Chapter 3: Quest

North and Elodie slowly but surely begin their journey, but almost immediately run into some setbacks.

          When North had gone to check on Elodie, he wasn’t surprised to find Elodie gone. Worried, maybe, but all her belongings and food were still there, and if she would have left or been taken in the night or early morning, it was more likely that she would have taken (or at least snuck) something.

                After the last night’s confession, they probably wouldn’t be staying for too long.

                He made his way back to his room, wrapping up his very few supplies and belongings so he could inform the innkeeper he would be leaving.

                … but… where to?

                He wasn’t familiar with this region, for he had only been within a twenty-mile radius of the town once, and for a fifty-mile radius, twice. What was this town’s name, anyway? Elderwade? North couldn’t remember. He only traveled the sea. Not so much the land.

                North piled his bag of food atop one another, arranging them before leaving his room. The incredibly muddy ground and soaked cobblestone outside his room indicated heavy rain the night before. He walked along the side of the building along the ground shielded from the light by a weather-worn, wooden overhang. It must have been early, as there were not many people awake, though the sun halfway over the horizon suggested otherwise.

                He turned right twice before finding the entrance to the inn beside the cobble roads. North noticed the mud already caked onto his shoes, which he would need to wipe off on the stone. As he approached the front door, he scraped mud onto the corners of the walkway before pushing the front door open with a squeak.

                And, not to North’s surprise, Elodie was there waiting.

                He couldn’t really say waiting, though, because she was occupied with the innkeeper. They were sharing conversation, and North would have considered light conversation if the innkeeper’s expression said otherwise. His expression was stern and serious, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. Elodie was doing most of the talking though, while the man, most likely a handful of years older than North, nodded after every sentence. North stood behind, watching the man before he went into a back room. When the door closed behind him, Elodie turned back, but she wasn’t too surprised to see North. Probably because she had heard the door squeak behind her.

                “I thought I would see you soon enough,” Elodie grinned, and obviously she was a morning person. Although North found it odd that she was so cheerful right before a journey that could possibly mean death and even crime around every turn, he decided to ride the current and stay calm while he could.

                “I went to check on you, but you were gone,” North said, shifting his weight to his left foot.

                “Sorry, I was recruiting more troops.” She chuckled lightly. North’s expression must have triggered something in Elodie, because when she ceased her giggling and glanced back at North, she sighed. “I invited the innkeeper and his wife to join us on our journey.”

                “Elodie…” North reflected on what she had said for a moment. “Four of us? It’s going to be hard to ration food among all of us. I may have a lot of money now, but it goes fast�"“

                “Don’t worry about it.” Elodie interrupted, nodding in reassurance. North relaxed, before slowly tensing up again. “They promised to support themselves on the journey. The innkeeper said he wouldn’t be a burden.”

                “But the innkeeper and his wife… they’re both�"“ he held the words on his lips, letting them hang there as he thought them over.

                “The innkeeper is only thirty-two. Don’t judge his age by his hair. It’s ashen, but grayed from stress.” Elodie pulled a stray magenta ribbon from her shoe, bundling her hair behind her head and wrapping it with the ribbon. “Besides, his wife is a swimmer.”

                “His�"what?!” North blurted, before biting his tongue. Elodie harshly shushed him. “Does he know?” He whispered.

                Elodie spoke louder than North, but her words were still under her breath. “Of course he does. When I came to the lobby this morning, I realized she was a swimmer. It had been too crowded yesterday evening, and I had only noticed now. But she looked just as panicked as I did when I figured it all out, so I just relaxed and let them both in on the idea.”

                Did she even realize how dangerous that could have been? “And they’re supporting themselves, right?”

                “Yes,” Elodie reassured, scowling, as she knew exactly why he had asked.

                “As long as I don’t have more mouths to feed.” North sighed.

                “What’s that supposed to mean?” Elodie growled, anger rising in her face.

                “You eat enough as it is. I don’t think we’ll make it three days until we run out.”

                Apparently it was the wrong thing to say, because the remark was received with a flat slap to the face. It stung, and North flinched, defensively holding the left side of his face.

                “You aren’t too bright, North.” Elodie stated callously, rubbing circles into her palm with her thumb. “Think about what you say first.”

                “You didn’t need to slap me!”

                “If it takes a slap to knock you to your senses, then so be it.”

 

                The innkeeper and his wife, who North discovered went by Adelaide (why did all swimmers have such unique names?), returned shortly with their small bags of belongings while Elodie had run off to gather the supplies back at North’s room.

                North introduced himself to the couple by just his first name, and the couple introduced themselves as Adelaide and Lucas James. There was nothing else to make conversation of, though, as Elodie had everything worked out. North wasn’t one for conversation to begin with.

