Chapter Five Hundred and Five - Sympathy for the Monster

Chapter Five Hundred and Five - Sympathy for the Monster

Chapter Five Hundred and Five - Sympathy for the Monster

"You can unhand me, now," Amaryllis said.

"I'm not quite done yet," I said as I gave her a cheek rub for good measure.

"Is this normal?" Laine asked.

"Awa, I think so?" Awen tried.

I decided that two minutes was long enough for a hug, at least this kind of 'I'm happy you're alive' hug. Obviously, I could have gone on for longer, but I didn't want to annoy Amaryllis too much.

"Sorry," I said. "I was just really worried."

Amaryllis huffed a weird huff that was hard to translate, then she reluctantly wrapped her wings around me. "Fine," she said. "I was worried about you too. For nothing, obviously."

I grinned. "I think everyone's made it here, then?" I glanced around and counted heads. Obviously Awen and Calamity and Desiree were fine. Orange was snoozing. Miss Laine was here, as was Sir Aberrforth, and they seemed to be standing closer to each other than I would have expected from the witch's previous behaviour towards him. The explorer we'd found earlier was patting the shoulders of two others who'd been with Amaryllis.

It looked like the one we'd found in the mines was here too, he looked happiest of all to see his friends.

"Is everyone safe, then?" I asked.

"Safe?" Miss Laine asked. "Hardly. After being scattered through these blighted tunnels by that blackness, I no longer have any conception of where we are. We're easy prey for the monster that stalks these halls."

I glanced at Laine. "Would this ... monster ... happen to be a shadowy figure hidden in an aura of near-impenetrable darkness?"

Laine whirled to face me. "So you've seen it!" she breathed out.

"Yeah, I've talked to him. We shouldn't have any problems getting out."

"You what," she said so flatly that I wasn't even sure it was a question.

"I spoke to him for a while. He's... not that bad?"

She stared at me for a long moment, her mouth working soundlessly. "... The monster living here is evil," Laine said. "My predecessors have been guarding this area for generations, fearful of the day he'd emerge from this accursed maze to destroy what's left of the Darkwoods and the world beyond that."

"Well, he's had a long time to reflect, you know? Centuries, it sounds like. He really ... the way he talked, he really hates his past self. He said that it was good for the World that he'd been sealed away." I wrung my fingers together. "I think he's a better person, now."

"Not carefully enough to keep whatever was in there in, clearly," Amaryllis said. "That door's not keeping anything determined away, and I can't sense any magical traps in the air here. If there were any, they're worn out."

Miss Laine didn't seem happy to have her ancestor's work poked at by Amaryllis' rather critical opinions. I patted Amaryllis on the wing to tell her to calm down a little.

"Let's just get out of here?" I asked.

"Before that, we should return to where we were before we got pulled down," Calamity said. "I dropped some gear when I got yoinked."

There were a few more nods all around, so he wasn't the only one who'd lost some equipment. I hadn't even thought about it, but it was true that I'd had Weedbane with me earlier and now it was gone. Oops?

The grenoil led us up and through the mines, taking their time as we came to areas where the supports had fallen apart or where parts of the mine had started to collapse. It looked like time was wearing out the mines in a bad way. There was even a small stream of water running down the side of one tunnel we walked through. I figured there were good odds that parts of the mine were flooded.

Eventually, we were back in the sections we'd come down earlier, and then it wasn't hard to retrace our steps to where a lot of our gear was just... laying on the ground in random heaps.

Once we all had our stuff gathered, we felt a bit more secure, even if the mines still held an ominous air and were definitely still spooky. I hefted Weedbane onto my shoulder with a grunt of relief.

As we continued down the mines, always heading up and towards the surface, I couldn't help but feel like something was watching me from behind. Whenever I looked back, though, there was nothing.

"We should, ah, hurry," Awen said.

"Yeah, daylight's burning and all that," Calamity said with a nod.

Miss Laine sniffed, then sighed. "You may stay at my place for the night. No, not you Aberrforth. You're sleeping outside. But the rest of you deserve at least that much hospitality."

"Thank you!" I said.

Miss Laine nodded stiffly, her eyes scanning the rocky path ahead. "Let's make sure we all make it out of here first," she added, a hint of urgency creeping into her voice.

We made it to the room where the explorers had camped and they were quick to gather up their own things.

Then it was time to squeeze our way out of the mines. I insisted on going last, since I could make myself smaller and leave in a hurry if it came to it.

I glanced back before leaving, expecting ... something.

But there was only darkness behind me as I left.

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