《Magicae Machina》Chapter 8
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I followed the other three down hallway after hallway. Varus was in the lead, adamant that they could find the exit through trial and error. It was difficult to walk on the vine-covered floor, and the drops of water from the ceiling were beginning to soak through my clothes. The situation was quickly becoming highly unpleasant.
They turned a corner and after some steps, Cris’s light reached far enough ahead to show a dead end.
“Varus, it’s time to switch to another plan,” Cris said. She pointed to the wall on her right; a large patch of it was bare, and the faint smell of ash lingered.
“It’s the wall I burnt,” Karl said. His tone said that it was impossible. They had been making sure to focus their movement towards a single direction, and yet they had somehow circled around to where they began.
“The poppies won’t let us leave that easily,” Cris said, but Varus scoffed at that. “Like you said before, they’re just plants. Though I can agree that we mustn’t be thinking clearly thanks to them. My head is feeling foggier and foggier.”
“What if we burn them all away?” I asked, looking toward Karl. His ability to spout liquid fire from his palm had been clearly effective.
He shrugged. “Maybe. But then we’d also have these tight corridors filling with smoke.”
“And the mist would remain in the air,” Cris added. “But I know that the effect of the drug lasts only half a day. And since we’ve ingested it indirectly, it’s likely to be not even that potent.”
So there were two problems. The first was getting rid of the invisible mist, either by destroying its source or some other means. Then, with the passage of time, they would hopefully recover. The second obstacle would be finding a way to leave without again ingesting the hallucinogenic mist on the way. I put this into words, and the others agreed.
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A fifth existence within the poppy dungeon listened to the group of four as they discussed their options. As they prattled on, the vines that had been turned to ash were beginning to discard their scorched tips and pull themselves forward into the empty space on the wall. Their movement was hardly noticeable, but if one were to watch, it might look like a blank canvas being gradually consumed by the unstoppable progress of time…
In the worst case, the entity might have to take action. It waited to see whether the group would discover a way to save themselves.
Varus attempted to tear the vines from the walls with his bare hands, but with the slipperiness, the toughness of the roots that disappeared into the stone walls, and the sheer quantity of the growth, it seemed that any significant progress would take far too long. Worst of all was the mist that poured from the torn vines, which only fuelled the paranoia that we were unable to think clearly at all, or even see our surroundings for what they really were.
“Hey!” Varus shouted without warning, trembling the walls, or such was the impression I got experiencing the heftiness of his voice. He charged away in a flash, heading for the T-junction that was our only path out of this corridor, while shouting for someone to stop. I glanced at Cris and Karl, and then we dashed after him.
Fortunately, Varus didn’t need to be told that it was dangerous to get separated. He waited at the junction and pointed in one of the directions. “I just saw a girl. We have to follow!” He began to run again. Cris called out at him to stop, that it was likely just an illusion, but Varus didn’t hesitate, even though he was heading straight into pitch darkness. We had no choice but to give chase after his large figure, as it kept pace just at the reaches of our vision.
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“It could have been Holly or Rea,” Karl said between breaths. That might have been so, but at this point they also had to worry about themselves.
Varus paused for a moment at the corner ahead, ensuring that we wouldn’t be left behind. As we reached the corner, I prepared myself to speak up and say that this could be a trap, but Varus had already taken a step around the bend. His body suddenly disappeared. It looked as if it had simply fallen through the floor, but there was only solid stone and vines there…
That changed as I rubbed my eyes. In fact, the floor here was clearly collapsed. A cloud of dust rose from the hole, indicating that Varus had fallen in and hit the floor below.
“Varus, are you alright?!” Cris called in a panic. The man could be heard coughing below. “I’m fine, I’m not that brittle, Cris!” he called back up.
“This place is pissing me off,” Karl vented, apparently unable to remain calm. “It really is toying with us. What the hell is this…”
Cris looked concerned too. She knelt at the edge of the hole, and looked for Varus. He was standing among the remains of a broken wooden table, and as Cris increased the brightness of her light, I could see bookcases filled with tomes all around him.
