Light Within Hopelessness

Eastrise Region was, in a sense, the nation’s largest nature reserve. Compared to Westleaf Region, where they concentrated all their bountiful and wondrous flora, here, they boasted beautiful and exotic fauna.

The region also housed one of the largest yuma reserves of the entire nation. Sometimes, a rare breed called a yumacorn could be found within the Nolomori Forest just north of Eastrise City. As elusive as the creature was, the healing properties of their horns, should they willingly provide them, were considered miracles left by the gods.

One yumacorn had been spotted during the early years of Denis Irista’s rule. And as for Kristel, she had only heard of them in stories. By the looks of things, however, it would probably stay that way for a long while.

Just judging from the size of the Nightmare Incursion, the entirety of Nolomori Forest, and Cape Talon further east, were likely taken whole. Even the cursed place called Befall, Scar of this World, down further south of Eastrise Region would’ve had a huge chunk of it taken by the Incursion.

Kristel shuddered at the implications of Nightmare and Undead combining, but there was no time to explore that far to confirm right now. For now, they needed to scout what was in front of them, Oray Town.

It was a small town by a large lake where most of the people there found their livelihood. That and serving as a respite station for most of the miners from Eastrise City.

Now, it was deserted and in ruins.

“A number of great adventurers and heroes originated from this town,” Kristel said, inspecting the rubble of ruined statues in what looked to be the remains of the town square. She was filled with nothing but regret. “All part of history now.”

Even the notion of rebuilding felt too out of reach. Such was the hopelessness caused by the Incursion.

Xiv returned to their group after surveying the town perimeter. Frill also finished her investigation through the ruined houses over the lake.

“No survivors,” they both said.

Kristel, though she was loathed to admit, had expected as much. This town was embraced by mountains on all sides, save for the path towards Eastrise City. They had flown their way over with their yumas, but with the protection coming from the mountains and the fact that it was geographically in between Central and the region’s city, setting up protection became almost unnecessary. The town had probably only had a few guards and local police to uphold the bare minimum of the law.

What Kristel didn’t expect, however, was the peacefulness of the aftermath. There was almost no Nightmare Influence in this place.

“What about Nightmares?” she asked.

The two seemed to catch her implications. They looked at each other and answered together.

“No Nightmares, Princess.”

Kristel felt uneasy. Taken at face value, this would be the perfect place to set up camp for the rest of the army—or what remained of it. They could take advantage of the weak Influence and allow for the people to acclimate with the environment before pushing on.

But at the same time, it felt like a trap.

It was too peaceful. She wished Katherine was around to provide her some experienced advice. There were too many variables.

Is this how the Nightmare behaves? Just leave things alone when there’s no life? Why haven’t we been ambushed yet?

Kristel struggled with her options, and Evanclad and Norazzel withheld their opinions. But, if she was to learn something from Frein, it was that even silence could be information she could use.

If the two entities within her Mind Palace deemed it unnecessary to provide guidance, then whichever option she chose wouldn’t be a detriment for her.

And that was the problem. They only cared about her. Even the time when Evanclad urged her to protect her people from the Da’bloop, it was so that she could break her limits.

“What should we do, Princess?” Frill asked, concern on her face. She unknowingly pulled Kristel back from her mulling.

“We’ll set up a base of operations here tomorrow,” Kristel concluded. Despite all her worries, there were no better places for her army to prepare within the Nightmare Incursion. “For now, we should return to everyone.”

She began to lead the way back, but Frill turned the other direction.

“Something’s wrong,” she said.

Immediately, the group was on their guard. Kristel emphasized her Siffera to enhance her awareness and instantly picked up on something odd. A feat that was once something only Frein could do. But with enough training, just like he and Katherine had promised, she and Frill were able to do it now as well.

The reward for her first application of it, however, wasn’t as pleasing as the Princess would’ve liked.

“I think they’re lesser Nightmares,” Xiv said, evaluating the strange occurrence from the distance through his own methods. “Quite a lot. I think they got attracted to our presence.”

“So much for a safe place for our troops.”

