ZE - Chapter 39: A glimmer of hope

Disclaimer:

“Dialogue”

‘Thoughts’

-Author notes-

Chapter 39: A glimmer of hope

“Ah… I thought I was going to die…” Seth said while his heart was rapidly beating.

The descent was indeed much faster, especially because Zephyr lost his grip halfway down, and they both fell.

He did manage to get a grip before touching the ground and prevented a few broken bones.

“Stop complaining, we made it… we should be safe on this side,” Zephyr said.

“That's right, we are finally south of the Wall!” Seth looked around. It was too dark to spot anything significant in the distance, but glancing down at his feet, he noticed the grass appeared strange.

The boy knelt down and grabbed a fistful of grass to examine it. It was extremely dry and yellow in color. “The grass is dead…” He became increasingly nervous.

All the tales about the cursed lands south of the Wall came to the front of his mind.

“This land is poisoned… that's what they always told us,” said Zephyr.

“What if it's all dead here?” Seth said, almost in a whisper.

"What if the poison cloud is still here?!"

“It's not like we have a better choice… we can't live north of the wall… this is the only place where they will leave us alone,” Zephyr said. 

Is true that he never stopped to think hard and long about all the possibilities and dangers of coming here. But never saw another path for him other than this.

“But what if the poison kills us?” Seth asked.

Zephyr looked at the boy with pity. He understood his fear, but he also understood that this was the only path they had now.

“Then we will die...but..." He looked around. The air didn't feel exactly clean but if he was being poisoned, he should have gotten a warning already.

Let's go.” Zephyr started walking away from the wall.

“W-wait, where are you going?” Seth quickly followed him, not wanting to stay there alone.

“South, of course. We can't stay too close to the wall. You heard Bill. The next patrol will arrive at dawn, and they will discover the dead Celestial… what do you think they will do next?”

“They will look for the killer,” Seth said.

Zephyr nodded. “Since Bill is also missing, they may suspect him, but in any case, they only have two directions to look… North and South. We need to get as far away as possible from that wall before the sun comes out.”

“But it's too dark! I can barely see where I'm stepping,” Seth complained.

“Neither do I, but we appear to be in some large plain area, so there shouldn't be too many obstacles. Just don't lower your guard,” Zephyr warned him. If beasts were living here, they may be attacked.

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They walked for over an hour, and the landscape didn't change from dead grass and darkness, but they saw the few lights on the wall getting much further away.

“Say, Seth… does that map of yours say anything about these lands?”

“There are some basic markings that were copied down from ancient books, but those haven't been updated since the Great Sin occurred. No hunter has ever mapped this area… it is forbidden.”

Zephyr already expected that answer. They were now in uncharted territory.

He had also seen those old maps that Seth mentioned. The three old human kingdoms were south of here.

The Zloria and Elmeria Kingdoms were Southwest, while the old Varian Kingdom was Southeast.

“The Zloria Kingdom is the closest one,” Zephyr said.

“Yes, maybe two or three days southwest of here… is that where we are going?” Seth asked.

“The old Kingdoms seem like a good place to start our journey. If any humans had survived the Great Sin… we should be able to find something there.”

Ultimately, he did want to try to find that Empire he saw in his dreams, but that place was supposed to be beyond the Elmira Kingdom, so it was best to start with the closest one and go from there.

After that short conversation, the two of them continued to travel in silence.

It was obvious that Seth wanted to say more things but was too tired to do so. At this point, they had been awake for almost an entire day and did not stop to rest for even a moment.

The monotonous landscape did not help things either. The crunching sound the dry grass made as they stepped on it was getting drilled into their ears at this point, and all around them was nothing but darkness… some very unnerving darkness.

They were literally walking blindly into the unknown.

Eventually, the sun started to peek out of the eastern distant lands and illuminate their way.

Now they were able to get a better look at the wild plains they were in.

For the most part, they were surrounded by dry lands. Even the few solitary trees they spotted were completely dead.

To the east, they saw a massive mountain range. If the old maps stay true, crossing that mountain range and continuing southeast a bit more will lead one to the old Varian Kingdom.

As the sun rose higher, they spotted a large forest to the southwest, in the direction they were traveling.

“Look, Look!” Seth was extremely excited after seeing a forest in the distance.

Zephyr was also smiling. “I knew it! There is still life here.”

What made the two boys so happy was that for the first time since they crossed the wall…they were seeing green leaves.

This meant there was still floral life in that forest and thus…a high chance of finding animal life.

The southern part of the continent was not as dead as they have been told…