NOVEL NEXT Book 10 Chapter 22
Joan did not like this 'Gauntlet' at all. She didn't know how long they'd been traveling before they'd finally decided to make camp, but they'd already come to three dead ends. The tunnels constantly branched off in all kinds of directions and they'd yet to run into anything else that was intelligent.
Lots of little monsters, though. It had taken half of her mana just to wash all the slime off her clothing after they'd had an unfortunate encounter with some kind of ooze monster. She hated things like that. Attack it, get covered in slime. Attacked by it, get covered in slime. Try to hit it with magic from a distance, causing it to explode and, of course, get covered in slime.
However, a little bit before they'd started down this particular path, Penthe had frozen up. She'd eventually said they should head right. Which, to Joan, meant one thing in particular.
Now she was waiting by that crossroad in the maze, the shadows wrapped around her and cloaking her from sight. It wasn't long before she heard the sounds of heavy boots making their way by her.
"Knew you would," Joan said.
She was rewarded with the rattling of armor. For a few moments there was silence, then Penthe's voice came out. "Joan? When did you—"
"'Oh, only I can face this threat'," Joan said in a mildly annoyed tone. "'I know, when everyone else is sleeping, I'll sneak around whoever is on guard duty and deal with it alone. By the time they realize what has happened, I'll be long gone and they'll have no choice but to let me deal with it by myself.' Gee, I wonder what kind of person would think that?"
Penthe gave a soft, annoyed sigh. "Right. I should have known you'd predict this. Were you considering the same thing?"
"Nope," Joan said. "I learned my lesson. It turns out when I run off to do something really dangerous and stupid, people tend to follow me anyway. So I've learned to let them and let them know if they're going to do that, I'll go with them anyway and they won't really be able to stop me."
"Do you really think you can stop me?" Penthe asked.
"Do you think you can stop me from helping you?" Joan asked.
Joan could hear the exasperated sigh from the darkness. "Where are you?" Penthe asked.
"Following you," Joan said. Admittedly, she wished she could see a little better in the dark because she was following more the sounds of Penthe's armor lumbering than she was watching her.
"Why are you like this?" Penthe asked.
"Trauma, mostly," Joan said.
"Fine," Penthe said, finally coming to a stop. "Are you like this with everyone?"
"Yeah," Joan said. "It's one of my worst features, I'm told. I'm pretty sure Ifrit hates me. She took me threatening to kill her crush pretty hard."
"Ah, so it's not just because of the fate's little scheme," Penthe said.
"Fate's scheme?" Joan asked.
"You being my niece," Penthe said. "What else could it be but another one of their games? How better to make this more frustrating."
"Eh, I can be frustrating without being family," Joan said. "Still not calling you mom, even if you and Hardwin do end up together."
"W-what? Why would you… GOT YOU!" Penthe yelled before Joan heard a loud clunk in the darkness.
"… No you didn't," Joan said. "Are… you okay? Anything hurt?"
"Just… my pride," Penthe said.
Joan sighed and then held out her hand, a small light forming in it before going up to illuminate the area. Penthe was on her knees, surrounded by small shards of rock. "Can I ask you something? About that?"
"I thought I heard your breathing," Penthe said. "And this looked darker than the rest."
"Not how you thought you tracked me," Joan said before walking towards her and offering her hand. "About… being my aunt."
Penthe was silent for a few moments before taking her hand and letting her help her up. "Yes?"
"Did my parents hate me?" Joan asked.
"WHAT?" Penthe asked, reaching out a hand to grip her shoulder. "No. They didn't. Why would you even think that?"
"I… I mean," Joan said softly, glancing away. "You… didn't want to tell me, so I thought… I mean, they don't have to know I'm alive. If they'd prefer to think I died, then I—"
"No," Penthe said. "The reason I didn't tell you, or anyone, was because it's too dangerous for you to come to the Demon Lands now. Especially you. The Demon Lord's strength is a fraction of what it once was and peace is not something easily achieved. The Chosen are constantly targeted and their power is beyond that of mere mortals. If you were to be there and to get hurt, I'd never—" Penthe went silent suddenly before shaking her head. "No parent could hate their child. It—"
Joan couldn't help it, she laughed at that. "You don't actually believe that, do you?"