                North began to pay closer attention to his surroundings. The building was made mostly of wood, with a few thick pillars indoors. Behind the wood counters were doors, probably leading to the heart of the building. Adelaide and Lucas probably lived here, then. For such a wide building, the ceiling in the main room was incredibly high. Iron, unlit candelabras stood shrouded in darkness in the far corners of the room. The stone fireplace was unlit as well.

                He had found that Lucas was, by far, much taller than his wife, Adelaide. He was slender and unusually tall like North, with rusty hair and a face that hadn’t been shaven in a day or so. He was almost always squinting, but not because he was thinking or because there was light in his face. His eyesight wasn’t bad, either. He just liked to squint. It was a strange thing to like, North thought, but he wouldn’t say so.

                Adelaide, on the other hand, was not tall. She could have been only an inch taller than the much-younger Elodie, if anything. Her face wasn’t angular. Her facial features were round and soft, and she constantly smiled, even when no one was paying attention. Her wavy brown hair had been cut short, and it bounced every time she made any sudden movement, which was almost never. She would have looked a good mother figure, if she was not so small and thin. But, then again, who was North to judge that?

 

                After a few moments of nothing but silence between the three of them, the front door swung open, revealing Elodie holding both her and North’s bags. She had run out to get their supplies without stopping for breath, and even now she hadn’t been panting after the sprint back to their rooms.

                “Here you are,” Elodie coughed, wiping the long, ash-blond hair from her face. She extended her arm to North, pulling along the bag. She had her fingers wrapped tightly around the neck of North’s bag as she held it out, and North couldn’t help but notice Elodie’s hair ribbon no longer supporting her hair, but instead wrapped around the neck of her bag. North nodded a thanks, his hand strangling the neck of his sack as he flung it over his shoulder.

                “Are you two ready?” Elodie called to the couple behind North, who had their belongings dangling by their sides. North spun around to catch their reactions, and Lucas and Adelaide nodded in response to Elodie. She chuckled lightly, “All right, then. I guess we should be on our way.” Elodie spun on her heels, marching towards the door. “Follow my lead.” She reminded them before opening the door. “We’ll go straight into the forest, alright?” The other three hastily nodded in agreement, and with that, the door was swung right open, revealing the edge of one side of the forest ahead.

                Sunlight shortly flooded the group’s eyes before all were well adjusted and strolling through the light. The walk to the forest edge would take just seconds, and the forest was dense; it would hide them before anyone could catch them. At least… that’s what everyone had thought before Lucas had been stopped by a strong hand.

                “Excuse me,” a husky, strong voice called from behind the crowd, “stop where you are.” The four of them stopped in their tracks, frozen partly in shock and partly in accurate fear. “We have been informed that you two have been involved in suspicious, illegal activity.” North had turned around in time to see the man gesture to him and Elodie, but Elodie stood still towards the trees.

                “Swimmer,” Elodie snarled, partially turning her head in the man’s direction, but not enough to see him.

                “What was that?”

                “Don’t play stupid. I know what you want,” She half-laughed, half-scoffed.

                “What does that mean?!”

                “North, run!” Elodie exclaimed, spinning a full 180-degrees and planting her feet firmly and defensively on the cobble path.

                “What?!” North gaped, hesitating as he forgot about the newcomer.

                “Get out while I hold them off!” She spat, but not quick enough; the man had his hands wrapped around North’s neck already, cutting off his air. North couldn’t fully comprehend the severity of the situation, let alone do anything about it. Before he could think a swift wave of brown had the man on the ground and the hands off North’s neck, and without thinking North bolted into the forest, leaving Elodie behind but bringing Lucas and Adelaide with him.

                The lack of oxygen to his brain had made him dizzy, and he tripped over nearly everything in his path. He found himself even tripping over rocks smaller than his nails a few times, but he was too confused to actually realize and process the fact. It felt like only minutes, but soon enough the three of them were panting and heaving in the far dark corner of a vacant, decaying barn in the middle of the forest. North looked worse than the other two, as he still hadn’t regained his breath from the hold of the man in town.

                Now that he could realize what was going on around him, North found that the voices he had left behind had gone completely; along with Elodie they had been put behind him and left in town. His foggy mind had cleared up enough that he found himself shrouded with guilt. He had left his only friend behind. Again.

                He secluded himself from the others, standing up when he had caught his breath. Lucas and Adelaide sat in the corner, huddled close to each other. North began to pace around the barn, thinking soundlessly to himself.

                “I left her behind…” North murmured suddenly, without thought.

