Ellen followed her downstairs to the lobby, where they ran into Barry and Trevor. Both were on their way to ask them the same question.
"I'm going," Barry said proudly. "It might've been an accident, but we still screwed up our last mission. We need to do something to make up for that."
"I plan to go as well," Trevor said. "We're going to lose the fortress eventually, but if we pull enough teams back we might be able to hold onto it for a while longer."
"We joined the Fortress Brigade to help others," Ludendi said. "Or at least I did. Warning the other teams about the danger that's coming for them is probably the most helpful thing we can do right now."
They looked to Ellen.
She didn't share their excitement. They might not admit it to each other, but all three had made it clear to her they were terrified of the future and terrified of losing their home. She didn't see any bravery in their words. All she saw was them refusing to accept the inevitable. That stubbornness was going to get them sent out into regions of the wilderness none of them had been before; regions patrolled by teams that might not be alive anymore; regions with monsters far larger than anything they'd seen so far.
But despite her fear, she couldn't stand the thought of leaving her friends behind to get hurt. It was a decision she expected to regret later, but Ellen answered, "I'll go."
Chapter 17
"Our mission doesn't start until tomorrow," Barry said. "Let's see if we can get inside the tavern again."
Ludendi and Trevor were both skeptical, but after Barry reminded them about their last visit, they agreed to try.
Ellen simply nodded when they looked to her. The tavern was the least of her worries. Did they realize what they were getting themselves into with this new mission? Other teams were in danger, but heading out into the wilderness scared and confused wasn't going to help anyone. If anything, they'd likely end up needing to be saved themselves.
The trip to the tavern ended up being for naught. The doors were shut and locked. The woman who always watched the front counter sat before them, her eyes bloodshot and her face wet with tears. A stern looking man wearing a black uniform and a mournful crowd lingered beside her.
The cause of the woman's misery was quite obvious. "I bet she lost someone important to her recently," Ellen mumbled.
Her friends' expressions all turned gloomy. Even Barry, who had been ecstatic a moment ago, looked down.
"Is that the boy you're always talking about?" Ludendi asked.
She pointed to the black haired boy, who stood outside the tavern near the edge of the crowd. Ellen glanced at him, and he immediately glanced back at her and scowled.
"That's him," she agreed.
"Why's he staring at you like that?" Barry asked, a wry smile on his face. "I think he likes you."
"He hates me," Ellen said. "We met him outside the tavern when I first came here. He ran into you, then you shoved him into me. He thought I attacked him, but it was an accident."
Barry and Trevor both responded with a long "Oh!", as if they only just now remembered the incident.
"I ran into him again yesterday," she added. "He crashed into me, then picked up my knife while I was on the ground. I threatened to attack him if he didn't give it back. I probably went too far-"
"Forget about him," Ludendi said. "It's his fault for running into you, and he deserves whatever he gets for trying to steal your knife."
"Just tell us if he tries to take it again and we'll come beat him up," Barry said.
Ellen smiled. They might not return from their mission tomorrow, but at least they'd leave as friends.
They wandered around the fortress for a while, looking for some kind of pleasantry, but there was little to be had. Dozens of groups were out on the streets, mourning their loses together. More rumors than ever were circulating about the dark tear in the sky. Some still wrote it off as a weather effect, but even more suspected a giant monster was going to burst through the sky any moment now.
At one point Ellen tried to track down the monster meat vendor. She managed to find the scent of his meat in the air and then his grill soon after, but the fire was out and the vendor himself was nowhere to be found. She already missed him.
His grill wasn't the only thing shut down. Everywhere they went she found shops locked and boarded up. Something bad had to be lurking outside the fortress if people were already going into hiding, and first thing tomorrow morning they were going to head out into the wilderness to find that something.
Ludendi and Trevor left once it started getting dark.
"We have some free time." Barry said. He smiled, but just for a second. "I'm kind of worried someone might get hurt if we try anything. I think this dimension is out to get us."
"It really feels that way," Ellen agreed.
"If we make it back in one piece, let's do something special together. How does that sound?"
It sounded like one of Barry's better ideas. "I like it," Ellen said.
Barry gave her a kiss on the cheek, then they separated.
She met him again outside the training hall the next morning; Ludendi and Trevor as well.
The black haired boy was there already. "Why are you here," he grumbled.
"We could ask you the same question," Barry croaked.
"I'm being assigned to a new team today." A startled look appeared on his face. "It better not be your team."
Ellen cringed. They had enough trouble with monsters. Having someone like him on their team would make everything worse.
Brendon entered the training hall, his heavy green armor clicking with each step he took, and stood behind them. "If you don't like each other then that's just too bad. What matters right now is the fortress and the people inside it."
"I know the fortress is important," the black haired boy scoffed. "Why don't you tell them that."
"Where's Kilroy?" Ludendi asked.
"He returned to his old job," Brendon said. "I'd tell you more, but we're all stretched thin right now. Get your supplies and get ready."
While her friends and the black haired boy gathered their supplies, Ellen pretended to read the note Brendon gave her. It was covered with all sorts of strange runes she had no hope of ever deciphering.
