It was not any bit comforting that the silver wolves had awoken from their slumber and had started to howl on the first night of The Silver Cascade season. There was only one thought that kept repeating in Novarah's mind, "I have to survive, I have to live, I have to see this through. Somehow..." Yet she could not help but think how she may just very well die here, and it did not end with just a single negative thought either. Scenarios of how she could die started to flash before her eyes, and her brain continued to conjure up an endless slaughterhouse of possibilities. It was nauseating.
To be completely fair, how was she not supposed to feel absolute dread with the way things were going for her? "This is completely not fair, it has never ever been fair" she cursed as she took a deep breath and exhaled whatever frustration she was holding out. However, it was no surprise that she was still feeling incredibly frustrated…and scared.
"brrmmm"
It started to lightly drizzle as the thunder's sound echoed throughout the forest. Novarah could once again hear the wolves howl, yet this time she could hear them more clearly. "I've got no time to just sit around and cry about it… If I want to still have the luxury to think about my past, I have to survive tonight" she reminded herself as she inhaled a deep gush of air before exhaling it all out, hoping that taking a few deep breaths would calm the anxious thoughts racing in her head so she can get her head straight.
Her hands clenched into a tight fist, where her nails began to dig into the palm of her hand. Novarah hissed out in pain as she continued to dig her nails even more deeper into her flesh. After a few moments of enduring that horrible agony till she had a more sound mind, she had finally gotten the negative thoughts to vanish. "Ouch, that hurt like a..!" she groaned softly, loosening her grip. "It's about time those darn voices stopped" she said, breathing a sigh of relief and wiping the blood off on her dress. After all, the feeling of pain had always somehow brought her back to her senses. She did not know why it always did, but it just did.
"Shff-shff"
Novarah's ears perked up at the sudden sound of something moving in the distance. She saw a glimmering pair of eyes before she heard the outrageous howling. Once the silver wolf had signalled to the others of its new found prey, it leapt out of the bushes in pursuit of capturing Novarah. Novarah let out a string of curses as she sprinted as fast as she could, leaping over the fallen trees and pushing through the multiple bushes that came through her path. Her heart was racing a mile a second as she kept running, as her very life depended on it. The rain started to pour down on the forest, and Novarah was drenched from head to toe.
While she was on the run from the fearsome foe, she heard growls from not just behind her but almost beside her. The pack of silver wolves had rounded up together and were now all chasing her. Anxiety crept into her mind but she continued to run, despite being overwhelmed by the fear of it all. "I can't. I can't…! I can't!!!" she screamed as she closed her eyes and took off charging even faster than before, believing that she was going to become dead in a few seconds as she couldn't possibly outrun a pack of silver wolves in the rain.
Just then, a miniscule rock decided to get in the way, and resulted in her tripping over and falling flat on the ground. "Ouch… As if I was not hurt enough already…" she sighed, as she closed her eyes tightly and braced herself to become food for the silver wolves. A second passed, and soon a good minute passed as well. There was nothing but silence to be heard around her. "Huh?" she questioned, as she opened her eyes and looked around. To her surprise, she ran into a cave by pure accident.
She looked towards the entrance where there was just a single silver wolf looking back at her whilst others had already turned and headed back into the forest, their silhouette fading. The last silver wolf simply growled angrily but then proceeded to whimper as it backed off, following suit of the other wolves. "That… does not look like a good sign" Novarah muttered, as she picked herself up and walked nearer to the entrance of the cave. "I'll just camp near the entrance and leave when it's dawn. Venturing further into this cave would be dangerous-ack!" she winced as her head started throbbing in pain, a memory coming back to her.
"Wouldn't it be great if we too could be granted powers from the gods and goddesses of this marvelous world?" Merithyil exclaimed in excitement as she showed the day's newsletter to Novarah. The headlines read "No-name commoner granted powers from the God of Riches, adopted by The Carrions, now being sent to Legaxys". "They could have at least included Richii's name" Novarah scoffed as she shook her head with her arms crossed. "But think about it…" Merithyil started, but was interrupted by Novarah saying, "I know. If we were granted such powers, we'd be able to leave this household and become wealthy, right?".
"Not just wealthy, I heard that as long as you attend Legaxys, you basically don't have to worry about money ever again!" Merithyil squealed in excitement. "We would be able to start afresh, huh" Novarah sighed, wondering how nice it would be if that was the case. "It's not entirely impossible, you know" Merithyil add as she hummed a little happy tune. "Merithyil… You know that a divine being granting you its powers happens once in a millennia and most of them pass their powers down to a household name" Novarah stated, dismissing the idea. Richii had been immensely lucky to have even found one of the twelve mythical beings, and been adopted to one of the richest household names in the entire empire.
"Well… I heard a rumor saying that there's actually a cave belonging to one of the Twelve Celestials" Merithyil whispered into Novarah's ears, her hand cupped near her mouth. "Most that enter…" she paused, adding suspense to the sentence. "Never return" she finished as she waved her hands in the air, with a smirk on her lips as she was proud of her dramatic flair. "And I heard people actually died venturing out there to find this mystical being, Merithyil" Novarah dismissed Merithyil's idea, in disapproval of it all as it was truly a terrible idea. Merithyil felt a plunge of guilt and muttered sorry with a pout.
"Argh..!" Novarah fell to her knees as she clutched the sides of her head, being brought back to the present. She did her best to steady herself proper, letting the pain subside with time. Surprisingly, it was over faster than she thought which left her feeling puzzled. "Merithyil…" Novarah muttered, missing her sister dearly. "If I survive, I'm going to go get her and we will elope to another country together, starting our new life afresh!" she declared to no one in particular, as she wore a determined look on her face. "But I have to survive tonight first…" she sighed, glancing back at the darkness behind her.
"And why did I even remember that sudden memory of all things…" she pondered as she rubbed her forehead. "Unless…" her words trailed off as she did not dare to believe it. "This couldn't be THAT cave, could it…?" she thought to herself, her brows knitted in confusion. After all, what were the odds that she stumbled into a cave of where one of the Twelve Celestials resided in? Novarah's eyes shifted to the side, looking down at the empty ground. "If one of them is actually here… then…" her words trail off as she turns around to stare at the never-ending darkness behind her.
An image of Merithyil sobbing as she was dragged away by Uncle Theowin flashed across her mind. Novarah got up almost immediately, with her trembling fists clenched, as she made her way deeper into the cave. "This better be my golden pot…" she muttered as she clenched her teeth in annoyance. Though her facial expression was one of anger, her body gave her away to being incredibly intimidated by the current situation instead. "I seriously do not like this…" she mumbled, venturing further in, stepping on unidentifiable pieces of rocks as she does so. Honestly, it is too dark to tell what she's actually stepping on, but she doesn't pay it much mind as there were more important matters at hand.