Freedom Jumper-Chapter 100: Lightseekers

"Theon? Is it true? Is Raylen with you... in your body?" Novius stopped patting the water out of his clothes to ask the question everyone had on their minds. The corpse of Raylen had begun to turn gray.

"Hey! This is Raylen talking!" Theon waved his hand in an unceremonious motion as if Raylen were unaccustomed to the gears that moved Theon's body. His tone of voice did make everyone feel weird. How could someone who just died be cheerful?

"It's Theon now. There is obviously no time to explain, but just know we both saw and heard everything. We know what lies ahead of us to some degree, and we know how many people are chasing us... kinda."

Landon broke into the conversation. "I hate to interrupt your little reunion, but we have two problems now. Our pursuers... and the shroomheads we will somehow have to defeat..." A bright light appeared in both palms of Landon and caused him to drop his black sword.

BOOM!

Two condensed beams of bright red fire were sent towards the other side of the cavern. Movement was seen out of the corner of his eyes as he knew very well the types of beasts that frolic around giant mushrooms.

"Weeeee wooooonnnttttt kiiiilll yoooouuuuuu" Voices that were slow and practically inaudible came from the multiple earthly humanoid figures slowly popping out of the ground. Blue and yellow mushrooms were likely the brains of the beast, while the mouth, nostrils, and eyes were made from the earth. Was it earth magic, or simply the root of its head?

Landon was getting ready to unleash another blast when Alexia jumped into his chest. "STOP! They said they won't hurt us."

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"Nooooo coooorruuuupptiiiooooonn oooonn yoooouuu"

There was a very specific reason why these beasts did not ever leave their caves. In fact, they were widely hunted within The Catacombs by their own kindred. From within the ribs of the monumental blue and yellow mushroom came a simple humanoid creature much smaller than the rest of its brethren. However, its demeanor seemed abnormally human.

"Mikhail, reinforce the entrance with your toughest crystal. I think we might be here for a while." Landon said while slowly walking towards the shroomhead. "I have come face to face with your kind before, and have nearly died. Now, you say I am friendly? Explain!"

"You must be their father. I have no ill intentions as you all have the breath of benevolence." The shroomhead's mouth moved up and down slowly and was not at all congruent with the rhythm it spoke in. "But please, do not call us... shroomheads. That name is... unbearable to speak. You may call us Psilophate's, the elder's of this despicable world..."

"So tell us then... Why are you letting us live?" Landon asked while keeping his distance.

"... Because you feel different from the rest. All of you... Escape is your goal, right?"

"Yes." Landon replied.

"I want to help you, but I am bound to this cave, to what allows me to live. While I can stop your future killers, I cannot protect you from what lies outside this oasis."

"I have to say, I never thought in my entire life I would be talking to a beast. Let's continue loving guys." Landon thought about the situation and determined their immediate action. But was stopped while walking to the other side of the cavern.

"We are no beasts, but natural creations from the old world. The world before the fall..." The Psilophate pointed his skinny and earthy finger behind his back while the sound escaped from somewhere on his body.

"How long have you lived?" Novius asked curiously while receiving a slap to the wrist by Leah.

"That I do not know, but I do know once every while, the entire human race within your kingdom is extinguished. If I counted my age with how many times it has happened, I would be fourteen years old..."

A shiver went down the spine of not just Novius, but everyone who had stopped in their tracks at Novius' surprise of a question.

"What do you mean by the lives being extinguished??" Novius continued, but did not receive any friction from his peers this time.

"I do not know, I have a certain attachment to the natural earth which allows me to... sense things... All I know is that a lot of people died many times over and over again. Now please, leave this place. Seek the light." The Psilophate shooed the group of ten towards the exit — a hole draped with vines and and flowers.

At this exact time, A massive explosion of crystal and fire lit up the entrance that was over 20 feet above the pool of water they fell into.

"RUN!" The Psilophate voiced his last word, and moved with lightning speed that did not seem possible for a skinny and earthen body.

"My wheelchair! I have to walk!" Don grabbed onto the shoulders of Novius and Emery while he used his legs to the best of his ability. The small cavern quickly opened up into a grandiose display of glowing magic crystals, and small pools of water that likely came from long years of dripstones.

