It was the moment, when we stepped through the portal; that the environment had completely changed.

The area felt cold on my cheeks as I laid completely unconscious until the sounds of Polly, my travelling partner, echoed through my head.

"Robi.

Robi!

Robi wake up!"

My vision came around and a grey murky sky met me, I groaned in response.

"Urgh…it felt like a ship crashed onto my fucking forehead!" I moaned.

"Well at least your bad language hasn't broken, let me help you up." She said before offering to get me up.

I took her hand as she pulled me onto my feet, head throbbing from the travel.

"Thanks. Say…where are we?" I said before looking around.

"We appeared to be in this closed off area. Cliffs as tall as giants and a few trees." She described.

"Not to mention the weather. It's cold, soaking wet and miserable...

Take away the 'miserable' part since you're here." I cackled.

"Oh get off. Where should we go?" Polly asked.

"Huh, I guess we got to get out of here." I responded.

"Where?" She asked.

I looked to see a stone structure poking out of the cliffs.

"Maybe that door opens. Let's go." I said before leaving the stone podium where the inactive portal frame stood.

We walked over to the structure and I tried to prise them open.

"Damn, the doors won't budge!" I said.

"How about we check out that nearby cave. There's bound to be something in there to help us." Polly suggested, pointing at the rocky opening amongst the cliffs.

I shrugged in compliance before making our way across to the cave. Along the way sat this wooden chest, amongst the nearby wreckage.

I opened it and inside was this weapon. No visible blades.

"Oh, you found something!" Polly said.

"It appears to be some sort of weapon. It has this thing, that's loose. If-" I said as when I pushed in the loose hook that it made this resounding bang that made us jump out of our skin.

"Woah! This seems to work at long range, like a peashooter!

Oh, I am so ready to shoot it at someone's asshole!" I smiled devilishly.

Polly sighed as we entered the cave. Inside, it was dark, but dry and it was giving off a bad vibe.

"[Robi Trib1] This cave gives me the creeps. It's darker than a horse's anus." I described.

"We must tread carefully for I don't like the air in here." Polly added as we walked in deeper but, before we knew it, we bumped into some bats along the way, the perfect time to try out my new toy. They weren't hard as they fell in only a few hits.

You're really getting to grips with that." Polly complimented my aim.

"It's a simple weapon and perhaps something to rely on if we are to survive this world." I said to her.

We made our way in deeper and we encountered an old rusty mechanical lever, amongst some mining equipment.

"Hey look, a lever! Pull it Robi! Maybe it opens the door for us." She stated.

I nodded and walked up to it. With a firm grip, I pulled at it and boy, was it really stiff; With all my might I managed to get the rickety old switch to budge with a loud click causing something to happened as mechanisms clunk and churned beneath our feet.

We headed back out, fighting more bats along the way, and as we exited the cave, we looked to see that the stone doors had opened.

"That must be what that's lever for. We can get out now!" I said.

"Indeed, let's go!" Polly added as we hurried out of the initial area and entered this stone hall.

"Finally, we find the exit out of our problem, as always." I smiled.

"You're never wrong with that." She giggled as we went through the stone door ahead.

Outside, we were in for a shock. Everywhere we looked was a vast plain, surrounded by mountains. Covering the land was this thick, grey, musky, mist.

"Woah. This place seems to be in a bad state. This fog is everywhere." I said.

"It must be under it for quite some time now. We must be careful for monsters may lurk underneath." Polly briefed.

"Indeed. Which way now?" I asked.

"I can see civilisation on top of those cliffs above the mist. We should find a way to get there." Polly suggested.

"How?" I asked.

We looked around and as I could make out amongst the thick fog, an entrance of ice could be seen at the base of the mountains.

"I can see something over there, it could lead us to that city." I suggested.

"Great idea, let's check it out." Polly complied.

The world, we were in, looked rather odd. How come something to be peaceful in this mist can hide such terrible hostility as we heard fighting nearby with blazes of fire illuminating the foggy plains.

We ran to the commotion and eventually found someone fighting monsters. They had knives and looked like Goblins and were attacking this young lad in a blue coat and a pointy hat. It was big but drooping over to one side, obscuring much of his face.

His eyes glowed bright yellow though, making them the only facial features we could see.

The fellow was casting the fireballs, which were causing the flashing lights at the monsters.

More goblins arrive to try take him out and they catch him with his pants down.

I took aim with my loaded rifle and fired; The bullet made its way into the skull of one, startling the mage and the goblins. The red skinned creatures charged but, with my gun, shot more down until goblins finally fled. The robed kid got up, and tried to run but tripped over one of the bodies.

"Hey, don't run!" Polly spoke as she went to the kid.

"We noticed that you were in trouble so we came to help. I'm pretty sure my friend was trying to scare off the bad guys." She said as she helped the mage up.

