章 9: HIDDEN BASE?

The night was dark and cold. The winds were as sharp as daggers that at some point even breathing became terribly daunting. The mountains where the Orphanage had been situated were crudely shaped, with cliffs and steep formations littered all over.

There was a blanket of snow that enveloped the entire forest. With how deceptively levelled it seemed, It was easy to underestimate how deep it went until you were sent plummeting further down the mountain.

Seeing was hard enough, but at night it was basically impossible. Caspian would have never advised anyone to run in these sorts of conditions. Unless maybe you were being chased by some bloodsucking fiend.

Even with his keen eyes, Caspian was still unable to discern what exactly had been chasing them.

Makima was quick in discerning that retreat was the best course of action. Caspian couldn't have been more glad.

The memory of a fully grown man in heavy steel armour hurling several meters across the forestscape still lay fresh in Caspian's mind.

'Whatever was responsible, I doubt I want to find out.'

It was hard to imagine such a fiend being any more friendly than the group of taciturn knights from earlier.

Currently, they were bolting through the forest. The massive black trees blurred past them as they moved as quickly as their bodies would let them. Makima was right beside Caspian while Deven lingered just behind them both.

They all had feverish expressions as they ran with laboured breaths. They knew that to stop meant death. Hence, they just kept running without looking back.

At some point, Caspian's limbs had begun to wail in pain, being unaccustomed to such strain. Deven wasn't faring any better, lagging just behind him. Makima surprisingly looked like she had barely broken a sweat, and with how little strain she moved with, it was easy imagining her going a mile.

"My body… Haa–… It isn't built for this."

Caspian whined labourously, as his strides became much longer and oddly paced.

"Getting tired mushroom head?… Haaa I can do this all day."

Deven teased with a forced smile as she struggled just behind Makima.

Makima ignored their cries and kept going. It was only after they were sure nothing was following them, that Makima finally came to a halt.

Caspian slumped as he came to a stop. He had his hands resting on his knees as he heaved.

Deven was a few steps beside him, leaning on a tree as she said;

"Why… Why'd we stop…Haaa I wasn't even warmed up."

Her chest rose and fell restlessly, even in such cold, beads of sweat had frozen to the sides of her dewy skin. She was holding onto a tree for support, trying her best to mask her fatigue with a wolfish grin.

Caspian scanned their surroundings as his breath eased into a more patterned rhythm.

This part of the mountain had an inclined drop just beside it. The trees here were scanty and the snow not so thick.

Right below the massive drop was a frozen blue lake. It was pristine with barely any light making it through the several layers of ice that shrouded it. It gave off a strange, eerie feeling.

Caspian stared at it for a while almost lost in its subtle but dark beauty.

"How far away are we?"

Caspian asked, snapping out of his trance as he walked past Deven with a glare. He had managed to regain a bit of composure, but his mind was in total disarray. Makima was much closer now, scanning their surroundings in deep thought.

As he approached her, memories of their clash with the knights flashed through his head. If she had merely intrigued him before now, After witnessing her in action, his interest was now entirely piqued.

From that blade she summoned, to the purple mist. Even how she had fought, his memories from the war almost entirely gone, but from what he recalled a Knight with a single core– if there were any, shouldn't be able to freely harness their Will the way she had… at least without some help and especially not at her age.

'Just how much are you hiding?'

He had once thought her to be some obnoxious spawn of a forgotten clan. But now, almost every little gesture she made, seemed mysterious maybe even deceptive.

"Cas!"

Makima called out, with the strange look she was giving him. He could only assume that she had been calling him for a bit.

'And I've been staring right at her. Damn.'

"Are you okay?"

She asked.

"Yeah, just lost in thought."

She stared at him for a little longer with a bit of scrutiny.

"Fine. I don't know how far we've strayed but the plan still remains the same. So can you smell anything?"

She asked.

"To be honest—not really, but it's safe to say I have an idea of where they must have been heading–"

"Taken."

Deven corrected, her expression cold with her arms folded. Caspian spared her a glance as he said;

"Yeah, can I see the map?"

