"Kill one of our own, can you believe it? I certainly can't," Eraanel supported his back against a tree, Piki ran around his legs, digging a small hole here and there, as if searching for her home, only to remind herself that it's better to make use of her master's heat. Eraanel extended his hand, letting Piki climb up on his shoulder, his only eye forcing his head to move with more extremity looking around. He then let Piki climb back down his arm, aiding her with the smallest of movements. Piki then went around the tree, Salvete listening in a frown on the other side, her eyes fixated on the ground, while her mind was preoccupied with the recent actions Manna took. "Although I don't like how you behave around Manna, we're still siblings, and we still care for each other, don't we?"
It was undeniable to their inherent nature that they cared for each other, even if disagreements, conflicts and even hate may form between them. They were made from the same matter, thoughts tied with flesh just the same, no different. Their years that they've spent on Erta so far, were always next to each other, rarely alone. Thus a bond unshaken, unbroken no matter what they did, formed. It wasn't something that time would change. It wouldn't reinforce nor weaken it. Something which has been as strong as it could be since the day they met one another. For these reasons, it was harder for Salvete to think on what must be done in order to prevent any further loss.
"So you're finally agreeing that Manna is not fit to lead?" Salvete asked with snark, an awkward smile on her face, trying to make the conversation less tense. Eraanel didn't respond in any way, not even his glow or eyes reacted to it, he didn't have an answer. "I'm just jesting... you know, like we used to?". She looked at their group, everyone preparing to leave, letting Felemous' group get the lead, so they could follow up. Her eyes were begging for him to be angry, even though they didn't see each other. It hasn't been long since they left the Link, yet with everything that happened, those years which they spent isolated in that frozen place, seemed like mere moments compared to the past weeks.
"Jesting," Eraanel repeated, "I wonder if there will ever be another time for us to enjoy ourselves like that.". His words made Salvete feel a piercing pain in her chest. In spite of everything, she didn't want her, them, to change in such a way. "But we must not think of whether we can fool around like we used to. Not now, not with him out there, the lives of our siblings at the mercy of his hands," his skin's glow shifted, the anger building inside him whenever he thought of Orvus. "Manna, our sister, thinks more with her body, than her mind, much like you and me," he calmed himself, the glow of his body tempered, yet it withheld some of its stinginess. "Felemous is trying to find the logic behind Orvus' actions, while there is none, that much I and you can tell.".
"Can I?" Salvete turned her head towards her left, to make her voice better heard. "How are we two, hunters by nature, supposed to tell whether or not his actions possess logic?" she was trying to argue in vain, her mind was set the same way as Eraanel's since before Orvus ran off and killed their siblings. Though, she still didn't want to accept it fully.
"Talking of jesting, right?" Eraanel responded, his sarcasm unwelcomed in the current discussion. Salvete's skin glow pulsated in anger for a few moments, an utmost rare sight for her who prides herself in her hiding skills. "But yes, you can, and there is no point denying it. From one hunter to another, I can tell that also," he leaned forward, took his back off the tree and circled to where Salvete was, looking at her with his light imbued eye. "Not to mention this. I can see your light fluttering, shifting with your words. I can tell when you lie to me, or even you-" a slap came across Eraane's face before he could finish. Some of their siblings nearby took notice, but didn't give it much attention.
"Do not think you know it all just because you can see more than us!" Salvete snapped at him, her eyes flickering with sparks from within. Eraanel felt the sting of the slap deep inside his flesh. "I know what must be done and what I will have to do, but don't think you can understand me just by looking inside of my light, Eraanel.". Salvete reprimanded him, then took him by the chin, he stood with his face turned, still a bit in shock from the slap. She then pointed his eye upon her body and said, "Well? Now look, do you see me lying brother?!". Her resolution was undeniable, not the slightest waver in her flow. Eraanel couldn't tell, even with his eye, if it was due to her impeccable control over the light flow, or because she actually understood what must be done. Either way, he wouldn't push this further.
