The morning air felt different in the fog. Its denseness swept across the land engulfing all in its path. Their footsteps were lost behind them as they trekked behind Ery, who was rather good at navigating though the fog. The chilly water droplets rested on their noses with some sneezing audible from a distance.
Past the cold and blinding nature of the fog was something else. Something elevating that seemed to ease all of Sen's tense muscles. The cold creeped in but in a good way, soothing and relaxing. With every breath it felt like the two year load had been taken from his shoulders and given to someone else for them to bare. His mind was at ease and the aching was slowly but surely disappearing.
This was same for Liora. Earlier a frown had captured her face, exiling any resident smiles that could have cropped up. She had started to sink into despair her previous joy stripped away from her by the warning from Dym. She knew what was at stake and it was something she wasn't willing to lose. Not anytime soon.
But now the cloud of despair had faded. The heavy cautious feeling , the feeling that she was in constant threat had disappeared. Gone like it had never existed before. And now a relaxant one creeped up by her hand and gradually scaped her entire body.
…
" Sen, Liora, snap out of it. " a voice called followed by two successive finger snaps.
Suddenly a force grabbed Liora by the shoulders and started to shake her, rapidly.
" Liora ! Liora. " the voice shouted.
" What ? Who's calling me ? "
Slowly the fog in Liora's eyes cleared. A sharp sting met her eyes making her hesitant to open them. She blinked rapidly as the image before her came to form.
" Ery ? " she called.
" Where are we ?... "
As she rose from the wooden floor she squinted her eyes trying make out where they were.
As far as her eyes could see was fog. The white low lying clouds encompassed the forest with only the pointy tree tops visible. The sun's light rays were barely reaching her thanks to the thatched overhead roof that shielded them. They were standing in the middle of a wooden cubicle raised from the ground by tall wooden logs. There was a ladder to the side dropping down to the ground.
" How did I get here ? " Liora asked. Her memory was still hazy.
" You don't remember? " Ery asked in a caring tone.
" Sen carried you here. "
Sen was standing by the corner of the cubicle, silent. He was facing down with he head resting on his palm.
" … carried me ? "
" Yeah. We were walking in the fog and suddenly you two started to murmur crazy things," Ery said
" You looked like you were having a nightmare but still awake because you two were still walking. It was creepy so I started to shake you two trying to wake you up but only Sen came to. "
"And then we came here. It's a village guard post. "
" Are you two okay ? You looked pretty messed up back there ? "Ery asked shifting her eyes to both of them.
" Yeah , am fine. " Sen said in a slightly dry voice.
Liora shook her head slightly, shaking away the hazy feeling in her eyes.
Ery could feel something off with them. She couldn't place her finger on it but it was something deep and for some reason they both seemed to be running away from it.
" If you say so. "
" Ahh, the shows about to start. " Ery said enthusiastically as she walked to the side of the guard post. It was barricaded with a railing preventing anyone from falling down.
Liora moved closer.
" The pulse cleansing …. . "
" Here it comes " Ery said her eyes bright.
All of their eyes were now to the east. A sudden breeze had rushed past them. It was strong but as it moved nothing swayed with it. Not even a single hair strand. But for the fog it was different.
Down below the fog shifted. Rhythmically the breeze moved through the fog changing it from its original settled state. The cold nature slowly faded as a subtle heat started to emanate. Seconds passed and more and more of fog moved taking form.
Like a flower drawn on the forest landscape the fog settle into curves and clumps. The curves slowly started to glow while the clumps settled in a dark hue. The brilliance saturated and shone across the forest expanse.
" Is this a… ? " Liora said her eyes narrowed due to the light.
" Yes. It's a large scale Arcane Circle. The arcane power of the condensation point near Laptove. "
" Pulse Cleansing Star Shower. " Ery answered shielding eyes from the light.
Sen was standing at the left corner of the railing they were watching from. Evident from the way the fog moved the wind below it was raging with potent energy. Potent arcane energy. He could feel it swirl into being as the light reached its peak. He turned away his eyes as the flower burst into bloom.
…
The morning sun had fully escaped the embrace horizon. The darkness in the world was now facing two bright features that lit up the world, One from the top the other from the bottom. Darkness had nowhere to escape but to the minds and hearts of all those who closed their eyes. That was its safe haven.
But. Sooner or later the people would open their eyes. If they didn't they would have missed the beautiful chaos the two light sources had made in their quest to as darkness faded back.
The light from below dimmed with the second letting the upper one take center stage. The water droplets from the risen fog rendered an ocean strip of falling stars in the sky.
As the lower light dimmed, darkness creeped in. Like the dark night canvas the dark forest shimmered with the light from the overhead droplets. Charged by the arcane energy that had surged from the condensation point, the droplets refracted light, shifting it into an array of twinkling hues across the land.
The beautiful display on the forest floor awed Sen and Liora. They gazed mesmerized almost forgetting Dym's earlier warning.
" Things are not as they seem… "