Of Ice, Death & Monsters

Sammy limped towards Jane, reaching out her arm to get her friend up. “W-What was that? What did you just do? How did you do that?” A myriad of questions bombarded Jane, who just gave a familiar cheeky grin. “I’ll explain later.”

She grabbed Sammy’s hand and lifted herself up to her side. “Just like old times…” Jane grumbled a little as they both let out a small chuckle.

“Yeah, but instead of officers, now you got crazy monsters going around… let’s get you inside, uh, wherever this is.” Sammy turned to Koschei, who gestured to follow him inside the cave.

“It’s our little hideout for now, brought to us by the Descendents.” Jane muttered as the adrenaline wore off and she could feel the pain coursing through her body like a dull blade through her flesh.

“Come, I shall help mend both of your wounds.” Koschei strode ahead, gesturing them to follow him through the tunnels of the cavern until they made it into a room that the rest of them could only describe as a sort of makeshift medical bay with small beds of leaves and stone tables neatly arranged at the sides of the room.

There seemed to be shelves filled with herbs, plants, and what appeared to be ores of metals and other earthly materials.

“Hah, I-it looks like one of our old setups back home!” Sammy grinned through the pain as Koschei laid her and Jane on the bed of leaves.

“Yeah, somehow, though, it actually looks cleaner.” Jane shot back with an exasperated sigh before they both laughed and winced together.

Koschei grabbed two bottles filled with some red liquid. He walked towards Jane first, lifting up her head, uncorked the bottle, and helped her drink the strange concoction.

Immediately, Jane felt a surge of power throughout her body, accompanied by a wave of relief. Her arm shot back into her socket while the bones in her legs realigned and the wounds on the rest of her body started to close up.

She sat up, clutching her head as she patted her body down. “Healing Potions? Here? You have the Name for it?!” Her eyes lit up with awe as she stared at the potion being poured into Sammy’s throat.

“Of course, my dearest Baba gave it to me after all. Ah, she had such a way with concoctions. She was so masterful, in fact, that she could imbue you with an Innate Name if she found you endearing enough.”

Jane's mind began to race back to another one of Peter's ramblings, something about witches and their power, one of them being... “Baba- like Baba Yaga? Wait, she taught you how to do potions?! She can give Names?!”

Jane rushed to Sammy’s side as she saw her wounds begin to heal like hers before getting up. “Huh… never felt that in a long time.” She rubbed her sides where her wounds were before turning to Koschei. “Thanks, man, we owe you one.”

Koschei removed his mask and placed his hood down, eliciting a small whistle from Sammy, stunned by his beauty. “Woah, that was not what I was expecting.”

“You’re welcome, but you do not owe me anything. For it was under the commands of the Chosen of the Harbinger.” He gestured to Jane, who proudly grinned.

“Look at that..." Sammy grinned and shook her head. "You’re moving up in the world, aren’t you, Jay? Huh… Harbinger, now that you mentioned it…” Her face contorted into a small sigh.

“That’s what the others talked about too… Lucas, Carl... They had similar flame power things, not as much as you showed off, but they still had it.”

Jane narrowed her eyes carefully as her heartbeat began to slow down, and fear started to crawl up her back. “Where are they now?”

“… Dead. That bitch Marian ripped them open like a can with her own claws and teeth. Almost did the same to me, but I played dead well enough until she left.”

Sammy’s fingertips dug into her palms, leaving marks as she sighed. “I thought I would die there… I tried burying them, but the monsters came, and I had to move…”

“Damn!” Jane’s eyes roared with a crimson red hue as she shot a ball of fire at the wall, melting its side into lava.

“Gah- of course, she’s still up… I had hoped that she would somehow have drowned before the fire could get to her, but I guess the world can’t be so kind now, can it…”

She scrunched her nose in disgust and sat back down. “So… wait, how come you’re not also shooting fireballs? Were you not chosen?”

Sammy shrugged with a face of disappointment. “Guess not, all I got was some fox talking to me about whether or not I wanted to continue.”

“So exactly like Charlie and the others huh…”

“Oh? Charlie’s here? Is she still doing alright?”

“She is; I’m her new keeper now~” Jane said with enthusiasm as she crossed her arms and grinned.

“Hah, so it’s like that, huh? Well, hope you’re treating her right… But if you’re the Chosen, then do you have some kind of plan to get out of this place?”

“Yeah, long story short, but we’re going to be stealing again. But instead of supplies or artifacts, we’re going after golden apples, and instead of guards, it’s a giant dragon.”

Sammy blinked for a few moments before shrugging and accepting the insanity of what she said. “Wow, you really have moved up, huh… well, got nowhere else to be, so might as well.” She raised her hands up in faux surrender as Jane playfully punched her in the arm.

“Just like old times…” They both grinned at each other before Jane turned to Koschei, who seemed to be so still he could be a statue. “So, do you know how to get to the Lost Garden?”

“I do, of course, simply that it would take many moons to do so on foot. It would take far too long, and our rate of success won’t be so high. However, there lies a shortcut that we can forge for ourselves.”

He then became silent as he stared into nowhere.

Sammy leaned toward Jane, whispering softly. “Is he going to tell us how or…”

“Just… Let it happen. He seems to enjoy being very dramatic anyway. But are you sure you’re up for it? You’ve gotten pretty beaten up. You can always watch over the other survivors anyways.”

