Ch 7: Terror of Nosus

Escaping Celestis, the group takes refuge in a forest for the night. Curiosities aroused by Serius' sudden appearance, Alexander agrees to explain once everyone gets some rest. But is the forest safe?

            As the hover car made its way down the road from the South Gate exit towards the main road, Amy continued to stare out the window at the grassy plains, the edges of forests, the towering Montorium mountain range in the distance. It all looked quite empty in the darkness of night, illuminated only by the weak moonlight. Humanity had once had a population so large it numbered in the billions, but after the Dark Age it’s numbers dwindled, and even now after more than five hundred years of prosperity it did not come close to being as numerous. That was half the reason much of the world’s land was still unreclaimed. The other half was because of the fierce beasts that inhabited the wilds of Teramis, lurking throughout forests and ruins. It was not wise for travelers to stray far from the roads, and it is rare for anyone other than traveling merchants or supply transports to travel by land at all, especially now that strange creatures known as anomalies have started to appear during the past thirty years. It is believed anomalies are created from corpses that are affected by EDE in a way that somehow reanimates them, but scientists still can’t say for sure. Amy could only wonder how Altera Veritas actually managed to control them.

            “Alright, we’ve managed to escape the city, and it looks as though we’re not being pursued…” Alexander said as they drove on. Then he turned to Grey and asked, “What now?” Grey seemed to think for a moment, and then he replied, “I found records in the Imperial Library of some suspicious shipments to Abnoct. I want to head there, but that’s the nearest town… It’d be the first place the Guild would look for us…” In agreement, Alexander said, “You’re right, we need to lay low somewhere for a while. There’s a forest up ahead. We can camp out there I suppose.” Hearing this, Amy turned her attention away from the world outside the window to look at Grey and Alexander in concern, saying, “We’re going to camp out in a forest?! What about monsters, or… or wild anomalies?!” Grey turned to look back at her with a smirk as he said, “I’m sure me and Alexander can handle it.” Suddenly Serius, who was still on the roof of the hover car, interrupted the conversation, leaning his head over the side of the roof to look into the driver’s side window as he said, “Alexander, my strength is fading. I cannot maintain this form for much longer…” Grey and Amy both looked at him with a confused look, but Alexander simply said, “Alright Serius, we’re just about to stop and rest. The forest is just up ahead.” Serius retracted his head, and as Alexander drove on, Amy and Grey looked at Alexander expectantly. Alexander ignored their stares, and Grey finally asked, “What the hell was that about? Who is that guy anyway?” Alexander kept his attention on the road as he said, “That man has been a friend of mine for a very, very long time. Without him I wouldn’t be here and…” He glanced at Grey as he added, “…neither would you.”

            Turning off the road as they approached the edge of the forest, Alexander steered the hover car between trees and through dense foliage. They came across a clearing a short ways into the forest, illuminated by the dim moonlight, and Alexander decided it would make a perfect spot for them to camp out. As they all exited the vehicle, Amy looked around with caution, searching for the presence of any dangerous creatures. As Grey noticed this, he let out a sigh and said, “Amy, you don’t have to worry so much. Like I said, me and Alexander can take care of anything this forest can dish out. Besides, it’s not like monsters lurk around every corner. I know it’s been awhile since you’ve been outside the city, but it’s really not as bad as most people think.” Still looking a little unnerved, Amy shut the hover car’s door and said, “Sorry, it’s just… Everyone would always tell me it’s not safe outside the city. My family traveled a lot when I was little, but I don’t really remember it very well.” As Amy said this, Grey looked as though something about her words bothered him, and noticing the look on his face, Amy said, “Um, what are you looking at me like that for Grey? Was it something I said?” Grey quickly turned away and replied, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” However, it was far more than nothing to Grey. Grey worried her lack of memories before her life in the city could be a side effect from the erasure of her memories of him, and he thought to himself, “If so, it’s my fault! If she hadn’t met me… D****t!” Suddenly he noticed Serius and Alexander standing off to the side, and Serius raised a hand up towards Alexander. As Amy looked over at them as well, Serius’ body glowed and seemed to evaporate into a cloud of energy. Shocked, Grey yelled, “What the hell?” Amy simply gasped as she watched him vanish. As the cloud of energy seemed to be absorbed into his body, Alexander said, “Both of you relax, he’s just fine. Let’s set up camp. I’ll explain everything after we’ve had some sleep. It’s been a long night for both of you.”

