First of: Dawntrail hype! I hope you're all ready for that vacation!
Now that I got that out of my system: on with the chapter.
Tales of Loss and Fire and Faith
They floated amongst a sea of stars, the incredible speed at which they did making them appear as little more than long streaks of light. Countless upon countless worlds that the Meteia must have encountered on their journey and whose memories they had taken upon themselves. A fluttering of wings made S'eni glance to the side, where a blue bird took its place next to her.
"Welcome to my void, where neither death nor life has a place," Meteion's voice echoed from all around and more birds appeared, guiding them to where they needed to go. "Follow my path and descend with me, deep into the depths of darkness."
Gaining in speed, one by one the birds began to fly ahead and a bright flash filled her vision, forcing her to close her when. Upon opening them again, S'eni found herself standing on sand, a beach to be more precise. Or rather, what must have once been one before the nightmarish sight presenting itself to them had claimed it.
The sky, whatever color it must have been, was one dark red cloud, with thick dark veins running through it as if it were the skin of a corpse. Covering the horizon were spheres of oozing darkness, floating above the oily black sea that held a faint rainbow sheen. Debris and large fishbones were lining the shore and S'eni took a step back when an incoming tide threatened to lick her boots.
"Gods, this smell," G'raha exclaimed, covering his nose. "It reeks of..."
"...Death," Urianger finished for him and looked upon the body lying not far from their group. Whatever this being was, it appeared slightly larger than herself and quite stout, though she didn't know if that wasn't from the suit it was wearing, covering its entire body and ending in a large, round helmet. The only recognizable feature was its tail. And given the state the corpse appeared to be in, it was better not to touch it.
"What...happened here?" Alisaie asked, kicking away a plank of wood.
"A sickness befell this star..." Meteion explained, appearing in her bird form. "It turned the once clear lakes and oceans into swamps."
She turned around and fluttered away.
"We should follow her," Y'shtola suggested.
"Hm." S'eni nodded and they began to head down the beach. On their way, they came across more bodies, one of which was sitting upright. It seemed almost as if someone had just decided to take a little nap, but the black stains covering the inside of the faceplate left little doubt as to what happened to them.
"This must be this star's inhabitants," Thancred murmured.
"Indeed, whatever this sickness Meteion spoke of it must—" Alphinaud suddenly pointed up ahead. "Look, over there!"
Looking further down the beach, they found a group of these people that were still alive. But as soon as they arrived it was quite apparent that most of them were also sick. "So...hot..." one of them called out in a weak voice, body twitching. "My whole body...burning..."
Trying to speak with them did nothing. They seemed to be little else than extras trapped in this memory-given form. Panicked shouting drew their attention away from the sorry sight of the inhabitants of this place and towards another pair of them that came running down the shore. And close behind them, the reason for their panic: twisted beings whose entire bodies were made up of the same black substance that was covering the sand. Furthermore, they were less inclined on ignoring them, choosing to instead abandon their current quarry to slither towards their group instead.
Thancred and S'eni immediately rushed forward, jumping right into the middle of the fray, soon joined by Estinien descending from above. Dodging a swipe from a deadly claw, she threw a punch at one of the monster's heads, causing it to twist in a rather unnatural way before it snapped back into place as if nothing happened. "Great..."
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the creature from the side, its body seizing up violently, then dropping to the ground in a smoking, twitching, gelatinous mass. With the others joining the fight, they proceeded to make short work of their foes until the last of them was lying in the sand. They made to continue onwards when a hand shot up from one of them and grabbed S'eni's ankle.
"Help...us..." it blubbered forth from a shapeless mouth. "T-Tired...so...tired..."
The grip on her leg faded and the creature went slack, finally succumbing. S'eni stared at it, her eyes wide. The fluttering of wings entered her ears, followed by the weight of a bird settling down on her shoulder.
"The will to live only made things worse..." Meteion said and turned her beak up ahead, where a seashell was lying, clean of any sort of pollution. Walking over to it, S'eni picked it up and a voice began to resonate from within.
"What a cruel question, little bird. You want us, whose bodies are marked by scars, whose blood had long since turned bitter, to tell you about the meaning of life?" the voice asked. "But if it is an answer you want, you should know about the dark path we have walked. We sought prosperity, and there was none greater than our children. For them, we did everything. That was before we mastered fire, and from its flames, created steel. We became addicted to the dark metal, because it granted us the power to rule over others..."
