After a miraculous save by the Hunter and a drastically shortened trip, we summoned Riley and Luna, and camped on the outcrop that it dropped us off at. From what Willow told me, the Hunter flew by Riley and Luna, and they asked it to check on us, which turned out to be a good decision. The random visit to us was weird, though.

Willow was able to relax for some more time in the reinvigorating plains, absent of heat and full of life, though I felt cold at times.

The air, crisp and invigorating, filled my lungs as we ventured deeper into the heart of this captivating realm. The scent of wildflowers and earth mingled together in the smooth breeze was a welcome change from the harsh winds of the desert.

The terrain beneath our feet transformed with each step we took. Soft, velvety grass cushioned our soles, like sand, but felt much better. The ground occasionally gave way to patches of moss, where I would step over in disgust while Willow examined it. No idea why.

As we walked along a river, the babbling sound it made irritated me to no end. I found it weird myself. Why? Why am I being irritated for no reason? With a sigh, I raced ahead, ignoring the cries from Willow behind me.

Riley padded by me, nosing me with concern as I walked in front. “Why?” He asked me. “What is... wrong?”

“I don’t know, Riley. I don’t have a clear idea,” I said with a sigh. “I’m still stressed by the incident with the sand. I mean... when I saw her buried, I... I just panicked, I just stood there, without doing anything! What if I froze up the next time one of you were in danger, and we weren’t so lucky to have someone save us? I...” I stopped talking.

“I understand that you're feeling stressed by the incident with the sand. It's natural to have concerns about how you might react in the future.” Willow caught up from behind and put a hand on my shoulder. “I have the same reactions as well. I remember once, when my friend got shot accidentally by one of my arrows while we were practicing. I stood over them for quite some time before other people came over. I was accused of attempting to kill my friend, but we both knew it wasn’t the case. Plus, I didn’t drown in the sand, did I? We’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” I looked at her gratefully.

“Thanks. But I don’t want to be useless next time in an emergency.”

“Do you think I want to? We all might freeze when something sudden happens, and none of us want that to happen. Cheer up, nothing bad’s gonna happen.”

I nodded. “Thank you.” Willow’s support made me feel better.

We continued our travel through the plains, stopping near a pond, where Willow went to replenish her water. I examined the map.

“This doesn’t give any information on the plains,” I muttered to myself, prodding the map with a finger. Suddenly, the map turns into a page full of writing, and I jump, startled. “Willow, come here! Quick!” She comes running over and gasps when she sees the map.

“Is that the map? What did you do to it?”

“I don’t know. I poked the plains, where we currently are, a few times and this comes up.”

“Well, let’s just read what it says now.” I read it out loud.

“In the vast expanse of the plains, where the golden grasses sway gently under the touch of the wind, a formidable danger lurks. Deep within the heart of this seemingly serene landscape, an ancient entity known as the Veil of Shadows holds dominion.”

“As night descends upon the plains, the Veil of Shadows stirs. It sends out tendrils of darkness that weave their way through the tall grasses, seeking unsuspecting prey. These shadowy tendrils are insidious and possess a sinister intelligence, slithering silently towards any living being that dares to venture into the plains.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Once ensnared by the Veil's tendrils, victims are subjected to a nightmarish fate. The shadows sap away their life force, leaving them weakened and vulnerable. The victims become trapped in a twisted dreamscape, where nightmarish creatures manifest in vivid and terrifying forms. Illusions and hallucinations torment their minds. This lasts until the sun begins to rise.”

“However, the victims are never killed directly. They wake up some time later, exhausted, sometimes unconscious long enough for the Veil to attack them again. Those who have managed to escape its clutches speak of a relentless pursuit, as the Veil chased them across the sprawling plains. It is unknown if the Veil is capable of killing its victims through a long period of energy draining.”

I look at Willow, whose eyes are locked onto the map. “I wonder who made this,” I comment. “I’ve never seen something that can do this. It does talk about ‘those who escaped the Veil’. Speaking of the Veil, how do we deal with it? I guess that explains why we haven’t seen any life on these plains.”

“I have no idea. I’ve never heard of this Veil of Shadows thing before. Anyways, we won’t die, right?”

“Not directly, apparently. If we’re stuck there for a long time, probably.”

We talked about it for some time, Riley and Luna occasionally chipping in. Eventually we decided to just risk it and run as fast as we could when it came.

Eventually, the moon started to rise, and wisps of black, smoke-like things started to appear. They snaked towards us, haunting hisses and whispers sounding in the air. “Run.”

We raced through the grass, as tendrils of the Veil appear from everywhere around us. I ignited my hand for better vision, and, surprisingly, the wisps of black seemingly flinched, as if struck. They then approached again, but slowly. This gave me an idea.

“Willow, Luna, I’m not sure this will be comfortable for you two, so stay away-” I said, pausing to push my handful of flame into some tendrils that got too close. “I’m igniting myself and Riley.”

“Wait, I can keep myself cool enough to stay near for a bit.”

I cloaked myself in a ring of fire, and Riley did so as well. We charged through the plains, repelling the wisps. However, this didn’t work for long.

“Stop!” Willow cried. “Luna’s overheating.” She quickly pulled out a fruit and Luna chomped on it, but we were already surrounded by dark tentacles again. A warning flash from Riley made them stay back.

“Can you hold a torch without being uncomfortable?” I asked.

“I could try.” I ignited the fire ring again, and, spotting some trees in the distance, raced towards it, my companions following me close behind. One of the wisps got too close to me, and I reached out with my hand.

The wisp made a half screaming, half sizzling noise and, for lack of a better word, evaporated. It turned into gray smoke and floated upwards with an acrid smell. I didn’t let that stop me and continued running.

When we reached the trees, Riley leapt up and snagged a large branch, tearing it off. I quickly pulled out an emberfig, stuck it on the tip, ignited it, and handed the branch to Willow. She nodded and started waving at the dark tendrils with it. Those that she hit evaporated as well, and the others shrunk back hastily.

We fought against the Veil for the entire night, changing sticks periodically for Willow and me and Riley defending Willow and Luna while they cooled down.

As the first rays of the sun crossed the sky, I let a small smile cross my face. The rays rapidly retreated, all disappearing in the direction they came from, as if someone was pulling on them. Willow and Luna collapsed onto the ground, a pile of snow appearing on them. “It’s finally over.”

During the night, we were rarely touched by the Veil. A few times, the tendrils managed to touch Willow, who shrieked and leapt backwards, waving the torch wildly and beating away the tendrils. She complained later that the place where the Veil touched her hurt, but an inspection revealed that it was a few minor burns from her trying to evaporate the wisps.

I dabbed some Flavender extract on the burns, and Willow complained about the pain. I told her to stop being a baby, and she punched me in the shoulder. We then soon decided unanimously that we shouldn’t be wasting time, and started travelling again.

While walking, I noticed another feature of the map.

“Willow, I’m certain that there wasn’t an arrow on this map before,” I commented, as I saw an object shaped like an arrow on the map.

“Yeah, it wasn’t there before.” I turned to look at a tree and leapt back in shock when the head of the arrow turned as well. I quickly caught on and told my speculations to Willow.

“I think the arrow indicates our direction.” I gave her the map and told her to twirl around in a circle. As she did, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Who made this? Who gave this to you.”

“Serafina did, at least I think she did. It just appeared on my bedside after I woke up from the dream, I thought I told you.”

With the arrowhead to guide our paths, we no longer had to worry about going in the wrong direction (we did worry, even though we almost always were in the right direction) and kept the map out more often to confirm that we weren’t straying off path.