CHAPTER 55: HOPE

HOPE

Her hair falls across her face as she walks haggardly and her legs shake on the stony floors. Her entire left arm dangles with pain as it refuses to move to her request, it turns purple leaving only her wrist and below to retain its fair colors.

Her feet is killing her but for some reason she refuses to stop, she walks in faith, believing that somehow she will overcome these obstacles after all her parents did not raise her to be weak.

They weren't weak so why should she be?

She walks across filths of dirt and shattered bones mixed with black muddy substances.

Her clothes and her body have become dirty with filth but she doesn't care as they become trivial things in this journey of life and death.

Her hand swells up and she feels her back get heavier with a swelling growing on her back. Her belly hurts, her rib hurts, everywhere hurts but she keeps going with nowhere to turn to but further into the darkness.

The weight of her body becomes too much for her and she falls on her knees, she holds herself as a little shriek escapes her lips but it isn't loud enough to make her dinner for the monster.

She tries to stand up but her right leg gives out as it becomes heavy and her pants suddenly become tight for her.

The floor smells like rotten things and her good hand presses against the muddy filth to hold her up but even that isn't enough.

She falls on her chest and her face hits the floor, "Maybe this is how I die," she thinks.

She pulls herself on the ground for a few meters before she stops to catch her breath. The pains in her body weakens her as she feel her bones become light and her flesh feel hot like she is being boiled.

Pulse burst out of her hand and drips thick like an egg yolk, tears fill her eyes and she finally accepts her fate in the dark of these wicked land.

But hope can be found when all seems lost.

A red gleam catches her eyes in the dark, it looks like a ruby but it is shaped like a little vial. Rachael smiles a little as hope fills her again, she realizes that it is the recovery tunic that fell when she was hanging from the bridge.

She tries to crawl but her body becomes much heavier than she could have ever imagined. The pulse that comes out of her body has a strange and unpleasant odor; similar to a dead fish.

She grits her teeth and drags her body across the floor, groaning each time she crawls against the muddy floor.

The vial is only a few meters away from her but the weight of her body becomes heavier with each crawl and the urge to breathe becomes high as her vision begins to succumb to the dark.

Her breaths become shorter but her will keeps burning like an eternal fire, she crawls with her hands and belly, clawing the decayed pieces that make the grounds as she drags herself toward the tunic.

She has only one good arm and the weight of her good leg begins to increase, a bad sign at a bad time.

She feels another pulse burst out of her left leg and she groans, the taste of salty tears is strong against her lips as tears drop down her eyes. She struggles to keep her eyes open as the tunic is now just a feet away but her body is already losing the fight.

Slowly but eventually her eyes come to a close.

The darkness swallows her consciousness and she drifts into the silence that prevails. Little sounds begin to come alive, the sounds of crickets and little insects that walk atop the filth of the floor. Slithering and crunching sounds that were absent become present in her dying state.

The crunching noise stops, replaced by words from distant voices, unfamiliar and deep they are.

"Someone tried to summon the power of the creator," one of the voices say, "I am aware brother. And whoever did so failed, it cannot be done," "It can, if the right ingredients are put in place. It can," "And where do you think they will find it. Sure they can get their hands on a sphinx's treasure but what of the rest?

Do you know any demon that would give up their crown? Or an angel? When was the last time one was seen?"

"Only a few of the required materials are complicated to come about but the rest is quite easy. What we should be talking about is who did it and if we are going to side with them or not," "Dear brother, such a thing will never happen. Many gods and lesser beings have tried and failed. A sphinx would rather die than let someone steal their treasure, not even a god will succeed without losing something"

"I know a sphinx," "Your plaything," "She isn't a plaything, she is my woman," "Whatever you say brother but of what importance is she to this conversation.

You are definitely not going to steal her treasure and last time I checked she is one of Ra's bastards. One he had before his ascension,"

"It's been ages since someone tried to pull such a stunt. I fear this time whoever tried won't give up," "Is this why you brought me here? To this filth of a place to speculate," "I thought you would be comfortable here since it is much like your realm,"

"The underworld is much..." "What is that?".

Rachael doesn't recognize any of the voices but she definitely has heard about Ra's daughter, Amanda. Whoever these people are they know Amanda.

"Pitiful. A mortal crawling to her only hope of survival, a recovery tunic. A good one too," "Fate has brought her to die in a terrible place," "I will take my leave now,".

At the thought of the only living people she could hear leaving her heart begins to beat fast as a new feeling of hope sprouts in her, "A..manda, Amanda.." she struggles to say, "What did you say?" one of the voices asks.

She can't see any of their faces but one of them said she is his woman. If fate existed then fate has indeed brought an opportunity before her.

She feels a hand hold her head up and the tip of the vial on her lips, the stranger pours the recovery tunic into her mouth and leaves her to lie on the ground.

She doesn't feel any different as she lies still whispering Amanda's name.

Her body begins to heat up and she feels the swelling on her body begin to dry up. It hurt, it feels like she is being burnt and she screams out as the pain becomes unbearable, forgetting the monster of the mountains.

Her eyes open wide and she begins to throw up for a minute before she hears the heavy sound of the wind coming her way. She looks up and sees a tall man with long dark hair standing before her. He is bare-chested and has a tattoo on one side of his chest.

He has a tattoo on his wrist and a strange white cloth around his waist and a pair of black sandals on his feet.

He holds a trident in one hand and he looks up into the darkness of the mountain as the wind blows against them.

Rachael turns to see what he is looking at and shock comes over her as she see the giant tentacle coming towards them, "We have to run," she says as she hurries to her feet.

The man hits his trident on the ground and a wave echoes through the mountains bringing the tentacle to a pause, "If you dare to attack me I will bury these mountain under the sea and you know what I will do to you in my domain, Modu" the man says and a strange cry comes from the mountains as a response to his words and the tentacle retreats into the dark.

Rachael stares at the man in awe, "Who could this be? Is he the one Amanda is dating?" she thinks as the man turn his gaze to her.

"You know Amanda, daughter of Ra?" he asks and Rachael nods, still trying to process what she has just witnessed.

"Who are you?" "I am... Ra...chael," she stammers, "Who is Amanda to you?" "We are friends, close friends. We were attacked on a ship, in the Sea of Stars. We got separated," Rachael says as she tries not to hold eye contact for too long.

"Do you know Samuel Stone?" he asks and she nods, "I think they are together," Rachael says, "That bastard endangered her, I will kill him" he says.

Rachael wants to intercede but she pauses as she considers that he just scared of the monstrosity in the mountain, she weighs the scales at which of them may be more dangerous and decides to keep quiet.

She looks around and notices that he is the only one around, whoever had the second voice seems to have vanished.

He rubs his hairy chin as he thinks before returning his blue eyes to the woman, "Come, we shall go to her at once,".