“The sun will soon be upon us,” Eraanel told Manna, his left eye looking at every movement of her face from behind. The Lightborn were preparing, honing their skills, praying, thinking.
“The rocks,” Manna shifted her head to the right as she stood down to catch a glimpse of Eraanel, twin-headed spear by her left side, “are they cracking?”.
“Over here, no,” Eraanel promptly responded, seeing signs on her face that she was crying in silence, “but a couple of our sisters went some distance and returned just now. They said that the rocks could be heard cracking where they were.”. He tried not to focus on her state, although he wanted to help her somehow.
“We have little time then, before another storm tries to steal more of our lives,” she thought aloud. She took her spear, lifted herself up with its support, then turned to Eraanel, looking down in his eye. “Let us go then,” her heart felt tight for what she was going to say “go and find Orvus, bring justice to our siblings and find a place we can call home.”. Eraanel nodded in approval, heading towards the other Lightborn to announce their departure.
Manna looked over all of them. Their hopes, dreams, talents and wondering curiosity, they all stood in the palm of her hand. She had to lead them, yet she wondered, ‘how many more will have to die’, as she no longer could have the false hope that everything will be fine. Ever since they left the Link, more and more of them had to die in order to reach further. And what if all was in vain? For as long as she can remember, ice is all that there was. Maybe what Kilon told them, of warmer air somewhere beyond the passage, was much like what Orvus told them of the Frozen Side, false hope. It was too late though. Whether death or a new home laid somewhere inside or beyond the Gargantuan Forest, there was no other choice, but to push forward.
There were some moments of silence before they left. They were praying, all of them, to the Creator, so they may find a new home. So they may find he who sinned against them, so they can find…hope. Then, with a silent thud, all of them touched the ground, their eyes sparking with determination, power and a renewed will to push forward. And so, the Lightborn march into the seemingly lifeless forest.
Manna and Eraanel stood at the front, as they advanced in an arrow formation. The back of the large group, secured by the likes of Felemous, who had more potent power. While further ahead from all of them, Salvete made a run. She was the only one thought to be good enough at hiding her presence, to act as a scout. At full efficiency, not even the most sensible creatures could sense or feel her light. It was something Orvus always admired, and wanted to learn for himself, thus his efficiency in light flow control.
After they walked for a while, weapons prepared for any emergency, Salvete returned from within the forest. She approached Manna and Eraanel with such subtlety, behind a tree, that it made them barely aware of her, when she was only a few metres in front of them. She didn’t need to catch her breath, it couldn’t even be heard, despite the absurd silence in the forest, broken only at times by sways of wind between branches.
“Anything new Salvete?” Manna demanded, putting the whole group on halt.
“Not too far away from where we are, the trees are…moving,” her voice barely heard, yet her words were completely understood. Change in the behaviour of the forest could mean a lot of things. Not limited to Orvus watching from somewhere afar and planning diversions or plans.
“What parts of the tree were moving?” Manna found a suitable question, to further their understanding.
“The tops and some of the thin sides,” referring to the branches and crown of the trees, “I also noticed something odd on some of them.”. She took a pause, thinking on how to properly explain what she saw.
“Odd?” Eraanel repeated the word, “Odd like the storm of thick lights or monster we dealt with?”. This question helped Salvete.
“Like the monster, I would say,” Salvete was still trying to find the words for it. “I definitely felt a dim presence, and saw the tree’s body twist,” her words making less sense the more she tried to explain.
“A tree’s body, twisting? Aren’t they dead?” Manna asked rhetorically
“Maybe those deeper into the forest are alive,” Eraanel suggested.
“Would that possess any threat to us?” Manna asked for opinions, looking to Salvete, then Eraanel.
“I don’t think so,” Salvete said, “it seemed to move extremely slowly, and their construction doesn’t seem meant for praying on other beings,” Salvete gave her opinion as a huntress.
“I agree with Salvete,” Eraanel said as he nodded, “and if they possess some hidden truth, that could endanger us, my eye will see it,” he continued, his eye glowing a bit stronger to display his ability.
“Very well. Salvete, tell Felemous of your findings, so everyone else is aware, then join me and Eraanel,” she commanded, the final assessment complete.
“Wouldn’t it be wiser if I searched some more?” Salvete was curious about Manna's reasoning. Manna didn’t look at Salvete, kept walking ahead.
