Chapter 9: Rat King:
Sitting at the fire all night gave him his first opportunity to think of his situation, without the fear of death that constantly roamed around the corner. He had developed a plan. As Godric had said earlier in the day, fate had brought them together. Starlight had decided that he would follow the group out of the forest and into the City of White, and on the way to the city, Starlight would request to learn how to fight and survive from them.
He also contemplated life, wishing that he'd be lying on the nice beds in the government buildings. Although on the surface he wanted this, deep down, he hated them and everything they did to him.
Starlight tried to deny the fact that he was happy to be free of them and the chance to start a new life after becoming a Diver.
If he did manage to overcome the Trial, the entire world would look at him in a new light. Out of the billions of people in the Overworld, there were only around two hundred and fifty thousand Divers, less than five thousandths of a percent, one in twenty thousand. And that was only the Descenders who challenged the Void and successfully survived; there have been millions of deaths during the first Trial.
The night went by rather quickly, and before the morning light even began to shine, Godric, Bram, Lyra, and Aster had already awakened and prepared for the journey. By the time dawn struck, the group had already set out. Layers of dark clouds covered the blue sky; they blocked out most light from the stars, and paired with the thick canopy of the forest, it was becoming hard to see even ten meters ahead.
The group persevered through these conditions, using lamps and torches to light the surroundings, and being guided by the faint light emitted by the trail from Starlight's coin. It twisted and turned between trees; no matter how deep they ventured into the forest, the trail kept going without falter.
Godric led the group, smashing through fallen branches and bushes with his feet and kicking away rocks. Behind him, Starlight held the coin like a compass, his cloak's hood over his head, hiding his hair, which he had just washed. But that was only the cover story. During the walk, Starlight had to endure the constant presence of Bram's gaze piercing his back; putting up his hood helped dispel it, but only a bit.
Lyra and Aster, who carried Liriel, were in the middle, flanked by Bram. Lyra couldn't fly in this weather; the clouds had brought a heavy wind. Luckily, the group on the ground was shielded by the forest.
Days had passed since they first ventured out, it was surprisingly quiet…too quiet. Not a single bird had chirped, not a single grasshopper had creaked, and the familiar sound of running water had disappeared. Leaving everyone unnerved.
As the group followed the trail of light, the forest began to become more erratic. The organized nature of the trees began to break and become more spread out, as if the ground was rupturing.
The group quickly noticed this; excluding Starlight, they had been surviving in the forest for months, a major detail like this could never escape their attention. The more they followed the trail, the more the trees spread out. It was only when they became so spaced that Godric didn't have to break through branches; they could just walk around them, did Starlight notice.
The trees weren't the only thing that changed. Rocks began to appear more often around the forest interior. The rocks were usually small, round, and covered in moss, but the ones they were around now were large, jagged, and untouched.
Godric approached one of the larger rocks, which was only slightly smaller than him. Under the careful gaze of the others, he placed his hand against it and brushed along its surface.
"It's freshly formed, just a baby," he called out.
'Just a baby? Does that mean it recently came out of the ground?' Starlight questioned internally. He looked around at the others; they had the same complicated look on their faces.
After a second, Godric took his hands off the stone and continued walking on the trail; the rest of the group followed shortly after. The further they walked, the fewer trees appeared, until there were none left.
The entire group had stopped and stared off into the distance. There before them, in the middle of the vast forest, was a giant ravine. The four champions stood dumbfounded; they had grown up in the city and therefore in the forest, and yet they had never heard of a ravine.
It was a stunning sight, the ravine sat in the middle of the forest, running as farther than the eye could see. It was only a mile across, but how long? No one could imagine that it could split the entire forest. On the other side, the trees receded from the ravine and stone, as if it had taken over the forest, growing like a parasite.
Just barely in sight, behind the trees and across the ravine, was a giant mountain, covered in white specks. It reached past the clouds and into the heavens. Starlight couldn't help but admire its beauty.
"That's it, the city," Lyra said, her mood lightening.
The others had lifted their gaze from the ravine over to the distant image of the mountain. Instantly, the mood had lifted, despite the harrowing ravine just in front of them; all of them were happy and celebrating. Except Starlight.
Surprisingly, seeing the mountain for the first time had not evoked any emotions in him, despite this being the most likely place where the climax of his Trial would be. His heart didn't race, nor did his blood drop. Instead, confusion ran through his mind, the calm-headed Lyra ignored her usual behavior and was celebrating with Aster and Liriel, even Bram had an unusual smile on his face.
"Will we be going around or through the ravine?" Starlight hesitantly called out. He didn't want to break their moment of excitement, but he felt like if he didn't, they would celebrate forever.
As he said these words, the group stopped dead in their tracks, not moving a muscle, glaring at him, as if he had just woken them from a dream of their happiest moment. Starlight's blood stopped, and his limbs went numb; their combined gaze of murderous intent took the breath out of his lungs.