“I think you have the right idea, though, Kristel,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of experience with Nightmares compared to someone from the Order of the Void, but judging strictly from a strategic standpoint, this lake can provide us a great advantage.”

“They don’t cross the water?” Frill asked, preparing to Draw her Meiyal Arts, but the Princess stopped her.

“Avoid extravagant Arts or using too much meiyal,” she reminded her. “We’ll attract more of them. It’s what Katherine did before, but we’re trying to lessen our encounters this time.”

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The Aria stopped Drawing.

“Not all of them can cross the water,” Xiv answered the previous question. “But if we’re only talking about lesser Nightmares, those that do try to cross, would be sluggish and easy to eliminate. As long as we wall up properly, we can funnel them into one side and make defending this place easy.”

“What about non-lesser Nightmares?” Frill asked. “Ones that could fly or something.”

“I don’t think you can avoid those completely anyway,” Xiv shrugged. “I’m trying to lessen the problems that we can solve, not create a miracle. Can’t prepare for everything and expect all of it to work out.”

“Makes sense,” Frill said, nodding along. She turned to Kristel. “Up to you, though.”

“Let’s clean up first, then we’ll present what we found to others. We can take it from there.”

Everyone agreed and prepared for the fight. None of them brought out any weapons, however. The objective for now was to confirm their enemies first before deciding how to eliminate them, or retreat if needed.

The lesser Nightmares were coming from the direction of Eastrise City. That fact still stung, but Kristel closed her heart to it. She had a job to do, and emotions could easily get in the way.

The group decided to take the path up the mountains for a better vantage point while ignoring the devastation along the way. How the trees were rotting, or the fact that they couldn’t hear any animals at all, or how entire chunks of land were missing.

It didn’t take long for them to see the lesser Nightmares. As always, it was difficult to separate them from undead zombies. Husks of their former selves, they lumbered along whatever path they could step on. Some of them tripped over roots and were stomped on by their fellows. They simply regenerated back up and continued walking.

Kristel reminded herself of the difference. Undead were born from an ancient curse of a god long forgotten. Most of them were gone, save for those residing in Befall. And the victims of those abominations, fortunately or unfortunately, simply ended up dying because what was left of the curse couldn’t raise more undead.

Nightmares were different. They possessed the Influence and would turn any of their victims into malformed abominations. And stronger victims became more than just lesser Nightmares, as with the case of the knights that had turned into Grinding Teeth on Living Flesh when Velruzenshup’nertoroliz screamed.

“I think…” Frill began, observing the mass of lesser Nightmares. “I think, I recognize those clothes.”

Kristel turned to her retainer with a heavy heart. Before they had gone to Minaveil Province, Frill had been one of the top fashion trendsetters due to her being an idol and a known seamstress. If she recognized those clothes, then it only meant one thing.

“They’re from here?” Xiv guessed as much.

Frill confirmed silently, her lips curling in regret. A heavy atmosphere filled the group as the reality of the Incursion set upon them once again, now with full evidence of its consequences.

“We can’t stop just because they’re from here,” Kristel said, forcing the words out. She was trying to convince them as much as she was doing the same for herself. “We have a duty to end their suffering.”

Before any of them could act, however, a group of people ambushed the Nightmares.

Kristel immediately noticed the trained movements of a Guard Knight, while Xiv pointed out three who were using Meiyal Armaments.

Amidst the depressing sight, and despite the heartbreak she felt within for the victims of the Incursion, Kristel clung on the glint of hope in front of her.

The battle was over quickly, and the group decided to meet the survivors. In that moment, however, something else alerted the three of them.

There was no discussion. They couldn’t afford one. Kristel, Frill, and Xiv all moved like a blur, ignoring the survivors. The Princess heard one of them yell her name, but there were five Jaws Lurking in the Forest chasing them.

One of the Forest Jaws was closer than the rest. It lunged towards one of the survivors, who looked more like a civilian than a fighter.

Kristel got there first with two Sandai-Kaimera Drawn over her meiyal blades. She spun and sent her Sandai-Siffera empowered momentum over the Nightmare’s claw. Her Meiyal Arts exploded forwards, toppling over the giant monster while keeping the civilian behind her unharmed.

