The Chasm's Entrance Sections

Descending - Act 2 | Chapter 21 - The Chasm's Entrance Sections
Four Hours and Forty-Five Minutes Since Juna Was Found Dead

Since leaving Radu’s hut forty minutes ago, they had only just now arrived at the giant opening in the ground called The Chasm. The escape from the village was done with Ilinca leading the way, watching diligently for Doru or anyone who could be associated with him. Only once she waved Theo and Radu forward could they walk towards her position. This give-and-take lasted almost a half hour until they finally crossed over The Mound. Fifteen minutes later, they reached The Chasm.

The sight from the top of The Mound couldn’t even begin to match how The Chasm looked up close. It stretched farther than Theo’s eyes could manage to see and size wavered like a serpent's body. Some sections being almost seventy feet wide, while others could be as slim as Theo’s forearm. A giant gaping crevice that split this world in two and even housed a variety of more villages and Layers somehow inside it, as if it was a completely separate world of its own.

Even Radu seemed entranced by The Chasm, though he soon shook it off and peered inside.

“The Stones shift with certainty,” the researcher spoke, his voice giving off the slightest echo from The Chasm.

Suddenly, The Chasm responded, “and The Chasm digs deeper."

Theo took a step back unnerved at the voice, but Ilinca placed a hand on his back and nodded forward.

From The Chasm came a man who seemed to grow in size as he exited. He stood tall enough that the only way to meet Radu’s eyes was to crane his neck. The man's long gray hair was unfitting for his statue of a body, and a Stone with clumps of purple chunks hung from his neck.

“Glad to have you finally reach out again, Radu,” the large man said, his beard bouncing with each word.

“I am only surprised you responded. How many times have you failed to reply in these past years?” Radu chuckled.

“Not enough for you to stop contacting me,” the man joked. The large looked up, not even needing to peer over Radu’s shoulders to see Theo. “This the Lift?”

“As fresh as they come.” Radu spun on his heel and promptly gestured towards the large man. “Edgar, a proud Gritborn who reached Ground Two. He has been tasked with leading a group to protect you during the descent.”

Edgar only grunted.

“We should move now while The Entrance Section is swapping out and before the Shifting starts.” Edgar instructed.

Radu nodded and stepped to the side. He eyed Theo, gave a faint smirk that disappeared almost immediately after, and sucked in a breath.

“Word of advice, Theo,” Radu said. “Find the answers yourself. If you continue to question every inconsistency you come across then you will be dead before any answers arise. Make your own choices and find your own answers. Moving forward is the same as surviving in The Chasm. Stopping to question something is the same as suicide.”

Theo didn’t respond. He didn’t know how. Though he understood, he had to understand. Theo nodded and shifted the sack on his back to a better position. He didn’t even want to think about what he was toting like a backpack. He pushed it out of his mind as far as he could and only hoped the pain digging through his shoulders could distract him.

“Let’s move,” Edgar said from inside The Chasm.

Theo stepped forward, took a glance back at Radu and Ilinca. “Thank you,” he said, and inched his right leg down into the abyss before lowering his whole body down.

The descent was anything but pleasant. A few of those orange glowing Stones lined the right side of The Chasm’s wall, but still the majority of the tunnels they traveled through were dark. Breathing required more effort and tight caps in the tunnel forced Theo to unequip the sack and pull it backwards through the squeeze.

Never once had Theo gone caving before. Jack mentioned going once or twice, but of course Theo rejected the idea each time it was brought up. Instead he stayed in town and worked. Though the following school day all he heard from his friends was how exhilarating the adventure was. The adrenaline they felt that pumped with each step further into the unknown. The cold stone wall that would meet their palm for guidance, and the looming sense of adventure.

Theo felt none of that. Excitement was replaced with dread and alert nerves. The only cold chill came from a corpse pressed against his back, and the sense of adventure never once crossed his mind as Edgar kept a tight glare forward in front of him. Never once did the towering man speak or ask what was in the sack.

Should I tell him? Theo thought. Maybe. He could know how to get to The Fourth Layer.

Though Theo quickly decided against speaking. This Edgar was a Gritborn. Gritborns killed Juna. And currently a Gritborn was set on hunting him down in a pursuit to kill Theo. No matter how much trust Radu placed in Edgar, Theo wouldn't do the same. The Gritborn in front of Theo had no reason to obey anything Radu said. Judging by how The Chasm is spoken about, Edgar could simply kill Theo and then report to Radu that the young boy had died somewhere in The First Layer.

If such a situation occurred, Theo would be helpless. Body strapped to his back and without a weapon in hand Theo wouldn't last a second against the man in rusted plate armor. A material that Theo had yet to see anywhere on Ground Zero. Was metal more of a rarity here? Or could it be that those down in Ground One and below were the only ones with access to metals such as iron and silver?

Regardless, what worried Theo more than the battle-worn armor was whatever abomination Edgar had sheathed at his waist. The weapon's handle was made from branches intertwined with one another and curved in an unnatural way that properly fit the grooves of Edgar's massive hand.

“We’re here,” Edgar said, causing Theo to stumble to a stop. The Gritborn ducked his head and passed through an opening. “The Chasm’s Entrance Section.”

Theo followed and emerged into a wider gap of The Chasm. Here the same image as described by Juna was seen. Around a dozen or so other Gritborns with similar necklaces and armor all walked about. Some carried pickaxes while others fiddled with newly bought Stones from the nearby vendors.

Were those colorful Stones what Radu and Juna had called Fossils? Or were they something else?

“Lift,” Edgar said, directing Theo’s attention to the two girls who had approached them. “These are the other two Gritborn’s. They will join us.”

The girl with bright red hair tied into a frizzled ponytail stepped forward first. She gave a grateful bow, tucking her left leg behind her right, and extending a hand.

“Aurelia,” she said, “pleased to meet you.”

Hesitantly, Theo met her hand and shook it. “Likewise—”

His hand seared in pain from Aurelia smashing his knuckles together with her grip. Immediately Theo jerked his hand away, wincing in pain.

Aurelia giggled and made a squeezing motion with her hand in the air. “Mighty weak grip you got there, Lift.”

“Enough with the teasing, Aurelia,” the other woman said. She marched in front of the snickering Aurelia and smiled at Theo. “I apologize for her teasing, she fakes a prim and proper act but she is truly as crude as they come.”

“Huh! Say that again, Flavia! Spouting lies now are we?” Aurelia yelled.

Edgar grumbled. “It didn't take long for her true colors to come out this time.”

The second girl, who Theo guessed was Flavia, tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear and giggled. Unlike Edgar's heavy plate armor and Aurelia’s light hide gear, Flavia wore a thin silk-like tunic that draped to her ankles. The tunic was a stone-grey color lighter than The Chasm walls, but popped with color in contrast to her pale skin. At the waist, the tunic was cut out in a V pattern on both sides, exposing the bottom half of her torso and a sliver of her upper hips. Though her entire midsection remained covered by the tunic’s bridge and whatever sections were exposed had been covered by a black skin tight material.

This was the most detail Theo had seen in a person’s apparel. Even Edgar's armor or Ilinca's tunic wasn’t as smooth or proper.

Is she more important?

With his eyes, Theo searched the one place that would grant an answer to such a question. A DepthStone. Hanging from Flavia’s neck was a Stone chunk with chips of lime rocks inside. A DepthStone the same as Doru's, and matched the same one around Aurelia's neck.

So they've only been to Ground One?