The voice faded and Meteion took off, flying further ahead. S'eni looked to the others, their faces darkened by the words they had just heard, and then placed the shell back down. With a somber nod, she gestured for them to follow their little guide.
After having to battle against a few more of these poor souls, begging to be killed, they arrived at a small city situated above the dark sea. Its buildings were made out of giant shells, and she was sure that once upon a time, this place must have been beautiful. A time before the streets had been littered with corpses.
Flying down from atop a nearby building, Meteion fluttered in front of them. "Eventually, their wrath was no longer aimed at the illness itself, but at the sick instead," she explained and spun around to look towards the group of inhabitants down the street. They were gathered around one of their own, lying on the ground and quaking in fear, hurling insults at the person.
"What a sad sight..." Y'shtola said with a sigh. "Nothing but suffering. And the Meteia had to witness it all."
Meteion flew away and more of the transformed sick appeared, scattering the group in every direction as they fled from their 'unclean' brethren, before deciding to go for the new arrivals instead. After putting them out of their misery as well, they ventured deeper into town. It was eerily quiet, no more further signs of life crossing their path. Just as they reached the end of the road, leading to a small bridge that was barred by a gate, S'eni noticed another shell lying not far from her and she headed over to pick it up.
"One day, we discovered that our world was far smaller than we thought. Furthermore, we discovered that we were lacking fertile soil for our children to grow. Even the ocean, which we thought endless, proved to be little more than a pitiful puddle, its waters poisoned by iron and other elements that we wrested from the earth. Soon after, this poison devoured all we held dear. Our children became sick, and our power lost all meaning. So listen well, little bird, this is our answer: life is little more than a death sentence. The more one yearns for it, the more agonizing one's end will be. It is a path full of pain and suffering until the release of death."
A metallic ring echoed through the air and the gate opened. The shell within her hand crumbled into dust, then faded away like the voice it had carried.
Passing through the gate, they made their way over the bridge until they arrived at a platform at the center where an especially large specimen of one of the sick, towering above them in size and covered from head to toe in festering growths on its necrotic skin. It walked around aimlessly, looking around blindly and calling out, "Where...is...everyone? Help...please...help."
"It's blocking our way," Alisaie said, eyes filled with pity at this sight.
"And Meteion is waiting just on the other side," Thancred added. His eyes then narrowed and he gripped his Gunblade tight. "We've got no time to waste. I suggest we split up, a few of us stay here, while the rest go on ahead."
"Then I shall lend thee my aid," Urianger said. "Let it be mine magicks that dispels the poison from their body."
"Hmm. I'll stay too then," Estinien said.
S'eni looked at the three of them and gave them a nod. "Alright. Be careful, and no heroic sacrifices, you hear?"
All three just smiled, before rushing towards their foe. Swinging his Gunblade in an upward arc, Thancred pulled the trigger and sent a small wave of aether flying into festering flesh, its sound serving as their signal to run. While the battle was raging behind them, they reached the other end of the bridge where Meteion's bird form was hovering over a lone body, an aura of deep sadness surrounding her.
"In the end, the last soul spoke: If only I had never been born..." The air behind her rippled and distorted, forming a portal through which she flew. They all shared a look, and stepped through...
...and emerged in a war zone. Shouting and gunfire pervaded the air, accompanied by the sounds of explosions near and far. But even through this cacophony of battle, her ears managed to make out a very telltale sound. Her eyes widened. "Get down!"
Immediately, they dove into a nearby crater, just in time to avoid getting blasted to kingdom come by a projectile hitting the ground where they had just stood. After the last of the debris had rained down on them, S'eni and the others slowly crawled out and saw Meteion standing near the edge. She turned her head to where a squad of soldiers, dressed in armor that appeared to be more advanced than anything even the Allagans produced, was running towards a row of barricades.
"On another star, sickness and plague had been successfully eradicated by technological progress," she explained. "But the lives saved that way soon fell victim to the flames of war."
They watched as the squad was obliterated by a hail of rockets, taking out a good chunk of the barricade as well. Wordlessly, Meteion took to the air and flew right into the heart of battle. Taking that as their cue, they followed.
Sending out his Nouliths, Alphinaud provided them with barriers that protected them from any stray shots that were whizzing past whenever they didn't have a burned-out wreck of a war machine to use as cover. They hurried down the battlefield as fast as they could, eventually arriving at the next layer of barricades, where a lone soldier was firing at a group of machines before slipping back into cover to dodge the incoming salvos that forced S'eni and the others to slide behind the barricade as well. The soldier cursed, reloading his rifle, then turned towards them.
