"Prepare yourself, Kilon, son of the Link. The light will lit up the heavens, as it will descend upon your brethren, disaster following it. Their light will fade, as it's light will grow stronger. Beware of what lies closest to you." The vision of a powerful entity followed the voice. It was flying up in the darkness of the sky, many brothers and sisters of Kilon's losing their light as they would fall and die, their life drained from them by this ethereal figure, lighting up the sky.
"No! Let go of them, let them-" Kilon's vision was interrupted by Menoel's large hand on his shoulder, looking from below with a worried look, as Kilon was praying.
"What did you see brother? Did the Creator speak with you?" Menoel asked with a concerned voice and look in his eyes, as Kilon placed his feet on the ground, slightly dizzy.
"Yes. The Creator spoke with me, it also showed me a vision of the future, a dark and grim one." Kilon explained, his left hand on his forehead, trying to recount everything he saw.
"Can you say? Or does the Creator want you to keep to yourself?" Menoel asked, preparing to leave.
"I do not know. The Creator did not say, but maybe I should tell all of you of it." Kilon considered, gathering his stuff from the ground.
"If the Creator did not say, maybe it's better to keep it to yourself. We do not know how us knowing will make it for better or for worse." Menoel added thoughtfully.
Kilon, now that he could recall what he saw better, he agreed with Menoel. It was a Lightborn that which he saw on the sky. He couldn't imagine which of his siblings could do such a thing and why. But it was better to keep it to himself, the journey ahead would already be hard, telling his siblings of this would only create tension and unrest between them.
"This is it, right, Kilon? You never brought us too close to it, and now that we're here, it really shows how terrifying this valley is." Eharel pointed towards the road ahead, as the mountains were piercing the skies and beyond. The valley, which Kilon called the Whistling Valley, stretched before them, about three thousand Lightborn waiting for Kilon's call.
"Yes. This is the one. If I'm correct, at the end of it, there should be some warmer lands, where, hopefully, we can find our new home." Kilon wishfully thought.
"Well, no point in waiting. We should get into formation. Although, I must ask, are you sure we can't just jump around like you did? It means we can travel much faster right?" Menoel curiously asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. If we all were to jump around with the winds, some would inevitably jump into others. There's also those which aren't good at wind manipulation, so they could fall or be taken off by the winds without being able to dodge or escape." Kilon said wisely.
With his words reinforced, the Lightborn prepared a formation which Kilon thought would work pretty good. The Whistling Valley stretched for a long portion of land. If it were just him, he approximated he could make it out in a sun or two at best. But, given the large volume of Lightborn present, it would take around three, four or maybe more suns to travel through. So, his solution was a formation which would "disable" the winds, so to speak. Most Lightborn which were able to manipulate wind, stood at the sides, front and back of the large group. Their job was to sway the winds in tandem, which, in theory should work. Into the valley, about one to two hundred could fit from one side to the other in a semi circle formation. They had around a thousand proficient in wind manipulation, so that could cover the back and front. The problem were the sides. They had to travel all at once for this to be successful, so the middle portion had about two thousand Lightborn, most of which were only so good at wind manipulation, while the thousand good at it had to stretch around the two not so good at it.
So, Kilon's solution for this issue, was for them to connect their lights to his, enabling him to access higher degrees of power. In a straight line through the middle, Lightborns which took his orders sat, when he wished to perform a move on the winds, he would say it aloud, those in line taking the order over to the others, so they could will their light to follow his own. This would cause a delay, so Kilon's job was essentially the hardest. He had to anticipate the winds with a bare minimum of training with such levels of power, while ensuring his manipulation won't disturb those at the front and back, for it would effectively break the ranks and destroy the formation.
However, this was the only way out of the Whistling Valley. Climbing the mountains was out of the discussion, as the winds blew stronger the higher you go, and sending small groups through the valley possessed a high degree of risk. Not only the first group had to deal with whatever could be on the other side, but once on the other side, it's almost certain that return is next to impossible, so they won't be able to communicate in case something goes wrong.
Kilon already knew the facts, so his only solution was the one presented. It also carried a lot of risk, if his orders weren't carried successfully to all the Lightborn, and a large enough portion of them failed to comply, the formation could be shattered from inside to outside. If his control and anticipation of the winds swayed too hard, again, the formation ends up as prior. If either of those at the front or back made a large enough mistake, the same conclusion descended upon them, as those at the middle had to give up control of their light to Kilon, barely having enough to warm and keep themselves alive. This operation carried a lot of risk, but there weren't any other solutions in sight.
"Menoel! As discussed, you lead the front!" Kilon cried, their group gathering in the formation just outside the Whistling Valley. "Eharel! You're the first to pass on my command, ensure they hear it no matter what!"
