Julien had lost all sense of time underground. How long did he struggle in the darkness? He has no idea. But now, standing on soft, springy grass, breathing in the open air, the oppressive weight of the tunnels falls away. Between the boughs of the trees around him, he can see a blue sky and soft, white clouds. Blinking against the light, he leaves the hole behind him and looks around. Then up. The sun had either dipped past its zenith a couple of hours ago or has yet to reach it. If I had any idea where north was… It might be anywhere between morning and evening, discounting noon, with a margin of about an hour and a half, I guess.
The trees around him do not look familiar. Planted at regular intervals, the broad and curving branches stretch out. They bear brilliant, orange flowers, and the many bees flitting between promise a bountiful harvest of whatever fruit has been planted.
Now, where do I go? Does it matter?
He starts walking without giving it too much thought and finds himself surrounded by thick undergrowth fairly quickly. Taking big steps to try and hop over the bushes and ducking to avoid the branches of the trees, he struggles on.
After his clothes get snagged by thorns for the umpteenth time, Julien snarls. “Fucking annoying brambles. Cannot fucking leave me the fuck alone.”
He frees a sleeve yet again and, with an afterthought, swings his sword. Somehow, the thorny bushes resist being sheared instantly.
“Are you kidding me?!”
The swings grow ever more aggressive, underlined by a steady stream of curses. The clipped branches start piling, but Julien doesn’t let up until he stumbles free from the undergrowth into chest-high grass. He pants and looks at the blisters in his hands.
“Great.”
Picking a direction at random, Julien starts wading through the green waves. Suddenly, he stumbles upon an incline. Scrambling upwards on hands and feet, he finds himself on a path. Between moss and numerous stalks, he can, just barely, discern tiles of unequal size. Julien brushes the dirt from his hands and looks up to find himself flanked by two lines of trees with identical white blossoms. They mark a path that has long been overgrown by weeds. Lacking any alternative, he decides to follow it.
Dragging his feet, he pays no attention to the different trees and bushes that populate the fields to his sides. Apart from the sound of a few birds, all is silent. Until…
Water!
The clear and pure sound of flowing liquid is quite distinct. Its very presence reminds him of the foul taste he would love to rid his mouth of. The sound seems to come from further ahead. Julien increases his pace.
At the end of the path, the first thing that catches Julien’s eye is a wide, circular basin. An aqueduct ending in a lion’s head spews its precious content into the pool. The welcome sight energizes Julien. He rushes forward, cups his hands, and dips them gladly. The water is cold. Refreshing. He swirls his first mouthful around and spits it out. Finally rid of the gall-cocktail, he drinks deeply.
Ah! That hits the spot. Who knew fighting for your life could make one so parched? A sigh of pleasure is quickly followed by a rumbling. Or hungry? The feeling is unmistakably there, despite his stomach turning at the sight of… No! Let’s not get into that now.
Julien looks up from the basin. He traces the origin of the aqueduct to a sheer cliff. The dark grey mass extends both left and right for as far as he can see.
Trapped again? Where is the rest of this world I am supposed to save? Will be quite difficult to do if I don’t find a way out of wherever I am. Let’s worry about that later. Let’s first find something to eat and then, hopefully, a place to safely rest.
Taking in his more immediate surroundings, Julien quickly realizes that he stands on what once might have been a pleasant, intimate plaza in the orchard. There are stone benches to sit upon, each sporting an identical carving – sheaves of grain under some sort of crown. Unkempt hedges border even wilder-looking bushes that grow a wide variety of flowers that spread a fine scent. Despite his lack of direction, Julien smiles. Things could be a lot worse.
Continuing his inspection, he happens to spot two trees surrounded by tall grass, whose boughs are burdened by large bunches. The tree on the left sports something that looks like fruit, while the other seems to be laden with a type of husk, probably containing some kind of nut.
And things are about to get better!
The terrors of the recent past are temporarily forgotten as Julien approaches the trees. Cutting the grass with his blade, he uncovers a pathway of cobbled stones that climbs up a slight hill. He follows it, creating a path as he goes. About three meters away from the trees, the grass suddenly stops, and he is surprised to see a structure built between the trunks of the trees on the crest of the modest hill.
It is a beautiful pagoda with a double hexagonal roof supported by sturdy pillars. Underneath the lower roof, beautiful latticework connects the pillars. Swirls and curves surround an eerily familiar design of connected circles. Only one of them is free to bask in his admiration, though. The rest are covered with a vine-like plant.