                “You only did what she wanted of you,” Adelaide sighed, burying her head deeper into the cranny of Lucas’ shoulder.

                “What if she’s hurt? She took on that guy on her own,” North birled around, the fear setting in once again.

                “No, she’s stronger than that. She’s a swimmer,” Lucas mumbled, resting his head atop Adelaide’s.

                “So was that man!” North shouted, and he found himself getting angrier than he had wished. He relaxed himself, but thought it hard in such circumstances.

                “The female swimmers have always been stronger. She would be running to find us by now. We didn’t take any weird turns, so the barn will be in her line of sight. Therefore, she will find us quickly.” Adelaide kept her eyes shut as she spoke. She was clearly more relaxed than North, and, with a huff, North pressed his back against the back barn wall and slouched to the ground.

                “Is that why there isn’t as many male swimmers?” North inquired, crossing his legs over the hay-matted ground. “Because the female swimmers are stronger?”

                “You’ve pretty much got it,” Adelaide answered, eyeing her nails. North expected her to continue on, but when she didn’t elaborate and examined her nails intently, North turned his attention to the hay under him.

                He hadn’t even the time to think of anything else before small, quick footsteps made themselves noticeable from beyond the barn doors.

                “North?” Elodie’s familiar voice called out from just outside the entrance, and the daylight beamed into the shack as Elodie kicked open the doors, her bag still slung over her shoulder.

                Adelaide and Lucas stood up calmly, waving to her from the other end of the barn. Elodie beamed into the darkness, running over to the three of them to greet them and assure her safety.

                “How’d you do?” Adelaide asked her, grabbing Elodie by the arms as the younger girl dropped her bag. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

Elodie returned the gesture excitedly as she spoke. “Just fine. Not a bruise on me. They were very easy to take on.” Adelaide released her tense grip on the other girl, and Elodie rubbed her arm in turn. “I hope you guys have gotten your wind back, because we have to keep going.”

Lucas and Adelaide nodded, though North wasn’t too sure. He was still regaining his strength from the encounter with the man who had strangled him, though the grip on his neck had been rather weak, so he hadn’t been too affected. He stood up from the mound of hay, wobbling a bit before regaining balance.

“You’re okay, too?” Elodie asked, turning to North. “You had quite the encounter back there.”

“Just fine,” North nodded, drawing closer to the trio of travelers while pulling along his small bag. “Lightheaded, maybe.”

Elodie sent a side-glance of amusement to Adelaide, and they both shortly began to giggle softly. “Do you not feel the cut on your face?”

“What cut?” North began dabbing his cheeks, left and then right, and the first time around he found the minor wound, stinging and pricking the right side of his face. He flinched and drew his hand away, staring at his own fingertips smeared with blood.

“Are you going to be alright?” Elodie continued, trying to keep herself from laughing while being as serious as possible.

“It’ll heal over. What a catastrophe, I’ve gotten a cut. I don’t think I can carry on!” He chuckled sarcastically, exaggerating his phony imitations of fear and dread. Elodie rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn’t help the small smile on her face.

Adelaide turned back to get hers and Lucas’ bags. “Should we be off, then?” Lucas inquired, shifting the weight onto another leg. North began to wipe off the skin around his cut to clear away any blood he had smeared.

“That would probably be best. I used my skill to my advantage, so the man I had fought might not remember anything after our encounter, if I’m lucky.” North became lost in the conversation once Elodie had said this, but he chose to ask about it later. It couldn’t have been too important then.

Lucas turned to Adelaide, taking his bag and thanking her kindly. “Let’s go, then.” They began to stalk back to the front of the dusty, worn barn, where Elodie had left the front door open.

“I knocked that guy clean out, if you guys want to know,” Elodie informed. “It will be a while before he wakes up. I made sure no one was around when I was done.”

“Maybe, if we’re lucky,” Lucas interjected, “some little pickpockets will find him before he comes to.”

Adelaide and Elodie laughed in harmony. “It’s not unlikely,” She continued. The group rounded the corner, marching off into the woods. “We might want to run for a while, if that’s alright. I know that man won’t remember much after a while once he wakes up, but he might have friends after us. Hounds could track us very easily.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” North agreed. “We’ve already been stopped once by an officer, and only a few seconds into our journey.”

“What a way to begin,” Lucas mumbled. “Come on guys, Adelaide.”

They began to run, slower at first, until the pace began to pick up. Adelaide didn’t stray more than a foot from her husband, and Elodie sprinted just a few yards ahead of North. North was beginning to find it hard to keep up, and Elodie and Adelaide could have easily outrun both boys. But they weren’t that merciless; Elodie had been trying to keep a close eye on her original traveling companion, and she didn’t dare go out of North’s line of sight.

