Refuge In Refraction: Chapter Three
Chapter Three
They kept to the woods for a few more hours as they ran. A rabbit could run over twenty nine miles in one hour at their slowest, but a raccoon, a slower creature, could only run about fifteen miles an hour. Celia wasn't sure how long they ran specifically, but the woods began to get thinner as the ground became more rocky, the vegetation sparse.
Celia looked at the rocks, seeing the soil had formed around it. They stopped as the forest finally seemed to end, and headed toward a rocky cliff. Celia panted heavily as Donna seemed to not even break a sweat. Her breathing was shallow and light, but controlled.
"How on earth are you filled with so much stamina?" Celia gasped, putting her hands on her sides and stretching up to try and take away the stitch in her side.
"Sorry about that, but I forget that some can't run as fast as I can," Donna walked to the edge of the cliff, looking down. "But we're close."
Celia looked down, seeing the unsettled rocks below. "So... This is Rockfell?" "Yes." Donna stepped around, as if she was looking for a way to descend. These cliffs are a natural defense for the city. It keeps invaders out, but the soil is so rocky that vegetation is sparse. The population was low the last time I was here." She suddenly jumped down from the cliff, landing on a jutting rock about ten feet below. She looked back up at Celia, "Come on!"
"I just got winded from running, what makes you think I can jump around and fall right down the side of a cliff?" Celia yelled back, her voice echoing off the rocks.
"It's the only way to get down."
"Why!?"
"Because the city is sunken down, there aren't any easy ways to access to this." Donna held her arms up to Celia, "Just jump, I will catch you if you miss."
Celia looked down at the rocks below, and the gravel further down. She sat down, her legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. Scooting forward, she felt herself drop, landing hard on the rock below next to Donna. She felt her head swimming from the sudden stop, and she leaned against the cliff.
"That wasn't so bad!" She laughed nervously.
"Alright, let me see if there is another --"
The rock suddenly came loose from the cliffside, falling forward.
Celia felt her stomach drop as they plummeted down the rest of the way. The rock slid down. Donna grabbed Celia's arm and jumped, grabbing onto another rock below them. Celia felt herself drop lower, a few feet above the ground as Donna clung tightly to the rock and her forearm. Celia let out a yell as she heard her shoulder pop.
The rock landed hard on the ground, crumpling on impact. Donna let out a groan.
"I'm going to drop you the rest of the way, get ready." Donna released her as soon as she finished falling.
Celia dropped, landing hard on her feet and rolling. She landed on a few strays rocks, before getting back up slowly, holding onto her shoulder. It throbbed as she clenched her fist.
Donna landed next to her in a four point position a few seconds later.
"Well, that was something I never want to do again." She looked over at Celia, "Oh no... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." She sighed, "Come on, we can stop by a healer."
She walked toward the bottom of the cliffs. "Well, we'll just keep going."
"How far until the actual city?"
"Maybe another mile or so." Donna sniffed the air, "It's midday, so we're going to be in the middle of a busy part of the city."
They walked slower, cautiously, with Celia's shoulder pounding as she panted hard, trying to hold her arm in place. Her bags felt a lot heavier as the pain traveled down her spine. She tried to adjust her bag, but moving her shoulder made her cry out.
She finally saw the ground was becoming covered in grass. It was small patches that became more lush and soft when they got closer to a certain hole in a cliff. She could see green streaks following the cracks in the rocks.
"Do they know magic here?"
"If they do, it's news to me." Donna stopped at the mouth of the cave.
"Hello!" She called, her voice echoing inside.
Flapping filled the air. Donna stepped back and looked above as a few avians flew by in blurs, screeching as they did. She knelt down and grabbed one of her knives, tensing. The avians flew overhead, perching on the cliffs above.
"Who goes there?" A low voice echoed as a red fox came into the light. She wore bandages to bind her breasts, and a loincloth. She carried a spear. Her mane was black, and cut short. She saw Donna, and her face softened, "Donna!"
"Hello!" Donna replied, squinting. She then smiled, "Sarah, how have you been?"
