The Aftermath

Started by Olivia Cycien, November 18, 2012, 12:10:49 PM

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Olivia Cycien

Lina watched with interest as he covered himself with ice. It was fascinating to see an Ice Mage in action. She'd seen them in action before but it never ceased to interest her. Maybe because their powers were so different from hers. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded more mellow than she'd heard it before.

She yawned and thought a bit of sleep wouldn't be a bad idea. "I think we'd better wait until morning to hunt. We'll be more alert. Besides the deer are probably all sleeping right now anyway." She yawned again and looked more closely at Nolan. He looked beat. Sleep was definitely on the agenda. She figured after a few hours of sleep they would both be ready to face the day.

She stood up. "I think I saw a spot just past the hot spring. Its not much really, but its got an overhang that would give you some shade. I can sleep next to the spring." She still wasn't sure what to make of Nolan, but she thought it would be safe enough to sleep. She paused at the edge of the rocks and turned to look over at him.

"Goodnight, Nolan."

Painless

She was probably talking about the spot he'd discovered earlier, and even if he wasn't, he liked that spot just fine. "Good night Lina. Be careful, sleep close to the rocks. Otherwise you might get spotted, and I... I don't want anything to happen to you. You helped me a lot back there."

He curled up in his little alcove, letting the ice spread out a little more. It brought the heat down a lot, and he felt much more comfortable. Rather than keep the ice along his body, he used in to plug up the entrances to the place, with a little room for air to get in. In such an enclosed space, it was that much easier to get it down below freezing, though the ground remained uncomfortably hot.

He closed his eyes and laid back, then drifted off to sleep soon enough. As he did almost every night, he dreamed of snow. Soft white blankets coating the land, something that hadn't been seen since the nuclear winter he couldn't remember. He wished it would snow again. Wouldn't that be nice?

That night, for the first time in a long while, Nolan slept like a baby.

Olivia Cycien

Lina woke the next morning stiff and sore from last night's adventures, but at least her head had stopped hurting. She sat up slowly and gingerly touched the lump on her head. The blood had dried and her hair felt sticky. In the light of day, the rocky area looked more inviting. Steam rose from the hot spring into the morning air. Bright green moss and yellow flowers were growing near the spring. The nearby boulders sparkled brilliantly in the morning sun.

She knelt by the spring and carefully wet her hair down, trying to wash the blood out of it. She used her fingers as a make shift comb. Then she used the heat from her hands to dry it. The sun seemed to caress her hair and bring out its bold colors. She shook her head from side to side and ran her fingers through her hair once more, making sure it was dry.

With a sigh, she looked down at her bedraggled clothing and her bare feet. She hoped they would come across some new clothing soon. She dismissed the thought from her mind and got to work plucking some more of the bitter roots. Then she filled the stone bowl with some more spring water and walked over to where Nolan was sleeping.

She couldn't see more than the shape of him through the thick layer of ice he had put up to keep himself cool. Not wanting to wake him, she set the bowl of water down nearby in a place he'd be sure to spot it. She put the roots next to the bowl.

After wandering around near the spring for a bit, she found what she was looking for, a few stones with sharp edges. They would be good enough for cutting but not for the actual killing of a deer. She shaded her eyes and squinted into the trees. She could see a couple of the creatures nibbling at some of the low hanging leaves.

She smiled and sat down on a small boulder. It was good to know that there were definitely some deer around this area. She nibbled on a root while she waited for Nolan to wake up, She sat there thinking about nothing, just enjoying the morning quiet and trying to prepare for the day ahead.

Painless

When Nolan awoke, he was feeling much better. The wound in his head had long since frozen over. Fortunately, his injuries never swelled up, and never got infected. Being an ice mage had some very distinct advantages, as he could keep his wounds constantly on ice. And the cold was great, though the out layers of ice had melted and refrozen over and over again.

When he parted the ice with a wave of his hand, the pain from the burn came rushing back. It still hurt like hell, and no amount of ice was going to heal it faster. Though, it did ease the pain by quite a lot. He surveyed the damage. The burn went pretty deep, but as far as he could tell, everything important was intact. Just had to wait for the skin to come back, which could take weeks or months.