"You there! Give me some cover," he said and raised his hand to point to the far left. "See that ladder over there?"
She was surprised at first, not expecting to be directly addressed by this living memory, but slowly peaked over the barricade. Indeed, there was a ladder there. "Yeah."
"It leads to our objective. If I can reach it we can put an end to all this. But those bots are blocking the way." Swerving her gaze to the right, she saw the machines, quadripedal in nature, scanning the area. More importantly, though, she spotted Meteion's bird form behind them. Looked like they needed to fight, either way.
"Alright, we'll cover you," she said and gave a signal to the others. As Y'shtola and Alisaie began to prepare their spells, S'eni looked at the soldier. "On three. One...two...three!"
Getting out from behind cover, Y'shtola and Alisaie sent their spells flying, while the rest of them jumped over the barricade and rushed towards the machines. "For the Community!" the soldier shouted and made a break for the ladder.
As she reached the first of the machines, S'eni jumped on top of it, taking hold of the upper part of its "maw" and pulling back with all her might. Sparks began to fly as she tore it off and exposed the wiring underneath, before plunging her fist inside and tearing it all out. The machine buckled once, then collapsed on the ground. Getting up from it, she immediately went after the next.
After a couple of intense minutes, all the machines were lying on the ground in various states of destruction, and she found herself offering a silent thank you to Cid and even Omega for the knowledge they had imparted to her. But there was little time to rest on these laurels when, soon after, a wall exploded next to where Meteion was waiting for them. She wasn't phased in the least as she spoke, "The pursuit of freedom and happiness eventually led to resentment and murder."
With those words, she fluttered away. As they made to follow, S'eni noticed a strange-looking pad lying on the ground. Just like the shells it seemed to be impervious to what was going on. And just like them, she suspected it held additional information as to what had happened here. Walking over, she picked it up and a voice began to speak.
"Angel from across the stars. Your appearance to us is proof that we of the Global Community are on the righteous path! Under the pretext of freedom, the 'Freedom Fighters' have plunged our world into chaos. It is time to bring down the hammer of justice upon them. It is our duty to unite the world and lead it into everlasting peace. For too long has our world, our people, been fractured. We have argued, fought, and killed. But soon, the unity, the peace, we have so longed for will be ours!"
The voice faded in a wave of applause that was soon drowned out by the sounds of war around them. She put the pad away and G'raha looked around. "Someone must have tried to prevent this," he said. "I can't believe everyone would just agree to this!"
"If there were, they did not succeed." Alphinaud frowned. "Let's proceed. That is all we can do."
Continuing onward, they headed further across the battlefield, fighting against more of the machines and even other soldiers that must have been part of this Freedom Fighter faction the voice had spoken of. At least that is what she assumed from the slightly different armor they wore and the fervent desire to see them dead. They eventually reached a path that led to an elevated position, overlooking much of the area, and found Meteiom seated atop a small rock. Her eyes were drawn to the sight below.
"The weapons that were meant to bring an end to the conflict, ended up delivering the killing blow," she told them and S'eni looked down at the chaos of the battlefield. Soldiers of both sides were pinned down, picked off one by one in a hail of gunfire. Buildings being blown up, trapping those that didn't perish in the initial attack under the rubble. Those were just two of the things she saw playing out down there. But there was something else she noticed. The machines were attacking everyone indiscriminately. When she turned to ask Meteion, she found her gone and another pad having taken her place. She picked it up.
"Angel from beyond the stars. To put an end to the bloodshed and, at long last, unite our world, the engineers of the Global Community created the Peacekeepers. Supported by an artificial intelligence, they were to bring peace with cold and calculated precision. But the machines came to the conclusion that all life stands in the way of peace and turned against us. The 10000 units have become unstoppable, routing everyone that stands in their way. We have only one choice left: to deploy our most devastating armaments against them, despite the devastating costs. May fate be merciful on our souls..."
The sound of an engine made S'eni look ahead, where a far larger machine than the previous ones was landing on a burned and rusted platform that looked like it had been slapped into this place. Perhaps the remains of a base, not that it really mattered. Feeling the pad crumble within her hand, she tossed it away and began walking over to the platform.
