A massive fog-bound cordillera hides away from the remnants of the greatest, most majestic city that existed. Down at the base of an elephantine mountain called Dernag, conjoined to the cordillera, it is seen crumbling away with fragments of a crimson-purple mix of ash filling the air. War had spread its havoc across the lands; a war of magic had left potent remnants of itself in the air, a poison slowly corrupting the minds of innocent bystanders. People with good hearts had slowly turned evil, a thin slimmer of hope cowering behind the darkness that murdered their kind hearts. Murder, blood, death; the consequences of the magic. Almost everyone fell to it. However there were people whose magic was stronger than others, their minds were sharper and stronger against the magic; these people created small settlements and allowed refugees to seek asylum in them; strong, ocean blue lights that splashed like fireworks whenever an outsider tainted with the malicious trance rammed into it with their fury surrounded the settlements.
A pair of girls left one of these settlements, not far from the grand city, and began to walk together through the ruins. A young adult with long, chestnut hair and hazel eyes, her walk is graceful among the abandoned ruins, her name is Nathalie. Another woman with short blonde hair, (faint wrinkles suggesting an older person) and a slim physique, marches quietly beside the other person. A caring motherly aura surrounds her. Her name is Anastasia.
"We need to be careful Nathalie." Anastasia said, anxious.
"Don't worry Anastasia, I know what I'm doing. All we have to do is collect a couple blackthorns and-" A strong wind muffles Nathalie's voice.
"What did you say?" Anastasia asks.
"And some untainted ash." Nathalie retorted. They continuously wander the ruins for these items, what did they need them for? They didn't know. After a while Anastasia ponders about a question and eventually asks Nathalie.
"Hey, I was wondering, is Færhorn alive?" A tone of curiosity, tainted with fear lingers in Anastasia's voice.
"No, that's impossible we saw what happened, even this city is proof." Nathalie lifts her hands and presents the destruction in front of them to Anastasia.
"Yeah, sure, but you heard what our elders said… We still have to be alert." Worried, Anastasia replied.
"I. Am. Alert… Look there's some blackthorn". Nathalie proceeds to pick the blackthorn up. "Now we only need some untainted ash."
Instantly, lightning crashes down near the two girls, Nathalie is not as surprised but Anastasia is more sensitive to the sound.
"AAAAHH!" Anastasia shrieked.
"Hey, be quiet we don't want to attract any unwanted attention, I've only got enough basic magic to protect us against weak danger but not against death-defying creatures…" Now highly aware of her surroundings.
"Sorry, I'm still recovering from yesterday's heightened senses training. I guess the spell hasn't dissipated yet." Anastasia explained.
According to Nathalie's knowledge, it was very uncommon for spells, like heightened senses, to have little or any effect on the user. Very peculiar, she thought.
Almost instantaneously, the weather started turning dark and the flurry of wind present before was blowing with much more vigour. Lightning assaulted the puddles and engulfed the grass in flames (although quickly being put out by the stubborn rain). Thundering down, rain in the ravines west of Mt. Dernag formed mini lakes at rapid speed, racing down the cracks and crevices of the chasm. A feeling of ominous worry meandered in the air. The setting had moulded into a nightmare.
Nathalie, acknowledging the sudden change, was in a wax about the weather. She judged the situation around her and found it much more suitable to perform a sentry spell, just to get it over and done with. She began by lifting her hands and closing her eyes. In an astonishing burst of blue light, a manifestation of a humanoid figure appeared, quickly hovering away in search of its creator's need.
Although Nathalie's eyes were shut, everything the sentry could see was present in front of her. To her disappointment there were no blackthorns, flowers with dark blue stems and beautiful black leaves, or unpolluted ash.
In response to Nathalie's and Anastasia's intrusion in the city, ash started to form around the now abandoned town square. It compacted to form a sphere and just as hastily released all of it in a spectacular blast leaving Nathalie and Anastasia on their backs. A large bang radiated from the explosion; a flock of birds ascending up into the air, seeking refuge from the sudden sound.
"OWW!" Nathalie & Anastasia whined.
"Now what was that!?" Anastasia shrieked.
"I- I don't know." Confused, Nathalie laid on the ground, trying to recover from the ringing in her ears.
Gradually, they raised themselves from their backs and Anastasia instantly stood up and surveyed her surroundings, her face a clear expression of petrified fear. Nathalie remained squatting on the ground, a hand covering her ear… Soon, she witnesses a figure in ripped clothing laying on the floor. "Are they dead", she thought? "Hey… Do you see that person?" Anastasia asked, curious as to where the man appeared from.
Nathalie nodded in agreement. The tortuous weather finally reached the city displaying all its dreadful contents onto the two women and the unidentified figure.
