Angel Monarch-Chapter 597: The Hollow Archipelago

Led by Sorath, guided by Naomi and kept on track by Aralim, the group of teenagers made quick progress moving from one island to the other. They were now approaching the island cluster's edge.

Soon enough, they stopped at the final crossing, and set up camp...

"How long until the Hollow Archipelago is in range?" Asked Naomi while pulling off her backpack.

"About 3 and a half rotations. Make yourselves comfortable... We'll be here for quite a while." Answered Aralim, pulling his own backpack off.

The meaning of rotations changed at an island cluster's edge. Here, a full rotation would be equal to a long rotation, which would be 15 large segments over the Watch. What Aralim referred to was three and a half of the seven smaller segments between the larger ones.

Each island cluster rotated around its center, but the center also moved, orbiting different clusters. The cluster they were currently on was named Sorruin, after their city, and it orbited four other clusters.

The Death Cluster was known for its powerful monster presence and thousands of failed expeditions. Nobody had ventured there for the past few hundred long rotations.

Bountiful Islands was the cluster many expeditions explored. It was full of flourishing plant and animal life, but sadly these creatures loved eating Aralim's people, so expeditions needed to be careful.

The Scorching Islands had little to no monster presence, yet few expeditions ventured there. The environment was dangerous enough, with constantly burning islands and lakes of lava, to deter exploration.

The safest out of the four was the Hollow Archipelago, where the teenagers' expedition led. It had larger groups of roaming monster hordes, but avoiding them wasn't too difficult.

"I never understood why it's named Hollow Archipelago," said Naomi, while pulling a rolled-up blanket-like black fabric out of her backpack.

"Supposedly, many long rotations ago, massive worms lived on those islands. They dug long tunnels below the ground, then eventually got eaten by other monsters. Their hollow tunnels remained within the islands, though." Said Aralim, happy to share some historical facts.

"They never find evidence of that... It's just a hypothesis..." Said Sorath, while chewing on some jerky.

Aralim shot him an annoyed glare, which made both twin giggle. They all sat around their lone lantern, either relaxing or eating their reserves. Sadly, they couldn't bring much since this wasn't an official expedition.

"It would be nice to eat some monster meat... With mouth begins watering just from imagining the fat dripping from the succulent muscle into an open flame..." said Naomi, while staring at the disgusting jerky in her hand.

She closed her eyes and took a small bite, trying to imagine it was monster meat. However, the tasteless leathery fabric couldn't be compared to that juicy meat.

"Maybe we get lucky on the Hollow Archipelago and catch some Tainted or Rotten ones!" said Sorath while licking his lips.

The twins continued discussing how they would cook the hunted meat, while Aralim climbed into his sleeping blanket. He lay inside the black fabric, on his stomach so the pair of bone wings would stick into his back.

Long ago, before the world ended, Aralim's people had beautiful wings covered in feathers. His people were cursed. That's when they lost their eyesight, and only the bones remained from their wings.

He spent many hours reading through the old texts. They weren't all that reliable, since each text contradicted the other.

Some say it was divine punishment, but many texts mention a supposed holy war. Other races attacked them, but somehow a few survived the massacre, but became cursed in the process.

Aralim dreamed of finding meaning in the past, which could lead his people to a better future. Naomi wanted to help them by finding a less cruel place to live, while Aralim hoped to lift the curse, which made their survival near impossible.

As his eyes shut, Aralim imagined a world of beauty, where he and his people lived freely and happily. Where they didn't question if they'll be able to feed their children in the next long rotation.

...

With a yelp, Aralim jumped to his feet, which he found difficult because of the sleeping blanket. After a few seconds of struggling, he pulled the fabric off and saw Naomi rolling on the ground with laughter.

She kicked his side to wake him up, but his battle with the blanket gave her immense amusement. Near her, Sorath simply snorted and grinned, showcasing a lot more restraint than his sister.

Aralim sighed, then yawned and checked his Rotation Watch. There was less than a single rotation before the Hollow Archipelago aligned with Sorruin.

The teenage boy stretched his scrawny arms while yawning again. He took a bite of his jerky, then the small group packed up their supplies and went to the artificial outcropping.

