Lysaria thrashed and moaned as her body shook. Her teeth chatter as she sat inside a tempest of swirling darkness. Through the darkness she could see Dakar was almost fifty yards away, watching her. What happened? She had been just fine. When she had used the vessel of the heart stop adder, she had gotten better, right? She squeezed her eyes shut as another bolt of pain exploded behind her eyes.
The surrounding darkness pulsed, pulling in and compressing to her skin. The pressure built, her inner vessel cracking further as it tried to contain the darkness. Biting her lip and grasping at her solar plexus, Lysaria hoped to die so the pain might end. All that she could see was her inner vessel. The yellow vase filling with darkness and emptying back into her aura.
Her darkness returned, swirling, entering her body for a moment. The vessel filled halfway before a disturbing crack formed on her soul vessel. Lysaria thrashed in pain, blacking out for a moment before coming back to her senses again. Around her the dirt bubbled and hissed, smoke rising in a circle around her as her aura melted anything in contact.
Much to her dismay, her yellow vessel formed one thick crack that spanned the entire thing. Blinding agony shook her entire body. Her body trembled as she tried to rein in her darkness. Her oozing darkness pulsed, and then she could finally pull it back. Slowly, as though calming an angry pet, her darkness returned. Settling calmly into her cracked soul vessel once again. Lysaria wiped her eyes. Her hand came away soaked in inky blood.
What was going on? Why had her vessel cracked further, and why was that so painful? The only benefit she could see was her vessel now was nearly half full. She grimaced. If only her vessel wasn't filled with oozing inky darkness, maybe she could be happy about it. Wind buffeted her clothes, washing away the stench of corroding leaves and dirt. Lysaria panted as she crawled from the circle of blackened earth.
" Are you alright?" asked Dakar, his light green palms clenching and unclenching. Lysaria unsteadily rose to her feet, holding her throbbing head. She massaged her temples, grimacing at her headache.
" I'm not sure, I think something is wrong." said Lysaria staggering towards Dakar.
The man tensed, taking one long step back as Lysaria approached.
" What happened, what's wrong?" asked Dakar, concern etching his face.
" My vessel has a huge crack after absorbing that snakes essence. I am halfway to the next ascension." replied Lysaria. She breathed through her nose, the drowsiness slowly fading.
" That sounds good and bad." replied Dakar chuckling a forced laugh.
" What does it mean?" asked Lysaria concerned.
" Maybe it's your dark essence." replied Dakar, shrugging his shoulders.
Dakar's eyes went vacant as he stares at something only he could see. His eyes widened, and he turned back to her with a concerned expression.
" My vessel is almost twenty percent full. I have some small cracks at the base of my soul vessel?" stated Dakar, running his hand through his long, white hair. Lysaria blinked rapidly, her vision clearing with her headache.
Lysaria eyed the mess she had made. There was a circle spanning ten yards wide that still had toxic smoke lightly drifting from the ground. She grasped her Khopesh, the sword's yellow aura fading back into the blade. She carried the curved weapon, gesturing Dakar back the way they had come.
" We should head back. We almost all died from that stupid snake. If we meet another predator of these monsters, we are dead." said Lysaria, shuddering in remembrance.
" We need to get stronger. I feel useless when we fight these things." said Dakar.
" Do you have any idea why both of our soul vessels are cracked?" asked Lysaria.
" Not sure. My guardians did not mention ascending much. They told me I wasn't allowed to come down to Antuar after I passed the ceremony. As my father always said, Clan Fair rune Sal is above fighting. We can gain our power by buying vessels without risking our lives. " Replied Dakar, chuckling and scratching the back of his head.
" Did my guardians give us anything in the bag?" asked Lysaria. Dakar, who had a satchel on his back, shrugged his shoulders.
" Once we get back to our camp, maybe there will be something helpful?" said Dakar as they scaled the steep mud bank to the river valley. They clambered onto the grasslands. Lysaria first tried to find their camp. But she felt nothing, no tug on her senses. She idly watched wisps of dark essence disappear at frightening speed, then return just as fast. Lysaria projected her sense keeping an image of Thana. A moment later, she watched her essence wisp away from her, disappearing. A few moments later, she just knew where she needed to go to find it.
How odd, maybe that was how the Arbitrator helped them find their way? Lysaria shook her head before she could get distracted. Something caught her attention as her tendril of darkness touched something else.
