Chapter 8

The Desert

The shock of seeing so many skyships gathered in one place that wasn’t a garage began to wear off, the heat of the desert now washing over Meredith. While Eddie took a step forward in awe of what they were seeing, she reached into her pack for her desert clothing. She quickly wrapped it around herself and covered her head, the shade offering some newfound relief. When she felt comfortable in it, she took her first step to join Eddie on the sands, each of the skyships drawing her attention.

“They’re all grounded…does it have something to do with the magic core that’s in the area?” Eddie asked her, throwing a look back that was concealed by his hat. Meredith smirked under hers and clapped Eddie on the back once she’d approached. She turned his body, giving them a three-sixty at all the skyships that rested there.

“Eddie, you know things about magic,” she said, chuckling to the point that her best friend pulled away. “However, leave the intricacies of machines to yours truly.”

“So, it’s not magic, got it.” Eddie rolled his eyes, tromping into the sands. “Still, there’s gotta be a magic core here as well, just like the Frostland. I wonder where others are located…”

“How can magic be all you’re thinking about?” Meredith called out, racing after him and grabbing his arm. “Look at all these! A Generation III Rotis Model! They used to be the preferred model of the Corps, but these looked like they tried to fly through the desert and got their engines gummed up. Ooh, and a Makis Mark II!”

“Mera, you keep saying words, but I don’t understand what they mean.”

“Now you know how I’ve felt about magic!” Meredith snapped at him. He continued to roll his eyes, and she continued ignoring him. Nearby was a far newer, almost pristine skyship that drew her attention. With a giddy smile splayed across her lips, Meredith ran forward to examine it.

“Eee! Look, Eddie, look! This is a top-line model that’s been ranked the number one in luxury, personal skyships three years running: the Walter Pride!” Clenching her fists close to her chest, Meredith continued shuffling along the edge of the skyship, any wants of cool air or water fleeing her. The whole skyship was like a dream come true…at least until she reached the back undercarriage. “Huh…well, whoever’s skyship this is, their mechanic does a pretty poor job. The levitation filter is so gummed up with elements it’s gonna cause this engine to burn out sooner or later.”

“Leave it to you to find problems with a skyship in seconds,” Eddie said. She could tell he was shaking his head, even if she couldn’t see him. “Is that why they’re all parked, or abandoned, out here?”

“Tsk, tsk, fair Eddie! How little you know.” Meredith gave one last cursory examination to the luxury engine and came back around to inform her best friend. Another glance at the area told her that it was the newest skyship, as well as the only personal one. The other new models were military-grade, but Meredith decided that keeping her friend informed was more important. “Gumming up the elements on a levitation filter will no doubt lead to problems, but these days there are many solutions for all kinds of climates.”

“I’m going to hate myself for asking, but like what?”

“Filter shields, various fluids that protect from the elements. It’s not hard to find one for places like the Frostland, the desert, and even places with high humidity!” Meredith’s hands were now on her hips, smugness taking over in light of finally being more aware of something than Eddie. “Many of these skyships were either around before these modern conveniences became known, or else realized it into their journey and were forced to back out just in time. You can see the results from all the downed skyships. Though, not all mechanics swear by the products, so not everyone uses them, but you’d think someone rich enough to own such a luxury craft would have a mechanic that knows.”

“Maybe they do and they wanted to walk to the trial site,” Eddie said. Meredith wrinkled her nose at the insinuation, but without anything to go off, she just shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter to me; we’re taking a long path,” she said, bringing out a canteen and drinking a small amount from it. “Might as well get moving now, huh? Who knows when we’ll get a reprieve from this, and there could be monsters anywhere.”

“I hope not. I get the feeling any water-based magic would be hampered here, and that halves my defense.” His statement was a declaration to move on, anyway, wiping sweat from his brow. Meredith observed him a second as she slung her canteen back. Regardless of all his fears and protests, Eddie was moving forward. On top of it, he seemed to have a new resolve she never realized he’d come to. It wasn’t a dream, but perhaps a decision to not be the panicky individual he’d been in Frostfall Cavern.

