When his vision changed, it was done so in an instant. From one second to the other, the scenery transformed.
But Ray didn't have the time to focus on the surroundings, not that they seemed very detailed anyway. His whole focus was on what was the most clear part of the scene in front of him.
A fight to the death.
In front of him, six people were fighting with the stone insect, which lay dead just moments before, in front of his own cohort.
To be entirely fair, there weren't really six people fighting the creature, but rather five, while one person lay to the side, having apparently received a terrible wound to her abdomen.
'The first lord's cohort…'
It didn't take Ray longer than a second to understand what he was seeing. Though, he had to admit, it was a surprise that he could see the memory, of a person that had been dead for a decade now.
The small group of sleepers were moving with a precision that didn't seem like anything short of miraculously. Nothing that should've been possible to accomplish in a matter of months. Maybe not even years.
This cohort, they weren't one team. They were one piece. In normal groups, one person would still need to give orders, but here… they simply moved.
Ray couldn't find a single mistake in their teamwork. It was… perfect.
As he was watching the fight, which did actually not last that long overall, he understood why he was seeing this memory, or rather how he was able to see it.
'So, emotions can carry that much weight… to even fight the decay of one's own self…'
Ray was, quite frankly, impressed. This memory hadn't come from any of the five people fighting the nightmare creature, but instead came from the young woman, who was slowly bleeding out on the side.
When the five finally managed to slay the nightmare creature, it was a handsome young man, with fiery red hair that reached her first, followed closely by his comrades.
He opened his mouth, and… no sound came out. All of them were crying, yet nothing reached ray's ears.
It was only then that he finally put the pieces together, 'She is already…'
The moment he reached the conclusion, the memory ended.
'...dead.'
He was back, still kneeling next to the woman's grave.
Over the course of the short memory, he had seen, well, felt the regret, which must've haunted her final moments.
'One mistake. One small mishap, and it all ended…'
"What you thinking about?" a voice suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts.
Finally noticing the others having come over, he stood up, dusted himself off, and only then, answered, "I pity them. All of them. They must've been a great cohort, it is a loss for humanity that they never made it out of this hell."
Ray paused for a moment, shook his head, and continued, "I don't know what you all think, but I don't plan to follow into their footsteps. At least, not their last ones. And if I were forced to… I would rather take this entire place down with me."
There was a short moment of silence, in which no one really knew what to say. His words seemed obvious, but still held a certain weight to them that they couldn't dismiss, nor agree to.
"The mist… we must get underground before the mist reaches us. Otherwise, we will all die."
It was a quiet whisper, but due to the silence, everyone heard it. Turning to the speaker, Cassie, all of them were in shock for a moment, which thankfully did not last long.
""Sunny, Kai! Find the entrance to the mine!"" Nephis and Ray both shouted at the same time.
The two young man did not hesitate and went to it a second later.
Kai dove into the sky and looked from above, while Ray detached his shadow, searching from the ground.
Ray, meanwhile, used the moment, where the two were looking for the entrance, to direct his gaze at the approaching threat.
The mist.
It was indeed slowly, but surely descending the mountain's walls. He could feel an eerie feeling spreading in his chest. But, there was something else too.
Something that did not seem like anything.
There was nothing he knew that could describe that feeling. Somehow it felt, as if there weren't any words in the entire human language that would fit this phenomenon.
Just as his mind seemed to dive into a never-ending spiral of thoughts, Sunny spoke, "Follow me!"
The next second all of them jumped into motion.
While nearly everyone was running as fast as they could, Cassie had summoned her insect wing memory, and along with her rapier echo managed to keep up.
If any of them were to look back, or even just above them, then they would be able to see how the mist was mere seconds away from swallowing them all.
When they were nearly there, they all noticed Kai also finally needing to land on the ground, and gesturing to the much awaited entrance to the mine.
All of them rushed into it without a second's hesitation, as the wall of mist swallowed the entire world behind them.
They had managed to escape the first challenge of this part of the death zone.
---
With only one way to go, even if not thrilled by the prospect of heading deeper into the depths of a death zone, the cohort had no other choice, especially if they wanted to eventually make it out of this place.
As they were walking further into the unknown darkness, some of them summoned their luminous memories, at least allowing everyone to see around them.
When the light was there, Ray couldn't help but think back to the memory for a moment. More specifically, the fight.
