Nexus Fate - Chapter 19: Ascend

Everything is guided.

Tal'Von shouted from beyond view, “Did something happen?”

Chaim smacked his hand against his chest, “Royce is up there!”

Footsteps could be heard tapping on some rocks in the distance, then Tal'Von peered into view. He opened his mouth as if he was about to respond, but his face showed surprise upon seeing the livid eater's corpse sprung over the the ground. The fire still burned atop its head, and Teiy stared back to it in deliberation.

Teiy placed his hands to his sides and began removing his chest-plate, “I've got a few things to say. Let's start with the simple one: Lighting a big stick won't give off enough light to keep you safe, Tal. However, if we put this burning tinder straight in a curved object, being my chest-plate, you can carry that as you run.”

Tal'Von raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Teiy continued, “The curved nature of the chest-plate will block the flame from the wind you'll hit while running, as I expect that's what you'll be doing. It will also carry the entire flame we've created, making it last even longer.”

Tal'Von crossed his arms, “That's a little unexpected, but what about you?”

“I saw Vensan's armour beside the tree, and I realized that we won't be able to climb this thing with our armour on."

Tal'Von itched his shoulder, “Great deduction.”

Teiy cleared his throat, “So, we'll obviously be leaving them here with that in mind. I see no downside in letting you borrow my chest-plate for your protection, other than it getting some burn marks -”

Tal'Von nodded, “Fair enough, Teiy.”

Teiy turned over to Chaim, “Another thing I'm wary about is this whole 'wall' business. I'd trust you all knew what you were doing if we went up there without that being mentioned, but disregarding its existence is something else entirely.”

Chaim rolled his shoulders, “You must have, at least, seen Royce to get in this whole mess. How don't you know what it looks like?”

Teiy looked back to Tal'Von, “Tal, does Royce have a wall surrounding it?”

Tal'Von stepped down from the stones, “No, it doesn't.”

“I see then. So that nonsense wasn't some kind-of joke... This is something else, for sure.”

Chaim stepped forward, “When I was there last, it certainly didn't have any wall to it.”

Teiy chuckled, “You're both lunatics. Why would Royce go through all the trouble to make some secret, underground cavern when the enemy could just waltz in any direction they see fit? That's pretty stupid, you guys! Get your heads together no-”

Tal'Von kept his eyes to the livid eater's corpse, “Shut up, Teiy! We don't have time for your whining right n-”

“'Whining'? I'm spreading some clear, common sense. What about the whole situation that got us together, Tal? The gate that fell? The gate that was built on the city's wall!”

Tal rubbed his head, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

What? “How don't you? It just happened, mere, hours ago from now! The whole escape down the cliff-side. The turn of events that brought us coming back to Royce. It all started when the gates fell and I ran over to you all pinned down by the rubble!”

Tal'Von sighed, “I'm going to start moving the equipment, that I lugged out, over here. Vensan, start heading down for now! We don't want -”

This is too stupid of an argument to even be going on. There's no way people like the head captain could stir up this level of confusion in their mind. Damnit! I finally get to accepting that I'm not in England, and now there's crap changing within the same territory... Vensan! Vensan's up there right to prove everything for me. “Vensan!”

Tal'Von turned to Teiy, irritated. “What's wrong with you?”

Teiy searched for Vensan's spot in the tree, “Vensan, look at Royce and tell me you can see the walls surrounding it!”

Vensan made an odd sound, “I'm not doing a damn thing!”

Teiy leaned back, “Hey, wait a minute... Was there another livid eater up there, Vensan?”

Vensan left no reply and Chaim looking up, puzzled.

He can hear me speaking to him now, yet he made no sound when I screamed earlier. Why didn't he even warn me when that thing came down here? He was awful quiet... not to mention he brought up Royce only moments later.

Tal'Von turned away, “We need to get moving here! Teiy, you will be able to get inside Royce from the outside. I'm a captain of the guard, I know what I'm talking about... even if its damned obvious at a glance.”

Teiy grew uneasy, “Fine.”

Chaim sheathed his sword and began removing his armour, “Get ready, Teiy. You'll be laughing when you look again and wonder how you didn't notice.”

Oh, I noticed. As clear as day. The image of those gates falling will never leave my mind. A great deal of people died then, only for all of it to be followed with the appearance of that worm. That worm was what saved me from the falling gate taking my life, and that couldn't have been any illusion. If it was... then maybe this really is all just a dream. That would be an easy way out, but there's obviously nothing that can be done to awake myself from it. Acting upon my choices as if this were a dream would be pointless either way.


Some time passed and the four of them stood at the base of the tree, free of their armour. Tal'Von bent over and began to equip himself for his lone venture. Chaim waved his arms about and carried on with some stretches. Chaim's frail arm dangled about in its grotesque condition. Vensan was the only one, other than Teiy, who simply stood and looked around them. Teiy turned and scanned the lines of equipment that was laid out across the base of the tree. Gauntlets, helmets, boots, and other things were all set out in an orderly fashion. Noticing his lost shield, Teiy ran over and held it in his arms. He rubbed its surface and took remembrance of Gladius.

Tal'Von glanced at Teiy, “So, that shield was yours? I thought I might have uncovered a pricey antique when I found it down there.”

Teiy nodded, “Ya, it's mine. Pretty weird it is though, seeing as it wasn't just a few days ago...”

Vensan spat, “Stole it?”

Teiy looked over cautiously, “No. It was lent to me by my guardian, back when I first set out on this mistake.”

