Ophieus boots slid across the grass before coming to a stop and then he glanced back. To see crimson eyes at the edge of the forest staring at him with some of the fog parting.
But then another thunderous sound rang out with the trees shaking, leading to for the abominations to pause. Then they moved back into the forest and most likely headed to the source of the sound.
"I really do wonder what's making so much noise…"Riley mutters as Ophieus lets him go and Riley drifts up.
"Well if you're still up for it later, we can investigate."
"Ugh…"
Ophies chuckles as he walks towards the old cobblestone path that appeared at the edge of Guren Forest. He stepped on it, noting how uneven it was with a mix of leaves and moss coating it. Then he began walking down the path, Riley resting on his right shoulder as he glanced around.
As he walked, he noted the fog was thinner around as he continued. It wasn't clinging to his body or the surface of everything as tightly and wasn't blocking much. He could see grey grass swaying as thin fog moved past it, he could better see the old cobble path, and he could even see the shins of his legs as he walked.
Riley noticed this as well, pushed off Ophieus shoulder and drifted forward. His golden light further illuminated the surroundings with Ophieus being able to see more such as grey flowers on the side of the path and logs around. As he continued glancing around Riley rushed back to him and lightly hit him in the face.
"Ophieus! You need to look at this!" Riley says before quickly drifting forward making Ophieus raise a brow.
Ophieus followed Riley for a few more steps before stopping once he saw Riley paused. And then he lifted his gaze towards the horizon to see what Riley was so shocked about.
At first his eyes squinted against the fog that seemed to encompass everything with shadows being seen.
Why does it look so similar to the fog world… Ophieus didn't like the view but then his eyes widened in shock.
Before he then titled his head as shocked shifted into curiosity and astonishment.
Far in the horizon rising from the ground like a silver pillar reaching deep into the sky was a spiraling funnel of fog. He watched it spinning slowly and pulling the fog around into its endless turning and twisting. If he didn't know any better, he thought it was just a massive tornado in the distance and the fog just being sucked in.
But for some reason he believed it was more.
Even from this far he could see the towering pillar that was massive, making Ophieus question the true scale of it. It seems to encompass the area around, the base of it couldn't be seen except a massive swirl like a whirlpool and the pillar at the top becoming one with the sky.
What is that in the sky? Ophieus thought as he squinted once more to see black tendrils drifting and expanding through the sky. It was similar to roots from a tree spreading through the ground but instead of downwards, it was to the side.
"I'm… dreaming, right?" Riley muttered with disbelief. "Is that really normal? Can fog really produce something like that?"
Ophieus chuckled as he stared ahead in amusement and a bit of excitement. "I wouldn't know, just the fog covering alone is making me question if it's normal. But I'm curious… if that thing is the cause of all this excessive fog."
Riley paused before then slightly tilting and then bobbing up and down. "That would make sense… It could be how the fog was able to spread across so far and considering its so big even from this far… The range must be huge as well."
Ophieus nodded with a sigh. "We'll worry about it later. Just like… many other things. We should look for the place you came from as it's our only clue for now."
"Sure," Riley replied as he bobbed up and down in agreement. As he followed behind Ophieus he had already continued walking down the hill with them approaching the base of it.
"But… will we be able to find it in this fog?" Riley asked as they passed the base of the hill and continued on the cobblestone path.
Ophieus chuckled as he glanced around before saying. "We just need to hope we're lucky…" His voice trailed off.
Ophieus blinked one moment before then his golden eyes narrowed as if something unusual caught his attention. He grabbed on to Riley before rushing forward, pushing through the fog and then stopping.
At the sight of a swirling fog similar to the one in the horizon but this was rotated like a dome or a globe. With the dome not being wide or tall but still covering much of the land.
"What… is that?" Riley asked in surprise, staring at the dome that was slowly spinning with wisps of fog scattering around.
"A smaller one or something different?" Ophieu mutters with a tilt of his head.
Riley drifted closer and tilted in the air with his light dimming faintly in confusion."That would be terrifying if it's similar because then… What if it creates another one of those?"
"At least this one's close," Ophieus replied with a smirk. "Let's see if we can enter it and if it's hiding anything inside."
"You think it's?"
"I would hope so. It would be kind of disappointing if its role is just spreading fog."
Riley slowly bobbed up and down while Ophieus closed in on the dome of fog. He then began walking around it from the left, wishing to see if it really is just a dome.
Riley grasped this and then said. "I will check up top."
Ophieus nodded as Riley drifted upwards while he began slowly circling the foggy orb and studying every inch of it. He noted the fog around was passing by him faster with the air growing closer and wind picking up speed. With a bit of disappointment, the fog didn't react or lashed out to him and simply just continued spinning.
For the next five minutes, Ophieus continued moving around and kneeling down to try to find anything. But there were no cracks, openings or clues he could find, which made him even more curious and grasping they may just have to chance going inside.
After he returns back to the path of the cobblestone and sees Riley coming down, he will say what he saw.
"It's the same for me too. The top of it is just like a dome and the fog seems to just move into it."
Ophieus folded his arms with a nod and sighed. "Figures but now it seems we will have to try to enter…"
"I don't think that is safe. What if we get trapped?" Riley pointed out and led Ophieus to slowly nod his head.
The lack of information was really delaying them. As he agreed with Riley, what if they entered it would stop them from ever leaving. There is a high chance this dome could be a cage, one that is used to trap those abominations found in the forest.
If that's true, it's a high chance they will also be trapped inside with them.
"Ophieus do you want to ignore this for now and continue looking for the town?" Riley called out.
But before Ophieus could reply, a soft chime echoed in his mind and a silver screen appeared in front of him.
[Master Ophieus, please touch the gray fog to see the truth.]
Ophieus narrowed his eyes as he fell in thought before then looking at the gray orb and then back at the words. Ophieus then smiled as he decided to trust the Silver Key as it has been helping him so far and hasn't led him astray.
Besides, it didn't help that a part of him really wanted to enter the fog to find out what it was.
Ophieus stepped forward to Riley's surprise and then stretched his hands out to touch the fog dome.
Then as his fingerless gloves made contact, the fog itself began to ripple like water and shine.