Naivety. There is little good in it when we talk about the original naivety based on lack of knowledge. But if a worldview based on thousands of cycles of suffering through conscious choice comes to a return to innocence and pure perception of things, this is alchemy. And a completely different quality of the same naivety.
This world is incredibly beautiful.
They had lingered too long in their Forest, confining themselves to the comfort of its familiar beauty and safety. They had forgotten how wonderful it was to feel the ground of the other lands with their own feet, getting in touch with these altered vibrations, and getting the new sensations pleasantly tickling with the freshness of the unknown.
That catastrophe. Which forced all survivors to flee headlong from their native lands, escaping the horror that had flooded the Ellogos' territories. It was in some way a blessing for them.
A young Ljus, running swiftly in the crowd, abruptly stopped, signalling the others to pay attention to a pair of creature silhouettes spotted in the distance.
— Look! These... are visible! - it commented on its observation with surprise. - They glow a little. Just like a normal Dims before.
The entire group of several ljuses, all that remained of the once great Ellogos race, simultaneously ceased running and stopped, peering closely.
The fact that had amused this creature instantly spread through the shared "field of thought", usually resembling an unceasing chorus of signals and sensations for those connected by this single invisible network. The ljuses could be at a considerable distance from each other, but still be aware of what was happening to everyone at once.
— So, it didn't happen to all of them, — a voice chimed in the "Chorus" from a second creature.
The shared space, which had been silent until then, filled once more with the melodious voices, chaotic exclamations, and commentary of the whole Ellogos' Community at once.
— Bet if we get closer and sniff, they'll smell like ordinary ones, too. Just don't feel like checking.
— Me neither. And I don't like betting.
— But they really look quite normal.
— Even the grey noise inside them is the same. Looks… nice?
— If you say so. Besides, Evo said not all were damaged. In the settlement where it was quite recently, Vallos were behaving absolutely adequately.
— And Dims here also demonstrating pure adequacy, behaving strangely. Normally "strangely" I mean, not "deadly" strangely.
"Dims" or "dim ones" were what the Ellogos called people with low awareness, those who lacked witchy abilities.
Vallos, witches, in Ellish "bright ones", appeared brighter to them than the unknowing dims. The Ellogos usually preferred to deal specifically with vallos, as the only "sane" part of the human conglomerate. Perhaps because, in terms of luminosity, vallos were closer and a tiny bit more "understandable" to them. Some ljuses even considered Vallos and Dims different species, suggesting not to lump them together as one "human term".
But that was… a debatable point. The difference in luminosity between vallos and dims wasn't as noticeable as the difference between them and more ancient beings—the Ljuses themselves, the Hellis, and the Viis.
Hellis lived predominantly in mountain caves, and Viis inhabited the boundless and beautiful Ocean.
The oldest ljuses could still recall times when a significant part of the Lesser Forest and the Wastelands were Swamps inhabited by even more archaic life forms—ghouls, gnats and gnashers… But all that terrifying diversity had sunk into the Aeonic Void of the Universe long, long time ago, along with the Swamps themselves, leaving only mentions of them in folklore and human curses.
But natural niches, apparently, don't stay empty.
Furthermore, undesirable newcomers had just recently popped up on the Mainland. And by as a result of their own being, they caused issues for all living things right away after practically barely emerging.
These were the Nejas, the "invisible." Invisible to the Ellogos due to their almost complete absence of light. Upon closer inspection, one could see that instead of usual light, something unsettling, even terrifying, flickered inside the Nejas… a small Abyss.
The appearance of their kind on Ellogos' Lands and their very acquaintance with the Ellogos themselves was staged quite dramatically.
Flooding the entire space and trying to get "closer" than the locals wished to every creature inhabiting it, nejas devoured everything around them.
Ellogos' race were notorious for their inquisitiveness and friendliness. However, very few individuals would desire to end up in the stomach or even the grasping arms of odd, violent creatures.
Fortunately, all of them are naturally agile and can expertly avoid any unwelcome attention by either bouncing away or sending the guests flying with deft moves while maintaining an expression of intrigued curiosity.
The "immortal," or more accurately, reincarnating entity, could not be killed or injured by a single neja. But the number of unwanted arrivals became was huge. And being invisible to ljuses, they could simply surround someone in a large, dense ring. And consume them as well as the tree on which they were perched.
