Chapter 111 We Are Bystanders

With that last word, Dahdin turned to face the multitude of distortions and waved his paws, trying to coax the remnants of nature still in the soil. Eventually, the traces slowly rose from the ground and surrounded him. He began to form these into symbols and started incanting in an unknown language. As he did this, the symbols began to glow. He then pushed them outward until they reached the many distortions. Once they neared the point of being sucked in, they solidified in their positions. When his incantation ceased, the world grew silent. Then suddenly, a rupturing sound echoed from all around.

The sudden noise caused Aleshia to cover her ears and crouch down for cover. As the sound faded and the ringing in her ears subsided, she slowly lowered her hands and stood up, revealing the view before her. Previously, the land appeared as if it were a battlefield, but as her eyes adjusted, the vast majority of what she could see was a lifeless expanse. She gawked at the altered landscape until, a few seconds later, she noticed the change in the distortions around her. They had become significantly smaller.

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Something strange was happening to Dahdin, and it wasn't until the mist overtook him that Aleshia noticed; however, Lucia felt it far sooner than she did.

Upon sensing the mist coming from Dahdin, Lucia quickly conjured a barrier to protect Aleshia and instructed her to move away from Dahdin. Aleshia, clearly understanding the danger of staying, worriedly glanced at Dahdin before backing away and running. When exhaustion finally caught up to her, she turned to look back at the place she had just fled from. A massive swirling dark mist was erupting from that spot. With concern in her voice, she asked, "Will Dahdin be okay?"

In response to her concern, Lucia said, "There isn't much we can do right now; we should just chalk this up to an unfortunate accident and accept that we were merely bystanders. I'm sure many people have felt this disturbance, so they will eventually come to check it out and resolve the issue." With those words, Lucia urged her not to dwell on the whole mess.

Aleshia solemnly accepted her role as just an onlooker, shifting responsibility. However, tears began to flow from her eyes, and she was unable to move. It was as if Kailey had heard and seen everything that had transpired but was unwilling to accept this outcome. Aleshia tried to reason with her inwardly, attempting to coax her into acceptance. Eventually, as if in understanding, her tears stopped flowing, allowing her to move again without the feeble restraint that Kailey had imposed on her. Aleshia began running again, distancing herself as far as possible from the disaster, trying not to look back or remember.