Chapter 20: The Church pt.2

CHAPTER 20: THE CHURCH PT.2

I jolt into the now familiar cabin, lying in bed. I quickly flip the hour glass and pull myself to my feet. I move past the storage chest and approach the mirror. The flashing red-orange light pulling my attention.

[System Updating]

…

..

.

[System Update: Complete]

[System Access: Weak]

[Status Updated]

[Displaying Status…]

Name: Elizabeth “Lizzy”

Path: Survivor (T:0)

Level: 6

Stats:

-Body(-): 0

—Strength(D):1(+)

—Agility(D):0(+)

—Endurance(C):1(+)

-Mind(-): 0

—Focus(D):0(+)

—Dexterity(C):0(+)

—Willpower(D):0(+)

-Soul(-): 0

—Presence(F):0(+)

—Sense(F):0(+)

—Energy(C):0(+)

Skills:

-Active: Locate Material

-Passive: Survival Craft (Adept)

-Passive: Bow Hunting (Novice)

Points: 1

I look through my status, noting the changes for agility, endurance, energy, and my passive skills.

I press on the letter ‘C’ next to endurance and am almost surprised when the mirror’s image shifts.

[C Grade of innate Endurance]

“What do you mean C grade?” I tap at the mirror while speaking.

[Grades: F, E, D, C, B, A, S]

[Grade: Current Ability level versus maximum and minimum innate Ability]

“Okay? And what’s an ability?” I ask the silver screen.

[Abilities: Body: Strength, Agility, Endurance. Mind: Focus, Dexterity, Willpower. Soul: Presence, Sense, Energy]

“So is it basically saying I’m in the middle of both my worst and best endurance?” I ask with hope, but the mirror doesn’t shift.

Annoyed, I let out a minor huff and trigger the status screen. Finally, I click on the ability named strength.

[Strength: Physicality’s might and density]

I tap agility.

[Agility: Physicality’s quickness and flexibility]

[Endurance: Physicality’s longevity and stamina]

Hmmm, pretty basic stuff.

[Body: State of Physicality]

[Focus: Cerebral conscious processing]

[Dexterity: Cerebral subconscious processing]

[Willpower: Cerebral stamina]

[Mind: State of Cerebral]

[Presence: Domain’s might and density]

[Sense: Domain’s perceptiveness]

[Energy: Domain’s flow]

[Soul: State of Domain]

Welp, that’s not all that helpful.

I switch back to my status screen and consider where to spend my point. I still can't figure out what’s going on with soul. My processing speed seems fine, nothing’s really gotten the jump on me. At this point, I’ll just try balancing out my Body stat.

Choice made, I quickly assign the point to agility and confirm it.

[Status Updating]

..

.

-Body(-): 1

—Strength(D):1(+)

—Agility(D):1(+)

—Endurance(C):1(+)

Done with the mirror, I step away, make my way near the fireplace and walk into the crafting room. I take both bow and arrows, before going outside. The sunny sky is now shifting into the afternoon. Making a quick loop around the cabin, I notice no immediate changes. I pass by the circular archery target, the outhouse, and the fenced-in chicken coop. I slip back onto the path and make my way into the forest.

My vision shifts, and I find myself deep in a looming and dense forest, the sun’s rays barely pierce the distant canopy, leaving enough light to see, but mutes the world around me.

Instead of following the path deeper in I step off and begin searching through the vegetation. The flora feels familiar somehow, but it doesn’t seem exactly the same as the Island’s forest. As I step deeper into the woods, memories of my life begin to surface. My father encouraging me to climb a steep cliff along a forested mountain side. My brother and I playing flashlight tag in the forests of Pennsylvania. Sam and I canoeing down a low river in the depths of the woods.

Each memory seems to last a lifetime, my mind is so focused on the task that when I come back to my senses, I find myself lost.

____

The forest has darkened, and the air feels heavier. The sounds of thunder echo through the trees around me, and distant lightning strikes brighten my surroundings. A heavy, yet sporadic, rain falls against the canopy, and a dense fog lifts a couple feet from the ground.

The world is dark, I steal images of the land around me during each lightning strike, but nothing is familiar. I’ll just have to wait it out, I’m still in the dreamscape, I’m not stuck here. I tell myself as I begin stepping forward. I stumble through the rocky terrain and march onwards. I spend each step hoping I don’t find myself sprawled out amongst the downed branches. I slowly work my way deeper into the fog, and after what feels like hours of walking, my field of view is entirely gone. Even the distant lightning strikes fail to penetrate this deep into the woods. The thundering booms grow rapid, until I can't even hear myself breathe over the continuous cacophony.

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I step forward, putting blind faith in my body to carry me onwards. A sense of static fills my bones as the mist suddenly clears, with a sudden shift, I’m on the ground. My brain begins processing the situation as an eardrum bursting thrum hits me.