“It’s the least I can do…” Sammy looked at her hands, sighing for a bit, dejected almost, but the energy of the room changed as Charlie appeared, rubbing her eyes as she had awoken from all the noise echoing throughout the cave.

“Who’s there?” Instinctively, she grabbed the pistol by her side and rolled on the floor, stationing herself behind one of the tables as she peeked ever so slightly. “Jane? Is that you?”

“No, it’s me~” Sammy called out instead as Charlie sighed and stood up from behind the table. “Samantha, I see you’re alive and well. What happened outside? Were there any more survivors?”

Sammy shook her head grimly. “Fraid I’m the only one left. Do guns even do much of anything here?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s better to always be armed than not to be. And I’d rather be armed while at a distance.”

“Looks like you’re the same as always~ not even loosening up in this little abysshole?”

“The fact that it’s a horrific place means we cannot afford to loosen up. It’s best that we always stay ready no matter what, no matter where we are, no matter what we do.”

Jane sighed and walked towards Charlie. “Yes, yes, and that’s why you’re coming with us right this instant. You’ll be watching our six, is that alright with you?”

“Where are we going? Back to the outside?”

Koschei finally moved once more after his long, overdramatic pause. "Nonsense. It’s far too dangerous to go outside in these times. The deaths of so many of the survivors would have fueled even more monsters. Instead, we travel through the tunnel system to get to our destinations."

Samantha raised her hand a little. "What exactly is our destination? You said that the Lost Garden would take many 'moons' to head to."

"I know of a shortcut to cut the travel time. A special Ritual that can be performed to transport our bodies across the world in a manner of mere moments. However, the ingredients are rather rare in this land. The first being Belladonna, the Nightshade. It only grows on barren land, uncultivated soil. We will need enough to fill this jar."

Koschei then brought out a brown-red clay jar the size of half of his torso.

"The next ingredient is much more exotic. It would be white chrysanthemums. We would need to create as many laurels equal to the number of persons travelling, which now I believe is four of us. However, it grows upon lakes and rivers, deadly sites to step foot in when unprepared. Everything else, we already have."

Charlie was intrigued at first, but was now completely confused about how exactly this ritual worked. "So, how could this help transport us to the Lost Garden? Sorry if I sound rude, but it basically sounds like you'll have us be flower picking."

"I mean, it sounds fun, but yeah, will this be like teleportation?" Jane asked to back up Charlie.

"Nonsense, it will enable us to travel into the land of the deceased, into Nawia itself-"

"Wait, deceased- like the afterlife?" Jane's eyes sparkled with curiosity as she cut off Koschei unexpectedly. She heard of such from other nations, but to have it be real, to be a place they could go to, it opened up so many possibilities, and so many more questions. Who's in it? What's it like? Does someone rule over it?

"Like, there's an afterlife and we can get into it without dying... I-Is that what you're saying?" Samantha's own eyes were widened as she gripped her hand, remembering the other Choir members she couldn't protect... Perhaps, she could meet them again and bring them back. Yes, that was it. Maybe she could free them from this unfair and horrific world.

Charlie, on the other hand, was quiet, looking away and staying completely still as if the thought scared her. The dead, the lost, and the damned, those you have failed to protect and those you have slaughtered with your own hand.

But, it was not just her who was afraid, all three of them looked quite worried about such a prospect, but if they died once and came back, surely it couldn't be that bad. Can it?

"Yes, the afterlife. The world after death. The final destination, of course, unless you count reincarnation. It is another plane of existence entirely, connected to ours yet totally distant. Through it, we can travel anywhere within Galfania as a hub of sorts."

"Oh-so wait-how exactly do these flowers get us to the... Afterlife of all places?" Jane was imagining some sort of special dance that is performed to sort of teleport them into the realm of the dead.

"Ah, that's simple. Ritual will kill us all-"

"Phhsst. Ha?!" Samantha laughed a little. "That sounds like a horrible joke. 'What's the best way to the afterlife? Death."

"Well, it quite is, unless of course you are a Fae creature. For our sakes, we have to die, and let the flames consume us once more. This will bathe us in the protection of the Harbinger and allow us to traverse Nawia before exiting on the other side, alive and well."

"So, it won't really kill us?" Jane perked up.

"Oh, it will. It's simply that we will come out alive that matters most."

"How about the return trip?" Charlie's voice came out of nowhere as she sat up to finally get the gist of what they were planning.

"We will be in a garden, I believe that we would find our return trip there if needed, but I suggest heading straight to the Firebird instead. We need all that we can, of course."

"I see..." Charlie looked at Jane for a moment before turning back towards Koschei and asking like a soldier. "What do we do now? When do we leave?"

Koschei waved his hand nonchalantly. "I suggest you take this time to rest. It shall be long days of collecting at work, and we have to make sure to do it in Sun's Peek to be careful."

"Sun's Pe- Oh, okay, Noon." Santhana nodded to herself as if proud she was able to get that.

"You may come to me when ready. I shall await your-"

"We're ready now." Jane said with a giant grin on her face. "Right, girls~"

Samantha returned the grin with her own vigor. "Right as ever. It's just Charlie left."

They both looked at Charlie, who sighed to herself. "Yes, I am ready to begin our mission."

Koschei grinned under the mask and began to walk down some stairs, grabbing a light torch as he gestured towards one of the holes in the wall.

"Then... Let us begin."