She ran ahead, sand flying into the air before she flung an arm around him. “You’re a real reliable guy, Eddie! How far to the oasis?”

“Awhile, so let’s not waste time talking. We’ll want to conserve energy in this heat.”

Following his advice, Meredith saluted and fell in step beside him.

Like the Frostland before it, this new and varied land stretched on before them. At the same time, things were very different, offering new sights to see, if it wasn’t for the sweat obscuring both of their visions. Cacti sprouted up from the sands, and some rocky crags here and there offered little in the way of shade. Harsh, beating sun had replaced the snowstorm of the Frostland, and Meredith couldn’t really say which was worse. Her skin felt like it was sticking together, her tongue wanting to hang out like a dog’s from the heat. Every second, her hand itched for water, and the further they walked, the worse it became.

“How much further again?” she gasped out, slumping against a rock face some hours after struggling through the sands. Eddie was next to her, his first canteen already empty. He didn’t answer, and when he sighed, she looked back where they’d come from. Formless blobs in the distance of the heat haze hinted at other candidates coming behind them, though whether they struggled more, or less, Meredith wasn’t sure. The desert was a big place.

“Another day…” Eddie finally groaned. He was standing, slipping against the rock face but eventually holding steady. Meredith followed suit, much as her aching limbs didn’t want to. Taking just a small sip of water, the two continued on.

The only difference from that point on was that the number of skyships began to dwindle, and the number of people who had entered the Loop before them increased. Some were trudging through the sands, while others hid under the rock faces and scattered ruins, unmoving. A few appeared to be little more than shriveled up individuals. Slowly, the desert was sapping them all away.

Gotta focus! Meredith told herself, slapping her cheeks. This is part of the trial! Making it through the Desert Loop! Like the Trial of Ice, I have to deal with this terrain.

Seeing all of the other, languished candidates in front and behind helped steel her resolve, and she grabbed on to a faltering Eddie, dragging him onwards with all the strength she could muster. Skyships continued to give way to ruins; crumbling structures that were half-buried beneath the sands.

“Old civilizations, probably…” Eddie rasped out. Meredith took her water and tipped it down his throat. The sun was moving down now, yet provided no relief. “I saw a show once that covered the history here. Before the climates caused the landmasses to shift, this was the site of a great fortress and a canyon, before it fused with a mountain range and became desertified. The halls of that are rumored to stretch through the whole Loop. Some even speculate it as the first site of desertification.”

“So, this whole place is like a history lesson…wonderful…” Meredith said in reply, swallowing. She tasted naught but sand.

Eventually, the sun cleared the horizon, leaving the area drowned in darkness. A cold wave washed over them, causing them to shiver as they pitched their tent, prior to lighting a fire outside for warmth. That seemed to be the easiest thing for Eddie, who commented that his fire magic was stronger in this region. Meredith didn’t care and tried to get some sleep amidst the howls of creatures that rested beyond their ring of firelight. That effort was cut short by the sun rising, setting their skin on fire.

“I…hate…this…desert!” she screamed once they were back on the road. “There are less and less people, more and more sand! And these stupid ruins make me think there should be civilization, but there’s nothing!”

“There’s an oasis.”

“What?” Her tone was so dry, she could have sworn it was caused by the arid heat. Meredith looked ahead, blinking. Then she rubbed her eyes and blinked again. Eddie wasn’t lying.

A short distance away was the site of an oasis, ringed by the impressive ruins of an old cathedral that was once proud, but had fallen into complete disarray. People were gathering by that lush and expansive spread of water, making it lively. The mere sight of it was enough to add moisture back to her body.

