Enjoy today's chapter :)

-Plum

20 – Passages Home

Andy stood with Omar, looking over the crowd of survivors. He’d met several of them as he’d gone around handing out doses of Bea’s healing water to as many people as possible. Of course, he’d started with the worst wounded—people with missing limbs, terrible gashes, broken bones, and head injuries. Omar hadn’t been exaggerating; nearly every single captive had been injured in some way.

It didn’t seem the bogwarts had been gentle captors, and when Andy learned what the monsters had been using them for, he felt far more justified in the way he and his party had wiped them out. According to the survivors, the toad-like people had taken three or four captives per day down to their ramshackle village and eaten them. Andy could only imagine the horror and, once again, felt grateful that the trailer park hadn’t suffered something so terrible.

It seemed Omar’s thoughts had been exploring similar ideas. He looked at Andy and said, “Wonder if this is the kind of thing we’d have suffered if we hadn’t caught the vermin early.”

Andy thought about how Bella and some others had been taken by the vermin early on and slowly began to nod. “Yeah, I guess the System doesn’t play around. Do you think every settlement faces a challenge like this?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.” He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “We’re out of Bea’s water. I figure we should make a quick trip back to the mesa before we try to get to the undead.”

Andy had been thinking along the same lines, and he said so. “While I’m in this class, I might as well make use of it. I’ll get us all out of here, then when we get to the restaurant, I’ll take Delilah and her party up into the foothills. I can probably get her up to the Catalina Highway. Then, I’ll come back.”

“To the restaurant?”

Andy nodded. “And from there, I’ll open a passage as close to the mesa as I can.”

Omar nodded, turning his gaze back to the crowd—to Delilah as she made her rounds, trying to recruit as many people as she could to go back to Mount Lemmon. Andy had already told the survivors that they could come to Mesquite Mesa, too; it seemed they weren’t all dead set on going to the same place. “How many do you think will go with her?”

Andy shrugged. “Well, probably all the elves.”

Omar scratched his chin—his beard, black and sparse, was starting to grow in. “Yeah, probably. I think at least twenty or so of the others will want to come with us, based on conversations I heard.”

Andy thought about the mesa and the way they’d laid out so much of the landscape into “single-family” plots. At the rate things were going, they’d either need to reduce lot sizes or start building townhome-style, multi-story buildings. Of course, there was still a lot of room underground, and then there was the land around the mesa. If people lived out there, they could always come up during emergencies.

“So many new people,” Omar said, once again showing that he was thinking along the same lines as Andy. “You know, I think only about twenty or so people have taken the oath.” He stressed the word, so Andy knew what he was talking about: their pledge to keep secret knowledge for the benefit of the settlement—things like Evolution Points unlocking with twelve Improvement Points.

Andy shrugged, clapping his hand onto Omar’s shoulder. “That’s kind of by design. We’ll tell people as the information becomes useful to them—and only after they take the oath. Anyway, I think it’s more people than you realize. We had four of Lydia’s apprentices take it just the other day.”

Before Omar could respond, Bella approached with an older-looking man. He was thin and dirty, and his clothes were little more than rags—something most of the former captives had in common. Still, his hazel eyes were bright, and there was some strength in the way he held his bony shoulders and looked Andy squarely in the eyes.

“This is Howard Chambers,” Bella said. She looked at the older man and then added, “He’s kind of an unofficial leader of the survivors—at least the ones that want to come to the mesa.”

Andy shook the man’s hand. “I know you’re probably tired of hearing us all say this, but I’m sorry about what you folks went through. I wish we’d known you needed help sooner.”

The man shook his head, cleared his throat, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse and raw. “Not your fault. Sorry about my voice—a bunch of us screamed ourselves hoarse cheering when we saw you killing those toad bastards.”

“How many want to come with us?” Omar asked.

Howard rubbed his head, grunting in frustration as he said, “Um, t-twenty? What was it, Bella?”

She gave Andy a look that said she was concerned about the guy and replied, “Thirty-four. It’s okay, Howard.”

“Oh, dammit!” Howard said, thumping his knuckles against his skull. “Those bastards gave me a wallop with a two-by-four the other day. I’m feeling better, but still—things aren’t as clear up here as they used to be.”

