the Lost One(Time: Undefined) - Is that supposed to be a joke?

Dimension C-138, Harbinger of Cataclysm(Time: Undefined) - You’re always using biting and eating as metaphors when you talk. I figured I’d join in on the fun.

Amara, the Lost One(Time: Undefined) - Hmmm...I never noticed my use of eating as a metaphor. I’ll bite into my speech less, I suppose.

Dimension C-138, Harbinger of Cataclysm(Time: Undefined) - See? There it is again.

As our conversation lulled as we reached the end of the world tree’s vast root. While reaching the end of the wooden path, I turned around, checking out the view. Below us, the lake’s edge peeked out from the world tree. The eldritch in the lake swam and snapped at each other, schools of fish swimming near the surface.

The angle of light hit the lake just right, giving it a pleasing shimmer on the surface. Around us, a dense jungle grew. A bit farther from the lake, and the cityscape took over. A trashed city, greenery growing from every crack, reached out into the distance. Skyscrapers with busted windows and cracks like bruises dotted the horizon.

Past the skyscrapers, floating islands dotted the skyline. Even further behind, a grey cloud loomed. The contrasting view took my breath away. I was in another world after all, and seeing it from a different angle reminded me how extraordinary it was.

I turned back around, finding the world tree above. The runic carvings covered the center trunk. I turned towards Yawm and asked,

“What’s all this for exactly?”

Yawm walked up to the tree, placing his hand on it,

“Whenever I teleport from world to world, an immensity of mana is required.”

The runes glowed a bright green along the light brown bark of the tree trunk,

“So much so that dispersing the mana exhausts me for a period of time. I enter a stasis for a while within the world tree, gathering my strength again. These runic carvings serve as protection and as a gateway into the minds of a world’s life.”

Yawm closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the tree,

“The protection runes stem from deals with Etorhma. The other runes are ancient marking passed down by the porytians. Using them, I ask for energy from the plants. Some give, some do not. On a world with dense life on it like this, my recovery time is short. On less enlivened worlds, it takes a tremendous amount of time to heal.”

After that, Yawm stayed silent for a few minutes. Right as I got bored, he lifted his head, nodding with gusto,

“Ah yes. They’re here.”

I turned towards Yawm,

“So what are we going to do?”

Yawm reached out a hand towards Amara,

“Would you mind if I took your hand?”

He spoke to her as if talking to a lady. If Amara blushed, I couldn’t really tell. Her pale complexion shifted a slight tinge of purple at least. He grasped her small hand, his thumb and index finger grabbing her palm. He lifted her hand against the world tree.

“The world tree will embrace you now.”

Amara lifted her other hand towards him,

“What? Why?”

Yawm raised an eye and narrowed the other, “To protect you from the battle of course.”

Amara moved her hand between us both, “I didn’t agree to this.”

Yawm patted her shoulder, “Why do you think I told you after I started the process.”

He pushed her towards the world tree. She sunk into the bark, her body falling into the enormous trunk.

Amara howled, saliva spatting from her mouth, “No! I will not be imprisoned again. I would rather die.”

Yawm waved away her concern, “You’ll be fine.”

Amara pushed with her hands, fighting the pull of the world tree. She sunk in, hissing her words like a viper,

“And what if you die and I am trapped here eternity?”

Yawm raised a fist, “It's simple really. I won't lose.”

Amara fought before only one arm and her head remained out of the world tree. Her eye darted around in her palm, tears of frustration pouring from it. She closed her eye, one tear falling down on the world tree. Before the tree swallowed her, I walked up.

I grabbed her hand, grasping her hand like a sideways handshake. From a pocket in my armor, I pressed the ring I made for her into her palm. Up till now, I never got the chance to give it to her. This was my golden opportunity.

”Hey, Amara. You're going to be fine, alright?”

”I...I will be.”

I walked with her arm as she sunk in, only letting go of her hand as the tree consumed it. She gripped the ring as I let go of her hand. With all the drama of the situation, it disguised me giving her the ring. Finally.

It turns out that handing someone a ring under the eye of an all seeing, paranoid monster is pretty damn difficult. Even if this was a golden chance though, Amara still got shit on.

With that in mind, I turned towards Yawm,

“Man...That was mean as fuck.”

Yawm rolled his eyes, “It’s better than her getting in the way of our combat, isn’t it?”

I shook my head, “I don’t know. Did you really need to do all that?”

Yawm nodded, “When you see the breakers, you’ll understand why she was a liability. True cruelty would be leaving her at the mercy of the coming monsters.”

I frowned, but his point made sense. I wanted to live more than I wanted Amara’s feelings to remain unscathed. I sighed while Yawm rolled his shoulders. He lifted a hand, cracking his knuckles. Deep, bursting sounds snapped from his fingers, like someone snapping bars of metal.

Yawm cracked his neck next, and he spread out his arms,

“Who’d have guessed. Two groups arrived at the same time.”

Yawm turned from one side of the rift to the next,

“I wonder which of them we’ll hunt down first?”