"That's all I needed to know," Eraanel responded, rubbing his right cheek with one hand and taking Salvete's hand off his face with the other. "If your will-" he paused a bit, saw her frowning, then continued "given that your will is as ironed as you make it out to be," her frown ceased, "then keep in mind what Orvus is capable of. Do not try to engage him alone. Last time you only got the jump on him because he lost himself in the dispute with Manna. But now that he had time to think and focus, you know very well how cautious he can be to his environment.".
Salvete puffed, crossed her arms with a sense of pride. "I'm a hunter, the killer which takes the life of both prey and predator. I never underestimate that which I hunt... even if it's my brother," her gaze went down a moment, then up again. She pressed her hands on the daggers and activated her ability, her presence couldn't be felt anymore, only her eyes barely betrayed her appearance, her clothes and body were covered in all the little things inside the Gargantuan Forest. Piki poked her head from between the pelts and Salvete's skin, sniffing the air around her like she usually does. Salvete carefully picked her up and handed her to Eraanel. "Just in case, you know, anything happens.".
"It is why you're going, so that must happen will happen, and which mustn't, won't," Eraanel said firmly, taking Piki and placing her at his back, between his own pelts. He only looked for a moment at Piki, then met Salvete's eyes once more. "If Felemous will fail, which is likely, kill him sister, end his madness before it's too late," Eraanel almost commanded her, she didn't like it, but she could tell from his eye, even the empty socket of the other, that this pained him to say.
"I will, brother, for our siblings, and our future," Salvete promised, her eyes filled with determination, no hint of hesitation. Eraanel felt that from her, his eye affirming her will, which Felemous didn't possess when he left. He still didn't like it that he couldn't confront Orvus directly, though, it would unlikely that he could match Orvus' strength, he still wanted to at least punch him in the face, beat him back to his senses. Even though it was too late for any of that.
1 day later
Felemous' group spread in a wide formation, travelling during the late sun mainly, and half the early sun. Gilaate, the one which Melionus aptly nicknamed 'sparkling feet', returned from making the report to the rest of the group, Felemous' group resting. Behind her, a faint trail of burnt snow, grass and ground could be seen. Her feet, barren as they were, let go of the light that made them erupt with sparkles. Once the light surged back throughout her body, she strapped some leather in place of boots, she was really conscious of her feet, especially when her siblings mainly focused on them when she activated her ability.
"Anything of importance from Manna and the others?" Felemous started asking her, barely letting her catch her breath. Gillate had yet to catch her breath, puffing and huffing. So she took one deep breath, and it calmed pretty fast. She put a hand on her back, checking out of a small habit she formed the shield. The others, except for Felemous who didn't have one, kept them strapped to their backs as well, precious objects which they cared for.
"No, just the usual," Gilaate was short in her response, which was in her nature, but Felemous could tell she was thinking, probably forgetting something.
"Just the usual, you say," Felemous intoned, he lifted himself off the ground where he was resting, thinking of what to say to Orvus. "Are you certain of it?" he could tell she wasn't. He had to shake her memories a bit. Felemous, spending time with Orvus, had a bit of depth of knowledge when it came to the light. So given that when one enhances a part of their body, the other parts have to give up a measure of their light, it could mean that, in the case of Gilaate, those sections function slower or subpar.
Gilaate pondered a bit, holding her chin with her hand. Then, with widened eyes and a gasp, she said "Yes! There was more. Salvete, she apparently disappeared.". 'Nothing of importance then,' Felemous wrongly assumed. He was thinking that she must've ventured around once more, study the environment and chase some wild critters. It was this logical thinking that narrowed his vision at times. "Are we going to do something about it?" Gilaate asked of Felemous, as if they could do anything.
"How far away are we from them?" Felemous asked, seeming oblivious to her question.
"About a sun. If we start running again, we'll make it two by the next early sun," Gilaate approximated, her skills in distance second to none.