This one was longer and more narrow than the previous ones they'd crossed. It couldn't be helped, since the distance between island clusters could reach hundreds of meters.

They gazed down into the deep emptiness below. Their lantern illuminated the first few dozen meters, then the infinite darkness stared back at them.

Curiously, Aralim dropped a nearby pebble. He awaited some noise as it hit the ground, but... nothing. The only sound he heard was the light breeze gracing his skin...

The small group stopped at the outcropping's edge, then awaited the Hollow Cluster's furthest island.

Long ago, the first expeditioners who ventured to other clusters placed tiny glowing stones, like the ones inside their lanterns, along the artificial outcroppings. This way, one could see the approaching outcropping from afar.

This was necessary, since the islands at the edges of clusters moved quite fast and in opposite directions. They couldn't just step onto the other outcropping... You needed to jump!

Luckily, Naomi had led many illegal expeditions before to the Hollow Archipelago. Sorath and Aralim followed her each time, which gave them enough experience to make the crossing without much trouble.

However, as the glowing bridge appeared to the side, all three instantly noticed something strange...

"Isn't it a bit short?" asked Aralim with concern.

"Yeah, it's like missing one third of it!" said Sorath with little emotion.

"It must've broken off... An expedition will fix it later. Right now, we're running out of time!"

Naomi's voice came from a few meters behind the boys. They glanced back to see their friend stretch her slender legs and neck.

"No fucking way... Naomi! We can't make that jump!" said Aralim with a raised voice full of fear.

"Not with that attitude!" she answered with a chuckle, then nodded to Sorath.

Her twin brother didn't waste time. The broken outcropping was approaching quickly, so he stepped forward and grabbed Aralim's small, malnourished body.

Sorath wasn't that muscular either, but his Evolutionary ability gave him an enormous boost of strength for less than a second.

As the outcropping approached, Aralim cursed Sorath, trying to weasel out of his grasp. Before he realized, the firm hands let go of his body, and a moment later, the world went dark.

He took quick, shallow breaths, terror washing over him. Tears streamed down Aralim's face as he prayed Sorath's aim was true.

Seconds stretched into eternity, but eventually, she felt a hard surface break his fall. The wind got knocked out of the teenage boy as he rolled a few times. He felt something wet trickle between his legs, but in that moment he didn't care.

A relieved chuckled escaped his lips as he glanced around and found a small, feminine hand reaching down. It was Naomi's hand, who landed on the outcropping soon after him.

Aralim's hand trembled as he reached up and grasped Naomi's own. As always, her face showed no fear, and her hand was firm as she pulled her friend back on his feet.

They stared at each other a moment longer, their hands intertwined. However, as soon as her brother landed behind them, they released their hands and glanced in opposite directions.

"Ha! You pissed yourself again!" said Sorath with a lighthearted giggle, while placing his arms around both Naomi and Aralim's shoulder.

"Let me go, you big oof!"

They moved away from the outcropping, then waited until Aralim changed pants. Naomi fidgeted with her hands while standing with her back towards Aralim.

Sorath simply stared at their friend shamelessly, but Naomi's quick hands beat some sense into her brother, and eventually, Aralim had some privacy.

Soon, they left behind the crossing and entered the first island of the Hollow Archipelago. The ground wasn't as hard as Sorruin's, and some islands even had soft grainy ground, which tickled as they walked over them.

These outer islands had no monsters yet, so they walked without much care. Aralim's eyes scanned the softer ground, searching for artifacts or other objects related to the past civilization.

In front of him, Naomi kept eyeing the map she'd made, or rather copied. A few long rotations ago, she stole a few expeditionary maps, which caused a huge crisis. A couple of rotations later, she silently returned them after she created her own map. Her measurements weren't perfectly accurate, but lines of text helped make the map useable.

Aralim, after finding nothing interesting on the ground, took a few steps closer and began examining Naomi's map.

He must've stood too close, since after a few seconds glanced around with a raised eyebrow. A tiny smile stretched on her lips upon seeing her friend's curious expression.

With one hand she tucked her dirty blonde hair behind her ear and slowed her steps, so Aralim could comfortably walk beside her.

They continued discussing their route while approaching the next crossing, which led further into the Archipelago...