I wrote 90% of this chapter while shit-faced drunk (￣ 'i ￣;)
I ran a few spell checks, but my head hurts like a mf rn so if I read the chapter when I wake up and it sucks I'm prob gonna delete it and write another one.
Mb all (°ー°〃)
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[Sunny's POV]
(Day 2)
The second day of travel wasn't much different from the first.
Our group strolled relatively carefree through the crimson maze, occasionally making small talk to kill the time.
I had sent my shadow ahead to scout as usual, but the caution that normally punctuated all my actions had dulled slightly.
There was still an aching paranoia gnawing at the back of my mind, but my initial carefulness had laxed, conditioned by hours of safety and boredom.
Instead of scouting, I was more focused on training my shadow manipulation, trying to achieve a higher level of mastery in my aspect ability.
Though, the leaps in progress that I had experienced before were exchanged for a slower and steadier growth.
If I were to liken my shadow manipulation to a muscle, all I could do currently was move it around continuously, developing a better connection and more control over it.
There wasn't any real way for me to "strengthen" that muscle for now, as I had no way of gaining shadow fragments, so I had to make do with this instead.
But hey
Progress is progress
While I was focused on my little training exercises, something caught my shadow's attention.
Through our bond, the little shade sent me a rather disturbing image.
Up ahead, about a kilometer away, there was a rather large circular clearing.
A slight shiver shot up my spine as I processed the scene.
Large circular divots were scattered across the clearing, some large enough to resemble craters.
The divots were too uniform, too perfectly similar, to have occurred naturally.
But the real centerpiece, the thing that caught my attention, was the giant claw sticking out of the saturated sand.
There was something desperate in nature about it, almost as if it was reached out in a silent plea for salvation.
Immediately, the caution that had been dulled by an ignorant sense of safety sharpened like a blade, my paranoia ringing alarm bells in my head.
"Stop!" I muttered sharply.
Maybe it was the oddly disturbed look I had on my face, or perhaps it was the odd muted sense of danger that flowed out of the coral walls, but at my words, everyone snapped to attention.
Before I had said another word, Nephis summoned her sword, briefly scanning the surroundings before shooting me a cautious glance.
Audun immediately summoned a pristine silver long sword, positioning himself protectively in front of Cassie.
But his tired eyes were wide in a show of immense surprise.
Cassie froze in place, her body tense with caution as she hesitantly raised her staff.
Tension burst through the once carefree atmosphere.
In her usual flat tone, Nephis posed a question.
"What is it...?"
Thinking for a moment, I responded:
"A bit further, there's a clearing full of these unnatural craters. I saw what I think is the corpse of a carapace scavenger buried in the sand. There's a chance that we might be walking into the hunting ground of a powerful abomination."
Nephis' cautious expression shifted to one of wary calculation.
Frowning slightly, Audun stayed silent.
Observing their reactions, I continued.
"From what I saw, it still seems relatively safe, but I don't know if continuing down this path is worth the risk..."
Our group grew quiet for a moment before Nephis shot a look at Audun.
"Do you know anything about this?"
He shook his head, his white feathery companion tracing out lines in the air.
I've explored the area a couple of times, and I've never seen any craters like the ones Sunny's talking about. I also haven't heard or seen any nightmare creature with such unique hunting practices.
"So should we reroute...?"
Audun thought for a moment.
If we do, I'm not sure if we'll make it to the next platform before the sea rises.
Nephis cast her gaze forward for a moment before locking eyes with me.
I nodded, the two of us seemingly sharing the same thought.
"We'll continue forward."
And so it was...
*****
It took us about half an hour to reach the clearing after our little discussion.
I had already seen it once, so the unnatural scene didn't disturb me as much, but Nephis cast a wary look at the craters, moving cautiously around the claw reaching out of the sand.
Cassie navigated the field of craters quite easily, guided by Audun's grip, still looking a bit tense.
But
Audun's reaction caught my attention the most.
When he set his eyes on the crater, for the briefest of moments, a look of recognition graced his features.
Following the recognition, I caught a glimpse of what could've been either nervousness or fear before it was buried under his characteristic expressionlessness.
Odd.
We should hurry, the next hill is still pretty far away.
A deflection...
I looked around, shooting a glance at Nephis.
This time, though, it seemed like I wasn't the only one who noticed the oddity.
Changing Star and I shared another look.
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[Cassie's POV] (5 days later)
Over the past couple of days, I've gotten rather used to the reliable presence of the mute swordsman.
Nephis and Sunny had started spending more time together after the 3rd day of our journey, when he asked her to teach him swordsmanship in exchange for his portion of soul shards.
On that day, we had encountered a nightmare creature for the first time, a rather injured carapace scavenger.
From what Audun told me, it was a rather hard fought battle despite its injuries.
It seemed to have served as a wake-up call for our group, our advance becoming more cautious as we continued our trek towards the city.
Whenever we encountered danger, Sunny and Nephis would more often than not venture out to deal with it, leaving my alone with Audun.
He would stand by my side and reassure me whenever I voiced any concerns, describing the fights to me whenever I was curious or worried, "talking" to me whenever I got bored.
Audun's actions never felt insincere, there was always this honest consideration deeply laced within his every move, and it slowly disarmed my original wariness.
Through these interactions, I had become more adept at reading my silent companion, becoming more susceptible to the changes in his mood and emotions.
It was also when I began to notice some odd things about Audun.
For one, he possessed a rather strong salty sea like fragrance, the kind of ingrained scent you'd expect from a sailor or a fisherman, someone who'd spent their life on turbulent waters.
His body would tense slightly whenever Sunny and Neph went out to fight, though it didn't seem to be out of fear, nervousness, or concern. It felt more like guilt.
He always seemed tired too, and upon asking Sunny, he remarked that he had never actually seen Audun sleep, something that I had found rather odd.
When I asked Audun about it, he flinched, explaining that he had insomnia, which even I could tell was a bold face lie.
I don't remember exactly when it was, but maybe two days ago, he began to favor leaning slightly more on his right side, the original consistency of his steps fading into more of an offbeat trod…
Like he was injured.
When I confronted him, he once again brushed off my concern, saying that all the walking was tiring him out.
Another lie.
There were little things too.
Small flinches or an imperceptible tremor in his finger when he wrote his thoughts on my palm that only became more pronounced as the days went on.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that his condition was getting progressively worse as the days passed.
And I had no idea why, until the seventh day of our journey.
On that night I had a vision.
Of a blonde haired, purple eyed man fighting abomination in the dark, insidious waters of the Black Sea.
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(A/N: Yeah my fault guys
Shorter chapter this time
I ended up going out with a couple of friends to watch some fire works, and one of them brought a bunch of drinks
long story short, I was NOT able to focus on writing very well.
I'll probably release another chapter later today, but my head still hurts a bit.
Once again, I wrote this chapter while intoxicated and on my phone, so there's like a 50/50 chance that it's absolute garbage, and I'll have to delete it and rewrite it.
Ty for the support!)