The heavy metal, which would have made others feel a chill, had done nothing to Syllis. She easily withstood the cold, a nice bonus her bond provided her.

Instead she felt a wave of calm wash over her. She might have shed some tears if she had not overused her bond. Instead, Syllis felt like she needed to laugh.

Syllis was only able to stomach this laugh with all of her willpower. Despite her compromised mental faculties, she maintained a great deal of rationality. Her overuse symptoms seemed to lie with Aura’s. Both of their ‘gods’ compromised their impulse control, in separate ways.

Clyde, being the least affected by infection, decided to be the mediator.

“My name is Clyde.” He slowly spoke and then gestured to his companions. “This is Aura, Korman and Syllis.”

He briefly introduced the black haired beauty, animalistic reserved blond and secare nymph.

The guards looked to each other, exchanging a couple of troubled glances before one turned back to the intruders.

“Why are you here? Why have you invaded our city?” This guard was much more passive than the one who first questioned them, he stepped in front of his partner.

“It was an accident. We came through a fable rift. The sky began burning, we ran from it and then… The floor shattered, dropping us here.”

Clyde focused on making his face exceedingly innocent. Just because he could not see in the dark abyss, did not mean that this civilization could not. The very fact that there was a civilization in this dark place, naturally meant that they could see.

“Oh god! Oh god!”

“Pray to the dark! Pray to Dark!”

Worried elmannise cried out shuffling around the group in front of them. This area was in complete disarray. This was unheard of! They had never had a fellow group of nomads show up. This could only be a plague omen!

They yelled, continuing to scramble. One of the guards rapidly spun, flustered at how the situation had turned out.

“Stop! This is not a plague! Get into your homes!”

“They are mere intruders! They will be dealt with promptly!”

Both guards diffused the situation before examining the intruders further.

“Rise.” The aggressive guard commanded the group of intruders.

“Alright, everybody!” Clyde spoke, slowly raising to his feet.

Syllis rose from behind the mediator. It was difficult, her muscles were spasming.

‘Another defect from corruption… Great!’ Syllis mused. There were not many times she had to deal with the side-effects of overusing her bond. In the outer ring, there had been no reason to over exert herself, and at the Boorne estate and Lurgica there had been anathemic doctors who could heavily alleviate these problems.

Now though, Syllis faced the full repercussions of her actions. It was horrible, being unable to use her body. She again wondered how long the problems that arose would last. It would surely be longer than normal, since she had exerted herself more than ever before. The question then shifted to, how long exactly did these side-effects usually last?

Korman rose next, afraid of the repercussions had he not cooperated. Naturally he was worried, his bond was not as deceiving as Clyde’s or as threatening as Aura’s was, nor was it as destructive as Syllis’ bond was.

Aura was the last to rise. Her inherently prideful personality was the root cause. It did not help that she held great disdain for how these ‘Elmannise’ were treating them. The only reason she played along was thinking about her companions. She could see, but they could not. It would be leagues more difficult for them to escape. How could she cause problems for them in a place that is already riddled with danger?

One guard nodded with tacit approval before turning to face the other. He placed a hand around the side of his mouth and whispered into the other’s ear.

“What do we do? This is a matter for the high priest and priestess. But they are injured, quite severely.”

“Are their injuries life threatening?” The other guard inquired, only to be met with an obscure nod.

“Then we will search them, and then let them heal in the infirmary. While we stand guard of course. Once they are recovered, then we can bring them to the priest and priestess.”

The more rational of the guards clearly outlined his thoughts. He did not try to hide anything, because the intruders would not be able to hear what he had to say. The elmannise had great ears and could hear incredibly well, they were certain these outsiders could not outdo them.

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Unbeknownst to them, Korman had mutated his ear. He had amplified his hearing from a human’s level, all of the way to the level of a coiled, cereblath!

This was much better than the hearing of the elmannise. Korman would easily be able to hear the faintest breath in an area of over fifty meters. He retained this information, not bothering to tell it to his companions. There was a potential the elmannise would hear, causing them trouble.

“We will search all of you! If you show us kindness, then we will help you in kind! Any of you unwilling to cooperate, will be set free in front of the four suns!” The guard commanded.

His last sentence showed the justice system of the elmannise. They were strict, yet just.

This was eerily similar to Jyrid’s view on the world and though Syllis had veered from his views, she had to acknowledge that it was free of the grey area’s present in Asanoch, and Ethrailia as a whole.

Seeing that no one tried to get out of the search, they called two other guards over. One of the elmannise guards let out a loud cry. It was not one of shame, but a signal that all elmannise learned.