“At the very least, we’ve been able to stick together,” I commented. “Even if the poppies can mess with our minds, perhaps it’s unable to do anything as drastic as making us unable to see or hear each other.”
“Even so, this is a bit of a mess!” Varus said, still managing to grin, albeit only derisively. The drop was at least three metres down, so he wasn’t able to simply grab the edge and pull himself back up.
As we pondered what the best course of action might be, Varus looked through the mess he had made. After a few minutes he called to us. “You might want to come down here after all.” His eyes were glued to the pages of a certain book.
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You Light My World (COMPLETED)
Emily Carter, a 20-year old girl with a horrible life. She never knew anything about her parents but one thing she knows is that they are no longer alive. She was stuck with her pathetic jobless uncle who makes her life miserable. She drops a spoon, she wll be beaten, she cooks late, she will be beaten. Almost every single thing that she does is wrong in his eyes.She has scars almost everywhere on her body including her face.The only place she can escape from him is the Armandos' mansion, the place where she works.(as a maid). Meet Julian Sam Armando. A 24-year old prince charming. He got both wealth and good look. Despite his father's order to run his company, he insisted to become a doctor in his own hospital.He is too good that girls always dream of making him theirs.However, he never pay attention to any of them. His life vision: no girls, no party, no getting drunk. But the only thing that makes him scary is his over protectiveness.What is his will always be his. When their paths collide, what will happen? Will he look at the girl with scars? Will she escape her miserable life? Please read to find out.p.s. Its my second story. Please bear with the grammatical errors. Do vote if you like it.Thanks.
8 301The Diviner
Quinn has a rare and powerful gift that was borne from rage and trauma, and the anger she can't let go of makes her an unpredictable and dangerous weapon of last resort for a kingdom on the brink of war. Diviners like Quinn are venerated yet feared, protected yet exploited. Bonded to the Queen, they are forced to endure hardship and sacrifice to protect her empire. After a near loss in a key battle and the death of the Diviner of Fire, the Queen calls for aid from the mercenary soldiers of the allied territories to the East. When a striking warrior named Kiran is assigned to protect and train Quinn, the pair discover that the enemy has already reached the gates, and the adversary is more powerful than the kingdom ever imagined. Time is running out for Quinn to harness her power. The enemy is closing in around them. Impossible sacrifices haunt every decision Quinn makes. As she fights to keep what little she's claimed as hers, Quinn learns that her destiny might not lay in the hands of fates or kingdoms, but in her own.
8 155The Worst Was Approved!?
At a very prestigious school a man just barely manages to get in and is considered the worst of the worst. To make matters even more unbearable, he accidentally trips and throws a bottle of water on to the school's idol. It is a known fact that the school idol's father was a very strict man, and that if the school idol wanted to date anyone she would have to bring him home for her father to judge, if he was judged as inadequate, they would disappear. The girl brings the guy back to her house to get rid of him.WILL CONTAIN 18+ CONTENT(However, you may choose to skip any 18+ chapters, as it will not affect the story too much.)YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
8 584The Pastor, The Confessions of A Blind Girl
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8 184The Pet
10 years ago everything changed. 10 years ago something came and took over lives. After we lost The Blood War, a war between humans and vampires. Yes, vampires the creatures that could drain every drop of blood in your body. They took over and changed everything. Now the land of Illia is split into three groups. RoyalsServants PetsRoyals were obviously the vampires, they ruled all of Illia.Men were given the job as servants. Servants had it pretty good . Well not good but they had food and decent places to live. Servants get to live in the castle due to them helping royals in day to day life. The women however were the pets. Pets are the lowest of the three. You basically had all your freedom ripped away from you. From the moment the war ended women were thrown into cages with collars around your neck waiting for the dreadful day to be bought. Once bought you were the vampires personal blood bag. I was 8 years old when I was torn away from my family and thrown into a cage. I haven't seen the outside world since. My family was killed right on sight so I have been alone for 10 years in the very same cage. Until today, when he walked in.
8 147《BFF》|| taekook ✔️
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