“We’ll get you back in shape,” Bella said, surprising Andy with her gentle tone. He tilted his head at her, remembering how she’d befriended Bea—or maybe it had been the other way around—before Bea had grown so much younger looking. It made him wonder if she had a soft spot for the elderly.

“Andy!” Delilah called, waving to him from where she’d begun to gather the folks who wanted to go up to Mount Lemmon.

“Excuse me,” he said, then paused and added, “We’ll head out soon.” He jogged over to Delilah, quickly counting the people—mostly elves—who’d gathered near her. “Seventeen?” he asked as he stopped before her.

“Yes. I told the others they were welcome, but I think Bella sold your settlement better than I did ours.”

“No,” one of the Elven men said. He was very slender and, thanks to the bogwarts’ treatment, he and the other elves looked almost emaciated. Andy thought he might be about thirty, but his skin was smooth beneath the smudges of dirt and dried blood. “It’s not that, Delilah; some of us didn’t get along so well. Most of us—” He paused to nod to the other elves sitting nearby. “—were here before the others. We worked at the university and we supported the old leadership. I think many of them blame us for failing to build proper defenses against threats like the bogwarts.”

“Well,” a young woman said, “they’d have a point. Professor Crow was convinced he could forge positive relations with…everything.”

“Dammit, Tawny—” another man started to say, but Andy cut him off.

“I’m sorry, folks, but I want to get moving.” He looked at Delilah. “Are we all set on who’s going where?”

“I guess so,” she said. She’d perked up a bit while helping the survivors, but Andy could see she was suffering. Trevor’s loss was fresh in her mind, but she’d also lost her arm and nearly died just a day earlier. In all honesty, he was impressed by her toughness.

He looked over at Omar, raised his voice a little, and said, “I’m sending them out first.”

“We’ll explain things and get everyone lined up,” Omar replied, gesturing to the other survivors.

Andy threw him a thumbs-up, then turned back to Delilah and her group. “I’m going to create a magical passage that will take you out of here—” They all started asking questions at once, so Andy held up his hands, tamping them down until they grew quiet. “I’ll explain. The spell drains my mana quickly, so you have to move through quickly. When I tell you to go, just hurry into the passage—you won’t be able to miss it.”

“You’re sending us to the restaurant?” Delilah asked.

Andy nodded. “I can picture it pretty easily, so that’s probably best. From there, I’ll bring your group closer to the foothills. I should be able to get you past the worst of the monsters in the city.”

The relief in her eyes was palpable—tears formed, and she hastily scrubbed them with her sleeve. “Thank you, Andy.”

He smiled, shaking his head. “Don’t thank me yet.” Turning to the others, he said, “Line up behind me. When the passage is ready, I’ll step out of the way.”

That began a long process during which Andy had to cast the Greater Axiom of Passage four times to get everyone out from the depths beneath the University of Arizona. In order to open the passage to the restaurant and keep it active long enough for half of each group to hurry through, Andy had to burn through almost all of his mana. As his mana ran low, he stopped people from entering the weird, blurry tunnel into nowhere, giving the ones inside time to reach the far end before he closed it off.

Between casts, he sat, sipped a bottle of orange soda he found in his storage ring, and snacked on trail mix while he waited for his mana to regenerate. He chatted with some of the survivors, but Omar helped him pass most of the time by talking strategy. The Paladin was eager to get back downtown, and Andy didn’t blame him. So far, they hadn’t even set eyes on the undead.

As Andy opened the last passage out of the underground, he had a sinking feeling that he’d get attacked by some kind of horror out of the river or one of the deeper passages. In the end, though, he followed Omar through the weird, shifting tunnel of his passage and stepped into the courtyard of the overgrown Mexican restaurant without incident.

When the survivors, sitting in groups around the interior of the restaurant, saw him come through the door, they cheered. Andy smiled, embarrassed to feel a little proud of his ability. It was magic, and, sure, he’d had to work for his classes and abilities, but it still felt strange to take credit for magic. While he waited for his mana, he walked over to Delilah and reached into his ring, summoning out the little pot and the baby tree it contained.

“This is your reward from the System.”

“I don’t want…” she trailed off, looking at the little tree. “Oh! It’s beautiful.”

Andy smiled, setting the pot before her on the table. “I think it’ll be good for your community if you plant it up on the mountain.”

She nodded, and to Andy it seemed she was too emotional to speak, so he wandered back out to the courtyard, where he found Bella and Chani. “How’s she doing?”

