"So, here we are..." I let out quietly to Thurge as we stood at the edge of the massive gathering. Children of many different sizes, all with their own postures and ways of being bored. Some stood out, like Bolunch who made a point of stretching beforehand.
"When the High Priest finishes his sermon, we start." he seemingly repeats to himself as he erratically looks about. And as he did that, I looked behind us cautiously. Those soldiers were fighting but the villagers seemed to think it was lightning. Despite what I knew, though, I kept it to myself.
Nervous as it made me be...
"And most of all, good luck to you all. We eagerly await whoever brings back the sacred ore." Torque finishes with as he and most of the other adults bow before us.
"Now?" I ask, seeking that last bit of clarification.
"Do not follow me." Thurge comments as he suddenly marches off. And, too late did I realise that nearly all the other children had gone as well.
"Maelta! Go! Go!" Torque urged as he began to gesture me to move.
But, before I did so, I moved as close as I could to him, "She'll come back for you."
"And I will be very proud to see her smile." he tells me as the distant cheering dies down. However, the gunfire and the storm above did not. Were it not for his slowness as well, I might've lost him!
"I thought you would've been moving faster, to be honest." I comment as I catch up with him. Shivering as some kind of hair-raising breeze goes past me.
"Oh, he's always lacking motivation!" Bolunch answers as he springs from nowhere.
"Didn't you...?"
"I was with everyone else, but I decided to take a shortcut." he answers with a grin and bemused huff.
"You shouldn't be so relaxed about all of this..." I tell him, thinking more so of the battle raging down in the deep forest. Yet, I guess, I was also on about this festival itself. This was very important for them all, no?
"Oh, I've got a good feeling about Thurge here!" he laughs as he smacks his friend's shoulder. However, he was in turn baffled by the stiffness of his body.
"Not even a stumble..." I mutter after having seen the firm smack Bolunch had handed out.
"He's quite serious, then." he comments as he flexes his hand. The sting of the slap seemingly bothered him more.
"But none of us know which way to go." I say as I grow annoyed at the fact that I could not have found it beforehand. All I had a rough idea of was that it was seemingly close to the top of the mountain.
"Instincts. Instincts will lead us the way and it will all become clear."
"Being honest here, I'm not really feeling these instincts."
"That's because you don't know what they are."
"What? Of course, I do!" I tell him as I raise my hands with exasperated fervour.
"Tell me, then."
"It's the actions yo-"
"Wrong!" Bolunch interrupted early.
"You stay right there!" I threaten as I move to grab a stick to poke him with.
"The instincts I am on about here is familiarity. We don't walk this path often but you can discern something. There is nothing familiar yet, you feel like there is." he explains with awe in his voice.
"No, not feeling any of that." I tell him. A problem that might be a result of the fact I am not Maelta. Those would've been her feelings and sensations. It all means nothing to me.
What I could feel, however, was a sink in my gut as the bangs behind us became more frequent...
"Maelta, down here!" Bolunch then calls out after he flicks a small twig at me.
"Caves..." I let out as I quickly follow them into the hollow parts of the mountain. And to my surprise, there was ample, natural light within this place. The reflection of water on the walls, though, did not fill me with any kind of joy. The last time I saw something like this I nearly drowned...
The ship journey I took here did not end well as we were raided by strange creatures. And, being as inexperienced as I was, I could defend no one nor myself. So I ran and ran until I found a tunnel with light. It was not an experience I was interested in reliving.
Yet, to my surprise, as we turned a corner, we came upon something that was simply amazing. A cavern full of reflective crystals and natural treasure. Gentle drops of dew bristled about us and a clean-cut path was before us. There were even small flowers of all things blooming in here!
"Is any of this thunder-gold?" I decided to ask as maybe their knowledge could fill me in.
"No, He tells me that this is just a..." Thurge begins to explain before a strong tremor suddenly washes in from the way we came. A high-pitched whistle and strange bursts followed suite.
"We should get moving." I tell the pair as I suspect that it was probably what I spent all night worrying about.
"Hey, there is no way out..." Bolunch comments as he glances about the end of the cavern he had suddenly run off to.
"There has to be, right?" I question as I stare at Thurge who was undeterred by the news.
"Thurge, where're you going?"
"He's probably found what you couldn't." I comment as I walk up to him. Slowing down as Bolunch suddenly launches himself over a collection of crystals.
"Here?" Thurge asks as he starts to apply pressure on a rock.
"I think I can see some light coming through!" Bolunch exclaims as he joins his friend in pushing at the loose stone.