Suddenly, Godric spoke up, and the gazes stopped, allowing Starlight to breathe again.
"We have to go through, come on, we have no time to waste."
Following Godric's words, wings sprouted from Lyra's back, and she flew into the air. It wasn't long before she began to descend into the ravine, her eyes scanning along the mountain wall. Only a few minutes later did she ascend and land on the edge of the cliff.
"The ravine is too big to descend in one day, but there's hope. About halfway down, I spotted a decently sized hole. It could most likely be a cave." Lyra told Godric.
After a moment or two, he gathered the group together and spoke of his plan: Lyra would hover around the group watching their descent, and carry Liriel; the rest would go on a rope which would be tied to a massive rock. Starlight was skeptical of the plan, noticing many problems, but didn't speak up; it's not like he had a better plan.
Starlight walked over to the edge of the ravine, but stopped when he could see the bottom. With the clouds blocking most of the light, the bottom was pitch-black, with only a small pillar of starlight reaching from the sky down to the floor. The walls were all the same layer of sediment, as if the ground had no history and was just placed there yesterday.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Starlight overheard the group talking behind him.
"I wonder if it has anything to do with the curse?" Aster asked Bram, who also had the same look of confusion.
"If it can turn the forest alive, then it should be able to create something like this," Lyra chimed in.
Starlight ignored them as he instead moved his gaze over towards the giant rock. The rock resembled a miniature mountain; it was completely grey, with a few small blemishes scattered across its surface.
He walked away from the edge and approached the massive rock.
'It really is a baby mountain,' Starlight thought to himself as he continued to inspect it.
The mountain was about three times as tall as Starlight and a bit less wide. There were a few surrounding baby mountains, but they were just a bit smaller. Across the ravine, there were also some baby mountains of the same or smaller size, but they were barely visible, so it was hard to be certain.
"Hey, Starlight, we're going to get going soon, right after I set up the rope. Are you ready?" Aster said as he walked over near the rock.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Starlight casually replied, as he rolled his eyes internally.
The plan they were doing had a little margin of error and could be classified as a suicide plan. Descending the entire ravine with only a rope and a small bit of protection, being Lyra. Would the rope even reach the bottom of the ravine? And even if it didn't, and they had to stop halfway, they had little chance of finding a place to set it back up. And if something bad happened during their descent, could Lyra hold the four of them, if she still had to carry down Liriel?
If instead of all four of them descending on the rope at once, they went one by one, then Starlight wouldn't have a problem with it, but then, by the time one of them made it down, it would be night, and the forest would awaken again. But all four of them were definitely a stretch.
But how could he change the plan? He had no say in any of their plans, after all, he was just floating along with them. He provided no value, so why would he get a say? And again, he didn't have a better plan.
Starlight watched as Aster wrapped the rope around the rock and tied it tightly. After he finished and inspected it three times, he called Starlight over to inspect it as well.
"What, why? I trust that you tied it well."
"Yeah, I know, but it's always good to have a second opinion."
Starlight couldn't rebuke his words, so he caved in. Reluctantly, he walked over to the knot. After tugging on it a few times, he confirmed to Aster that it was tight enough.
They both walked together towards the others and prepared to descend to the ravine.
All six of them walked over to the edge of the ravine, looking down into it. Lyra suddenly spread out her wings, and Aster and Godric helped Liriel to her back, tying her securely on.
After flying up into the air and hovering over the ravine, she slowly descended beside the edge. Godric walked closer to the edge, grabbed a hold of the rope, and propelled himself off the edge. He moved down, and Aster did the same, then Starlight, although he did it very hesitantly, he repeatedly told himself he needed to have confidence in their plan. After Starlight descended a bit, Bram followed and also began to descend.
Immediately, Starlight felt his hands burn as they scraped against the rope. He ignored it but gritted his teeth either way; they had already climbed at least ten meters down, but it still couldn't even be said he was a hundredth of the way down. But still he had to endure; if he gave up here, he would fall to his death. What was the point of dying in a struggle when you could spend your last moments in peace and comfort?
Starlight continued as he struggled down the rope. Godric was the lowest, and Aster was above him, while the gap between Starlight and him was quite large. There was also quite a difference between Bram and Starlight, but unlike Starlight, he was behind because he was watching their flank.
'Damn it!' Starlight mumbled internally; his hands burned more than they had ever before.
"Hey, there's the small cave here," Lyra called out as she flew closer to the group.
"Where is it?" Godric replied.
"Just a bit more down and to the right, luckily, you'll run out of rope only a bit after it, so it's a perfect stop," Lyra said as she pointed below her.
"Alright, we will stop there for the night, and Lyra will go to grab the rope again," Godric shouted to the rest of the group.
Starlight groaned in response but felt happy inside. This is just what he needed, a rest.