The stranger faced Anastasia, allowing her to witness dark, glowing crimson eyes staring directly at her, as well as allowing her to identify it as a man. The figure slowly stood up whilst Anastasia was frozen by the dominance this man exerted, again the tainted ash started to rush towards the centre of town, this time forming around the stranger. He reaches his hands out and the ash starts to swirl around them. Almost within the blink of an eye the ash blasts around Anastasia, hugging her tightly and pulling her towards the iniquitous aura of the man. Nathalie commenced her sprint towards the individual with a burning desire to try and save her friend, mixed with a feeling of fear and hopelessness. The man smirks at her and mumbles something. Sadly, on the spur of the moment, a bright, dark purple magic took its leave from Anastasia as the man deposited the now motionless body onto the waterlogged ground. Instantaneously facing Nathalie, the man releases another blast, this time sending Nathalie flying through multiple ruins until she reaches the forests on the outskirts of the city. A couple miles away…
Moments pass with Nathale lying still; almost frozen on the wet grass. A few hours later, however, Nathalie awakens and slowly tries to lift her ragdoll-like body covered in excruciating pain. Tears start to form in her eyes as she remembers the death of her best and only friend. Whilst, in the distance, a large, ominous mist is scuttling to the top of Mt. Dernag, mixed with dark purple and crimson hues dancing in between the gaps, striking fear even in the most courageous of people. Lightning crashes not far behind the mist accompanied by buckets of rain stretching over the city, cordillera, and forest that Nathalie was now in.
Within the forest, however, Nathalie witnesses the ground underneath her start to move, reacting to her sudden movements. In response, an orange cloud of fog rose from beneath her, it caused a face of confused worry to appear on Nathalie, and she fell, drenched, beneath the ground...
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" Nathalie thumps into a dark cave only lit by lanterns providing mellow lighting. The walls of the cave surround her and lead to a narrow path to the true entrance of the cave.
The fall did not assist Nathalie in providing relief from her pains. A very sharp pain was now stinging her thigh with every short, smooth movement she made. A strange, mysterious, eerie atmosphere chokes Nathalie.
"Dorēgaz rizakos zūtri". These words beat around in the air around Nathalie.
Nathalie seems to understand what is being whispered around her, but she can't make it out without really trying to understand. A cold shock engulfs Nathalie whilst trying to delve into her mind to translate. Eventually, she deciphers the words as "I want to eat the girl". A sudden chilling hand, as if made of the coldest glacier ice, slowly curls its fingers onto Nathalie's shoulder, and this, coupled with the ominous words and the chilling hand (now numbing her shoulder) strikes a deep fear into her already weakened heart.
"Dorēgaz rizakos tepāri." The words haunt Nathalie's mind. This one had a more ominous feel, "I want to kill the girl."
Nathalie tries to push away from the hand, but it begins to dig its nails, long like the talons of an eagle, into Nathalie's shoulder causing blood to start to trickle down her arm. Nathalie whimpers in pain. She turns her head to face the creature behind her and screams at the sight; instantly, she feels the claws of the creature scrape against her frail bones.
A pale face covered in frost, staring straight at Nathalie, with a frozen, bloody jaw that hangs on by only a fibrous bundle of white threads, compliments the skinny figure exaggerating the pale white bones sticking out of the chest of this creature with flesh-torn legs showcasing another set of white bones, all covered in frost. The appearance of this creature masks any appealing features this corpse once had.
The monster starts to utter more words with a very profound giggle present in its voice. Happily, it rejoices in the agony being suffered by Nathalie. Her mind slowly capitulated, ceasing any feelings of pain. Nothing at all. However, in a desperate attempt to awaken, Nathalie quickly starts to gather words of unknown origin whilst blood, freezing and chilling to the touch, solidifies onto her arm. Finally, Nathalie gathers what she needs.
She chants "Fire, bright and strong! Burn this enemy!" With such exuberance that an imposing, blazing conflagration surrounds her. Flaming, she repels the creature. The ice of the frozen physique, vaporising in a splendid manner.
Proudly, Nathalie titters (although knackered). The creature scuttles away and just before taking its leave, it turns around to face Nathalie, its repugnant face staring at Nathalie.
"Sē lur dissa tepāri" The creature's voice changes to a deep voice, a familiar one. "I will kill you", Nathalie translates. Her mind grasps onto the change of voice and delves into the ether in an attempt to locate the origin of the voice. A space full of dark energy, one that she didn't know existed surrounds her (memories anonymous to her help her achieve this).
In an instant, Nathalie is facing the man that killed Anastasia. A direct eye contact is present between them. The hazel eyes of Nathalie staring into the crimson eyes of a devilish figure. Hastily, Nathalie returns back to her present position and witnesses the creature lean on all fours and resemble a large frozen spider, its nightmarish figure scuttling away from Nathalie's view. Nathalie's frozen blood now trickles down all five wounds on her shoulder, warming because of the absence of the monster's cold, glacial, freezing aura.
"Did the murderer send this creature towards me? I need to leave, I can't stay here much longer. But my body. I'm washed with pain." Nathalie thought to herself.
Fatigued, Nathalie slumps towards the wall; and with the faint, slim rays of moonlight striking the narrow entrance of the cave, Nathalie fades into a deep sleep, her eyes closed shut.
Unbeknownst to Nathalie, a perfect circle of gold light traces itself around her. A small fly hovers towards Nathalie, an annoying whine emanating from it. It hovers just above the golden circle and… Vaporises. Nothing, only a small pile of dust crumbling down onto the ground beside the circle is left; the circle fades away into a faint stain of yellow on the ground.
Nothing, only silence and nothing more. Silence, and nothing more…