For Eddie, it had added untold amounts of energy. He took the lead, running across the sand with his newfound strength and kicking up a dust cloud behind him. Meredith wasn’t far behind. Despite the heat that pierced the desert, she felt her limbs losing their sluggishness the closer they approached to the oasis. Whether it was the effect of the oasis, or some other magical property that Eddie could doubtless explain later, she didn’t know, but she was grateful to take her hat off and suck in air that wasn’t filtered by sand. Others that were gathered around the oasis were the same, some going so far as to dunk their heads in the nearby pool. Eddie made a beeline for that, filling his canteens and soaking himself. Meredith merely emptied her own into her mouth.

She’d made it through the first leg of the Desert Loop, giving her cause to sigh in celebration.

Her eyes no longer blurry, Meredith could take in the oasis for what it was: a pool of cooling water that chilled the air around it from the hot sun, located right in the middle of the largest set of ruins she’d seen thus far. There was a small inn for the traveling wayfarer, with a shop having been set up by a swarthy, ragged man. Most people mingled around, though some went to look into the ruins beyond. They all returned after a very short time, looking spooked. Others, including a rather large group in garb that matched her own, gathered around the well, filling up their water that way.

Meredith began to turn away, her eyes drawn to the ruins that lay beyond, sprawling in nature, when a glint surfaced in her periphery.

A weapon rested against the stone well, shining in the sunlight. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t have garnered a response from Meredith, except that the weapon didn’t look normal. To most passerby, or at a first glance, the weapon was nothing more than a bow. Yet she could see something more…no, hear something more. A soft whisper that none could hear or a siren song that called to her. It resonated with the ruins beyond and forced her to take a closer look. On closer inspection, she saw mechanical parts that connected pieces together, made of metal, possibly able to transform in a fluid fashion. The concept fascinated Meredith and she stepped closer, leaning in towards the bow. The whisper increased in her ears, like the broken blade that once refused to leave her hand. Yet the other similarities it held to a different object were more fascinating.

“It’s like my sword…it must change into a blade of some sort. The interior looks sharp, but I couldn’t know without changing its shape…fascinating…” she muttered under her breath. Her fingers wiggled a little, reaching out for it.

“I’ll thank you to not touch my stuff, thief.” The voice interrupted her fascination, the whispers ceasing in her head. Meredith looked up and saw a girl her age standing before her, dressed in the same desert garb she was. Her long, straight blonde hair flowed down her back, a headband holding it in place. Her hands were folded across her ample chest as her blue eyes narrowly pierced the air.

“I’m not a thief,” Meredith said, hoping to make her intentions plain. “I just noticed your weapon. Custom made?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know? I doubt anyone like you could understand its workings,” the girl said with a slight upturn to her lips that displeased Meredith. The only thing that displeased her more was that they were gathering a sudden crowd around them. A number of candidates congregated at the pleasing oasis, including new arrivals, had their eyes drawn to the scene. Whoever the girl was, she commanded attention effortlessly. She even had a number of others solidifying behind her, like a wall.

“It clearly uses a spin mechanism, maybe ball bearings? I’ve never seen anything like it, but it’s clearly not standard,” Meredith said confidently, trying to ward away all the eyes on her. “Kind of like mine.”

“My weapon could never be compared to a cheap and paltry weapon like yours,” the girl spat. Meredith’s scowl drew deeper and she stepped towards the girl opposite her. “The very notion is ludicrous. Your weapon is probably something picked up from a secondhand bargain store. Mine is an heirloom, passed from legend. You couldn’t compete.”

As if punctuating her point, the girl pulled an apple from her pocket and tossed it into the air before catching it to take a bite. Meredith now narrowed her eyes, glancing at the haughty girl and the posse behind her, dressed in matching outfits.

“My father made my weapon, himself, actually,” Meredith said, tapping the tube on her waist. “And I bet it’s a better sight than your skyship.”

“What did you say?” the girl asked. She, too, took a step forward, her icy blue eyes placing themselves in Meredith’s direct vision, their noses inches apart. “How do you know of my skyship? What did you do to it?”

