The convoy was yet to come to a stop after almost two hours of riding. Spheris could hear his stomach crying to him, begging him to give it some food. With a swear leaving his lips, he began to worry that his ego was perhaps not helping him in terms of survival.
Had he eaten some of that sugar bread Cerene gave him, or the cornballs Thorin offered, or Akemi's leftover cranberry cake that he had sacrificed to Talon, then he wouldn't have been so hungry.
When he was not writhing silently in the pain of his vacant stomach, Spheris observed the setting as they rode. The sharp-edged mountains were certainly the most remarkable components that he had seen so far.
Not just because of their gigantesque size or their long trenchant edges, but because it seemed like they were evolving, shifting their forms every few minutes.
Spheris moved his gaze.
Like that one right there, right between two separate lakes of magma. It was the tallest one he'd seen so far. When he had first seen it, it had a single peak, with two other sharper edges approaching it. But now there were no other edges, and the peak was much more level.
Spheris had seen this happen to other mountains as well, and it very much worried him. The only conclusion he could reach was that the mountains kept changing their structure so as to confuse travellers. The shape of mountains was a good trail marker incase one got lost. Whoever or whatever had crafted this realm obviously did not want outsiders memorising certain paths.
Which led Spheris to another conclusion: The Abyss was intentionally hiding something. He couldn't even begin to guess what it was, but that was the only possible reason why they wouldn't want outsiders knowing their roads.
"Don't worry, my adventuring friends!" Yograg yelled from the captain seat. "We are almost there!"
Hearing this, Spheris and the Avatars exchanged looks, yet to say anything to each other since the convoy had taken off from the cave.
He locked eyes with Akemi, who looked away shyly. Then he locked eyes with Cerene, who seemed to have been watching them. This time, Spheris was the one to look away.
His eyes moved to the gallant team leader. But Thorin didn't seem very gallant at the moment. He was nibbling on the cornball in his hand, and swallowing anxiously.
Spheris understood that Thorin's anxiety came from the worry that these Abyssians might backstab them at any given time. Yet, his mannerisms were a bit extreme in Spheris's opinion. He kept darting his eyes around as though in search of answers on the faces of the Abyssians.
"Hey, where are we even going? And how long is it going to take?" Thorin finally voiced his worry.
Vurunt, the rugged barbarian assistant, turned to Thorin with what seemed to be a smile on his face — Spheris couldn't tell.
"We're taking you to our homeland," he said. "You share with us some food and we teach you the ways to survive. Did Captain not tell you?"
Thorin lowered his face, unsatisfied but with nothing else to say.
"He's a jittery one." Linne chuckled, holding on to the wooden rails of the convoy as it rumbled.
"Yeah." Vurunt exposed his very ugly teeth. "Scared boy in The Abyss."
The two Abyssians laughed.
"Scared?" Nero spoke up. "Thorin's not scared. He's the bravest person I've ever met. Our team leader."
"Team leader?" Linne asked with a surprise tone. "I thought it was him."
Seeing her brown eyes looking straight at his direction, Spheris frowned. Him?
"Him?" Nero exclaimed humorously. "Yeah, you're dead wrong."
"Is that so? He seems to be the calmest amongst all five of you." Linne shrugged. "And the way he carries himself... ever since you guys came out of the cave. Looked like a leader to me."
"He's not a leader, he's a Hea—" Nero received a nudge from Thorin, causing him to refrain himself and keep shut.
Rightfully so as well. The dolt was about to tell everyone here that he was Heathian. Which was certain to raise eyebrows. Because why would Gentlefolks embark on an adventure with a Heathian?
"He's a what?" Linne asked Nero, a hungry curiosity in her eyes.
"Whatever." Nero grunted, looking away.
"I see. So you adventurers have secrets that you don't want to share?" She smiled sweetly. "That's fine. But I hope you're being honest about why you're here. We Abyssians left the Continent to live in this realm because we were tired of the government, tired of suffering under the hands of those that were meant to protect us. So we would like it if you're not here to cause any trouble."
With words like that, Linne sounded like a Heathian. Which would mean that most if not all the Abyssians were Heathians as well. But what Spheris failed to understand was why. What advantages did they have living in such a hellish place over the dry wasteland?
