Lookout's Landing
She pushed on through the tall thick trees of the forest, ignoring the warning of the sun dipping toward the horizon. She knew what she saw in the last light of day yesterday. A rocky peninsula, free of the mist. Glancing at the rustling newborn swaddled across her chest, she considered for a moment stopping now to find a suitable tree to stay in for the night. She ran his already thick red-brown hair through her fingers and smiled, allowing herself one moment to enjoy the peace and joy of motherhood.
She had survived the first month by patience and instinct: foraging for food during the day and finding a tree sturdy enough to hold her tall form to sleep in during the night. Tonight, though... tonight she would sleep on her back with her eyes to the stars. It must be close, based on the distance she gauged last night.
The trees started to grow more sparse, with tall grasses and ferns stretching from the forest floor toward the canopy. The last light of day crept below the horizon. Fear took her for a moment as she moved toward the nearest tree. She focused her mind on the beauty of nature all around her and her fingers began to elongate into sharp talons. But as she reached toward the tree to begin to climb, she noticed something strange.
She could see the ground.
She did not see The Mist
Unknowingly she must have passed into the zone of safety without realizing it. Continuing on, the trees gave way to a short grassy field that funneled to a large rocky outcropping nearly a mile in width and extending for at least one mile away from the cliff. She paused as ahead of her she saw a silver flame nearly a foot in diameter, hovering inches above the ground. It made no noise and seemed to leave the ground under it unburned. As she sat to consider the flame, her eyes rose to the end of the peninsula, to the silhouette of a long-ruined lighthouse. It stood dark and silent against the purple-black night sky.
No, not completely silent. A flame... a campfire at the top? Other survivors had already found this place of safety. She smiled and looked down at her son, starting to wake from his slumber.
"Be at peace, my heart. This is your new home."
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