Heading in the opposite direction of the demons they’d encountered, Derzina left them far behind. As they went further north, the terrain slowly shifted. Small patches of multicoloured crystal grew from the earth, spread out like the leaves of a bush. There was a certain beauty in the colourful, finely formed materials, though Derzina kept her distance. Whatever their appearance, they were likely far more dangerous than they seemed, given where they were found.
The closer they got to the Great Rift’s supposed location, the more numerous the crystals became until they covered much of the ground. It became difficult to walk without getting uncomfortably close to the vibrant clusters protruding from the black soil. The artificial thicket reminded her of the grove they’d passed through, though in Derzina’s estimation this was easily the more sinister of the two.
Strange as Soarister’s creation was, it concerned her far less than the manifestation of dangerous and likely corrupt magic before her. If the demons made use of it, then it was surely a substance best avoided wherever possible. Despite that, they were now forced to walk through fields of the magical crystals if they wanted to get anywhere. She couldn’t feel them having any effect on her, and she imagined Atasimon would have warned her if they did, but it seemed only a matter of time.
Pointless a task as it was, keeping an eye on the crystals helped to soothe Derzina’s unease and it proved to be of use when she saw the colour drain from one of the patches. She stopped in her tracks and watched as it was reduced to dull rock in the span of seconds. A faint shimmer of colour passed through the air, briefly highlighting a shape moving amidst the crystals in the distance. The shimmer faded and with it the shape was faded back into invisibility.
“Did you see that?” Derzina asked, speaking internally.
“I did,” Atasimon said. “I’m guessing that’s what the demons were talking about.”
“Are you sure? It didn’t seem dangerous to me.” She found it hard to imagine something which peacefully fed off the crystals could inspire such terror in the demons.
“It would explain why they didn’t see it coming, and if it feeds off the magic here, then I’m sure it must be a being of considerable power. We should avoid encountering it while I’m still recovering, otherwise it may cut our journey tragically short.”
Though Derzina wasn’t convinced of the threat before them, it still seemed prudent to heed the goddess’ wisdom. Watching as more of the crystals were drained of colour, Derzina determined the creature’s rough position and trajectory. She moved horizontally from its path, aiming to keep well clear of it.
Running along while keeping an eye on the creature, she was surprised to see its course and speed change dramatically. Crystals lost their colour with such rapidity that she caught only the faintest glimpse of what was draining them. She continued to flee from it, only for it to become apparent that it was both chasing her and that she wouldn’t be able to outrun it.
“Can you conceal us once more?” Derzina asked, seeing no alternative if they were to escape whatever was pursuing them.
“It appears I must,” Atasimon said, and her veil appeared around Derzina who continued her flight after changing direction once more.
Their pursuer continued straight ahead until it reached the point where Atasimon’s magic had cloaked Derzina, and stopped. The colour around the spot drained away but it went no further, and it was soon out of sight.
“Good,” Derzina said, “it’s lost our trail. You can probably lower your veil now.”
“Gladly.”
Derzina’s surroundings returned to normal and she continued to make her way northward. Disconcerting as the brief chase had been, it was nothing worth getting worked up over. They were sure to face far worse things within the Great Rift and wherever they went beyond that, assuming they survived that long. Other than right back to Meztraxia, Derzina could think of no worse places for them to go. Yet it was their only chance at defeating the Demon Lord who’d destroyed her city.
As she continued, Derzina encountered several strange looking creatures living amidst the crystals; from many legged beasts with hard shells to incredibly soft beings that oozed between tiny gaps. She kept a wide berth from all of them regardless of their form. Fortunately, none of them noticed her as the invisible entity that fed off colour had.
Whether or not the others were actually harmless or simply had no interest in chasing after, was something Derizna was happy to leave open to speculation. They had enough battles ahead of them as it was without disturbing whatever dwelt here without good cause. Presumably the demons intent on gathering the crystals had no such luxuries, it seemed strange to her that they would go to such lengths in order to obtain them. Or perhaps she was simply attributing too much rationality to demons, she doubted the way they thought was anything like humans.
Perhaps in their mind, their task was every bit as important as hers. If that were the case it was no wonder that they’d risk their lives, they may very well consider it a great honour. Derzina chuckled to herself at the thought of the demons’ honour, if they’d had any of that they never would have invaded humanity’s old world in the first place.
Reaching a dip in the ground, with crystals growing from the walls on either side, Derzina stopped to check if anything dwelt within. Not seeing a single creature stirring amongst the minerals, she walked in while avoiding direct contact with the crystals around her. Even if they weren’t magical, which they clearly were, they also looked rather sharp and that offered ample reason for her to avoid touching them.
She did, however, pause to admire a particularly large and splendid formation in the deepest part of the cleft. The colours pulsed and shifted, forming endless patterns that quite entranced her. Watching waves of light blue and green soar across the structure, she was reminded of the wave of light that had served as Ortesia’s symbol. Eyes moistening, she was thinking about moving on when the display abruptly ended as the colour vanished from the crystals before her.
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She threw herself to the side and a rush of wind passed her, followed by something smashing into the wall behind where she’d been standing. Catching only a brief glimpse of her attacker, a towering vaguely humanoid shape rendered briefly visible by the colour it had absorbed, Derzina fled. Without a word, Atasimon’s veil fell over her again and the world darkened around her.
She kept running, the only sound her feet scraping against the ground. Once she was back on relatively level ground, she glanced back and ran all the harder. Though she couldn’t feel anything amiss, she saw the long fingers sinking into the dark veil that enshrouded her.
