Silence swept through the tunnel and a small gust of wind flew past them. The tension in the air, thickening by the second.
'Marcus.' Valina whispered, gripping her staff tightly.
Marcus slowly looked up, his arms trembling and eyes filled with regret and hesitation. The sword loosely hung on by his hand.
'I'm.' He began, 'I'm The Gatekeeper,' He could feel his throat burning as his words were barely audible.
'Gatekeeper?' Valina looked at him in confusion, 'What- What does that mean?'
Marcus quickly tilted up his head and breathed out a deep sigh, trying to calm his breathing and keep in his tears.
'I-It mean, I was meant to protect the residents within the gate.'
Once again, the two locked eyes. Those words had basically confirmed the theory.
'I'm assuming that portal is the gate... and those creatures were the residents.' Valina said, her grip on the staff loosening, 'Was that your mission? Protecting those creatures?'
Marcus flinched as he heard the words came out of her mouth, a glint of hesitation appeared in his eyes before he shook his head. It was too late to lie now.
'What was your mission,' Valina muttered before staring at Marcus, shocked. 'Don't tell me,'
He slowly nodded his head, 'Eliminate the hunters.' He croaked out.
'No way,' Valina slumped down, dropping onto the ground in shock.
'B-But there must be another way!' Marcus exclaimed, 'A loophole we can exploit. There must be! Another exit! The entrance to the cave! If we can just find it.'
Tears were already falling and dripping down his cheek as he tried to give her hope.
Rubbing her eyes, Valina looked up at Marcus's desperate expression and gave a small smile.
'You know what? Maybe you're right,' She slowly got up, dusting herself off.
'That's the spirit,' Marcus chuckled as he took a deep breath, using his sleeves to wipe off his face, 'Let's go,'
He slowly trudged his way through the tunnel, backtracking his previous steps. His footsteps crunched loudly in the silence. The shrieks and scuttling of goblins had left the cave uncomfortably quiet.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His footsteps continued when he suddenly spun around in realization.
'Valina?'
She was nowhere in sight.
'Valina!'
He bolted his way back, dust flying from beneath his feet.
In front of him, stood Valina her back facing him, her staff thrown across the ground, and in her hand. A single large jagged rock.
'Valina! Stop!' He tried to walk over to her.
'No. You stop. Don't come any closer,' She shouted, stopping him right in his track. Her ragged breath was evident that she was crying.
'You know the truth, Marc. There's no way out.' She began, tears dripping into the small puddle of water next to where she stood.
'But that doesn't mean-!' He yelled back at her, his voice began to shake.
'Only one of us can come out alive, Marc. If I make it out alive, all that's left for me is the abuse of my drunken father. When you leave, you'll still have the love and warmth of your family. You're more needed than I am,' She continued, 'I have no friends, no family, nothing. All I had till this day that kept me going was you. You were my role model, Marc. Your kindness. Your patience. You helped me become a better person. So when you leave. Stay kind and patient. Don't ever change. Help make this world a better place.'
She turned around, tears pouring down her chin with a giant smile planted on her face.
'Goodbye, and thank you.' She mouthed, finally smashing the rock into her brain with all her strength.
'NO!'
He rushed over to her, catching her fallen body in his arms.
'I ..ove...ou...Tell.. th... kids.. That Miss Sor...th will...miss yo...al....'
Her hand slumped down as she drew her last breath.
*Ding*
[Mission Complete]
[Warping in:]
[3]
[2]
[1]
The cave walls began disintegrating as a dark void consumed his vision, a white light instantly enveloping Marcus in a bright divine glow, and all of a sudden he found himself kneeling in front of the playground, no longer holding Valina in his hand.
'Marcus!' The teachers and principals ran from within the building, gathering around him in surprise.
'Oh my god! Marcus, you were gone for over 4 hours! We were so worried for you! We've called the authorities and they would be arriving in a few minutes!' The principal explained, stepping forward.
'Did you manage to find the boy's mother? Where's Valina?' He asked, looking around.
Marcus slowly looked up, his eyes completely soulless before looking back at his hands,
'She's gone.' He whispered, tears dripping down once again.
'Everyone, please step aside!' A loud shout called out from a distance, 'I'm Arthur Leison from the Ledensire Hunter Bureau!'
A man in a black suit walked up to the group of teachers holding up his authentication badge.
'We've received a report about an incident regarding a gate opening in the vicinity.'
'Ah, yes.' The principal stepped forward, 'There was this portal that had opened up right here around 4 hours ago. Marcus here and a fellow teacher had gone in to help retrieve a student's mother. We believe she had accidentally entered the portal.' He explained.
'Understood,' The officer walked over to Marcus and slowly knelt down,
'Sir, Is it possible to recount to me the event which happened within the gate?'
Marcus looked up at the man,
'She's gone.' He whispered, 'She's dead... because of me,'
The officer sighed, grabbing his hand, 'Please don't blame yourself, Marcus. Noone had expected someone like this to happen. Even the government was unprepared. That's why we need to gain information about these gates so we can find a way to stop them. So please, if you wish to prevent future accidents like this from happening, will you be so kind to come with me and provide some information about the inside of the gate?'
Marcus hesitated before slowly nodding his head.
'But, before that...' Marcus said, 'Can I speak to the kid quickly. I need to be the one to tell him.'
'Ok, I'll wait outside.' the officer nodded and stood up.
'Thank you,'
'I'll go get him,' One of the teachers said, making his way into the school building and fetching the sleeping Jacob.
'Mr. Elori?' The young boy called out a few minutes later, appearing right outside the door, rubbing his eyes, 'Did you find mommy?'
'Jacob.' Marcus slowly walked over, giving him a hug. 'Your mother couldn't make it.'
'What do you mean?' Jacob asked, looking at Marcus with innocent eyes.
'S-She went to heaven, Jacob.' Marcus whispered, 'Before she left, she told me to tell you that... she wants you to stay strong and stay brave.'
Jacob stared at Marcus. He could feel a clogging in his throat as his eyes became wet. Within seconds, he was burying his head into his teacher's chest, crying his lungs out.
After 5 minutes of crying, the young boy and finally lost his voice, his eyes slowly shutting and he fell asleep in Marcus's arms.
'This is too much burden for an 8-year-old to bear,' Marcus muttered, patting Jacob's head.
'I'll take it from here,' A female teacher smiled softly, taking Jacob from his arms, 'Go meet up with that officer.'
'Thank you,' Marcus smiled back letting go of the child.
'..I will be brave... strong....' He heard a small mutter as he was about to leave, causing a small smile to emerge on his face.