"Yes, brother!" both cried.
"Efeheem and Melionus! Watch our backs alright?!" Kilon's cries could be heard to the back and front.
"Yes Kilon!" Efeheem approved. A slightly orange in glow Lightborn, first at Kilon's back to carry on the message, part of Manna's hunting group.
"Understood brother!" Melionus cried back. A Lightborn of similar glow to Kilon's, part of the group which researched the crystallization of the light.
"Prepare!" Kilon announced. All eyes were upon him, his hand raised tall above everyone. "Now!" he commanded, his hand falling swiftly down. Those at the back were the first to start, directing the winds above everyone else, then Kilon took over, infused with an overwhelming amount of power, his eyes letting out sparks and light, his skin glowing so bright, those around him, with their slight lack of light, looking in awe. The winds carried over to the front, which, those there, pushed down and up, shattering the current.
East of the Link
"Do you think they got through by now?" Manna asked Orvus, pacing at his left, her twin pointed spear in her right hand, the wound across her face now healed, except for a small part at the top of her forehead.
"Probably not, if what Kilon said is true. The Whistling Valley seemed tough enough to travel alone, let alone with thousands by your side." Orvus answered while using his light to see further through his right hand, confirming their path, his compass in the left hand.
"Wouldn't it be easier? Having other people help you, should make the challenge more approachable, shouldn't it?" Manna continued, her logic not accounting for everything.
"It depends, sister." Orvus shortly answered, preoccupied by his compass.
"Depends? Depends on what?" Manna now wanting to know, her face trying to get the attention of Orvus, who now was shorter than her.
He sighed impatiently "Depends on the obstacle ahead. If, for example, I had to cross over a portion of ice to get to the other part, my fear for it breaking due to my weight, would be minimal. But if thousands more had to do it with me, then my worries would grow the same for each one additional to me." Orvus bothered explaining. Manna getting the clearer picture now.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFVAzS3xpS
"And here we are, the Edge of the Storm." it's how Orvus named the part where the Shivering Lands met the sea, in front of them, large portions of ice, floating above water made a passage for travel stretching for suns to go.
"You know, maybe when I ask you about something, don't act like it's the biggest chore of your life." Manna remarked to him, obviously bothered by his demeanor.
"And maybe think about it some more before asking the obvious." Orvus replied back with sass in his tone.
She kicked him behind the knee, almost making him drop the compass "Hmph. Maybe think about it some more before you're all smarty dandy with me." Manna replied in her way.
"Creator, give me patience, for I might extinguish my sister's light under this water some day." Orvus snapped back, picking himself up.
"Pfft. You wish, you wouldn't be able to lay a finger on me before laying down all messed up." Manna said with a grin on her face.
"If I had some of those additional lights, I bet I could do just that myself." Orvus said under his breath, stabbing where it hurt her.
"What did you just-" Manna said ready to kick him again before getting interrupted by a loud sound from the sea. "Did you hear that?" Manna asked Orvus panicked.
"Hard not to. That wasn't something we encountered before." he answered, curiously looking for the source.
"The passage might be compromised then. We should return to the Link." Manna suggested worried, looking at his curious gaze.
"Return? When we don't even know what made that sound?" Orvus looked upset at her, as if her suggestion was offensive in some way.
"Do we need to know what made that sound?" she said concerned "It sounded like a clawbear and starstag, except it was as if thousands of them roared at once." Manna said, as she was turning to her concerned siblings, ready to tell them.
But Orvus placed his hand on her right shoulder and whispered in her ear "Do you really want us to disappoint Kilon? Especially after your venture?"
She pushed his hand off, snapping back at him, her hand in his face "Don't you dare, Orvus! The only reason I'm here is because he put me to watch over you!"
He had arranged his voice, his eyes cold now "Then watch over me, as I cross over. Or return to Kilon, tell him how you were too scared to follow." Orvus said, taking hold of the conversation.
She didn't know what to do. She knew how to hunt and explore, but she didn't know how to deal with a situation like this. Manna wasn't in charge, but she also couldn't let things go as Orvus wanted.
Before she could come up with a solution, Orvus stepped up and announced "We're going to spend a sun here. If the sound repeats itself, we shall return to the Link, then wait for news from Kilon. But" he looked at Manna, who was speechless, then turned to his siblings and followed up with "But if we don't hear the sound, we shall make way through the passage and into the Frozen Side." he stated with full intent to show who's in the lead to Manna.
Manna didn't have words for it. The solution was sound and reasonable, like all things he said. Yet she knew that something was still off. It wasn't Orvus, he was the same carefree, cheeky brother she knew. It was the lights of her dead siblings. It was as if they wanted to warn her, warn her of something dangerous looming in the future. That, however, was not proof or a reliable source to sway her siblings and Orvus's minds.