"What?" Penthe asked. "Of course I do."
"You have memories of more lives than even I do," Joan said, cocking an eye. "Plenty of parents hate their children. Mine did."
"My sister never hated you," Penthe said.
"No, I didn't mean me," Joan said quickly, shaking her head. "We talked, before. About… the Hero's parents. How his mother… well, you know? So… I just… I wanted to know, I guess. Is it better if they never know?"
"No," Penthe said before she slowly reached a hand up and patted her on the head. "No. I'm sorry you… the reason I never told you was not to hide you away. It's because you're a fool who I expect to run blindly into danger in order to do whatever you want. Things are too dangerous for now and I can't risk you getting hurt. The day your parents lost you… that day was the worst day of their lives. They have never recovered. And nothing in this world will make them happier than knowing you are alive." The hand gently stroked down her head. "I… wasn't, admittedly, sure. I had my suspicions when I came here. But… what… do you remember of that day? When you… when the fire happened?"
"Not a lot," Joan said. "I was scared. I wanted something, anything, to save me. A river hag answered. Then a lot of it is kind of a blur. I ended up in the orphanage, then joined a mercenary company, almost died a whole lot, got the Chosen, killed a god, annoyed a lot of people, traumatized some fae. All in all, I've been busy."
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Penthe shook her head and gave a soft sigh. "It… was horrible. By the time we were able to put out the fire, all that was left was ash and… we thought you had perished. We searched the waters for any sign of you, hoping that you had leaped from a window even, to save yourself. But there was nothing. We thought… I thought…"
"I'm really hard to kill," Joan said.
"But you're not immortal," Penthe said. "If your parents knew you were alive, there would be no force on this planet that would stop them from coming to find you. Even the Chosen would likely fail. However, they could cause the tensions to shatter all over again and get both you and themselves killed. That's why we need Dixon. The Demon Lord needs his support to help bring stability to the Demon Lands."
"Okay," Joan said. "You're… not just saying that to spare my feelings though, are you? Because… if they want nothing to do with me, I understand. I—" She was silenced when Penthe suddenly pulled her into a hug. Even though the armor Penthe wore dug into her skin, it was kind of nice.
"I'm sorry," Penthe said gently. "I am so, so sorry you feel this way. I am sorry you'd believe, even for a moment, that they wouldn't… that they couldn't… please. Joan. Believe me. Your mother is likely going to try and kill me the moment she finds out what I've been hiding from her. Your father won't be far behind."
Joan gulped and felt tears welling up in her eyes. "You're… not lying to me, are you? They'd really… want…"
"Of course they would," Penthe whispered. "Will. Do. I'm so sorry. I would bring them to you now, if I could. I swear. But you would all die and I can't allow this. But they love you, miss you and there will be no better time in their life than having you home. So please, just be patient. Let me deal with this and—"
"Not a chance," Joan said. "I finally have some family that actually wants me around and isn't stuck with me. There's no way I'm letting you die now."
"Fine," Penthe said, ruffling her hair a little. "Can you at least try to listen to my orders? This is dangerous. That vampire is dangerous."
"I know," Joan said. "I saw it kill you and that's not an easy feat. I'll be careful."
"Goo—" Penthe's words were cut short when the ground started to rumble. "What is that?"
"I was really hoping you could tell me," Joan said, glancing up. Everything was shaking. Were the tunnels going to collapse on them or was something truly massive coming their way? "We need to get back to the others. Do you know where to go?"
"No," Penthe said. "But I think I have an idea. Come on." She grabbed Joan's hand and started, quickly, towards the others. Dragging Joan behind her.
Joan glanced back into the darkness. Whatever was coming their way had to be massive. Or worse.
------
"Where were you two?" Bauteut asked, her eyes narrowing on the pair of them the moment they stepped into the light. "Joan, were you trying to run off and handle everything yourself?"
"Nope," Joan said. "Penthe was."
For a few moments, Bauteut was silent. She then turned to glance at Penthe and glared at her. "You know you're setting a bad example for Joan."
"What?" Penthe asked.
"Joan looks up to you," Bauteut said. "It's always Penthe this, Penthe that. Look at the cool armor Penthe has. She runs off on her own and nearly gets herself killed enough as is, please don't encourage that kind of behavior by doing it yourself."