He threw one look, over everyone present, and nearly wanted to sigh.
Sure, everyone here seemed to be technically be better, if compared to the 'normal' members of the First Lord's cohort, but they were by no means an actual unity.
That, most of them were aware of.
Nevertheless, they all followed a similar agenda, and that was enough for the time being.
Even if, someday… they might all turn on each other.
Ray's way of seeing future events was by no means all mighty, if even mighty, but there was someone that could use such means. Someone who would very likely do so, in the future.
Though, to be fair, this someone was probably the only reason they were even able to properly attempt this suicidal endeavor, in the first place.
Had there been someone like Cassie in the cohort of the first Lord, then Ray was sure; they would've at least not died here, in the hollow mountains.
It seemed like a stupid thought, but for some reason, it had taken place in his mind.
'Well, whatever. Being prepared is half the work and awakened needs to do, if they want to accomplish anything meaningful.'
Even, if said meaningful business is merely returning alive to the waking world.
With time, more and more turns and other tunnel paths appeared in their way. The group, though, always went with the one leading them even further down. And, in the case, they weren't sure, then Cassie would pick the one she thought was right.
At one point, the walls of the mine changed from the previous tunnel-like, bland appearance to elaborate paintings. Murals depicting something of great importance, most likely.
Honestly though, Ray wasn't that interesting in the history of dead civilizations. While there were things one could learn from them, it certainly wouldn't be depicted as murals.
Things he would deem important, or interesting were tactics, training methods, and the like. Things that at most would be wrote down in books or journals.
Of course, the history possibly written down in his tomes would be a different thing, since they were, in a way, a part of him now.
At first, he simply walked on, simply not paying attention to the murals, but had to stop eventually, when the light was not going any further, stopping him from seeing any further.
The others had apparently taken a moment to take a look at the painted history, stopping entirely in their tracks.
When all of them were finally finished with looking at the walls, with Sunny taking the most time, they continued onward.
Since they had taken so long, Ray had also thrown a quick glance over the murals, just to keep the boredom away. Though, only two things seemed of interest; some being that had a head with three eye-sockets, and another part, where seven supposed 'heroes' had gathered.
Beyond that, nothing was interesting, or made real sense to him.
---
After having continued on, for a while longer, the group reached a wide, circular hall. In the center of the otherwise uninteresting hall was a dark chasm that seemed devoid of any light, leading even deeper into the mountain.
Even with their luminous memories shining directly into it, they were unable to see the bottom of it.
Not even Sunny was able to see it, despite his ability to see in the dark.
Maybe, back when the mine was still used, there had been a way down, but nothing of that had withstood the passing of time, and remained today.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Effie mused with exaggerated bravado.
Nephis merely summoned her trusted golden rope, and shrugged in response.
"Wait. At least give me some time to scout ahead, and see if there is any danger lurking down below." Sunny interrupted, and shortly after sent down his shadow, as far as he could.
A few dozen seconds, he gave them the okay, and went down himself, by using the same wing memory, Cassie had used earlier, to slowly descend along with the others.
Kai merely flew by himself, while Cassie still used her memory to keep afloat.
As for the others, Caster, Nephis, Effie, and Ray had to simply climb down the golden rope, meter for meter.
While they were descending the mine shaft, Sunny continued scouting down below, eventually reaching the bottom of the well, with his shadow.
For a second, he went pale, due to what he saw, before he calmed down again, and then recalled his shadow.
By the time that happened, most of them were far enough, down the rope, to be able to see the floor below, and along with that, the creature that was lying there.
"It's dead."
The mercenary scout affirmed, before finishing the last few meters, and finally landing on the floor again.
Shortly after, the other followed suit.
Only when they had all safely made it, did they actually take a good look at what that creature looked like.
It resembled a snake with hundreds of tiny claws growing from its belly, accompanied by a terrifying round maw, filled with dozens of teeth.
Thankfully, it was as dead, as they came, courtesy of the first lord.
Wanting to still continue forward a bit, they suddenly stumbled upon an abandoned camping site, most likely having been left behind by the only other sleepers that had even come here.
The second they saw it, they realized how exhausted their bodies actually were, from all of the tension they were under, and decided to rest here for the day. Or rather, what seemed like the day, since they were underground, and had no clue what time it was.
-x-
Less in depth, and more focused on finally getting forward. Sorry, it's taking so long, but we're getting there ;)