He gathered the ice up around him, though he dispersed it again as soon as he saw Lina outside. She was staring into space and didn't really seem to notice him, so he drank his water after cooling it, and ate a root, slowly. He desperately wanted some real meat. Lina had awakened that craving in him.

"I think I can get one of those deer. Heck, if they're eating the leaves like that, all I have to do is get close. They'll be distracted, and I can send an ice spear right through one." He'd done it before, and ended up with a deer he couldn't do anything with. Hopefully this time would be different.

Olivia Cycien

She looked over at the sound of his voice and grinned when she noticed how unenthusiastically he was chewing the root. It was obvious that he would love to get his hands on some actual meat. He would of course not have been able to cook meat that he caught. She was glad her abilities could do something useful for an Ice Mage though she never could have imagined such a thing was possible.

She actually didn't use her fire abilities when hunting. She didn't want to prolong the agony for some poor creature. Nolan's ice abilities would be very useful. He could kill the deer almost instantly and it wouldn't suffer. That made her feel a bit better. She stood up and tossed her root away, then brushed her hands off.

"Sounds good Nolan! Let's do it!"

Painless

"Stand back, it's going to be pretty cold." He summoned up the ice sphere, siphoning off a chunk of it until he have a rod about 6 feet long and 2 inches thick. He let the rest of the sphere splash against him, forming armor. Maybe he was showing off a little, but she was a fire mage, and that made him want to seem tougher. Fire made him nervous, even if he didn't think she'd attack him.

The deer he chose never even saw the attack coming. It was too busy chewing the leaves. Nolan just had to lay out a track of ice in front of him, and he could glide along without a sound until he was in range. He hadn't had this much ice to work with in years. Usually it was all about stretching the little bits to get as much done as possible, but this was easy. It was fun.

The ice spear went clean through the deer's eyes, right in one and out the other, sending the other deer scattering. He took pride in the kill, and didn't feel bad about it either. Back where he was raised, deer were a major problem. Seems even a nuclear war couldn't knock them out.

"Got it."

Olivia Cycien

Lina jumped up and down and clapped her hands together with delight, setting off little sparks from her fingertips that she barely noticed in her excitement. She thought the armor made Nolan look very dashing and heroic, but she would never have admitted this in a million years.

"Great job! A very clean kill Nolan!" She praised him with a smile and then moved towards the deer. She knelt by the fallen animal and took a few seconds to melt away the ice spear. Then she used her make-shift rock knife to slice the deer open. She worked quickly, removing the hide and the innards. She gathered up the innards and wrapped them in the hide. She quickly took the hide and set it near the hot spring before returning to deal with the meat.

She dragged the deer away from the trees to a nearby clearing and rinsed the blood off of it using the stone bowl. Then she knelt by the deer again and placed her hands on it. In moments the animal was steaming and the smell of cooking meat wafted through the air. When she was sure it was thoroughly cooked, she began using the make-shift rock knife to cut pieces of it off. She set some in the stone bowl and looked over at Nolan.

"Breakfast is served!" With a grin she returned to cutting up the meat to be cured. She paused every so often to have a bite or two as she worked. Mmmm delicious!

Painless

He probably should have pulled the ice spear back before she melted it. That was a lot of water he could have used. But oh well, the hot springs were right there. It wouldn't be a big deal to get more. Then, after a moment, he smacked his forehead as he remembered.

Oh, right, duh. Ice powers. He headed over to the sight of the melted spear, then froze the water and drew it out. It was tricky to get all the dirt off, but he managed, and he only lost a little bit of the water in the process. Having some real meat was definitely worth a price like that, though.

By the time he was finished, the deer was already cooked, or at least enough of it for him to eat. It took him a little while to get it properly cooled in the bowl; he had to cool it without ruining the flavor too much. Fortunately, it was okay to eat warm. Warm for him being maybe 40 or 50 degrees.

It was indeed delicious. He climbed on a rock, looking down at Lina. It was very relaxing to sit there eating his breakfast as he watched her work.

