*
Opening his eyes, it took Barsch several minutes to remember where he was. The sounds of the thundering storm had been replaced by utter silence, and the view of the surrounding mountains had become a wall of darkness. For a while, he assumed that it was still night, but his fully rested body told him that it was well past dawn.
As his eyes adjusted, two more things became apparent. Firstly, the entrance to the cave had seemingly disappeared, resulting in the aforementioned darkness. Secondly, and rather more worryingly, Alza had vanished once more, without even a word or message to mark their parting.
“Kingston! Please wake up, I need your help!” he shouted, as he tried to rouse the heavy sleeper. The old man eventually awoke, mumbling curses that Barsch thankfully could not understand. Kingston took one look at the blocked entrance and swore, before reaching for his pack and opening it.
As he rummaged through its contents, he said, “Looks like the snow blocked up the entrance, but I’ve got just the thing to get us out of here!”
Barsch’s eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to roughly make out what Kingston had retrieved. It appeared to be a foot-long piece of metal pipe, with several small grooves adorning each side.
“What is it?” Barsch asked, curious.
“This m’boy is a Solar Staff. It’s a weapon that was used by foot soldiers during the South Wars. It’s made of a material similar to that of solar panels, allowing it to store sunlight as energy and release it in focused energy fields.”
Kingston then pressed his thumb into one of the grooves, and, after a small click, the cylinder began to expand from both ends, metal sliding out from recessed grooves around the circular points. Before he had time to comprehend what was happening, there was a six-foot long staff in Kingston’s hand, with no trace of joinery or divisions. It seemed to hum with a gentle resonance, the metal gleaming as if it was bathed in sunlight.
“The theory was that all guns eventually ran out of ammo, and swords and the like are only good for close combat, but this thing would continue working as long as the sun was shining. Here, watch what happens when I use ten percent of its capacity.”
With a small grunt of exertion, Kingston drove one end of the staff into the close-packed snow. Bracing himself against the cave wall, he leaned forward and pressed another recessed groove.
What happened next was almost too fast to follow, but Barsch caught a glimpse of a ribbon of light erupting from the staff, which vaporised everything in its path. A heartbeat later, light flooded the small cave, blinding Barsch once more and causing him to borrow one of Kingston’s earlier swearwords.
“Ah… sorry about that m’boy. I had it set to one hundred percent instead of ten. My bad…” Barsch ignored the old man’s apology, focusing instead of regaining his vision as quickly as possible. Still blinking furiously, he crawled out of the cave, glad to be free of it.
When he could finally see again, he was struck with how much the landscape had changed. Laid out before him was a panorama of beauty, from the snow-capped mountains to the forests and fields, everything spoke of peace and tranquillity.
“It’s beautiful…” he whispered.
“Indeed.” Kingston emerged from the cave still holding the Solar Staff, apparently intent on using it as a makeshift crutch. His foot did not seem too badly injured, but it was clear that he was taking no more risks with his safety.
“Wait, what about Alza? She was gone when I woke up…”
“Don’t worry about her m’boy, I have a feeling that she can take care of herself.”
“True. I guess we’ll meet her on the path.”
After grabbing the rest of their things, they left the small cave. It had been an eventful night, and the calm they now saw made for a strange contrast. With the skies now clear, they were able to see that they had actually stopped just before reaching the peak. When they reached the high-point, they found a familiar face waiting for them.
“Alza! Where have you been?” called Barsch, as they grew closer. Alza was sitting on a snow-covered boulder, apparently impervious to the chill in the air. She was facing the east slope, which the rising sun had blanketed in light. In the distance lay a dark-blue sea, stretching as far as the eye could see, with a coast of yellow and green. A series of low hills lay to the north, while the mountains continued in the south.
“I was trying to find out how far it was to the summit, but by the time I returned, the snow had concealed the cave entrance. So I decided to return here and wait for you.”
“And what if we had died in there?” asked Kingston.
Alza gave no response, instead stepping down from the boulder and gathering her things. Without saying another word, they started climbing down the mountain. Thankfully, the east slope was less steep, and they quickly left the snowline behind. Around them, small shrubs and thin trees began to appear, as the hard stone gave way to dusty soil. Barsch was still taken aback by how quickly the landscape had changed, but Kingston and Alza did not appear to even notice.
The old hermit was still walking with a limp, but he was gaining speed with every step, while Alza had regained her quick pace and was soon taking the lead. Despite everything that had happened the day before, Barsch once more felt like the odd one out. Without the storm to harry him or the mysterious font of willpower to strengthen him, he was back to being the weakest member in the group.
Awakening Page 41