For some reason, the easternmost place of the forest was incredibly peaceful and quiet. The only sound I could hear for hours and hours of walking was the crashing of the waves and seagulls nesting in the cliffs that overlooked the sea. The air, of course, was salty and briny, quite unlike the earthy, moldy smell I'd grown accustomed to in the deep woods. I liked it here - so quiet, so safe. Whenever I grew hungry, all I'd have to do was leap into the waters and down whatever fat salmon happened to swim by. Sure, the sweetness was so weak here that I could barely detect its scent, but there was something... charming about this place.
And the best part was that I didn't have to worry about overgrown lizards trying to eat me as I journeyed forth - quite the welcome change, I would say.
Well, that wasn't to say there weren't any predators here, because there were plenty. Most of them were giant wolves, fellow bears, and strange reptilian creatures that were about as big as a large wolf and crawled on four legs, dragging their bellies across the ground. They didn't bother me too much; I guess the difference in strength was simply palpable enough that every other predator stayed away as I approached - even other bears. A shame, really, I would've loved to interact with others of my species; it was getting rather lonely - even the white ones would've been good company, at least, if they weren't dumb enough to try and attack, because i could literally kill them with my mind now.
To be fair, a few predators did try to attack me through ambushes and the like, whenever I tested my stealth skills, thereby revealing myself from time to time, but all I had to do was throw my attackers into the sea using my thoughts and watch them drown from afar.
No one attacked me again, after that, even when I purposefully revealed myself.
The sun was just rising as I trailed the coastline, purposefully slowing my strides as I focused on the fiery red and orange colors that bled into the world from the horizon. The scene was so... mesmerizing that I stopped and sat on the fine, white sands at my feet, and looked out across the sea. Nothing blocked my view. There were no mountains here, nor tall trees, just the seemingly endless expanse of cold, shimmering water. The colors were... beautiful, and I seldom used that word as I'd only very recently understood its meaning.
The sight truly was beautiful; I had never seen its like. It really was a shame that I used to live so far inland, far from such beauty. I would've loved to have spent my early days here, just sitting and watching the colors, bleeding outwards into the world. And I just sat there, marvelling at the sight. Looking back, I very seriously doubted if the old me could appreciate such a thing; did I even have the intelligence to actively appreciate anything to begin with?
I honestly didn't know - not that it mattered too much, I supposed.
An hour must've passed, or two, until I grew bored of the sight and sat up, continuing on my way north, trailing the very edge of the world.
Three days have passed since I left the tomb place. The bone things didn't attack as I exited; they all simply stood in place, like trees. Three days have passed since I chose to walk the easternmost path, where the land and sea met, and most of the ground was either sand or blackened pebbls, or just huge swathes of grey rock, hollowed and sharpened by the constant spray of the sea. In those three days, I practiced whatever magical skills I found to be rather manageable - cosmokinesis was still quite up there among the things I can't understand. It sounded dangerous - even to me - so I left it alone. Most of my other skills, I found, seemed to be geared towards stealth and ambush - aside from the dice roll thing that I also didn't quite understand - with most of them allowing me to circumvent larger, more powerful predators or attack prey without them ever noticing my presence until it was too late.
Not that I ever found the perfect use out of those skills, considering that I could simply drag my prey towards me now, using my mind, but I knew they would definitely be helpful in scenarios I have not yet fully considered. After all, once I left this great forest, I would be walking into the unknown, with nothing but my powers and abilities to aid me; in that regard, the ability to remain unseen and undetected seemed far more useful than the ability to rip apart prey creatures with my mind.
I knew for a fact that humans dwelled beyond the forests. I had never seen their habitats and homes, but it was highly unlikely that they lived in the forests, which means they would dwell in plains, where they would construct their own dens and shelters, much like those beaver creatures, who built dams in the rivers. I certainly seemed far easier than making those things they wore around their bodies and those other things they carried as extensions of themselves, long sticks with sharp, pointy ends, or glimmering... things that looked a lot like claws, but were not claws. Not to mention that one curved stick that shot out straight sticks with enough velocity to puncture fur and bone.
Whatever the case, the humans were definitely fond of building things. 'I wonder what else they're capable of making?'
Those things I ate in the tomb place were definitely made by humans; no forest-dwelling creature could've possibly made such items of power. And that was another thing; the humans had powers of their own, like that one human I fought, killed, and ate several days ago - he was powerful, and I had no doubts that other humans would be quite powerful as well, which meant danger - but then danger was a part of adventure, right?
At the very least, I was powerful enough now that - if I were to face that one human again - I could easily kill him, far easier than before. Now, I could probably just squish the human's head with my mind, before he would even notice my presence. Of course, I couldn't discount the possibility that some humans were even stronger than that one, which meant I'd have to rely on my stealth abilities if we ever had to fight. Not that I wasn't confident in my own strength, just that I'd rather walk away from every battle without a scratch on me.
Then again, I'd prefer to avoid battles in the first place.
The winds gradually became much colder the further I walked northwards and the closer I came to the Grey Mountains that separated the woodlands from the human kingdoms. Here, the ground was covered in frost and snow, and most of the waters near the edge of the land had frozen solid, making it easier for me to traverse onwards whenever the land ended far too soon. The creatures were fewer here as well - both predator and prey. Strangely, however, the wind carried with it a very delicious sweetness, but also... something pungent, like rotting fish.
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The rotting fish smell was moving; it was steadily, but slowly, drifting towards me from the west, likely crossing the woodlands.
'How... fascinatingly odd.' Fish could not move on land, and the source of the smell was definitely coming from the depths of the woods; moreover, if living fish could not move on land, then dead, rotting fish definitely couldn't either, which meant this was something else entirely... which just happened to smell like rotting fish. 'Poor bastard...'