"It's Galvin's official order to return to the fortress," Brendon explained. "Some teams might not take you seriously when you tell them to head back. Show them that and they'll listen."
Ellen tucked the note away in her pocket.
Once her friends returned, Brendon opened Ludendi's map book and showed them the region they were to search. It was out in the Primeval Forest, much further than they'd ever gone before.
"There's no telling exactly where you'll find the other teams or what condition they'll be in," Brendon said. "Just search the best you can, give them supplies if they need any, then tell them to get out. You do the same if it's not safe out there." He closed the book. "Give it four days if you can, but don't get yourselves killed."
His words came with an aura of gloom that lingered even after he left. Ellen felt it especially bad. If Brendon of all people was worried, then the region they were heading to had to be truly awful.
The black haired boy lifted his heavy backpack onto his shoulders, then strapped his mace and shield to the sides. "Shouldn't we get going?" he asked plainly. "M-my name is Ralph, by the way. Who's our leader?" Ellen glanced at him, and he responded with a disappointed "Oh."
She wasn't looking forward to having him in the group. Maybe he'd put their differences aside for this mission, but she had her doubts.
Ellen led the group outside the fortress, into the plains and south towards the forest. There was no path. They had to march through the tall grass.
"This is my second mission," Ralph said after a while. "How about all of you?"
"It's our third," Ludendi said.
"So we're all pretty much novices then."
"Ellen grew up out here," Barry said. "She probably has more experience than half the Fo
rtress Guard."
Ralph studied Ellen. "You mean out in this field? Why did you wait so long to come to the fortress?"
"Out in the wilderness," Ellen said. "I came to the fortress a few weeks ago."
"That explains why you're such a savage. I guess you're still not used to living around civilized people."
It was a nasty remark, but all Ellen felt was dread. This was what the rest of their mission was going to be like. It might be what all of their missions were going to be like if Ralph was to become a permanent member of their team.
The Primeval Forest came into view soon after lunch. It looked just as dreary as ever. Its massive trees covered the entire horizon.
"The front of the forest looks clear," Trevor said, his binoculars in hand. "If there are any large monsters lurking in there, I can't see them from here."
"Is it really going to be that dangerous?" Ralph asked. "My old team ran into a couple monsters during our last mission, but they were all just little things."
"What happened to that team?" Ellen asked. She didn't care for Ralph's history in the least, but she was curious to know how he ended up with her.
She waited for an answer, but it never came. After a long and awkward silence, she glanced back at Ralph.
He walked with his head down. Only after he noticed her watching him did he finally speak. "They didn't make it," he mumbled. "We were sleeping in this old, abandoned building. Something attacked us during the night. I saw the ceiling starting to buckle, so I darted outside. When I looked back, most of the building had collapsed."
"Did they get trapped?" Ludendi asked. "Or where they..."
"Trapped." Ralph shuddered. "There was a gigantic thing with wings as wide as that training hall guarding the wreckage. There was no way I could fight it myself. I waited until my supplies ran out, but it never left." He lowered his head. "I bet you think I'm a coward for abandoning them."
"It's a tough decision to make," Ludendi said. "I'm not sure what I'd do if that happened to us."
"We should come up with a plan just in case it does," Ralph suggested.
Nobody spoke after that. Ellen knew why: it was an awful decision to make and they wanted her to do it. "It takes about a day to get back to the fortress," she said cautiously, "or maybe longer if we're in the forest. If we do get separated, we should spend a day trying to meet up again, and if we can't-" She paused. She knew the words she wanted to say, but they were unpleasant words. "Head back to the fortress, even if someone's missing."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Ludendi said glumly.
"You can leave me behind if you need to," Barry said. "If something really awful does find us, I'm just going to get in the way."
"None of us are very good on our own," Trevor said. "If we get separated from Ellen, we're not going to last long."
Ralph perked up. "My other team was experienced, but they didn't have a wildling girl leading them. We shouldn't have a problem."
Even his complements sounded like attacks. Ellen ignored him.
The forest wasn't far off. She stopped near the edge and peered inside with awe. The base of each tree was as wide as a house, if not wider. They were the largest trees she'd ever seen. Each one reached hundreds of feet into the air. Small shrubs and sparse patches of grass grew within the few rays of light that managed to slip through the dense treetops. The forest itself stretched out into the distance with no end in sight.
"There's a small plume of smoke in the distance," Trevor said. "I can't see the source, but we can easily reach it before it gets dark."
Did they find a team already? It sounded too good to be true. "We'll check it," Ellen said, "then we'll look for a place to sleep."
She headed into the forest. It was much colder than the plains. The ground was nothing but hard dirt with an occasional rock or root sticking out.
It took half an hour to reach the source of the smoke. It came from a small campfire built between two rocky outcroppings.
A group of five men sat around the fire. Ellen saw them and paused. They were at least twice her age, if not older. They looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see them.
"Go over and talk to them," Ralph said plainly. "Unless you're scared and need me to do it."
