"The time has come, my child. The fusion process is nearly finished. You just have to experience some time in the mortal realm to complete it. You will lose your memories, but they will slowly come back over time, as you experience your new life. You can't go by your old name as that would make these damn avians notice you. From this day henceforth, you are called 'Tachatra Montri,' which means 'Hope of Tachat' in the tongue of the old ones. Don't worry, you won't forget my name for too long, as it will be the first goddess you hear of after your resurrection."
As the final sentence of the goddess ended, the black world slowly began to brighten up, and Tachatra Montri was born.
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Grim was at the top of the group, leading them along the path he and Gix walked on before. The same crystals and curves were to be seen again. As far as he could see, Cillian was mostly unimpressed or rather indifferent. The only thing which irritated him was that he couldn't make out any mimic of the tree-face. Then he thought, "Maybe I have to look at the branches and foliage to determine it's mood.".
He didn't think any further about this issue and led the group along. Soon they came to the fork in the path he had seen before. He led them straight the other way, which he and Gix didn't take as they got here first. Before long, the tree-face spoke up, "I believe I see your transportation device over there, but between us and it is a weird jelly-like substance on the floor. I don't think it's just the top of the floor that's coated in it.".
Suddenly Gix walked forward, and before anyone could stop him, he stuck his finger into the substance and tasted it. Afterward, he behaved like a hungry lion as he simply ate the whole Jelly until there was nothing left of it. Instead of the Jelly, there was now a one-foot deep pit before them, which was way easier to cross.
The group walked further along and came before what seems to be a temple — white marble floor with chiseled pillars of white marble decorated it. The Path was framed on two sides by high stone cliffs. Upon the edge of the right stone cliff, Grim saw the missing rover. But just as he wanted to tell his companions about it, it seemed like the whole dessert began shaking.
Everyone in their group stumbled during the earthquake. Stones and larger rocks fell off the cliff and into the ravine in which we stood. Suddenly Grim began to shout, "Everyone, look to the west!". And as everyone turned their heads to the place he pointed at, they saw it. Thousands of translucent humanoids flew through the sky, as the clouds began to converge on top of the temple. A gigantic maelstrom made of clouds and what looked like souls, formed in the air. The group's faces turned white as the bottom of this cyclone began to stretch toward the temple.
Grim felt it. It was like the death mana in the caves, but more potent, far more potent. It felt as if he was treading through mud even though it was just mana. "CLANG." A sound of metal hitting rock turned everybody's attention back to the temple. Their eyes widened at the sight, which presented itself to them. A regal-looking translucent man stood there. His shoulder-length hair bound together behind his head. Clothed in a military uniform, he held a battle-flag in one hand and had the other hand behind his back. He was hitting the floor with the bottom of the flagpole, and every time he did that, a tendril of lightning would connect the pole to a soul in the cyclone. The soul would vanish after the connection was established. Every additional soul made the man more corporal.
With a final "BANG," the last soul was absorbed. Black mist began to spread outward and slow, but steady footsteps could be heard across the valley. The black cloud converged on the person creating an ethereal looking hood. But what the group saw beneath the hood were not the handsome features of the regal-looking man, but instead a grotesque perversion of that. An undead face looked at them with its crimson eyes. It had a confused but curious look on its face. Most of them were shocked, except Gix and Grim, which glanced at the undead in awe and interest.
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Cillian directly went into battle-ready mode, but against his expectations, the undead didn't attack them. He held out his hand with the palm pointing down. As if on command, roots began to grow and wind themselves like a cane for him, which at the end he took into his hand. The Creature started to look at them one after the other, finally opening its mouth to speak with a hoarse and old voice:" Who might you be, Travelers? We can't say who we are, as we seem to have forgotten." These words put grim in a daze before he blurted out:" IT SPEAKS!"
Cillian observed the creature, but couldn't feel any aggressiveness from it, which confused him. Usually, undead should have some degree of hate for the living, but this one did not. This was the reason for his next sentence:" I'm Cillian, the little one is Grim, the fatso's Gix and the tree we call tree-face because he hasn't got a name. Usually, I would ask for yours, but you have forgotten as far as one can believe your words."
Grim began to urge everyone, 'Stop chatting, we only have two hours left till the sun rises, and I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to end up as a statue." There were nods from everyone after that, and they turned back to walk in the direction they came from.
The group came upon the archway they passed before, but this time something was floating above the place where Gix had his feast back then.
It looked like a mix between a Jellyfish and a Squid, its long tentacles ending in tiny hooks, which are probably used to grab things. Its main body looked like blue iron shining under the moonlight, but its movements pointed at something more jelly-like. Flowing through some unique points on its body, you could see lightning flowing along its body. Its movements at the moment seemed erratic as if it was furious. The undead whispered in a hoarse voice, "What did you do to anger this creature?". Suddenly everyone looked at Gix. The ever so silent tree, to the surprise of everyone, began to speak, "I could try to speak with it and see what it wants.".
From the undead came, "I can probably help, even though I don't exactly know why I think I can." And so the embodiment of Life and the embodiment of death began to walk towards the creature together.