I pause, feeling the wet slinking down the sides of my head. Despite the sound of the world vanishing, something else fills the void. A ringing, like a loud bell being rung nearby. I force my aching body to stand, and find glowing marks scattered over my skin. All connected down my left shoulder and burning into the back of my hand, where it forms a symbol. Nothing I recognize. I slowly run my hand over the scarred flesh and feel a thrum of energy course through my body. Before I can push any further, the ringing bells reach a crescendo before coming to a halt.

I part the vegetation before me, revealing muddy ground and bright skies, with a polished white stone church resting in the middle. Stained glass features both colored moons and dragons. The moons shift from one phase to another while the dragons cycle from birth to death.

I limp into the clearing, and shove my way into the church. Resting prominently within the room is a stone white altar, all a single piece. A red fabric with golden trim rests on top and featured behind the altar is a massive stained glass piece. A white pearlescent dragon hovers with open wings, backdropped by a massive red moon. The image of the night sky shifts down to a circular clearing amid towering trees. A symbol, not unlike the one on the back of my hand, but infinitely more complex, is curled into the clearing, snaking through and filling it like an artistic pattern.

I slowly step into the church, each step deeper in renewing my body, before I feel just as well, if not better, than when I stepped from the forest’s path. Although my body is healed, I still have the thrumming energy coursing into the symbol on my hand shining a vibrant purple-blue. I stand before the pristine altar, and feel the energy turn hot. The color shifts, turning a vibrant crimson as I place my hand to the red fabric. The power presses through and builds into the altar before vanishing with an echoing thunder. The Church’s bell rings out, as a vibrant red orb builds over the altar. An encompassing pressure pushes down on me, forcing me to my knees. The orb expands, pulling the church roof down around me, before morphing into the sky. It fills the cosmos with a massive red moon. Its energy washing over and away from me as a bestial roar echoes through the dreamscape.

—

I awake to a small fire and the smell of warm meat. The bundle of cubs is seemingly gone, and I glance around to find the three kittens huddled in Cody’s lap. A mixture of water and meat sitting on the stone floor next to him. He shoots me a small wave before continuing to feed the kittens.

John is scribbling things down on his dried hide, while Big Mike is lying on his side, as if posing for a painter, next to the warm fire. I scoot closer and pull some of the morning jerky, letting it heat on the stone.

“Something weird happened last night,” I say between bites.

“Oh? What kind of weird?” Big Mike raises an eyebrow, while Cody glances up before going back to the cats.

“So I was in the dreamscape, messing around with my mirror, and was actually able to get definitions for the attributes.”

“Ah, I don’t need anything other than Strength, but I hope it helped,” he waves me off as he rotates his arm over the flame.

“That’s not even the weird part. I went deeper down my path before stepping off, and finding myself in a pristine version of the church.”

Cody’s face shoots up, his piercing blue eyes locking on to mine as I continue speaking. A soft blush fills my cheeks and I stumble over a few words.

“Umm, well, okay. So, I had like this weird symbol on my hand, and pressed it to the altar. It took all the energy from the symbol and turned into this red orb. Next thing I know, the church is breaking into pieces, and the red orb is morphing into a literal moon in the sky.”

“That’s definitely weird. I spend most of my dreamscape pumping iron,” Big Mike says with a soft chuckle. Cody gives the man an almost imperceptible incredulous look before shaking his head and nodding towards me.

“That’s all that kind of happened, but I’ve never seen anything like it in my dreamscape. It kinda just appeared before me,” I let out before finishing my breakfast.

Ugh, that probably didn’t even make sense, and I don’t even understand what happened.

Cody gets up and steps over to me, places the kittens in my lap, and slowly writes out into the dirt.

-Let us know if anything more happens-

-Weird tho-

I flash a smile at the mixed man.

“Thanks, I’ll let you know if I figure anything out.”

I slip the kittens into my backpack, and ready myself to leave. Mike shifts the boulder over, and the three of us step outside. With an exasperated smirk, I turn to John.

“John, we’re leaving, let’s go.”

“Yup, okay. Just a second,” he slips his backpack on, barely removing his eyes from the parchment.

“Whatcha working on?” I ask as we slowly work our way back up the rocky terrain.

“Hmm?” He glances up at me.

“Just marking down our journey through the bog, I want it to all be thought out before telling the story to the others,” he says with a soft smile.

“Is being an orator that difficult?” I ask, as we pass the first bend.

“Eh, if you want to be good at it,” he says with a shrug.

“I want the stories I tell to engage the audience and take them away from their worries for a while.”

“That’s actually kinda sweet.”

He blushes.

“Thanks, I think.”

—

The march up the switchback is far more grueling than the walk down. But knowing to stick to the wall prevents any issues from the local fauna, and we reach the top by mid afternoon.

“We’re running low on clean water, we’ll have to be careful from here on out,” Mike says as he checks through his backpack.

“We're only another day and a half out, we should be fine overall, and we can stop at the low-river to resupply,” I add.

