“Alora! What the hell?” Jack yelled out as the Eladrie suddenly screamed in rage and rushed out into the mist. Her glowing spear materialised in her hand as she stabbed out in the dark, slicing through the mist at an unseen foe.
The others quickly followed the Eladrie, not seeing what Alora had spotted, but keeping themselves at a safe distance.
“She’s tripping!” Nika warned as took a tentative step towards her friend. “Alora! There’s….”
The Kizun suddenly stopped as she heard something carried on the breeze that chilled her to the bone, and as she looked around the sound became clearer - a faint, melodic whistling drifting through the fog.
“No…” She gasped, trying not to hyperventilate as the image of Alora in front of her faded away. “No, no! This isn’t real! I need to snap out of it! Why can’t I snap out of it!”
Nika? What’s wrong? Chiyo asked her urgently. The Kizun snapped her head around with bulging eyes before the Ilithii disappeared too, and looking around, she realised she was on her own.
“What was…” Nika gasped, before the whistling started to get louder…
The tune was a haunting melody she hadn’t heard in years, but she instantly recognised it with dread. It was a sound that echoed deep from within the woods around her family’s ranch on the worst nights, striking terror into her heart as a child. All of them heard it too, but the adults always told her it was nothing, that everything was fine, everything was safe.
They had lied.
As the whistling intensified it was soon accompanied by a soft, eerie singing that was high-pitched, sweet and utterly unnerving in its supernatural beauty. It was a lullaby, but it was a song laced with malice, heralding untold horrors to come. She snapped her head around to the singer, recoiling in horror at the figure in gossamer slowly floating towards her. It had an arm completely covered in fabric reaching out menacingly for her, as the gossamer scraps of the unnatural garment slowly snaked towards her.
“...the prey runs…” The melodic voice mocked. “...we hunt…”
“Not if I kill you first!” Nika grit her teeth as she struggled to raise her plasma rifle, her usually steady hands trembling uncontrollably as her limbs refused to move, her strength sapped by the overwhelming terror that had taken hold of her.
The lullaby grew louder, the Gossamer Horror’s voice wrapping around Nika like a physical force, squeezing the air from her lungs. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t think beyond the terror, her vision blurring with tears she hadn’t realised she was shedding…
Just as the strand of gossamer was about to touch her, Nika let out a desperate roar as she finally got her gun up, blasting the hallucination of the horror which faded away, though the lullaby lingered in her mind for just a moment longer, mocking her.
“Nika!” She heard a panicked voice yell out, as she realised someone was shaking her shoulders.
“Sephy?” She gasped, looking up and spotting the Skritta holding her. “Shit! What happened?”
*****
“What’s the matter, Lady Fane?” Alora sneered as she lunged at the air, as the apparition of her childhood torturer disappeared and reappeared to the side “Can you only use that rod against defenceless children? You’re pathetic!”
“Disappointing as ever.” Lady Fane snapped cruelly, just as she did all those years ago. “Why Lord and Lady Valerian ever took you in as a ward is beyond me!”
Alora could almost feel the tight, suffocating constraints of the early childhood life she once led. Endless rules, isolation and a complete lack of freedom. Every muscle in her body tensed as the memories flooded back of the sleepless nights spent under harsh surveillance by the opportunistic, backstabbing foster guardians who had taken her from her birth parents under some kind of arrangement, bringing her to House Valerian with the promise to tutor and instruct in courtly graces.
Instead, they fought hard to mould her into their perfect little pawn. But despite her being deprived of contact with others her age - except for the groomed children of the key players - and despite the constant barrage of mental and emotional manipulation designed to break her spirit, Alora never broke. They’d exiled her in all but name, expecting her to die.
That was their mistake.
Alora felt the anger, the resentment, the deep-seated hatred she had kept buried for years boiling to the surface as she roared, her vision blurring with rage as she sliced with her spear again and again wherever Lady Fane would appear, screaming in sheer wrath until her spear met resistance.
