3. Child of the mist

It was a regular day on Solaero, the mist hung thick around the mountains and the blanket of grey clouds floated just below their peaks. The village was peaceful with people of every kind going about their day; craftsmen making their wares, farmers trying to sell their excess crops, shepherds selling skins and meat and merchants from nearby villages haggling for a better prince from all of them. In the small fields that some families kept they tended to the soil and hoped for it to yield good crops for next harvest and shepherds watched over flocks of docile mountain creatures known as Capris. All was good in the village except for a small forgotten corner where some of the children gathered, the crowd of kids ranged from about 9 to 13 years old, they stood at the edge of a cliff watching something on the cliff face.

Aeoran had grown fast, it had been 4 years since he had been 'born' and he was already the size of a 10 year old boy. He also looked different, his skin wasn't an almost sickly pale like everyone on Solaero but had a healthy glow that suggested more sun than the planet actually saw and his hair wasn't a pitch black but a light brown colour, he always stood out in the village but right now it wasn't because of how he looked but what he was doing. Aeoran clung to the mountainside, the fast and vicious winds threatening to rip him off and throw him in to the mist below but the boy ignored it and kept climbing down towards the bird's nest that sat on a ledge far below. It wasn't really about the eggs in the nest but to show the others he could get them, Aeoran moved his hands without looking, his intuition telling him which grips to grab and where to place his feet, he had always been good at sensing danger his gut telling him when something bad was about to happen, the little voice in the back of his head guiding him on the right path. It didn't take long for the boy to reach the empty nest and he grabbed one of the eggs, placing it in his mouth, he climbed back up without issue but as he got back to the top his gut told him something was very wrong and when he finished his climb back up he saw what it was. A thin pale woman who couldn't be older than 30, without a word she moved through the crowd of children and grabbed Aeoran by his ear, dragging him off.

"Ow ow oww I'm sorry" the child apologised as he was dragged by his ear

"You were supposed to be clearing the field but when I go out there what do I find?" Elia let go of the boy's ear as she scolded him, "A field full of stones and you nowhere to be seen, your father is going to descend today and he needs to know you're here to help me"

"I'm sorry" the boy looked at his feet, avoiding his mother's glare

"You better be, now go clear the field like I told you"

"But that'll take hours and father will be leaving soon" Aeoran's head shot up as he protested

"Well work fast if you want to see him off" Elia gave his ear a good twist and sent him off

She returned home herself and finished her husbands pack for his descent; rations she made for him, several bottles of water, fire starters, warmer clothes and a few other things. After she had packed and triple checked everything Elia took a seat at the small table in the corner of their one room mudbrick house, she pulled out some tools and a small stone and got to work on the last thing for the bag. She was already half way done when she had to drag Aeoran back to the field, she concentrated intensely as she inched a small chisel along the stone, carving intricate patterns in to the stone. Her nimble and practised fingers moved cautiously, careful not to slip and waste days of work, she finally chipped the last of the stone away and admired her work. The surface of the stone was covered in intricate swirls that almost gave the impression of a face although there was incorporeal aspect to it, like she was just seeing what she wanted and not what was truly carved there. Elia drilled a small hole in the top of the stone and tied it to the bag, adding it to several other charms that hung from it.

The bag had been Aldean's fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers, some people joked that the bag was older than Solaero itself but it was still strong and it could still do its job. She ran her fingers through the myriad of charms, all carved by their wives as had been tradition for thousands of years ever since the veil descended and humanity was forced in to this life. Elia sighed as she lifted the heavy pack and carried it outside to wait for her husband to return from the peak.

Aldean soon returned from his prayers at the peak of the mountain followed by about 20 other men, as always as soon as they entered the village the group scattered. Aldean headed straight for his wife, instantly noticing his son was missing.

"Where's Aeoran?" he asked looking around the crowd

"He didn't do his chores earlier"

"This is my record-breaking descent, he should be here"

"Well he'll welcome you back" Elia placed the pack on his back, "if he finishes all his chores"

"Make sure he does" he pulled her in to an embrace

"I'm worried" she admitted as she wrapped her arms tight around him

"I'll be fine"

"No about Aeoran, it's getting harder to keep him a secret"

"You know why we have to keep him a secret"

They, along with all the adults in the village, had decided to keep the circumstances of Aeoran's 'birth' a secret knowing that if a larger village or one of the few cities found out then they would kill them all to get at him. They had done well so far, Aeoran wasn't an uncommon name and most outside merchants ignored him like they did all the kids, although a few regular visitors to the village noticed how fast he grew and how different he looked. They had also decided to not tell Aeoran what his destiny was opting to let fate take shape on its own.

