Chapter 11 - The Angry (2)

Harmon woke up once again in a bed of sponges, sweating and agitated. These dreams were starting to piss him off. What did they even mean, anyways, and who was that annoying little girl he kept dreaming about? Was it someone else's memory? A conversation between the inner elements of his soul? A hidden desire for love and friendship in his lonely soul's inner child?

"Hey, Shadow fellow, are you still here?" he asked, turning his head around reflexively even though he could not see anything.

"I was waiting for you to wake up, child," the voice replied. "We should resume our journey eastward. There is no time left."

"Wait, no time left for what?" asked Harmon, confused. "Where are we? Is this the same cave?"

"No, it is a different cave, much further east than the previous one," explained the voice calmly. "Such caves are scattered all around the world. Nevertheless, your pursuers have been starting to search for you in every single crevice of the earth that they can find. It won't be long before they reach this place. Therefore, we need to hurry."

Harmon frowned, visibly uncomfortable with these words.

"Where are we going?" asked Harmon. "We keep running east, but what will we find there? What is our destination? I've been following you so far because I had no other choice. But I can't continue unless I understand your true purpose."

"Young Illuminator," replied the Advisor, "as we further go east, your pursuers are spearing thinner and thinner, and their chances of finding you will become smaller. But true progress stands in your ability to understand the darkness and the meaning of illumination. It is why you must go deeper into the unknown."

"Look, I don't like this cryptic speaking of yours," replied Harmon, annoyed, "you're making assumptions of things I want and things I don't."

"You must pursue this goal, sooner or later," replied the Shadow Advisor.

"Then what is the goal," asked Harmon.

"To bring back the light, in both spiritual and physical ways."

Harmon paused for a second.

"This makes no sense," the young man argued, "you just said, a few minutes earlier, that deepening into the darkness is the solution, but now you claim to wish to obtain light."

"Yes, young Harmon, the path to the true light goes through the valley of darkness."

"But how?" asked Harmon, increasingly frustrated.

"It is the way of the world," replied the Advisor calmly. "Make a choice, child. If you desire to go further on the path we've taken, then let us proceed. And if you desire to go a different path, I shall neither stop nor accompany you. The choice is yours, child."

"Well, this is not a very well-informed decision," sighed Harmon, feeling his blood boiling. "You dragged me here, and now you won't try to explain the plan. I appreciate that you saved my life back then, but if that's how things stand, then this is where we part ways. I've been willing to trust you, but your secrecy is a dealbreaker. If you had been a follower of the light, you would not have kept anything secret from me. Instead, you expect me to follow you based on blind faith. Which I can't and won't do."

Harmon stretched his hands and turned his fluorescent light on. Dim, green reflections appeared around him, spreading on the cave walls. He looked around, but no one was there. So he went towards the opening and made his way out.

"And just like that, he vanished into the unknown," wondered Harmon, looking left and right. "Maybe he was a ghost after all. Darn, it does feel amazing to be able to see again."

The cave's opening was inclined, so Harmon had almost to rock climb up in the last part. It felt incredible that he had entered the cave without stumbling and bruising himself. Eventually, he was back in the dusty plains of the overground. His fluorescent light could only reach about 5 meters around him. If he tried to spread it in one direction, he could see approximately 10-15 meters ahead.

"Hmm, I could never generate such a powerful light without an energy source before," he thought, scratching his chin. "Maybe being less tired will also help. In any case, let's see what we have around."

Harmon looked intensely in every direction, but no other light source was in sight. No sound, no movement. Everything was still.

"I still have a few batteries left in my pockets, but I wonder if using them now is the correct choice. There are pros and cons to this action. In the best-case scenario, I can see further away and see something of use. Worst case, the Teardrops will see the light, and I will be in trouble. They probably can't see the fluorescent light from afar. Still, a stronger light might alert all the enemies within a few kilometers' radius. I might even see big structures located dozens of miles away."

Harmon took a deep breath and made a choice.

"Fine, I will scan the entire area and run as far as possible before they reach my position. I haven't tried to make such small spotlights before, but it should be easy. It's a simple principle here. If the beam is thin enough, even a battery can produce it, and it would reach miles away. Still, I won't be able to distinguish much, only shapes and reflections."

Within a few seconds, Harmon managed to scan the entire area. He pinpointed the location of the Nexus and the Grand Tower Building in the west, some 40-50 kilometers away. That was a big win because that would tell him his approximate location. Also, there was no enemy visible around, which was a good thing, but since the enemies were small, he wouldn't have been able to see them from afar. North and south seemed barren, but a mountain southeast of his location caught his attention. As his green beam touched the mountain, it got strangely deflected, as if it went into some glass or smooth metal. It was something round, like an egg, sitting at the top of the mountain. And some other, even stranger, spear-like shapes stood in a ring around the egg-shaped structure.

"Well, now I'm curious; I need to investigate that. Why did I not see this before? I remember having scanned the area when I was still at the top of the Grand Tower, but no mountain came in sight then. Is it… is it the shape of the ground itself? Did I slowly climb for the last 50 kilometers, meaning that the Nexus is in a valley with limited visibility? Yeah, that must be it. Darn, I need to get to the top of this mountain and scan the area again. Also, if these shapes are built by some higher form of species, I might encounter a civilization willing to help me. Due to the inclination, they might not have seen the Grand Tower either."

Harmon paused upon a sudden realization.

"The clouds above must have reflected the lights of the Nexus all these years. If there were certain lifeforms on top of that mountain, even if they had no direct sight of the Grand Tower, they would have seen the reflections on the sky from that place. It means these creatures didn't care about Nexus's existence for all these years, which is unlikely. I'd rather guess that no one is there and the place is abandoned. I might find some resources and tools. That would be something.

Harmon felt bolstered by the realization. Hope was in sight again. He ran toward the mountain as fast as he could.