Gary's fighting began to die down, and he let out a deep breath as his hands lowered his blade. Alfred's words felt like a bucket of water, quenching his fiery determination.
He wanted this to be over. Everything... everything had gone wrong this day. But the suffering he felt wasn't what made him so zealous. It was fear. Fear that if didn't kill this thing, he would have to relive all the pain and hopelessness he felt today. Not just for 24 hours, but for weeks, months... years... until either the world ended or humanity somehow pulled off what it had done a thousand years back.
It was something he would enjoy reading from the pages of a book, but he had no desire to see it play out in the world he existed in.
But what choice was there?
Gary was no saint, nor was he a man of great power. A pathetic man, trapped in a shattered room as he flailed against an impenetrable wall. That is what he was.
Alfred was right; all he could do was run.
Alfred seemed to say something else as Gary turned to face him, but the message was drowned out. The room had been consumed by the grinding and crumbling around them, absorbing everything into the cacophony of noise it now conducted.
Yet, the message behind the lost words was still understood.
'Help me carry the others.'
Gary nodded and began to run, although not before he paused and mouthed the answer:
'You get Brandus.'
The two split as they rushed to their teammates, dodging the falling debris that rained down.
Gabriel and Shasa found their way onto Gary's shoulders, who just happened to be the lightest of the bunch, with Alfred holding onto Edwin and the heavy-laden Brandus.
Despite the precarious situation, Gary didn't forget to snatch each newly discovered weapon up and stash them in his trusty bag... though he did nearly drop Shasa in the process.
The two hauled out towards the trembling gates, carefully taking mind of the shifting floor and loose slabs of slate.
The first to approach, Alfred tightened his grip on the two shouldered teammates as he buried a heel deep into the ground, throwing a heavy-swung boot into the crack of the doors.
The great gates shuddered from the explosive force as its maw widened . Each door seemed all too happy to be rid of the invaders, opening with such an eagerness that it seemed to spit them out as the two adventurers darted from the room.
Gary chased behind Alfred as the doors slammed shut behind them with a mighty boom before the unlit stairwell plunged into uneasy silence. The clamor of the quaking room was unable to penetrate the thick layers of ornate metal, leaving only the echo of fading footsteps that fled the darkness.
/
Underneath the broken mountain that had buried much of the castle within its massive form, a plain of barren earth stretched out from every corner. Drenched in the foul air that swept across the flatland, a sky of hazy clouds blanketed the world, as it had for centuries in the central region of Vecora. No light could pierce their depths, leaving the land in a perpetual shade of desolate gray.
Indeed, gray. Such was the theme of this place. No trace of color truly existed within the land. In place of luscious foliage and emerald green grass, a veil of speckled white coated the arid earth. A layer of ash, whose only imperfection was the trail of footprints spread across the ground.
There, two prone figures rested on top of the ashy soil, resembling their compatriots who lay nearby.
"Ha... Ha—" Gary panted, staring up into the shapeless curtain of clouds above him. Oddly enough, he enjoyed the dismal view. It was nice to lose himself for a minute in the shrouded sky. His head eventually turned away from the sheet of dreary clouds and rolled to the side, finding Alfred in a similar state.
"You alright over there?"
His question was met by a troubled laugh: "One hell of a question, that is. But yeah, I'm alright." Alfred mirthlessly chucked once more with closed eyes, though the looming presence of the mountaintop could be felt even without vision. "... I'm alright."
Despite putting more than a mile between them and its base, the distance failed to provide a single glimmer of safety. Though the air was still and the summit silent, both knew Pandora's Box had been cracked open; it was just a matter of time before the lid slid off.
All they could do was run before everything came falling down.
Perhaps it was such a realization that pushed them to withstand their aching bodies, forcing themselves to rise from the comfort of the cool earth after they caught a second wind.
Or maybe... it was merely a primal instinct to run.
If it was, then it was not strong enough to break them, as the two still remembered to care for the others.
'...This is gonna suck.' Gary lugged the healer and sorceress back into his arms with a groan, along with a sense of apprehension. Making it out of the castle had been bad enough, even if he had carried the lightest. But compared to the journey ahead... well, all he could say was that the unconscious members better wake up soon. For their sake.
Noticing Gary's struggle, Alfred gave him a side eye while he gathered his own sleeping beauties: "Are you able to make it? Didn't do too hot getting them out, I thought for a second that I had lost you back there."
"Eh... I'll manage. Only reason I fell behind was for a detour." Gary shrugged.
"Detour? It was a hallway..."
"..."
His refusal to answer illicited a snort from the giant, who shook his head with an incredulous look. "Whatever. Just... don't wander off. We aren't safe. Not yet."
Both heads turned to the horizon at the warning, where a ring of divots and hills bordered the edges around them. One would assume that it was a natural formation at first glance, but they knew better.
Burrows. Each and every one. Home to a plethora of savage beasts, whose only form of sustenance was their own kin's flesh. It had been ages since a species other than their own had ventured within their territory, but their desire to hunt still burned strong.
It was a fact that they had learned the hard way, and the lesson was still imprinted in their minds as they both clutched at their newfound trinkets around their necks.
"On the bright side, we'll know whether or not the Compendium is real. Though the cost of the appraisal is... a bit higher than I would like." Gary muttered.
"Shame you can't barter with 'em. That's one skill I can give you credit for. But on the off chance these trinkets don't work, you got any ideas?"
"Huh. Now that is one hell of a question." Shaking his head, Gary took the first steps of the arduous journey ahead, a streak of red cloth peeking out from the mouth of his bag. "...Let's hope for the best, Alf."
After all, that was all they could do.