Olivia Cycien

When Lina had gotten as much meat as she could off the deer, she began going over the bones, deciding which would be most useful. She set aside the rib cage and a couple of smaller bones for later use, then she made a fire pit and started a small fire in it. She used the leg bones from the deer and a large twig as a spit to skewer bits of meat on.

While the meat was being cured she went over to the spring and rinsed off the deer hide and innards that she had saved. She returned with the rinsed items and sat down near the fire. She picked up one of the smaller bones and used the make-shift rock knife to carve the bone. It was hard work but she was happy to have something to do. She managed to carve a point on the smaller bone, making a "needle" that she could use to sew things. With a couple of the bigger bones she made knives. She got them as sharp as she could and added curved easy-to-grip handles. She kept one for herself and set the other aside for Nolan.

She used one of the smaller bones and thin strips of deer skin to sew pieces of deer skin together. In a short time she had made a sturdy traveling pack out of the rib cage and deer skin. She cured the bladder of the deer and gave it a drawstring closure. It would make a great water bag. She filled the water bag and set it aside to cool. Next, she filled the intestines with meat pieces and set them inside the new traveling pack. The cured meat she also put into the pack. They'd have to find a good salt lick somewhere to season the meat.

She worked as quickly as she could but it still took several hours. She wanted to be ready and armed before anyone found them. She didn't think that the people who had conked her on the head and kidnapped her would be ready to give up that easily. Though they had gone a long way last night, they were still too close to the area for her comfort. Besides, she had to do something about Nolan's hand, and it wouldn't get done sitting around here. She put the make-shift utensils and the remaining deer hide into the pack and stood up. She took time to kick dirt over the small fire, then shouldered the pack.

"We should go. Do you have enough water in that bag?"


Painless

It was like a sauna up on top of the rocks. So amazingly warm it almost made it hard to breathe, yet not quite hot enough to hurt. The steam coming up off the hot spring rendered the air hot and humid, and whenever a cloud drifted up to where Nolan sat, he'd freeze it around him, and just let more and more water condense on the ice.

He felt like he could spend an eternity up there, though of course he couldn't. Much as it might not feel that way when his powers were at their peak, he did need to eat some time. Which was as good a reason as any to stick around with Lina. He could catch a deer and she could cook it, and it was delicious.

Finally, Lina finished with her work, Nolan drifting in and out of consciousness the whole time. He kept having to drift further and further from the spring itself. Even encased in a constantly thickening layer of ice, he felt exhausted and lethargic. It was almost enough to make him think he was in danger. Falling asleep that way for too long could very well get him killed, after all. The ice would melt, and the end result would be absolutely awful. Cooked alive like a lobster in a pot. Wonder if I'd turn red?

He shook away such thoughts, hopping down to take the water bag. What part of the deer had she made this out of, anyway? Didn't look like it's stomach, but beyond that, Nolan knew nothing about hunting.

"This should be plenty. I agree, we should get going, but where to? I don't want to run into those guys again. Or... other things." He thought of the thing that had chased them the day before and shivered, despite the unbearable heat.

Olivia Cycien

Lina agreed with him about not going back the way they had come. She definitely didn't want to run into those people or that creepy thing again! They could be looking for the two of them even now. The thought alarmed her so much that she looked around nervously, as if expecting to see them leaping out from behind nearby rocks and trees.

"Maybe we could head upriver." She looked closely at Nolan. His flush worried her. For once she was grateful for the bruised clouds that blocked out the sunlight. The best thing really was to try to find someplace more suitable that would work for them both. "Let's see if we can find someplace cooler to hole up in for the rest of today. We'll travel at night after this."

She had heard tales of magical places from long ago, before the War. Big cities made of concrete and magical light could be seen in the distance even at night. In these magical cities people had access to knowledge at the speed of light and there were scholars who knew everything there was to know. She wished mightily that one of those scholars was here now to tell her what to do.

It was obvious that they would both be useful to each other with their different abilities, but how could they travel together when they both needed radically different environments to stay safe? If they were going to continue traveling together for a while then they had to find a workable solution. She began walking upriver, keeping her eye out for trouble and trying to keep an eye on Nolan at the same time.