Landon had been silent after hearing the proclamations the Psilophate made. Only when he saw a familiar beast that had recently slain one of their own was he forced back into his character.

BOOM!

Bright lights of red alongside gusts of cutting winds tore through every single bone walker like butter. However, wounds were inflicted as there were too many to see within their eyes. The ominous shadows created by the crystals allowed many bone walkers to hide in plain sight, and unleash a strike of bone that would penetrate the leg or arm of the three cyan core mages.

Suddenly, a change in the air surprised everyone. Theon had clasped his hands together, and shot a beam of fire and ice from both his hands that carved large holes out of anything they touched. Once the target was hit, the spells of opposite temperature, and even principle, disintegrated the air and anything physical it touched in an explosion of bright white lights.

Novius and Emery joined the fight with smaller spells of fire and lightning that distracted and even damaged the bone walkers. Very quickly, they were able to move through each and every cave.

In the end, small rays of moonlight protruded from small cracks in a hole covered by a black rock. The group knew they had made it, and decided to take a break before stepping into the unknown. There was a chance dozens of beasts would be roaming the barren lands, but also a chance the wasteland would truly be a wasteland.

A gray agate crystalline structure materialized all around the group giving everyone plenty of room to sprawl.

"L-landon. I think I have too many wounds. I think I have lost too much blood..." Leah had built up a large number of wounds that were unhealable without a water or light mage. Landon began ripping her clothes off. Not a single person batted an eye, as the male or female gaze was no such thing in this kingdom, only control. He knew it would not be a problem as extra clothes and blankets were something the boys had packed, which the boys and Alexia had on their backs.

The bone walkers had done the most damage. Ever with the harsh winds, Leah's wind spells could fully falter the bone-like structures that extended almost instantly from the bodies of the beasts. Multiple deep and shallow wounds on her boob, ribs, hip, and stomach were shown.

"Mikhail, can you close these temporarily with crystals?" Landon hurriedly asked.

"I-I can try. I think depending on which crystal I use, the pain will be less..." Mikhail's hand began slightly glowing as a blue ribbed crystalline structure began to form over all of her bleeding wounds. A new pair of clothes was given preemptively by Emery.

"Thank you."

Many hours passed, and the time for the reveal finally came. By no means was everyone fully healed or okay to move forward. However, there was no choice. The light had returned which indicated the best time to move out — that is if the beasts are not as active as they are during the darkness of the night.

Slowly and silently, an opening was carved out from the side of the earthen floor. The massive rock began to shift while subtly hinting at it falling deeper into the cave.

"The land is clear, we will need to run as fast as possible and reach those tall trees in front of the mountain. Leah, you know what to do." Landon explained after peeking his head above ground.

One by one, each person became blinded by the light as they crossed into the land of sudden death. Leah grabbed onto Don and Alexia and began to fly at a steady speed while conserving her mana. Meanwhile, Novius, Emery, and Theon began to run while maintaining a constant speed right behind Landon and Mikhail. Mikhail was very obviously limping from a wound he covered with crystals — this blocked his full range of motion. Landon being the one capable of dealing the most damage had somehow scraped by with small wounds on his limbs.

The bare dirt, sharp black rocks, and ash were stepped over until reaching a thick and tall tree with branches and leaves that dropped to the ground. But before that, their eyes drifted to the enormous range of mountains that curved the same way the inner wall did. Snow was covering the top, and the rest was covered in black ash. However, beyond the mountains – to the west – was a massive expanse of towering trees that sat on the ground while moving down a negative slope.

During the journey, they had come across violent and horrible looking beasts, been hunted by their own, and almost put into a corner by a beast that could instantly wipe all of them out.

Nothing was like leaving everything you know behind. Uncontrollably, tears fell from everyone's eyes with every look at the towering wall that protected them from death. Just two months ago, all of these people had thought this kingdom had a bright future as long as the wall was retaken. But now, they all dreaded the idea of them being wrapped up in such a kingdom. The truth had mostly been revealed to everyone, while Alexia was in the dark about almost everything. How was it they were unlucky enough to be born within the Kingdom of Astraea?

Now, they would do nothing but focus on surviving as another journey had just begun. A journey only filled with unknown surprises.