(EN) Encounter
“I sense hatred.”
Everyone suddenly stopped. Colidel’s shan sensitivity caught this feeling minutes before we even felt the thrill of anger. The dense Fominous barely allowed us to see further than a few steps. Pelymphe was almost crawling to ensure that the way was practicable. As the only Cenn in our little team, we were forced to follow hem, in trust of hem perfect directional sense. The ruin of Ma'aleh was supposedly still several hours before us, given how slowly we were advancing.
“The feeling intensifies. Either it’s getting stronger, or closer.”
Pelymphe gracefully straightened up and took a frustrated posture, knocking on hem rigid mask.
“I can’t smell in this suit. I can’t help you with this matter.”
Mömm was tilting his head either way to try to locate the source of the sound caught by his hollow horns. Then he spoke with his fluted voice, in deep and high tone blended.
“Nice hissing is insinuating itself inside spires. Stridulation is sliding east to this side. It repeats.”
Voldorum analyzed the situation with calm, but on a tone that would raise everyone vigilance.
“That can’t come from the Ma'aleh. Fominous doesn’t carry sound like this. That could very well be a pack of measts.”
"Or the Solsarion..."
They turned to me after I spoke, all looking at me with a keen point of worry. Colidel started to feel uneasy at this evocation, especially since he was already catching a strong emotion. Voldorum shook his head and intervened again to dissipate this feeling.
"Improbable. We are still far from the Ma'aleh. Stay focused and keep your voice down now."
As Aqonti, we started to sense the anger inflating our shans. I asked all my mates to keep their emotions inside them to allow me to think straight. A complete silence engulfed us, except for the Vedre who was listening to the tiniest sound floating in the mist. Until Colidel talked once again.
“This is not hatred... This is insufferable hunger…”
The tension raised, and we had trouble keeping our emotion under control to not overwhelm ourselves. The fog darkened progressively, amazing even Voldorum who was the most knowledgeable about the behaviour of all known mists. It reached a point where we were unable to see further than our gathered group, despite standing at about an arm length.
A slashing noise cut through the air as well as Mömm, ripping off his sturdy boneface from the rest of his head. I almost collapsed under the fear pressure that everyone was experiencing. My shan reaction cut me from my other senses a few seconds and forced me to kneel. I recovered hearing Colidel screaming without interruption, completely possessed by the fear, due to his very sensitive shan. A dreadful gurgle put a stop to it. My eyes fell on our Cenn who was half sunk into the ground. Voldorum was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps was he the only able to flee from the measts.
I felt a sharp and intense pain in the belly, while a tremendous force expelled me away from the group. I probably lost consciousness when my head hit the ground. When I woke up, I thought I was dead. I was still hurt, and my vision blurry, but the area was pristine clear. All the fog had disappeared. Even more confusing, the ruin was standing still in front of where we were heading earlier. Its gigantic height cast a shadow so vast that we could have held the whole of Alprra in it. Looking so closely at this immense dark tower, I had the impression that it was still inaccessible, mocking our efforts to wrest secrets from its inviolate entrails.
My wound was covered by the strong solidified liquid of one of my flasks, which probably broke at the first impact. It kept my suit hermetic, which allowed me to survive the fominous that would have infiltrated into it otherwise. However, the wound was deep, and I vomited blood when I tried to get up. I couldn’t risk taking a closer look at it, in case the haze would come back with another unusual mist tide. I couldn’t have done anything about it anyway, most of my alchemy package got wasted, and the few reagents I could keep were only of offensive purposes.
I could not find the bodies of my comrades, and there was nothing interesting left to retrieve except a single horn along Mömm's shattered bloody facebone. There were also no traces in the mud other than ours, which probably disturbed me the most. A horde would have marked the ground, as would a single silent meast. There's still so much we don't know about the dangers of fominous...
I limped my way back to the north-west until I saw sails from mist gatherers. I reached one and waited there until some of them came back to it. I have been lucky that one of them rode a Kappu to bring me to the dams in haste. I gave him my mask in exchange for the favor. I feel weaker though, and I spend less time conscious every day. My body burns from the inside and foul smell emanates from the wound. I’m desiccating and my body turns into sand and dust, despite all the water and care I can get. Renowned healers have to come from Alprra, but that means days of travel, if the weather allows.
May my story bring some light to those who will take over. Our quest must never falter.
Merika'le was widely known in the Llahe. Not only because she was an excellent alchemist from Nepo, but also because she was one of the few to dare venture into the mist to uncover ruins and experiment new reagents on the field. She had led many expeditions, including those that opened the first routes to Ma'aleh, and taught Athanor for several years about her experience with measts. The Voices of Unison decreed a Mourning Circle in Alprra in her honour. The other people from the Refuge would proceed to pay tribute to this fallen team according to their own customs, all over the three counties.
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