            From the trunk of the hover car, Alexander retrieved a couple of sleeping bags and a tent. While he started to set up the tent, Amy and Grey went off to search for firewood, Amy making certain to stay behind Grey as they marched into the woods. Sticking as close to Grey as she could, Amy said, “Couldn’t one of you guys just knock down a tree with your strength, or a blast of EDE, or something…?” As Grey reached down to pick up a nice sized branch, he said, “We’re trying to lay low right? We don’t want to use EDE unnecessarily, even the small amount it’d take to knock down a tree. Besides why bother when we can just gather some fallen branches or something? You should avoid relying on your abilities as an energist for everything if you want to have real strength. That’s something Alexander taught me.” Amy found those words quite inspiring, and thought to herself how wise Alexander was for someone who didn’t look to be all that old. Then something she realized stirred up her curiosity, and she asked Grey, “I don’t know if it’s any of my business, but you and Alexander seem rather close. Why weren’t you two there together when I first met you in the storage district?” Grey grabbed another nice sized branch before saying, “That… Well, we kinda got into a fight about something. I went off on my own for a while, but it seems he followed me to the city. After we met up in the city… Let’s just say I wasn’t happy to see him at first. After he told me Altera Veritas were the ones after you and with everything else that happened, the whole fight didn’t really seem important anymore.” The two headed back with their load of firewood, and as they reached the clearing they saw Alexander had the tent up already. Preparing a place for the fire, Alexander looked up as they approached and said, “Ah, you’re back. I’ve set up a sleeping bag in the tent for Amy and one out here for you Grey. I’ll take the first watch.” Grey and Amy settled into their sleeping bags as Alexander lit the fire with some matches. Settling himself against the side of the hover car, Alexander watched the crackling flames of the fire. Within his mind, Serius said, “Are you sure you should tell them everything Alexander? I would avoid getting the girl involved any further, and Grey is not yet ready to accept the truth of his past and his fate…” Alexander took a moment to answer, finally saying, “I won’t, of course, be telling them absolutely everything…” He tossed another branch into the fire and continued, “However, Amy is already far too involved in this to get out now, and we have to tell Grey something at some point. We cannot hide things from him forever, and now that we have encountered Alastor, I believe some disclosure is necessary.” Alexander glanced over at Grey, sound asleep, certainly exhausted from the night’s events, and muttered, “Whether they accept what I tell them is another matter entirely…”

            Amy woke up a few hours after she went to sleep. She had to go to the bathroom, but in this forest the only BATHROOM available was a tree or bush. She thought to herself, “Why did it have to be now? I guess I have no choice…” Getting up and exiting the tent, she made her way to leave the clearing and find somewhere she could go. Alexander, staring at her with his shades slightly down his nose so his eyes were visible, said, “Amy? Where are you going? Even if you can’t sleep I don’t recommend a stroll, you’ll get lost.” Amy said in a slightly embarrassed voice, “Oh, no it’s not that, I… um… I gotta go.” Alexander turned his attention to the fire and said, “Ah, forgive me. Please do be careful though. While Grey was correct before, there is always some chance of running into danger outside the city.” Amy nodded and walked off into the forest. Several minutes later Alexander heard her scream from somewhere deep in the woods. He jumped up with a start, and shouted, “Amy?!” Grey had also heard the scream, and before Alexander had barely gotten up he was out of sleeping bag and running into the woods in the direction her scream. Running through the forest Grey shouted, “Amy where are you?!” He heard another scream further ahead, and rushed onward at breakneck speed, Alexander trailing a ways behind. Grey reached the edge of the forest line and stopped as he came upon an enormous lake. He could not see Amy anywhere, and as he looked around, he heard a cry for help off to the south. As Alexander caught up, Grey turned to him and yelled, “Why the hell did you let her go off on her own?!” Alexander let out a frustrated sigh and said, “She had to go to the bathroom…”

            Rushing towards where her cries were last heard, Grey and Alexander came upon what looked like the ruins of an ancient city, the nearest building looked something like a temple. As he looked around, Grey said, “What is this place?” Looking around as well, Alexander began to get a bad feeling about the ruins. Trying to confirm his suspicions, Alexander asked Serius, “Isn’t this area part of the Ruins of Nosus?” After a brief pause, Serius replied from within him, “Yes, I believe it is.” Alexander’s face became grim, and he said, “It may have been a mistake to come to this forest… The Ruins of Nosus are rumored to be home to an extremely dangerous monster.” Grey looked as though he wanted to strangle him as he was saying, “You idiot! Why the hell are we camping out in a forest with something like that in it?!” Alexander just shrugged and said, “The ruins were supposed to be mainly in the far south of the forest, and we set up camp within the northern area. I didn’t believe we’d have to concern ourselves with it.” Suddenly another cry for help from Amy sounded nearby. Running as fast she could, Amy dashed out from behind the ruined temple, shouting all the way, “Go away you… whatever you are! Someone HELP MEEEE!” Suddenly an enormous black serpent came slithering out from behind the temple, smashing into the side of it as it went and causing a large portion of the building to collapse. As debris from the collapsing temple came falling towards her, Amy once again raised a psychic barrier around herself subconsciously. Shielded by the barrier, she was saved, but was buried under the rubble. Watching her disappear beneath the falling stone, Grey shouted, “Amy!” He and Alexander rushed towards the pile of debris and the serpent, which turned its attention on them as Alexander shouted at Grey, “You get Amy out of there, I’ll take care of that thing!” Quickly Alexander created a mass of EDE that crystallized into his two handed sword and the two went into action. 