"Joan does not look up to me," Penthe said, her voice filled with horror.
"I mean…" Joan said sheepishly. "You are kiiiiiind of one of the people I look up to."
"Oh gods give me strength," Penthe said. "And Joan, don't look up to me. Ever. Also, why are YOU lecturing me?"
"Because I'd lecture her for doing the same thing," Bauteut said. "And it's not just because it's her doing it, it's because the act, itself, is reckless and dangerous. And just going to get all of us killed because when you run off like that we have to rush after you to try and stop you. And this place is a death trap even when it isn't shaking so does anyone know WHAT that is?'
"Big," Qakog said.
"Thank you, Qakog, you are helpful as always," Bauteut said, shaking her head. "So if you do know the way out of here, then would you kindly lead us the proper way out? Because if this place is going to collapse, I'd rather take my chances with all of us fighting this vampire than surviving a collapsed tunnel and then fighting a vampire."
"I don't know the way out," Penthe said. "I just have my suspicions. When we were dropped in, we fell down. These tunnels are designed to twist and turn, making it nearly impossible to tell which tunnels are actually going up. Worse, they keep changing. New tunnels form while other ones close. It—"
"Wait, what?" Qakog asked. "When did THAT happen?"
"How did you not notice?" Penthe asked. "We've backtracked three times today and a few of the tunnels had closed and others had formed."
"We did?" Joan asked. "Wait, was that before or after the boars?"
"Penthe!" Bauteut said, her voice firm. "Where do you think we need to go?"
"Follow me," Penthe said before quickly turning around and lightly jogging away.
The others quickly followed after her.
Joan couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She reached out her hand and tried to summon her sword again, but nothing happened. Worse, she was supposedly working for the Nameless One now, but they hadn't done anything. Was their intention just to dump her here and leave her to die? That was far too easy and simple for them.
But most of all, the thing that concerned her more than anything else?
The rumbling was getting louder. The tunnels were shaking… but nothing was falling. No rocks. None of the walls. If Penthe said tunnels were opening and closing, then she believed her. But this place didn't seem like it was on the verge of collapse. Yet it sounded like it was already collapsing. What could be causing such a disturbance, yet not actually be changing the tunnels themselves? Or were the tunnels themselves shifting in some manner?
Joan shuddered lightly and walked a little faster to keep close to Penthe. She really, really wished she hadn't nearly died now, for new reasons. She wanted to ask her something that, frankly, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to.
Penthe and Qakog had traveled through the sea to get here. Was this entire place underwater?
Because if it was, she had a really bad idea of what that rumbling could be, especially if there were multiple tunnels going down. She'd nearly drowned enough times in her life and had no desire to--
"Oh gods," Penthe said. "LOOK OUT!"
Joan had only a second to react before a limb the size of a horse seemed to drop out of the darkness straight at her. She barely had time to shove her staff in front of herself and make herself as loose as possible, hoping she could dampen the blow enough if she went with it.
She didn't need to, though.
The staff didn't move from where she positioned it. The limb, however, bent and crumbled, nearly splitting against the staff before pulling back, a strange, angry howl coming from its owner before it pulled disappeared into the darkness, going more up than away. Penthe muttered a quick incantation and the small orb of light seemed to erupt, illuminating more of the tunnels.
"W-what… what is that?" Bauteut asked.
"That… that is no… that…" Qakog whispered.
Joan felt like she was going to be sick. At first she thought it was a massive black web, crisscrossing above in the tunnels. However, then she saw the limb, like a great, black pillar, pulling up into the webbing and realized it was all attached. The monster in question seemed to be a great mass of limbs and parts, all attached and shifting across a great, black web of a body.
The limb that had been damaged from hitting the staff began to split apart, being absorbed into the webbing like it was a host of creatures, instead of one great mass.
And then a new limb seemed to start growing from it. One like an arm, but with five great claws extending from it.
"RUN!" Penthe yelled. "Just RUN!"
Joan decided to follow the advice given this time and ran after Penthe, though above she could see more of the bladed limbs seeming to materialize out of the creature. Worse, she couldn't see where it ended, its body going far beyond the ends of the light.
Then the first of the claws rained down on them.