“Nothing, I just took a guess. You’re not very good at hiding your possessions,” Meredith answered. The girl’s facial muscles twitched, her eyebrows creasing in, wrinkling her forehead with obvious irritation. It gave Meredith some satisfaction. “Taking all the clothes and apples from the closest town gave it away. Especially when most candidates probably can’t afford a personal, luxury skyship, and almost all the skyships there seemed to belong to the Corps.

“I’m almost surprised you bothered to make the journey on foot, but the state of your levitation filter was so poor, I’m sure you were forced.”

“At least I had the choice. I wasn’t forced to wear a piece of clothing that was clearly…well, far too big. It makes you look rather dumpy, you know.” The girls and boys gathered behind the blonde began to laugh loudly, bolstering her position.

“Better than looking like a sweet, spoiled princess who couldn’t know how to take care of a skyship to save her life,” Meredith shot back.

“My skyship is just fine, and hardly relevant to someone who’d never step foot on one…well, unless it was to service it. That seems about all you’d be good for.”

“Lady Vivian, language, please!” a slightly older man from within the posse said, a monocle slipping from his face. His voice was high-pitched, and he was trapped within the crush of the rest of her posse. Vivian, assuming that was her name, flicked her hair.

“Do shut up, Max,” she said, a tired sigh on her lips. Meredith quirked an eyebrow. “Father only sent you as an escort and aide. That means keeping your mouth shut. If I wanted advice, I’d ask for it, and I’d ask from these village people before I’d ever ask you.”

“The lady has spoken,” a boy in the crowd said, pushing the older man away. Vivian’s gaze never left Meredith’s, lips still upturned into the smirk. Behind the blonde, near the pool, Eddie had straightened, watching the scene unfold with wide eyes.

“Pretty poor way to treat someone, Your Ladyship,” Meredith spat out. “Please don’t tell me you’re trying to make Guardian with that attitude. I don’t think I could stomach it.”

“The feeling is more than mutual. I feel sick just looking at your state of dress; couldn’t you find anything that fits better? Or were you trying to cover up the grease stains?” Vivian’s comment made Meredith advance in tandem with her, the both of them getting so close, she could feel the girl’s breath on her. It was odorless.

“Better for functionality. At least I can take care of myself. You need a group, why? We’re all judged on individual merit, you know.”

“My merit is just fine: I cleared an S-Rank at the Trial of Ice just a few days ago,” Vivian said. Meredith tried not to let it show on her face, but her stomach sank. The offending rank she’d received on her own attempt resurfaced, now taunted by the clearly superior rank that this girl had achieved. Like a shark who smelled blood in the water, Vivian’s lips widened, taking another bite of the apple with glee. “Don’t tell me you didn’t clear it with an S-Rank.”

“So, what if I didn’t?”

“Oh dear, I hit a nerve.” Vivian’s laughing remark was followed with chuckles from amongst her group. Meredith swallowed, face flushing as the embarrassment set in twofold. Vivian finished eating her apple and tossed it away onto the sands. The action completed, she leaned forward and snatched her bow from where it rested. “Did someone fail, then? Or were you incompetent enough they gave you a pass?”

“Test me and we’ll find out,” Meredith said. The daggers they glared at one another sparked across the expanse of the oasis. More attention was gathered from those in the area. Eddie shook his head, almost as embarrassed as she was earlier. It didn’t deter her, with many spectators drawing close, some chanting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” eagerly.

“No thanks,” Vivian said, tacking on a dismissive wave at the end. “I don’t need to waste time on a fourth-rate hack with some lame magic.”

“Oh, I don’t need magic to kick your ass.” Vivian froze mid-turn, her perfectly shaped eyebrow arching while a smile came back to her lips.

“Really? I have to give you more credit,” she said. The people surrounding them began to back away, creating a ring that encompassed the whole of the oasis while putting them out of the crossfire. “You may be stupid, but you’re a fighter. Maybe you’ll offer something after all.”

