After several more life-or-death skirmishes with lone feeders they finally reached the coral growth where they then began climbing it. Climbing it had been a daunting endeavor. Once reaching the top they felt completely relieved and fell to the ground before setting up camp. Just as they did, night fell and the black seas undulating waves rose once again swallowing the world below them in a cataclysmic wave. The coral they had found had a large area at the top that was relatively flat compared to the rest of it. They set camp there and began building a fire to warm their weary bodies and cook the rations they had brought with them.
As the sky darkened becoming a pitch black canvas once again they sat by the fire, illuminated in its orange glow. Gwin felt cozy in its warmth until an acrid stench pulled him from his comfort. It was then that Gwin had realized their mistake.
'How could we be so stupid!?'
Until now they had made their fires during the day in the confines of the tunnels, but now they had done it in the dead of night where the only visible color was black…and now orange. He quickly kicked their fire, hissing when the hot embed touched his skin. Elena gave him a look of dazed outrage before she caught on and began helping him kick it out.
By then it was too late.
The coral shook underneath their feet as something massive rammed into it. They both fumbled grabbing onto each other to not fall off. Elena quickly pulled him to the edge of the platform. Gwin stumbled in the darkness as he was pulled by her, he then made out a deep crack adorning the side of the coral. With no more words Elena began scaling down into it, not stopping until she was nearly 8 meters down squeezed between the coral's walls. Gwin quickly followed her, cursing his lack of climbing expertise.
'They didn't teach this at the academy!'
As they descended Gwin heard the sound of something large scraping against the edge of the platform as whatever was hunting them made its way to their camp.
With baited breath they waited for it to pass on. The creature circled the perimeter of the platform several times and even practically walked right over them. After what felt like an eternity of listening to its eerie groans it finally receded back into the waters. They waited a while longer before climbing back up. Their campfire was completely gone as if it had never existed, just being toughed by them had made it a delicacy worthy enough for them to gobble up. The thought sent a chill down his spine.
They spent the rest of the night in absolute darkness with only the sound of the waves to break the silence. Sleeping was quite difficult after that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was tense. They had begun by finding another suitable landmark to head to and began planning their path there from their vantage point. After that they began heading down.
Gwin was feeling frustrated. It was clear they wouldn't survive for long unless they used everything at their disposal. He had already told her what his aspect and flaw where and she could not even tell him what her aspect did! Not to mention how many memories and even echoes she had. An echo was an incredibly rare reward from the spell that was an exact copy of a nightmare creature that was completely loyal to the person who owned it. They were incredibly rare though with the average awakened being lucky to get one in their lifetime.
'If anyone would have one it'd be her!'
He felt like she hadn't fully grasped the situation yet, or maybe she was being stubborn.
'Our secrets are going to die with us like this..'
He pushed his thoughts aside as they reached the ground instead staying focused and alert.
They travelled along the ground making good progress. Gwin used his senses to locate and avoid any unwinnable battles while they fought any lone feeders using their strategy.
They encountered several more and just like the first one they used teamwork to narrowly avoid dying and slay the abomination. It had been during one of these fights that Gwin had learned that the maze of arms under the squid mantle could and would in fact rip him apart if given the chance. One of them had managed to wrap around his thigh and if it was not for his aspect and his quick reaction it would have pulled him under and torn him to pieces.
In that way they had reached the next landmark while gaining a few more soul shards. Gwin had made an effort to use his aspect to kill them but he did not always get the chance, after all one could not be picky when your life was on the line. He still was not sure what the unfinished sculpture's purpose was but he wanted to find out. He had also been growing more comfortable using [Chimera] with the feeder's tentacles. Using more than one tentacle was still difficult for him but he had gained good control over the one and felt like he was able to use it as a weapon now. He could not keep it summoned long since making a completely new limb drained his essence faster and his pool of essence was still quite small.
They still did not have a destination in mind but Elena was strangely adamant they headed in the direction they were going. Gwin was becoming more and more irritated by her demands that did not have any reason behind them. He wasn't going to listen to her wishes and put himself at risk without knowing why.
'Well we do have to run anyway..'
They still needed to put way more distance between themselves and whatever creature had found them at the obelisk. Gazing at its large black structure Gwin could see it even from the many miles away they were. They had to have traveled more than 60 miles from it yet it could still be seen piercing the horizon. From this distance he could make out the many holes in its surface as well as see the top which was completely flat and empty.
His attention soon turned to their camp where he had the first watch.
Elena was staring off into the distance with a solemn expression. She soon turned in while Gwin stayed up to keep watch.
'I'll talk to her tomorrow'