11 The First Look

The tunnel was made by rows of cobblestones, with the walls being smooth with indents here and there. The walls were brightly lit with lanterns hanging off the wall every five meters.

Ojero walked with wide eyes, looking all around the tunnel as he followed the paladin.

"Wh- What is this place?" Ojero managed to stutter out.

"This is our path through the mountain. It is often referred to as 'The Tunnel.' It has been here since before my time, and was made as a smuggling route through the mountain to move illegal goods from Riote to Everentile and vice versa. As years passed, the tunnel was discovered, and the smugglers captured. However, they decided to leave the tunnel as a secret method of transportation for the two nations." The paladin responded, not bothering to look back or break stride.

As they walked, a thought appeared in Ojero's mind.

"Why are you now talking to me so much? You wouldn't say a word when we first met." Ojero asked as they walked.

This gave the paladin some pause, who stopped for only a second before continuing on.

"You remind me of someone I once knew. My personality around him has seemingly leaked into my conversations with you." The paladin replied, his tone turning cold and distant.

They continued their walk in silence, the only accompaniment being the sounds of their feet hitting the cobbled path.

The tunnel seemed to stretch infinitely into the distance, and as they continued down it a growing feeling of despair filled Ojero's stomach. The lights seemed to keep everything lit, but the cramped feeling of the tunnel and the lack of any end started to weigh heavily on his mind.

Without realizing it, he had begun to breathe heavily and slow down. The paladin showed no reaction except waving his left hand, and Ojero suddenly felt himself become bound by green rope once more.

He exhaled abruptly as the rope tightened around him, and was pulled forward to float right behind the paladins armored back.

"Hey! What is this-" Ojero tried to yell out, only to be quickly quieted with a green rope wrapping around his mouth.

For a few minutes Ojero tried to struggle against it, but in the end gave up as nothing he did changed his predicament.

The two continued on for another three hours with pause, but Ojero did not remember past the first few minutes. He had fallen asleep very quickly once he was bound, a mixture of exhaustion and fear quickly resulting in him passing out.

He awoke to the loud sound of stone rubbing against stone, and saw a large wall of stone fold into the nearby walls.

On the other side was a sprawling grassland lit with the afternoon sun. The golden hue gave the flowing green grass an almost holy appearance.

'So this is the Everentile Empire? I heard it was amazing, but this is just… beautiful!'

Ojero had never been outside of Riote, but his father had been all over Voratia. He would tell him and Orpham stories about the Everentile Empire, and how powerful and majestic it was.

Quasar always had a deep respect for the Everentile Empire, but always warned Ojero about them too. He was always afraid that war would break out between the two nations, and he had seen the Everentile might with his own eyes.

Seeing this new land was bittersweet for Ojero. His father had always promised they would all see it together as a family one day. However, Ojero was here seeing it now with his parents murderer, with his brother being somewhere else in Voratia while Ojero had no idea how to get to him, or where he even was.

That seed of anger in him began to grow again as he spiraled down in his mind, but it was suddenly interrupted by the paladin and him moving. The duo began to quickly cross the plains, warping through time as they moved at a speed that appeared unnatural.

The rolling plains flashed by Ojero as they moved, turning into a green and golden wave in his eyes.

Ojero saw grazing deer in the distance, enjoying the afternoon sun and the peaceful existence they had. It reminded Ojero of the forest animals he had seen earlier that day, but he felt different this time.

He still felt some jealousy, but it wasn't as pronounced. He even felt a little pity for the animals, knowing they could never achieve the great things humans could.

They moved for hours, with Ojero seeing nothing but open plains. The original beauty of the sight was slowly fading away as it all became monotonous.

Even as day turned to night, the paladin never stopped moving.It seemed to be more mechanical than before, and he did not speak a single word. Ojero did not know exactly how long it took, but he eventually fell asleep in his green rope cocoon once again, the boredom and mental exhaustion once more taking its toll.

The paladin could sense when Ojero had fallen asleep, and halted his movement. The well of emotions that had grown inside him during the day had finally reached its boiling point.

He turned to his left and walked a few feet away, leaving Ojero floating where he was. Without a sound, the paladin slammed his fist forward and a massive burst of green mana shot out across the plains.

The grass grew five feet in seconds before withering and dying, only to grow once more and die again. The ground turned gray and died before returning to its rich brown color. Bugs were born and died by the thousands, as an area as large as a town warped through years worth of time in seconds.

It all suddenly stopped and reverted, as the paladin calmed down. He simply walked back to Ojero, and continued on the journey.