“Got you now, you bitch!” The Eladrie yelled out, pushing with all of her might as Lady Fane grunted with the thrust.
“Alora!” Lady Fane growled as she held onto the shaft of the spear, desperately holding it back from completely running her through. She placed her hand on Alora’s shoulder, though instead of the firm, biting grip of Lady Fane, this touch felt different…
“Alora!” Jack yelled, and the vision of Lady Fane blinked away in an instant to be replaced by the human, holding the Eladrie back from trying to run him through.
“Jack!” Alora gasped as she dropped her spear, the spiritual weapon fading away into nothingness as she backed away in a panic. “Oh gods! I’m so sorry! Are you hurt?!”
“It’s alright!” Jack held his hand up as Alora stumbled and fell backwards, landing in a muddy puddle. “You didn’t know it was me, I’ll be fine!”
“But did I hurt you?”
“You got me good, but it bounced off my armour before I caught it,” Jack assured, then chuckled. “Remind me never to piss you off!”
“I’m sorry!” Alora gasped again as she gratefully took Jack’s hand as he pulled her up. “I saw you as the enemy! It was like I instantly forgot why we’re here!”
“Hey.” Jack held Alora firmly for a moment to get her to stop shaking and apologising for a moment. “I know you didn’t mean to attack me. It’s like back at the boat. Do you know what it is, Chiyo?”
It’s not something I fully understand, but it appears to be some kind of mental attack, Chiyo answered, while Nika also shook out whatever was affecting her. Though your blessings should have helped resist such a thing, and I should have been able to detect it.
“Maybe they just got something powerful through?” Sephy suggested as she patted Nika on the back, who was still hyperventilating from her encounter.
Maybe, Chiyo agreed. Stay close and be wary. Whatever this is will throw you off, but no matter what happens, try to hold on to the fact that there are illusions at work.
“I tried to, but in the moment that fact didn’t occur to me even when it should have been obvious,” Nika admitted, jogging on the spot for a few seconds to focus her mind and get her blood pumping.
“That’s likely part of this phenomenon,” Alora agreed with a sigh. “Let’s go, we’ve managed to put a few miles behind us but we have more to go.”
The next hour passed them by in a tense silence. The group stuck close together, keeping their weapons at the ready, looking out with their limited light at the one-thriving farmland around them that appeared to be even more run down and wild than what they had already passed through, with the occasional lone fence post or broken down cart serving as the only grim marker of the life that once flourished here, now long gone.
As they pushed further into the night, the silence only interrupted by the occasional unnatural howls in the distance, the flat plains and swamps gave way for much more uneven ground, with only occasional patches of long-abandoned fields and overgrown pastures signifying that where they were travelling didn’t see much agricultural use. The abandoned farmland finally ended for good by the remnants of irrigation ditches crisscrossing the area, next to a dried up riverbed.
This must be the great river on the maps, Chiyo announced to the others. Or at least what remains of it.
“Shit, this mist is getting even thicker the further we go,” Sephy warned, as she noticed how the white wisps of fog had almost made it to her waist, with Dante growling with unease. “Whatever this mess is, I think we’re heading to the source…”
There was no reply.
“Uhh, guys?” The Skritta spoke up and looked around.
There was nobody there.
“Well fuck,” Sephy cursed, crouching low and bringing her gun up as she suddenly found herself back in the cramped and grimy streets of Naganai. Looking around, she instantly recognised the alleyway she’d lived in, with the Corvin Enterprises logo on the cardboard box that served as her only shelter tucked away in a partially hidden corner. “Home sweet fucking home…” She muttered as she saw the heavy raindrops pour unforgivingly in the cold night.
“Girl!” a gruff voice yelled out. “Gimme what’s mine!”
Her head snapped round to the old decrepit Lizta sat on his battered garden chair outside the tiny janitor's shed that Old Man Grizzle called home.
