Escape from Artazia
Ash put one foot in front of the other, the way they'd been doing it for the last 5 days, as an "emigration guide" lead them across the treacherous mountain slopes. The goal was to avoid getting too close to the
Zone of War, as
Avartarian had been on a tear lately, endlessly rampaging. Ahead of Ash was Momma Caroline, and trailing a short ways behind them was Mama Hannah, and with her, Evan.
Mama Hannah had been making the trip
almost tolerable for the entire group with her constant story-telling, despite the harsh weather and utterly exhausting journey. Ash had wanted to rent some
Glacier Crawlers, but Momma Caroline gave Ash such a look that they decided to never bring it up again. So instead they trudged through deep snow, listening to Hannah's tales of long past battles, wonders of the ancient world, and how the gods used to meet and interact and work together... before they all died, of course.
At the moment, Hannah was telling Evan all about
The Seven Day War. It was Evan's
favourite thing to learn about, almost always pestering Hannah for more information on it.
"Do you think Avartarian could've survived if he had attacked
Qur earlier?" Evan's question drifted up to Ash.
Ash liked hearing about the Seven Day War as much as any other young historian, though not nearly to the extent that Evan did. Ash also did
not get his fascination with Avartarian -- frankly, the patron God-husk of Artazia gave them the creeps. Even just thinking about the titanic monster now made Ash tremble -- though they weren't totally sure if that was from cold, or from fear.
Or was the rumble originating from somewhere else? The trembling wasn't really coming from inside of Ash as they had initially thought, it was instead reverberating up their legs, coming from the ground below.
BOOM.
The ground shook, as what sounded like a massive explosion burst through the air.
Ash looked up from their feet, and saw everyone in the small traveling party glancing around too. As the echo faded, the icy air grew deathly calm once more, despite the rumbling from underneath. Caroline looked to their guide for instruction, and Hannah and Evan, who were a stretch behind still, called up to them.
"What was that?"
BOOM.
A second massive impact shook them harder than the first.
"He'an help us," swore the guide. "It must be Avartarian! Shit! Blasted
snake sold me lies-- he's near, he... he must be just on the other side of this mountain. We're WAY too close -- we've got to get into cover, now! Follow me to the overhangs!"
BOOM.
A third impact shook the entire mountain on which they stood, and it was accompanied by a titanic screech echoing over the valley -- inhumanly deep, filled with rage, pain, and suffering. The rumbling grew cacophonous.
Ash looked up just in time to see the the avalanche that would change their life forever, as it brought the mountainside down upon Hannah and Evan; still too far behind, still out of reach, unwittingly standing directly in the path of death.
In moments, they were gone -- but there was no time to grieve. Caroline grabbed Ash's hand, and they ran to follow the guide.
I love them. Such an interesting and well-rounded character! I share their love for He'an and distaste for Avatarian as well, I feel like I could invite Ash for a coffee and listen to them talk for hours. They sound like they have A LOT of amazing stuff to tell. It leaves me wondering what happened when this "friend" was let know about the private collection. Sounds like I will not like that person. Amazing article all around!
Thank you so much Nae! <3 I'm slowly getting more confidence with writing characters (that aren't big dead gods xD). I'm glad you like them, and I agree, I think they'd be lovely to spend time with! As for the friend, they've definitely never been trusted with sensitive information again >:| I haven't really decided what ACTUALLY happened, but it's fun to leave up to people's imagination!