Martyr immediately lays down, putting his back on the window just barely so he can peek over the wall of the trunk.
As the hills blow by they slowly decline like a slide, they quickly swap out with shops, houses and massive palm trees. It looked much bigger than Umberville, some of the buildings looked like they had second or even third floors. There weren't many people walking around, he saw a few at bus stops or walking on the sidewalks in big groups. For the most part everyone was in the lit up buildings. It was a good thing they arrived at night because the truck was zipping through the town, they definitely would've made a scene if it were day.
"I wish I could see where we're going." Vanagloria said.
Martyr looked over at Vanagloria, she was laying down next to him, looking out of the other side of the truck. It was getting harder and harder to see her in the night, the time frames of passing lights of buildings and poles were the only times he could really see her.
"Me too, this feels like I'm getting kidnapped."
All of a sudden the houses stop passing by and they are out in the open again. Although this time on one side of the road there is a meadow of grass, and on the other a harsh sandy desert.
"Woah…" Martyr says, awed by the sight of the two worlds clashing together.
Vanagloria looks like she tries to say something only to be interrupted by the truck whipping off its lane to take a left into the grass area. The ground below them turns to a massive bed of grass. No road, no dirt, all green.
"I think that means we can stand up." Vanagloria said. "We're far enough away now."
"I'll get up in a second hold on, I'm still trying to process that we are out of the town already." Martyr slowly lifts himself up, trying to not fall overboard.
As Martyr reaches a kneeling position, he feels a rough brush over his hair for just a moment making him duck back down. He looks back up and sees a small tree go by the truck to his left.
Then he sees another one, this time to his right and slightly bigger.
Then he sees another one, next to another tree.
In just one quick moment, Martyr's surroundings are all trees, whizzing to his left and right, branches and leaves going right over his head. Sticks, leaves and nuts are falling into the trunk while the truck goes at breakneck speed through the forest.
His eye catches a giant brown animal running away from the truck to his left and countless smaller ones crawling up trees or flying away. The only thing he can hear is the truck crashing through the foliage.
This goes on for seemingly forever but realistically only a few minutes until the bumps of the different rocks and sticks in the truck's way slow down, the situation de-accelerating linear to the truck's speed.
The truck parks just before a stream of water, the massive gray machine peering into the shallow waters.
Calm and blue, the stream shines in the headlights of the truck as it continues to travel through the smooth mossy rocks, bubbling in ease on its path. Emerald green trees and bushes beside the truck were making its dull color palette stand out amongst the rest of the forest.
Martyr took in the serine moment where the insanity finally stopped and he could see the forest for how it truly is. It seemed like the chaotic moment beforehand might as well have never happened.
The thing that caught his eye the most was the small waterfall flowing down from a mountain producing the stream. It flows between two boulders like a small doorway covering up what's in between. It pours down from a preach on an overhanging ledge above them. The ledge was coming out of an extremely tall mountain, one of the ones he saw earlier but this time way up close.
The lush mountain frosted with its own trees and grass went way past the tops of the trees and seemed to even poke the barely visible clouds. It looked very unstable, like a skinny rock pile that had multiplied in size by the hundreds and the environment around it just adapted to its presence. It wasn't the only one like this either, there were plenty of these mountains around the area, even through the dark of night and trees covering up any chance of seeing far into the distance, Martyr could still vaguely see multiple of these mountains all over the forest.
"That's it."
Vanagloria had also been taking in the moment, breaking the silence reminding Martyr the importance of the waterfall.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Martyr taps the top of the truck, signaling Spectre on the inside.
Without any more communication the truck starts to slowly creep forward, rolling into the shallow brook causing water to splash the tires. Martyr can feel the bumps in the road as the truck goes over the rocks in the stream. The truck only seems to be submerged in half a tire.
The waterfall pouring into the brook gets louder the closer they get to it, the heights of the ledge above looking more and more daunting. The waterfall looks just wide enough for a car to fit through.
"Should we go in the truck before we go through?" Vanagloria says as the truck continues to move closer and closer.
"I think it's a little too late for that, plus I don't think it'll be that bad."
The front of the truck starts to get hit by the stream and the truck immediately speeds up as Spectre hits the gas.
As the truck flies forward Martyr and Vanagloria stumble barely holding onto the side of the truck. An unexpected amount of water hits both of them. Martyr starts to feel water at his knees as it fills up the trunk.
In one quick burst the truck comes blazing out of the waterfall onto a completely flat dirt road.
It slows down once again as the group finds themselves in a massive wide open cave, easily the size of multiple football fields.
The place was lit up by a giant white crystal embedded into the middle of the stone roof of the cave. It was dim now, only giving off a soft moonlight, just enough for them to see in the cave. There were little strands of light energy coming off of the crystal connecting to three luxurious houses and street pole lights around them.
A fountain stood directly in the middle of the area with the dirt road circling around it, acting as a small roundabout parking lot. The mini-mansions all circled around this fountain.
The houses all had a regal yet cozy look to them. They were all two-story wooden almost lake house like buildings, with windows covering up the front wall and slanted roofs.
A race track surrounded all of them, hugging the stone walls of the cave and cutting through the dirt road ahead of them.
This truly looked like a hide out for royalty.
"And it's all ours."