Luckily enough, they were all fit enough to run for a few minutes until they were completely out of breath, and they slowed down, taking solid gulps of water from the full canteens in their bags.

“Elodie, if you don’t mind me asking,” Adelaide started, “what are your skills?”

“Temporary internal paralysis and nature coding,” Elodie answered, grinning cheekily.

North hadn’t a clue what the two were going on about, but he couldn’t find the right time to interrupt and ask what nature coding or temporary internal paralysis or skills even were. Although North was lost in the conversation, Lucas seemed, much to North’s extreme irritation, enthralled with what Elodie had to say.

“Did you inherit any of those?” She continued.

“Nature coding, yes. I can manipulate fire and memories, somewhat, also.” Elodie began to rub the callouses in her right palm with her thumb.

“I assume you taught yourself those before you started the journey.”

“Yes. I thought they would come in handy.”

North had given up trying to decode the foreign language of the two girls, but his daze broke when he realized how quiet everyone had become. He turned to watch the group and where he was going before he found Adelaide staring back at him as she walked.

“You have no clue what we’re talking about, do you?” She asked.

“I’m afraid not.”

Adelaide smiled, but sighed as if she were disappointed in him. “Want me to explain?”

“Yes, please.”

She inhaled sharply through her nose, and gave North some backstory on swimmers. “Most swimmers are born with a handful of skills. The luckier swimmers have a family that carries a specific trait or skill that everyone else in the family has. It’s unique to that specific family, and it helps some swimmers find others just like them.”

“For my family, that would be nature coding,” Elodie added. “I think.”

“Some have skills that they are fortunate enough to be born with. Mine is actually healing corruption.”

“Mine is temporary internal paralysis.”

“It’s even possible for some to learn new skills, but the skills you teach yourself can never be performed as well as those you are born with. And even then, the skills you are given from birth might not be that great.”

“This might not be the best question to ask,” North commented, “but is it possible for a human such as myself to learn a skill?”

“Afraid not, North,” Elodie replied, not turning to speak as she walked. “Actually, I… I’ve never really thought about it.” She hopped over a fallen log, emitting a sudden “hup” sound as she hit the ground. The rest of the group followed, taking careful steps over the tree. “I’ve always thought it was unique just to swimmers, but you brought up an interesting argument.”

“Elodie, I don’t mean to break topic,” Lucas cut in, “but how do you suppose we get out of this if you haven’t erased that officer’s memory and he ends up coming after us with more people?”

“Don’t underestimate me,” she shot back, wagging her finger at him. “I know exactly where we’re going and what we will do when we get where we need to go. I’ve planned it out myself a few times before.”

“Too bad you didn’t plan out the attack by that officer.”

“Hey!” Elodie spun sharply around, glaring at Lucas. “I hadn’t planned on taking you two along, either. It wasn’t my idea, was it? At least I could take out the guy!” She unconsciously paced backwards in the forest mud, angrily arched over as she glared at him.

“But you accepted!”

“Wait a second!” North exclaimed, silencing them with his hands. “You didn’t have any clothes with you when we met!”

“… so?” She raised a suspicious brow at him.

“How did you go about planning all this without them?”

She smirked at this, chuckling mischievously. “I’ll leave that to your imagination. Surely I don’t need to answer that for you.”

North turned a bright scarlet, and it was so noticeable to Lucas that he could swear he felt the heat bouncing off his face. Elodie noticed as well and began to playfully laugh.

“I’m just teasing!” She giggled, swatting North’s shoulder. He flinched. “I had help, of course. And reaching that help is about as far as I’ve got planned out.”

“Is that a house?!” Adelaide interrupted, a hand held over her mouth as she pointed ahead through the trees. Elodie revealed a toothy grin, and the turn on her heel to face the other swimmer would have looked swift and smooth to everyone else if she hadn’t tripped over a log, landing her face-first in the mud. Lucas cackled wildly, pointing and laughing at her as she struggled to push herself out.

Adelaide held a second hand to her face as North ran to help. He helped her up out of the ground, pulling her by the elbow. Adelaide dashed to her, scraping thick mud off the front of Elodie’s clothes before it had time to dry. She shot an irritated glare at her husband, and it took him a few seconds to notice it before he promptly shut up, straightening himself.

“Were you saying something…?” Adelaide asked, wiping her hands on the skirt of her dress. Elodie coughed into her hand before nodding.

“What I was saying was… I’ve gotten everything planned out from the moment I reached land to now.” She began to lead the trip, and the three strangers soon followed. “A friend of mine… She lives in that house with another swimmer.” She directed the group to the cottage ahead, but everyone had taken notice. “She feels the same way we do about the whole populace situation. Of course, living this far out in the forest, she didn’t know all that much about it until I had told her.”