South of the Link
"How long before we go?" Menoel sat down as he asked Kilon who was praying.
Kilon stopped his prayer "Just a bit more. We've been traveling for a couple of suns and the end is nowhere in sight yet. We must recover some before going." his look was in front, watching as his siblings were taking turns in swaying the winds. Turning towards Menoel, at his back, his siblings could be seen swaying the winds blowing violently from where they came. "They're warmer here, you know?" Kilon intrigued Menoel, sitting down with him.
"What is?" Menoel responded curious.
"The winds, the earth below our feet, the sun which can almost reach us." Kilon said, melancholy showing in his eyes, as if he was approaching some place he already has been at.
Menoel chuckled "Ah, yes. Of course you can tell. Most of us don't even know what warm earth feels like, but you can tell the difference in warmth between these violent winds and those at the beginning, as if they're blowing any differently." he said, feeling some comfort inside, knowing that Kilon could tell they're getting closer to some other place.
"Although" Kilon started as he burrowed his hand into the ground, pulling dirt from below the snow "What if, even when we reach these warm lands, the valley doesn't end?" his question full of thought. He was still thinking of his vision, what could possibly trigger such a violent response from a sibling of his, maybe this was what pushed one of them to the limits. Yet, united with all the lights, he couldn't feel any emotions of disdain or anger. The opposite as a matter of fact. Hope, excitement and anxiety at times, but all within reasonable range, as the Lightborn wanted to feel these warmer lands, touch them and maybe even live in them. Maybe he or she was within those that he didn't connect with, those more capable in this scenario. Maybe their responsibility weighed hard on them and he couldn't tell.
"Well, I guess we'll just dig some holes into the mountains and bury ourselves there. Maybe we'll just dig to the other side and find open lands." Menoel stopped Kilon's thoughts with words full of hope and childish thoughts.
Kilon couldn't tell, but the Lightborn in his group were simply happy to follow him into the unknown. For them, having Kilon who already proved himself so much, was enough to give them the hope and power to push forward to the lands which they all wanted.
Kilon's worries loosened a bit. Whether the vision would come true sooner or later, he felt as if he could avert it or at least overcome it, he put all his trust in his siblings and they did the same with him. "Let us proceed then. Sitting here and thinking too much will bring misfortune I say, brother." Kilon said, lifting himself up and giving his hand to aid his brother.
"That is right, brother. Our home lies further ahead, we just must push harder." Menoel approved as he took Kilon's hand. "I'll go take my position and tell everyone to get up."
"Do that, I'll start focusing." Kilon responded, his eyes lighting up with powerful energy once more, as everyone got up, ready to go at his signal. "Forward!" he screamed, everyone now accustomed to their roles, an unwavering will encompassing them.
East of the Link
"A sun has passed, brother." Manna told Orvus, standing in front of him who was praying, his feet slightly above ground in flight.
"Is that so?" Orvus said while still praying a little "I thought you would be the last to tell me of it." he added with snark.
"I do it to warn you. Whatever made that horrifying sound, is still waiting for us, it simply stood silent so we would come into it's den." she said, a strong yet worried look in her eyes which got Orvus's attention.
"Is there something more to it, sister? Your eyes tell me that you perhaps know more than you let to see." he asked intrigued, his tone serious.
She didn't want to say it, she knew that if she did, he would brush it off and simply push forward "Look, what I'm saying is reasonable right? Kilon encountered a beast which was smarter than others of it's kind, is it that far fetched for us to unravel such a beast this far away from home?" she explained herself further.
Orvus couldn't deny what she was saying. It was sound and reasonable. But, at the same time, he looked behind her, he saw those clouds looming far behind them, clouds which he could never see beyond. For him, it was either this or back there, where the only light was that of the Link. "I understand sister. But we haven't heard from it for a full sun." he said firmly determined.
"And if what I'm saying is right? If whatever is there, will get us, can you bear their lights, push forward?" she asked out of her own experience.
"It is over there, over the passage or back there, where the storms never end. I do not know if I can bear their lights, but I won't have to, because we'll succeed." Orvus responded, a foolish process of thinking out of desperation.
Manna knew there wasn't anything she could say that could make him return. Not now that she understood better his reasons. "Very well, just remember, I'm here to watch over you. If we slip, I'll catch you first, so you can see how the others drown because of your mistake." Manna told her brother, her words cutting deep into him.
"I don't expect any less from someone who already tasted failure. Now, watch over me, as we cross the Frozen Passage."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIqU07S8jS
