5 | Faron Fens

Nito lay on the storage room floor with some spare fur blankets gazing into its shadows. The few crates and sacks stacked against the wall were rimmed in the moonlight that spilled through the tiny window. Dust danced in the rays but all else was silent and still.

He had spent the last day and a half meditating in the yard, balancing a pot on his head while trying to form a connection with the etherea that flowed around him. Several times today he had successfully visualized himself as a permeable membrane in a vast ocean, the water freely passing through him. He had seen a spark in the darkness of his mind, but each time it failed to ignite. Come tomorrow’s sunset, it will be more than two days since he began, and he refused to not have his gate open by then. So, he closed his eyes once more, on his back and in solitude.

Entering a tranquil state, he felt his body sink into a viscous pool. He willed himself to become more and more transparent and unaffected by its rushing current. Every muscle lost tension. He floated there at the bottom until the horizon began to burn. Just as he thought no connection would be made, a piercing pain split the center of his chest like the strings of his skin were being cut one by one to be flayed. Nito doubled over, vomiting violently as his organs shifted. In the next blink, the pain subsided and his blood surged as warmth trickled into him through the open gate.

◈◈◈

“Do you have everything else you need?” Rivana asked Nito, handing him a stash of food wrapped in cloth.

He bagged the food, held up his spear, looked at his familiar clothes, then nodded in response.

“Just remember, all you need to do is concentrate to ignite the etherea and use your mind to mold it. The rest is up to you to find out. Now, you can leave,” Volan reminded gruffly.

“Right! Thank you for your help, all of you. If I ever return I shall pay a visit again,” Nito said while stepping out the door. Finding himself alone again in the foreign town, he pulled out the explorer log. He paged through the initial section flipping past the world map and Throne map until he found the Everwood close up chart. Inspecting it, he located Mistvall to the north of Garden’s Gate in a region marked Faron Fens.

With a path set out, Nito proceeded northward. Stepping onto the main walkway, he swam through the crowds of people going about their morning. Fresh fruit vendors called out their prices, and the tink of mallets on nails rang out from the carpenter workshops. He continued pushing through people until the log wall towered before him and the north gate barred his way.

“Excuse me, can you open the gate?” Nito said to the guard.

“Right away Sir.” The guard turned and called to his colleagues at the crank, “Raise the gate!”

The groaning of iron caused the memory of his first day in town to flash through his head. It had only been a short three days since then, but the town had a comforting charm to it that he had already come to appreciate. The gate clanged as it reached the top, and the guard motioned for Nito to pass through.

“Nito wait up!” A yell entered his ears from behind. He glanced back to see Rivana hurrying towards him.

After taking a second to catch her breath she said, “That was close, I thought you might have already left town. I have decided to come with you to Mistvall!”

“Oh, okay,” he turned and strolled through the gate, “You brought your own food, right?”

“Of course, I took what I needed and snuck out. I even brought Father’s long-axe, though I don’t know how to use it. I actually decided to follow you yesterday. I’m tired of saying I want to be an explorer but not doing anything, you know? So, I left a note- Hey, wait! You're walking too fast,” She dashed through the gate to catch up.

“Didn’t you say we could get there in three days? How are we going to do that if we take our time?”

“Well, we can but not like this. You’re going to have to consciously circulate the active etherea through your body so we can move faster. Otherwise, we’d be walking for a whole week.”

“It works like that? Then, do I just think about the etherea moving through me or?”

“Yep, the same way you thought of it moving through you when you tried to open your gate. But now that you actually have a Bourn Gate it should take less effort. While etherea flows through your bloodstream it can sharpen your senses and strength, the faster you do it the better. Just make sure to absorb the maximum amount of etherea you can first.”

Nito halted in the middle of the dirt road and shut his eyes, focusing on the feeling of water rushing through him. He felt his chest grow warm as his ethereal gate absorbed the etherea around him and injected it into his bloodstream. After a few breaths, he felt his gate strain, and his chest felt like it was nearly bursting into flames, causing him to immediately stop the absorption.

Rivana placed her hand on Nito’s back, “It feels like you’ve reached your current limit. Now, to consciously speed up the flow of the activated etherea in your veins, simply will the circulation to go faster like a river surging through every limb.”

He followed the instructions and visualized his blood rapidly coursing through his arms, legs, and torso. He felt his muscles expand, and the chirping birds suddenly sounded clearer in his ears. He opened his eyes, and he could easily make out the rivets in the tree bark a dozen strides away. Feeling far more energized than ever before, he crouched then bounded forward. Kicking up a cloud of dirt, he flew several nanoleagues in a single step. Just as he was about to take another, the vision in his head dissolved and he stumbled.

“Shit! I can’t hold the increased flow and move at the same time.”

“Don’t worry, it can be difficult at first, but you’ll get the hang of it,” Rivana assured, dashing up next to him. “Now come on, try again. We’ve got a long way to go.”

After steadying himself, Nito rebuilt the mental image. His body once more burned with vigor, and he shot forward again.

◈◈◈

Two figures darted through the trees rustling the undergrowth as they passed. The afternoon light seeped through the canopy hitting the leaves of ferns and brambles that twisted across the soil. Insects buzzed through the beams, and red-winged birds crowed from the branches above. Reaching a less foliage-dense patch of ground, the two slowed to a stop.

“This looks like a good spot for a break,” Nito said breathlessly.