“Lady Vivian, please! This is no time to start fights that could bring shame-”

“Please stop talking.” If Vivian had looked bothered before, she had now crossed into annoyed at her attendant’s fussing. Behind her, Meredith could see Eddie, looking exasperated. There was no doubt he was chastising her for picking yet another fight; he probably thought he couldn’t take her anywhere by that point. Meredith didn’t care. She wanted only to beat this rude girl as quickly as possible. “Besides, she’ll soon learn her place: on the ground!”

“Not if you fall flat on your face, first, Viv,” Meredith said back. Vivian’s eyebrows and lips twitched at the insulting nickname, while the ring grew larger. Meredith grabbed on to her garb and pulled it off her normal traveling clothes, tossing it, along with her bag, near to the well. Her hand clasped around her sword and extended the blade. Vivian merely held her bow in both hands, though she had no arrows.

“I’d appreciate you not tainting my name with some filthy aberration stemming from your lips.” Meredith rolled her eyes. The air sparked with confrontation, the crowd descending into a quiet murmur, yet the energy felt just as high as when they were screaming for a fight. There were no Guardians here. Nothing to interrupt. “I’ll take the first move then. Fire!”

Without even nocking an arrow, Vivian fired, a stream off pressurized air traveling forth with swiftness. Meredith rolled to the side, coming to her feet as the attack embedded itself in the sand. Behind Vivian, Eddie’s eyes were wide, as though he didn’t expect that kind of attack. If anything, he looked impressed, and it made Meredith scowl. To counter, she brandished her blade outward, staying low to the ground as she ran for Vivian. The girl turned her sights and fired again.

Meredith made no big move, but dodged to the side. The heat of the attack nearly scarred her neck, but she avoided it all the same. She brought her blade upwards into a wide arc. Vivian stepped back, twirling the bow in her hands and firing once more. As an alternative to the dodging game, Meredith blocked the attack with her sword. Heat erupted across her arms, more than even the sun could provide. Those energy arrows were no mere attack. Still, Meredith sliced upward and jabbed forward. Vivian made a pirouette, right in the zone for Meredith to kick out and hit her on the side.

The crowd oohed at the first hit made in the fight, while Vivian’s companions appeared to flinch. Meredith brought her blade closer, going on the defensive. The reactions of her opponent’s posse felt more than enough to justify the move. Vivian recovered from the hit, her lips now dropping the smirk into a crazed smile. She held her bow in front of her, horizontally.

“Well, you got a hit in, but it’s the last hit you’re going to get, trash!” Meredith’s body was tensed, nearly on fire with the way her muscles were rippling and coiling. The opponent before her was like a snake, ready to spring forth at a moment’s notice. It was nothing like facing Emil.

More ripples formed where arrows should have been, even with the bow’s strange position. Meredith’s eyes tracked them all, wondering where they’d be fired to. Vivian pulled the bowstring back and fired. The air was pierced, crackling with energy, all three shots looking to find their marks on Meredith’s body. She slashed down with one, knocking it into the ground, pluming with dust. The other two were too close for such an action, and the black-haired teen dodged to the side, coming around Vivian’s backside. The blonde turned, just in time for Meredith to swipe her sword along the sand, sending it into the air to blind Vivian.

Without making a sound and her face etched into a concentrated frown, Meredith switched the hold of her blade, her hilt now heading for Vivian instead of the blade.

“Is that it? Cheap tricks?” Meredith didn’t stop at Vivian’s confident question, but her eyes widened as the girl’s form became plain through the dust. “Not that I’m against such tactics, but if that’s all you have to offer…

“…there’s no chance of you becoming a Guardian, trash. Go back home.”

“Mera!” Eddie’s cry did nothing to stop her advance, and nor did the light of the attack that was forming. She kept pushing through, holding her blade straight in front to slice the attack in two.

“Lady Vivian! Cease this! Are you trying to kill the poor girl?!”

“If this is all it takes to kill her, then she never belonged on this journey in the first place!” The blast fired. Meredith stopped her progression, digging her foot into the sand for all the traction it gave her. Her blade was held front once more as the arrow of pure, sizzling energy struck her. She held for a moment as Vivian became visible through the haze, fingers outstretched.