“No!” Another voice yelled defiantly, and Sephy remembered the exact words she spoke that day. “This is mine! I earned it!”
“You live in my alleyway girl! Now pay up! Or maybe you’d like to learn how to pay another way instead?” She heard the lecherous old man laugh with a cough as he lunged for the Skritta, only to gasp out as Sephy easily dodged…
Then plunged her hidden knife into Old Man Grizzle’s leg.
“You…” He gasped weekly as the feeble man lost his balance and dropped to the ground. “Come here girl!”
“No!” Sephy heard the past version of herself gasp out as she backed away in a panic. “Stay away!”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
The old man crawled ever closer, ever weaker. Sephy didn’t know until later that her knife had caught an artery and the man was dying, but in that moment she was too paralysed in fear to do a thing as the old man slowly made his way closer and closer, before finally dropping dead mere inches away. Sephy didn’t know how long she ended up staying there in the rain, but when she finally found the courage to search his body and take the shed for herself, she slept warmer than she had in months.
Sephy! Chiyo shook the Skritta away with a soft touch.
“Damn it!” The Skritta cursed as she shook her head to get a hold of herself. “That wasn’t fun. I didn’t do anything bad did I?”
No, don’t worry, The Ilithii told her with a reassuring smile. Are you alright?
“Yep,” she sighed, “And it’ll be even better once we get paid!” Sephy grinned with false bravado as she bounded forward to join the others at the bottom of the dried up river where the fog was heaviest, using her wings to then propel herself up the opposite bank to join Nika and Dante while Jack assisted Alora up and Chiyo simply floated over the entire thing.
“Now we’re heading through the forest,” Nika announced, looking to Chiyo, who nodded her head in confirmation. “While there may be some kind of path to the Shrine of Elphil, there’s no way we’re going to find it in this mess, and it’d be a prime spot for an ambush anyway.”
“We know where the river is on the map, but how confident are we that we know where we are?” Jack asked the others as he looked around at the ghostly lights twinkling ominously around the plains behind them. He couldn’t help but feel like they were being herded like cattle. “The last thing we want or need is to get ourselves lost in the woods.”
“I think we’re confident enough as long as we know what direction we’re going in,” Alora reassured him. “Though finding the shrine itself is no doubt going to be tricky.”
“I’m keeping an eye on our general positioning with a mapfinding program,” Sephy added. “We’ve hit these woods earlier than we expected based on the maps but that’s probably just natural expansion over time. I’ll know if we end up backtracking or go off course.”
Hopefully I’ll be able to detect the shrine itself by its spiritual energy, Chiyo spoke up. Even though it’ll likely be a ruin at this point, there should be something residual I can detect even with this overwhelming dark presence around us.
“How bad?” Alora asked.
Bad and getting worse, Chiyo answered. Whatever it is, we’re heading closer towards the epicentre of it, though I think we’ll find the shrine before then. But once we do I recommend we make our business quick and get out. This is Spawn of Nekdon bad, maybe even worse!
“What could possibly be worse than the Spawn of Nekdon?” Jack asked with worry, and only received worried looks in return from the others.
“I don’t know.” Alora shuddered. “But Chiyo’s right. Once we get to the shrine, we do what we came here to do and leave with haste, but I also think we should grab as much intel as we can while we do that.”
“No complaints here,” Nika agreed. “We’ve stumbled onto something big, and even if Corvin Enterprises pays us well for the info, we’ve got to let others in the city know there’s another major threat about.”
“Do you really think this is a threat to the city?” Sephy asked. “Whatever this is, they’re not exactly camping an army of monsters out here ready to march.”
“True,” Jack agreed with Sephy. “But there’s no harm in letting the right people know after we’ve been paid, and from everything we’ve seen these guys have taken a lot of steps to avoid discovery. I think it’s in everyone’s interests to blow this thing wide open.”
“Fair enough.” The Skritta shrugged. “Shall we get moving then?”