"This must be one of those Peacekeepers, then," Alisaie said when they came to a stop. She scanned the area, eyebrows furrowing momentarily. "Not a lot of maneuverability...very well."
The young Elezen nodded and looked towards S'eni. "I'll stay behind with Alphinaud and Raha, you and Y'shtola go on ahead."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Of course, or else I wouldn't suggest it." Alisaie punched her palm and the other two voiced their agreement. "This place is ruled by emotions too, so that thing is going to stand no chance. But Thancred is right, we have to hurry. I'm sure you noticed by now, but Meteion..."
"...Yeah, I know." The further they were traveling, the darker Meteion's appearance became. The hopeful blue that had been so reminiscent of the time in Elpis was almost a solid black. With an exhale, she turned to Y'shtola. "Just you and me, then."
"Given our vast talents, I believe we should be able to handle it," her lover said, offering her an encouraging smile, then looked at their friends. "Godsspeed. We'll see you at the end."
The three of them nodded, brandished their weapons, and charged at the Peacekeeper. Y'shtola and her exchanged a look and, waiting for the right opportunity, nd made a break for it. They ran down a long path, leading down towards a cliff where a single console was located; together with a certain soldier. He was typing something into it, stopping just as they came to a halt.
"If we destroy them we can finally know peace!" He slammed his fist on the large button at the lower right corner. Sirens began to blare in the distance, and a series of lights turned on, revealing rows upon rows of canons in the valley below. Their size was unlike any weapon S'eni had ever seen before. "...May the gods have mercy on our souls."
In unison, the canons rose into position and, with a deafening boom, fired. She could only watch in pure horror as the city that covered the horizon was turned into a sea of flames. There was no way anyone would have survived that. Twelve forfend...
Her eyes went to the soldier, who numbly walked backwards, before dropping to the ground and gripping his head. Meteion landed before him, tilting her little bird head. "In the end, the last survivor spoke: if only we had never become so powerful."
Another portal opened, and once again, Meteion flew through it. S'eni remained standing there for a brief moment, taking in the destruction before her, until Y'shtola's hand on her shoulder drew her out of her thoughts. She gave the other Miqo'te a silent nod, and they followed Meteion...
...to this time arrive in the midst of a beautiful field, vast and golden, and she gasped out when she cast her gaze further into the distance. There, standing against the backdrop of a breathtaking starry sky, was a giant tree, its bark a brilliant white and its leaves a shimmering blue. She leaned down to pluck a flower from the ground.
"It's so...peaceful," she said.
"Indeed. Hard to believe that these would be the last days of a world." Y'shtola looked around and pointed ahead. "There, those appear to be buildings."
"Hmm, yeah." They were kind of hard to make out, but those were definitely buildings. She dropped the flower. "Let's go. Maybe we can find Meteion there."
And indeed they did, fluttering in mid-air not far from a small crowd of people. Dressed in robes as white as the nearby buildings and the tree's bark, their appearance was entirely obscured by masked cowls. It eerily reminded her of the Ancients back home.
"Look, Meteion's body is entirely dark now," Y'shtola pointed out a in low voice. It stood out all the more in this bright environment.
"We should stay cautious. Anything could happen," S'eni said and they came to a stop near Meteion.
Noticing them, the little bird turned around and began the tale of this star. "On yet another planet, there was a civilization that left all conflict behind."
A bright, golden light drew S'eni's attention away from Meteion and towards the being that appeared in front of the crowd. Its body looked like that of a gryphon, covered almost entirely in golden scales, while magnificent feathers formed into wings that were attached to its horned, femine head. Many in the crowd who had otherwise stood around rather passively, were raising their hands and began to chant.
It beheld them with its golden eyes, before rearing up on its hind legs. The large ornament held between its horns emitted a blinding light and multiple people from within the crowd simply evaporated into nothing. The entire process took nothing more than a second, and no sooner did the being's forelegs touch the ground again, did it turn around and leap away. Those from the crowd, who were still left standing, returned to simply passively standing around, some mumbling amongst themselves.
"What in the hells...?" she wondered aloud, mouth agape at what they had just witnessed.
"But in the pursuit of wisdom and rationality, they lost the appreciation for life. The beginning of the end..." Meteion replied and flew off, following the creature.
"I can see where this is going," Y'shtola said, hands on her hips while looking towards one of the inhabitants.
"The heart has fallen silent..." he muttered.
