The glow of the surrounding crystals throughout the pit lit up, glowing even brighter. The bright white light slowly enveloped the world and entered Donovan's eyes. Feeling the invasion of the light, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling drained,
He grumbled awake, confusion starting to unfurl in his clouded mind. "Uhhh…. What happened?" He tried to recollect what had happened previously, but nothing came to mind.
As he tried moving his arms, he found himself completely bound by a leather rope. "Huh!?"
He wiggled furiously, practically leaping from his back. "H-hey! What's going on here!?"
"Oh, you're finally awake," Kalika said. She instantly popped a cooked rabbit's leg in his mouth. "Here's breakfast." She munched on her food nonchalantly, watching as Donovan tried to speak. But his voice was muffled by the cooked food.
"You should unbind him first, Kalika." Bjorn scolded.
"Oh. Yeah…"
Kalika moved in to unbind Donovan. His first mode of action was ripping the hot meat from of his mouth, panting. "What was that for!? And why was I tied up!?"
Donovan flinched, feeling his forehead. "Argh. My head feels like it's splitting open. What hap-"
A sudden flood of memories poured back in. He was put into a stunned silence. "I-I'm s-so sorry Kalika. I couldn't control myself. I-I…."
Kalika stared at Donovan for a few seconds, seeing that he was at a loss for words. She saw the clear honesty in his eyes and couldn't blame him for being under the succubus's kiss. She averted her gaze, focusing back on the meal at hand. "It's fine. Just remember to be careful next time."
Despite Kalika's words, Donovan still felt guilty in his heart. 'How could I be so stupid!? I never should have trusted that succubus… And because of her, me and Kalika… We…" His mind became a blur, and his face turned.
He slapped some sense into himself. "Okay. Get a hold of yourself."
"Donovan," Bjorn called. "Do you think you can stand up?"
Donovan glanced at Bjorn, who leaned on a tree. "Of course I can-" Donovan instantly fell over as he tried to lift himself up. He tried it again with the same results, feeling his legs were weaker than normal.
Both Kalika and Bjorn now stared at him with raised brows.
Donovan quickly glanced around, seeing both of their reactions. "Uuummm…"
Bjorn sighed. "It's just as I thought…"
********
Donovan now sat on Bjorn's large stomach as Kalika pulled them along. He never imagined that He'd ever be put in such a humiliating position of sitting on a large demon's stomach. The more he glanced at Bjorn's serious gaze, the more awkward it became.
"This is so weird…" Donovan thought.
He couldn't help but watch on in silence as Kalika pulled them along the dirt path, albeit slowly.
"U-uhh… Kalika, are you sure you want to pull us by yourself?"
"It's fine," She said. "That path ahead is supposed to have no hills, right?"
"Yeah," Bjorn affirmed.
"Still, shouldn't we just wait until I get better?" Donovan asked.
"No. The faster we reach the stone city with that alchemist man, the better. I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible and wake up."
Donovan sighed. But looking back at her. She seemed more focused and determined.
"While she's still pulling us, you should train on controlling and manifesting your magic," Bjorn suddenly said.
"I-I'm not sure if right now is the best time."
Bjorn scoffed at him. "Ridiculous. You can't laze around doing nothing."
Kalika's ears perked up, hearing the two. She turned her blank gaze to the two she was pulling. "Donovan knows magic now?"
"N-not really. But Bjorn seems to think I can do it." Donovan rubbed the back of his head, a little nervous.
"Oh." She turned back to the road ahead. "That must be nice…"
Donovan couldn't help but feel a certain animosity in her voice. He chuckled nervously before being brought out of his stupor by Bjorn.
"Ignore her. Bring out one of those crystals that hold fire. And start practicing."
"Alright. Alright. Hold on." Without wasting any further time Donovan dug into the pouch of white magic crystals and took one in hand.
"Remember, try to match the feeling of the crystal," Bjorn noted.
"Right." Donovan became more serious.
After a couple of minutes of concentrating, he matched the feeling and swiftly channeled the energy from his body into the crystal in his hand.
A small burst of fire erupted, almost scaring himself. Despite the warm fire being projected, the crystal he held still felt cool to the touch. It was still a bewildering sight for him to see himself conjure fire magic within the palm of his hands.
Not long after, the fire flickered away.
"Alright, now try it again. In your other hand this time." Bjorn said.
Despite his initial reluctance, Donovan followed Bjorn's instructions, allowing him to coach him as he attempted and failed a few times in conjuring fire within his hands.
Kalika simply listened in as Donovan slowly started to grasp the basics of conjuring fire magic in his hands.
With a peaking curiosity, Kalika peeked back in time to witness him conjure his first ball of fire in his hands, all before it fizzled out. Donovan groaned in disappointment and attempted it again.