Regardless of the strange mingling of the smells, I pushed onwards. The roots of the mountains weren't too far ahead, and the trees have long since disappeared in the west - only a blanket of snow and ice meeting my eyes each time I glanced. The predators that roamed these parts were definitely far stronger than the ones, who dwelled in the center of the forest, and their numbers were far greater, as well, and I definitely didn't recognize any of them. 'Are these the creatures that flying human spoke of?'
She did mentioned quite a number of dangerous beasts, who dwelled in the mountains and attacked in packs, like giant wolves, but far stronger and fiercer. 'Then again... can they even see me?'
I had learned rather early on, after walking out of that tomb place, that most creatures were simply incapable of detecting my presence, unless I allowed them to, which meant that I could probably cross the Grey Mountains in peace.
Just as I took a single step forward, however, towards the blinding, freezing blizzard, the sky exploded, sending out a powerful gust of wind and thunderous booms that blew away the snow all around me, revealing the frozen earth underneath and the thousands upon thousands of bones that littered the soil. Power fluttered forth from the distant woods, radiating outwards, flooding my chest with a strange, but familiar warmth. I turned southwards, my eyes lingering over the distant treeline.
The smell of rotting fish was much stronger now - far stronger than it'd been earlier.
It was so strong, actually, that I turned over my shoulder and rushed towards the trees. Another booming thunder echoed and exploded outwards, causing a few of the trees to fall down. The smells were almost nauseating at this point, like standing amidst a mountain of briny, rotting fish. Alongside the briny, fishy smell and the pungent presence, however, was a very familiar and very unique scent - the most vibrant of flower meadows.
'Oh... right... I'd almost forgotten about that flying human?' I didn't have the shiny rock with me; she would likely be looking for it, I think. But then we didn't form a binding contract thing and neither of us lost anything in that little bargain. Still, what was she doing here, alongside... whatever it was that brought forth such a foul, briny odor.
Once more, thunderous booms echoed outwards, flooding throughout the woods and extending all the way to the roots of the Grey Mountains, where I'd stood and watched and waited.
Curious, I took a single step towards the shaking forest.
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She raised her hand and the forest stirred, thick roots, marred with sharp barbs and poisonous stings, emerged from the depths of the soil and rushed forward, slithering through the air, before slamming into the monstrosity. Upon contact, the roots withered away into dust and fell unto the ground. Lothien's eyes widened.
'It's immune to Earth Magic?' The only creatures, who were immune to the energies of the earth, were ghosts, specters, and those of who dwelled in 4th dimension and beyond. This thing was neither ghost nor specter, which meant it could only be one thing. Her lips curved into a scowl; these things were not welcome in this world or any other world!
"How dare you tresspass in the realm of Arwatar, child of the abyss!"
Lothien screamed, her voice rippling through the Eternal Glade, drawing power from the most ancient magics that dwelled beneath the earth. The world responded in kind and a powerful blast of the divine energies emerged from her outstretched hands, barelling towards the foul spawn of the abyss that'd defiled the sanctity of Arwatar's Eternal Glade. The host of divine powers slammed into the creature, causing its jet-black hide to sizzle and smoke.
The creature itself merely stood there, writhing in its mass of tendrils, eyes, and maws, filled with jagged and uneven teeth. It showed no sign of even noticing the damage, though Lothien knew well enough that such an alien creature was likely unaware of the concept of pain. It didn't bother fighting back as the elven maid unleashed another blast of divine energies, far more powerful than the last, rippling through the Eternal Glade and uprooting hundreds of trees all around them. "Begone, foul creature!"
The child of the abyss had arrived at the edges of her mistress' domain over a month ago, never taking even a single step into the Eternal Glade itself; instead, the creature stayed at the western reaches of the Grey Mountains, well outside the bounderies of Arwatar's domain, outside Lothien's powers. And so she let it be, even when its very presence was akin to a blight upon the material world itself, a stinking, festering wound upon reality. The Eldritch entity, however, maintained its distance, sulking in frozen caves, and so she could do nothing, despite her wishes.
That was until two nights ago, when a team of hunters battled the creature and somehow drove it into the forest, where the hunters were - unsurprisingly - slaughtered by the child of the abyss. Not that they were even remotely aware of their enemy's ability to control time and space, but the hunter's did an okay job - 6/10.
What was not okay, however, was the fact that the eldritch entity had not deigned to return to its little cave in the Grey Mountains, instead opting to move further into the Eternal Glade.
Lothien eyed the writhing mass of unnatural flesh with disdain; just being in its presence was enough to send chills down her spine. It was precisely because of these eldritch abominations that the Age of Gods ended; the gods would not underestimate their power, and neither would she. After all, the creature had yet to attack; heck, it probably wasn't even aware that she was attacking it. The guardian of the glade lowered her arms, sending out a mental command to all the creatures of the forest to stay away as she did.
Divine energies flared around her form, ready to smite down those of the dark. And yet Lothien could not deny the very simple fact that this creature... might just be stronger than her. The guardian of the glade had several contingencies in place for such a thing, but... Lothien didn't want to die - at least, not yet.
There was something odd at work here, something she didn't quite understand.
The entity was ignoring her, its attention was... far off. Though it had probably a thousand eyes around its... form, none of those eyes were even looking at her.
What could possibly be interesting enough for a child of the abyss, a creature of time and space, to become so engrossed in it, utterly ignoring her attacks?
Lothien could not deny her own curiosity in the matter. And so she reached outwards with her senses and her powers; around them, nearly every single creature had fled, and so much of their immediate space was empty, save for one very peculiar and very powerful entity that was slowly approaching them. Try as she might, however, Lothien's senses seemed to glide off the creature, as though she was barred from seeing it.
"What the hell is going on?"