Hellor readers, sorry for my long absence. My inspiration somehow jumped out the window. But here we go again, new year and more content. Have fun!

The creatures of the Mist

Leona could barely walk anymore, but her iron will kept her going. Lucian beside her wasn't looking any better, but they slowly made their way through the maze below The Hollow. She had no clue about the passed time, but it felt like they had walked days, maybe weeks in the darkness. The glow of her armor was just a gleam, only a fraction of her usual powers. As they turned around a corner she finally saw light in the tunnel in front of them, mobilising the last of her strength to brighten the glow and head forward. She grabbed Lucian tighter, as he wasn't fully conscious anymore. "We are almost back!", she whispered. But the relief of the light and knowledge of rescue so close ate her last powers away. Only a few steps later she tumbled over a lose stone and couldn't hold herself and Lucian up. She crashed to the ground with a loud rumble while Lucian fell almost without a sound. The last thing Leona saw was the white of his eyes as he loft the last remaining bit of consciousness.

"Veteran! I heard armor!" The scout of Travo'Azu's team closed in and looked deeper into the tunnel. As they were stationed at the borders of The Hollow he wasn't needed as a guard at the entrance. But his senses were far superior to any of the others, hearing, smelling and seeing more then usual clansmen. "We should go." Travo'Azu looked at him and nodded. The guard was confirming his theory that Leona returned. "Clansmen! Three to the front, spears ready! Trall'Azu, you and me follow them. Three men behind us, three stay here!" It took seconds for his team to carry out his commands while Travo'Azu grabbed a torch. He took his position and grinned proudly. He trained them well. "Forward!" The clansmen moved into the tunnel, carefully observing their path and the fading light in front of them. "Faster." They increased their pace and reached Leona and Lucian soon after. "Two carry each one of them! Two secure the retreat. Trall'Azu, notify our medic. They will need emergency care." The scout nodded and ran back to their camp while the other clansmen prepared the two bodys for the transport.

Lucians whole body was feeling numb, but he could feel immense pain behind that numbness. His mind was fighting its way out of the deep darkness he laid in for far too long now, but it was a lost cause. Only a minute later he fell asleep again.

"Lucian, you are awake." A strange voice greeted Lucian when he opened his eyes and tried to move his head. His muscles acted slow, but he managed to turn his head towards the location of the voice. "Where am I?" The words came out slurred and almost unintelligible but somehow the thing infront of him understood them. "You are at the quarters of team Tratton, recovering from grave wounds." The voice had a rough underton to it, almost like a feral being. Somewhat like Warwick. He focused on the thing standing next to his bed checking vials. The creature was small, his head could barely reach Lucians chest if he was standing. It had reddish fur and an animal-like head. Some predator, maybe a fox or a wolf, Lucian couldn't see it clear enough. His body was far from being controlled by himself. He groaned and tried to move his arms, but this was futile as well. "Wait, drink this!" The creature put a vial against his lips and smiled reassuring somehow. "This will give you some strength back, but you still have to heal a lot." The liquid in the vials had a deep purple colour the reminded Lucian of flowers from the Kumungu jungle. His mind was too slow to process this information before his body swallowed the liquid. I tasted quite well, but he couldn't properly define the taste. "It will take a minute to unfold its effect.", the creature said before opening the door to the room and calling for Travo'Azu. When the commander stepped into the room Lucian was sitting with his back against the wall. "I'm glad you are finally awake, Lucian." The veteran nodded to Lucian and pulled a chair closer to the bed. "You have been in a coma for almost two weeks now." Lucian narrowed his eyebrows and looked into Travo'Azus eyes. "Two weeks? That is way too long! I should have been gone at least a week ago!" He stopped and tried to remember what happened. He could barely remember which monster he fought with Leona, but he surely didn't know how he ended up in this room. He couldn't even remember that he left the cave of the monster. "I cannot remember much. But Leona was injured as well. Is she alive?" "She is. And she woke up a few days ago. She is already on her feet again, most likely in one of the fighting pits to train. It took her just a day to get up and search for anyone to spar with. You can only admire her strength. We all can understand how she became the leader of the Solari." Lucian nodded and looked to the doctor. "How long will it take me to get out of this bed?", he asked. "My guess are a few days. No longer then four, though. You are of acceptional physique. Even our veterans could learn a thing from you." He grinned towards Travo'Azu and laughed. The veteran slapped him on the shoulder and stood up again. "Very well, i will inform Leona. She surely wants to visit you. See you later." Lucian waved as much as he could as the veteran left. "I think i should sleep again.", he informed the docotr and laid back again.