The ground began to rise slightly as they entered the forest, with the warped roots and trunks giving an ancient feel, though Jack knew that this part of the forest would be the youngest. Quickly the trees seemed to close in around them as they ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, surrounded by oppressive darkness
The silence was unnerving, the only sounds being the occasional rustle of leaves from something unseen, or the distant howls of the monsters lying in wait around them. Every shadow seemed to move as the trees around them seemed to take on menacing shapes in the low light from Dante, Alora and the occasional Death Candle that flickered between the trees, always out of reach.
‘Why do they not attack?’ Chiyo thought to herself, as Dante growled at something unseen.
There was no doubt they’d try again. She’d sensed the movements on the periphery, just out of sight, and alerted her teammates, but nothing came of it. She was certain they’d attack, so why didn’t they?
Be wary. Chiyo whispered to the others.
…
Guys? Chiyo asked as she turned around, finding nobody.
‘What!? This shouldn’t be possible!’ The Ilithii thought to herself. ‘A mental attack that I couldn’t detect? What am I perceiving? The Astral Realm?’ She focused her spiritual Third Eye as she tried to determine where her consciousness currently was, but saw nothing but the infernal fog all around them. It’s….
“...like this fog has a transitive property with the adjacent planes.” A familiar voice spoke up with a chuckle, finishing her sentence. Chiyo turned around and let out an involuntary gasp upon seeing the figure. Instantly she knew he wasn’t the person she knew in the present as he looked at her with bright eyes, his blond hair ruffled up in that charming boyish way she found attractive back when he was the person he was before.
The person she once loved.
“Hey, Blue.” ‘Svaartal’ smiled warmly. “I see you’ve found yourself in some trouble! Need some help?”
You’re not real! Chiyo dismissed as she deliberately looked away, trying to think of a way out of this mess. You’re just an apparition appearing to torment me.
“I’m one of those things at least.” ‘Svaartal’ chuckled as he appeared in full view once again. “I won’t pretend to be real; unlike the others, you’re experiencing this fully aware of what is happening.”
That’s right… The Ilithii thought out loud. Mental clarity and lucidity is second nature to me, but it doesn’t explain all this! I shouldn’t be hallucinating anything I don’t want to see!
“Then what could be causing this?” The Nirah asked her, indicating with his hand the all-encompassing mist. “And how have you been affected by it?”
I don’t know. Chiyo shook her head.
“You can work it out, Blue.” The form of ‘Svaartal’ smiled in that way he used to do. “That animal companion of yours seemed to detect it well enough!”
What?! Wait…
Every time before one of them began to hallucinate, Dante reacted to it. Back on the boat the ‘dog’ kept reacting to things they couldn’t see, just as they did here. What could Dante sense that she couldn’t?
“They seem to sense imminent danger quite well,” the Nirah continued, as if reading her thoughts, which he was considering he was just a manifestation of her subconscious.
But where is the danger? Chiyo asked. My powers have been working strangely ever since we first encountered this enemy on the boat!
“And what caused that?” ‘Svaartal’ pressed. “What was the first thing to happen?”
The mist itself, Chiyo realised. Of course! It’s all around us and it was there when we first encountered them on the boat! That it’s unnatural is obvious - the moment it reached the cabin the enemy were instantly alerted.
“And what’s the common theme you’ve seen from this enemy so far?” The Nirah pressed her again. “Or at least the most recurring one?”
They’re some kind of fungal beings, though I don’t-
“You’re overthinking,” ‘Svaartal’ told her. “Focus on that. Most of these creatures have a fungal theme, what’s going on?”
Well, some fungus can have… Chiyo’s eyes suddenly opened wide with realisation. Hallucinogenic properties! It’s something physically affecting us! That’s how it’s affected me!
“Yes, and it’s dulled your perception because of it,” ‘Svaartal’ added. “Now hold on to that. How has it been able to affect you all?”