Lysaria shuddered as she felt a disturbing sensation washed over her. She could tell something had just reached out, something cruel and menacing. Lysaria gripped her Khopesh tightly, frantically searching the rolling hills. But how could she? She frantically looked for a place to hide.
" What's wrong, is the darkness doing that thing again?" Asked Dakar, stepping back, noticing her frantic behavior.
" I think something sensed my essence as I tried to find our camp." replied Lysaria, swallowing.
" Monsters can do that?" asked Dakar, his eyes widening.
Lysaria pressed faster moving from a walk to a jog. She regretted her decision as she had only made it up the first hill before she was grasping her knees and out of breath.
" I think so. From the little I felt we need to get as far away as possible before it arrives." replied Lysaria, gasping, peaking the next of the hills.
In the vast grasslands, a predator raised its furred head. Laying in the tall grass and relaxing in the sun, the tiger stretched. It flicked its tan and black tail in no hurry to do anything. Sniffing the air and projecting its essence. The cat's eyes widened as its essence met some resistant. It tasted the strength of this being, finding them to its liking. The cat yawned, licking the blood from its lips, its tongue brushing a row of razor-sharp teeth. It was a shame to leave its kill so soon. But the cat had claimed the creature's vessel and so wasn't too upset by its wastefulness. The tiger could always kill another of the scaled giants later, if it needed more.
The cat was much more interested in tasting the essence of this new being who entered its territory. Her heart raced in excitement. The cat slunk into the tall green grass. New prey was always her, so exited, seeing their fear and desperation. The cat shudder in excitement, those monsters with the scales and pointy tales were just food. As she licked her paw, she decided she wanted something interesting for the evening to torment. She stretched, grooming herself lazily. It had been far too long since she had something new to play with. The cat, now done with its preparations, breathed deeply and roared a challenge across the grasslands.
Miles away, on a grassy rise, Lysaria and Dakar were making haste to get back to their camp. Lysaria stumbled when she heard a ROAR! echo over the grasslands. She swallowed the deep roar of an enormous cat. Lysaria shook her head. That didn't sound like a regular cat.
" That cannot be a coincidence. I am betting my left sock, that cat is what you sensed." said Dakar.
" Ewe, I don't want your sock. And I hope you are wrong. I really don't want to fight the owner of that roar." replied Lysaria, forcing her tired legs to take another step.
Lysaria crested another of the hills, the fear of their pursuer mostly forgotten after hours of hiking. She wanted to lie down and so she sat on the top of a rise, sitting in the tall grass.
" I cannot do it, any more." gasped Lysaria. Dakar collapsed next to her, resting his hands on his shaky legs. Lysaria turned her head to the sky. She smiled, the sun burning bright red as it set. Bright red as the sun slowly dipped, the sky flashing brightly for one long minute after the sun disappeared.
She smiled at Dakar, her face flushing as she realized just how close Dakar was sitting next to her. His arm rested against hers, making her heart race. Dakar noticed her expression and cocked his head, staring into her eyes as though searching for something. Lysaria admired his powerful jaw and soft lips, wondering what they tasted like? Lysaria looked away as her face burned. He was just sitting next to her, and this was by far the worst time to even consider that.
And besides, she remembered the look on Dakar's face whenever she used her darkness. He clearly found her repulsive. Even their clans were at odds, as his clan had been one of the main reasons she was in this horrible place. She wanted to run her hands through his silky white hair and explore his deep hazel eyes. She swallowed. Why was her mind always wandering to that at the worst times?
Her thoughts cut off as a Roarrrrr! shook the grasslands. Birds flew into the sky, their feathers glinting from the fading light. The cat sounded close, much too close. Lysaria clenched her fist, taking a handful of dirt as she rose to her feet.
" Does this make us cowardly to run away from a fight?" asked Dakar tiredly, as he rose slowly, bones popping loudly. Lysaria shook her head at him, furrowing her brow in confusion.
" What? In all the stories of ancient heroes they never ran from a fight." replied Dakar, defensively.
" If it makes you feel better, you can call it a tactical retreat." replied Lysaria, rolling her eyes. She could not hide a slight smile. Even in this situation, Dakar somehow brightened her mood.
" This damned air is so heavy. How are we going to get away if we need to rest every twenty minutes?" said Lysaria, groaning as she forced her tired legs to move forward.
" Walk faster, its bound to tire of chasing us." replied Dakar panting beside her.