Leona was in the middle of a fight with the towering Tragot'Azu when Travo'Azu entered the fighting pit. "Veteran!" The clansmen dropped to his knee while Leona slammed her shield into the sand and used it as a rest. "Good evening, Travo'Azu.", she greeted him and smiled. During her time in The Hollow she started to like her archenemies, a process she followed with worries and a strange feeling in her guts. "What leads you down to the fighting pits? Have you finally decided to give me the honor of a fight?" The veteran laughed and shook his head in denial. "You know i am not allowed to spar with you, Leona. I am still surprised that Trabror'Azu allowed you to spar with the clansmen. The monster left quite the impression on all of us! I came down here to tell you that Lucian has awoken. You should visit him tomorrow. When Trarrst'Azu allows it, of course." Leona remembered the medic of the team, a very concerned creature. But he was a good doctor and took his job seriously. "I will ask him later. But i am still not back at my best, so i would like to keep training. If you would be so kind ..." She waved her sword in a gesture of him leaving and took up her shield. "Of course! Who would resist orders from the Radiant Dawn!" He shook his head and stepped out of the pit. The ring of steel hitting steel followed only moments later.

"Good morning, Lucian. How are you feeling?" Leona sat down on the same stool Travo'Azu used yesterday and watched Lucian. He seemed a lot better already, but it was obvious he hadn't recovered fully yet. "I feel like i got hit by ten bulls, but it is getting better. The doctor knows what he is doing. But tell me, why are we still here? We were only granted trespassing, not a prolonged visit or even medical care!" Leona nodded and folded her hands in her lap.

"There is an easy explanation. Travo'Azu found us half dead in the tunnels and brought us back into The Hollow. After some discussion some clansmen were send down into the cavern to search for our enemy. Our blood led them right to the corpse of that beast. They brought it up here and showed it to their clanleader, the one we already met. He was so impressed by our victory that he granted us an indefinite stay here. He even allowed me to train with the clansmen. We earned respect in their society. But we are now allowed to move outside the quarters and training area of this clan. Other are likely to mistrust us and will try to get us either killed or out of The Hollow again. But the honor of this clan provides us with security for now. As long as noone more powerful wants us. Travo'Azu mentioned something like that, but he didn't answer my questions." She shrugged and smiled. "I think something will happen in the next days, when you have recovered. But i can't get anyone to talk to me!" "Because nobody knew what was going to happen", Travo'Azu said behind her. He had just entered the room and overheared Leonas last sentence. "But it seems like the higher-ups made their decision. We have been ordered to bring you to the Diamonds as soon as Lucian left this bed. You better get up soon, they dislike waiting." He looked sad, but didn't explain anything else. "Tell us when you are ready. We cannot protect you against the Diamonds." He left Leona and Lucian with the same questions they had before, but now they at least knew that something was happening for sure. "Get better soon, Lucian!" Leona smiled and got up. "I trust that we will survive those 'Diamonds', too. I didn't survive that thing to get killed by creatures of the Mist!" She waved and left.