Felemous thought a bit on it with closed eyes, so he could come up with an answer as fast as possible by enhancing his mind. His right arm massaged his forehead, to alleviate some of the strain manifested through headaches. "We will spend the remaining early sun here," he announced in a firm voice to all other five of them. "They will spend the late sun resting, they won't be able to close in the distance too much, thus we might create too much of a distance and strain you Gilaate too much," they all nodded in agreement to his words, except for Hargitus, Gialate simply listened. "Also, Gilaate," he fixed her with his eyes. "There's nothing we can do about Salvete, she's probably just running around the forest, catching some more of those burapikas and other small critters," he responded to her question, satisfying her wonder.
"We still haven't caught a trail of Orvus, and the more we rest, the more he has time to prepare," Hargitus protested, his eyes looking at the ground, not meeting Felemous'. "Even if we disrupt our chain of communication, shouldn't we prioritise finding him over everything?".
Felemous turned to his right, Hargitus standing down with his back at a tree, a frown following him. "Don't be foolish, brother. This is no mere scuffle between us siblings, this is a hunt," Felemous reminded him.
"Then all the more reason to pursue without stopping, that's how we hunters do it," Hargitus responded with pride, meeting Felemous' gaze, a fierce look in Hargitus' eyes.
Felemous sensed the hatred around him. It wasn't aimed at him, but he whom they hunted. This is the effect which Manna placed over them, something which he feared, thus why he didn't want to break the chain of communication. If they were to capture Orvus, they wouldn't have time to plot a scheme to kill him before Manna arrives. This hatred was a useful thing if need came to be, at that point though, it could prove an impediment. Felemous knew he had to tread carefully, he just didn't know how.
"I'm in charge of this group, Hargitus," Felemous had to use his authority, where his mind couldn't figure a proper way to deal with it, at least, an unenhanced mind. Hargitus frowned, then scoffed at Felemous. Authority was something which, since Kilon, the Lightborn didn't want to contest, for it proved to be good against adversity. Felemous turned to his left, "And what I say," then to his right again, "must be obeyed.". "Unless," his eyes squinted slightly, the corner of his mouth went up in a smile a bit, "one of you wants to take charge.". Felemous knew this behaviour was unbecoming of a leader, but he didn't have anything to rebound from, it wasn't often when he led a group afterall.
"Tsk. Fine, do as you want. But when we meet with Orvus," Hargitus gave Felemous a terrible look, made his light waver, "I swore by the deaths of our siblings that I will plunge my spear through his chest.". There was silence amongst them for a few moments, though, Felemous could tell the rest of them reciprocated that feeling. Prior to this, he was too preoccupied in his confusion to realise how these premeditated murders by Orvus, after the Frozen Passage, must've felt to all of them. Perhaps a good portion of the Lightborn already were coming to terms with his mistake, but after what he has done, it wouldn't be wrong of them to think that maybe he led them in the Shivering Lands simply to kill them all. While it was generally agreed that he must've gone insane after that incident, some doubt was growing in a few Lightborn, something which would be most detrimental. Their trust is not something they take with kind when broken, not when their lives depend on that trust.
"Rest everyone, we will leave by the next early sun," and maybe we will find out our brother is not the monster we think he is, is what Felemous would've liked to say to them, yet he couldn't, not then, when their emotions were at an all time high.
The sun started to set, the forest getting enveloped by a deep darkness. There, deeper into the forest, more life could be seen and found. Burapikas were seen more often digging around, while wopede parasites were less and less. Instead, something which they named crown stompers, could be heard at night. These animals lived high up in the trees, within the crown of a tree, thus the name. The second part of the name was due to their extremely aggressive nature. These tree stompers would crash from far above into whatever threatened to climb their home tree. This was noticed by Vaalria, a Lightborn sister with a slightly red glow, when running through the forest on her portions. One such tree stomper, crashed and crushed a wopede parasite that was looking for a new home inside the forest. The power of the crash split the parasite into two, while the tree stomper simply jumped back onto the tree and climbed up. The whole group has been made aware of it and have watched upwards so these creatures won't kill them. They learned, through caution, that as long as they didn't make any loud sounds, they wouldn't catch the attention of these crown stompers.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Once night fully enveloped them, only the light of their skin lit the environment around them. Stars were blocked by trees all around, while nothing in this forest didn't dare to illuminate itself. There were only the common hot mushrooms, growing from the roots below the ground of the trees, that emanated a slight red glow through their translucent tops, that carelessly made itself known to the forest. During the late sun, only one at a time was allowed to pray or rest, the others kept watch all around. At times, they would cast faint rays of light between the trees from the palms of their hands. This would allow them to spot anything trying to lurk or pounce them. It was a tactic they used back in the Shivering Lands, though, they would cast a surrounding light, much like Kilon did, so they could see all around them. That modified into a more smart and efficient method, especially in an environment where light bounced between everything.
