Chapter 4
The forest was growing denser as they walked. The darkness twisted in horrific ways, the mist curling around Arius's legs as if it was alive. He wanted to follow Esin, but his thoughts reeled with the nonsensical symbols and figures that flitted across his eyes.
"You're having trouble," Esin said almost benevolently, although the voice was in Arius's thoughts and not in the real world. "Good. The process of struggling is the first part toward comprehension."
"I… I don't even know what I'm seeing," Arius admitted, his voice shaking. "Everything… everything moves… and shifts… it doesn't make any sense."
Esin cocked its head, the low light dancing across its surface. "Now, before we go further. Tell me your name."
"Arius," he whispered, not understanding why he cared.
Esin's eyes fluttered faintly. "Arius. you are not the only one who shares this vision. When the Mad King of the Forgotten Kingdom made this contract between us and the gods, he gave this vision to all species. not just human. The gods honored this. But only humans were afflicted with the lack of feelings. Other species who received this vision were immune to this effect. Although, we never tried to conquer them. We chose peace.
Arius blinked, his mind reeling from the implications of the discovery. "So… there are others like me?"
"Yes," Esin said, its voice vibrating with a gentle cadence within his mind. "Rare, like you. Some you shall meet, but others you shall never encounter. You have the gift of sight, yes… but also the capacity to observe that which the vast majority of entities, whether human or otherwise, do not. That is why I recall your name, why I observe you with such great interest."
Arius swallowed hard, his heart pounding. "I… I don't know if I can handle this. Too much is happening, and I can hardly make sense of what I'm seeing."
Esin moved closer, allowing the shadowy tendril to fall across the radiant floor of the forest. "It is normal. Threads of sight aren't meant to be comprehended right away. Just observe, and from bits and pieces, believe what your eyes are telling you, even if they're telling you something baffling. That's the first lesson of learning to use your sight."
Arius concentrated on the evolving symbols, attempting to keep the beat of them as Esin had demonstrated to him. Gradually, he became aware of the underlying beat of movement in the mist, the ways, and the shadows—a pattern to the randomness he had never been aware of before.
"I… I think I understand a little," he whispered. "It's like… it's warning me. Or showing me… what's here."
Esin's eyes twinkled. "Yes. The view is a tool, Arius. A weapon when used well, a curse when disregarded. You shall fail, and you shall misinterpret, but this is to be expected. The important part is to learn the threads, no matter how imperfectly."
Arius nodded, holding on to his arms in an attempt tosteady himself. Fear, wonder, a twist of confusion that hadлаж Courtesy of MW Throughout thereinfeltfully weighed heavily in the forest were, in this moment, laced with a edge of purpose. He could not yet see all, could not yet weave the strands of Myre—but for the first time, he could start to read them. That was enough. for the moment.