When they woke up the next morning, Decker didn’t. The brancard had returned to nature, like all things do that are not specifically bound. Black agreed to carry Decker for as long as necessary.
“I think we might be off continent by now,” said Jade, “That river we crossed, I think that was the border.”
“That means we can get out of hell whenever we find a hellgate!” said Acantha cheerfully.
“You make it sound easy,” said Lumira.
“Do you hear that?” said Morn.
They looked all looked at Morn. Jade shook her head. Morn looked back, squinting their eyes and said:
“I think it is Boom-Boom. No. Z’phyr. He tells me we should run.”
“From what?” asked Acantha.
“They are chasing.” a voice told her. It was a prayer, a magical means of communicating long distance.
“Who are?” she replied.
“The Chroma.They are acting out of place. Iris is gone.”
“Thank you for the warning.”
“You will not see them coming.”
“Guys,” Acantha addressed her friends, “We have to run from invisible Chroma.”
They packed up the tents and left as quickly as they could. Jade decided to move further north and she took the lead. Morn’s shadow falcon, Turnfeather, scouted ahead. Its sharp vision would not be able to detect invisible Chroma, but at least they could avoid other dangers, would they show themselves. This had become their routine and it felt almost comfortable to traverse the plains of Hell in such a familiar way. Always being on guard had become a second nature to them all and even Farmer kept his mumbling mouth shut so that he would not attract unwanted attention.
They walked over rolling hills when suddenly Kevins jerked his head left and right with his nose stuck out. He let his backpack slide off his arms and when he opened it, everyone stopped to look. Though they had sometimes seen what had come out of the bag, no one had actually seen it open.
“Don’t stop! Run! I’ll make a distraction.” He ordered and at their hesitation added: “I’ll catch up. Go now!”
They started running and slowly felt the air around them change, it pressed against them. Somehow it felt thicker, like when, just before a thunderstorm, static fills the air and you know lightning is going to hit somewhere, so best hurry up and find some shelter.
“What is he doing?” asked Lumira, who looked over her shoulder. “That is not elemental magic.”
“He is about to seriously fuck shit up,” said Farmer.
“It is almost as-” A crackling boom cut Lumira off. Jade tripped and almost fell as the ground shook under her feet. She looked over her shoulder and saw something rapidly coming closer.
“The box has been opened,” Kevins shouted as he shot past them, propelled by magic and a dark mist trailed behind him. “Now keep moving!”
And so they did, they ran as fast as they could from whatever that thing was that Kevins had unleashed. A cluster of electrified dark clouds grew rapidly behind them, showing the occasional organic parts of animal or monster alike. The sound that came from it was befitting a village being slaughtered. Jade saw the little Morrigan was falling behind and she crouched so the child could climb on her back.
“I’m being summoned, guys, gotta go.” said Lumira, “If you need me, just pray to me, ok?”
“What? Are you leaving us?” said Acantha, “Now?”
“Of course she is!” shouted Jade angrily. But Lumira ignored them and crouched down, letting the rest of the party to run away from her. After a few minutes they looked back over their shoulders and saw that the wizard was gone.
After what seemed more than an hour of running, Kevins signaled that they could stop.
“I could smell our enemies,” he explained, panting, “But they did not smell like Chroma. I do not think they were. Whatever they were, they were too close. That is why I opened Pandora’s Box. Nothing can get through that and live.”
“So we’re safe now?” asked Acantha.
“Yes, I think we are.”
“That was very reckless of you, dear,” said Seamstress, “But I am glad that you did it. I how much that bag meant to you.”
Kevins attempted to smile at her through his grimace, but failed mostly.
“I think we should go towards the mountains,” said Jade, putting Morrigan down, “We could hide there and maybe search for a Hell Gate back to Mundus.”
“Which mountains?” asked Morn and Jade pointed.
“I think it will take us four days.”
Morn nodded and closed their eyes to pass on the plan to Turnfeather.
By the end of the afternoon they reached the end of the rolling hills. Before them lay a flat meadow.
“We should camp here for the night,” said Jade, “We have no shelter further down.”
No one objected, so far Jade’s advice had not done them any harm and besides this suggestion seemed very reasonable. When they had set up the tents, Black made a suggestion:
“I could make something that would make us go faster. Faster than walking I mean.”
“That sounds good,” said Acantha.
“I will have to build it through the night.”
“You need help?” Acantha asked, “Anything, I can do?”
“Seamstress would be able to help me.”
“Of course, honey, I will help you. Just let me know what you need.”
“Maybe I can take up watch then, while you are working.” proposed Acantha.
“I appreciate that,” said Black and he stood up to bring Decker inside the tent.
Acantha took first watch and from the corner of her eyes she saw Black and Seamstress work on some kind of vehicle. When her eyelids started to become heavy, she walked into the tent to wake up Morn. She lied herself down next to Jade. The day had been an odd one, a scary one, being followed and having seen Kevins magic. It made her realize that she really didn’t know the people she was traveling with. She had come to see most of them as friends, they were going through Hell together and they had kept each other safe, relatively. But she really had only a vague notion of who they were and it scared her that they, the Craftlords especially, had so many unknown powers. Any other day it would have made her curious and excited, but today she could not suppress a shudder of fear.
“You’re not cold, are you?” said Jade softly. Acantha shifted her head so she could look into the two green eyes that were staring at her with a look of concern. Acanha shook her head.
“No, just- tense. Today was- I wonder what happened to Iris. And the Chroma, are they alright?”
“I don’t have answers for you.” Jade moved a bit closer and put her hand on Acantha’s shoulder. “But, know that I am here for you and I will look out for you, wherever you go.”
Acantha suppressed her reflex to move away and instead lay perfectly still. After all that they had been through together, it shouldn’t surprise her that Jade wanted to protect her. She wanted to keep Jade safe too. Jade moved closer, too close. Acantha felt Jade’s breath on her forehead and she wanted to push her friend away, but, it did make her feel calm and safe. So they lay there, together, and fell in a restless slumber until they were woken by a dream-distorting sound.
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