“What are we expecting to do from this point on?” North inquired.

“Gather up!” She replied, wagging a finger. “Gather up all the rebel swimmers that we can until we’ve found them all.”

“And what do you expect to do with all those swimmers?”

“… fight, if it comes to that.”

Lucas groaned, dragging his feet for a fraction of a second to express his distaste. Elodie ignored him.

“What about the swimmers in this cottage?” Adelaide said, trying to drown out Lucas’s complaining. “Who would they be, exactly?”

“Two girls. They might as well be sisters, the way they stay so close. Brie is the elder, and just inches taller. Not older than me, but she looks it. Her hair is brown, like Adelaide’s, and especially wavy, cut to her shoulders.” She made a swiping motion with her hands parallel to her shoulders, indicating the length. “Cecil is the younger girl. She has long, red curls; not as long as my hair, but almost. She looks and acts much like a child, but is actually just a year younger than Brie.”

“And they agreed to help?” North kept close focus on his steps to avoid eye contact with anyone else as he spoke.

“Yes, we spoke about it. They said so long as I had a friend, we could work.” It took North a moment before he realized Elodie had been mentioning him. He took notice of Elodie just seconds after and stared back coyly as she smiled cheerfully at his discomfited demeanor. She focused her attention ahead, running the rest of the length to the door of the small house. North chased after, followed by Lucas and Adelaide.

Elodie rapped on the door, shouting “Brie! Cecil!” to catch the attention of the two inside. It took just seconds of this before the girls had the door swung open, revealing a pair that looked exactly how Elodie described. They promptly embraced Elodie, squeaking words of adoration and delight. “It’s so great to see you!” Cecil chimed, her curls bouncing up and down as she fidgeted. Brie murmured her own comment as well: “Your clothes do mine shame.” The two boys and Adelaide didn’t pick up on what Brie had said, but Elodie reacted immediately. “Don’t say that! You always have the greatest outfits, and this is one of them.” North didn’t comment. “Even if you were dressed in rags, you would make them look gorgeous. I can’t say the same about myself; you have much cleaner hair and a prettier face.”

Elodie was never passive about her comments, which was, in some ways, one of the things North admired about her. Even though Brie shook her head furiously, refusing to accept the compliment for Elodie’s sake, North wondered if Elodie thought what she had said was really true. She was in no way ugly, not at all. Neither was Brie. Or Cecil, or Adelaide. In their own ways, North thought, they were all beautiful. But Brie could have outshone Elodie in that department any day, even in dirty or unkempt clothes. The personality side also seemed to be the same, for when Elodie was demanding and short-tempered (at least, that’s what North had found from her first impression), Brie was quieter and polite. Awkward, though, no doubt.

Cecil was the first to break North’s train of thought with her own outburst. “Elodie, you haven’t introduced your friends!” Adelaide rocked back and forth on her feet, smiling bashfully almost like a note that she had been waiting for someone to think the same.

“Sorry, that was rude of me,” Elodie followed on Cecil’s notion, looking around the swimmer and two boys. The three of them knew right away that she was choosing who to introduce first. “Brie, Cecil, this is Adelaide�"“ Elodie subtly gestured towards herself, aiming the action at Adelaid; Adelaide knew it was an invitation to greet Elodie’s friends, and she took it. “�"and this is Lucas, her husband.” North was the only one to notice the tinge of spite Elodie threw out after every word in a sentence about or directed to Lucas. He wasn’t surprised. Lucas stepped forward, sticking out a hand to Brie and Cecil. They reacted positively, eagerly shaking his hand.

Elodie stepped back from the group, trying to see North better. She knew she had left him behind, and she was warmer to him when she noticed. “My first companion was North,” she said, turning to the group. Cecil was still greeting the married pair, but Elodie knew she was trying to pay attention to everyone as it went on. “I helped him after he escaped a shipwreck. He’s been more helpful than he knows.” North felt guilty for not feeling guilty. He knew Elodie didn’t interpret it as a snide remark; he tried not to upset anyone with the story of what had happened. But when he couldn’t feel any strong emotions stirring in his head, it made him feel nearly sick. It was only then that he felt any guilt, and when it was noticeable, it hit him like a stone through a window.

North’s reaction to Brie’s polite but delicate nod was anything but casual. He nodded back, but it had been too late; everyone but Elodie and North had turned back to their conversations. She squeezed his arm understandingly. I should have acted faster. North reacted the same. Don’t stress about it.

“Would you all like to come inside?” Brie offered, and the question probably wouldn’t have been heard by anyone if there hadn’t been a break in conversation. Adelaide agreed with a nod and affirmative squeak.

