In their room in Haldwin's house, Morn and Azur sat in their beds at opposite ends of the room. Comfortable, Morn decided to broach the topic of Ankvert coming with them to Yol.
"Oh, Ankvert asked me if he and his son could come to Yol with us. I don't mind, but what do you think?"
Azur sat thoughtfully for a moment before nodding.
"If they bring their own supplies, and we don't have to house them when we get to Yol, then they can come."
Morn smiled, "I'll let Ankvert know in the morning. Ah, any news on the island's position?"
Azur shook his head sadly.
"Unfortunately, the island is still nowhere near close enough to reach Yol. At this distance, we'd have to stop for supplies at one of the great islands. Our only options for that are Palk or Nauv. Of course, there's issues with both. We have no clue if Nauv will even be in the Lampfreude region or not, and Palkian pirates have never exactly been friendly to travellers."
Morn frowned.
"I guess we'll have to wait awhile then."
Azur nodded, downcast. After a moment, Morn spoke again.
"The good news is, this island has another unique gas!"
Morn removed a tank of the newly collected gas from his bag and tossed it to Azur.
"It shares no properties with any known catalyst or reagent according to my field tests. That means that we'll have another formula to sell when we get back to Yol!"
Azur smiled and leaned forward, giving Morn a high five.
"This is great! When we get back, we may even have enough to move to Caslac right away! We can finally get out of that rat hole and apply for a planted position in an Alkimiya lab. Of course, you'll have to help me brush up on my research skills."
Morn returned Azur's smile.
"We'll be out of there soon! We're finally coming up in this world, all it cost us was my hand."
Azur stared awkwardly at Morn, unsure what to say. Morn returned the stare quietly for several moments before whispering.
"It was supposed to be a joke…"
Azur sighed, "Alright, brother. Let's get some rest. Tomorrow I'll need your help putting on a performance for the kids. We'll show them the magic of alkimiya!"
Smiling, Azur laid down in his bed. Snores quickly came from his end of the room. Morn laid in his own bed, attempting to fall asleep.
Several hours passed and Morn had yet to sleep. Between the excitement of his new discoveries, the plans to return to Yol, and Azur's snores, he had trouble sleeping. Growing tired, but unable to sleep, Morn finally decided to alkimiya his way out of the situation.
He reached into his bag quietly, not wanting to wake Azur. After several moments, he procured his inhalant mask and a small gas tank labelled Antilla. The gas was a basic tier two arcane gas incorporating the catalyst Antil, a catalyst that caused one to fall asleep if inhaled. This was the same gas Azur had given him to keep him asleep during his surgery, along with a gas containing the catalyst Tairn, a gas that numbs pain.
The gas was quick acting on the average person, causing one to fall asleep within moments of inhaling a lungful. If one was aware of the gas, they could resist its effects with enough effort. It also dissipated quickly if released into an open environment.
In the early days of Alkimiya, the Yoltaen military had attempted to use the gas on a battlefield to very poor results. Their prior testing had been done exclusively in enclosed spaces and the researchers had neglected to test it in open environments. Further attempts at employing arcane gas in warfare were more thoroughly tested beforehand as a result.
Morn used a tube with a pressure gauge, and an empty tank to measure a small dosage of Antilla, enough to keep one asleep for several hours. Morn laid down in his bed and screwed the gas into place on the mask. After donning the mask, as he was securing the straps tightly to his head, he caught the scent of fruit in the air.
Morn secured the mask's straps and twisted the valve, then took a deep breath. Soon, he began to fall asleep under the gases' effects. Morn mumbled to himself before passing out, as he remembered the fruity scent he'd noticed a moment prior:
"Old man Toli must not be able to sleep either. He's probably wandering about, smoking that pipe of his…"
***
Morn felt his consciousness slip away. He felt as if it was being dragged through a wall of cobwebs, into a place deep within his mind. He found himself once again looking at the stars hovering above a map of Malsata. The red star still shone brightly, but had moved around the Storm Commons. This time, Morn began to suspect that the red star represented himself, while the stars represented a fated path.
Morn felt his vision brighten rapidly, he found himself flying away from Toli's island. A beam of red light shone beneath the waves of the ocean, heading towards a beam of white light in the distance. After a short moment, Morn arrived at the white light. The beam plunged beneath the ocean, glowing enticingly as if motioning for Morn to follow it.
Descending with the light, Morn once again found himself at the giant tree of hands, deep beneath the ocean. Reaching out, he touched the beckoning hands. The hands grasped him, pulling him into the trunk of the tree. His vision faded to darkness for several moments, before he felt himself being raised up.
Sunlight shone in his eyes as a giant hand emerged from the water, lifting him above the waves and setting him gently down on a bed of sand. The hand returned beneath the waves, leaving him standing alone on the island.
Looking around, he quickly spotted a large stone tower in the distance. As he began to walk towards the structure, he felt the world turn upside and he began falling towards the sky.
In the sky below him, as he fell towards the stars, the cluster of constellations began to glow again, a beam of light struck him, filling his vision with light. After a moment, his vision returned to darkness.
***
The sound of terrifying shrieks filled Morn's ears, like a thousand people being burned alive. The sounds pierced the walls of the hut. Morn's eyes flew open as he awoke from his dream state, the effects of the gas having finally worn off.
Morn looked around him and noticed Azur was gone. Morn quickly grabbed his drill from beside his bed and screwed on the ignitor and pyral. He rushed from the room and out of Haldwin's house.
Morn emerged from the house, expecting the village to be overrun by Levjottun, but the sight he saw was far worse.
The villagers were running about slamming into walls, swinging torches, tearing themselves and each other apart. Blood filled the gravel paths of the peaceful little village.
As he looked around, all but his eyes frozen in terror, he noticed several familiar faces.