“Wiser, yes, but not safer. We advance step by step, we won’t hurry. If there’s a trap set by the forest or Orvus, none of us should be alone,” Manna explained herself. “You’re already risking yourself a lot, so it’s best if you don’t rush ahead strained,” she concluded her thoughts on the matter, Salvete noticing the careful approach Manna was following.
“Very well, sister,” Salvete simply agreed as she let the light course naturally through her. A strong feeling of warmth enveloped her once more, as the strain on her body was different from that of others. Her issue was not having to deal with the continuous course of light running through her, but the opposite. “I will tell Felemous and the others,” she completed, nodding towards Eraanel as she ran towards the back of the group.
“How long do you think the forest stretches for, Eraanel?” Manna asked her brother as they were walking, passing tree by tree by the twentieth step. “I never thought such large living structures could be possible,” she said in her wonder of the trees, looking up, seeing as they stretched into the clouds and even beyond.
“Can’t tell. Even when I use my eye, all I can see is the forest stretching on and on ahead,” Eraanel responded, using his eye to reaffirm his thoughts. “Maybe there’s only that to this world, forest and ice-” his thoughts interrupted as he stood in place. Manna stopped and with them, the rest of the group.
“What is-” Eraanel signalled her to stop with his left hand.
“There’s something…blocking my view,” Eraanel told Manna, his eyes focused, light imbued almost to the full extent. Ahead, he could see, just like Salvete told them, a tree was moving, twisting, or rather, something on it was moving. Eraanel could tell it was something different, as it blocked his vision from looking inside of the tree. Manna and the others were left confused looking ahead, as there were nothing but trees. “Can’t you see it sister? Over there,” he pointed with his right hand forward, not realising that what was obscuring his view, was beyond a tree through which he saw.
“I can’t, but I trust your eye brother,” Manna responded.
Felemous made his way to the front with Salvete, trying to understand what’s happening. “Why did we stop?” Felemous inquired, as neither Manna or Eraanel took their eyes off ahead of them.
“It’s ‘that’ which I saw, isn’t it Eraanel?” Salvete asked. Eraanel simply nodded, watching the movements of whatever obscured his view carefully. “Then let’s deal with it, shall we?” Salvete stated as she took her daggers out, ready to activate her own ability.
Eeraanel stopped her with his right hand placed to block her advance. “We only attack on Manna’s orders, Salvete,” he commanded her, his eye still focused ahead.
Salvete brushed his hand away with annoyance, “I decide what orders I take and which I don’t from her,” she snapped at Eraanel. “Don’t forget that we’re on the hunt because of her,” her words not managing a glance from Eraanel, but a subtle shift in his glow.
“Whatever is blocking my view, Orvus may have made use of it to hide himself as well, do you see the issue?” Eraanel asked rhetorically. Salvete didn’t like it, but he was right. If Orvus made use of whatever possessed that camouflage, then he could hide anywhere for all they knew. “Let’s approach this carefully. There may be more of those hiding nearby, could be pack hunters,” he proposed.
Salvete responded with a hmph, and turned away to the back. “Felemous,” Manna called her brother, “how is your ability developing?”.
Felemous showed her, arcs of electricity erupting at some distance from his palm, an added intensity to it could be sensed in the air as well. “It could kill a horned rabbit or icicle turtle, but no starstag or clawbear,” he told Manna.
“Can it freeze their body though?” Manna inquired further. Her eyes were a bit absorbed in his display of power.
“Probably, yeah,” Felemous answered unsure himself, ceasing the show in his palms.
“How large is the creature Eraanel?” Manna shifted her focus on Eraanel, touching the ground with a knee so she could be at the same level.
“It goes around the tree some half way, so three times, perhaps more than your height in length. It’s width, half the height of Felemous. While it seems to be rather flat, its six legs being to the side,” Eraanel managed to assess.
“That would put it beyond a clawbear or starstag in terms of length, but given it’s slim nature, it probably weighs just as much, perhaps just a bit more,” Felemous deduced, his right hand grabbing at his chin, focused on the ground. “I can freeze it if I focus enough light,” he promised, his eyes letting small sparks in the corners.
“Good. Then we’ll proceed as follows,” Manna started to explain to them, then turned towards the group.
Manna stood at the front, most of the Lightborn retreated some way behind, waiting for a signal. Between every couple of trees, in a straight line, a Lightborn stood, six in total, three to each side. Eraanel was up in the branches of a tree with Felemous opposite of him in another tree, looking ahead, where Manna was approaching the unseen creature, walking on her toes. She had her twin-headed spear in her left hand, almost touching the ground as she crouched as silent as possible. Their lights were connected, thus able to know with some vagueness each other’s positions.