“We’d better hurry up. We don’t have all the time in the world for this…” Elodie didn’t wait to bring North along behind her, and as she did they exchanged nothing but the crunching of leaves and snapping twigs between each other.

The cottage wasn’t much; from the outside, it looked as though the six of them would have to squeeze into the house with their supplies. The entrance was only a few boards of wood cut and fashioned to resemble a door. There was a small garden of berries and veggies, and North would have believed Brie and Cecil if they had said they lived on the food from the garden and the animals in makeshift shacks and pens. Which they probably did. There were no windows, but there were surely enough lanterns inside to light an underground tunnel half a kilometer long, North found. The front door predictably groaned when the group entered, unlike the first time North had seen it open.

Elodie leaned closer to North as Cecil closed the door behind the group. “It only looks small,” she mumbled. It must have been a secret, North thought. He already found the room impossibly crowded, the chairs and furniture and necessities flooding the ground and flatter surfaces. He did not suffer from claustrophobia, but that could easily change with any new people added to the group.

Brie bent down onto the dirt floor, her hands running gingerly over the dry earth. She was concentrating on something that North couldn’t see, and he watched curiously, searching for what it could possibly be that she was so intent on watching.

A square patch in the dirt floor began to glow eerily, and North had never seen anything like it. It broke free from the ground, adding on to his constant confusion. The block of earth moved slightly left from where it had once been, hovered over a solid part of the floor, and then collapsed. Brie stood up again, overlooking her work. Once satisfied, she turned to the group as if she hadn’t done a thing.

“You three should go down first,” she suggested. Everyone knew she meant Adelaide, Lucas, and North. Cecil inched behind Brie, lifting up the wooden door previously under dirt as sneakily as she could, though North had a feeling that she had no reason to be sneaky about it. The first three travelers leaned forward as Cecil stepped away, peering into the hole to see below, but the hole was only visible about three feet down before it all practically disappeared into black. Just above the edge of the shadow below was a ladder pressed against one side of the hole, very obviously placed for escaping reasons.

“Do you remember what to do?” Brie asked. Everyone assumed the question was aimed at Elodie and disregarded her.

“Yeah, there’s no way I’ll forget.” She sounded very cool about the whole ordeal, as dangerous as it was. “Who wants to go down first?”

Lucas didn’t hesitate to hop down in with his belongings before anyone else had the chance. He took a few steps down on the ladder before lending Adelaide a helping hand. North waited patiently until she was a few steps down before following close behind. He watched his descending steps carefully, timing them all right in case he fell.

“I’ll throw out all the dirt,” Brie said to Elodie under her breath. Elodie looked up at her as she stepped down into the vertical tunnel, taking a lantern from Brie that Cecil had previously lit as she confirmed she understood. Cecil stood close behind Brie, watching the group descend.

Elodie slipped the lantern handle on her wrist and her bag over her shoulder before North could offer any help. North made strong effort to keep his head down the entire trip down, while Elodie made strong effort to keep her bag from coming untied.

The descent down, for North, could have been easier if there hadn’t been a dress-clad girl descending above him. But, unlike most, he politely kept his cool.

Every second felt like an eternity, and all the while North grew more and more claustrophobic the further down he climbed. It was an unusual feeling, especially since he had always needed to face claustrophobia when stuck on his cargo ship. And now that he was finally at the bottom of the dirt hole and in the underground room no bigger than the room above, he could feel his stomach churning uneasily.

North sat against the wall opposite of his only exit, trying unsuccessfully to calm his nerves. He dropped his bag finally, marking his seat in the room. Elodie was nowhere near as shaken, of course. She knew the extent of Brie’s skill and trusted her fully. She sat down next to her first friend, leaning against him when she had situated herself and shrugged her bag off.

“Nervous?” She asked, directing her attention to North.

“No.”

She smirked. “Said in quick succession. Not quite a no.”

“Said with snarky disdain. Not quite attractive.”

Elodie stared ahead.

“Oh. Okay.”

North bit his tongue.

They both disregarded each other’s existence, watching as Lucas helped Adelaide sit against the wall adjacent from North and Elodie.

“Brie will let us in on what’s going on in a couple hours,” Elodie informed. It had been directed at North again.

“I didn’t mean what I said.”

“Hush. I got the gist of your anxiety; you’re not helping your case in the first place. If by chance no one comes after us, we get to leave early. For now, we get to rest.”

North wanted to continue on what he had said, but he knew Elodie was right. He slid off the wall until his back met the floor. He thought Elodie would do the same until she pulled her folded legs closer to her, the side of her left leg parallel to the floor as her right weighed it down.