Vincent lay slumped against a wall, his arms and legs were torn from his body and lay on the ground nearby. Somehow still alive, he laughed madly up at the night sky.
Haldwin slammed his beloved hammer into his face repeatedly, screaming for an unseen assailant to get away. Aside from his hair and clothing, he would've been unrecognisable. His nose was caved entirely inward and his facial bones and eyes had been smashed to pieces.
Baldrick was screaming violently in front of his church, he splashed a bucket of pitch onto himself and the wooden walls of the church, then raised a torch. He and the building went up in flames, he soon collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
Eldwin was pinned to the wall of a hut, a spear clutched in both his hands was thrust through his chest, pinning him to the wall. Blood foamed from his mouth as he attempted to scream.
Elder Toli lay in the middle of the path, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the stars. The back of his skull seemed to have collapsed from a sudden impact.
As Morn's eyes continued to scan the village in horror, he nearly collapsed as he saw the village children, having to avert his eyes from the horrible sight.
Morn looked desperately around the village, finally noticing a tall figure collapsed in between two burning huts. His eyes widened and his breath grew ragged. The figure was Azur.
Morn's mind moved rapidly, a desperate idea came to him as he recalled his stockpiled gases. Morn rushed through the village to his workshop behind Baldrick's home.
He flung open the door and grabbed a vial of gas labelled Versetta. It was an arcane gas meant to calm one down, remove feelings of fear, panic, and paranoia, as well as stave off hallucinations. It could also awaken a person from a deep sleep or a state of unconsciousness.
As he grasped the vial of gas and an extra inhalant mask, he rushed back through the streets. He dodged a man violently swinging a pickaxe into an unrecognisable corpse. Morn nearly threw up in his mask as he recognized the man, it was Ankevert.
Averting his eyes, Morn continued running, narrowly dodging a woman wildly swinging a knife in all directions. He recognised her to be Jessa, the surgeon who had performed his amputation.
None of the villagers seemed to notice him, enthralled in their own pockets of madness.
Tears streamed from Morn's eyes as he arrived at Azur's side. As he knelt down, he heard his friend's rapid breathing and turned him over. A large dagger was embedded in his abdomen.
"Azur! Wake up!"
Azur's eyes opened, but were cloudy and bloodshot. Morn wiped tears from his eyes to clear his vision and quickly strapped the mask to his friend's face.
He screwed on the vial of Versetta and twisted the valve, filling the mask with the gas. Azur continued to breathe rapidly. After a moment, his eyes to cleared and he looked up at Morn.
"Morn…?" Azur groaned weakly, barely able to lift his head.
Morn held up Azur's head and leaned over his friend, hugging him.
"Azur! Thank Yolta you're alive, I'm going to get you out of here, you'll be okay!"
Morn watched as Azur's eyes slowly began to close. Morn began to panic, he spoke shakily:
"Azur, don't go back to sleep! Stay with me!"
Azur's eyes seemed to look past Morn, as if staring through him. Azur reached up and removed his inhalant mask with the last of his strength, then smiled at his friend.
"Morn…I'll-" Azur took in a ragged breath of fresh air and spoke quietly, "-I'll miss you…"
Azur's eyes closed, and his breathing stopped. Morn looked at his friend in shock, his vision clouded by tears. He began to shake Azur's body.
"No, come on Azur! This isn't funny, you're joking! You're always joking, and- and you're going to wake up in a moment!"
Morn laughed awkwardly, choking on his tears. A moment passed as Morn slowly leaned down to his friend, hugging him.
"You can't go… You can't be gone- We– We're going to go home! We're going to buy a house in Caslac and finally get away from the danger! You and I- you… and I- we're finally coming up in this world! Right?"
Morn sobbed in his friend's chest, his body shaking from the tears as he wailed. He remained there in denial as the sound of screams faded around him.
After a long, long time, when his eyes had dried of tears, Morn finally stood. He lifted his friend's body, stumbling onto the main path of the village as he carried his lifelong friend.
He staggered down the path, avoiding the corpses of his friends that were littered throughout the village.
He walked past Jessa and Hendrick.
Past Baldrick…
Past Ankvert and Endull…
Past Vincent and Eldwin…
Past Toli…
Past Haldwin…
He remembered the stories he and Azur had told the children, Hendrick who'd helped him create his workshop, Ankevert and Endull who were supposed to come with them to Yol, the lessons he'd shared with Vincent, Baldrick and Jessa who had saved his life, Toli who'd crafted him a new hand, Eldwin who'd first let them into the village, and Haldwin who had given them a place to sleep and had shared in sorrow with him.
As Morn arrived at the gates of the village, the sun began to rise over the horizon. The light illuminated the village, and with its light, Morn finally noticed. A thin fog of pale pink gas filled the city. Morn felt his stomach drop. With guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders, Morn turned around and walked from the village. He carried Azur to the east, into the forest.
After an unknown amount of time, Morn arrived at the clearing. He walked through the golden leaves and began to dig at the base of the tree with his hands.
As the sun reached high in the sky, Morn carefully removed the knife from his friend's stomach, then gently lifted his friend, placing him into the pit among the roots of the tree. He then removed Azur's cloak, the one who wore to tell stories to the children, and folded it into a pillow, placing it beneath Azur's head.
Morn hesitated for a long time, staring at his friend. Finally, he scooped the dirt over Azur, covering him with the soil.
Morn stood above the grave and removed his mask, he took in a deep, shuddering breath. His tears returned as he smelled the familiar scent of the pink flowers, the smell of the pastries he and Azur used to eat every morning as kids. As the scent of his home and childhood filled the air, Morn smiled weakly, and spoke with a shaky voice:
"I'll miss you too… Azur…"