novelzi Chapter 399 – Air At Last
Chapter 399 – Air At Last
Kassandora’s fists landed on her hips as she watched Iniri turn around, a downright stupid expression on her face. The Goddess of Nature’s dress was flowing madly, roots blasting off into the stone and rubble as dwarves and men raced back towards the Dineh tunnel. This was another spiral road, barely an incline as a thousand years ago, minecart-trains would be funnel supplies from Dineh to the Epan front. Those ancient rails were still here, although they had been torn by the Goddess of Nature’s crazed rampage of flora which tore stone like paper and ruptured through the tunnels.
The tunnel had been collapsed to cut it off from the surface. It was Iniri’s job to hurry a decade-long excavation down to a few days worth of exertion. This was day five. Progress was being made. “It’s collapsing.” Iniri said flatly. The short Goddess of Nature hung in the air, held up by vines and roots, a giant oak tree cradled her within its bark and provided cover from the dust coming from above. It filled
“And?” Kassandora asked. “Can you not hold it?” Iniri an eyebrow at Kassandora as she raised her hands. The oak cradling her exploded with branches as if they were cancerous growths. Wood splintered and howled as bark snapped. Branches fell off the tree and then became entire trees as they swam through the air. Roots shot off into the ground, wood stabbed upwards. It spread out like a web over the ceiling. Green leaves expanded to be as large as cars and as thick as arms. They caught the dust as Iniri’s eyes began to glow.
Iniri said nothing. She just stared with a dry expression at Kassandora. The forest that had just filled the tunnel strained, wood cracked, regrew, and then pushed however many million tons of stone upwards.
Well, that answered the question.
“I have to push the stone upwards to displace it.” Iniri said to Kassandora as the Goddess of War turned around to inspect the men who were to help with excavations. Iniri was only here to craft a path through, it wasn’t the role of Divine to make things perfectly clean and even if it was, it was better to carve a path out first. Trucks from the main body of the Expeditionary Legion were being hand-loaded with stones. Dwarves, both live and skeletal, as well as humans were working with modern pneumatic hammer and ancient pickaxe to break the car-sized boulders which had initially dropped from the ceiling. In the distance, a Torchbearer tank was parked, its massive lighthouse spotlight illuminating the entire tunnel.
“Then push.” Kassandora answered. What was the issue exactly?
“If there’s people on the surface then…” Iniri trailed off. “Well, it won’t be safe if I push.”
Why was Kassandora saddled with this woman? Where was the Iniri that they faced a thousand years ago? The Mother Nature who served as warning for children not entering deep dark woods or the Mother Nature that reclaimed entire cities back for the planet? Even if there were people up there, how many? Kassandora knew where Dineh lay, and she knew the map of modern-day Lubska off by heart. It was only forgotten villages for miles around. Nevertheless though, it wasn’t liked, but it wasn’t unexpected. Iniri had changed or something had changed Iniri, but Kassandora knew about that. “Arascus has given the green light.”
Iniri looked at Kassandora with confusion. Even though her face and body turned, it was obvious that the Goddess of Nature wasn’t in her body right now. Those green eyes, glowing as they were, were so dull they could have belong to somehow blind. “How did Arascus give the green light?”
“There’s a phoneline up to Fazba now.” Kassandora said. “I sent a message that we’re coming out and to expect earthquakes, he sent one back that Olonia has been told and dispatched.”
“Oh.” Iniri said, sighing with relief. “You’re smart.”
Kassandora didn’t know how to feel about that. She would rather Iniri be decisive rather than be nice. “Keep digging Iniri.”
Kassandora took a deep breath as she the air suddenly tasted… fresh. It was still laden with dust and rock, that had not changed whatsoever. Yet within it, there was something else too. Cool moisture which had simply not existed in the underground. It was cold too, like snow or ice. The rumbling of the caverns became deafening. Iniri grabbed her from behind and held on tight. “Hold on Kass.”
The first question in Kassandora’s mind was who was holding onto to. The next thought, which came instantly, killed that line of thought. Kassandora grabbed Iniri’s wrist and squeezed. And the forest around them gave one final giant push as the flora groaned with effort. Tree and leaf and vine and root all twisted and cracked and ground themselves into stone and then pushed. The forest around Kassandora lifted up for a moment, and then shot upwards like a dog that had suddenly been let off the leash.
Kassandora saw it the same moment that Iniri did. For a moment, that defeaning rumbling of a mountain sliding down did not matter whatever. It may as well have been nothing but background noise to Kassandora. The beam of light which illuminated dust and cool snow in the air peered through a branch. Then another. And another.
Iniri slid off Kassandora’s back, breathing heavily, as she waved her hands in front of herself. The trees ahead of them parted to the side as if they were a giant sliding door. The Goddess of Nature took a shaky step forwards as wind and sunlight rushed in. Cool air followed by a snowflakes. Sunlight followed by warmth. The sound of a rolling avalanche. Of birds squawking in the sky. Of an eagle. Of car engines and the whir of a helicopter in the distance. And then a cheer from behind. The Underground Expeditionary Legion and all its men who had made it to the end.
Kassandora pulled away from Iniri and walked towards the blinding light ahead of them. She hadn’t realised how desensitized her eyes had gotten under this ground, but a single step through that opening reminded her of what she had missed.
The fields and the rivers. Villages in the distance. Planes leaving long trails in the sky. A pair of helicopters coming from the north. Clouds in the sky. A curling wind that caressed Kassandora’s neck and face like a cool silken cloth. Sunlight that kissed every inch of her exposed skin like a pair of sweet lips. High above her was a giant eagle; Olonia’s bird with the Goddess riding it. Below was what looked to be all the stone of a quarry transported to the surface. Snow and trees, boulders and rocks, dust and ice and dirt which had been devoured by the landslide. To her left and right were sheer, jagged cliffs. They looked so sharp that they may as well have been carved out with a knife. The mountain had been toppled.
Kassandora looked around at the landscape as she lost track of time. Iniri caught up to her. Olonia circled overhead on her eagle. The soldiers of the Legion started to pass by as they took steps outside and then collapsed on the rugged stone. Some men burst out in laughter, others started to cry with joy that they finally saw the sun. That was far too great of a reaction, but even Kassandora had to admit that she wasn’t so cold as to not sigh with relief. It was as if she was wondering the desert and had just come across an oasis, as if she drowning and just caught a breath of air, as if she was lost in the woods and come across a cabin she knew was safe. Inside her was a torrent that washed away her doubts and stresses although there was no reason to say so much. One word was enough.
Finally.