Awake, Dawn of a New Hell

- ORIS, OUTSKIRTS -

The carriage wobbled terribly as it sped across the rocky terrain, everyone remained silent after they had escaped from Oris Prison Dungeon. Darrel looked back at the time he had spent in the dungeons, and he nearly wept at the fact that he was no longer bound by the prison's walls nor barred by its doors.

After spending what felt like an eternity in the dungeon prison, Darrel's original desire to find a way home had been overshadowed by one to escape Oris, and now that it had been fulfilled, Darrel hoped things would change for the better.

'Though I still think it's too early to celebrate.'

The thought of their escape becoming a dream gnawed at his brain, as Darrel found it hard to believe that they had managed to escape, and no one was coming after them.

'After all that commotion.'

He touched the scar on his chest and flashes of his near-death experience appeared in his mind, the last thing he recalled was vague images of Muriel placing her hands on him.

"What happened after... that?" Darrel asked while gesturing a stabbing motion with his free arm.

"Pfff. Like I would know, It all happened so quick." Greyan mumbled.

Greyan sat opposite Darrel and his eyes gave off the look of a man who had escaped immediate death. Greyan appeared very shocked by his experience that he could not word out another sentence.

Darrel then turned his attention to the quiet hobgoblin, Darrel had noticed that Orimik had kept his gaze on him since he woke up. Orimik was sitting next to Greyan and his hands were coated in dried blood which surprised Darrel.

"I thought goblin blood wasn't red?" Darrel queried.

"Huh. Oh, you mean this, it's nothing." Orimik pulled out a pair of gloves and wore them over his hands. "You were quite the show stealer."

Orimik nodded his head towards Darrel.

When he noticed the gesture, Darrel looked down at where he lay and saw a bundle of blood-soaked bandages.

Slowly realizing what had happened while he was unconscious, Darrel lay his head back down and proceeded to contemplate his next move.

"I could help you remember." Muriel suddenly cleared her throat, she had been sitting at the front of the carriage meditating, she had been listening to them the whole time. "You have a strange power Darrel, it's sad that you have to lose yourself just to be able to use it."

Muriel carefully walked over to where Darrel lay making sure she did not fall from the carriage's rampant shaking. Muriel then extended her arm towards Darrel, then placed her index and middle fingers on his forehead.

Muriel then muttered an unknown language and a flood of words and images flowed into Darrel's mind and then he recalled everything that had occurred.

On the brink of losing his sanity, Darrel had been stabbed in the back by Calestian, Muriel then took that opportunity to disable the Holy Knights and escape with Darrel and his party.

"I can see it..." Darrel stated with his eyes closed, Muriel's touch allowed him to view the events that had occurred from a different perspective. "Wait, what happened to Luca?"

Greyan's gaze seemed to shift from them when Darrel asked this question, Orimik looked toward Muriel with a worried stare as though trying hard to contain his words.

"Luca stayed behind."

Muriel responded.

"Well, that's like him." With all of his questions answered, Darrel slunk back into his bloodied bandages, he was now convinced that this was not a dream and no one was going to come after them, however, there was one thing he did not know. "So where are we headed now?"

Everyone's eyes suddenly lit up as though they were itching to find out themselves, their gazes turned to Muriel who seemed to have full reign of their direction.

"The city of Coin and Priceless Revolutions, Amaghiel."

"That's a long way from Oris, will the mount handle the journey?"

Muriel looked at Orimik, then walked back to the front of the carriage and pulled the carriage's drapes open.

A golden glow came off of the horse's entire body and its mane was like a golden fire that jutted upwards.

"It's a summon beast." Orimik exclaimed.

"They never tire." Muriel stated.

The journey to Amaghiel was long, Darrel remained in a sleepy state and barely woke up to view his surroundings. Muriel stated it was because he had used up a vast amount of mana in a short period of time and without sufficient training.

"So he has never exhibited such signs before?" Muriel asked the two when they had stopped to take a brief rest.

