Gold.
Absolute and perfect, warm and divine, and a wave of nectar sweet filled my lungs. It inraptured my body, twisting it and contorting beyond my control, and pulsed through every pore, every nerve. The fire beneath my skin burned brighter than ever before, and I felt as though I would burst through my own body.
I felt every touch, every scent and sound, saw every sight I had ever known in an instant, and a pressure filled my head before bursting through the rest of my body in vibrant sparkling light.
Suddenly, I began to see things, memories, visions that were not my own. In fractured bursts, I was once alone in the woods, riding atop a great white moose’s back. I was then on a beach, hand raised before me as I propelled a man backwards against the rocks with ease, halberd flying out of his hands on impact.
I was walking along a busy street, and hands were grabbing at me, tugging at me left and right, pulling at my cloak, pleading with me. I ran. I ran as fast as I could, away from all of the people. There were gentle hands placing something on my face, something cold. I met the man’s silver eyes and he smiled at me. Kind, familiar eyes and a bronze clockwork scepter in his hand.
I was then before a red-haired woman, pale eyes wide with brow stern as a door was slammed in front of me, punished to my room once more. I was alone again.
Gods, was I alone.
Suddenly, I was then in a red field, sent on some unknown task, but somehow I had lost my way. My arms were cut, sore, and I was so very tired. And as I fell to my knees, the ground beneath began to split, and I fell into the jaws of a beast.
I was surrounded by faces, screaming, crying, pleading.
I watch myself take a dagger from my belt and cut off the tip of my finger, as offering, and golden pain envelops my vision.
Then darkness.
Pain and darkness.
Nothing.
Breathe, Mira.
Darkness.
Breathe.
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I coughed, gurgling, and black soot mud came out of my mouth, earthy and vile. I try to move my arms and legs, but I am stuck in some sort of invisible quagmire. I can barely see out of one eye, as the other is caked shut by some unknown force. I coughed again, and more of the strange mud came out of my mouth, spilling before the wet black, twig and vine covered ground before me.
My breaths were short, as my chest seems to be held compressed by something beneath me. I listened, only to hear the sound of frogs and crickets around me. Then, to my surprise, was another strange noise.
With my one open eye, I looked to my right, and saw the blackened marble eye of a small rodent, covered in mud-matted black hair. The little creature was using its little paws to dig at the moist ground above my shoulder, letting out little chitters of frustration every few swipes.
“Doris?” I coughed, my voice sounding very far away, and more of the black sludge fell out of my mouth.
The little rodent-like creature looked up at me for a moment, let out a squeak of acknowledgement, before once again returning to its task.
Dig-dig-dig-dig-dig.
Squeak.
Dig-dig-dig-dig-dig.
With much effort, I was able to fully open both eyes, and I once more tried to scan my surroundings. I seemed to be in the middle of some sort of swamp, chin on the the mud ground as the rest of my body remained trapped in the earth below. But despite my debilitation, my body felt fine. I found that I was not sore in the slightest. Much to my surprise, I felt bizarrely awake, strong, and oddly warm. Even in the dark of the thick tree cover, everything seemed so unbelievably vibrant and colorful. I could see every tiny insect, hear every frog, smell every flower.
Everything was so beautiful, other than the disturbingly bad taste in my month.
Was all of this because of Lumo’s magic?
If all of this was caused by a tiny part of his finger, just how powerful was he?
I tried once again to move my body, but the pressure of the ground was far too strong, even in this strange new empowered state. I looked to little Doris, still diligent in her attempt to dig out my shoulder.
Had the monster taken her as well?
Dig-dig-dig-dig-dig.
Squeak.
Dig-dig-dig-dig-dig.
This continued for some time before I heard a familiar buzzing coming through the trees. The hum grew louder and louder, until I spotted the black cloud of insects spiraling towards us at unbelievable speeds, leaving a path of bark and plant debris in its wake. It exploded into the little clearing, before the black-eyed void mage appeared before us, crouched over and panting.
His face was lined with worry as he bent over, shaking hands cradling around the little creature around his shoulder, before he pulled it close to his chest.
“Doris…” he whispered, voice trembling.
“H-hello,” I coughed, black spraying in front of me.
Aixel screamed.
“What- how-!” he shouted, almost dropping Doris in his surprise.
He bent forward once, before putting a long finger on my forehead with a poke.
“Mira?” he spat.
“Could… you please… help me out of here?”
He froze, mouth agape for a moment, before Doris jumped out of his hands and began digging at my shoulder once more.
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I’m not sure how long it took to finally get my armored body out of the mud, but by the time my feet were finally freed, the sun had begun to set. I was covered completely with a thick black mud, Halmore armor included, when I somehow escaped from inside of the great worm-like ancient beast. Although he was still reluctant about it, Aixel had torn off a piece of his shirt for me to wipe my face.
Gods, how I longed to take a proper bath.
As I cleaned myself off to the best of my ability, I noticed that Aixel was staring at me.
“What?” I asked.
He took a step forward.
“Your eyes…”
“Oh,” I sighed, “Have they finally turned foggy? I had to take another knight’s magic when I was in the grass.”
“No,” he shook his head, “They’re gold.”
I blinked.
“Gold?” I coughed. “Like light brown?”
“No, I couldn’t see it in the light before. But they’re metallic?”
“Lumo,” I breathed.
“L-,” Aixel started before he gave an annoyed sigh. “Gods save me.”
“Just listen,” I groaned.
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As we made the long trek back to the underground, I told Aixel a much abridged version of what had happened. And much to my surprise, he made it through my tale without sarcastic interruption.
“And so the beast was some sort of ancient type of anasilan-”
“Made monster by his magic,” he suddenly interrupted.
“What?”
“Let me show you something,” said Aixel, before making a sharp turn.
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After several moments, we were back at the edge of the red fields, only this time it looked very different. Even in the fading light, dark black clouds swirled above the still swaying red grass. The air was also filled with something else, raining from the sky. I reached out a curious hand, but Aixel stopped me.
“It’s petals,” he said softly. “After it… ate you, it continued to chase after Doris and I,” he paused then pulled the small rodent out of his pocket, picking her matted fur clean, “Before it could grab me, Doris blocked me and pushed me out of the way. By that time I was too weak to return to my void-form.”
I watched the slow, lilting red petals as they fell slowly, hauntingly so in the now growing moonlight. The ground sparked in places with gold and silver metal pieces sticking out in odd shapes, shining like dew over the swaying grass.
“After it took her, I ran, low and out of sight, until I finally made it to the trees. Then came the explosion,” he shook his head, “flowers and armor pieces, bursting overhead and a sound loud enough to shake the trees. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before.
“From what you said before, of Lumo being pulled underneath - that sounds more like some sort of war monster. Nothing like what we saw today. That thing was pulsing with magic unlike anything I had ever seen before. I know he was a kid, but how could he have been so stupid.”
I turned to watch him continue to clean off Doris with the bottom of his shirt.
“But Doris says he’s the reason she survived, so I suppose the pouty prince gets a pass for now.”
Then, much to my surprise, he let out a laugh.
“You should have seen yourself on the back of that thing… How in the world did you manage to hang on all that time?”
“I suppose… Lots of time riding horses… I’m not sure,” I shook my head and smiled.
“Either way… It was impressive.”
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