The Ethersmith

“Vivi, is that light?” Lucius suddenly asked, nudging her attention to the left.

A long time had passed. Probably around a full day, with enough empty dark caverns for Vivi to doubt her sanity. Aolinn had collapsed some hours ago, now traveling on Vivi’s back. The noblewoman had survived for surprisingly long, though she seemed to have fallen unconscious now. Vivi had to extend her aura to make Aolinn stick to her back. The technique was a bit awkward, but with Lucius’s help, and a lot of excess ether, Aolinn moved with her like a backpack.

They’d passed more nothing and more nothing, until finally, something different came.

The tunnel Lucius pointed at was lit. Not just by the odd ambient light that lit the dungeon from seemingly nowhere. The tunnel was lit to the point that it was too bright to see inside, like a window receiving direct sunlight.

Vivi was drawn in right away, though she approached cautiously. In a dungeon that Banishment Portal regarded as the most dangerous place in the whole world, Vivi wouldn’t have been surprised if the light itself was poisonous, or perhaps sourced from a lake of lava. A boss monster wouldn’t have surprised her either, though she didn’t sense any ether. She squinted as she stepped in, ready to summon Dawnpour or Shield Of Nature.

Green grass welcomed her to a forest. The cave ceiling opened up into an underground sky, perhaps two hundred feet high and shiny with bright facets. There were colorful flowers, tall and healthy trees, with a landscape that reminded her of Paradise, just without the open sky.

“What in the world…?” Vivi said under her breath.

The oppressive mist was entirely gone. She sensed abundant nature’s ether in the ground and air, but nothing indicated danger. “Lucius?” she asked, still awed. “Where are we?”

Lucius was just as confused as she was. “I would like to tell you… But I have no idea. Looks like we’re in an underground forest?”

Do those exist?

“Apparently, yes.”

Dumb question, it seemed. Vivi hadn’t rested in what felt like ages. She’d spent an insane amount of focus on just surviving and keeping Aolinn safe. At this point, she didn’t want to know where they were; she wanted to know where this forest had water.

Speaking of whom, Aolinn opened her eyes, still on Vivi’s shoulders. A surprised breath escaped. “Did we… Did we get to heaven? Water?”

“Not yet,” Vivi said. She couldn’t see any rivers or water dripping from the sky. “Stay asleep. I’ll wake you up.”

Aolinn kept turning her head, awed. She was a surface dweller as well, Vivi remembered. Sights like these didn’t exist on the surface. Green trees existed on the first two levels, but even then full lively forests were said to be rare. Vivi had only seen a sight like this in Paradise.

Stepping deeper, a white bunny watched her from a branch in the trees. Vivi’s head snapped to the meal right away. The cute thing continued staring at her from its spot on the branch. What were rabbits doing on trees anyway?

The rabbit pounced at Vivi and opened its mouth, revealing a devilish mouth of serrated teeth. Its claws turned to sharp talons.

Aolinn yelped and nearly fell as Vivi summoned Dawnpour, thrusting it through the rabbit’s mouth. It died, and disintegrated to ether, turning to its host bones. A small skull fell to the ground.

Vivi blinked, mouth hanging open. “Are you serious? The insects are animals, but that was not!?”

Lucius had no answer. He started at the host bones. “That looks like a real rabbit skull. It’s intact. Real rabbits must live here as well.”

“Right,” Vivi said. “Good thinking.”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Her legs were exhausted, and her body argued for a break, as if reaching this forest was some milestone. No matter how strong she got, the need for water and food was always there. The ether in her body could extend the energy that food and water provided, but even then, only by a few days.

Aolinn was much worse off. Her eyes were already closing on their own, and there was barely any strength in her arms as she rested on Vivi’s back. Aolinn couldn’t channel ether at all, leaving her to fend off only with whatever she’d drank at the ball. If she’d had wine, that would only make her more dehydrated.

If the forest had rabbit skulls, it must have also had water for those rabbits to drink. Vivi lifted her foot, continuing on with that hope, Aolinn on her shoulders.

She trotted through mossy foliage and grassy plains, moving between trees, killing the occasional reanimated forest animals, always hoping for food, only for the monsters to disintegrate to host bones. She kept sending pulses of ether, hoping to find someone.