Because all this isn’t a mist! Chiyo realised. It’s a cloud of spores we’ve been breathing in this whole time!
“Yes.” The Nirah nodded. “It’s messed with your perception, but now that you know…”
Chiyo closed her eyes and focused her mind, completely shutting out her physical senses. The dullness she felt faded away as reclaimed control over her thoughts. Opening her eyes once again as her senses returned to normal, she began to scan her surroundings more carefully, feeling a faint, almost imperceptible disturbance in the Astral Plane - a ripple of malevolent energy that wasn’t coming from the spores or the environment around them.
Narrowing her focus Chiyo reached out and probed the source of the disturbance, pushing through the mental haze until an ugly crooked figure in brown, filthy robes manifested in front of her in the Astral Realm. It was another hag astrally projecting, using the spores to attack their minds! Chiyo wasted no time, quickly projecting her consciousness into the Astral Realm, catching the witch unawares as she unleashed a powerful psychic blast that pummelling the hag. The hag’s eyes had widened with shock at being discovered, before narrowing with fury as it was hit with the force of a speeding car.
Clutching its chest with visible pain, the hag opened her mouth to try and cast a quick spell, but was disrupted as Chiyo struck again, pressing her advantage. The witch began to panic, looking around her as other forms began to come into focus. The glowing eyes of the Skinwalkers burned with hatred as they manifested and began rushing towards Chiyo. She needed to end this quickly!
Focusing her mind as the hag began to demanifest and flee, Chiyo pressed her attack and channelled every ounce of her willpower she could muster into a psychic lance, releasing it like an arrow that blasted through the hag’s chest, shattering its consciousness like glass. The fragments dissolved into the void as the malevolent energy around Chiyo quickly dissipated, the hag’s curses broken. Chiyo quickly demanifested out of the Astral Realm as the Skinwalkers got close, their claws striking nothing as Chiyo’s consciousness returned to her physical body, though her perception of the false mist remained.
“Now you know what they were trying to do, they’ll change tactics again,” the Nirah told her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes with that same warm smile. “You’ll have some time to react as they shift out of the Astral Realm, so you need to ‘wake up’ now,” ‘Svaartal’ sadly whispered. “This is goodbye, but I know you can do this, Chiyo!”
I’ve missed you so much! Chiyo finally admitted with tears in her eyes, sobbing as she threw her arms around the Nirah as he began to fade away. I wish you’d never changed!
“It’s okay, Blue.” ‘Svaartal’ smiled as he returned the hug. “It’s okay...”
“Chiyo? You with us?” Jack asked as he gently held the Ilithii, staring into her eyes as they snapped back into focus.
Y-yes, she gasped, wiping away the tears. It’s not a mist at all, it’s a giant spore cloud! It’s some kind of hallucinogen messing with our minds!
“Spores?” Jack asked, his eyes widening with realisation as he suddenly remembered back to the boat. “Yeah! I saw a bunch of ugly-looking fungus patches on the bank of the river as the mist started to appear! I bet there’s more around that we just can’t see under the cloud!”
Quickly, Chiyo pulled out her Cane of Travel. Channelling her power through it, she created a small clear orb that pushed the mist away, which slowly expanded outwards to encompass the rest of the group, who all gasped in relief at the fresh, clean air from the Life Bubble spell.
“Nice one, Chiyo!” Sephy panted, breathing it all in. “Gods, that feels so much better! I didn’t even notice how bad it was! We must have been tripping balls!”
It’ll only last a few hours, Chiyo warned as the ghostly whispering returned, almost like someone had suddenly turned up the TV volume from mute. But that’s not the worst of it. They’ve been there the entire time in the Astral Plane! I killed another witch, but there were Skinwalkers there too! Get ready for a fight!
“We’ve gotta move!” Nika told them as she began to spot some familiar hostile shapes moving between the trees on the cusps of her vision.