"I know but he should at least know how special he is"

"He'll fulfil his destiny whether we tell him or not but if you're so worried about it we'll tell him when I get back"

"Ok, just come back ok" the two broke their hug and shared a kiss

"I always do" Aldean flashed his wife a carefree grin

"At least make sure the bag gets back, Aeoran could use it as a memento"

Aldean laughed at his wife's joke before he headed off through the village gates and in to the mist.

Aeoran stood in the middle of a large plateau, the earth exposed and filled with stones and weeds. He swung a rake in to the earth and pulled it along, pulling up big stones and loose weeds, the work wasn't hard for him, no work was, but he was frustrated at missing his father's departure. His gut told him something bad was going to happen and he wanted to warn him but his mother wouldn't have it and he was stuck here, clearing the field his family tended.

Aeoran had always been different, he knew that better than anyone in the village, he is stronger than most men in the village and he has never been sick. The few times he genuinely slept, and not just closed his eyes and waited for his parents to fall asleep so he could climb the mountain all night, he dreamed of evil voices and a cold turbulent sea. The dreams always gave him a foreboding sense of doom but as the dream world would grow colder and colder and the whispers would make his head split a golden light would throw it all back and warm his frozen heart. He could always almost see a figure standing in the blinding light but he was always so far away, his voice not quite cutting through the veil. He knew his fate wasn't in this village or even this planet, it was somewhere beyond that and much grander than he could imagine, he felt it in his gut.

Aeoran shook thoughts of the whispering voices and golden light from his head and got back to clearing the field, if his mother caught him slacking he wouldn't like it. He turned his head back to the earth and then turned to thoughts of his father, hoping and praying he would return alright.

Seridiel was a novice mist walker, he looked like everyone else in the village and on the world, lanky with pale skin and pitch black hair. He moved through the fog in formation, laser rifles pointed in all directions with over lapping fields of vision and firing arcs, all the mist walkers from their village carried beast forged weapons ever since Aldean had returned from Old Solra, they had sold a few but most were kept for expeditions. The advanced weapons had allowed them to stay in the mist longer and catch more which brought more money in to the village and had helped it grow immensely in the past few years, they'll need to give it an actual name soon instead of third village on the Mostael peak as it was known to the other villages that shared the peak.

The group had been in the mist for a little over a month and were exploring a part of the surface that few ventured in to or near, it was known as the Forgotten veil. The place was strange, even for a place on this planet, it was like a scar on the world. The mountains rose high but no one lived on them, the ground in the valley was flat and open but no creatures made their home there along with any kind of vegetation, the fog was thick but no beasts hunted there and it was devoid of any danger but mist walkers avoided it. All these reasons were why no one went near the place, such an easy hunting ground was too suspicious, and all the groups that went near the place had vanished but Aldean insisted on checking it out as part of his record breaking expedition, so there they were creeping through the silent mist of the Forgotten veil.

They moved as a large group for about an hour before they decided to split off in to smaller groups and look around. Seridiel and four other guys split off and headed south towards the centre of the Forgotten veil. There was nothing there, the ground had no grass and not a single animal was seen.

"There is nothing here" Tordean, an eager young first time mist walker, complained

"Why do you think we're heading to the centre" Urude, the veteran leading the group, told them

"I hope there isn't anything, I wanna leave as soon as" Solran, another novice, looked around frantically for any sign of danger

"Come on this is an adventure, image what everyone is going to say when we get back" the optimistic veteran Talrude smiled as he practically skipped along

"If we get back" Seridiel joked

The group kept moving, keeping their guard up, despite there being nothing but bare rock and thick fog. There was nothing to be seen. Not a single thing but there was something. Seridiel felt a cold hand on his shoulder, he jumped and pointed his rifle where the mysterious being should be but all he found was mist.

"You ok?" Urude asked, concerned at his sudden jump as the others looked for what he felt

"I'm fine" he shook the jitters out of his mind and put it down to his mind playing tricks

They kept moving but despite knowing it was in his head Seridiel couldn't get the thought of that hand out of his head. He felt something behind him as they moved through the mist but every time he looked back there was nothing.