Pity it’s about to be swallowed. Such a nice place. It is quite a bit off from the tunnel and out of sight. Ideal to have a rest. There is water nearby and hopefully food.
Julien unbuckles his belt to momentarily get rid of the scabbard. He places it at one of the entrances and walks up to the tree with the fruit. He walks around it. No lower branches. At least none that look like they might hold my weight. A bit higher, he spots a knob that sticks out, probably where the tree got pruned years and years ago. Gaging the distance carefully, Julien takes a few steps back, gets a running start, and leaps. Got it! But as he plants his feet against the bark, they instantly slide off, and Julien slams into the trunk. He tries placing his feet again, but his shoes find no grip. He lets go.
After ridding himself of his shoes, he approaches the tree again, squinting.
Alright. Let’s try that again.
This time, he is successful. Standing on the knob, he clambers towards a thicker branch, looks around, and continues climbing towards a promising bunch of fruit. They look like mangoes. Only they have red stripes. When he cups one of them in his hands, it instantly lets go of the branch. He can only just fit one inside the pockets of his shorts. He picks another and another. He has both pockets and hands filled before the thought hits him.
Now, how am I supposed to get them down? The ground seems at least four meters away. Will they get squashed if I drop them from here? Not very confident in his ability to climb with his hands full, Julien reluctantly drops the two in his hands. He pays close attention to where they disappear in the grass before he starts climbing down.
Back on solid ground, he quickly finds the temporarily discarded treasures. It was a brief scavenger hunt that also yielded several yellow-spotted, brown husks. Julien returns to the pagoda, retrieves his sword, and carries his meal inside.
His eyes need to adjust to the duskiness. Inside, the floor is covered with leaves. Underneath the central pillar, he spots a rug. He brushes some of the leaves off and sits down. First, he tries the fruit. He carefully pricks it with the dagger. The skin doesn’t seem that tough. Can I eat it like an apple? Can I even eat it to begin with? Julien dismisses the thought almost as quickly as it pops up. Who would ever cultivate plants that grow inedible fruit? He carves a small piece out of the fruit. The inside is a dull red. He takes a bite. The texture is like that of a crisp apple, but the taste is more like melon.
Delicious!
Julien attacks the rest of the fruit and discovers that the inside color is closer to burgundy. It is also much softer and slush-like. And the taste…amazing! Rich and sweet. He finishes the fruit and opens some of the husks. Inside, he discovers a chestnut-sized, creamy-coloured nut covered in a thin, brown skin. He takes a small bite. Almost like hazelnut, but a bit…spicy? He sees some red dots in the exposed flesh of the nut. Interesting.
As Julien eats his bounty piece by piece, his eyes wander around the inside of the pagoda. He studies the enchanting patterns in the latticework above the entrance. A circle encompassing a square holding more circles that interlock. What could it mean? Eager for clues, he turns to the others but is disappointed by the lack of visibility. Too bad that those vines cover the other sides. He looks them over and is stunned. Outside, they were not visible, but on the inside, the vines sport numerous bunches of regal, purple flowers. It is as if the ceiling weeps a purple rain.
Curious as to the vine’s origins and his hunger mostly satiated, Julien gets up and traces some of the thicker tendrils. One happens to lead outside into the fruit-bearing tree. On that side, it also sports a bundle of purple berries, not unlike grapes.
In the process of picking a handful, his eyes skim past the upper left corner of his vision. He stops. At first, he doesn’t realize what is standing out to him. Then it hits home. His health has increased to about a quarter! What? How? He is dazzled. The food! It must have been. I don’t know how or by how much, but the food has some restorative properties. Now, if either those big fruits or the nuts restored health, could these berries…?
He feverishly picks a few more, goes back into the pavilion, and sits down. Here’s to hoping. He puts one berry in his mouth and chews slowly, his eyes on the blue bar in the corner of his vision. Sweet yet tangy. But does it have the desired result?
Nothing yet. He eats another. And another. Still nothing. After eating all of them, Julien feels cheated. Nothing happened. However, with a full stomach and the adrenaline leaving his body, he notices just how tired he is. He unsheathes his sword and, blade in hand, he tries to stave off the exhaustion. Still, slowly but surely, his eyelids start drooping.