Grey quickly reached the pile of rubble and began pulling heaps of stone out of it as he said, “Are you alright in there Amy?! Don’t worry I’ll get you out of there in a sec!” Meanwhile, the serpent lunged at Alexander, but he merely leaped into the air and onto its back. He swung his sword down into the serpent’s side, but to his surprise the blade was stopped, making a metallic clang as the blade bounced of the serpent’s scales. Puzzled, Alexander thought to himself, “This is no ordinary serpent…” Alexander continued to slash at the hard scales fruitlessly, thinking, “I am significantly weaker than I was before Serius and I… no, this is still strange regardless. To have such ridiculously hard armor, what evolution… An anomaly?!” Undulating its body, the serpent suddenly threw him off its back. Managing to land on his feet, Alexander quickly leapt up again as the serpent lunged again. Up in the air, he muttered, “Let’s try this…” He came to land on top of the beast yet again, and he chanted, “Ego Voco Vos, Ignis Acies!” Red lines quickly raced across his blade, tracing runes along it. The runes glowed and the blade of his sword became white hot and was engulfed in flames. Instead of again trying to throw him off, the serpent turned its head around and made another lunge at Alexander while he still stood upon its body. Swinging his sword of flames, he sliced through its fangs and tongue, and as the serpent reeled back in pain, Alexander leaped towards the beast’s head. Landing upon the head, briefly struggling to balance himself, he then poured EDE into the flaming sword, and as the flames intensified he stabbed his blade into the serpent’s head. It burned its way through the head, melting the serpent’s armored scales. Having undoubtedly had its brain pierced, the creature went rigid and then collapsed to the ground as Alexander jumped off and landed over near Grey, who was just pulling Amy free of the rubble.

            Exhausted, Amy went back to sleep as soon as they returned to camp. Sitting by the fire, Alexander asked, “Grey did you sense anything strange at all tonight, like the fluctuations of EDE we felt before when Alastor summoned his anomalies?” Sitting across from him, Grey said, “Nope, I haven’t sensed anything the whole time we’ve been here. It probably would have woken me up if there had been something like that…” Realizing what he was getting at, Grey said, “Don’t tell me you think that thing was an anomaly?” Alexander nodded, saying, “If neither of us sensed anything, I can only assume it was a wild anomaly. If I recall correctly, the rumors of the monster in the Ruins of Nosus only came about sometime within the past thirty years, so it’s entirely possible.” Grey seemed to mull this over for a second, then shrugged and got up, heading to his sleeping bag as he said, “Whatever, you already put it out of commission, so there’s really nothing to worry about right? Wake me when it’s my shift, I’m beat…” Getting into his sleeping bag, it was not long before he was asleep again. Alexander, however, was not quite as reassured, thinking to himself, “Was it truly only coincidence? I’ve heard of the curse upon the Ruins of Nosus, but I’m not one to be superstitious… Nevertheless, I think it would be best to leave this forest tomorrow.”

            Nosus Forest. Wednesday May 16, 520NA. Morning came, and the three were hard at work bringing down the tent and packing everything back into the trunk of the hover car. Alexander had suggested that, to Amy’s quick agreement, they leave the forest after what had happened the night before. Not one to be spooked by such a thing, Grey didn’t really care one way or the other, but he was not about to let Alexander forget about his promise to explain things. As Alexander and Amy moved to get into the car, Grey said, “Hey Alexander! You said before that you would explain to us about that guy and everything, so c’mon already! Let’s hear it!” Anxious to get out of the forest, Amy said, “Grey, can’t we talk about this later?” Alexander opened the driver’s side door and said, “Why don’t I just tell you as we’re driving? Abnoct is still a good distance from here by hover car, so there’s plenty of time.” As soon as they were all in the car, Alexander continued, “Be forewarned Grey… Once I’ve told you everything, I’m going to want some answers from you.” With that he started up the hover car and began steering it back through the path they had cut before when they came into the forest.

Reviews

[Ryan Henderson]

I love the flow and dialogue in this chapter! I also love how this is original! I like how you created these creatures known as 'anomalies' although I should have stated that a few chapters ago when they were introduced... Oh well, I suppose it slipped my mind. It is not often that I find a good and original story on this site, let alone a good and original book! The length of the chapters are good, not too long, but short enough to keep the reader's interest! Awesome job with this book so far, I fully plan on reading the whole thing!