“Fine—great, in fact. I know it’s been busy, and I didn’t want to give you more to think about, but I got a quest to refine my class. I’ve also got tons of Improvement Points, and I’m starting to think I should…” She looked around and shrugged. “You know.”

He nodded. “What’s the quest?”

“It’s pretty weird. I have to go someplace away from everyone else, alone with Chani. When I’m there, I have to cast a spell I got at level twenty-five called Vision Quest.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Kind of cliché, but I think it’s just because the System is choosing English terms that make sense in context.”

Andy thought about it for a minute, and then said, “You can do it if you want. Omar and I will be fine.”

“You’re sure?” She looked relieved as she added, “I can’t gain more levels until I do it. I mean, I could change my class, but—”

“Nah, do it.” He held up a finger. “I mean, when we’re back on the mesa.”

“Yeah, obviously.” She winked, softening the words.

After Andy’s mana recovered, he ferried Delilah’s group up onto the lower slopes of the Catalina Mountains, right near Catalina Highway, which would take them all the way up to Mount Lemmon. It would still be a heck of a climb for them, but Andy didn’t feel comfortable trying to open a passage any closer; he couldn’t clearly picture anything further up, and he was already spending most of his mana as it was.

Delilah was grateful, though, and it wasn’t like she was alone; the former captives who were with her had scavenged crude weapons and even some armor from the bogwarts, and many had significant levels in fighter-type classes. Andy figured that was why so many had been badly wounded; they hadn’t gone into those pens without a fight. More than that, Andy had supplied them with camping supplies, and Delilah said she knew places to rest on the way.

Before she went through, she hugged Andy and made him promise to visit their settlement. He felt good about that; happy to know that there was another peaceful group of people only a day’s travel—or two—from the mesa.

Once he’d recovered, Andy sent the first group on their way to the mesa, opening a passage all the way to Wentworth Road on the eastern edge of the city’s ruins. He rested and then opened the passage for the rest of the group, following through with only a small amount of mana remaining.

By then, the sun was low on the western horizon, and the hoots, growls, coughs, barks, and screeches of the monsters were picking up. Andy looked to the east, in the direction of the mesa, and said, “I might as well just open another passage. No sense bringing all these people through the desert at night.”

“Now you’re talking!” Bella said, nodding. “I’m beat!”

Omar gestured to one of the nearby survivors, a man who was missing the lower half of his right leg. “I think it’s a good idea, but not for Bella’s sake.”

“Way to make me feel like garbage,” she muttered, stooping to pick up Chani. “Comfort your mama, little mouse.”

Omar smirked and shifted his shield on his arm. “Send Bella through with the first group, and I’ll wait with you, Andy.” He looked around the darkening ruins lining the street. “Just in case.”

“Right. I’ll put them at the base of the trail leading up the cliff,” Andy said. “If I can manage it.”

While waiting for his mana, Andy thought about all the passages he’d opened and wondered how his Axiomancy would progress. His Greater Axiom of Passage was already rank five, but being as he’d morphed it, he wondered if he ought to try putting more points into it. He was fixated on saving his Improvement Points for another Evolution Point, but he wondered if that was the best strategy at his stage of development. More abilities, and more powerful abilities might be more useful in the near-term.

“Never easy,” he muttered, and then it was time for him to open the next passage.

In the end, Omar’s concern proved unnecessary; Andy opened his second passage to the mesa without difficulty, and before long, everyone was wearily climbing the winding path up the side of the cliff. When he neared the top and heard all of his friends and neighbors welcoming and caring for the survivors of the bogwarts’ terror, Andy stopped on the trail and turned to face the massive orange globe of the setting sun.

He could see the ruined city laid out in the long shadows of the Tucson Mountains, and he reflected on the strange, interrupted mission he, Omar, and Bella had embarked upon. They’d met some new neighbors, discovered that elves existed in the new world, and defeated a community of monstrous toad people. He hated the fact that Trevor had died, but he was grateful that so many people had still been alive in the bogwarts’ pens.

Hearing the voices and commotion above gave him a funny kind of feeling, and it took him a minute to realize what it was: it felt like coming home. He savored it for a moment, part of him wishing he could stay for a while, but Omar was right. They needed to get back down to the city in the morning—the undead wouldn’t wait.