A few minutes later, Godric had almost reached the end of the rope when he looked over to the right. There was an opening, just a bit larger than a human door, in the side of the ravine. In front of the opening, there were a few feet of rock protruding from the cliff.
"Looks like an animal made it and settled here, something decently large at that," Godric exclaimed as he stared at the cave.
Godric then reached his right leg over to a small ledge and rested his foot on it. He did the same with his arms until he fully let go of the rope.
Lyra was hovering under him, ready to catch him if Godric fell. She had already placed Liriel on the cave's ledge.
Godric continued to move, pressed against the wall, and he reached a new hold while he sent his weight over. After a minute of bouldering, Godric had reached the ledge of the cave and sat down, breathing heavily.
During that time, Aster had already reached the spot and was starting his shuffle over.
However, only a few steps over, one of the finger holds gave way, almost making him fall.
Eventually, he also made it over to the ledge, but this left Starlight with fewer options; a few times, some of the footholds Godric found gave way under Aster's heavy body.
Starlight had almost reached the bottom of the rope. He looked over to his right and saw Godric, Aster, and Liriel sitting and resting in the cave.
He looked down and saw the endless drop of the ravine, making him shiver in fear of falling. The end of the rope dangled over the vast, empty gorge, hypnotizing Starlight with the thought of having to free climb down all that distance. But luckily, there was a cave, a good resting spot, and a new place to set up more rope.
Starlight glanced over his shoulder and stared at the first finger hold. He let go of his tight grasp of the rope and shakily moved it to the hold, gripping tightly against the rock.
"Just go, I have you if you fall," Lyra called out to Starlight, having a face full of annoyance at the fact that he was so slow. But deep down, she couldn't blame him that much. From what she saw, he reminded him of Liriel back when they were kids, soft, timid, but determined to survive.
Starlight listened to her and swung his leg over to the small ledge, firmly placing his leg against the platform. He then removed his other arm from the rope and placed it into a hold, doing the same with his leg after.
At first, he was very slow, taking his time with each movement, but as the sweat piled up on the rocks and his fingers, he had to go quicker. Starlight kept looking down, sending him into a cold sweat at the thought of falling. But as time went on, he got more comfortable with moving against the rock wall, even enjoying it a bit more than the rope, well, as much as one could while being a misstep away from falling to their death.
By the time he reached the ledge of the cave, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and he was visibly shaking. Without looking at anything else, he took a seat and grabbed a bottle of water handed to him by Aster.
It was a large metal canister shaped like a bottle of wine, but instead of a cork, there was a cap screwed on. Starlight unscrewed the cap and took a sip of the cold, refreshing water.
The sky was turning darker, and the stars were dimming to a more pale glow, although it wasn't fully dark, he still couldn't see the bottom of the ravine, even though he was closer, it was still like a void of black. Above was the same, although he hadn't been able to see any trees for a long while, the looming presence of the forest at night was setting in above the ravine.
Starlight shivered at the feeling and instead decided to look behind him. The cave's entrance was like the one that he was in when he started his Trial. The top had small spikes, and the surrounding sides were jagged. The cave's entrance was about twice as tall as Starlight and equally as wide.
He looked inside. Small berries were growing on the wall; they emitted a faint golden glow, like candlelight. The cave darkened as it went on further, and he had hoped that he would be able to see farther because of his form of night vision. But it was of no avail; he could only see a few meters around like before. Instead, the light from the sky canceled out his extra vision.
Bram had already reached the ledge and was finished with his break; he was much faster than Starlight, in fact, he was the fastest out of the four, with Starlight taking last place and Aster just ahead of him.
Godric issued the command to start moving into the cave and be on high alert. From what he had seen from around the cave's entrance, there was a monster living in here. In fact, it wasn't difficult to find out. There were deep claw marks scattered across the ground. Although they were pretty deep, they came in pairs of three and were pretty skinny.
Aster and Godric had guessed it to be a bird, while Bram a rodent, and Lyra, Liriel, a lizard. Starlight didn't say his guess out loud.
Internally, Starlight actually agreed with Bram on the rodent idea. When he was still a child, during one of his trips from Stronghold to Stronghold, his group had come across a monster that made similar burrows to this. It was a common beast in the central plains, and all over the other regions, it was called the Rat King. It was a lower-ranking Wretch in power, but it had some of the sharpest claws in all the Wretch class monsters. His guards had killed it after some struggle.
Walking through the cave, the occasional rat came running around them, scratching the rock floor as it scurried along. As they got deeper, the cave started to light up so much that they didn't even need to use their lantern; the glowing berries became more and more dense.
Soon enough, they reached an open room, which was completely lit up with a beautiful gold light, and surprisingly, green grass was glowing all along the ground. A small waterfall flowed from the cave's roof, pooling on the ground and forming a mini pond.
Stalight's eyes narrowed as his face paled.
In the middle of the room was a giant brown rat.