Awakening, Quickening

Out of the Mountain part 1

Harmony stood wondering what to do next; but the lure of an actual door was too much to resist. She stood for several minutes, listening to the sound of the retreating mecha, before following Muse's nose down the dimly lit, grimy hallway. Carefully, she stayed to the center of the hall; the red tiles must summon the mecha, and she didn't need that thing following her down a dead end where she might not have a place to avoid it. The dust and moss once again obscured the tiles, but she assumed the green path would follow the same direction as it had, in the previous hall.

Reaching the dead end, Harmony saw that the decoration, as Muse had called it, was a tattered hanging tapestry of green leaves, obviously hand-sewn, obviously very old. The edges crumbled when Muse bounded up and sniffed at it. Harmony waved her aside, impatient to see what lay behind it. She reached out to the decoration, stretching her hand out—at that moment, Harmony was struck by a singularly curious sensation. An almost falling, dizzying rolling sensation, followed by a shock of extraordinary pain. She gasped as her muscles tightened against her will, and her body lurched against the tapestry. She clutched herself, sliding down to rest on the wall.

Muse transformed into a small purple Fire-sprite, hovering next to her with a worried expression: she could feel the pain, too, but she couldn't understand it. This was no magic, no physical wound. The moment passed, and the sensation eased. Looking down at herself, at her body, Harmony realized that her stomach muscles were tight as steel bands, and beneath that, it felt like her body was curled inward on itself. A few minutes more, and Harmony was able to breathe easily again, and hoist herself back to her feet.

Heavily, she reached out to push away the hanging tapestry. It crumbled and fell to the floor in rags, just as the blanket had. Harmony tapped it with the wand, reverted it into a blanket, and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cape. I might need it later. Behind the tapestry, a heavy metal door frame was filled with a hard, solid wooden door. One single hole at the top of the frame blazed with a light, warm and golden; sunlight! Harmony's eyes filled with sudden tears. A door to the outside!!

The light broke over Harmony's face like a warm caress...she had not realized how deeply she missed the sun. Maybe it was the length of her stay underground? Maybe it was the circumstances of her burial here, which were still in a fog? Maybe it was the strange pain that had left her breathless? Muse leapt at the beam of light, and quickly swarmed through the hole, leaving her alone, for once.

Seconds later, a quick 'tapping' and cracking sound rang out, as the edges of the door burst inward, some kind of invisible seal breaking. Little rivers of dust puffed at Harmony's face. She reached out and grasped the handle, a simple curve of heavy metal set into the wood. "PUSH, Muse!" she thought, and pulled, leaning back, using her newfound weight. Slowly the door swung inward, until it stood open, and then Harmony released the handle and tumbled forward through it, laughing and gasping, half afraid it would close on her. She shaded her eyes as they adjusted to the bright golden light.