I went over to examine the bodies closely.

"Th-Thanks." He said

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"My...my name is Herdar. I can't find my father...he went off somewhere and I tried to find him then I came across these bad guys." The fella introduced, pushing up the brim of his hat.

"Well then, my is Polly, that over there is Robi. We just came here as travellers and maybe we could help you" she said to him

"That'd be grateful. I would much appreciate it, if you find...father." He said.

"So, what's with your magic huh?" she asked.

"I am a Black Mage. I do...black magic...fireballs the only ones I know yet..." He responded.

"Well then, we better get going if we don't want to encounter any more monsters." I said to Polly.

"So, these creatures attack in packs, huh I guess these guys hide in the Mist." I said.

"Father told me of the Mist. It is an anomaly that spreads across this world. Many monsters dwell in it and attack lone travellers who dare pass through." He explained.

"It seems…unnatural with this world. Mist is caused by clouds which sit close to the ground mainly cos of 'air pressure'.

We need to press on, this place feels incredibly aggressive to be in. We're heading up towards that city amongst the cliffs." I instructed.

Continuing with our journey, we eventually found a line of footprints in the mud.

"Are they your dad's?" I asked.

"I-I-think so." The mage replied.

We began to follow them when another set of monsters ambushed us; they gave me a fright alright. This fog is a real jumpscare.

"More monsters, get rid of them."

We assumed a combat line, with the monsters forming theirs on the other side and we took turns; I took aim with my rifle and tried to aim for their heads while Herdar can toss more of his fireballs. After that, the enemy landed a few successful hits which didn't seem to hurt badly. After the battle was over, Polly took the time to heal us afterwards.

"You are really good at healing." Herdar complimented.

"Thanks. I am a White Mage. Unlike my partner, I have some memory of who I truly am." Polly said.

"The battle sounded awfully familiar...well if we keep going at this rate, we should be able to get to that entrance before dusk." I said as she patched me up.

Then we heard this loud engine noise in the sky, sounding like some sort of airplane. We looked up to see a large airship soaring overhead; It had a set of wings and steam was pouring out from the back.

"I think I know the level of technology, that this world has: flying airships. Hey, do you think we could use one to get to that castle on the cliffs?" I asked Polly.

"Well there's two major nations but I know a place where you could get one." Herdar said.

We pressed on and finally we made it to the entrance; It looked a lot bigger than I first saw, with what appears to be a large icy cave.

"Father told me that this was the remains of a civilisation caused by the fog.

He went through here to get an airship and that's all he told me; the tracks lead us into the cave so he must've went through here." Said the mage as he slowly walked in, with us not far behind.

Because it was composed mainly of ice, the cave was absolutely freezing. It was so cold in fact that I could see my own breath.

"Wow...I have never felt a place, this frickin' cold!" I said, shivering.

"We must keep going. I want to help this little guy, get his father back." Polly said.

We pressed through the various tunnels of ice as we traversed over frozen walkways. Along the way, we could see the evidence of past travellers; open chests sitting in open alcoves where the ice would've covered but as we walked to other side of the cave, a large monster, with large tusks, blocked our path.

"The big guy seems unwilling to move." Polly said.

Herdar launched a fireball only for it to counterattack, nearly knocking him off. I went to grab him just as he was about to fall off.

"Jesus fucking Christ! Nearly gave me a heart attack! Watch your step." I said before looking at the beast and readied my rifle.

"Your fire-based attacks should work well against Wyerds.

Father told me that it can swap your strength with its crippled state, so be careful." Herdar explained as we took turns taking it on.

My gunfire did a real number and so did the mage's fireball attacks but as soon as killed the creature. He attacks me once more with this magical shit and I could barely hold my rifle.

"I feel...weak...I can't fight..." I said.

"Come on Robi, pull yourself together it is almost done for. jus-" Polly said just when the Wyerd went for me.

I held my rifle up for the attack but felt the scorching heat of a passing fireball blast across my face I looked to see that the Wyerd was roaring and twitching before exploding into a cloud of purple smoke.

"I won't let it hurt my...new friends..." Herdar said before collapsing.

"Herdar!" Polly squeaked before tending to the lad's poor state.

I looked to catch the glimpse of someone in the ice cavern. I let out a quiet gasp before rubbing my eyes.

"Robi! Come help me take the lad out of here!" Polly instructed me but when I looked back at the figure, he was gone. After shaking my head in dismay, I went back to Polly to help her lift the fainted Herdar, with all my strength.

"What was it that you saw?" Polly asked.

"Uhhh...a figure...he looked like some guy...I don't know who he was but we looked at each other." I said.

"Well then...listen…let's head for the exit. There must be somewhere we could grab a ride and take it straight into town." She answered as we went through the caves and finally out through the exit.

[Robi Trib1]