“I didn’t expect you to be so nervous. I really shouldn’t have started this whole scheme in the first place.” Elodie, the perfect conversationalist.

“Why’s that?” North rolled over on his right side, facing her.

“Because it was cruel to everyone I dragged in. Because I’m a magnet for trouble.”

“You’re saving millions of people just because you don’t believe in the same things they do.”

Elodie was quiet. She stared vacantly at the wall ahead.

“You’re a hero, Elodie.”

“I’m not a hero. I never was, nor will I ever be.” She pulled her knees to her chest and sighed heavily. “I’m doing what I believe is true. I’m going against my species’ custom beliefs to save a world that means more to me than my own. I’ve betrayed everything and everyone I’ve ever known. I’m no hero. I’m nothing more than the scum of my own kind.”

“I don’t think you’re scum. Heroes have to have a cause. You’re smart enough to know which side is right.”

Elodie’s eyes flashed over to check on the couple beside them. She found they were having a conversation of their own just a few feet away, and she turned back to her wall. “I don’t know if taking on a million people with special skills is at all a bright choice. Only one-tenth of swimmers have any skill at all, but some of those are beyond even my comprehension. Finding that Adelaide had any skill at all was a revelation. You don’t find people like that all too often.”

“But you have some awfully interesting, powerful skills yourself, correct?” North pushed himself back up against the wall.

The corners of Elodie’s mouth twitched. “Yes, but although I’m incredibly lucky to have any skill at all, I’m not the only one. There are tens of thousands of swimmers with shockingly powerful talent that not even I could live up to. That’s my main concern.”

“What about your power to…” North paused to gather his thoughts. “…manipulate fire? You lived in the ocean.”

Elodie giggled. “I’m not all that far from land, you know! I can set many things on fire at the flick of a wrist, and I can move to land to practice. It’s no impressive flame, but it will suffice. And it’s a skill that not many swimmers know.” Adelaide and Lucas whispered between each other, making sure to keep their voices low although Elodie could hear most of what they were saying. “Can’t say I’m a pro, but it’s enough to keep warm…?”

“Didn’t you have two others?”

“One you witnessed. One you don’t know about. Here, I’ll demonstrate.” Elodie moved the lantern to face her for better lighting. She turned her right hand over with the back facing the floor. She extended an index finger, and with a short, quick swipe, a patch of grass rose from the dirt.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I wouldn’t believe you if you had.” Elodie opened her hand and rotated it until her palm was level to the floor. She waved her hand sharply up, and the grass disappeared in a thick flame, leaving behind a cluster of ash and burnt grass. North poked and prodded at the pile of black in amazement.

Something stirred above ground, immediately catching the attention of Elodie’s acquaintances.

“It’s only Brie and Cecil. Cecil should be coming down with more light while Brie covers our tracks.”

Everyone but Elodie sighed in relief. Adelaide and Lucas returned to their conversation.

“Covering our tracks… how so?” North continued.

“You ask a lot of questions…”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She shook her head with a grin. “Brie has the power of levitation. She can easily mix the dirt from anywhere we’ve been to cover our scent from any hounds. It doesn’t take her very long because soil is a very loose, shapeless solid.” Out of boredom, Elodie forced a few blades of grass up from the dirt unconsciously. “If my magic was enough, that man I wiped the memory off of might never remember our encounter. Not that there’s any guarantee. But even if he remembers little bits and pieces of that single memory, there won’t be enough to make him feel the need to find us. And I might have done a little extra work on the side.”

“Like…?”

“Slipped him an extra memory for good measure. A sloppy one, so there’s even less of a chance that he’ll accept it, especially if my first job hadn’t worked.”

The door at the top of the room’s entrance squeaked open. The two boys turned to the sound, instantaneously frightened.

“It’s only me,” Cecil’s voice called from the few yards up. Everyone relaxed into the dirt again.

“With the way things are, the outcome of us being hunted for is more likely than us getting away. From here on out, it’s all just luck.” Elodie slid against the curved wall until she was completely lying down.

Cecil appeared from the bottom of the entrance, the lanterns on her arms beginning to brighten the room. She made her rounds to every visitor, handing them each their own personal lanterns. She personally gave North the matches to light them if they ever went out.

North sunk down beside Elodie, staring up at the ceiling with his lantern to his left. “I’ll be back with blankets,” Cecil noted, and she left the group, climbing back up to the surface.

“Would you have chosen to come with me even if there was a way out of it for you?” Elodie asked. She turned her head in anticipation.

“Probably, yes.”