Greyan nodded then he proceeded to engulf a large chunk of meat from his hands, Orimik winced in mild disgust and then agreed with Muriel's prior question.

"You all know the ranks of the Echelon, it is very difficult for an individual in a lower rank to defeat one in a rank higher than them, but it is possible and has been done countless times. However, for one to even stand against an individual who is three ranks higher is absurd." Muriel explained.

"Yeah, it's like fighting lava magic with flames." Greyan stared a Darrel briefly then took another bite from his bread.

Muriel paused for a moment and gazed straight into the campfire.

That same night in the cover of darkness, the group set out on their journey once more. It took the group another day of circling Oris mountain pass in order for them to conceal their trail, and by dusk, the group had managed to reach Amaghiel.

- AMAGHIEL -

Amaghiel was a large city that stood in a flat area just beyond Mount Oris, its walls were tall and reinforced with iron, however, the walls were dwarfed by the city's enormous coin factories that seemed to touch the skies.

"The city of coin." Orimik murmured as they approached Amaghiel's large gates, which seemed to have been crafted from burnished steel.

"Coin?" Darrel asked suddenly.

Everyone turned around to look at him, it had been over a day and a half since Darrel was last conscious, and Muriel had started to worry that she had broken out damaged goods from Oris.

"All the money used in Morland is made here in Amaghiel." Muriel stated. "This city is an important landmark to our continent."

"Aren't landmarks usually heavily protected?"

Muriel paused for a moment.

"They are. But I am a Rank-Master." Muriel replied then went and sat at the front of the carriage.

When the guards at the gate saw Muriel approaching with her carriage pulled by a summoned mount, they immediately bellowed to the others inside to open the gate. Muriel nodded at the guards as she drove the carriage through the crowd waiting to enter the city.

Darrel and his party were stunned at what had occurred at the city gate, but before anyone could query Muriel about this, the carriage sped up and made several swift turns, and came to a stop outside a large building near a bridge.

"Wait here." Muriel informed them before covering her head with her cloak.

Muriel then jumped off the carriage and made her way behind the large building as Darrel and the others watched cautiously.

Neither of them dared to step outside lest they were quickly recognized by any of the law enforcement in the area.

"So it really isn't a dream eh?" Greyan commented.

"It seems not."

A brief silence filled the carriage, it seems the mental prison that broke Oris prisoners was slowly starting to wear off of them, and they were slowly accepting their undeserved freedom.

"So what are you guys going to do?" Darrel asked them curiously.

A second silence gripped the carriage before Muriel suddenly returned from her disposition. She then climbed back in the driver's seat and signaled to her summon mount to move. As the group trotted away, Darrel noticed the look of deep contemplation on Greyan and Orimik's faces.

'Do they even have a place to go to?'

The carriage moved through the city roads at a steady speed as Darrel admired the unique structures, he also noticed moderate-sized statues depicting heroes slaying monstrous beasts arrayed across that particular road.

'What kind of town is this?'

Darrel wondered why the town's people would erect such statues in around this area.

'Perhaps the heroes of this world were more beloved than those that came from other worlds?'

Darrel slumped back and sighed.

On the other side of the road, Darrel saw large buildings with elongated smokestacks reaching toward the artificial smoke clouds in the sky. White smoke continuously spewed from the smokestacks and filled the atmosphere in the area like storm clouds.

"What is that smoke?"

"That's where all the gold, silver, and bronze is processed into more portable coin." Orimik answered.

"But why is the smoke white?" Darrel asked once more.

"That's not real smoke." This time Muriel responded. "Within the factory is a mechanism that purifies the smoke into steam and magic residues."

Muriel was more versed in the matters of Amaghiel, she continued on to explain how the city was founded decades ago. The carriage then came up to a hidden tunnel near a bridge around the factory area, Darrel felt sudden drowsiness that instantly kicked in and left him unconscious.