"Me too." Still, Meteion wished for them to witness this, so S'eni began to walk. It quickly became apparent that this entire area appeared to be a series of floating landmasses, connected with one another via the roots of the giant tree. Below them, the sight was far less magical, all land that wasn't connected to the tree having grown desolate. Yet, the people they came across did not care, instead, they simply stood or sat about, with little to no motivation.
"O, beautiful voice, let it all fade away," she heard one of them say as they arrived on a small island connecting two larger ones. They found pretty much the same sight as everywhere else here, until, out of seemingly nowhere, two pretty butterflies appeared. A couple of these people picked up on them and, with a sick sort of delight in their voices, approached them.
"Golden butterfly, let it all end..." one said before evaporating and being consumed by it. His fellow shared much the same fate. Then, the butterflies turned their attention towards them.
"Shtola!"
"Already ahead of you!" Y'shtola replied, swinging her staff around and sending out a swift ice spell that froze the insects solid. They dropped to the ground, leaving them as easy pickings for S'eni to finish them off. As their bodies broke apart, the essence of those they had consumed was released and drifted away until nothing was left. Those of the inhabitants that remained did not react, trapped not only in their roles but also in their apathy.
This very same sight would repeat a couple of more times until they finally found Meteion, seated on the backrest of a bench next to one of the cloaked people. Following the silent invitation, S'eni sat down on the free spot and, soon after, a voice filled the quiet. "Once upon a time, a bird from the stars arrived, asking us: What is the meaning of life? Why do you exist? These questions filled me with a sense of nostalgia and bittersweet memories," it said in a reminiscing tone. "For there was once a time when we were still imperfect, searching for this selfsame meaning and the reason for our existence. Now, I understand that these questions hold no meaning. Still, I answered the bird, yet it did not understand, no matter how many times I repeated my words."
S'eni rose back to her feet and faced Meteion. The little bird held her gaze for a few long seconds, before taking to the sky. The words that trailed after her held almost the same glee as those of the people that were consumed. "With grief and suffering vanquished, the joy for life lost all meaning."
"So with nothing else left, they began to seek oblivion," she said, looking over to the next isle where another crowd had gathered in front of the being from earlier, and the very same spectacle repeated.
"I have to wonder." Y'shtola gently rapped her knuckles against her cheek. "Could this be...?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "I think so, too."
"I suppose we shall find the answer soon enough."
They followed Meteion, their path leading them closer and closer to the tree. From afar, S'eni could see something that she assumed to be some sort of shrine or perhaps a garden, but whatever it was, a sizable crowd had gathered there. Just as they reached the isle leading to said place, the reminiscing voice returned, echoing from people around them.
"We were aware of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, of course. But for beings that attained immortality, the question about the meaning of life had become irrelevant. There was no reason for us to continue eternal life in a finite universe, and thus we decided to call forth Ra-la and bring about the complete cessation of our existence."
As the voice fell silent, the people turned to ash and scattered in the soft breeze. So her assumption was right. This creature, this Ra-la, was some sort of primal born out of their desire for death. And as they had witnessed, it was all too eager to grant it to them.
Y'shtola and her looked up towards the crowd, both of their eyes narrowing knowing what awaited them, and hurried over. They were greeted almost by the same spectacle as earlier, with the crowd holding their hands up. Ra-la looked upon them...and smiled. Butterflies blinked into existence and fluttered over to the crowd, the flap of their wings heralding oblivion to every last one of these people as they began to consume them one by one, until none were left.
"A painless end, as if drifting off into blissful sleep," Meteion's voice echoed from somewhere, and Ra-la fixed its golden eyes on the two of them, silently promising the sweetest of ends.
S'eni simply cracked her knuckles. "An extraetheirycal primal. Can't say that was ever on my personal list of things."
"Extra—did you just make up a word?" Y'shtola asked in dry amusement, adjusting her sleeves a little.
"Better to start now so that all scholars in the future know what term to use."
"You are more likely to find it used in some periodical rag instead."
S'eni just offered her lover a smile, before vanishing and reappearing in front of Ra-la, slamming her fist into its torso. The sudden impact caused it to stumble, leaving it open enough for further blows. She was just raising her leg for a kick when a sudden swipe of its tail sent her flying back with a surprised yelp.
A bolt of lightning flew past her, hitting Ra-la straight in the head, and she felt herself be caught by a gust of wind. As she landed back on the ground, she saw Y'shtola conjure up sharp icicles that she hurled towards Ra-la with a flick of her wrist. Most of them shattered against its scales, while one struck true, lodging itself into softer scales around the neck.
