Sometime later, it began to rain, so we took shelter under one of the massive trees. Veran sat away from Marius and I, his back to us.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz69E7UHHyH
I felt for him, truly.
We sat in silence. I remember dozing off at one point, my head resting on Marius's shoulder. I awoke to the world shrouded in darkness, with the Godrays streaking across the sky, shimmering faintly amongst the stars.
"Do either of you even know where we're going from here?" Veran asked, his voice a bit hoarse.
"Not really, no," Marius admitted.
"I remember the image the oracle showed us. The lake is positioned below some rocky cliffs. I'm sure if we followed the mountain range, we'll come across similar cliffs, and then it'll just be a matter of finding it."
Veran scowled. "At least there's that." He'd say, not bothering to keep the bitterness from his tone. "Eaten by monsters of the North," he muttered. "What a way to go. Not even a proper send off to the Gods." Veran spat. "Calavius deserved better."
"He did," Marius agreed, his voice quiet.
"This had better be worth it in the end."
"It will be," Marius assured.
"And how can you be so sure of that? You have no idea how this dragon is supposed to even help us. Some batshit crazy woman just told the two of you to go and find it," Veran quipped.
"The Oracle has never been wrong before," Marius said. Though, at this point, I could feel that those words were meant more to convince himself than to convince Veran.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsbghg9h6o
"And we've never been in a place like this, Marius. There's a first time for everything."
"Come on," I interjected, "we've come this far already, and have already lost so much. We have to finish the trip."
Veran shot me a glare. "Well, I'd sure hope we would. I pray that it will be worth the two good men we'd lost trying to get to this gods forsaken place." Veran huffed, before he turned his back to us once again.
~
Several more days passed, before we came to something that gave us a lick of hope. An odd cluster of trees that I remembered seeing in the Oracle's vision. They stood guard next to some obsidian cliffs, where the land sloped into a valley.
"There! I remember that!" I pointed out, excitement creeping into my tone. We were so close, I could feel it.
We ventured into the valley, and followed it along. Giant violet and sky blue flowers decorated the area, casting long stripes of shadows that criss-crossed everywhere.
The farther we went, the more I began to notice shapes in the darkest of shadows, shapes the seemed to move. I thought it was my imagination getting the best of me at first.
Then, I saw the clearly define shape of a wolf's head, with brilliant crimson eyes staring me down from within the shadows. My heart almost stopped.
Shadeworgs.
They were uncommon in the Northerlands, but most often they were seen in the winter, when the world spent much more time in darkness, where they thrived.
"Marius, Veran," I said, drawing their attention to the form of the Shadeworg. It stepped closer, stopping at where the shadows met the light, where it could not step. Wispy black smoke curled up from it's form, as it pulled back it's lips over it's teeth to snarl at us.
Veran shrugged off his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired. I didn't even get the chance to warn him that it wouldn't work. We watched as his arrow flew right through the shadeword, temporarily dispersing it's form. Within the moment, it came back together, and aggressively barked at us.
"What in the three hells is that thing?" Veran asked, clearly in shock.
"Shadeworgs," I said. "They are incorporeal, up until they are about to pounce on you. They cannot step into the light. We have to hurry and find somewhere safe before it gets too dark, or they will tear us apart." I glanced back the way we had come. To my dismay, our path back was blocked by the shadow of a particularly tall violet bloom.
"Curses," I muttered. "Our only way is forward."
"Don't suppose there's anyway to kill them without waiting for them to jump at us, is there?" Marius asked as we wove are way through the maze of lit areas in the valley.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGkYV4exWdh
"Not unless you have a blessed weapon, magic, or something sharp and silver," I said. I glanced left, where a shadeworg made his way closer, snapping his jaws at me. I tried not to stare too long.
We continued on in our desperate search for shelter. We all knew that once night fell though, a fight was going to be inevitable. At one point, Marius slipped me his knife.
As sunset neared, we rounded a bend in the valley, and were shocked to find a tall tower at the very end, nestled against the black cliffs. The only problem was that between where we stood and the tower was nothing but shadow, with only small patches of light. The closest one had to be at least thirty feet away. We'd never make it before the worgs tore us a part.
Seeing that we were now trapped, the shadeworgs closed in on us, snarling, and snapping their teeth at us.
"Back to back," Marius said, and so we stood in our steadily waning patch of light. "Do not break formation." Fear choked me, as a dozen shadeworgs surrounded us. All I could hear where their growls.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjxGV0xYJG
I looked beyond them at the tower. I prayed that someone, anyone, would come to our aid. After all we've been through, we couldn't just die to a bunch of shadeworgs. Our circle of light became smaller and smaller, until we could practically feel the shadeworgs' breath on our legs, it's putrid smell filling the air. I gripped my dagger tightly, focusing on the one in front of me. He had a scar over his eye. 806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjbgGx6pCn
I was going to drive this dagger home. I refused to go down without taking one of these bastards with me at the very least.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2LNBiydPH
Just before the sun went down, a brilliant turquoise light exploded outwards from the tower, blinding us for the moment, and bathing the area in ethereal light. The shadeworgs' screams filled out ears as the light seared them away into nothing. 806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtde824uYHC
It took us a few moments to get our vision back, but when we did, we all turned our gaze to where the light had come from. A figure stood at the door way of the staff, holding a staff. Atop it, we could make out a faintly glowing crystal. 806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKp2q5lsDw
"...What in the three hells?" Veran murmured, daring to speak aloud what we were all thinking. After a moment of hesitation, I began to move forward, drawn towards the figure. Whoever it was, they saved us. They deserved a thank you, at the least. And perhaps they might know where the lake we're looking for is located.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiNlHuTMjj
Marius and Veran quickly caught up, and together we made our way to the tower.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsfmBM2KdN
As we neared, we saw that it was in fact a woman. She was tall and slender, pale, with raven hair and lips the color of roses. She was draped in silken purple robes that hung loose around her figure. The staff she held was wooden, with a turquoise crystal held at the top by slender branches of wood that split off from the main rod.806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykatRPT1BZ
"Greetings, travelers," she said once we were close enough, a friendly smile stretched across her face. "I am Morganna."806Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCYUlVBy4d