“We shouldn't stay for too long though. The more we sit in one place the better chances of a run-in with something that might hunt us,” Rivana cautioned. “You’ve already improved your circulation a lot since this morning. You can probably do it faster, and it needs to become an almost unconscious process. But that will take a while.”

“Alright, let’s see what kind of food is wrapped up in here,” Nito pulled out his travel rations.

“Hang on… Put that back.”

“Why would I do that? What do you mean?”

“I can hear something coming. Wait, you should be circulating! Hurry and get up!”

As soon as Nito stuffed the food back and scrambled to his feet, a beast with pitch-black fur padded out of the shadows. Its greenish, narrow maw dripped with saliva as it growled, three eyes glaring at them from either side of its head.

“It’s not working! I can’t summon up any ethereal energy! Father only drilled me with the basics so I don’t know how to fight,” Rivana stuttered as she shakily gripped the long-axe.

“Just calm down, I’ll keep it away,” Nito untrapped his spear. “See if the log has any information about it.” It hadn’t already sliced anyone up like the horned reaver he encountered, so he was already feeling calmer than back then.

Rivana darted behind a tree and ripped the explorer log from her bag.

He stepped forward as the creature started circling them. The beast gnashed its teeth, spraying saliva across the ground. All the leaves that the spittle landed on sizzled and withered. It suddenly crouched on all fours and pounced at Nito. He caught the snapping jaws with the shaft of his spear and rolled backward with the beast going over his head. It deftly landed on its feet and prepared for another strike, but Nito quickly thrust his spear from the ground, causing it to jump away.

Dammit! this thing isn’t easy pickings, he thought as he flipped back onto his feet. “Have you found anything yet,” he called to Rivana.

She hastily paged through the log, “Not yet!”

The beast sensed his distraction and lunged at Nito again. He instinctively sidestepped to dodge and slashed his spear after it. A yelp echoed through the forest as the end of its tail flew off in a trail of blood. Despite the injury, the creature didn’t back down, facing Nito and snarling more aggressively.

“Here it is! Saranog… carnivore, territorial, keen sense of smell, corrosive saliva… I’m not finding any weaknesses!”

“Throw me a jubon from your bag!” Nito yelled while dodging another attack from the saranog’s claws.

“What, why?”

“You have one, right? Just do it!”

“Alright,” she rummaged through her sack and pulled out the round tan fruit. She leaned around the tree and tossed it towards Nito.

Seeing the flying fruit from the corner of his eye, he redirected it with the butt of his spear, sending it straight at the saranog. The beast instinctively slashed the projectile in half right before it impacted its face. Instantly after the splash of fruit juice, the saranog reeled back at the thick sweet aroma that was released. Taking advantage of the opening, Nito raced in and swiftly swept his spear blade down through the furry neck, lopping the beast’s head clean off. The body flopped down spewing blood as the head rolled into the bushes.

“We need to work on you not knowing how to fight,” Nito said while leaning on his spear, adrenalin still pumping.

“Right… Well, we should get moving, the blood may attract something worse,” Rivana responded, trying to calm her nerves.

“Can we not take a break to eat or something?” Nito complained.

“Circulating should reduce your fatigue and hunger if anything, so we ought to go further while there’s still light,” She started north not waiting for agreement.

Nito took off after her, and they continued their journey zipping through the forest, leaving the saranog corpse behind to rot. Silence fell on the clearing once more, but it lasted only a brief moment before it was broken by the snap of twigs. A woman draped in midnight purple robes stepped out from behind a tree and knelt next to the dead beast.

“Did they hurt you my sweet? That wasn’t very nice, but don’t worry I’ll fix you up,” She placed a hand on the black fur coat.

The body was enveloped in tendrils of magenta light, one of which coiled off into the bushes. From the shrubbery, the head rolled back and twisted onto the blood-dripping neck. The light subsided, the saranog twitching and convulsing in the dirt. After a breath it arose, trembling to its feet. It growled by the woman’s waist, a pink radiance flashing in its eyes.

“Oh, you’re so beautiful now!” She stroked its back.

◈◈◈

Nito and Rivana came to a standstill under the darkening sky. The dense trees had receded beginning several strides back, and the air had grown noticeably more humid. Sedges and tall grasses sprouted from the soft soil under their feet. The landscape was dotted with shorter trees and pools of water that reflected the rising moons.

“Looks like we’ve made it out of Jabber Garden and into the Faron Fens. It’ll be at least another two days from here,” Rivana said gazing across the unfamiliar land.

“We can rest here for the night. Let’s eat, then I’ll take the first watch while you sleep.”

They unpacked the meal and sprawled out on a blanket, exhausted from the day's travel.

____

Explorer Log:

Morgaberry Bush

Danger Level - [Elfin] ★★

Appearance - A flowering bush that bears morgaberries; the leaves are rhomboid and serrated with a dark green color; the flowers are a whitish-yellow hue; while flowering, morgaberries grow in bunches from the bush; the berries are a deep pink color

Behavior - The flowers bloom through the first half of the star-cycle, and berries are produced during this time too; seeds can be found in the center of the berries; while the berries have a sweet taste and aroma, they are extremely poisonous to most living creatures; three berries are enough to kill animals larger than humans; once a creature ingests a berry and dies, the seed will sprout from the decomposing corpse and use it as nourishment

Habitat - Jabber Garden