So weak, he heard a whisper in his ear

Seridiel turned again and looked for the owner of the voice, "Who said that?" he screamed in to the mist but found nothing again

"Are you ok?" Talrude asked, the entire group looking concerned about Seridiel's behaviour

"I'm fine" he took a deep breath and pushed his panicked thoughts down, "there must be something in this wasteland"

As they moved deeper the whisper in his ear would come back, it would mock him and promise him things, he forced his mind to ignore it. It's not real he told himself over and over but it wouldn't leave. He could feel the voices cold hands around him, gripping tighter and tighter until he was going crazy.

You're not crazy, it whispered, I can help you show them the truth, do you want that?

Seridiel's jaw tightened as he heard the offer. He looked at his comrades, strolling along with out a care, they didn't know the torment he was suffering, they would think he was crazy if he told them. He's not crazy.

No you're not let's show them

Why him? Why does he have to suffer? Why won't the voice bother them? Because they were all fools who couldn't see the truth, he was special and needed to show them. All of them needed to see the truth, all the mist walkers, all the village, all the mountain, all the planet. They all needed to see and he would show them. He would show them.

"There's nothing here" Aldean complained as he walked along with four other mist walkers

"Quite strange" Iridean looked unsettled by the complete emptiness of the Forgotten veil, "Not even bones"

"Well nothing comes here to make bones" Oediel was on high alert like always

"Then why are you so on guard?" Iridean asked

"Because….." Oediel was cut short by a monstrous screech

The mist itself seemed to flee from the sound as screams and gunshots could be heard and then silence. They all looked at each other, silently discussing weather to run or try and help their men out. The decision was made for them as a claw ripped through the mist and dragged a man in to the veil, his screams were heard for a few seconds before they were silenced.

Aldean drew Fen's wrath and shot in the direction the man had been dragged but it only hit mist. The remaining men formed a circle as they watched for any movement. Aldean held out Mist cutter as they silently waited for the moment to strike. The beast found it first and its claw materialised out of the mist, dragging another poor soul in to it.

"I want to go back to when nothing lived here" Iridean joked, clearly afraid

"For the first time I agree with you" Oediel's finger twitched over the trigger of his lasgun as jumped at even the slightest movement

Aldean was afraid as well, his instincts and intuition normally told him where a beast would attack but not this time, it was like he was blind for the first time and it was terrifying. The veteran closed his eyes and took a breath, ignoring his sight and focusing on the feeling of the mist swirling around him and quiet sounds that surrounded them, he built a mental picture. Then he saw it, the claw reaching out of the mist.

"Iridean duck!" he ordered as he spun and slashed at the claw

The beast roared and another claw fell from above them, the group scattered as they shot at where the beast should be. It screamed more as the mist around it dissipated and they could see its true form. It was no beast but a monster, it stood 12 feet tall with bulging muscles that threatened to rip its taut blood red skin, it's massive hands and feet ended with bloody claws that were as long as Mist cutter. The monsters long wolf like face roared as it charged Aldean.

"BY THE GODS IT'S FEN!" Oediel pretty much screamed, "gods help us"

They kept firing at the monster but that only seemed to make it angry. It wasn't long until the rest of their expedition came, drawn to them by the noise, and joined the fight but nothing was working. They did their best to avoid the razor-sharp claws but they were being whittled down and their guns didn't have infinite ammo.

Aldean holstered Fen's wrath and charged the monster with Mist cutter, "YOUR HEAD IS MINE!"

Aldean swung but his blade was intercepted by the monster's claws, it's other claw swung for his head but he ducked and rolled in to the monster's guard, scoring a slash across it's leg. The monster roared and lashed out, managing to smack Aldean away with some force, Aldean tumbled along the ground but kept his grip on his sword. He charged again as the others fended it off and scored another hit. The two exchanged blows for a few minutes before the faster monster dug it's claws in to Aldean's leg and ripped out a chunk of his thigh, the mist walker winched as he fell to his knee, the other claw falling to end his life. Aldean let his leg buckle and he rolled to the side, cutting off the monster's hand in the process, as the monster reeled back Aldean used the last of his strength and launched himself at it. With a roar to equal the monster's Aldean swung Mist cutter and beheaded it, it's hulking form shaking the ground as it fell.

The expedition returned to the village after the incident with only half of the men they left with. Aldean returned a hero with an epic story of his record-breaking expedition, unfortunately it would be his last expedition, the wound to his leg meant he would never walk without the support of a crutch again but still he was a hero to the village and even the surrounding villages.

Aeoran watched as the people of his village paraded his father around on their shoulders, hailing him a hero, his intuition had told him something bad would happen to his father but nothing did. He questioned his instinct for the first time but he knew it wasn't wrong. So, what was so terrible that it gave him such a bad feeling.