Travo'Azu and his team surrounded Lucian and Leona again. Lucian left the bed two days after they last met and was walking just like before the fight. He seemed almost as resilient as Leona was. But Travo'azu feared that it wouldn't help them. The Order of Diamond was the highest Order in The Hollow, feared and honored to equal parts. They were the ultimate force of the creatures of the Mist, sorceres and enchanters of the highest skill. The legends around them were freightening and unbelievable. They were said to kill with a thought, fly and teleport and create artifacts of otherwordly might. He had never been to their caves before. He knew only two of his clan that went there. Their clanleader Trabror'Azu who had his initiation there and another veteran who earned tremendous honor. And now he led one of their deadliest enemies into the heart of the Order. He couldn't make out how he felt. Fear for his life, Leona and Lucians life and the lives of the Diamonds fought in his heart.

All of those fears were forgotten once he entered the realm of the Diamonds. The entrance opened by itself and a floating bridge formed out of cristal let them to a floating castle forged of gold and silver in the middle of an abyss. He had heared the tales, but seeing this display of power and wealth was astonishing. The small procession walked slowly and in awe. It took them a few minutes to reach the gates of the castle. Solid metal double winged doors opened silently for them. They had to be more than double the size of Travo'Azu, measuring above four meters. The arch was just as wide and the doors had to be the width of another half meter. No chain was rustling and no scratching could be heared from the ground. It truly was magic. Two robed figures waited in the court behind the gate. "Welcome to the Levitating Castle of the Diamond Order, Leona the Radiant Dawn. And welcome to you, too, Lucian the Purifier." The taller figure stepped forward and opened her arms in a somewhat inviting gesture. "Today we will meet not as enemies but as associates. You have slaying a vicious beast at the borders of the realm. We will honor this duty and none of the Order of Diamonds will harm you." The second figure nodded and stepped forward as well. "Darron'Bavris wishes to see you. Follow us." He pointed towards a lavishly decorated door on the side of the court. "Veteran Travo'Azu, you and your men may wait in the court. This will not take long." The veteran nodded and signaled his men to stay at ease. "We will wait for you."

Leona and Lucian were led through luxurious corridors and rooms that would embarass any mortal king of the surface world. Everything oscillated magic energy and Leona could feel the pressure of all of it. "This place is a miracle.", she whispered and let her gaze consume every detail. "Everything you see has been carefully crafted by the Order of Obsidian and enchanted by us. This is the true might of The Hollow. We, the Order of Diamonds, are the leaders and protectors of all creatures of the Mist. That is why we honed our skills and keep developing new magical techniques." The taller figure, obviously female in voice, touched one of the gemstones on the wall, bringing a low shine from within it. "This is the work of generations of enchanters. And this is the chamber of Darron'Bavris, on of the elders of the enchanters. Please, step in." The door opened and Leona and Lucian entered the chamber.

The chamber was enormous. It had to be bigger than the entire castle had seemed from outside. The walls were covered in bookshelves out of dark and heavy wood filled with compendiums, dictionaries and works about supernatural topics in various languages. The entire ground floor was cramped with laboratory equipment and a few robed figures stood at tables working on various materials. The balustrad at the second and third floor showed tables for scholars to read at and in the middle of the room hung a giant round construct that Leona couldn't identify. Several rings moved around a central patch of darkness. It resembled a solar system, but none that Leona had ever seen.