She looked left, right, up, then ahead. She did so constantly. In the Shivering Lands, she would hunt like this. There were the trees, which made it different, more factors adding to the process of thinking, yet to her, it was the same nonetheless. “Keep your eyes on the prey,” Manna told herself, “if you can’t, focus on what you can hear, what you can smell.”. She used some light wind manipulation to draw in currents of air from around the trees, ensuring there were no large changes in their flow. Once she was sure of her surroundings, she glanced from behind the tree to where Eraanel pointed at.
Not even at this distance, she couldn’t see any movement or twisting. So she applied a basic method of light enhancing to her eyes, allowing for detection of even the most minuscule manner. It was so subtle, that not even with her eyes enhanced, could she have noticed if she didn't know what to look for. ‘There you are,’ she thought. A vague, shifting shape around the tree. Light was behaving a bit oddly in some parts, signifying the small movements a sleeping body would make. But to her, it didn’t feel like it was sleeping, for before she arrived, Eraanel confirmed that the being was twisting. She knew that this invisible creature could tell she’s around, but not where.
She first poked a hand from around the tree, peaking slightly, trying to see how it would react. A small twitch, no action taken though. She retracted her hand, pushed her spear from around the tree, in clear vision of whatever faced the way she came, nothing. ‘It recognises my light,’ Manna could tell. ‘It’s probably attracted by it, something new for a creature constantly surrounded by trees and ice,’ she thought.
Manna lifted herself off the ground, praying to the Creator, then let herself down. She didn’t hesitate for a moment. With a swift movement, twist and turn of her body, she was on the opposite side of the tree in a dash. She didn’t want for this creature to expect her from the same direction. Then, flowing a quarter of her lights through the body, she lit the surrounding area in a beautiful orange colour. To her momentary surprise, the orange light revealed portions of the creature. She wasted no moment though, and with a more clear view, she slashed at the back of the creature. Even more surprising, only mere scratches showed where she slashed, the back of the creature covered in something stone solid. It didn’t matter though, the creature acknowledged her presence and the threat she posed, so it let go of its camouflage. It revealed a long, six legged body, much like Eraanel saw, a large head covered in the same tough material, shifting brown-white colours, except it was bulging out, showing that it was even thicker at the very front.
Manna saw as the creature aligned it’s body vertically from the tree, she expected it to make a dash for it, but it was wrong, the creature leaped, head at the front, ready to pass through her body. It was only instinct that saved her from the hit, as she dodged away from its way, and even though it merely brushed her right hand, it was enough to rip skin up to the bone. The creature stopped in an almost unnatural way with its thin, pointy ended, yet muscular legs. From behind, she could see a long organ with a needle retracting inside. She didn’t know what the purpose of it was, but she was not going to let it touch her, sparks erupting from her wounded hand as it started to heal back.
‘Powerful, tenacious, precise, near perfect methods of hiding and stone-like defence,’ a fearsome creature. ‘The larger issue now is that it stands between me and my way back,’ her back at the tree from where the creature leaped, the creature standing from where she came. ‘What to d-’ her thoughts were interrupted by sounds behind and up from her. ‘More of them!’ she panicked for a moment. Up in the tree, two or three more such creatures could be heard, their legs only making the sounds due to the current disturbance.
She didn’t have much time to think, as the creature turned and twisted its body around and between the trees, trying to find the next best angle to leap at her body. While it did so, it had to climb the trunks of the trees, even though its body is segmented, it still needed some space, which wasn’t enough given the gaps between trees. So, when it twisted and turned, she could see it, its flesh barren and exposed, a mucus was all that stood between that and the outside cold. ‘Its weak spot,’ she thought in the moment, her hand almost healed as the creature found the desired angle. She could anticipate it, anyone could, the issue was the timing of the attack and what revealed the leap. Manna had to strain her mind, use another quarter of the lights to infuse her mind for near instant thinking. It was subtle, but with her empowered mind, evident. The slightest shift in the back legs, barely visible due to its length and the slight repositioning of the front legs, allows for the back ones to push aided by the front ones.