The crowd rallying behind her stopped, save for Frill and Xiv who bombarded the reinforcing Nightmares with their Arts and Armaments.

Kristel turned towards them, the survivors. She felt like she didn’t deserve their attention. One of them looked like Venry. He looked much older, however.

“Sorry, we’re late,” she said, turning back to the five gigantic Forest Jaws and the lesser Nightmares underneath them. “We’ll handle it from here.”

----------------------------------------

Katherine soothed the restless yuma, who kept turning south.

“We’re going the wrong way,” Enza complained. “Frein’s not in Eastrise.”

For one, a bonded yuma could always, always track their master. No Arts or Armaments could deceive their senses. But that was the problem; they weren’t against these disciplines. The good news was, they still had leads to find Frein. Meaning, it was only a matter of time before they could find him. And while Katherine wanted to turn the ship around and follow the yuma’s directions, two things stopped her from doing so.

One, these A.I.R. ships were sent as reinforcements for Kristel to help her with the Nightmare Incursion. Two, Katherine’s senses detected something incredible and sinister towards Eastrise.

“We need to help out the Princess first, or Frein will get mad at us,” she said to Enza.

The yuma was incredibly smart, quite smarter than most compared to others her age. She had grown at an incredibly fast rate. Not even a month had gone by since she was born, and already she could carry people on her back.

Only a few people knew about her incredible growth, and all of them credited it to Frein’s meiyal system. Katherine had to ignore the possible implications of that assumption, and concentrated instead at the task ahead.

Enza pondered for a moment. “Fine. But we shouldn’t take too long.”

“We won’t, don’t worry. As soon as we make sure the Princess is alright, we’ll go straight for Frein.”

While the yuma calmed down, the Second Princess made her approach. She wore a grim expression.

“Something’s off,” she began. “We can see the Incursion, but we can also see crashed A.I.R. ships just before it. Some ships are intact, though.”

“Make haste,” Katherine commanded. “Let’s meet up with them.”

The strong smell of iron hit them as soon as they got near. The Lady of the Void was the first one to see the massacre. She flew down even before the ships landed.

Katherine’s heart skipped a beat. Everyone was dead. Guard Knights, soldiers from the Atlas Sid, everyone. She saw Advisor Kento on the ground, lying in his own pool of drying blood. A foreboding worry caused her to panic.

“Kristel!” she shouted, but heard no response. Immediately, she Opened I, Alone, Am The Center. Amongst the entire army, only a single source of feedback returned from her scan.

She followed the ping until she was staring at nothing. Someone was supposed to be right in front of her, but she saw no one. When she reached out, however, she could feel somebody there.

Katherine pulled and quickly realized that the meiyal in front of her had frozen.

“It’s the same one Alphazzel used on us,” Elizzel said from the Tether.

The Lady of the Void tried a number of things to thaw out the frozen meiyal. Samesia didn’t work, forcefully pulling didn’t work. People had started to land, gasping at the sight of death, but Katherine kept trying to release whoever this invisible person was.

“If you can hear me,” she began, “push your own meiyal outwards. Not your Milled meiyal, just your own. Do it slowly.”

Katherine waited a while, allowing whoever this was some time to follow her instructions. Her Void Control Technique and enhanced Siffera gave her enough indication that there was enough reaction from the person.

Slowly but surely, Maffelyne melded out of her Nature’s Favor and collapsed on the ground. She was weakened, gasping for breath. Katherine quickly administered Samesia.

The Guard Knight was the only survivor in this mass slaughter. Her friends, those that graduated with her, were just beside her.

All dead.

Maffelyne stared at them, tears finally able to flow. And just as quickly, she clenched her fist.

“Calm down, Maff,” Katherine said. “I need you to help me understand the situation.

“I’ll never forgive him,” the half-elf growled. “I’m going to kill him!”

Katherine knelt in front of Maffelyne, blocking the view of her dead companions. She held her by the shoulders.

“Who’s him?” she asked.

“Smyl,” Maffelyne said, her eyes angry and in tears. “I watched him kill his own sister.”