Soon Deven produced a small flame with a flint and soon, a rather detailed map of the orphanage and the mountains that it rested on was laid on the snow. The orphanage had tucked the map in a library shelf labelled 'War.'

Some of the places where garrisons and all sorts of trenches and bases had been stationed were marked all over the map. There were all sorts of lines and dots which meant different things. There was one particularly long black line with various branches that ran along the mountain all leading to an underground base.

Caspian's finger was currently placed on that base.

"There's no direct way off the mountain, so the kids still have to be on here somewhere."

"So you think she's in the base."

Makima asked as she stared at the map intently.

"That can't be possible. It collapsed, years ago."

Deven chimed in from the side.

"Yeah, but there had to be pockets and maybe even entire proper tunnel ways… The real problem would be the abominations infesting every corner."

Makima exchanged glances with Deven as she said;

"I doubt they'll be an issue. If the kids made it down it could mean there's a safe passage. "

Caspian nodded in agreement. At this point, it made sense why the orphanage was yet to find them. The old base was not even an option. There were currently government agents held up in old garrisons all over the mountains—tasked with culling the number of abominations for the school's safety. And even they didn't dare near any of the collapsed tunnels or bases. So it wasn't even an option. And besides, whatever neared those tunnels would die a painful death because of the abominations that slumbered in the dark pathways.

"Anything els–

Right then the wind howled and they raised their guards in a frenzy. The flame Deven held immediately died away as the deafening sound of fast-moving blades cutting through the air gained their attention.

Soon, a chopper could be seen speeding past them, with its blinding white light roaming about to scan the woods below.

They all wordlessly watched the chopper pass over them.

"Let's start moving then. We need to find shelter."

Makima said as her head fell. She had been staring at the chopper too, with a strange expression.

'What are you hiding?'

Caspian wondered as he looked between her and the disappearing chopper. There was something he wasn't being told.

He looked at Makima and she glanced back at him.

"Those men from earlier had to be the search party the government had sent to find her."

Caspian suddenly said.

"It was like they were being mind-controlled. So I guess we know how the kids got out… maybe you've known for a while too."

"Possessed knights, deadly archers and some bloodsuckers. That's a lot for one scouting mission. Makima, what aren't you telling me."

Caspian had a vague suspicion for a while. Diane's tracks were too sparse, stretched too thinly. From the long strides she made, Caspian could tell she moved fast... Too fast.

Deven had a strange look in her eyes as he spoke, did she know something?

"I established the difficulty of the journey before we traversed, and I believe you agreed to find the girl without any external pressure. Didn't you, Caspian?"

Makima stated matter of factly, she still had her head held up as she spoke not even flinching once, as she stared right at Cas.

"I am well aware of that, but I am entirely against senselessly risking my life, yet if by chance I am forced to, I need to know what for—down to every last detail."

Makima's amethyst eyes shook slightly at his words. There was this loneliness or was it longing, that hid behind them, but just as quickly as it appeared it faded.

"Again Caspian, I have told you all you need to know."

Caspian was already getting furious.

Diane's charm. When he had first received it there was this ominous yet familiar pressure it gave off. He hadn't realized it then, but a similar charm had been placed around his neck as a child. It had been designed for ill-borns—Kids born in high-ranking Events, to absorb the Calamitous Will that they, just like every other creature that crawled out of Events, were born with.

Only after their inherent Will had been absorbed and the Calamitous core had been transferred slowly into a vessel which would be kept by the government, could the charms be taken off.

"I am well aware that Diane is ill-born."

Caspian stated glancing past Deven as he continued.

"A few Government officials being sent to find the kids was understandable. But that was a chopper. Back up or specialist wh–"

Caspian suddenly swerved as he gripped his head. Maybe it was the marathon from earlier or the sight of the dizzying fall below, but Caspian could feel his head buzzing.

The trees seemed to multiply while the earth around him shook.

"Cas… Cas… "

Makima called out.

He raised his head to face six blurring figures of her.

"Can you hear me?"

Suddenly, his senses blanked, causing him to stagger sideways. In the next second, he was plummeting down the mountain with terrible speed.