Signs of Life
They ran on the other side of the Rindea Mountain Range. According to Katherine, this place was still part of the protected zone, but Frein had felt the gripping influence of the Nightmare Lands the instant he stepped across the other side of the mountain. Needless to say, normal services like yuma-driven carriages or additional escorts weren’t risks they were willing to take.
“I can handle it as long as it’s just you three,” Katherine pointed to Frein, Kristel, and Enza—who, in particular, had grown explosively overnight, about thrice her original size by Frein’s estimates. “I’d rather not spread myself too thin monitoring more people.”
A chill ran up his spine, the feeling of cold hands grazed around the skin of his ankles, and the eerie, unnerving, and constant sensation of a wide-eyed smiling face staring a few inches on his side observed his every move.
Not that there was actually a face beside him.
Forcing himself not to Mill was also a little distracting. Even after he had pointed out successfully Milling the disturbing meiyal he had Gathered near Those That Fell Off a Cliff, Katherine had adamantly reminded him that meiyal influenced slightly by a Nightmare was exponentially weaker and insignificant compared to the grip of the Nightmare Lands itself. He had been so used to Gathering and Milling freely that consciously stopping himself felt like not breathing at all.
With this in mind, he managed his Milled meiyal properly, utilizing a steady trickle to keep up with both the Princess and the Lady. He remained on the ground, observing as the other two leapt off branches of trees with such acrobatic grace like half-ninjas half-gymnasts freerunning on their backyard.
His observation Meiyal Art gave him no more information than confirming Drawn Siffera as the two hopped from one branch to the other. No, hopping wasn’t quite the term and neither was leaping. Frein turned his attention towards his feet while going at full sprint. Siffera made him feel light—not quite it either.
Even during his studies, physics and calculations wasn’t exactly his strong suit. He only got a little better when he started indulging himself with some academic books, but complex mental math and formula memorization was a nightmare he’d rather not live through again.
Still, he could only explain their movements as an overdramatized application of physics. Like skipping rocks over a lake, the two ladies simply directed an instantaneous shift of their falling momentum to push and bounce them forward without pressing their entire weight over these delicate branches, thus carrying and propelling them without snapping and falling. The trick was spotting the right branches and applying the correct amount of force at the exact instant to maintain momentum while going at a rapid pace the entire time.
“Have you practiced flying, Enza?” Frein asked before catching himself. “Actually, do you need to practice?”
His yuma was of the same mind; it was eerie but he was gradually getting used to it. “Better now than never, right?”
Without any other prompts, Frein sped up and leapt towards a tree while Enza spread her wings and took to the air. He emphasized his Siffera with a bit more meiyal and kicked off the trunk to increase his speed and height trajectory. While he shot at a speed that matched the other two, the sudden acceleration gave him trouble spotting a branch. It was too late to orient himself for the skip when he found where he was landing.
Still, he tried. His step was too direct and his entire weight transferred onto it, instantly snapping the branch. The expectation, alongside the increased sense for balance Siffera provided him, allowed Frein to instantly recover and fall back to the ground as if nothing happened. He maintained his sprint and prepared to try again.
“Utilize Siffera for your awareness and reflexes as well, Frein,” Kristel commented with an echo Meiyal Art.
“I thought that’s something only Virtuosos end up learning,” he replied, implying the question with his now slightly improved version of echo Meiyal Art.
“Not on the level and mastery as you do, I imagine.” The Princess spun and slowed down midair, landing sideways on a tree trunk before lightly falling on one of its thick branches. “And I am a Virtuoso. Come on, try again!”
She turned and prepared to jump but abruptly stopped. Frein followed his gaze and found Katherine a few trees ahead signaling for them to halt. Enza landed beside him into a prowl.
“I might actually be able to carry you in a few days,” she whispered. She was having a better time practicing her flight.
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“Let’s take a break here,” Katherine said as soon as the rest caught up to her. “The Forest Jaws didn’t exactly give us directions, so I’ll scout ahead for any nests while you guys stay here.” She gave Frein a stern look. “Don’t Mill.”
“Yes, yes.” Frein sat on a hard tree root and leaned on its trunk. A panting Enza sat beside her. He Drew his Spatiera and pulled a small bowl and a canister of water, poured a share for the yuma and drank a bit before chucking it towards the Princess. “Frill told me you don’t like using Spatiera at all.”
Kristel caught the canister and drank. “Thanks. Yeah, I don’t.”
“That is very weird,” Frein pointed out. “If I’m to take a guess, I’d say you’re hiding something inside it. Something that takes up all the space so you can’t afford storing even a small canister of water.”
The Princess humored him. She did the usual motions of Drawing a Spatiera and Frein used his observation Meiyal Arts to verify the pattern and flow of her meiyal. Yet despite the proper movement, the correct flow, and the right pattern, no tear in space appeared.