Vensan fell back against the tree and looked above, “Yeah, yeah.”

Tal'Von fastened the last strap of his armour and stood at the center of them all, “It's about time I take my leave. Teiy -”

Teiy got up and lifted the fire, which sat inside his chest-plate. “It still looks like its burning well. I added in some more tinder in case you bumped into something up there.”

Vensan clenched his fist, “Thoughtful.”

Tal'Von reached out for Teiy's chest-plate, and held it in front of himself. “I hope we all meet right back here after this whole thing is finished.”

Chaim stretched forth his right leg, “Did you find a way that you could climb out of here easily, Tal'Von? We'll have to haul our armour out of here at some point.”

Tal'Von looked within Teiy's chest-plate, “Yeah... I should have told you two to leave your things up there before jumping in, but I wasn't aware of the layout entirely. I did find a place around the bend where the cliff loses some of its height. I've only armed up part-way, so I'll give it a test run. I wont be bringing my shield with me, so I'll test my abilities to carry up some weight with my axe. I think we'll be fine, in that regard, if everything goes smoothly.”

Chaim nodded, “That setup, you had before, certainty did look heavy.”

The four of them stood silent.

Vensan smacked the tree, “Let's just go, damn it!”

Tal'Von tilted away, “Good luck to you all!”

Tal'Von jogged up the stones, and Vensan leaped up the tree. Teiy looked surprised by the sudden action and made his way to the tree himself. Teiy hooked his shield to his back and put his sword through it. Chaim hopped up, beside the tree, and held onto a secure limb. Chaim then wrapped his legs around the colossal branch, pulling his arm to the side. He slowly tilted over until, finally, siting atop the tree limb.

Chaim smirked, “One down!”

Teiy placed his fist on his hip, “Nice job!”

Vensan called over them, “Teiy! Climb!”


Each of them focused their grips and held tightly against the oncoming breeze above. Teiy pushed one foot against the branch below him and wrapped his arms around the lone one above him. Looking down, the shore and the basin were hidden from sight by the spread-out leaves that fluctuated by the outside wind. Chaim was still in view as Teiy tried to stay relatively close. Shifting his focus back upwards, the leaves blocked any sight of Vensan's position. He was surely far ahead of them now, as he spent not a single moment to watch out for their struggle. Teiy pulled himself off of the branches below him, relocating his left arm to the same side as his right. Using both of his palms, Teiy leveraged him up the last bend, of the next limb.

Teiy rolled atop the tree limb, “Chaim, are you doing alright down there?”

Coughing arose below, after the question.

“Chaim?”

Chaim snapped back, “Its fine! Keep going!”

Teiy placed his hands on the edges of the tree's bark, and lifted himself to his feet. Preparing the next grab, Teiy placed one of his feet against a jutting boil on the tree's side. Putting pressure on that foot, Teiy lunged for the next branch with both hands. Teiy dangled back for a moment, wiggling in pain. He pulled his torso to the branch and wrapped his arms around it tightly. Just beyond this point, Teiy noticed the trunk of the tree started to bend even further than he noticed before. Just a short ways up, the tree looked walkable.

Teiy dragged himself atop the branch and examined below him, “Chaim, head around the right of you. The gaps are too far here for you to climb with your arm. Are you sure your doing fine?”

Chaim panted, “I'm getting there alright, and I'll make sure to move onwards to the right. Keep going, now.”

Teiy placed his foot against the slanted, tree trunk and leaned for the next branch. Seeing another tree limb just to the left of his target, Teiy placed a single hand on both of them. He hauled himself up with the two limbs, placing each foot on an indent on the slowly slanting edge of the tree. Reaching beyond those branches, Teiy placed either foot atop of them. He reached for the last leverage that would seem necessary, and pulled himself up the final, steep segment. Relieved, Teiy began to walk along the slanted tree, using spare branches as safety measure. The hundreds of bright, green leaves blocked any vision beyond his position, other than a straight path up ahead. In his path, the blue and orange sky was visible. The edges of the cavern were not in sight. Teiy placed his last foot forward and popped his head above the shower of leaves, cast by a sudden breeze. The land beyond returned, and Teiy could witness the countless number of trees. The city of Royce was not in sight, however. Looking to the side, Teiy could clearly see he stood above the earth-dome they rode in hours before.

Chaim could be heard ascending the tree just a little ways below him. Looking down, beyond the tree itself, the cavern's opening ended below Teiy's position on the hung tree. Vensan could not be seen as Teiy looked about. The sun now met the ground outside, and any sign of a passing eater was not to be found. What was to be found was what he noticed stuck above the trees in the distance. The oddity that left a strange feeling in his stomach.

The leaves ruffled just below Teiy, and Chaim approached behind him. “Finally... we made it...”

Teiy kept his vision centered on the embodiment of his worries, “Royce... its not here.”

Chaim stood straight and approached Teiy's side, following with an expected chuckle. “I don't know what your talking about. Your staring right at it.”

Teiy held his throat and swallowed, keeping his eyes aligned with the many, towering mushrooms huddled within the trees.

Author's Note

This is my first attempt at writing a full story.
Also the chapters are at a short length because I posted them first on DeviantArt, and people will never read your stories if they are too long there (which is why I moved here).

I'd appreciate any type of criticism as this is my first writing.

*By the way, I will very likely combine chapters to lessen the total number after I have completed the book (as with chapters of this length, the amount will very likely enter 3 digits).