Ellen frowned and approached the men. She didn't need him at all, not for their team and not as her messenger.
"You kids look lost," one of the men called out. "You need someone to show you the way home?"
"Y-you need to leave," Ellen said. The men gave her a curious look, probably because they never expected someone her size or age to be giving them orders, but then she showed them Brendon's note and they smiled.
They stood up, gathered their things and hurried off.
"Watch yourselves out here," one warned. "There's something big stomping around in the dark, and it's not friendly."
Ellen rejoined her friends and Ralph and started leading them to a campsite Ludendi picked out.
"That was hard to watch," Ralph said. "Have you never talked to someone older than you before?"
"Shut up," Ellen grumbled. They'd barley started their mission and already she knew it was going to be a long four days.
The campsite was half an hour away. It was underneath a giant tree stump. Its roots were half unburied, and a makeshift hideaway had been carved into them.
It was already getting dark. Ellen quickly ate, dug her sleeping bag out of Barry's backpack then crawled under the stump. Her friends and Ralph followed.
"We're not going straight to sleep, are we?" Ralph asked. "My old team usually planned out our next day while we settled down."
"Where's your old team now?" Ellen asked. The remark came out harsher than she had intended, even her friends gave her curious glances, but it did shut Ralph up.
Darkness soon set in. The others drifted off right away, but Ellen stayed awake a little longer. A soft plodding sound in the distance kept her up. It was very faint, but she knew exactly what it was: footsteps. Just like the men had said, something was walking around in the dark. Something big. Fortunately, it was far off, and it didn't sound like it was getting closer.
She woke up the next morning with a pain her chest. She opened her eyes just in time to see Ralph crawling over her. He had one knee shoved into her abdomen, which he soon moved, only to replace it with his other knee.
"There's something outside," Ralph shouted. "It sounds like a monster!"
He took off outside. Ludendi, Barry and Trevor kicked their sleeping bags away and hurried after him. Ellen watched, annoyed, as all three crawled passed her without touching even her sleeping bag. She couldn't follow, her chest hurt too much to move.
Sounds of flesh being shredded, metal clanging against metal and wood splintering apart filled the air. By the time she recovered and left the hideaway, it was all over.
Her friends and Ralph stood a few feet away. They were gathered around the corpse of a monster with eight spindly arms. It looked just like the monster she'd encountered on top of the fortress's outer wall a few weeks ago.
"That wasn't so bad," Barry said. "We didn't even need our shield."
"It would be nice if this was the worst monster we came across," Trevor said, "but I doubt this forest is going to let us off that easy."
"Who's your shield?" Ralph asked. "Don't tell me it's that grumpy wildling."
Ludendi gave his shoulder a light shove. "Don't call her that," she complained. "If she's grumpy it's because you keep calling her names."
Ellen shambled towards the monster and stuck her knife into its still body. The pain in her abdomen vanished in an instant. She stood up unhindered.
She then glared at Ralph. He was already suspicious about her knife, and he might find out about its power before their mission was over, but the only way he'd ever touch it was if she stuck him with it.
"What was that for?" he asked. "Do you think us civilized types can't kill a monster on our own?"
"Her knife-" Ludendi tried to say.<
br />
"It's none of his business," Ellen snapped. She put her knife away. "We need to keep searching."
After a brief breakfast and a few minutes of packing, the search continued. Ellen made sure they stuck close enough to the edge of the forest that the fortress was always in sight. In a few more days she'd be back there and far away from both Ralph and whatever was stomping around during the night. She couldn't wait.
A loud stomp made her freeze. It came from behind a massive fallen tree some distance ahead. Another one followed a second later, then another and another.
They were footsteps, a monster's footsteps, and they were heading her way. She took out her knife and waited.
Chapter 18
A monster charged out from behind the fallen tree. Ellen looked at it and frowned. They were getting bigger.
The monster had a vaguely human shape. It would've been taller than the monster that had attacked the mining site if its back wasn't hunched forward. Its feet were hooves and it carried a silver long sword taller than she was. Its body was covered with dark, coarse hair, and its eyes were beady and yellow and half hidden behind its long, narrow snout. Its horns were twisted, black, gnarled things that stuck several feet into the air.
It was an eager creature. As soon as it spotted Ellen, violet energy began swirling around its meaty hands. Once it had a dense collection gathered, it slashed its sword through the air and cast a weapon at her. The magic sword spun so fast it stirred up a cloud of dirt behind it.
Ralph dove to the ground. "Get out of the way!" he yelled. "That thing will tear you apart!"
Watching him cower in the dirt made Ellen smile. They'd never told him about her shield. Maybe the shame would take him down a notch.
She summoned her shield and waited. The monstrous sword went as quickly as it came. Her shield sent it sailing off into the forest. A second one hit soon after. It bounced off her then crashed into the ground and skid away. The impact launched a thick cloud of dirt into the air.
She dropped her shield. The monster had already given up on its magic weapons and was stomping towards them now.
Forlorn Dimension (Ellen's Friends Book 1) Page 17