“Don’t tell anyone, but it doesn’t open for me.”
“Do you know why?” he asked, astonished by the fact.
Kristel shook her head. “All I know is that it stopped working five years ago. I didn’t really like using it in the first place, barely trained it at all.”
Frein could feel that there was something more into it. A regret, or probably a tragic secret, he couldn’t quite figure out. But with the conclusion of the discussion, he felt it proper to avoid probing further. One secret for now was enough and he wouldn’t take advantage of her for it.
Enza somehow felt this particular connection and approached the Princess, lying her massive head on her lap. Kristel appreciatively gave her a few pats then turned to look at him.
“Bonded yumas can feel their master’s emotions and thoughts, remember?” She smiled and continued before Frein could defend himself. “I appreciate the concern, really, and I appreciate you not probing any further.”
She played with Enza’s face, massaging and pinching and stroking it all over. The yuma obviously loved it. “Tell you what. If I ever figure out how to open it again, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks,” Frein replied. He compelled Enza to return to him and the yuma followed obediently. “Stop snitching me on other people,” he said while playing with her face.
“I’ll try…” she replied listlessly.
“That reminds me, don’t you have your own yuma? Testra was it? She didn’t come along?”
Kristel shook her head. “Testra’s a racing yuma. She’s not trained for combat. If she can hide with Nature’s Favor like Enza, then I can bring her along. But I’m afraid she won’t have the temperament to withstand the Nightmare Lands. I’m having trouble enough just standing here.”
Frein wanted her to elaborate, but the sound of ruffling leaves all caught their attention.
“Hey,” Katherine said as she landed beside them. Enza immediately greeted her and she casually gave the yuma another set of petting. “Follow me, there’s something you should see.”
Within the next few minutes, Frein’s attempts on tree branch skipping were steadily improving. He managed ten successful skips before plummeting to the ground. It was more complicated that he’d imagined but he didn’t deny himself the obvious improvements.
They stopped near the foot of one of the Rindea Range’s mountains. The reason was immediately apparent for Frein. There were obvious signs of struggle. He traced them, but Kristel reacted first.
“I know this place,” she said, leaping towards the treetops to confirm something and almost immediately went back down. “I asked Venry to watch the Vyndivalian containers on the opposite side of that mountain.”
The piece clicked in Frein’s mind at the same time as Katherine’s. They traced the trail of struggle and concluded that it wasn’t from any skirmishes. Then, they found it.
A particularly askew tree stood out. It had an impress on its roots with a few of them snapped, but the particular dark stain on them caught their attention.
Frein felt a sense of déjà vu. He was supposed to be a detective apprentice for his future job after assisting with the underground arena case. He had been taking special training in preparation for it before the whole Visitor deal happened. This entire situation made him feel like he was in some sort of a case or a practical exam.
Without any gloves to use, Katherine enveloped her hand with a thin layer of barrier Meiyal Art. Frein did the same before taking a sample of the dark stain.
Dried blood. A tremendous amount of it.
“He might be around,” Frein said, implying his conclusion. When nobody moved or replied to him, he turned to Enza. “You mind tracking this smell for me?”
She sniffed once. “Sure. Gross, though.” The yuma sniffed around in a circle then asked everyone to follow. She led them to a cave a few minutes away from the tree.
Katherine Drew an improvised Meiyal Art—a tamed version of the flares Kristel used—to send a glowing orb into the cave. It was a small one and no Venry nor his corpse.
“What do you think?” he asked Katherine.
“He’s alive.”
“Are you sure?” Kristel asked, studying the cave. There was nothing else inside except for the small pool of drying blood. Katherine nodded and placed a hand by the entrance of the cave as though she was a mime trying to press beyond an invisible barrier.
“It’s not obvious to most, but there’s a purification barrier right here. That’ll allow someone without training to Mill meiyal inside this cave. Venry for example.” She tapped and a slight shimmer rippled from the center of the open space. “Someone from the Western Sanctum must’ve been nearby to save him.”
“That’s two very good news, then.” Frein turned to observe the outside of the cave, trying to find signs or indications of which direction Venry might’ve taken. “Too many options,” he concluded.
“What do you mean?” Kristel asked.
“We can’t narrow down where they might’ve gone,” Katherine clarified, observing a different set of directions.
“If he’s alive with someone from the Order of the Void, that’s enough for me,” the Princess said. “We’re here to look for the Forest Jaws.”
Katherine took a few steps away from the cave and approached a nearby tree. Beside a collection of overgrown roots, underneath some leaves that she scraped away, was a different type of dark mucus.
“I think we’ll find one nearby.”
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