The light of Proxima shone through the clouds littered across the milky blue sky, marking dawn. The once-thin clouds were beginning to thicken, their beautiful, snowy white color turning to an unpleasant, concrete grey.
"Rain," Lyra murmured. "Probably will come in a few days."
She was flying high in the sky, her angelic white wings flapping as she hovered above the endless expanse of forest.
Her gaze fell from the sky and back onto the forest, scanning around for a spot to rest. After a few minutes of searching, she spotted a small clearing beside a river. Lyra flew over and scouted for potential danger. After confirming its safety, she flew back to the group.
...
Starlight leaned against a tree, panting heavily. All morning, they had been running through the forest, avoiding flying branches and hordes of monsters. Its maze-like structure did not help at all; they frequently ended up running in circles. Multiple times, he tripped over roots that seemed to appear right before him -landing face-first in the dirt.
He looked over to Liriel. She was sitting against the trunk of a massive tree, her hair covering her face. She was awake, but could've been better. Aster had done a quick diagnosis and found that she would be alright after some rest. When the monsters shattered her armor, pieces broke off and stabbed into her flesh.
Starlight didn't feel like he had it that bad anymore.
Rustle!
He looked up at the canopy above. Something broke through the branches and leaves. It was Lyra. After getting past the canopy, she slowly descended to the ground. Her wings retracted into her back, as if they never existed.
"How is she?" Lyra asked.
"She's fine; it's only blood loss. She'll be back on her feet in a couple of days!" Aster responded.
Lyra stood in silence, staring at the barely conscious Liriel for a few moments.
"I found us a clearing; it's only a couple of miles away from here," Lyra said, breaking the silence. She raised her hand and pointed off into the woods.
After hearing this, Aster turned and faced Liriel. He crouched and whispered into her ear; he then sat her up and turned around. Liriel fell onto his back, and Aster stood up.
Lyra turned to Starlight, her expression softer than before, though her gaze was cold.
"Have you been marking the trees?" she asked him.
Starlight nodded in response. He turned around and retrieved a small knife from his pocket. He carved an arrow in the direction Lyra pointed. After he carved the symbol, Starlight put the knife back into his pants pocket and walked towards the group.
After confirming everyone was ready, Lyra started walking into the woods, followed by Aster and Starlight.
'I'll finally be able to take a bath, or at least wash my hair.' He wished. 'Ever since last night's sleep, there have been twigs and all other things trapped in there. I want to get them out.'
...
Lyra picked up the pace; the walk turned into a full-on run.
Starlight clenched his fist, swaying it in motion with his legs. His lungs burned; he had just run for the entire morning, and now he would have to run more. Every muscle in his body felt like it was on fire; the short rest while Lyra had scouted ahead was not enough.
He looked around. The trees in the distance blurred together in a muddy blob of brown, black, and green. He still felt the ever-present eyes of the forest staring at him; he had thought them ever since last night.
"Gahh!" Starlight moaned.
A sharp sensation originating from his thigh spread throughout his body. "It must've been the knife," he told himself.
The lining in his pockets gave way, splitting open with the sharp blade of his knife. They'd already been torn running through the bush. Starlight had neglected to fix them, and this was the result of his actions.
He bit his lip, trying to draw the pain away from his leg. He couldn't fall behind the others; they were already ahead of him if Starlight left their company, who knew what the forest would do after it swallowed him up.
Starlight looked ahead as blood streamed from his mouth.
"Light!"
Both Aster and Lyra disappeared into the light. As he ran closer, Starlight could make out objects. There were a few large rocks that stood tall. He could hear the faint sound of water gushing over rocks.
Starlight kept running, not caring about the forest's watchful eyes and the dark that surrounded them. He burst through the trees, landing on thick green grass that swayed in the light breeze.
He collapsed, falling to his hands and knees, panting heavily. He gripped his leg with one hand and reached into his pocket, throwing out the knife. He brought his hand up to his face and examined it. It was smeared with blood. He dropped his hand and reached into his pocket, poking around his thigh.
He held back tears. Starlight brought his bloody hand into his mouth and felt around his gums.
Hack!
Starlight choked as he spat out blood.
He brought his cloak to his mouth and wiped off any remnants.
Thump!
Starlight looked up. Aster walked towards him. He cursed.
'What did he want?'
Aster squatted, attempting to get on the same level as Starlight. He noticed the wound on Starlight's leg and scowled.
"Hey, Star. You need some help with your leg?" He asked in a firm but kind voice.