"Greetings, Radiant Dawn." And elderly creature slowly walked towards her and Lucian. The being wore dark blue robes with glowing patterns that moved around seemingly without any paradigm. "I am very proud to welcome you here, leader of the Solari. It doesn't happen often that you can show an enemy your true nature and the things you are proud of." The leathery face smiled and Leona could vaguely see human features, but the grey skin and warped bone structure was too strange to ignore. It was slightly longer than a human skull, but broader as well. The cheekbones were very prominent and the eyes were large and iridescent in rainbow colors. "I am Darron'Bavris, elder of the enchanter-tree of the Order of Diamonds. I am a member of the council of our order and have been assigned to your case. You did us a favor. The beast had been slowly creeping closer to our borders and it corruption was only held at bay due to our barriers." He led the pair through the laboratory while he spoke to them. Leona could barely follow his words, her eyes were all over the different substances and items laying around and being examined. It was amazing. "We search the mountain with our senses, but the deeper we search the less we see. But we worry about the darkness below us. The abyss we are guarding with our fortress leads deeper then even our best seers can reach. But everyone can feel the danger looming below us." They reached another door, hidden behind a bookshelf. They entered the room, most likely the private quarters of their host. Everything was as luxurious as it had been in the corridors of the castle. The chais and the table were even floating, only a dimmed light was visible below the seat. They all sat down and Darron'Bavris continued. "Leona, the light of the Solari is deadly for all creatures of the Mist. We cannot let you roam freely through The Hollow, it is too dangerous for the people living here. But we cannot forget your help, either. That is why we will grant Trabror'Azus wish. You are allowed to visit the caverns of the clan Tragkten and train with their clansmen. The guards in the tunnels will guide you to them whenever you want to visit them. The same is offered to you, Lucian." He turned his head to the silent man at Leonas side. Lucian nodded but didn't show any sign of joy or resentment. "And we will allow you to hunt below The Hollow, whenever you wish. If you feel the presence of another foe, please contact us. We will try to gather information for your hunt. And we will contact you if we find any creature before you do."

Leona was very surprised. Her archenemies just offered a truce, and not a small one. She narrowed her eyebrows and tried to see through the alien face infront of her. "How can i trust that your guards won't guide me into a trap? As you have mentioned, we are mortal enemies and have been such since ages. You are offering an enemy free passage into your own territory." The enchanter laughed and nodded. "How can we trust you not to attack us while we are peacefully in our home? You showed restain and respect and we will show you the same. You don't have to visit us if you don't trust us." He smiled and pressed a few gemstones on the tabletop. "But we can talk about that later. Here you see a three-dimensional map of the caverns and tunnels below The Hollow." Purple lines and dots appeared above the table and rotaded slowly. "You fought here ..." A red dot appeared at the top of the maze. "As you can see, you only went down a quarter of what we have mapped. And here are points were we have encountered or sensed monsters." More red dots appeared throughout the maze, but Leona couldn't find any pattern on first glance. "We studied their behaviour for a long time and could find a few traces, but there is no proven theory about them. We assume there is a hive somewhere, or some sort of portal. Every now and then something finds it's way into the higher region of the mountain and either vanishes without any reason or has to be fought back. But the strengths of them varies extremly. Only the ways they take are roughly the same, if nothing changes the mountain itself. We are monitoring those ways and would like to hear the opinion of the both of you."

Lucian could see the pattern after a few seconds. While the old creature kept talking he checked every sighting and the underlaying pattern. "Can you show the strength and the time of every monster?", he asked and soon after the red dots altered their color. A small number showed the time of arrival and the color showed the strength. With his vast knowledge of the undead and their behaviour Lucian knew what happened below Mount Targon. "It has some random chances but most of this is carried out by plan. The shadow Isles work like this. They have some intiation rites and their portals lead to dark places like this. But that does mean that there is more down there, equally or more dangerous then the undead. They hunt down there to become stronger and rise in hierarchy." Not many knew much about the Isles, but the older the undead were, the more powerful they became. Even mere humans could become rulers due to this process. The undead hunted themselves, too. But to reach the next step always meant to pass a random portal. "If you can find the portal you can shut down the undead. But whatever lingers down there might come up, then." He shrugged and watched the elder. "I will not help you, not yet. I have other game to hunt before i can tackle a portal." The elder nodded and looked to Leona. "I assume you can't add anything?" Leona nodded and stood up. "He is the specialist for undead. I know more about the Mist." She bowed to him and looked to Lucian. "If you don't have more information we should return to Travo'Azu and his team. They will want to hear the news." Lucian nodded and looked to their host. "Please bring us back to the court, Elder Darron'Bavris."

