The low, guttural sound filled her with dread, the sound that sent Elara's spirit shuddering. "Kael, No- ah!" Elara screamed, snapping back into consciousness as the fog grew thicker, suffocating her already uncomfortable surroundings. She didn't answer. She was too caught up with the fog that now felt almost corporeal. She had heard the sound somewhere before. Through the rustling of leaves and even amidst the faintest of whispers through dying campfires. Tales meant to frighten children long ago. But now they seemed too all real.
The metallic scent tingled in her nostrils, growing even stronger by the second, the scent too rough for her liking. Kael beside her stirred lightly but it was enough for it to grab her intention, which she reluctant to say the least. While everything around her felt strange, a tad bit odd in Elara's perspective, Kael had other issues to deal with. Gripping onto her arm only lightly but with enough warmth to soothe Elara's growing fear, "What was it you said?" Taking a closer look at him, voice thick with confusion, there was a strange comfort of normalcy.
The ground started to shake. "There is something out there," Goosebumps began to scatter around Elara's forearms, "Something out there- so we need to move." She hissed under her breath. But the pile of dread inside her only grew. With Kael being unable to walk properly thanks to the wound on his side, Elara could only pull him along. She could see clearly that the shadows were twisting and screaming. She could feel every rustling of leaves, but worst of them all, she could hear her own heart beat. Everything only fueled the fear she was trying so hard to suppress.
"Don't look away from me." She quickly said, now finally preparing herself to respond to Kael. Before he ended up watching her turn pale, "There is something moving, not far from us." She whispered, "Something old."
The mist slowly dissipated, but only for an instant, thus enabling them to witness what they were searching for.
It was not a creature carved out of flesh and blood, rather, it was an amalgamation of darkness. While it lacked any clear form, it still possessed a nature, an evil one that was enough to send shivers down the spine of Elara.
It uttered things. Thoughts that permeated in their heads, but not words that could be heard through the air. The feeling of dread was there… That voice rang in Elara's mind. You are scared.
A shiver ran down Elara's spine, waking her to the reality. She was shocked and started moving backward, dragging Kael along with her. The wraith was passive at first but as their sadness grew, he grew stronger.
The Thing— With a hint of malevolence to its tone, the whisper raspy and hoarse said, It is now possible to cross to the other side.
Elara gasped, picking up on what she had not comprehended earlier. "Where are its sun stones?" "There is no need to ask, who was it who emerged victorious against the sorcerers because they had willingly helped unleash them into our world as well."
Kael's eyes were utterly bemused and as a result he turned to her and inquired, "What does this mean?"
Elara caringly caressed the texture of the stone in her pouch. With an exhale, she dug deep into her memories to try and recall the incantations told to her by her ancestors. They were, after all, words of protection. But even then, she was left with endless questions.
The fog began swirling violently with the wind and Elara felt cold chills while lucid visions clouded her brain, Am I to be threatened by the Wraith? Once the stone casted light and Elara entered its protective shield, she saw the Wraith's shadowy form flickering. Before she was able to comprehend the situation, Elara heard hissing whispers, 'Foolish Mortal... you can not stop me'."
Despite everything feeling so surreal, she knew the core message all those fragmented words conveyed, Am, in grave danger and they needed to be protected.
She turned her attention to Kael and watched him closely. He appeared lost or confused, unable to wrap his head around what was happening, glancing between Elara and the moving tendrils of darkness. Making this creature safe for him gave her additional motivation; she would never allow such a being to hurt him.
In a split second, the wraith launched towards her. The ominous rays stretched and curled, aiming to shatter the shield while the rays of light began to fluctuate.
Then, Kael screamed. Grasping his head which showed every ounce of the pain he was feeling, he explained through gasps, "The whispers… I hear them storming inside my head."
Elara felt miserable. She understood now what the wraith was doing, it was viciously targeting by projecting their insecurities within their mind. I cannot remain in this condition, she thought to herself.
She took a deep breath and forcefully attacked the mental block put in her mind. "Why are we the target?" Kael thought. He dramatically rubbed the nape of his neck before turning his face towards the Moon, breathing heavily, a gesture Elara wished he would refrain from releasing.
It was hard for her to endure. The wraith can be very deceptive and disturbing, especially the voice which sounds within her brain and feeds seeds of uncertainty and suspicion into the mind. They reminded her that he was weak and delusional.
Pushing the voices aside, Elara tried to focus on what was important. She directed her energy towards Kael, keeping in mind all of his inner trauma and pain. With the wi in her hands, she flowed strength into his body.
Little by little, Kael's breathing returned to normal. He loosened up his jaw. It was evident that the wraith's control was going away.
The wraith screamed, a wailing noise that shattered the glade. It pulled back and shrunk in its shadey figure. You will not win. There was hissing, the Arcane World will take you all.
After that, the wraith vanished as quickly as it came. The mist started to give way. The gust faded out. The woods became quiet. Elara fell onto a grassy patch, feeling faint. Kael crouched next to her and looked down with poor vision. "What was that?" he spoke in a faint voice.
Elara shook her head. "Olszi vitre Estara– something…powerful," she said. "Something which is linked with the Arcane World."
She scanned the copse and the clearing. A sun stone lingered in the middle, barely innate in the danger it had not so long since posed to its carriers. The wraith had claimed in her ear, 'The Arcane World will take you all': this was the statement that the krecyn claimed.
There, in the Kartum Lake, she had made compare with Wilk that searching was futile and all they could do was waiting. No one explained the meaning of this triangulated coordinate but all of them felt a choking presence between the three boars emanating from another dimension. Relieved of the lose grip, she urged Kael to his feet, "This is regrettable and foolish: we should have reassured them to stay".
"It would be wiser not to waste…" "We have to go," Kael interrupted. "We need to figure out what this means to us – or to them, because the noise of the opening doors is deafening."
The prophecy could not be clearer. The Arcane World was near. And they were in its way.