Letting out a far too melodious howl, Ra-la rushed towards Y'shtola, raising one of its claws. S'eni immediately bridged the gap between them, a bright flash surrounding her momentarily upon reappearing, and she raised her Gunblade just in time to deflect the swipe. Swinging the blade downward, she pulled the trigger, adding enough force to her attack to leave a clear gash in Ra-la's scales, followed by her ducking out of the way at the water spell colliding with it.
They continued to attack it in perfect unison, each attack followed by a spell, forcing Ra-la on the defensive, until a bright light from the ornament forced them to shield their eyes. When she lowered her hand, she saw one of the primal's wings was beginning to glow and she tackled Y'shtola to the side just in time to avoid a wave of energy that swept across a large part of the area.
"Too close for comfort," she muttered while they both got back up, raising her weapon to prepare for the next assault. But instead of attacking them, Ra-la began to jump around, leaving butterflies in its wake. S'eni was confused at first until she noticed their strange glow. "Shit!"
They both raised their arms, forming a barrier that protected them from the released energy as the butterflies exploded. Once the dust had settled though, they saw that Ra-la had already summoned more of them, prepared to end what it perceived as their suffering. This was taking too much time. They needed to finish this—
Her lips curled upwards.
—and she might just know how. "Shtola. I've got a plan."
"I'm listening," Y'shtola said and, after hearing what she had in mind, mirrored her expression. "Alright, let's try that. You'll need to get its attention though."
"Don't worry. I will, you just create me an opening."
The other Miqo'te simply raised her staff, already crackling with destructive arcane energy. As soon as the barrier came down, S'eni rushed over to Ra-la at top speed. The butterflies immediately moved to intercept her, when the air above them began to ripple and expand into an explosion of pure destructive heat, setting them all ablaze. Ra-la itself was only briefly fazed by this, but it was still long enough for S'eni to jump into the air and bring down her Gunblade in one explosive strike upon the ornament, shattering it to pieces and taking a good chunk of one horn with it.
That was enough to finally break the perpetual serene expression on Ra-la's face and turn it into a grimace of anger. Good. With a smirk, S'eni ran away, and Ra-la wasted no time to give chase.
For the next couple of seconds, they played this little game of cat and mouse, buying Y'shtola enough time to put the next phase of her plan into motion. "Now!"
S'eni came to an abrupt halt when, from one second to the next, a domed barrier formed around Ra-la, trapping it inside. A brief flash surrounded her as her Gunblade was replaced by her gauntlets once more, and she exploded forwards, right into the barrier. Fist connecting with the primal's face, she immediately zipped away, only to strike next from the left, then from the right, using the magical walls as leverage for a hail of blows that her adversary couldn't possibly defend against.
With every strike, she ascended higher, until she was directly above it. Planting her feet against the roof of the dome, she pushed herself off with all her might. "Enough with you!"
Her fist came down upon Ra-la's head with a resounding crack, causing it to twist around 180° from the sheer force of it. It blinked once, twice, visible confusion on its angel-like face. Its lips parted...and it collapsed to the ground right behind S'eni.
She exhaled through her nose and rose back to her feet as the barrier vanished. Walking over to Y'shtola, she exchanged a small smile with her. Her lips parted to say something, when a voice calling out to them made them look towards the direction they came from, where Alisaie was raising her hand in a wave while the other followed close after.
"Hey!" S'eni called back, glad to see everyone in one piece, and the two of them moved to meet up with their friends.
"Hmm, looks like you two didn't need any help after all," Alisaie said, looking over to the body of Ra-la as it was beginning to burst into dark mist.
"And you all seem to have managed alright as well," she replied, her smile growing...
...only to fall as her eyes spotted Meteion's fluttering form, appearing almost like a moving shadow now. Mist seeped from within her and the area around them slowly withered away, becoming nothing but ash. Her eyes widened when a faint sound in the distance invaded her ears, and a quick glance over to G'raha and Y'shtola showed the same reaction on their faces. Turning around, she looked out into the star-speckled horizon.
It was beginning...
...every word on our hearts engraved!
So I swore myself to feature at least one dungeon in full within this fic, so what better than to use this one?
Also, anyone who recognizes by what the S'eni and Y'shtola team attack was inspired by gets an imaginary cookie.
See ya next week!