During the night, nothing seemed to unfold, although Bustomus could swear he saw something 'within' a tree. Bustomus was one of the largest Lightborn in a warm, orange glow, only a bit shorter than Felemous himself, while being more 'bulky' for a Lightborn. Felemous told him to point where he saw that 'something', but when they inspected, nothing came of it. They both agreed that he must've seen the shadows moving from them casting rays of light. Yet Bustomus could still 'feel' something watching his back, his neck. Everytime he would look back, though, nothing. His worry grew, as he thought that whatever insanity cursed Orvus, might've afflicted him as well. He checked time and time again, even with his senses enhanced, nothing he could feel directly, more like, a stalking presence.
Felemous noticed the distress Bustomus felt around him, and it made the others uneasy. He wasn't sure how to deal with this, but it had to stop before it affected them to a degree where they would strain themselves. Once they travelled the whole early sun, running at a good speed, Felemous wanted them to rest for half of the late sun. The other group being only one sun behind and moving through the late sun so they could explore at a better pace. Felemous used a bit of this time to enhance his mind with the light and think of possible solutions.
After not so long, a plan crossed his mind. While Bustomus rested, as well as he could given his paranoia, Felemous proposed a plan to the others. "We will prove to him that nothing is following us," Felemous whispered to his siblings, ensuring he couldn't be heard by Bustomus who was still agitated.
"What if he's right? We don't know what Orvus has been up to these past few days," Manaam added, her slightly yellow glow shifting a bit with her words, insecurity. The other seemed to agree, not Hargitus however.
"Neither does Orvus," Hargitus pronounced. "We've been running without a trail for the past few days, exploring ground in a single direction. Our duty is to ensure a path for the group behind and deal with Orvus if we catch a trail of him," Felemous looked with wonder at Hargitus, who captured more of their purpose than it was led to be believed. "I find it unlikely that someone of Orvus' intellect will keep running in the same direction, or rather, assume that we've been running in the same direction," Felemous couldn't put it better.
"Precisely," Felemous intervened. "If I am to know Orvus, and I know him plenty, he will probably think that we either haven't dared venture into the forest, or that we split into more, larger groups to cover ground. He would be on the lookout for such groups, for more than a hundred could deal with him," in Felemous' mind it made more sense for Orvus to hide, run further away. Never would it cross his mind that he would try to attack them while at an overwhelming disadvantage, not after he ran away from the battle with the monster.
"Which means," Gilaate intruded, "that we can safely assume Orvus is too much of a coward to show up. Is that about right?". Her words managed a couple small smiles and a giggle, while Felemous stood with his face still and silent.
"Then, what's the plan, brother? How do we shake the tremor off of Bustomus," Hargitus wanted to get to the point, impatient, wanting to deal with it and move on to the more pressing matters.
Felemous told them that he wanted to show Bustomus, in a surefire way, that there is nothing following them. They would do this by climbing up into the trees, moving between them, as Bustomus would be left alone on the ground, so that whatever he thought followed them, could have him for itself all alone. This would both ensure he is safe at all times, while taking care of his paranoia. They all found it sound and solid. By the time half of the late sun went by, when they had to leave, they went up to him and told him of this idea, except the part where they all believed it was nothing. He didn't like it at first, but if something was truly following him, it would show up when all alone, and if it didn't, he was paranoid for nothing, which was better than looking over his shoulder all the time.