Painless

Nolan felt both better and worse heading out from the hot spring. Better, because he now had so much ice to work with, and he could shape it into just about anything. He wouldn't have to feel so vulnerable anymore, not even around Lina. She could make a little steam, but he'd be fine around her as long as she didn't directly attack him. And Nolan sincerely hoped that wasn't a risk.

But he also felt worse after spending so long in that heat. Holding this much ice around was starting to take a lot out of him. If not for the meat he'd had earlier, he likely wouldn't even be able to walk. At least the pain in his hand had eased up a little. The heat and cold combined had somehow done something for it that neither could on their own. That made him think of himself and Lina, and he smiled at the thought.

"Maybe we'll be lucky, and we'll find a cave. That might be a safe place to fortify." That was the goal, eventually. He much preferred living life in a static location to constantly being on the move. It was safer, because you could stockpile food and weapons, and come home to a real bed instead of having to make due with whatever shelter you could find. More importantly, a cave would be cool enough for him if he moved deeper, while Lina could make a fire at the mouth just for herself.

Nolan let some of the ice melt off him, and felt a little better. There was a limit to how much he could hold up at once. Lina had it easier, she could just conjure up fire whenever she needed it.

"Actually, now that I think about it, if we want to find a cave we should go the other way. This river had to start somewhere, and it was probably on a mountain."

Olivia Cycien

Lina paused in mid-stride and looked around at Nolan with an expression of horror. "Go back! Are you crazy!!" Maybe that hit he had taken on the head had scrambled his brains. Hadn't they just finished discussing the idea of going back the way they had come? Besides that was downriver which would be heading away from the mountains.

"If you want mountains we've got to go upriver." She pointed at the water which was rushing back toward the way they had come. "The water is going backwards, so if we go forwards we'll eventually come to the source of the water. At least that is what I've been taught."

She frowned in confusion, she could swear that was what she remembered about streams and rivers. She shook her head, either way going back was a bad idea. "Maybe we could find a cave or something somewhere along the way. I just don't want to go back toward where we escaped from. What if we run into that creepy thing again?" She shivered as she remembered its roar and how it had chased them.

Painless

Upriver, downriver, Nolan didn't even know anymore. He took a moment to focus. Rivers start at the mountain and go to the ocean. That was it. So they needed to go where the water came from. And that was this way. Although, it didn't really matter if they headed the other way. They'd crossed the river already, so they'd have some decent distance between themselves and the compound.  And whatever else was there.

With a shrug, he headed off in the direction she pointed, not really straying too close to the river. Radiation in the water made him nervous. They'd been so lucky to find the hot spring, but it was only thanks to Lina that he was actually able to use them. On his own, he never would have been able to get too close. Well, unless he had a lot of ice already, but he owed nearly all the ice he had to the hot spring.

"Okay then, we'll look for a cave. Maybe somewhere where you can hang up those skins and stuff and make whatever you're going to make." Nolan could do with some new clothes. He'd never had all that many, but now he had none at all, except for the ones he was wearing. In fact, he had virtually nothing to his name.

I've got my ice, and that's what's important. And I've got Lina. She'll help me, right? He gave her a shy smile as they walked along.

Olivia Cycien

Lina smiled returned his shy smile. She still wasn't sure what to think about Nolan. He didn't seem threatening and he had helped her out quite a lot. As she thought again about how he'd looked in his ice armor, she felt something strange stirring in her, it was as if butterflies had settled in her stomach. Thinking of him that way was making her feel uncomfortable and nervous. She looked quickly away and began walking again. Now was not the time for thinking silly things. They had more important priorities, like surviving!

They traveled most of the day, stopping only once to eat some of the deer meat and rest for a short while, before continuing on. Lina knew she wouldn't feel safe as long as they were in the open like this. They needed someplace that could be easily defended and shelter them from the dust storms and acid rainfall.

The ground began to rise in a gentle incline and the river became wider. The white rapids had calmed and now there was the soothing sound of water moving over the rock bed. The number of trees in the area grew larger until they were surrounded on all sides by tall thick trees and other lush looking plants. Lina heard strange chirruping noises and saw a fuzzy creature with a very bushy tail scampering up one of the trees.