"I don't think..." I start to protest before I decided to keep quiet. I could either help them move a boulder or we could go back the way we came and get shot... For the sake of more than just my own life, I had to avoid something like that.
"Just... A little... MORE!" Bolunch lets out as the rock suddenly rolls aside and tumbles down.
"Oh..." I gulp as we suddenly found ourselves on a narrow walkway at the very edge of the mountain. Not even within it anymore. We were actually on the outside...
"What are those...?" Bolunch asks as he points his arm up at a distant sight. Three flying objects that emanated magical power. And below them, a sea of crimson shimmers filled the air with the force of their march.
"Trouble, now move." I urge them desperately as I start to move them as much as I could. But Thurge lingered and stared out at the army. One that was clearly funnelling into something. And that something was most likely the tunnels the soldiers came through...
However, Thurge would not move. And he seemingly adopted an eternal vigil of what was out there. Constantly watching them and doing nothing else. But we did not have time for this.
So I tried and tried again. Failing each time to get him to move and only endangering myself. Possibly getting myself killed were it not for Bolunch's quick reflexes. Something I made a point of thanking him for before I stood before Thurge's still body.
"We need to go." I remind him before he snaps out of the sudden stupor.
"Thunder-gold!" he suddenly exclaims as he recklessly began a sprint across the narrow path.
"SLOW DOWN YOU FOOL!" Bolunch cries out as his friend starts to run. However, neither of us was fast enough to stop him. Nor were we willing enough to copy his actions.
"It's alright, we can still catch up." I tell Bolunch as I urged him forward. And although we did not run, we managed to keep him partially in our sights. At least, until we had to go around a brief bend that went in towards the mountain.
"I am quite surprised that there is a stable path out here..." Bolunch nervously chuckles as we make it past one of the narrower parts of the path.
"Maybe someone carved it out of the rock..." I say, thinking of the stairs and the cave I once climbed and spent time in. Before I met Lightning in person and was sent back to this time. Yet, Thunder does not exist yet for the moment. So he couldn't have done it...
Then who did? There was no way that this was a natural piece of erosion. Even back when the village within was burned to the ground... The winds were still calm and uneventful.
Were it not for the army and the airships they likely came from. It would be so serene this sight, so beautiful. Whereas before I only saw this mountain with awe. I was somewhat jealous of the landscape this land once had.
"There you are!" Bolunch lets out as he smacks Thurge behind the head for his actions. Something that I did not carry on, much to his amusement.
"Which way, Thurge?" I ask him as I watch Maelta's friend slowly wander once again. That did leave me distinctly confused, though. He just ran off and now he was wandering aimlessly? Was that a sign that He had been fought off?
That Thurge was in charge of his body once more? But that would entail something quite dramatic indeed. If such a thing were true, we would be dealing with more of this. Sudden bursts of energy that I have learned are much unlike Thurge.
"This way..." he starts to say before a new sight catches our attention. Smoke, and lots of it.
"We need to go." I tell the duo before they start tremble with fear and concern. The sudden wave of screams certainly did not help either.
"Let's go!" Bolunch suddenly tells Thurge as the pair spring into action and leave me behind.
"No... No... I need Thurge to..." I start to mutter worriedly as I chase after them. Watching from behind as Bolunch skillfully tears a branch off and hoists it by his side. Thurge, however, was suddenly surrounded by something else. That flicker was back...
"Dammit... DAMMIT!" Bolunch started to let out angrily as we came to discover that we were trapped. With two large walls of solid, god-blessed mountain stone on either side. A valley-esque view that was damning for these two. Yet, rather than stop, they just kept on going until an opening seemed to finally appear.
"There's nothing we can do, let's go!" I snap as the pair stop at the exit. Only for us three to discover that it was a sudden drop that lead back down below. My words, however, did not mean much when down below... Adults and children alike were arming themselves.
The soldiers, or what remained of them had clearly pulled back to the village. Which was now a warzone as green bolts of magic tore through tree and house alike. But that did not stop Bolunch in the slightest and he leapt down. Grinding his sandals and his soon bloody feet along the stone until he crashed down below.
Without even a glance back, he charged out to join the defence of his home. However, before Thurge could join his friend. I smashed him over the head with a thick stick that was lying about. Angrily staring down at him as that flicker disappeared.
Then, with confused tears in his eyes, he looked up at me, "Why're you trying to stop me? Why aren't you trying to defend your...!"
Despite what this meant for me, though, I couldn't maintain a stern gaze, "I cannot allow you to die..."
"You knew this was going to happen!?"
"I did..." I nod as images of skeletons and burnt-down buildings flashed before my eyes.
"H-How...? If you knew what was going to happen then you know how to...?"