"We are allowed to stay and train with the clansmen of clan Tragkten." Leona, Lucian and the group of clansmen had just left the cavern and were making their way through the tunnels back to clan Tragktens caverns. "And we may visit you anytime we want." Travo'Azu looked at Leona and what was a smile appeared on his face. "I am glad that the Diamonds allowed this. We got used to you, Leona. And sparring with you makes us feel challenged again. It can become stale down here, if you only train with the same people over and over again." He laughed and slapped Tragot'Azus back. "Especially our big guy. He is not allowed to fight me unless he wants to become a veteran himself. And the others are not quite as strong as he is." The humanoid reptile groaned and nodded. "You are strong enough to win against our so-called veteran here, i am sure of that.", he said and slapped Travo'Azus back. The force of the strikes catapulted the veteran a few steps forward but couldn't disequilibrate him. "Careful with your words, clansmen!" Travo'Azu laughed and let Leona walk next to him again. "I am sure we will find out some day. If you keep slaying monsters, maybe i will be allowed to spar with you some distant future day." They walked the rest of the way, accompanied by jokes from the clansmen. Leona could feel their comradeship and it dawned on her that she got accepted into this particular group of creatures of the Mist. Her enemies. But she felt at peace, a bit happy even. They were, in a sense, more human than her fellow Solari. It was only training at home, training and war. Maybe even the Radiant Dawn needed some rest from that life.

Another week passed and Leona and Lucian finally got ready to leave The Hollow again. This week would be forever burned into Leonas memory. The clansmen had shown here a lot about their lives and culture. It had turned out that the Order of Azurite was the second highest, after the Order of Diamonds. They were the warrior caste of the ones living inside Mount Targon and were proud of defending the borders. The Order of Malachite helped them in their duty, but the Malachites were no warriors themselves. They classified more like scouts or spies. They worked from the shadows and were the lowest order. The Order of Obsidian was the second order. Their duty was maintenance and development of the tunnels and caverns. Their craftsmenship couldn't be matched by anyone and they were the most beloved of the four orders. The Order of Diamonds were the silent rulers of the Hollow, rarely showing. They worked with messengers and speakers, but noone doubted their rule. The respect and fear of their magical powers was far to great. The residents who didn't show any particular strength in these fields worked in ordinary professions like farmer, teacher or tailor. Whatever was needed and interested them. Leona was glad she followed Lucian weeks ago. She learned valuable things and wouldn't want to live without them. She now knew the creatures of the Mist weren't vile monster and that she had to changed her people now. But she had no clue about how she could do that. Especially with Atreus, or Pantheon how he now called himself, back at the Rakkor. The Aspect of War would never approve of new ways. She talked with the clanleader about this, but he couldn't give her any helpful advice. "You are now tasked with the greatest task there is for any leader. Changing the ways of your people will never be easy. It is just as much of a fight as crossing blades with another warroir.", he said. And she had to agree to this statement.

"Leona, let's go!" Lucian took her out of the thoughts of the future and stepped into her room. "You need to return to your people. We have been gone for over a month, they must be in deep sorrow for you. And i need to hunt something. I am feeling more and more restless with every passing day." She nodded and lifted the bag with her damaged armor on her shoulder. The Azurites didn't have the knowledge to repair it, only the Solari knew how to embue it with sunlight. "I'm coming!" She followed him outside and they met with Travu'Azu and his men. "Farewell, Leona and Lucian.", he said and his clansmen formed a guard of honor. "We will await you back here. It was an honor to meet you." Leona bowed before them and paced through the clansmen, Lucian a step or so behind her. One of the Malachties let them to the surface and after weeks without seeing the sun Leona could finally step out of Mount Targon again. She was suprised how close they were to the village she came from. The Slari would have found the cae a long time ago if it had existed longer but when she turned around she could only see the rough surface characteristic for Mount Targon. "They sorcery is really strong. I can't sense it, but i know they are hiding the entrances from us." Lucian nodded and touched the surface. "It even feels real. They must have evolved this spell for ages. It is exeptional. But let's leave and return, for now." Leona looked up to the sun and then to the monastery of the Solari. "Let's return home."