The journey continued and continued, probably for another hour through the forest. The landscape had much more variation now with different flowers, varying length of grass and elevation changes, with the walls themselves occasionally closing in, but the forest continued. Occasional tunnels poked out from the forest, leading back to the dark caverns. Vivi ignored those.

She continued and continued, until she finally spotted something to drink. Not a river. Not water droplets dripping from the sky.

It was someone’s waterskin, lying sideways beside a rock.

Vivi stared at it, genuinely baffled about how a waterskin had ended up here. This whole trip was like a bad fever dream. But she was too tired and thirsty to think. She picked it up, finding it mostly full. Opening the cork, she sniffed it. It smelled like leather.

What are the chances of this being poisoned? Vivi asked.

Lucius thought about it. “I’m sorry, Vivi, but I don’t know if I’m going to be very useful as a guide anymore…”

He somehow sounded depressed. You’ve been doing great. I’d be dead if you weren’t here to help me channel ether. And be ready to channel some more if it looks like I die from this.

She took a sip. It tasted normal. So she drank more, feeling the warm water hit her throat like a blessing. She drank a third of the waterskin, probably enough to survive for another day and a half if she conserved energy.

Then she turned to Aolinn, who was completely asleep. Vivi placed the woman down and poked her awake. “Aolinn. We have water.”

The noblewoman squinted awake once again. She stared at the waterskin, eyes opening. She held out her hands.

“No, open your mouth,” Vivi said, and she slowly poured water into Aolinn's mouth, who drank like a gluttonous baby.

She probably needs more than me, Vivi thought. She can’t channel ether to extend nutrients. She wondered just how much she should give, and before she could come to any decision, the waterskin emptied, Aolinn having drank the remaining two thirds.

Aolinn let out a heavy breath, chest extending in and out rapidly. “Thank you! Thank you! Dear god…”

Vivi sighed. “I would have liked to save some.”

Aolinn’s head perked up. “Did I drink it all? Oh, god, you’re not going to die, right?”

“No, I drank before you.”

“Oh… good.” Aolinn’s eyes wandered down. She sat on the ground, until she sniffled. That evolved to silent tears. She was about to wipe her eyes, but stopped, seeing her hands were dirty.

“Sorry…” she said. “Sorry, sorry.”

Vivi stood and watched, wondering if she should feel bad. If she only used her eyes, she saw a young girl in need of support. Yet, Vivi just couldn’t bring herself to comfort Aolinn after recalling what she was like in Ranewall, riding atop her palanquin like some princess, or arrogantly trying to kick Vivi out of the ball just because she was a little loud.

Hold on, Vivi thought, suddenly spotting something. Are those footsteps?

Behind the rock, the moss was pressed in by something shaped like a boot. Lucius flew from her core to examine them as well. It looked like a battle of sorts had happened behind the rock, with scratch marks on nearby trees and host bones littering the ground. After that, the footsteps continued forward, in the same direction Vivi was going.

“Someone has been here,” Vivi said. “These are recent.”

“Yes, this must have happened after Banishment Portal went off,” Lucius said. “They could be here!”

“My father?” Aolinn asked.

“Who knows,” Vivi said. Hopefully not him. “Let’s go.”

She grabbed Aolinn’s hand, making the woman walk on her own, and began following the footsteps. Vivi walked a little faster now thanks to the water and the determination of knowing someone was here. If it was one of her friends, chances were, they’d also be traveling, so Vivi would have to walk faster to catch up.

Except, it didn’t take long for the scenery to switch. An odd smell hit her. She sniffed, noticing something rotten. The bright green vegetation slowly lost its color, until in the distance, grass died entirely, the ground only dirt.

She crested a small hill and below, the rot became so severe that the facets themselves lost their light, as if the forest had suddenly turned to night. She added ether to her eyes to see better, while Aolinn’s face once again turned haunted.

The footsteps continued into the heart of the rot, where Vivi spotted something. A rusted piece of armor sitting cross-legged on the ground and surrounded by a swarm of flies.

“Vivi…” Lucius said cautiously as he looked at the same thing. “That’s a spirit.”