"I do... I think..." I sigh out as my normal personality began to burn through. I just couldn't bring it to myself to tell him 'we have to let them die.'
"What? You think what!?" he demands to know as he suddenly scrambles to his feet. Then, a curled-up fist suddenly yanks me forward while fear fills me. To be staring down someone angered like this... I knew what it was like.
"The thunder-gold! We need to get you to the thunder-gold!" I blurt out to him despite knowing what it would mean for my goals. And although I kept the frustrations to myself. The counter-planning as well. I kept on encouraging him to find it.
"Right... The holy power of Thurnmourer!" he let out in understanding as that flicker came back. Its ghostly visage leads him as if he were a pack animal with a carrot before him.
"Slow down!" I beg as I start to realise what this haste of his would mean. He would beat me to the thunder-gold and I would fail in my task! I couldn't let this happen! There was no way I could!
Not now, not when I was so close to getting the power I needed to save Mother! To prove to the world that I was not some ill-formed bastard! To free us both of the torment my deplorable characteristic brought us. This was not something that would just slip me by!
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" I angrily screamed as I tried to keep up with him while holding some kind of weapon.
"I will save you, Dad." Thurge muttered as he suddenly came to a stop. And, as I heard those words. I stopped as well. In some ways, he was like me.
He just wanted to make his parent proud... To save them... But mine mattered more...? Right?
His father is long dead. They all were. But not Mother. Not my mother...
"Wai... No... No!" I let out desperately as a golden light started to shine from a crack in the forest to our left. A powerful force that I was intimately familiar with lay just beyond those trees... And if the light wasn't enough, the storm above seemed to mark out what was there.
That was the thunder-gold... And Thunder was about to be born!
"NO!" I screamed as I suddenly rushed at him. Striking down a confused Thurge. But my clumsy strikes gave him plenty of space to move. And he quickly got back up and hid behind a tree.
"I d-don't understand, Maelta... Why're you doing this!?" he demanded to know between bouts of his gaze suddenly snapping towards the fallen ore.
"I can't let you take that!" I spit venomously as anger and frustration began to seethe from my body. Mother's life was almost saved! I just needed to get past him and beat him back!
Maybe even kill Thurge if it meant stopping Thunder... But, no! I can't save Lightning's friend if I killed him! What was I supposed to do!?
Neither of us was willing to budge here!
But I had gone too far to back out now. So I kept my weapon close at hand. Switching my gaze from the glowing metal and him. Slowly and steadily moving towards the ore while he cowered.
"I'm sorry, b-but I need this..." I told him as thoughts of Mother filled my mind completely.
"NO!" he roared as he charged me. Only to be beaten back by a haphazard swing from my stick. Yet, when I tried to do it again, he absorbed the blow. Catching my stick under his arm before he then yanked it away.
At this point, he then shoved me to the ground. A good few metres I flew at first before I got back up. Charging him down and slapping at him wildly. Unrelenting I was, but still, it was not enough.
"Get off... Get off!" he snapped as he grabbed my wrists, clenching them tightly into a single hand. And then, he tossed me off and got back up. Yet, that is all he did at that point. He did not go for the ore...
"If only I had my magic!" I cursed loudly as I got back up. My anger at my changed body was apparent. Obviously, though, it only confused him.
"Maelta... Stop this... Our friends and family are under attack! I need to save them!"
"THEY ARE ALREADY DEAD! ALL OF THEM ARE DEAD! TORQUE!? HE DIES BY THAT STUPID ANVIL AND THE REST ARE GUNNED DOWN BY MACHINES! MY MOTHER, HOWEVER, IS STILL ALIVE! AND I CAN SAVE HER!" I screamed at him with maddened fury as I picked up a rock.
"They're still alive...?" he let out as he shook his head about. Until he was seemingly hit by a sudden realisation.
"Go, Thurge, go!" that image suddenly ordered him with a booming voice that rumbled about my ears.
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" I screamed as I intercepted him. Smashing him over the face with that same rock before he seemingly hit me with one as well.
"I'm s-sorry!" he tearfully let out as he suddenly began to punch me over and over again. With the kind of rough skill only boys could really know. The wind was knocked out of me as well as blood and I quickly stumbled back.
And terror, I felt terror.
This body had no magic in it. I could not fight how I might've normally fought. I was physically inferior by every account. And worst of all, it was myself that had to endure this pain.
I couldn't push it back down and how scared I was became clear. The desperation I had elicited from Thurge made him unceasing. He kept up his punches and shoves no matter how many screams or cries he got from me. His sudden realisation, however, made me aware of more than just the pain.
And I felt the rush of air on my back.