She noticed something new in the distance. She hadn't really been able to see past all the trees but now she saw a massive slab of stone ahead. It was so tall that it disappeared into the clouds and stretched in both directions as far as the eye could see. There was a fine spray misting up from several sparkling waterfalls that tumbled their way down the jagged edges of rock that jutted from the massive stone wall. Half-way down the waterfalls met and created a larger waterfall that spilled the rest of the way down into what looked like a large pond that fed into the river.

"Nolan look!" She could hear the distant roar of the fall. "I don't know if that is a mountain, but it is the source of the water. Maybe there will be some caves near there!" She grinned at Nolan and began to walk again, looking around as she did so, and making mental notes of things that might be useful to them later.

Finally, they arrived at the clearing where the pond was. They were only a short distance now from the massive stone wall. Lina eyed the pond with caution and kept a respectful distance. Cold water and her were not friends. Suddenly, she stopped short and her eyes widened. A creature jumped up from the water to catch an insect as it flew past. Its iridescent skin seemed to be made of hundreds of tiny mirrors that reflected and turned the light into beautiful rainbows. She gasped with surprise. She had only heard about such creatures from tales the elders used to tell about the days before the War, she had never really believed there were such things. She turned to look at Nolan.

"Is that a fish? A real fish?" Her voice was soft with awe and her eyes were wide with astonishment.

Painless

There was something wrong about this mountain. But it was a good kind of wrong, or so Nolan hoped. Everything was so green, and there were even animals. He had seen such things only in the books he'd read at the library. Lina seemed to be a little bit more aware of the creatures of the forest. He followed her gaze, and it would lead to squirrels, a few deer, and even a bunny rabbit, once.

The trees didn't seem like they'd been much affected by the radiation at all, yet they were so tall, at least some of them must have grown in before the war, right? He'd have to look for a stump or something so he could count the rings and figure out just how old they were. He couldn't even remember how long ago the war was, though, so that might not help. He'd ask Lina about it later.

When he saw the fish, he gasped right along with her. A trout, from the looks of it. A perfectly average, common fish, according to his books, but of course he'd never seen one in his life. Radiation killed all the fish in the rivers. The oceans were a little better off, but even so nothing much lived by the coast.

But fish lived in water, and water was just ice waiting to happen. The next time he spotted the fish, he concentrated. He froze it solid, then pulled it up out of the water, bringing it to his hands. He couldn't give it right to Lina without hurting her, but he held it up so she could see it clearly.

"Yeah, it looks like a fish. A trout, I think. But, they shouldn't be able to live here. None of these things should. If they do, I think that means, that water is clear. No radiation." Maybe this really could be a good place for them to stay. Especially if they found a cave. Food, water, firewood for Lina, ice for Nolan. They'd have to find shelter and defend it, but if they did, this place could be a godsend.

Olivia Cycien

Lina stared at the fish in wonder, her eyes wide with fascination. She turned and looked all around them. As a small child she had heard all the stories about the Land. Land that survived the War and was free of radiation and acid rains. The Land was rich and fertile and full of life. She had searched for the Land for many years. And now, here it was, so green and unspoiled.

It was so beautiful that it brought tears to her eyes. Fire in the shape of water droplets fell from her eyes and left steamy trails down her cheeks before dropping to the ground. "It's so beautiful here!" She exclaimed as she wiped her tears away. Then she frowned and looked at the ground.

Though she had been crying only moments before, the grass beneath her feet was utterly unmarked. She knelt down and touched the grass. It was soft to the touch and seemed quite healthy, but there were no scorch marks, which her tears should have caused.  She looked up at Nolan with a worried expression.

"Nolan...I think we've been caught inside a Mind Trap." She reached around to the small of her back and pulled out the bone knife. Slowly she rose, keeping a wary eye on the surroundings. "Tell me what you see."

Painless

As Lina started to cry, Nolan couldn't help but stare. To be sure, ice powers had affected his body pretty heavily, but nothing like that. If he cried, which he rarely did, the tears might freeze before they got too far, but they didn't come out as ice. Still, he didn't have much time to contemplate that weirdness once she mentioned the Mind Trap.

