Day 44

Churchill Downs Day 44: "Come in and sit" Ted said in a very welcoming voice. Nate looked around at the longhouse. "So you rule these people?" Andy asked. Ted looked like he couldn't really answer the question, but was going to try. "When I arrived here after being sucked into this place at the door, I landed on the snowy mountain. I was with others when I came here, but they died days after we landed. Seems there is a wolf problem here. After the deaths of my comrades I decided to walk in the only direction that was away from the wretched mountain. I came across these people and they were not exactly inviting when I did. I fought for my right to be one of them, just so happened that I ended up beating them all." Nate stopped Ted before he went on. He was impressed with the story, but only had one question. "So you landed on the mountain?" Ted paused. "Yes. I don't exactly remember the day, or even how. My companions and I were all in a group." Ted looked at the floor. "The mountain is where they are buried." The four looked at Ted and understood the pain that was losing someone to this foul apartment. Ted looked back up at the group. "But it's alright. Three times as many wolves are buried there too. I made sure of that." The brave four all looked at Ted and could see in his eyes that he had seen death. That he had seen a lot of it. That he had cause a lot of it. Mitri sighed as he got Ted's attention. "We had to bury Wes up there." Ted had suspected something like that. He knew that the lack of their fifth member was probably not going to be happy tale. "I want to know everything" he said, "I want to know how you all arrived here, and I want to know how my friend died." The group began the long string of stories that was their journey. They all conversed for hours, speaking of who they all were and how they came to be trapped in this place. They made sure to leave no detail out either. Ted had earned their respect with the loss of his friends, they wanted him to know everything.

          "So" Ted answered, "That is what's been happening." Ted took a moment to absorb all that he was told. "The plan with Emma and Sam doesn't seem half bad. It is true that there is an exit to this place, and maybe we can all leave here." Nate and the others looked confused. "You knew about the exit??" Casey asked. "Of course." Ted answered, "As the head of all of these people, I kind of have to be aware of these things." The group fell into even a deeper confusion. "But if you knew, why aren't you trying to get there yourself??" Mitri asked as though he was mildly angry at all the knowledge that Ted had collected. "I couldn't leave these people alone. They needed my guidance to defend themselves from the outside." Nate didn't like Ted's answer. "From wolves?? These people seem to be more than capable from just defending themselves from wolves!! They nearly killed us!!" Ted looked over at Nate and calmly stated, "There are more than just wolves in this valley." The group looked at Ted and decided there was probably a lot of truth to what he was saying. They knew there were deeply evil things other than just wolves in this place. They knew that they were a lot harder to kill too. "Than what will you do Ted?" asked Mitri, "Stay here forever?" Ted looked at the roof. "That's where you four come in. I will leave once the apartment has died. Maybe I can save some of these people. I will tell you exactly how to get to the heart. How to kill it is beyond my knowledge though." The group stood as not to waste anymore time. "Than when can we leave?" Nate said impatiently. "Tomorrow" Ted answered, "After a nights rest, and a full belly." The group looked at each other quickly and decided Ted was right. They would stay there for the night, and leave at dawn.

          "How did you come to be here?" I asked Jake from behind him as we walked through the jungle. "I landed in the valley ahead. Never touched the mountain other than to go look for wolves meat. Which is how I stumbled across you laying face up and unconscious of course. By the way, what the hell was that thing through the hole in the cave's floor that had obviously left you on the ledge?? Must have been huge." I looked at the ground remembering what had happened that day. "It was an ice giant. It surprised me and the others I was with. It grabbed me and we fell through the cave. That's all I remember." I told Jake all about my adventure with the people I was with. I told him everything I could. Who they were, what we were doing, how we came to be here. Everything. "So Emma and Sam are headed to find an exit huh?" I tried to keep my pace with him as I walked. "Yeah" I answered back, "It's the only plan we have." Jake glanced back at me and smiled a little. "It's about time someone tried to beat this place. Feels like years since I got here and started living in that village. We don't try and leave it much. Our chief and I are the only protection we have to the things outside. We can't afford to leave the people defenseless." I understood his cause. If I was in his position I would want to save the lives of as many people as I could too. "We're almost there" Jake said calmly to me, "Just a little further." I gripped my chest in pain. I figured my lungs would soon be full of blood. I spat red on the ground to clear my throat. "Good" I said, "I can't cheat death twice." I looked around at the forest that was starting to clear, and the ground that started to descend into a valley. I looked at the smoke rising from what seemed like houses. "Guhhhhhhh...." I sounded behind Jake and spat up some more blood. "Damn, just a little farther Wes, come on, stay with me." He tried to encourage me as best he could to keep away from my second death. "Only a few more yards friend."

          We entered the village like we had just gotten back from war. I was only held up by my arm being around the back of Jake's neck. "SOMEONE HELP!!!! I HAVE WOUNDED!!!!" The villagers began to pour out of their houses and rush to our aid. I could see the peripherals of my eyes start to go black, and start to slowly creep toward the center of my vision. The people gathered around me on Jake's shoulder to look at my damaged frame. I must have been a sight to draw so many alarmed faces. "Get back!!! I'm a doctor!!!!" shouted one of the villagers. I could see him slipping through the crowd in our direction with what seemed like a type of mattress. "Cheif!! Come see this man!!!" One villager shouted. An armored man slipped through the crowd that looked almost familiar. I dropped to my knees in pain, and right before I slipped into blackness again I looked up once more. Behind the man in armor stood Nate, Casey, Mitri, and Andy. I could see them stopping in their tracks, and staring at their once dead brother, now right in front of them. I tried to get words out, words that would express my happiness in seeing them again, but only managed to spit up more blood at their feet. My knees no longer able to support my body buckled. I fell on my stomach, and passed out in the warm dirt.