Ti heard the word 'serpent', and her pointed ears pricked up. "Papa? Someone like me?"

"Perhaps," said Li. "But I suspect not quite as much as you would like."

"That is so," said the aarakowa. "The Dread Eye holds not the sacred fire of life in its heart, if a heart it even holds. It is death and dread manifested. Undeath."

"Have you seen this creature?" asked Li.

"No, but of it, I know well. Its presence has haunted this pit for years long before my life. In the third blowing of the Dark Winds two cycles past, the thrice crowned mountains fell to the Fog. With the Fog, a swell of death and terror, of desperation and suffering and all things harsh and cold passed through even to here, and that swell swirled into a maelstrom given form.

That is the Dread Eye. Its dark, slithering body lies still, and to all life that enters within its bounds, its eye passes judgement and curses."

"I understand what it is now," said Li. He noted how the aarakowa referred to the demonic invasions as 'Dark Winds' and centuries as cycles. The beastman was in tune with a longstanding culture that spanned centuries, remembering all the scars that had been left upon the world through conflicts. "And I have made my decision. Passed this creature, the Triforge Mountains are far more accessible, no?"

"The Dread Eye bars entry into the underground caverns leading into the mountains. Caverns the half men once used. Were the Dread Eye to fall, then surely, those caverns would remain."

"I see now. This Dread Eye you speak of is a relatively powerful undead creature, and its presence is a known harbinger of undeath and negative energies. Or, as in this case, a manifestation of them. It is likely projecting a wide-ranging curse that is turning this entire ravine into an infested hotbed of undead."

Li stepped closer to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the ravine that spanned down. His gaze traveled over the rocky land and how at the bottom, wisps of light mist rose up from spaces between rocks, covering the area in a purple haze.

This was not a land in balance. Whatever had happened to the Triforge two hundred years ago, during the third demonic invasion, had fundamentally altered something deep within the land, causing undeath to spiral out of control.

He would bring order to this chaos.

"It is settled, then," said Li. "We will travel down, and we will vanquish this 'Dread Eye', restoring the balance of this land."

"Fight! Fight!" Tia wriggled in Li's arms, her eyes wide as she smiled down at the sheer drop to the ravine, seeing all the undead energies emanating from the deathly ground as a challenge where she could finally let loose.

"Yes, Tia, a fight," said Li as he patted her head. "And a fight you will take alone."

The aarakowa stiffened. "You will send the hatchling to fight?"

"A hatchling, she may be, but she is more a fighter than most any I have met," said Li. "And I will teach her to see what imbalance is. And when it must be uprooted."

"Your decision, I will respect, grass-touched one," said the aarakowa. He sat cross legged at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the purple shrouded ravine. His avian eyes were sharp and open wide, shining yellow with a focused intensity Li had never quite seen so far in this world.

"I will watch, as I have watched for many years, as you challenge the depths. The same depths that many younger and more spirited than I have challenged. I shall pray for your victory, and if it is such that the winds do not favor you, then I will ensure your corpses have reverent burial."

Li smiled back at the aarakowa. "You have lived many years. I recall that your kind can live easily up to a century, or, as you would put it, a cycle. You are likely nearing the end of your cycle, and in all those years, you have never before seen this undeath lifted from the land.

You have only seen life fall before you. Over and over again. Perhaps at one time, when you were yet younger, you looked to the sturdy backs of warriors in your tribe believing they would lift the haze. Now, the novelty of hope has faded from you."

Li turned and gave the aarakowa a nod. "I will restore it."

===============

"Papa, will I really fight alone?" said Tia from Li's arms. They were walking down the side of the sheer cliff leading down into the ravine, and he stopped himself from falling off by having roots grow from the soles of his feet, embedding themselves in the rock face like hooks.

Tia was not at all scared of being carried down what was essentially a ninety-degree angle descent. Mostly because she was fearless by nature, but also because she had flown before, and flying removed any sense of fear for falling she would have had otherwise.

"Will you be fine with it, Tia?" said Li. He held her tighter to him. "Papa will fight if you want. He can also help as much as you want."

"Mmm." Tia shook her head. "Not that, papa. I not scared. Happy, actually. Happy to fight. Can I use all?"