As for what a Mind Trap actually was, Nolan wasn't entirely sure. For all his reading, he wasn't anything close to an expert on the world before the war, much less the world after it. Presumably, if they were in a trap of this sort, it meant that someone was hunting them. Someone with mental powers strong enough to make them hallucinate vividly. But how vividly? Was any of this real? Were they still on a mountain by a stream? Or were they somewhere else entirely?

Either way, it was a bad idea to be anywhere near the fish or the water. That stuff could be radioactive. He sent the fish back to the river and tried to think things over. "What I see? I see what's here. A stream, some fish, you..." He closed his eyes. How deep did this trap go? Could it affect every one of his senses? He reached out to the water, trying to feel anything out of place, but it felt real. It turned into ice just like he wanted it to. He traced the stream as far as he could, drawing a thin line of ice in his mind, until finally he hit a wall.

"There's something out there. It's like, I can go maybe 500 feet and my powers don't get any weaker at all, then I try to go further and nothing happens. Usually my abilities get weaker the further they go. That isn't right, but what does it mean?"

Olivia Cycien

Lina stared at the grass and concentrated. Her hands began to heat up. She knelt and touched the grass in front of her. Nothing happened. The grass remained lush and green. It did not start burning. Not so much as a single wisp of smoke rose from the grass. She stood up and frowned as she replied to Nolan's question.

"I don't know what it means. I heard about Mind Traps from my great grandfather. He said they were set up with reflective surfaces to make something called a hologram. He said it was a weapon from the war. If we can find these reflective surfaces, we can break the trap." She looked around, how were they supposed to find the things?

She could see how such a thing could be used in war to confuse the enemy, but what other possible purpose could it have? Did people just wander around lost and confused until they died of starvation or thirst? It seemed a rather slow way to kill the enemy in a war. She looked back at Nolan as an idea suddenly came to her.

"Nolan, can you tell where exactly your power stops working? Maybe if we move toward that area we'll find something that can help us."

Painless

"It's ice, so I can only test it where there's water. From the way it felt, there actually must be water here, but somehow this thing is messing with my sense of distance. I don't really get it. Anyway, as long as we follow the river, we'll reach the end of it, or at least where things stopped for me. Shouldn't be more than a quick walk away."

He still didn't really understand what a mind trap was or how it worked. From her description, it was some sort of 3D picture, that they were stuck walking around in, but she said it was all done with mirrors. And mirrors couldn't make something solid, like that grass or those fish, right? There had to be something more to it.

Lacking any better options, he followed her advice, heading down the river to the place where his powers stopped working. Somehow, this Mind Trap was, appropriately enough, messing with his mind. It could make him think his powers were going further than they were, but since his eyes were closed, there had to be something more to it than sight.

Bringing a small ice dagger to his hand, he hoped Lina's plan was sound.

Olivia Cycien

Lina followed Nolan as he walked along the river with his eyes closed. It wasn't long before he stopped. Her gaze traveled along the current of swift moving water. She looked back at the pond which beckoned fetchingly. She wasn't fetched. The water there was hardly moving at all. She frowned and looked at Nolan.

"Maybe the river is real because you can feel the water. So however the Mind Trap got set up they used the river as part of it." She pulled her bone knife out from its sheath tucked in near the small of her back and took two steps further downstream from Nolan.

She cautiously advanced with the knife held in front of her alert for any signs of trouble. It wasn't long before the knife bumped against thin air. She frowned and poked the air again. Clunk! Clunk! It was an odd almost wooden sound. She used the side of her fist to rap hard against the invisible thing.

"Hey Nolan! I think I've found something." She called back to him over her shoulder. She began running her hand along it. The surface of whatever it was felt smooth. There were no rough edges or corners. She wondered what it was and if it would be a way out.

Painless

Lina had discovered some kind of invisible wooden wall. That was pretty strange on its own. But in the context of the Mind Trap, he wasn't sure what to make of it. He ran his hands over it, not really able to find any gaps or holes in it. Though, if he couldn't find one, maybe he'd be better off just making one.