The arrow then broke through.

Like a burning blaze, the strike cut across her, ripping at her clothes and creating cracks at the seams within her blade. Her feet left the ground and Meredith went soaring towards the pool of the oasis, splashing into it and sending a cooling rain over everyone there. Meredith spluttered, spitting out water as she righted herself. Her hair had come undone, draping across her face until she tucked it back. Already, Vivian was beginning to turn away.

“Well, there’s the deathblow.”

“No one can win against Vivian’s arrows once she’s strengthened them.”

“Excellent work, Lady Vivian! Excellent work! Even when you’re not at maximum strength, you impress! Your magic is second to none!” her attendant said.

“Shut up, Max. It’s not you I’m looking to impress,” the girl said, flicking her blonde hair behind her. Meredith’s lips twisted yet again; they already considered her beaten. She coughed again, placing her foot in the shallow pool and pulling herself out. Once she had, she stabbed her damaged sword into the sand.

“Who said…I was done…yet?” Meredith huffed out. Vivian paused and whipped around, eyes wide with an appreciative grin upon her face.

“Oh, you’re one of those types!” Meredith yanked her sword out of the ground and began to charge at Vivian with a guttural roar. Some looked away, not wanting to see a repeat of before, and Eddie once more shook his head. However, Vivian didn’t fire another arrow. In place of that, she held her bow before herself and pressed a button. It began to change, just as Meredith had suspected, the pieces folding in on each other and making a new shape: a sword. Meredith swung forward, her attack blocked by the blade that held steady. More than steady, it was like an iron blockade before her. “Defensive Enchantment, Penta-def.”

The blade glowed a harsh blue, forcing Meredith to shove her foot in the ground just to try and push against it. She faltered for a moment. The whispers from before eked out of the blade, like an apology that she wasn’t strong enough. That caress of untold strength that lay in her opponent’s blade made Meredith’s limbs tremble. This weapon was no ordinary weapon, and Vivian was no ordinary trial candidate.

For the first time that Meredith could remember, her hands began to drop. Though she had the strength to continue fighting, her blade slid away from Vivian’s, and she uttered the words she hated, but knew were true. “I forfeit.”

The murmur cascaded around the gathered crowd, but the ending of the fight made a great many besides Vivian’s posse turn away. Meredith’s blade touched to the sand, her breaths heavy as she watched the strengthened sword in Vivian’s hand. Its thrumming resonance was fading. The whispers it held went away, a last apology on the wind.

“Well, you have some modicum of intelligence, if not much else,” Vivian said. The blonde’s lips were in a thin line as she observed Meredith. Her sword transformed back into a bow, which was slung on Vivian’s back. Meredith wanted to say something, to argue against the barb slung at her, but could do nothing except tremble. “I think I’ve had my fill of this place. Time to make way for the trial site; I’d like to get there early.”

“Yes, of course, Lady Vivian!” The squeaking Max was quick to follow his leader, along with all the other boys and girls that trailed after her.

Meredith remained shaking, her body and clothes quickly drying in the desert heat. She thought of retracting her blade, but opted not to, for fear of damaging it. It served as yet another sign of how far behind she was. Emil, the Beastmaster, Vivian: all three had magic. All three had proven themselves superior to her. Eddie was teaching her, as well, yet no matter what…she could never be caught up to their level in just a day or two.

The Trial of Desert lay before her, but she felt like she’d already failed it.

“Nice face but awful manners…Couldn’t even respect you by going all-out,” Eddie said, drawing close to her. She’d hardly realized it, but she was now alone, the other people at the oasis having returned to their own activities. “Mera, are you all right?”

She didn’t say anything; couldn’t say anything. Whatever she could possibly get out would probably be a gurgle in her throat. Her hand was still shaking. Every resolve made, every step forward…she was starting to feel like brittle stone, crumbling away at the first sign of resistance every time.