"Is magic really that hard to learn?" Kalika wondered. She couldn't help but think of Lillian's training on how easily she was able to grasp the concept of magic. Albeit she kept it secret from both her teachers and their father.
Kalika saw Donovan become even more determined as he continued training. He kept switching from his hand that held the crystal to his bare hands to conjure fire magic with no breaks.
Focusing back on the path ahead, Kalika continued to pull Bjorn and Donovan, and ventured deeper into the forest. Eventually, the sound of rushing water made its presence known. The smell of fresh water filled the air. Before long, they finally came across a large, vast river with water rushing down a waterfall.
On the path ahead, a large, crudely constructed stone bridge sat. And despite the weathering and crumbling stones, it still looked sturdy enough for them to cross.
Pushing onward and through the bridge. Donovan stopped his training and took in the view of the pit from outside the bridge. He couldn't help but see the strange, yet hauntingly beautiful landscape beyond the deadly waterfall.
Even Kalika noticed this, and stopped briefly to take in the landscape before them.
"This place is so big." Donovan thought. "I keep forgetting how much of a different world this is…."
"This bridge was built over fifteen years ago. A lot of work is still needed but it works for now. C'mon, let's not linger. And continue your training, Donovan." Bjorn said.
"Fine."
Done with looking at the landscape, Kalika listened and continued to push on.
It wasn't long before they were met by a huge tree that towered above. The tree was large with charcoal black wood and leaves as purple as royal robes. Donovan looked on in shock, surprised that he hadn't noticed this tree much sooner. But the strangest part about the tree was the tunnel that they're road led to.
Undissuaded, Kalika entered through the tunnel in the tree. There was an unexpected warmth within as well as an abundance of magic crystal clusters. To their eyes, they were glowing bright white. But to Kalika, the colors of brown and blue were seen. The very elements of earth and water.
As they left the tunnel, Kalika couldn't help but stop and gaze back at the tree. "Would you guys like to set up camp here?" She asked
Donovan ceased his training, looking back at the large tree. "I'm definitely not against the idea."
"No," Bjorn said. "This tree has a mind of its own. If we stay too long, we can risk waking it from its slumber."
"What do you mean?' Kalika questioned.
"This tree here is one of the oldest trent's in the pit. It's also a tall tale sign that we'll be reaching the Writhering forest soon."
"The Writhering forest?" Donovan's curiosity piqued hearing such a name.
"Yes. That forest we'll have to be a lot more careful about since most of the trees in that forest are trents. But I'll explain more later… For now, let's get going. The further we get from the trent, the better."
"Sure." Kalika rolled her eyes, slightly disappointed with the answer. They continue their journey, crossing more rivers, passing through increasingly mountainous forests. All until they met a new and calmer river bank, where they took up camp. For the night.
A spark of fire was ejected into a cluster of dry wood, lighting them on fire in an instant. Donovan proudly stared at the fire of his own creation before turning to Bjorn. "And you're sure the fire won't burn out?"
"As long as it's not purely magic, it'll be fine, and since the magi fire you created is burning the wood, it's more or less creating natural fire."
Kalika looked at the fire sourly. She held her palm out, facing towards the fire, and waited, as if expecting something to happen.
"What are you doing?" Donovan asked.
She ignored his question. After a moment of nothing occurring, Kalika turned to him. "Can I get one of those magic crystals?
"Uhh… Sure." Donovan pulled a magic crystal out from his leather pouch and tossed it to her.
She caught it, and like the other crystals before, it dimmed to a gray, lifeless crystal. She frowned, seeing this.
"Were you expecting something else to happen?"
"Hey, Donovan. Could you try putting magic in here?" Kalika tried passing the crystal over to him, leaving Donovan stumped by the question.
"I… Don't think I can do that." He looked back at the gray crystal in her hand, unsure what else to say.
She continued to press him, stretching her arm out to him with the crystal in hand in insistence. "My sister did it all the time when we were younger. Just try to focus on putting your magic in the crystals."
"Fine… I'll try." He took the crystal in hand.
Bjorn simply watched as the exchange took place, watching carefully. Slowly, as he attempted to channel the magic, the dim gray crystal regained the vibrance of its luster. Donovan was left in awe, surprised they could achieve such a thing.
Bjorn's interest was piqued by witnessing such a strange phenomenon.
A hope lit in Kalika's eyes. She quickly urged for the crystal back, with deep anticipation. Donovan reluctantly passed it back to her, only for the crystal to dim again, bringing her disappointment back.
Donovan could tell, just by the look on her face, that she was expecting something else.