He leaned up against the wall, breathing out cold air. Something was off, though. His breath wasn't misting the way it was supposed to. Seems that just like how Lina's fire couldn't burn anything around here, even the air itself was immune to their powers. The only constant here was the river. That had to be real. Which meant... What, exactly?

"I'm thinking that if my powers stop working here, then that means that the river stops here too. This wall must be some kind of dam. It blocks off the river, we just can't see it for some reason. But I think that since everything we're seeing isn't really here, then if we can't see something, that means it's real." That made sense in a weird sort of way.

With that, he slammed his ice dagger down on the smooth surface. "I think we need to break this thing to get out. Try using your fire powers too. Just... Not anywhere near me, okay?" The odd thing was, if this was a dam, they should be in a reservoir right not, since they'd been following the water to get here. He shrugged. More tricks from the Mind Trap, somehow.

Olivia Cycien

Lina ignored Nolan and continued to feel her way along the smooth surface of nothing. Imagining a great wall, she put her face close to it, turned her head to the left and followed the line of site. There! Not too far from where they stood something twinkled. She turned her head to the right, following the line of sight again. She saw another twinkle, just a few hundred feet past Nolan.

It must be the reflective surfaces that she had been told about! If they could just destroy the surfaces they could get out of this illusion. She knew there was something else her great grandfather had mentioned but she couldn't remember what it was. The water was closer to Nolan, he would have to take out the twinkling thing on that side while she took out the other one.

"Nolan look!" She pointed with her dagger toward the twinkle on his side. "It must be that reflective surface thing my great grandfather was talking about. There's another one over there." She pointed to the one on the left.

"I can't cross the water but you can. You've got to try and break the first one I showed you. I'll take the one over this way. It might be the only way we can get out of this thing." Without waiting for his response, moving slowly to the left and keeping one hand on the invisible wall

She gripped her dagger tightly, alert for any signs of trouble. As she got closer, she noticed a strange humming noise. Troubled, she frowned and renewed her grip on the dagger. She continued to advance but at a slower pace. Step by step the humming grew louder until she could feel her teeth vibrating. She kept looking around her, aware that the noise would cover any approaching  danger.

Painless

Nolan figured she must know what she was talking about. She at least knew more than he did. So it would be well worth his while to do what she said if he ever wanted to get out of this alive. He crossed the river, an ice bridge forming under his feet without him having to do much conscious thinking in order to get it there.

He wondered if she could hear the same humming noise that he could. It sounded like technology. Machinery. The sort of things they had in the library where Nolan had lived for so long. He didn't exactly know just what it was, but he knew that every once in a while, he'd cross a wire or two in one of the machines, and something would spark and things would start moving. That hum reminded him of that, though it was far louder and seemed to be rattling his very bones.

Finally, he reached the twinkling thing that Lina was talking about. He wasn't really sure what to do, but he figured that a mirror wouldn't be too resilient.

Hoping that it wouldn't trigger anything too unpleasant or dangerous, he thickened his ice dagger and sharpened it to a fine point. It was hard to see the twinkling clearly, almost as if it disappeared when he tried to look directly at it. And yet, after a moment he got the spot down, took a deep breath, and plunged the point into the wall.

Olivia Cycien

At the same time as Nolan plunged his ice dagger into the mirror, Lina approached the other one. She had noticed as she approached, that if she looked directly at it then it disappeared, but when she looked away, she could see it out of the corner of her eye. She had a pretty good idea of the position of the mirror so she wasted no time in shattering it with her bone dagger.

Suddenly, the illusion of forest was gone. The land was as brown and undernourished as before. The sky, no longer cobalt blue, was now a mass of dark and churning clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The humming suddenly stopped and instead a very loud siren issued from the nearby area. She felt her heart jump into her throat as she looked wildly around.

She saw that she was standing next to a high wooden wall. She spun around. Her eyes searched for Nolan and she saw him in the distance, near that other mirror. She began to run along side the wall. When she tried to call out his name, the siren drowned her voice out. She couldn't even hear herself shouting. All she knew was that she had to get to Nolan, they were in big trouble.