Eventually the trio came to the edge of the forest. The last bit of the trail had zigzagged up the face of a steep incline, and had left Mars and RK more than a little winded.
Mars was bent over, her hands on her knees, panting to catch her breath. “Can’t… go on…” she said, while dramatically flopping to the ground.
“Gods… that was… tall,” RK huffed while slumping to the ground at the foot of a tree.
“Yo… dude,” Mars called after Deygo, who had been continuing along, seemingly unaffected by the physical exertion. He stopped and turned back to the two.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Dude… we need a break,” RK informed him.
“Oh. I didn’t realize you were in such poor athletic condition,” he jibed, grinning innocently.
“Ok, that’s it,” RK protested while hauling herself to her feet. “Nobody calls me out of shape!” She grabbed a branch as her weapon of choice, and began stalking toward Deygo.
Mars raised her head slightly to see what RK was doing. Then, upon taking in the situation, she flopped back down and waved her hand vaguely in the air. “Eh, get ‘em, RK. Beat his ass.”
Deygo easily dodged RK as she charged him. He moved over to the edge of the hill, where the land began to slope down. “Look,” he said while pointing downhill. RK ran at him again, stick raised menacingly. He grabbed her weapon, which she clung to like a terrier, and flipped her around by the end of it so she was looking out over the valley. “We’re here,” he told her.
RK stopped trying to wrench her stick back from Deygo, and stared in amazement at the view spread out below her. Down beneath them were the ruins of a vast city. Buildings were crumbling, plants were growing unchecked, and there was absolutely no sign of current human habitation. However, it was obvious that at one point in time, this place had been a flourishing metropolis. “Whoa,” RK said in awe, finally releasing the branch, which Deygo quickly tossed aside. “Mars, come see this.”
“Unnn… do I gotta?”
“Dude, get your lazy ass over here.”
“Fine, fine. I’m comin’,” Mars grouched as she hauled herself to her feet. “What?” she demanded when she got over to her friend.
RK pointed down toward the broken city.
“Oh. Wow.”
“Yah, huh? Looks impressive. Impressive and spooky.”
“So,” Deygo said. “You two ready to go down there?”
“I still don’t like the idea of entering a supposedly haunted ghost town. Not after wot you told us before,” Mars objected.
Deygo replied, “Neither do I, but regardless of whether the both of you wish to accompany me or not, I need to press on. There is business I have to attend to.”
“What business is that?” questioned RK.
“I must retrieve something that has run away.”
“Dude, anything that would run to this place is whacked and I’d let it alone,” Mars advised.
“Indeed, as would I under normal circumstances. But this thing is of particular value, and if I do not recapture it, I may not live much longer.”
“Oh,” RK said. She then leaned over to Mars and whispered conspiratorially to her, “Isn’t it amazing how he makes it seem like he’s answering our questions but yet he never really tells us anything?”
“Yah,” agreed Mars. “But we all have things we’d rather keep to ourselves.”
“True. Like that lamp shade incident.”
“Dude! I told you never to mention that!”
“Oh yeah. Heh, sorry.”
Deygo watched the two friends argue back and forth for a while longer before he realized that they probably wouldn’t be stopping on their own any time soon. He cleared his throat in order to get their attention before speaking. “(ahem) As much as this is entertaining, we really must be going.”
Mars and RK stopped their bickering and turned towards Deygo. “Right, sorry,” RK apologized. “We do that sometimes.”
“Yes, well, if you can put that much energy into harassing each other, I think you’re ready to move on.”
“Uh, sure,” Mars said. “By the way, you never told us what the name of this place is.”
Deygo looked down sorrowfully at the ruins below them, then sighed before answering Mars’ question. “It used to be called Oraton, named after the old world’s most famous and revered leader. It was a beautiful and thriving city, a pinnacle of human achievement with a prestigious school and kind people. Now… now it is simply known as Day’ai’thu Lai’n’du. Origin is located within the very heart of the city, in an old school building.”
RK asked, “What does Day’ai’thu Lai’n’du mean?”
Deygo turned to look at RK with a sad and serious expression on his face. “It literally means ‘Death Land.’ Oraton has been reduced to this – to being commemorated as the Land of Death. Its glory days are long gone, but never forgotten.” At least, he thought, I’ve never forgotten them. Deygo’s voice betrayed his bitter feelings for the past, as if he had more memories of what had happened than he was willing to share. He shook his head as if to clear it of the recollections, then forced a smile and said, “Come. It’s time to go.”
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