Kalika looked at the gray crystal in a bitter silence. And just before Donovan could say a word, she spoke. "Back then, this wouldn't have happened to me. I was able to use these crystals and their magic whenever I wanted to. But now I can't even hold these without it turning gray…"
Not long after, Kalika moved to bite into the crystal.
"Hh-hey wait!" Donovan raised his hands to stop her, but it was already too late as she had bitten in with an audible crunch. She chomped down on the crystal with a frustration visible on her face.
"Hmm… I think it lost some of its taste. " Kalika noted. "Give me more."
"No!" Donovan defended the sack, forcing Kalika to back off. Grumpily glaring at him.
Donovan sighed."I guess I should've expected that..." Donovan thought as both he and Bjorn watched on awkwardly as Kalika finished the other half of the crystal. clearly putting her pent-up frustration into that crystal.
"Do demons like eating these crystals or something?" Donovan whispered.
"Only the children, as far as I'm aware," Bjorn answered, with a sweat running down his face.
"Hey Kalika. Are you still not able to use that dark and light magic from before?" Donovan asked.
Kalika stopped and pondered for a moment. "I… Don't know… I think I was, but it doesn't seem to work now."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I think I used it when I was attacked by goblins, but it stopped working after that. This dream is stupid, it won't even let me use magic anymore…"
"Perhaps it's for the best that you can't use this magic for now. You wouldn't want to kill anyone unnecessarily."
"Sure." Kalika said, averting her gaze.
Bjorn went ahead and passed along the newly prepared stick of meat, which was promptly placed to cook under the fire. "Donovan, while we're waiting on these, try to keep practicing. But this time, use the magic crystal with the element of earth."
Donovan agreed and started training to manifest balls of earth
Kalika grumbled. "I'm leaving." She quickly took her leave soon after.
Donovan's earth ball exploded, distracted by the sudden announcement. "Huh?"
"I'm going hunting."
"I don't think that's a good idea. It's-"
"I'll be fine." Kalika interrupted. She quickly entered the dark forest in the pitch-dark night. Donovan and Bjorn could only watch on as she vanished from sight.
Setting the crystal down, Donovan glanced back at Bjorn, a little worried. "Is it just me or does it feel like she's... upset?"
"Just let her be. She'll get over it eventually."
"But get over what?"
"It's my understanding that Kalika's never been magically adept as a human. That's according to the queen, of course. So I wouldn't be surprised if she's a little envious of you."
"But... All that dark magic from then... If she doesn't have magic, how is she able to do that then?"
"I don't know," Bjorn answered. "She probably gained it after becoming a demon, for all we know. And like I said, our blood has more magic concentrated through our veins than you humans."
"But that doesn't make sense. "Wouldn't that mean she should be better at using magic?"
Bjorn crossed his arms, disappointed. "Having magic and knowing how to use it are two very different things. Take yourself for example. You may have the aptitude, yes. But you still need to learn how to control it. Otherwise, it becomes useless."
Donovan looked back into the palm of his hands. "So… She doesn't understand how to control the magic she has?"
"That's what I believe. Either way, let's just be glad that she's not able to use it."
"Right." Donovan glanced back at the crystal he had set, picking it back up. He stopped and pondered for a moment. "We should-" Donovan stopped himself short. "Never mind.
"It's for the best," Bjorn assured. "Now, let's not waste any more time."
Donovan simply nodded and returned to his training.
********
Within the forest, Kalika had just gained her first kill, which was a creature that looked like a rat.
She grimaced the tossed the large rat-looking creature to the side.
"[Just think of it. All the power you could want. And all you have to do is find me.]"
"Shut up Zorbian." Kalika said.
She looked at the dagger in her hand, a hint of annoyance. "I don't want to stay here. Once Bjorn is better, I'm leaving."
"[You're very stubborn. But how long can you last here… like this?"
Rakon then appeared from behind the tree with a smile. Seeing this, Kalika shook, and her heart began to beat much faster, seeing him. She inadvertently stepped back and froze in place.
"[If he finds you first, surely he'll make you his slave or maybe his concubine. It's only a matter of time until he comes into the pit, and if that happens, your very will will be stripped from you. And you'll never wake from this unending dream as you call it,]"
Kalika regained some semblance of her composure and threw her dagger to the ground.. "That won't happen… E-even If I can't use magic in this dream... I will escape."
"[Hm… You'll come around eventually. It's only a matter of time. Let's talk again some other time. Goodnight...]"
After that, the entire forest became silent. Kalika understood that the voice of her blade was now gone, seeing that the Rakon visage vanished.
She looks into the sky and leaves above. She looked up into the pit ceiling, seeing the dimmed crystals.
"This dream's unfair..."
From a distance a familiar wolf watched from a distance. Keeping their presence unknown. Soon after Kalika glanced in its general direction, but ignored it, to continue her hunt.