Meredith definitely didn’t want Eddie to see her like that.

Biting her lip and shaking her head, she walked with great speed towards her discarded bag, leaving her sword there and grabbing her cloak. Once she’d whipped it around her figure, she strode right past Eddie, towards where the people from earlier had entered the ruins that surrounded the place. Eddie called for her, but she didn’t answer. Eyes were on her, whispers following her. She didn’t want to listen to any of them, closing her ears off to their likely insults until she’d passed out of the oasis and entered the stone structures beyond.

No people were beyond that point, and Meredith could finally hear her thoughts not being impeded by others. She felt no gaze upon her, and she could breathe, even as her feet kept her walking, turning down halls without a conscious thought. She just wanted to get further away.

“Damn it! Damn it!” she shouted, first under her breath and then louder until it was echoing off the dilapidated walls. She stopped and leaned against one of the rocks, finding it cool. She was so weak. Vivian had shattered her blade, and her pride. Her fist clenched and memories of her promise to Eddie to protect him, of not failing like she had back during the Trial of Ice, rested in her mind. It made her loathe herself further.

Then Vivian’s smirking face surfaced. Her pompous attitude, her condescending manner, and even her skill in combat. Loathing for herself very quickly transformed into loathing towards the blonde that had stripped her pride away from her. For a Guardian candidate, she’d had a pretty poor attitude. Something not quite rage bubbled inside Meredith. It was a different, renewed fire. Vivian’s attitude had all but clinched it, showing the worst side. She was something not at all what a Guardian should have been. And if the Corps would let people like Vivian in, then she was going to work her hardest to make sure they also let herself in.

Meredith spat towards the ground with her newfound vigor. She was weak. Vivian had proven that. But she wasn’t going to let it stay that way. With her new conclusion, Meredith breathed in, steadying herself once more. She pushed away the anger and self-loathing, replacing it with whatever positive emotion she could.

Once she had, she looked up, realizing she had no idea where she was. A pebble dropped in the distance, and Meredith turned her head back, eyes narrowing. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw a shadow, like someone…or multiple someones were following her. She swallowed, reaching for her waist, only to realize she’d left her sword behind. Once more, she cursed. Vivian had gotten to her more than she would have expected, and it made her shame flare up again. The shadows shifted again, yet they didn’t quite feel like a force just waiting to pounce. It was more defensive than anything.

“Either way, gotta find my way back now…” Meredith breathed out. She turned in the opposite direction of the shadows and proceeded down the hall, shafts of sunlight illuminating her periodically as she walked. Occasional glances back showed that the shadows were pursuing her, and she turned down the first hall she could find.

Meredith had no idea where she was going, or if her myriad of twists and turns were taking her closer to or farther from her destination. All she knew was that the prickling feeling of eyes on the back of her neck never went away, and it was starting to unnerve her.

A crossroads soon approached with many directions, giving Meredith the opportunity to evade her pursuers. Voices could be heard to the left, and she surmised it as the best option. Voices meant people, which would have been her ticket to safety, and out of there. She turned the corner and began to run down the corridor. Light increased, giving Meredith hope that she’d chosen the right path as the voices got louder, though were still indiscernible. However, they ended before she ever caught sight of the source of them.

Rather, as she ran along, breaking out into a vine-covered, sunlight-filtered part of the ruins, she saw nothing but the crumbling structures around her. Various little tools and other items that suggested a makeshift camp were littered around the area, next to a well that Meredith guessed was connected to the oasis, even if it wasn’t visible from her location. Walking through, she realized she hit a dead end before she tripped over a nearby canister, forcing her to regain her balance.

When she had, Meredith looked around once again. Behind her, she seemed to have finally given her pursuers the slip, while all about her, the vines obscured much of the sun, giving the area a closed-off quality. There was one thing that held her attention, though, if only because it was the most colorful thing in the ruins.

Meredith walked closer, and before long she touched her hand to the mural; a mural that had a similar drawing to that which she’d seen at the church in the Frostland.