After both groups of guards converged, the original guards gave the newcomers a rundown on the situation. First, horror spread across their face, then calm as the story concluded. They looked at the group and began searching them.

As Syllis felt her body being patted down, she couldn't help but acknowledge their odd anatomy. The elmannise was tall, the guard needed to crouch down to pat her lower half down. Their hands had large calluses—at least that was Syllis’ best guess on sensation alone—that were akin to stones.

Syllis shifted along with her three companions as the elmannise guards patted down the more sensitive areas of their bodies. They were thorough, especially so. It did not help that their anatomy was entirely separate from the elmannise, so the guards did not know the discomfort they were causing.

As the guards finished, the two other patrolling guards who had joined in to quickly search them left.

“Follow us to the infirmary.” The calmer of the two guards spoke simply, he did not care for waste.

Tired, the group gladly followed the guards.

Without the capability to see, they had to rely on touch. Aura came up with the idea to do a chain. She would stand at the front, then Clyde would take her hand, then Korman would take Clyde’s and finally Syllis would take Korman’s.

‘An infirmary… Finally, we will be able to rest.’ Syllis found that even her thoughts were exhausted. The very first day inside this fable rift had been the most taxing day of her entire life, including her ritual. ‘I wonder, just how much worse is it going to get?’

The further they walked, the more Syllis felt the wear on her body. Her foot did not ache, all of the components within had. Normally, she considered the foot as a single entity. Now though… She could feel her: heels and ankles, every toe. Even her nerves and ligaments all burned.

This extended further than her feet. Her entire body ached. The flames had long been left behind, but their slight heat still felt like a burning pain, it was a unique property.

The ends of her hair were charred and burnt, same with the bottom and back of her long, black coat. The front of her body was mostly spared by the coverage her back provided, but they still felt the residual pain.

‘Ah… It’s entirely possible that that corruption could be compromising the pain sector of my brain.’ Syllis thought it through.

‘Why would my feet burn? I’ve barely walked today, the chase was on the back of Aura’s ephemeral crows. And why would I still feel this burning sensation on my skin?’ The more she pondered the subject, the more obvious the truth became.

‘The dangers of corruption are more perilous than I thought… I have to keep an eye out in the future. I will not overdo it so much in the future.’ Syllis resolved inwardly, before adding on. ‘I hope.’

“We are here!” The passive guard gestured towards a dark void, the same as anywhere else in the abyss.

Of course, Aura could see through this abyss. Even Korman who had various nocturnal mutations could not see through this place.

What Aura saw was a pristine black building with walls that rippled ever so slightly. It almost looked like the buildings were made out of a calm, black sea.

These ephemeral maggots of hers greatly reduced the rate at which her sanity recuperated at, but it was worth it. What she lost in her incoherent ramblings, she gained in being able to describe this scenery to her companions later.

Syllis, Korman and Clyde all kept quiet. There was nothing to praise. In Asanoch they would look upon a beautifully constructed building in awe. In the abyss however, there was nothing more than a void in front of them.

Aura also kept quiet, not wanting to stand out from her companions. The elmannise thought that none of them could see in the dark, this was an advantage for them. Just like how Korman had fooled the guards with his hearing, Aura was doing the same with her sight.

The guards latched onto a handle of sorts, drifting in the darkness. They pushed the void shrouded door open and invited the group inside.

They ascended a flight of stairs, the gap in steps was staggering. This was a large change for the natives of Asanoch. For the elmannise though, with their superior height and longer legs, this was merely a normal step.

It was subtle aspects such as this that reminded Syllis just how alien fables were. Sure there were aspects that were similar to Asanoch and Ethrailia as a whole, but the amount of unique aspects was far greater and difficult for her to wrap her head around.

The three of them bumped into various objects. Aura could not guard them from every minor inconvenience as they approached higher floors.

Finally there was something they could see. After nearly an hour of roaming the bottom of the abyss, the sight of a purple-blue bioluminescent sheet felt comforting, despite the entirely peculiar way that it looked.

“Someone will be up to cure you shortly.” The passive guard spoke calmly and walked outside of the room.

“Thank you!” Clyde shouted from within the room, making certain that they could hear.

This yelling told the elmannise that neither Clyde nor the rest of the group knew of the elmannise’ superior hearing.

Korman faked hearing, Aura faked vision and Clyde faked knowledge. It was unknown how impactful these subtleties were, but they could not hurt. Whether it helped them in any meaningful way was for them to see, the attempt held enough meaning anyways.

Humans are resourceful and adaptable creatures. Syllis was a bit behind in this regard.