“Do something!” Derzina demanded within her mind, the veil alone clearly wouldn’t suffice this time.
Pointed tendrils of shadow shot toward the creature and pierced deep within it. In a spray of colour, their attacker released its hold on the veil and fell back. Derzina kept running and it kept pace, though it remained beyond arm’s reach this time. Whenever Atasimon tried to skewer it once more, there was no sign of it making contact with their pursuer.
Acutely aware that Atasimon’s power would run out sooner or later, Derzina searched for another means of escape. Sighting a narrow ravine ahead, and recalling the creature’s considerable size, she decided to risk entering it. She entered at a run and the walls shuddered behind her, accompanied by a flash of colour, prompting Derzina to hurry further in.
Rounding the corner, she encountered a solid wall ahead and put her back to it. There she waited, until she felt sure the creature hadn’t followed them inside.
“I think you can remove your veil,” Derzina said, “at least for now.”
Atasimon did as requested, leaving Derzina defenceless once more. As uncomfortable as her vulnerability made her, it was essential to preserve as much of the goddess’ energy as possible. It didn’t seem like the creature could reach them in here and if they waited long enough, perhaps it might leave. At the very least, it would give Atasimon an opportunity to rest.
Derzina watched the crystals around her intently, each shift in their colour that might signal the creature’s presence causing her to tense. Not that there was much she could do if it did find its way in after her. Without the goddess’ assistance she had no hope of defeating it, or retreating from the corner she’d backed herself in. Thinking on how trapped she was made her question how wise this idea had been. Yet, despite her disquiet, she could come up with no better alternative. She couldn’t outrun it, and if she were forced to fight then this was as good a place as any to make her stand.
Seeing and hearing no sign of her pursuer after a long while of tense waiting, Derzina slowly moved forward. She approached the entrance of the little ravine she’d sheltered in and paused. Confirming that the crystals around her were still as vibrant as ever, she was about to take her first step out onto open ground when she heard a slight shift in the dirt above.
Not wanting to take any chances, she stepped back and something sharp grazed her arm. It cut right through the cloth and flesh as she fled back inside. Examining the wound, she saw the claw marks had made a clean, shallow cut. She could easily have lost the whole arm had she been slower to react, but there was no point worrying about that. Especially when Derzina could instead busy herself with worrying about how she was ever going to escape.
She’d hoped her pursuer would lose interest and seek easier prey, but evidently that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. For whatever reason, it seemed fixated on her. Perhaps it was simply its nature to chase things until it devoured them or it may be after the divine energy dwelling within her. If it consumed magic, then Atasimon’s must be very tempting indeed. Surely far better than what the crystals had to offer.
“What should we do?” Derzina asked, so thoroughly out of ideas that she deemed it prudent to interrupt the goddess’ rest. “I’m not sure if continuing to wait will get us anywhere.” For all they knew, the creature could linger outside their hideaway for days.
“I agree,” Atasimon said, “though I’m not certain what else we can do. Much as I’d like to take the fight to it, it seems to have become rather cautious after I wounded it. Likely it will just continue to wear us down without putting itself in danger.”
Derzina hadn’t put much thought into defeating the creature, partly because she’d be relying solely on Atasimon to do so and if the goddess had been confident in doing so, she would have said so. Hearing Atasimon mention the idea, however, gave her an idea.
“It only seems to be cautious when you’re protecting me.” It had been rather quick to attack her when she was on her own. “If I leave unprotected, then I’m sure it will pounce the moment it can get at me.”
“And how exactly would that help us? I can’t see you being torn to shreds benefitting our cause overmuch.”
The goddess was right to be wary, but Derzina thought this was the best chance they were likely to get. “I have no intention of dying here if I can avoid it. I was thinking that if you could raise me out of here then conceal your magic until the creature approaches, it would give you an opportunity to strike a decisive blow.”
“Doesn’t that strike you as rather dangerous?” Atasimon asked. “If I fail to strike it down or I’m too slow in doing so, then we’ll never defeat Meztraxia.”
“We shall never defeat him regardless if we’re not willing to take risks, and I trust in you to protect me.”
The goddess murmured something that Derzina couldn’t make out, followed by, “Then prepare yourself, we shall leave in a few moments.”
While Derzina waited, she focused on the point where she’d last seen the creature. Her noticing it wouldn’t do much good, given that it all depended on Atasimon, but tracking its movements would give her a certain peace of mind. If things went poorly, at least she’d be able to see her impending death. The shadows of the goddess’ veil gripped the sides of the ravine and propelled Derzina out in one motion.
Expecting the leap, she landed well and set off running. Though it would be more difficult to spot the creature this way, it seemed the best way to lure it to her. It appeared to be intelligent and it would know something was up if she stood her ground. Dirt flew as Derzina sprinted across the cracked expanse, dodging crystals while keeping an eye on their colour. She soon left the ravine where she’d sheltered behind, without a trail of drained crystals following her. Either the creature wasn’t chasing her or it was taking a different path.
Figuring there was no point in running further, Derzina stopped that she might keep a better watch on the crystals. She turned on the spot, craning her head as she tried to keep all of them in view, but still nothing changed. It was starting to look like it had given up the chase after all when Derzina collapsed and hit the ground hard.
She realised only after the fact that Atasimon had seized control for an instant and hurled her to the ground. Rolling away from whatever threat must be there if the goddess had taken such an action, she caught a glimpse of a mass of pointed shadows retracting from a wave of colour. She assumed the creature was either dead or sorely wounded and set off running once more. Regardless of its condition, there was no sense sticking around here. She ran for hours before she finally decided they were safe, and slowed her pace.