As a result, even the Ellogos, exceptionally powerful race by Mainland standards, had to hastily flee. Hoping to come up with a better plan later to get rid of the annoying intruders who had, as the Ellogos assumed, just taken control of their territories for a short time.
— Looks like the upper part of the Mainland hasn't truly gone mad yet… It's good news. At least.
— Means… less running?
— Maybe. But the sanity of these is uncertain.
— Easy to check. Go closer to them and see if they'll shy away from you as usual.
— Oh, do it yourself.
The Chorus filled with agitated voices again.
— Say whatever you want, but I like them more then our guests.
— Agreed. That's better than the invisible craving for closeness.
— Absolutely.
— It's more comfortable in the settlement where I am. They've been shying away more than usual here lately.
— It's a true blessing, Evo.
— I'm not so sure. It's harder to get the information.
— We're comig to you anyway.
— You're welcomed. So. There will be an Ellogos' settlement instead of vallos' now?
— We will eventually have to allay their anxieties. Everyone receives according to their beliefs.
— Oilynn, could you be serious for a while?
— I… could. There's a Light Mountain here.
— What a bright idea!
— And so serious.
The Сommunity buzzed with excitement, anticipating a meeting with a long-favorite place.
— Well… Light be with these dims and vallos, indeed.
— So. Sould we move on finally? Let these dims live and shy away joyfully as much as they want, really. We won't see or understand their motives and aspirations anyway.
— Nor what they're plotting there.
— And what their own kind has come up with.
— Let's reach the place of our temporary refuge and have some peace.
— "Temporary", Illyss?
— Yes. Temporary. Let's be optimistic.
— True.
— Still, it doesn't hurt to ask the most reasonable among them if they're aware of what's happening.
— If they are aware, they would be the last to let us know; if they're not — there's no use in wasting time on them.
— But I wouldn't mind getting the information. I'm not complaining about the course of events, no. But I'd like to know what's causing us such huge… inconvenience.
— And misunderstanding.
— And by what such "happy" coincidence did the invisible visit us.
— Indeed.
— There are no coincidences, for sure, Eilynn.
— That's… exactly the point.
— Perhaps we should have stayed in our Forest and made those nejas shy away too!
— It didn't work, Valmyss. Hild tried, remember? You saw yourself it didn't went well.
— Hild and the others will have to start all over again.
A sad "sigh" swept through the Chorus from the youth, not yet accustomed to accepting events as easily as the elders.
Not everyone in the Community supported the decision to flee. Some stayed behind, stubbornly fending off the attackers and frantically trying to invent a way to kick them all out without harming their home. And all those plants that live with them as pals.
The voices of these insanely courageous individuals who had remained to protect the native Lands soon gone silent. They stepped into the rebirth cycle. As a reminder that all power has a limit, quantity had in fact triumphed over quality.
The elder Ellogos, wisely removing themselves from the source of stress, planned to calmly await the appearance of sprouting "seeds" of the "deceased" ljuses on their "heads" and the emergence of solution options in the collective mind of the Сommunity.
Which, at the very least, will require some time to plant and wait for people to grow. Than the reborn had to relearn how to use their bodies and communicate and, of course, make a lot of effort to scuttle out of the ground before it. However, everyone has handled things quite well so far and hasn't voiced many complaints.
— So. Anyone. Any ideas where these Nejas come from? I'm curious.
— Yes, they definitely must have been somewhere all this time. If they had a "nest" somewhere, it would be a fairly large settlement. Which, however, given that they're practically invisible, could easily have been missed…
— Or did they… fall from somewhere, from another Plane? Don't you think?
— To us. With a clearly unfriendly visit. Huh? Something at least suspicious.
— Exactly! Unless it's some reverse evolution of Dim's kind, slipping to an even lower level of luminosity. Significantly below stone's. Why not? If vallos become ljuses time to time. The reverse process is possible.
— A dubious achievement.
— Out of fright, apparently.
— Yes. As a side effect of them shying away from everything.
— A protective camouflage, you mean?
— Yes.
— Sounds legit. So stupid… In their habitual manner.
— Or they decided to save their small internal energy by becoming even dimmer.
— Definitely.
— You're all wrong. It's a cunning move. And they beat us.
— Fair enough.