'Huh,' Starlight thought, clearly startled.
He looked up at Aster with his hazel eyes, then back at the ground.
"Yes... Yes, please," Starlight responded.
Without saying another word, Aster picked Starlight up over his arms and held him in the air. He stared into his jet-black eyes, then adjusted Starlight's position until he looked comfortable. Aster walked over to the river and placed him on the bank.
Starlight looked at the river; streams of clear water roared as it smashed into jagged, moss-covered rocks. He shivered as the cold water rushed around his ankles. flinching whenever the water exploded against the rocks, sending drops at his face. The air smelled of fresh water, which reminded him of the lovely tap water in the government building.
Without saying anything, Aster ripped off Starlight's torn pants around his cut, startling him. After he splashed water over the wound, Starlight jumped, standing in the water. He looked down at Aster, then back at his cut.
"Sorry," Starlight said as he took his seat.
Starlight clenched his fist as Aster continuously poured water on the wound. He grabbed a small towel and dried it, then grabbed a small circular metal container out of his pocket and held it in front of Starlight's injury.
"This is a type of Vaseline for cuts like yours; it might sting," Aster said, still staring at the wound.
Starlight nodded, then flexed his leg and clenched his teeth. Aster unscrewed the top and smeared a beige, cloudy substance on his finger. He spread it along the edges of the cut. Instantly, Starlight felt an intense, stinging pain rise from his leg and spread throughout his body.
Just as quickly as the pain came, it disappeared. Aster removed his finger from Starlight's thigh and wiped the remnants of the substance against the edge of the container. When Starlight looked at the wound, all of the beige substance had dissolved into his skin. His deathly pale thigh started to regain some color, and the wound didn't feel so painful anymore.
"How does it feel?" Aster asked, as Starlight looked at his wound in amazement.
"It doesn't hurt as much, now. Thank you, Aster," Starlight responded with a slight smile plastered on his face.
Aster smirked and opened his mouth.
Rustle!
A sound came from the bushes behind them, and both Starlight and Aster turned their heads, looking back. Two men came out of the tree line, bloodied and worn.
"Godric, Bram," Aster mumbled. He stood up and walked over towards the duo.
Starlight still stared at the pair, wanting to check up on them, but retracted his gaze. He decided they looked tired enough and didn't want to bother them with his presence.
His gaze shifted over to the group of heavily eroded giant rocks. Plastered all over them were worn-down images; Starlight had to squint even to make out silhouettes.
He stood up and limped closer to the rock. Upon arrival, he examined the images more closely. Drawn onto the rocks were small black stick figures, all bowing down to a four-pointed star. Below the picture were a few carved symbols. Starlight didn't recognize them, and the Hex auto-translates languages, including written text.
'I wonder if I ask the Hex, will it translate the symbols for me?' Starlight thought.
Immediately, dimly glowing symbols appeared beside Starlight.
***
[Warning: Unable to translate... Language not supported]
***
"What? Language not supported," Starlight blurted out.
Forgetting about how he kept the Hex a secret from the other members of his group.
Realizing his mistake, he quickly covered his mouth and looked around; luckily, no one was paying attention to him.
He stared at the stone painting again, trying to find if he had missed anything. After confirming that he had seen everything he could, Starlight moved on to the neighboring rock, which was located beside the previous one and was approximately the same size.
Starlight examined the picture on this new rock, and it was different. The painting depicted what Starlight had made out to be an altar; on both sides of the altar were long, white pillars that rose from the ground. In front of the altar stood a creature with two heads, a human torso, four arms, and instead of legs, a snake's tail.
'Weird,' Starlight thought. 'And what's in front of it?'
In front of the creature was another black stick figure, which was holding a golden spike in one of its hands.
Starlight looked below the painting again; there were a few more symbols.
'I wonder if the Hex would translate this? Starlight thought as he placed his hand against the rough stone.'
***
[Warning: Unable to translate... Language not supported]
***
'Again? What's with this so-called all-powerful Hex if it can't even decipher a few old letters?'
Starlight looked over to Godric, Bram, and Aster. All three of them were talking. Starlight walked over a bit closer, attempting to listen in on their conversation, while posing to look at the third rock.
Starlight stood pressed against the side of the third massive rock, just out of sight from the trio, although he could hear them; it wasn't very clear. Paired with the sound of water crashing against rocks, all he could hear was mumbling.
"What does it mean? This is obviously all his fault."