After taking a quick assessment of Linne. He came to two conclusions. One, she was around the same age as him and the other Avatars. Which meant that she had to grow up fast. Eighteen year olds didn't usually have such rawness and savagery. Two... in fact there was no two. He realized that the two conclusions he arrived at was just a singular point - that the girl had to grow up fast.
He sighed at how boring it was, before looking up in anticipation as Yograg declared that they had arrived.
"Alright, down you adventurers go." Linne ordered. She jumped down the convoy on her own and assisted other Abyssians to get down.
In unison, the Avatars all highlighted from the wooden carriage. Spheris and Thorin caught each other's gaze. He wondered if the Avatar was bothered by what Linne had said, his demeanor certainly showed it.
But for Spheris, whoever was the team leader didn't matter to him. What mattered was his survival.
He looked ahead to what Nero, Cerene and Akemi were staring at, and he understood their bewilderment straight away.
A considerable feet away from them, a wide mountain dominated the landscape, towering like a pregnant colossal sentinel. Like other mountains, its sheer rock face seemed to pierce the sky, red magma streaked down like tears.
Then the gaping entrance to the cave below was even more eerie. It looked like it had been carved from ice. Blue crystals glistening ominously within seemed to promise some kind of danger in it's frigid depths.
And around the mountain, the Abyssal landscape stretched desolately. Jagged rocks jutted out of the red hard soil, their sharp edges contrasting sharply with the icy expanse. Here and there, pools of magma bubbled ominously, steaming the smelly vapour of burnt stone in the air.
"This is where you live?" Thorin asked, his voice filled with disconcertment.
"It is indeed," Yograg replied, as he joined them on the floor. "At least it used to be."
With a furrowed brow, Spheris turned to the Abyssians, the rest of the team pivoting in fear as well.
The Abyssians had done something strange. Somehow, they had quickly formed an arc of shield, securing the Avatars in the mouth of the cave to avoid them from breaking through.
"What the hell?" Nero muttered.
"They've betrayed us! I knew we shouldn't have trusted them!" Thorin said with gnashing teeth.
"This is on you, Cerene." Nero added.
Cerene had an honest apologetic look on her face as she stared at their situation. "You're right. I'm sorry." she said.
"It's not you're fault." Spheris stated.
"What?!"
He turned to Nero fearlessly. "It's not her fault," he repeated. "She was being rational, and she was right. These people are just bastards for betraying us. And I don't see why."
Spheris furrowed his brow at the gathered Abyssians, his gaze shifting between the grinning Linne and her lanky uncle. Tension hung thick in the air, suffocating any semblance of trust that had existed moments before.
"I'll advise you to drop the bags of supplies, Avatars." Yograg said with a mischievous smile.
And so the realization hit hard.
"You knew?" Thorin asked.
"Of course I knew. What do you think I am, stupid?" he laughed. "Five teenagers with powers inside the Abyss? What else could it be? I can't believe I almost forgot about it... The Convergence Ceremony. You want to destroy this place, our home.
"I'm sorry, but I can not let you do that."
"Oh yeah? And how do you plan to stop us?!" Nero demanded.
Suddenly, like an answer to his question, a roar blared out of the cave behind, causing the ground to shake.
Spheris recognised that roar. How could he forget? A sound like an anguished cry. It's guttural intensity, the heat it emanated. It was with no single doubt a Gorgolith.
The captain had an evil smile on his face now, shaking his head mockingly. "You really shouldn't have asked. Sacrificing you to the monsters of The Abyss are the kind of acts that keep us alive here. Like the water girl said; we know how to survive. So just drop the bags. Wouldn't want those supplies wasting in a Hellbender's belly."
The Avatars remained stoic, even though panic was surging through them that very moment.
"Alright then," Yograg shrugged. "Have it your way." He motioned his hand forward and all the numbers of Abyssians that surrounded them pulled out a spear from Hell-knows-where and began advancing towards the Avatars.
They chanted a haunting song as they did this, frightening the teenagers even more. The cave behind them shook, the creature within was approaching as well. Tension soaked the atmosphere.
"What do we do?" Nero muttered anxiously.
"We fight." Thorin replied.
"There's almost a hundred of them." Cerene said. "Can we take them all?"
"I don't know." Thorin's valiant voice came out in a whisper, then he conjured his fire balls and took a combat stance. "But what we can do... is fight."
And so they all conjured their Influences, preparing to fight.