With lightning speed, her mind decided to let go of the lights to the body, allowing for an equal reaction speed, saving her from the rock shattering leap of the creature, its head hitting the head behind and shaking it, leaves starting to rain down from way above. ‘It didn’t even feel it,’ she could tell as the creature turned around the very next moment, ‘it doesn’t matter, now its attention is for me alone,’ so she dashed back, the creature not risking another leap, and started to run after her in a unique manner. Climbing up and down trees, between them twisting its body with the grace akin to clothes brushing between rocks.
Eraanel saw it, while everyone else could feel it, she was coming back fast. He signalled them in silence, their body infused with the light, glowing yellow and orange. He looked directly at Felelmous, telling him with gestures to move ahead by two trees, to deal with the unusual running pattern of the creature. The others stood still, as they were at ground level and couldn’t risk exposing themselves.
Manna came rushing through, the creature still running in its unusual way. Manna would’ve preferred for it to be at ground level, ‘but this should work,’ she thought. “Now Felemous!” she cried. From above, as the creature took a downwards angle, Felemous jumped off the tree, his eyes focused at the target, as his right hand let bolts of electricity erupt from all over, connecting to his body, face and legs. It was far from graceful, but once it made contact through the hard shell, all of it surged throughout the body of the creature, which travelled so wildly that it escaped everywhere around.
“Now!” Eraanel commanded, the other six started dashing towards where the creature had fallen with a loud thud. Squirming and trying to regain control of its body. “Don’t target the legs! Aim for the belly!” they didn’t have time to question her switched decision, they just obeyed. Manna started to catch her breath, as her siblings tore and destroyed the paralyzed creature from its belly. They struggled a bit, as each segment acted on its own accord, but they managed to kill it.
Eraanel climbed down from the tree, Felemous stood down, legs stretched, hands supporting his back. Eraanel met with Manna, looked at the dead creature while the Lightborn were celebrating. “Tough one,” he said.
“Ones,” Manna managed through her gasping breath, “tough ones, there’s more of them,” her words catching Eraanel's attention, his eyes widening with the revelation. It wasn’t a huge surprise, but given that she saw more, it must mean they’re nearby.
“Then we must hurry and get the others! Dispose of them fast!” Eraanel panicked. Manna placed her right hand on his left shoulder, supporting herself on the spear with the other.
“There is no need to worry,” Manna finally caught up her breath, “they didn’t try to attack when they could’ve, there’s an order to them probably, which is why I’m not dead,” her words making Eraanel frightened yet relieved that she escaped just fine. The other Lightborn started to dismember and collect useful parts of the creature’s body, which they aptly named the wopede parasite.
After everyone assembled where the creature was slain, they established a perimeter and placed those of a whiter or bluer glow to enhance their eyes and watch for any kind of movement. Those six who helped, named Manaam, Fulenta, Memgalla, Bustomus, Hargitus and Vaalria, took their rewards under the form of shields made of portions of the creature’s hard exoskeleton. The shifting colours ceased a while after the wopede parasite died, giving each shield a unique, permanent pattern. The front, bulging part, was handed to Manna, who baited the creature. Eraanel and Felemous were content without anything, as their roles suited better in other regards.
“What is next, Manna?” Salvete asked, for her and everyone else.
“We wait,” Manna gave a simple response, her mind not aware that an explanation was mandatory.
“Wait for what? Shouldn’t we walk for as long as there is light?” Salvete asked, disgruntled, her eyes a bit jealous of Manna’s shield.
“Ah, yes. We wait because there’s more of these creatures deeper into the forest,” Manna explained, her mind strained, while her body was still holding up, some level of tolerance built for the large surges of light she was using.
“I see. We will spend the late sun here then,” Salvete arrived at the obvious conclusion. “I will scout a bit around, see if there’s anything to worry about,” she told Manna, waving goodbye as she activated her ability and vanished into the forest.
“Shouldn’t you have talked with her a bit more?” Felemous wondered at the lenience Manna was showing. Then he looked into her eyes, saw that her mind needed rest. “Nevermind that, I will look after the others. You can rest now, sister,” Felemous told Manna, reaching for her right shoulder, and placing his hand there. “We got this,” he promised. Eraanel approved with a nod, standing next to him.
“I see,” Manna mustered, then put her back on a tree, letting herself down slowly, her eyes closing in. “He will take care…Orvus always does,” her sleeping words making both present clutch their fists, a deep frown on their faces. Eraanel’s with hatred, Felemous’ with pain.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmygwaH7VT6