Mike nods his head towards me, picks up his backpack, and speaks to Cody.

“Sounds like we have a plan, let’s get going.”

Cody trudges out into the forest, the group following behind as he leads the way. The watcher keeps his eyes trained on the surroundings, and despite the group’s noise, he keeps his footing stealthy. I continue to mimic his actions as the afternoon morphs to evening. The strain from endless marching is evident in the group’s bodies and facial expressions, morphing the last of our focus onto what’s in front of us, rather than our surroundings.

In the distance, a deep guttural roar blasts through the massive forest. Cody and I pause, glancing at each other before signaling the others to wait. Cody darts ahead and shortly returns. He holds out two fingers, and spreads his hands about wide.

I let out an exhausted sigh, “Two large beasts? Do you think we can cut around?”

Holding a single finger he nods, then two fingers and he shakes his head. The mute man points to the sky, then into the distance.

“Alright I’ll let the guys know.” I turn to the body builder and speaker to find the two of them feeding the rescued kittens. The mushy mixture of water and meat doesn’t look particularly good to me, but the cubs scarf it down.

“Hey, so we have two larger beasts up ahead and we don’t have time to go around them.”

“Well, little lady, I’ll just have to show you what the muscles can do.” Big Mike says with a smirk while giving me a one armed flex.

Rolling my eyes at his antics, I pull the kittens back into my backpack, and respond, “Come on, we can drop the packs off ahead.”

The party presses on until we come across two beasts locked in battle. A massive boar-like creature stamps the ground and lets out a huff. As a typical earthly bear stands its ground. The bear’s black fur seems to stretch as it holds itself on hind legs.

Without another stamp and a squeal, the boar charges towards the bear. In turn, the bear returns to all fours and seemingly tries to get out of the charging wall of flesh’s way. The boar slams into the bear, just catching its side and nearly crushing one of its legs. Nearly plowing into a nearby trunk, the boar pulls to a stop.

“I’ll distract it. You two use your bows, and John can use the spear behind me to skewer this thing.” Big Mike pulls his carapace shield from his pack and readies his axe.

“I need to what?” John asks with a fallen face as I shove his spear into his hands.

“Just stand behind Mike and stab the boar when it closes in,” I say as I double check my quiver and test my bow.

As the group prepares, the bear lets out a pained cry and tries to limp away from the hellish boar. The beast charges the bear and slams its skull through the air before plunging deep into the beast’s flank.

The bear slams bodily to the ground, and the boar pounds over its exposed body. As I glance into the space between massive trees, I see the shattered bear skull, mangled beneath the boar's hooves. It slips in the brain matter and slams to the ground in a grotesque display.

Mike barrels towards the boar with John rushing to keep up. The two nearly close in as the beast gets back to its feet.

“Come and get some!” Big Mike yells at the monstrous boar that stands nearly at his height.

Cody and I share a last glance as we split and keep our distance. I notch an arrow as I move, watching the boar begin its charge. I curve around as Cody’s arrow strikes out, lashing into the stampeding beast. A squeal erupts as it continues it follows its path, and I find myself pulling back my string as it closes in on Mike.

With a quick side step the two men nearly clear the creature, Mike’s shield pressing against it in an effort to redirect its momentum. I let loose my arrow and it flies, piercing its thick skin. John’s spear is held steady and he lets out a muffled grunt as he stabs it at the creature.

The spear rips out of his hands as it punctures flesh and nearly cracks against the forest floor. Big Mike takes his chance, slamming both shield and axe down along the creature’s spine. The axe bites deep, right between the shoulder blades near strong enough to have severed the spine.

Letting out another squeal followed by several grunts, the massive creature performs a slow turn, pulling the spear from its body as it lines up at John and Mike. Cody and I both release arrows, one slamming into the skull, but not piercing the bone, as the other slices into its right paw. Plowing through the dirt the beast points its thick forehead and crashes into Mike’s shield forcing an audible grunt from the man. Mike’s body is tossed, nearly slamming into the now distant John as he scrambles for his spear.

Wasting no time, the boar continues on as John pulls the spear against the ground as we did against the wolves. The beast slams into the spear, continuing down the shaft towards the Orator. John leaps to the side, bodily slamming into the underbrush as the boar slowly loses momentum. I keep my bow ready but don’t release as the boar falls to its side, no signs of breathing emanate from the beast. Cody slinks over, plunging a bone dagger through its throat, ending the threat entirely.

“I did it…. I fucking did it! I killed it! Did you see that!?” John’s face lights up, cycling from disbelief to adrenaline fueled joy.

“Ugggghhhhhh,” groans out from Big Mike’s body, and I find my celebratory mood sinking as I run to the Strongman.

I push his slumped body over, seeing the pained grimace across his striking features. I look him over, following his hands as they grip his left arm. Pulling the shield away my blood runs cold as I see the shattered limb before me.