— It seems to me… this wasn't voluntary.
— Agreed. And their little abysses devouring them from within are a key to understanding.
— But it's visible in range, you don't want these creatures to approach!
— Well, that's a problem.
— Wait. People. Dallyss was close enough to see the abyss. Look at it…
— What abyss?! Oh, that Abyss…
— Ew, Icelynn! I tried my best not to focus on it! So... mean of you!
— Sorry, Teylynn. This is for the scientific purposes.
— Stinky scientific purposes.
The Community peered at the image transmitted by Iselynn for the entire Chorus.
— Nightmarish.
— True.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the melodic "trills" of the stream of voices once more shattered the stunned silence of the reflective Chorus.
— So, what's the point of meditating on it, Iselynn? Evo. As an expert on vallos' souls, what do you think? Is it something new?
— I'm a Vallos' expert, Ailynn, as you said. There's no Dim expert among us.
— Maybe Stellys. It could notice some patterns in a wild life behaviour during its trips.
— No, I didn't look *that* closely.
— Is it… A new life form on the Mainland? To our complete delight.
— Maybe.
— Or just a strange-looking, strange-smelling dims?
— Most unlikely.
— I'm not delighted, Aylyss, even a little.
— Too young to appreciate.
— Anyway. The Dims of our Plane aren't carry anything like that inside them.
— A new… fashion?
— Viral?
— Perhaps... These are *Dims*, you know. It's tough to think of anything of a beneficial purpose.
— I… have a strong suggestion to run further. Before all this catches up to us, giving us an extra chance to figure it out. And to admire it up close again.
— Ew. True!
— To the Abyss they go… And we go to the Light Mountain.
— I agree with Tessellynn too. Let's run. Everything will be clarified later.
— Yeah. I really don't want to meet them again just yet, to be true. I'm not morally recovered after what happened.
— Me nether.
— Wait. And what about our current dims? I feel like I should ask them or try to warn these at least. About our nejas. What if they *are* different species? And those are also in danger?
— Or have they invented another one of their amusing endless games? We shouldn't interfere.
— It's hard to say anything for sure here, Lynn. Stay ljus and let Dims be Dims. You don't know the games they play.
— But I can guess. Because I'm young. Didn't come a long way from being a vallo.
— They are also hostile towards vallos too. And to anything outside their restricted comprehension. Considering you're not even a vallo anymore... You'll just scare them to death instead of warning.
— I don't know about you, Lynn, but I really don't want to approach those we're observing right now. Just in case. Until circumstances are clarified a little bit.
— Really, Lynn, we know what they are. This kind is totally unreasonable and trying to get in contact with them is useless.
— Right. Let's shy away from them, too. For symmetry.
— And yet before this we had quite harmonious relations again.
— Considering none of us are particularly eager to communicate.
— I do.
— Anyway, it's unclear now whom, why, and about what to warn. We have no information and so there is nothing to inform about.
— We're lost in guesses ourselves.
— True, but…
— But I assure you, we'll definitely ask our more reasonable acquaintances about what's happening. Don't fret. Step by step. For now—we must run indeed.
— True-true. But later might be too late for them, Dallyss. And we desperately need the information. I'll try.
— Oh, Lynn… You reminded me of myself in my youth. These dim aren't about communication at all. Reflexes and nothing more. And no valuable information ever came directly from them… But good luck to you.
— Thanks, Eilynn. Evo! Could you please try to inform the vallos of the nearest settlement that something… at least noteworthy, at most panic-worthy, is happening in the Wasteland?
— Will do.
— Thanks. I'll join you all soon. Though I have a thought to join the scouts.
— But not the silenced ones.
— No way.
— Stay in the flow.
— Always.
And the main group immediately regained its previous speed. Without ceasing choral activity as always.
— To the Great Light Mountain we finally go!
A Community noised approvingly.
— Yeah! Good spot!
— Best ever.
— Even better. I'll make a teapot immediately once we're there.
— Why are we so slow then?!
— Why did we even wait?!
— Because of Lynn.
— So stupid of us!
— Stupid Lynn.
— I heard it, Deah.
— Of course you did.
With amazing speed, the crowd disappeared, leaving Lynn to deftly hop from tree to tree, making her way to the two faintly shimmering spots in the Forest, which seemed to be occupied with harvesting some berries and plants.