AETHER BEASTS

Chapter 96 - 96

The first thing I felt was the cold wind followed closely by the feeling of a solid surface under my feet. The darkness had faded, replaced by a scene completely different from the mountains but just as unique and strange.

"I think I preferred the mountains," Sandra muttered as she gazed at our surroundings.

A barren wasteland of rock that seemed to stretch into the distance covered by dark clouds charged with thick stricks lighting and covering the sky completely, casting the land below in near darkness. It was unpleasant to say the least, though the strangest things were the pillars that dotted the land, stretching up into the clouds themselves, some looking to be small while others looked so thick that it would take hours to circular it.

"Well this is a lot more dreary," I said as I leaned down and pressed a hand to hard ground. It felt like rock but was extremely cool to the touch and a static feeling appeared in my hand the moment I touched it. "I think the stone is full of lighting."

"It's like a land of storms," Misty noted as she gazed up at the sky.

"We need to find shelter," Zirani said. "Then when can go from there, but it's best not to stay out in the open. We don't have the cover of trees or greenery here."

"I don't spot any beasts," Sandra said.

"Well perhaps there not above ground," I suggested to which Sandra's eyes slowly widened as she turned her gaze to the ground beneath her. "You think so?"

"I've seen such beasts before," Zirani said.

"Have you never heard of Bullrock?" Misty asked. "It's an underground city a few weeks travel from Orton. They have a sect called the stone revenants who have techniques that let them travel through the earth."

"I didn't study much about stuff like that." Sandra shrugged. "I just learned what I needed to and left it at that."

"Makes sense," I said as I tried to stop any other structures apart from the pillars. "I think we're going to have to head to the pillars. I don't see anything else other than them."

Zirani nodded. "Agreed, come on."

Together we headed towards the nearest pillar which was only around a mile away. As we moved across the dark land we kept our eyes moving, just in case anything popped out. Just like back in the tunnels under Orton I was at a severe disadvantage since I didn't have a form dark vision like Sandra or Misty, although at least I couldn't bump into any walls here.

"Damn it's cold," Sandra said as she warped her hands around herself.

"It really is," Zirani said. "You're at the second level and If you can feel it then a normal person wouldn't last long in here at all.

The pillar closet to us wasn't that large and only took a few seconds to go around. It looked to be made of the same material as the ground though unlike the earth been ht us, the pillar was perfectly smooth and didn't have the same shocking sensation attached to it as the earth had, which was odd since they reached up into the sky and were probably being hit by lightning.

"I think I've found something," Misty called out.

We all walked over and found her looking up at something. I squirted and was barely able to make out a small hole that looked barely big enough to fit a person. It was no cruise I hadn't seen it due to the low light.

"Should we check inside?" I asked.

"We should," Zirnai said. "But don't go in. We have no idea what these things are. Be cautious."

I waited for someone to make a move but they all just turned to me.

"What?"

"You're the one who does the climbing," Sandra said.

"Since when," I replied.

"Since the mountains." Sandra motioned me forward. "Just have a quick look."

"Fine."

I walked up to the pillar and then using all my strength jumped, chatting the edge of the hole with my hand. I pulled myself up then glanced inside. "It leads down."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked. "Is it empty?"

"I mean it goes underground," I replied, as I peered down. "I think I see a bluish light coming from the bottom I don't—"

My words were cut off as a sudden rumbling began and the world itself seemed to tilt. I let fo which was a terrible decision as my body fell into the tunnel and began to fall down. I desperately reached for the walls and tried to stop myself, but the moment my hands touched the stone a shocking sensation hit me, far stronger than what I'd felt before and my hands went numb as I continued to fall.

I tried to rack my brain for some way to top myself when I seemed to slow down. I frowned and checked to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Instead of falling I now felt like I was floating down.

"Aiden, are you ok?" Zirani asked mentally.

"I'm fine," I said with a frown. "The fall just stopped, and well I'm floating down now."

I tried to send Zirani the memories of what had happened and it must have partially worked as a wave of relief came through our bond.

"I think this tunnel leads to somewhere," I said. "The blue light is getting brighter and—"

I squinted down and confirmed that the exit to this tunnel was approaching and not far after that was what looked like solid ground. "I think you three should jump in. I think there's some area down here."

I slowly exited the tunnel and my eyes momentarily went blurry as they were assaulted by blue light but then all became visible and my jaw nearly hit the floor. Around was a lush and completely odd-looking land. Giant mushrooms, flowers, and glowing trees covered the landscape, along with others things I'd never seen before. I looked up and saw that the roof was covered in what looked like glowing blue moss that shone down onto the land and was reflected by some of the plant life.

"Zirani," I said in awe. "You need to get down here now."

I sent mental images of what I was seeing through our bond as I finally hit the soft dirt ground that shone with its own light created by tiny little specks interspersed in the dirt.

I felt a wave of joy and excitement crash through our bond. "We're on our way."

As I waited for them to arrive, I looked around at the land, marveling at its exotic beauty. I walked over and knelt down to inspect a two-headed flower with different colored petals. Just a few feet away from that a spattering on grass seemed to sway in time to a nonexistent breeze.

"Woah."

I heard Sandra's voice and looked up to see her slowly floating down. Her eyes were wide and full of awe just like how I imagined mine must have been.

"Quite the sight huh?"

She nodded. "I knew that wasteland couldn't have been it. There was nothing but the pillars."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the main part of the floor," I replied.

"And what a floor it is," Zirani said with a smile as we slowly floated down above Sandra and Below Misty. "It's been a long time since I've seen a place like this."

"It's famialr to you?" I asked.

She nodded. "I've seen and been to places like this before, and there are even area's in our world like this, though not as large and all lay beyond the great scar. The green court cultivates all sorts of nature, even creating our unique kinds. This is better than I could have hoped for."

A large grin split her face and I saw more joy in her eyes than I'd seen in a while.

"I bet a place like this had plenty of resources," Misty mused.

Zirani nodded. "Oh, it most definitely does."

All three landed one after the other and each took a moment to take in the surroundings.

"Is the ground glowing?" Sandra leaned down and scooped up a handful of dirt.

"There spores," Zirani explained. "A lot of the plants spread them. They're not harmful, in fact, most will simply become nutrients for the other plants. This ecosystem is unique."

"That's one way to put it," Sandra said as she released the dirt and stood back to her feet. "So where to first?"

"Well since we all liked that treehouse back on the first floor so much." Zirani glanced around for a moment then nodded. "Why don't we build one here? There's plenty of wood and some of the trees and mushrooms look tall enough."

I smiled. "I like that idea."

Misty and Sandra both nodded their agreement and together we set off. Things had looked bad at the start, but a bit of chance and luck had changed that.. I had no doubt there would dangerous beasts and challenges to face, but I'd rather be in a place like this over what was on the surface anyday of the week.