"Yes, you can use all your strength. In fact, you should be for this fight," said Li. "The fight might be…hard. Tia, I know you love to fight and you love a challenge, and I've felt these days you haven't been getting that. This one will be a challenge. The hardest one yet for you."

Li knew that the serpent-like creature the aarakowa spoke of was a being called an Oculon. Initially, he had thought it some kind of basilisk or cockatrice with mentions of a dreaded eye, but this swirl of undeath gave more context for him to identify the creature.

The Oculon was a floating, serpentine creature shaded in slimy black, looking almost like a flying eel. It held a large, bulbous head with one massive eye of black and purple that could create powerful rays of undead energy and nullify other magic.

It also had access to other types of rays ranging from petrification to paralysis, though it was not as proficient with them as it was in death and nullification.

Generally speaking, Oculon ranged from levels fifty to sixty, and Tia was level forty six. This fight would most certainly be difficult for Tia, and Li had to admit he worried, and yet, he took this opportunity as a learning one for him also.

He would have to let Tia be independent and fight of her own accord as well soon enough, especially considering her accelerated growth rate, and so sooner or later, he had to have her truly struggle.

"Even better!" said Tia as her claws stretched out her fingers with metallic clinks. "I make papa proud for sure."

"Papa is already proud of you," said Li as he put a hand to her head, ruffling her hair. "Don't ever think you have to prove anything to me."

================

When Li reached the ravine floor, he found that were he human, his vision would be completely obscured by the purple mist. Though, with his superior sight, he had no real issue perceiving past it. The mist reeked of death, even smelling of it in a cold, muffled sense. Like the kind of stench that settled in places where blood spilled and dried constantly.

The Vukanovi followed right behind, easily capable of scaling the sheer cliff wall as well with its roots. Li spoke to the Vukanovi, relaying instructions to those within.

Li put Tia down, and she splayed out her fingers, her claws curling in anticipation of the fight. Already, she could sense hostile presences, and the edges of her lips wafted up into the beginning of a delighted smile.

Undead littered much of the area around them, obscured and empowered by the mist. Already, Li could hear the click of bone atop rock as skeletal beings started to move towards them, towards the bright sources of life that had intruded upon this realm of death.

"Up ahead is a creature known as an Oculon," said Li. "It is extremely dangerous, and Mason and Mercer, you two are better off staying inside. But everyone else, come out, for we have some fighting to do."

The head of the Vukanovi slid to the side, and everyone, including Mason and Mercer, hopped out.

Li raised a brow. "Are you two sure? The Oculon is not a joke. At your current level of strength, I should say even a stray blast from its eye will instantly kill either of you."

"We cannot sit back without fighting," said Mercer as he whipped out his twin daggers.

Mason clarified. "Good seer, we understand our weaknesses, and we also understand that there are many undead in this area. We can handle the lesser ones if that is alright with you."

"I suppose that works," said Li. He motioned to Old Thane and the beastwomen. "We will clear out the undead up ahead. When we reach the Oculon, Tia will fight it alone, for she must fight to evolve and grow. We will provide her support by ensuring that other undead do not interfere with her."

"Ah, to see the lass grow so quick!" said Old Thane with a hearty laugh as he took steps forward with Zagan, clenching his fists and making the curvature of muscle around his arms bulge.

Vilga and Sheela both smiled and bared their fangs as they walked beside Old Thane, their innate combat instincts kicking in at full throttle. Mason and Mercer quite tentatively followed them, or it was more like they followed behind, terrified even if they did not show it of the mist around them and the sounds of undeath drawing closer and closer.

Asala slithered beside Li, taking a tablet out. "If it comes to be, I shalt use mine magics to our aid, but forgive me if I am to record as well. I do believe the strength already within us is enough to triumph."

"Go ahead," said Li as he took in a breath, staring at the dense mist ahead. The outlines of skeletal undead became visible, and he could not help but smile as well, remembering distinctly how similar this was to the very first adventures he had taken back in the game.

"Hunting time!" shouted Tia as she charged forwards, tail swaying from side to side and wings unfurling as she sped past Old Thane and the beastwomen. She pranced on top of a hulking skeleton brute that must have been five times her size and slammed her scaled hand into its skull, shattering it into pieces.

"Well then – we follow her lead," said Li.