Inside The Murk

"We're finally here.." Says Marie.

Gulps*

"Yea.." I replied. "Let's go."

—Behind Eleanor and Marie, when they had reached the open grass field in front of Murk's gate, far away at the royal capital, on the top of the King's palace. A guy in a red coat looks at them, running towards the gate.

His pupils concentrate and zoom in on the backs of Eleanor and Marie. Even though the distance must've been at least 10 kilometres, for him, it was as if they were a few metres away.

He snaps his finger, and in an instant, two servant creatures summon him.

"I had asked Bathsheba to stay near the gate in case someone tried to escape." He said.

His voice is demonic, as if three or four voices are heavily chanting at once.

"Yes, My Lord." the servants replied.

"Then why am I seeing two girls running there?"

As he demanded answers from the servants, anger built up in him, making his veins concentrate near his red, crimson eyes and fingers, which had long, sharp nails.

"My lord, she said people in this kingdom are cowards and are scared of Murk, so it's the last place they'll turn to. So she left, saying, There's no need to guard it." One servant answers.

"So you say my words are of no value?" He says it slowly, turning his face towards the servant who answered.

"It's not like that, my Lord. We have always kept your wishes above anything else."

"Then go and stop those two girls before they leave, or... you understand, right?" he asks, glaring at the servant intensely.

"Yes." 

Both of those servants flicker in the air and run straight towards Eleanor and Marie.

—

"Elea.. They are closing the gap at a very fast pace. We'll be dead before we reach the gate." Marie said.

I let go of the chains in my hands, and with a formidable spin on my toes, I made a full arm swing in the air. The chains shinks* and with the flow of it, for an instant, a black lightning sparks on the knife. A smooth symphony of the chains cutting through the air severs both of the creatures in one go.

We kept running straight inside even after witnessing Sir Rain's Cosmic Dive. It was an explicable action by him, as we were aware of the fact that he cannot use that move more than once in a day, and that was his second time. What must've made him do that is beyond our imagination.

"Those sparks of black lightning...it's his..." the guy in the red coat says after watching Eleanor swinging witchcraft with a tensed voice as if recalling bad memories with it.

Chapter 15 : Inside the Murk 

**Hahh* Gulps* Huhh*

Running deeper into the Murk, with our every step, the fog kept on getting thicker and thicker, obscuring our vision and heightening our anxiety.

"Marie, you are close to me, right?" I asked her while running.

"I am Elea; don't worry." Marie replied.

"And those creatures, are they still following us?"

"I don't know; I cannot see them, nor can I hear any other footsteps pursuing us anymore."

"I see."

**Huhh*

"Let's keep running more just in case."

"Sure"

In the deep lines of the unknown forest, shrouded in a thick blanket of fog, we ran. It's been over an hour now. We weren't looking around at our surroundings that much, as our sole focus was to outrun those creatures who were following us. We can't risk being found here. No one's going to come and help us either.

I wasn't noticing, but the roots of the trees here seem to have grown out of the ground, and the length of the trees is getting taller. With every step, the gnarled roots of ancient trees threatened to trip us. Then, there was one thick aerial root to our stomach length. I managed to jump over it, but Marie's leg hit it while I was jumping over it, and with a cry, she fell down on the ground.

Huff* Ouch*..Ouch* Huff* Marie as she stumbled.

"Huff* You, Ok?" I stopped and asked her.

"It doesn't hurt... But I don't want to move. Huff*" She laid down on her back with her arms stretched open.

"Gulps* Huff* I know right."

We were both dead tired. We have been running for our lives for more than two hours straight now.

I looked around; the silence was frightening. There was an eerie chill and darkness everywhere, with fog making it even more hazy. I see the path that we ran from, and I sensed no one coming this way.

"It seems like they aren't following us anymore." I said

"I see..." Marie replied with a heavy *Sigh**

"Get up; we should find a better place and rest."

I extended my hand towards Marie, urging her to stand. She took out every ounce of strength within her.

"We really lost them." Marie said.

"Yeah."

"Now that we are here, we can't go back. Completely lost"

"Hmm.."

"We came from there, right?" said Marie, pointing her finger straight to the lane we came from.

"Yes." I answered. What is Marie trying to say here? I am confused.

"So if we go back while tracing the same path, Elea, do you think we'll reach back to Ashura Kingdo-"

I gave her a death stare. I knew she would say something nonsensical. We came here. Did all that just go back?

"Nevermind. Sorry. Let's find a place to rest."

*Sigh**

We started walking at a slow pace, leisurely matching the rhythm of the tranquil woods enveloped in mist. Casually looking around, exploring the forest, and so far as we expected and had studied. Not a single sound of wildlife broke out in front of us. No animals, insects, or even flies. It's haunting.

"It's not snowing here." Said Marie, gazing around.

"Yeah, I just noticed it too." I replied. "The atmosphere is chilling, but the climate isn't as cold as it was in our kingdom."

"Yep"

Trees loomed ominously on all sides, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers in the eerie silence, leaving us with a foreboding sense of dystopian feeling as if there'd be no end to this forest.

Marie climbed one tree to see what's around us. Or if she can see the end of this forest.

Looking around, all she could see were more trees and dense fog, which made it extremely impossible to figure anything out.

"Nope. It's pointless; I can't see a single thing from here." Said Marie.

"Come down! It's okay; we'll check it again in the morning."

"Yea."

As the moon cast its ethereal glow through the dense mist of the dark forest, we stumbled upon flattened rocks resting beneath the branches of a tree. Exhausted by all that running and walking, we made the decision to sleep there until the morning. 

"Let's rest there for tonight." I said.

"Ahh- Finally.."

Marie fast-paced, ran there to sit, with her arms open wide as if a child were waiting for that long-awaited moment. However, in her case, she just wanted to relax.

We washed our faces and drank water. I couldn't help but subconsciously look around as I was still feeling anxious, and questions were running around: what if someone might be here? 

Marie laid down on her back, giving in to the weight of gravity completely. *Sigh** Her body relaxed, and her mind calmed down. She is staring up at the sky. However, she could hardly see anything due to the fog.

I glanced at her from the side and then glanced above to see what she might be looking at, as it was all foggy.

"No stars, Huhh?" I said, sipping water and sitting beside her.

She didn't reply to anything in return; she just kept her eye straight above. She must be tired a lot and doesn't want to talk, I guess.

After a long silence, Marie says: "It's there."

"Hmm? What is?" I asked.

"Sky..the stars.." she answered.

"You can see them?" I asked.

"Nope, but I can feel it. The sky beyond all this."

Sometimes she says things so seriously that I feel kind of intimidated by her.

"I see."

"I mean, a land without beautiful stars cannot exist."

"....." I don't know why, but I felt somewhat calm hearing those words.

"You're right." I said, lying down on my back beside Marie. No point feeling anxious and seeing it all with a worried face; we must be positive about our journey and everything that's about to come.

—A Night in Tranquility.