“Can I tell you something, then?” She sighed. Elodie grabbed North’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

“You have small hands…”

“Not the point!” She barked. “Promise you won’t get mad if I tell you.”

“Promise.”

“Again.”

“Promise.”

“You could have left instead of joining me. Nothing was keeping you from leaving. I lied to you.”

North shot up. “You did what?!”

“You promised!”

He relaxed. “I did, I did! You insufferable�"“

“Oi!” She shot up as well, almost too late.

Adelaide and Lucas had grown quiet.

“I could have just left you?!”

“Would you have left me in the first place?!” Elodie retorted, and everyone, including North, knew she was growing heated about the whole thing. “Would you?!”

“Not now!”

“What about tomorrow? The day after? You’re going to get tired of it all!”

“I’m not leaving when I’ve already started, Elodie! Not when I know the world is at stake!”

The room fell silent. The door at the top of the entrance squeaked slowly open.

Elodie hesitated. “Okay.”

Everyone watched as she inched lower to the floor and turned away from the group. Cecil appeared with a mound of raggedy cloth. North presumed they were what she had said were blankets. He could tell by the look on Cecil’s face that she had heard some of the banter from aboveground. She handed blankets out like she had handed out lanterns. She draped her final blanket over Elodie, and with a wordless glance, Elodie thanked her. Cecil smiled halfheartedly, turning to the group as she backed up to her exit. “Brie will be up all night sifting dirt. I would advise you not to leave this room unless there is a serious crisis. Elodie is in charge of the decision to leave.”

Elodie sighed.

“Goodnight, everyone.”

The group murmured good-night as Cecil resurfaced. Adelaide and Lucas exchanged hushed whispers between each other. North laid down for the thousandth time.

“Sorry, Elodie,” he said, turning on his side.

“Don’t be; it’s my fault in the first place.”

“It’s not your fault. You really are a hero.”

“I’m going to punch you so hard, your face is going to be concave.”

Adelaide laughed.

“Now I can be sorry,” she concluded. Elodie yanked her blanket closer, turning over. “There is absolutely no reason for you to be sorry about anything. Anyone who says otherwise is a true fool. I don’t want to ever hear a ‘sorry’ or any other form of an apology come from you unless I ask for it or it is truly deserved.” She turned away.

“Good night,” North grinned.

“Yeah, good night.”

Author's Note

Chapter three of North Star, and a real pain in the neck for me to write. I have a lot of ideas for the rest of this, though, which I am very excited to get to! Tell me what you think!

Reviews

[TLK]

This is far too long to read fully. I apologise for this, and I would be able to do so if you cut it into smaller chunks (another critiqueing site I use specifies 3,000 words per chapter. This is about the maximum that it is easy to focus on -- this is over SEVEN THOUSAND words). What I did was look at a portion in the middle to see if I could offer any help in improving it. Here is what I chose:

“But you have some awfully interesting, powerful skills yourself, correct?” North pushed himself back up against the wall.


The corners of Elodie’s mouth twitched. “Yes, but although I’m incredibly lucky to have any skill at all, I’m not the only one. There are tens of thousands of swimmers with shockingly powerful talent that not even I could live up to. That’s my main concern.”


“What about your power to…” North paused to gather his thoughts. “…manipulate fire? You lived in the ocean.”


Elodie giggled. “I’m not all that far from land, you know! I can set many things on fire at the flick of a wrist, and I can move to land to practice. It’s no impressive flame, but it will suffice. And it’s a skill that not many swimmers know.” Adelaide and Lucas whispered between each other, making sure to keep their voices low although Elodie could hear most of what they were saying. “Can’t say I’m a pro, but it’s enough to keep warm…?”


“Didn’t you have two others?”


“One you witnessed. One you don’t know about. Here, I’ll demonstrate.” Elodie moved the lantern to face her for better lighting. She turned her right hand over with the back facing the floor. She extended an index finger, and with a short, quick swipe, a patch of grass rose from the dirt.


“I’ve never seen anything like it.”


“I wouldn’t believe you if you had.” Elodie opened her hand and rotated it until her palm was level to the floor. She waved her hand sharply up, and the grass disappeared in a thick flame, leaving behind a cluster of ash and burnt grass. North poked and prodded at the pile of black in amazement.

This is a long expository piece of dialogue which, for at least some readers, would present a bit of a roadblock. SHOWING rather then TELLING is better when it comes to really important points (especially those that the reader will be easily able to grasp -- magical powers etc. are commonplace enough in literature and pop culture nowadays to be easily grokked) and keeps the reader much more involved.
I think that North is supposed to come across as amazed, but to me he comes across as somehow -- uncoordinated. And a bit slow. He seems to already know she has amazing powers, so why is he so shocked?