"I've been well. What brings you to Rockfell today?" Sarah leaned on her spear, then looked at Celia, "Who's your friend?"
"This is Celia... I've come from Fairsky. We need to see Cecil... And get someone to look at her shoulder. Cliffs got the better of her."
"Sure," Sarah turned around, showing short and white fur on her back. Celia swallowed and followed after her. "He's actually in the garden today."
"The garden?" Donna asked, quickening to keep up with Sarah. "When did Rockfell get a garden?"
"When we started allowing in the mages."
"Mages?" Celia asked, her voice echoing.
"Yeah. Magic users. Some of us are blessed with healing or fighting magic, but some can't use magic in a way that benefits others in war."
Donna looked over at Celia, "Well, Celia here has an ability to read the ancient language."
Sarah smiled back at Celia, showing several missing fangs. She faced forward again, "I've heard about that. Some owl was going around and swooping up magic users before we could get to them though."
Celia let out her breath, "That was my father. His name was Minstrel."
Sarah shrugged, "Eh, it's not fur off my back. We got a lot here." She stopped at a gate, pushing it open. When the gates swung open, a large city built into the cliffside was revealed, with a sort of manor in in the center, rocks filling in holes in it. Sheets were hung over what looked like homes in the wall. Above was a large hole to allow in light. Small bits of the cliffside crumbled, landing on a sort of invisible wall as they fell. Once they fell, two mice raced through some holes, coming out above the wall and cleaning off the debri, before scurrying back down. They took the debri they collected and placed them in buckets.
Behind the manor was a large twisted series of trees, practically pulsating with magic. Celia placed a hand on the trunk of an apple tree, practically tasting the fruit in her mouth. The grass was so soft beneath her feet. She saw a mouse and monkey meditating on a pair of rocks, the green magic coming off of them.
In the center of the plants and trees, stood a white lion. He wore a blue button up coat, with brown pants, a red sash around his waist. A red floppy hat was atop his head, with a sky blue mane poking out from under it. He leaned on a cane, talking with a mole over a map.
"See what can safely grow on the cliffsides. Some thick vines may be a good way for us to scale the walls." His voice was surprisingly young. He turned around when Sarah cleared her throat.
"Sarah! What is it?" His eyes fell on Donna.
"Donna!" He hobbled over and threw an arm around her in a half hug. "You're a sight for sore eyes."
Donna gave a nervous grin, then looked around, "Well, you've been busy since I left you."
"Well, we've got to build ourselves up somehow." Cecil looked at the mole, "We'll talk later." The mole gave a nod and went to the mice with the buckets.
"First thing's first, my companion needs healing." Donna began, pointing to Celia, "We had a run in on the cliffs... Or a slide in if you prefer." She slid out from Cecil's grip as he steadied himself on his cane.
"Sure." He went to a white bedsheet with a red cross in the center, pushing it aside as a wolf scurried around, stopping to give him a quick bow, then went over to a rabbit with a torn ear.
"Hello, Cecil." A snowy owl greeted, a red scarf wrapped around her body. "Do you need some work done on your leg?"
"No," He looked at Celia, "What happened?"
"Well, I fell off the cliff, Donna caught me, but my shoulder hurts." Celia sat down on a cot and felt relief wash over her as the weight of her bags was taken off her shoulders. The owl helped take off her straps.
"It sounds like you dislocated her shoulder." The owl cooed, before looking over at Cecil and Donna, "Would you mind stepping back?" She spread her wings, placing both on Celia's shoulders. Celia winced at the light touch.
"What is your name?" The owl asked, her amber eyes being covered by a sliver of red. Her feathers seemed to have a soft glow. A soft bumping filled the air.
"Celia... What's yours?"
"Aurora," She clicked her beak as the glow hit Celia, and a loud pop echoed off the walls. Celia winced as her shoulder throbbing went to a dull ache. She let out her breath and stood up. "Thank you."
"It was nothing." Aurora hopped back to allow Celia by, "Magic users are stronger, together."
"Alright, now that your shoulder is taken care of," Cecil tapped his cane, "Onto the next order of business."