As discussed, they did so. They all went up into the trees, making almost no sounds, to not wake up any tree stompers, and left Bustomus all alone. Their glow was managed through a careful allowance of light flow, making them slower but less visible, dirt and a bit of snow, which they managed through a bit of water manipulation. Their steps were covered at times by wind gusts, to soften the landing. Bustomus also made himself more alluring, letting his light flow as it wanted throughout his body, his orange glow almost palpable even from some distance.
With everything in place, the others could only smile, thinking how relieved and ashamed he must feel once they reveal to him that nothing, which they know of, could've stalked them so far. But those innocent thoughts didn't last long. Felemous was first to notice it, then the others who followed him behind.
It's large, long ears, the silver claws, the black fur barely visible even with Bustomus' glow touching it, taller than even Felemous, standing on its back legs and clutching the tree with its front ones, a shadow lurker watched Bustomus from behind a tree. They panicked. Seeing such a large, dangerous threat, mere metres away from Bustomus, while none, not even him, noticed it approaching. Just when it was close enough that Bustomus' glow could shine a strong enough light upon it. They still underestimated what this forest was capable to produce, they thought that the Shivering Lands produced dangers on par with the Frozen Side, not true. The Shivering Lands lacked a main aspect which the Frozen Side had plenty of: competition. Inside a place where life can latch onto something and thrive in the least, dangers beyond their mind can be produced.
"Bustomus, run!" Manaam shouted, panic overwhelmed her and let the shout resound throughout the dark forest. In this particular scenario, Felemous knew that the worst outcome occurred. From above, the leaves started to shuffle, they all knew what that meant. They were on different trees, so only two of them got struck, but that was still bad. Vaalria and Gilaate went down in a flash. Hargitus, Felemous and Manaam let the light course at full capacity throughout. The sudden surge after letting it barely go through, made it so that the light got expelled from their eyes, skin and fingers. Felemous already experienced handling more than his own light, so he was able to react much faster, transmuting his light into lightning, his right arm engulfed by electricity and his eyes letting sparks erupt violently.
"Hargitus! Manaam! After the others, I will aid Bustomus!" Felemous commanded in a flash, the other two struggling a bit to regain control of the light, but managing, jumping off the trees on gusts of winds. Felemous then assessed the situation with Bustomus, the beast already attacked him, some of his digits were missing from his left hand which held the shield in front of his body, his right side covered by his left hand, light getting out. At the time, Felemous didn't notice, but he started to produce arcs of electricity from the stump of his left arm, his dominant arm. His mind was enveloped by anger, further panic and desperation to save his brother.
The glow surrounding his body started to get enveloped by electricity, as the light tried to escape out of his body and was transmuted into lightning at the same time. He jumped off the tree, carried over by the wind with precision and finesse. The dozen metres that stood between him and Bustomus, were crossed over in an instant almost. Bustomus was breathing heavily, his body trying to seal off the wound and block the light from escaping, but he was enhancing himself with the light at the same time, which caused a contradictory reaction, where his body would attempt to regenerate, but the light would be too much to handle and escape. The shadow lurker stood in front of both of them, about ten metres away, looking from above at both of them as it stood on its back legs, showing its massive canines to inflict fear. Bustomus noticed Felemous getting by his injured side, though, he could only pay so much attention to his brother, given the threat in front of them.
Felemous enhanced his mind, allowing himself to think of what's possible and what's not. Escape wasn't an option, half of them injured, if not worse, and this animal which lurked into darkness for the past sun or more. Direct confrontation was something he wanted to avoid, Bustomus was in a bad condition, and this creature literally leaped at any opportunity. He was somewhat confident that he could incapacitate the shadow lurker, much like what he did with the wopede parasite. Issue was, he didn't know what else this one could do, for it was their first encounter with it. The uncertainties were building inside his mind, one after another, collapsing the thoughts of hope and courage.
