"Even when I served as Necril's fearless general, I never liked this landscape," Rona said. "It wasn't as bad then as it is now… Darkness has corrupted the landscape more and more over time." The few trees that were around were all twisted into unnatural shapes. Some of them reminded me of the pictures Rona had up in his house. While staring at one of the trees, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I jerked my head to see what it was, but there was nothing there. Then, I saw movement from the corner of my eye again.
"Cryos, are you alright?" Keia asked. When she stopped moving, so too did the others.
"I-I'm not sure… I thought I saw something move near that tree," I said and pointed at one of the twisted trees.
"It must've been nothing… If there were something there, we'd probably have been attacked by now," Ryth said. "Remember, here, the darkness corrupts… It may be playing tricks on your mind."
"It can't be," I said. "I can tell the difference between reality and illusion, and that was definitely real." I pointed at the tree again. "That tree reminds me of one of Rona's drawings."
Rona looked at the tree. "You know what? I think you're right." As soon as Rona drew his sword, the tree moved. It stretched its twisted limbs toward the sky and revealed a pair of gleaming yellow eyes.
"Rona, what exactly is it?" I asked while drawing my own sword.
"It's a Demon Tree… A normal tree of Dark Land descent corrupted by the power of darkness… Demon Trees were non-existent until Necril built this land," Rona explained.
"What do you mean 'built?'" I asked. "I thought it was always here?"
"I'll explain later. Just watch out: Demon Trees spawn Darklings."
"Huh?" The Demon Tree shook its limbs around through the air. A few spores dropped to the ground and quickly grew into Spawns.
"Take out the spawner first… Deal with the Spawns last," Rona said. He leapt up into the air and over the Darklings. He made a move for the Tree. As he battled back the gnarled limbs of the Tree, Ryth flipped over an approached Spawn and propelled himself forward by kicking off of the Spawn. He landed with a somersault in front of the Tree. The Tree was still preoccupied with Rona, so Ryth took the opportunity to weave around the backside. I could not see what was done, however, because I was suddenly attacked by one of the Spawns. The stinging sensation of its claws tearing a hole into my leg snapped me back into reality. In a single swipe, I knocked the Spawn to the ground and then thrust my sword through its head. The Spawn dissipated before my eyes. I heard a wooden crash nearby. The Demon Tree had fallen to the ground, and as it cried out, all of the surrounding Spawns turned to dust and disappeared into the night.
I sat down on the ground. "You two…sure know how to…work together," I said and groaned.
"Cryos, are you alright?" Ryth asked and approached me.
"Yeah, I… I think I'll be alright." I looked down at my leg, which was bleeding profusely. "Ow… On second thought, this hurts more than it seems."
Ryth examined my leg. "This is a pretty nasty flesh-wound. What happened?"
I looked up at Keia. She wore an expression of concern. I hesitated before telling my embarrassing tale of what really happened. "Well, I was a bit caught up in watching you and Rona, Ryth, and not paying attention… One of the Spawns came up and attacked me when I was zoned out… I'm sorry. I should've been paying attention."
Keia gasped in disbelief. "You can't have possibly let that happen… Did you?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Okay, this may sting a bit," Ryth said. "I don't know how tolerant you are to magic, so this could or could not hurt." Ryth held his hand over my leg. He focused intently on my wound. When his hand began to glow, I felt the pleasant sensation of my skin melding back together.
"Ahh!" I screamed out in pain. "What are you doing to me?"
When Ryth was done, he smiled and said, "You're healed. I told you it might hurt a bit."
"It hurt a lot! Is it really healed?" I looked down at my leg. The pain was gone, but the only reminded of it that remained was the slash marks and bloodstains in my pants. I got up and moved my leg around. "Wow… Thanks!"
"Besides light magic, I can also heal," Ryth said. "Any user of light magic can eventually learn healing magic." Ryth turned to glance at Keia.
"Me?" she asked. "But I don't know magic…"
"It is those who have yet to discover themselves who shine the brightest within… Give it some time." Ryth smiled again and went to join the others.
"Don't worry Keia… Your true potential will be seen someday… Just keep travelling with us," I said.
"I never said I wouldn't." Keia gave me a sweet smile and joined the others as well. I bent down and picked up my sword. I sheathed my sword carefully and walked up to everyone else.
"So, Rona, picking up the topic from earlier," I started. "You said the Dark Lands were built?"
"I don't know much about it… I know Necril started the cloud cover from his Keep as a means for some plan," Rona said. "He kept mentioning covering the land in darkness, so that his Darklings could travel anywhere. I'm pretty sure it was so that it would be easier to capture the capitol. However, it seems the process has been sped up."
"Oh… The Dark Lands were his doing… If it's spreading at an increased rate, we had better put this place behind us and get moving," I said and started walking. There were no disagreements, so we continued on our way.
It was hard to tell time in the Dark Lands. There were no shadows other than the constant darkness around us, and the moon in the sky never moved. There were no means for telling time. "Rona, do you have any idea how long we've been travelling?" I asked.
"In the Dark Lands, there is no such thing as 'time.' The world passes… That is all," Rona replied.
"So, how can we tell the time?"
"We don't. There is night, and day… The grass will light up when it becomes night." Almost on queue, the grass around my feet began to glow. I looked around and noticed that the grass was glowing around everyone's feet.
"I thought the whole field would light up?" Keia asked.
"No. The grass responds to heat… It will only light up around us, and other warm-blooded creatures… It won't help us when Darklings attack," Rona explained.
"Will the grass around a town or city light up?" Ceae asked.
"Depends on if the town or city radiates heat," Ryth replied.
"Oh. Well, that'll explain that large light in the distance," Ceae said and pointed towards the horizon. A semi-circular expanse of light was visible.
"That's definitely the town," Rona said. "Right where it was many years ago…"
"How would we be able to tell where anything is out here? There are no landmarks," I said.
Rona turned around to face me. "As a Darkling, you live off of instinct… I know the Dark Lands well." Rona turned back around and walked on ahead.
I looked at Ryth. "He's been like this for awhile… Any idea why?"
"If I had any idea at all… I'd say he doesn't enjoy my presence," Ryth said. "Maybe I'm too much for him?"
"Maybe he's just regretting his past… Or your personality is just too much. You're almost always glowing, a perfect contrast to Rona's evil 'grr' attitude," Keia said.
"Who knows? Maybe he'll get over it," Ryth said. "Just don't let him get off by himself."
"Quick question," I said. "A town in the Dark Lands… You mentioned it would be strange… And filled with Necromancers… There's no one here to keep the peace… What would it be like?"
"Here, there's no such thing as 'law.' Keep close to your sword, and we'll be alright." Without another word, we all ran to catch up to Rona.