Everglow: The Trials Of Agaron

26 - Symbols

1 Week Later

Ko sat in complete silence with her eyes fixated on the blank white ceiling. Her thoughts raced around in her mind at the speed of light. She could see back almost perfectly to the temple. The pillars crumbling down around her, the dust filling the air.

The screams of Quin still haunted her. The images of Kori right before he was flattened were all too real. It was like a nightmare she couldn't escape. Every night since then had been filled with a haunting vision of Fischer and Quin both being trapped in there as well. Crushed by tonnes of stone piling down on them.

She couldn't help but feel guilty. It was because of her that they had gone to the temple in the first place, because of her that Kori was even there to begin with. They should've listened to Trikka. She was right about it being far too dangerous.

They had recovered the lantern however. A step forward in finding out who or what was tormenting her. It hadn't come without a cost though. And right now their prize didn't seem worth it at all.

The sudden sound of encroaching footsteps outside the room pulled her away from her dull thoughts. She immediately knew it was Fischer. The way he walked was quite different from that of a carcan. Even Spatch had much heavier sounding footsteps despite his lanky build.

A slight knock on the door was followed by the faint hissing as it slid open and revealed the hallway behind it. The lights inside the house were on, the thin pillar lights on the walls of the hallway coated it in a cooling lapis colour that almost seemed to chill the inside in a calming aura.

Fischer's soft footsteps echoed around the room as he cautiously walked towards his friend. He looked across the room and a look of anxiousness overtook his face. Ko's lack of any sort of reaction to him entering the room was a little unnerving. She continued to stare blankly up at the wall. If she had heard him entering, she made no acknowledgements of it.

He paused for a second, unsure of what to do next. Her head was somewhere else entirely. She had been distraught the past few days after the accident with Kori. And he couldn't blame her. Even he was having difficulty finding things to smile at. The whole house just seemed so empty without him.

He didn't want to disturb her train of thought or interrupt in any way. But at the same time he'd already entered the room. And he knew she had heard it. Walking back would just make things even more awkward.

"Hey. . . you doing ok?" he mumbled, the question not entirely aimed in her direction.

"I guess." She bluntly replied.

Her harsh tone pulled a sigh from his mouth.

"Ko. . ."

She slowly turned her head to the left. Fischer stood a few meters away from the bed with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor in contemplation.

"Look. . . I know you blame yourself. And. . . you think that it's your fault," He stumbled as he fished around his head for words in order to formulate a sentence.

"It is. It's as simple as that, Fischer. If it wasn't for me, he'd still be here. If I wasn't here, we'd never have gone to that cave."

"He knew what he was getting into- '' His words were cut off by a sudden eruption from the usually silent zapher.

"Don't say that! That's no excuse! That's like saying you knew what you were getting into when you found me! No you didn't! How could you have?" She glared at him with watery eyes. Looks of pain and regret fluctuated across her face.