Buth, within the few second it took him to think, Bustomus looked at him, could read the uncertainty on Felemous' face clear as it could be. 'This isn't the time for this,' Bustomus thought. He wasn't much of a thinker, he liked to hunt and deal with things head on. This time however, Felemous had to be the one dealing with things head on, and he the thinker. He took his hand away from his left side, let the shield get lower so he could reach for his scared brother. He placed his hand on Felemous' shoulder, the electricity making his hand do slight uncontrolled movements. Felemous snapped out of it, the light spread back into his body, looking at Bustomus who said "It is fine brother," his voice gentle, an awkward smile on his face, "you can trust me, I can protect myself.". Once he spoke those words, the shadow lurker leaped once more, the grey, shining claws, upon Bustomus in an instand. Felemous saw its movements almost as if time stopped, the lingering effect of the light enhancing his mind still present a bit, but his body couldn't react on time.
Bustomus, however, managed. He exposed his front on purpose, a plain and simple tactic, yet effective. His shield moved from his lower left, to the upper left, hitting the shadow lurker in its head, while it ripped a portion of his right arm right off. Felemous didn't have time to think or despair, he reacted, much like Bustomus wanted to. And, with his light surging as strong as it could, Felemous jumped onto the shadow lurker, grabbing at its fur and letting his electricity envelop it. For a few moments, an area of a dozen metres around them lit up and arcs of electricity flew in all directions.
Once it was incapacitated, Bustomus walked to it and cut open its throat. The animal struggled in vain, its muscles didn't obey it. "I told you... brother... you can trust-" Bustomus fell to the ground, Felemous couldn't see clearly or respond, the light has taken its toll on him. He could still think clearly, but his senses were cluttered. In his mind, he hoped that everyone would be alright. He took down the creature, and if the others were apt enough, the crown stompers should've been dealt with as well. What if they didn't though? His decision is what brought this upon them, didn't it? Orvus had done the same, took a decision which led to all of this. Manna too, she took a decision which led to further pain. 'Is this sinking feeling, this dread that envelops my soul, how they felt? How terrible!'.
His thoughts were interrupted by voices. He could hear once more, and his eyes started to open. He could feel something soft under him and a warm feeling surrounding his body. 'Is this... the Link? Have I died?' he wondered. But the voices, whose voices were they? They were really close to his ear, but going away, aimed to some other ones. Slowly, he opened his eyes. His head was hanging low, he could see what kept his bottom soft, it was the fur of the shadow lurker, the smell of burnt fat and blood still fresh. Looking to his left, Vaalria, to his right, Gilaate.
"Is this... am I dead... sisters?" he asked in a whisper almost. They both looked at him, smiles on their faces. Gilaate showed her right arm, bent the wrong way, downwards, Vaalria seemed fine, although her back had a different glow than the rest of the body.
"We aren't, brother," Hargitus lowered himself, their eyes met. Felemous started to regain all his senses, and looking around, he saw all of them. "Bustomus is still healing, but he should be up before the early sun is fully on the sky," Hargitus assured Felemous, the mission taking priority as usual.
"What about your arm then?" Felemous asked Gilaate as he grabbed it. She snapped her arm away, some anger on her face for his carelessness, followed by relief.
"I managed to move away from the crown stomper, but I couldn't surge my light properly, so it broke one of my arms," Gilaate told Felemous, waving her right arm in the air like some broken toy. "Vaalria said she will help me heal my hand, after she heals her back. She had it the worst, the crown stomper crushed her back and almost snapped her into two," she further explained to Felemous. Vaalria could replace or cover parts of body with the light itself, shaping it to an intricate level, thus being able to sustain major injuries and then manage to recover. This ability allowed for single injuries, no matter how grave, to be dealt with, the strain of the light, even if it enveloped her body, if sustained long enough to allow her body to heal, was worth having.
Next to Vaalria, Felemous saw Bustomus, in a sleep state. His right hand still missed the three digits ripped by the shadow lurker, while the missing part of his arm healed to some point. He recalled his words, "You can trust me, I can protect myself.". Felemous said aloud, the others confused. He laughed, slapped his thigh slightly, "I trust you can protect us," they all were still confused by his words. "No, rather, I trust all of you that you can protect all of us," some sense of understanding came over them. They smiled and looked at each other happily, while Felemous got deeper in his thoughts. 'If they can, why couldn't you... Orvus?'.