“Oh!? You want some more do you!?” Jack yelled, thoroughly pissed off, as he flicked his heavy plasma rifle to full auto while they all ran as fast as they could. He let out a blistering volley of plasma fire towards the glowing red eyes of the howling Skinwalkers that were appearing in the far distance.
As they crested a small rise, Chiyo spotted something in the distance between the trees with her arcane sight. Everyone! I think we’re close! It should be just another half-mile away! I can’t see the shrine itself, but it looks at least partially enclosed within some walls.
“Thank fuck for that!” Sephy sighed. “We’re nearly there!”
“Yeah,” Nika agreed, her pointed ears twitching as she heard noise up ahead. “But there’s more enemies up ahead.”
“Let’s not get baited into anything,” Alora warned, as she drew her wand. “Hopefully we can take them out quickly before they can form up.”
“That might be a long shot,” Sephy warned. “But once we finish them we can hopefully be in and out of there before anything else decides to say hello!”
As the group pushed through the thickening mist towards the familiar black-metal district walls - the first they’d seen since leaving Naganai - they followed the subtle noises that sounded very much like the monsters they’d encountered so far.
However, as they got closer they heard new, more distinct sounds - snarling beasts, and what sounded like a sudden snapping noise followed by a roar.
“What the hell was that?” Jack muttered as he took point. The group had finally reached the district wall, which had long been overwhelmed by moss and lichen, but before anyone could answer there was the sound of an almighty thundercrack, followed by a bellow of pain.
“Holy shit!” Nika gasped. “There’s a fight!”
“Move quickly, but don’t reveal yourselves!” Alora ordered. “Nika, take point. Be ready to engage!”
Swiftly following the distant sounds of battle, the group made it through the trees to an earthen ramp littered with fungal bodies, though Jack could see a few wooden mannequins among them too. At the top, towards an open gate almost definitely leading to the shrine, there were several more of the mannequins in formation with spears, and a single, solitary figure in brown robes leading them, desperately fending off several of the large mushroom-like monsters as their club-like limbs smashed into their ranks.
“What’s the play, Alora?” Nika asked as she pointed at the figure in robes. “Is that another one of the witches?”
“I don’t think so.” Sephy shook her head. “They look different.”
“Get ready to take the fungals out, shock and awe!” Alora told them all. “Avoid the unknowns for now and assist them, but be ready to engage if they’re hostile!”
“Roger that.” Jack nodded as he checked his ammo.
On your mark. Chiyo nodded as the group loosened their formation, much more confident now that the horrible clouds weren’t messing with them any more.
“Now!” Alora yelled out.
Everyone engaged as Jack opened up on the clustered enemies with a full auto spread, completely obliterating many of the smaller creatures hiding behind the brutes. They also broke up the formations of the larger mushrooms joining their comrades up the ramp, as Chiyo used her powers to quickly push others off that were close to the defenders.
“Pyralis!” Alora yelled out, casting a stream of fire that snaked around and lashed out at any of the monsters seeking cover, setting them ablaze and lighting them up well for Sephy and Nika to blast any of them that were still standing, while Dante quickly dashed forward to the ramp, intercepting the Skinwalker attempting to escape with a powerful burst of lightning, electrocuting the beast as it howled and thrashed, until it finally dropped to the ground as a smouldering corpse.
“There’s more on the horizon!” Alora warned. “Get to the ramp and we’ll see if these guys want to talk!”
As the last of the hulking mushrooms dropped, the brown robed figure quickly turned to them with their glave raised in a combat stance, wooden golems fanning out. “Stay back! This is a sacred place and I will kill all who threaten it!” The woman yelled out in a challenge.
“Holy shit!” Sephy exclaimed upon seeing the woman’s face. The avian had grey-feathers with a sharp beak and four eyes staring in hatred at all of them, and as she gazed at all of them, everyone else came to the same realisation.
This was the woman whose body they were sent here to find - very much alive!