Abrem fell to his knees every muscle in his body relapsing into a state of temproary paralysis.
He was wrong, he was so very wrong, he had never done this before.
It had never been like this, not this bad, not this much. The spirits never made the animals run towards the barrier, especially not Mungo, they knew he would waste away in a matter of minutes his body dissolving into nothing but a pool of pain, a reminder that no living thing left the dome without the spirits permission, even if they ordered them to, even if it was their actions it would still be deemed Mungo's fault and it would still be Mungo's demise that followed.
Abrem leaned forward allowing his face to fall into the ground, he clutched the grass pulling a fistfull up with him as his revulsion grew, he stayed like that for a moment his entire body longing to seep into the earth and be no more, he released his tears into the grass beneath him his face still pressed into the dirt his arms still outstretched in front of him. After what could have been anywhere from five minutes to an hour he managed to pull himself up onto his elbows, there was much less light than before, in fact with the moon covered by clouds and fog the only light he could see was the bubbly pink mist that still encapsulated Mungo who lay unconscious on the ground mere inches from the barrier.
Abrem sat up, pulling his legs underneath him he sat cross legged in the tall dry grass his mind spinning and his thoughts muddled he watched as the thin strands of grass swayed in unison with the wind the fluorescent pastel red of the mist reflecting off the greenish beige that covered the ground for miles.
The silence of the night rang deafeningly loud in his mind, there was nothing but a vague wash of uncertainty, nothing for him to rely on, no logic to work through, no problem to solve. His task was seemingly impossible and he had no idea what to do next.
He grimaced, his full black eyebrows furrowing into his honey brown eyes he opened his mouth releasing a hideous shriek which turned into a wail, Mungo's body stirred slightly, there was no sound other than the echoes of his own screams and the faint continuous groaning of the cows who continued to stumble mindlessly in circles, no control over their fate and no sense of familiarity to speak of.
As he remembered the promise he made the moans of the cows seemed to grow louder and louder, it didn't matter if he had nothing left, there was still so much he had to do, there was so much needed and nothing to give, that being said.
if anyone can create something out of thin air it's a mage.
With this he pushed himself to his feet, fighting to suppress his dizziness. He stumbled away from the barrier blindly the stars in his eyes blocking his vision. He nearly floundered back onto his knees multiple times before his vision cleared, the rest of his body still felt tingly as if his foot had fallen asleep and decided to share the sensation with every inch of his physical form, he could barely feel the grass underneath him anymore, the hot dried air no longer existed.
Once nearly four feet from the nearest cow he stopped, the cow whipped her head towards him and began limping in his direction. This was a different spell than Mungo's he could tell, his mother had given Athol one rule and that was to keep him educated especially in the area of magic, and that order had not been ignored. Abrem had memorized virtually every spell available to him verbatim and he could pinpoint exactly what family any spell or enchantment fell into and he could say for a fact the cows had been given some sort of misery potion, perhaps someone had poisoned the creek with it or sprinkled a bit onto their hay, either way he would have to concoct a counter potion before he could heal them, Mungo on the other hand had definitely been cursed, curses were indeed stronger than potions but they were also much easier to undo, all Abrem would have to do was perform a blessing, the only problem was that he likely wouldn't have the magical energy needed for at least a week or more and the restrainment spell couldn't last longer than forty eight hours at the most before it began to eat away at Mungo's life force.
He sighed, he would need to bring Athol down to the pasture to perform the blessing, preferably tonight.
Abrem shook the thought from his head, he couldn't afford to get angry now, strong emotions drained magical energy too, even though it was small amounts it could add up fast and he knew it.
He sighed, placing his hand on the cow's muzzle.
"Jendyose." he whispered under his breath, this cow had been named after his mother, her Ugandan name that Athol had given her as a child which she then passed on to the birthgiver of the herd that kept them alive, she was the first heifer they had bought from the outsiders before the barriers policy on outside goods tightened, she and Mungo who was apparently named after Abrem's father, a racial halfling who bore a traditional scottish name from his white half, whom he knew nothing about.
Those two cows had created a near thirty count herd in the span of merely eleven years, at least ten of which came directly from Jendyose's own body, Abrem knew for a fact it wouldn't only be him who would be afflicted if Jendy were to pass, Chiaki in particular seemed to take particular emotional damage when things she held dear were to change.
He was hardly able to keep his tears at bay as he looked into her pain stained face, the once bright and shiny blonde hair that framed her face was now dulled almost grayed by the spirit that had possessed her, he could feel only a fraction of her energy under his finger tips the rest was blank as if there was nothing but the faint maniacal laughter of the spirits inside.
He pulled himself together the best he could and began limping back towards the creek, he did his best to ignore the painful groans behind him, telling himself Athol would have them fixed up by morning.