The cloud was crimson red, a silky vapor revolving unto itself like a supercell treading the air. It glitched sporadically, sometimes emanating a blue or green afterimage but the flow remained undisturbed.

Naomi found that when she looked elsewhere, these strange hues affected her surroundings as well. She was in no pain but the whispers were ever present, reaching a crescendo as she steadily walked closer to the ominous cloud.

She felt a dull ringing sound in her ears as she laid her hand on one of the coin operated binoculars posted on the rocky ledge and at that second she remembered the ruins.

She took her eyes off the swirling mass and searched the widespread earth but found it difficult to see clearly, so she utilized the binoculars.

Leaning into the lenses, she felt her vision magnify to great proportions and through it she could see as far as the mountains in vivid detail.

The forests were rich and mazelike and seemingly endless as it ran amok to the end of the horizon. Before long, Naomi found something that looked promising. It was some unnatural rock formation jutting out of the trees.

It appeared to be some miles off, which was nothing to sigh at. All she had to do was continue straight ahead.

Suddenly, she felt someone touch her shoulder and her blood turned to ice.

She spun around like lightning and drew her sword, delivering a booming slash on the transgressor.

By the time the blade hit the ground, she realized no one was there.

Confused, she poised there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Someone had definitely been standing behind her. She was sure of that. To make it all the more bizarre, she somehow sensed the lingering presence of old man Uzai.

If he’d been goofing around again, she was sure to run her steel through his skull ten times over.

He never appeared. Insead, the turbulence of the cloud only grew and she felt the earth begin to vibrate under the ringing spirit pressure.

Maybe, she shouldn’t have come so close.

What she saw when she turned around was deeply unsettling. The red cyclone had grown ten times its size and it descended upon the cliff until Naomi was trapped in its shadow.

She stared at it contemptuously in spite of the danger it unfurled. And yet, she felt oddly drawn to it.

What do you want? She growled.

In that moment, the eye of the storm expanded and started to form a tornado.

Before Naomi could move, it hurled itself downward and consumed her.

She shielded herself from the sudden turbulence, beginning to kick herself for being so reckless.

I’m not dying from something stupid as this!

She convinced herself. The whispers grew as loud as the howling winds and the intense ringing in her ears.

Her eyes crept open. She could see nothing but swirling dark red clouds at first until she noticed some unusual flames on her arms.

They were three colors at once, red, blue and green. A blend of fluttering hues that ravished her entire frame and distorted her vision to the point she couldn’t tell what she was looking at.

Dread hit her like a hammer once she realized she was hallucinating.

I have to get out of here.

And get out of here she did. Or at least she tried.

Wherever she moved it seemed to make no difference because the storm followed.

She tried to fan away the madness with her sword but that did nothing either.

The voices ran amok through her skull. It felt like someone had installed a blaring radio in her head stuck on a bad channel. It wouldn’t shut up.

She told it to shut up.

No effect.

Gritting her teeth in anger, she fell into a sprinting crouch and squeezed her eyes shut. Adrenaline pierced her chest frame and she bolted. She ran hard, determined to escape the gas.

She could still feel the ground under her feet which meant she was going somewhere for sure.

The edge of the cliff should’ve been a couple yards ahead but she still couldn’t see a thing.

The moment she felt she was close enough, she made a jump for it. A huge jump, like she might fly.

She shot through the trembling red cloud in a magical burst of freedom, suspended in the air long enough to marvel the dizzying landscape below.

Gravity returned and lured her to the ground at breathtaking speeds. Wind roared in her ears as she eased into a twirling nosedive, gathering the air’s moisture on her delicately splayed hands until it grew into rapid streams of water.

The earth was spinning wildly.

Just moments from plummeting through the blurring treetops, Naomi spun herself upright and concentrated all the water into an orb between her palms.

It exploded into a jetting beacon that raked the branches and blew a crater into the ground, the force of which thrust her upward enough to break her fall.

She landed squarely inside the muddy basin, showered by heavy droplets separated from the blast.

A shredded tree branch landed beside her, splashing her already dampened clothes. She sucked her teeth in disgust, taking a moment to look up at the towering cliff above her.

Then she drew her sword and hurried off through the monstrous forest toward the old ruins.

Sift and the gang rushed to the edge of the cliff, riddled with bewilderment. They couldn’t believe what they’d just seen.

“She ran through it…” Sift muttered. “She ran through it and it disappeared.”

It was as he said. The strange cloud vanished after it overtook the girl which nobody had expected. People had been injured just going near it and in none of those cases had it grown ten times it’s normal size and consumed them like that.

“Was it always that big??” Ryx cried.

“Not that I recall…” Sift answered absently.

It went silent for a while. The four guys just stood around aimlessly, scratching their heads or pacing to and fro.

“So what exactly happened??” Igaza spoke up.

“I don’t know. It looks like she absorbed it.”

“Absorbed it?” Ryx said. “How?”

“I have no idea.” The warrior droned. “Maybe she had some trick up her sleeve.”

It fell silent again.

“So what do we do now?” Ryx asked.

Sift pulled his spiked hair to keep the long ends sharp. “Well...we ain’t getting paid. That’s for sure. The chief gets back, he’s gonna’ have it out for our asses.”

“Guess we ain’t got nothing to lose, now.” Blackout spoke.

Sift shrugged. Igaza stroked his chin, looking off into the distance.

“Let’s follow her.” Blackout suggested. “She’s going for the raven anyway.”

“Yeah.” Sift grinned as if something awoke inside him. “Let’s do that. Kill two birds with one stone.”

The rogue stood up and walked to the brink of the ledge, absorbing the view. Then, he sent his foot forward and dropped off. The others followed. Ryx came last, busting a side flip on the way down.

Naomi hadn’t considered the possibility of being followed by the guards at the gate. They seemed pretty lax, like they didn’t really care too much about what was going on around them. They just wanted some money.

Then again, in her mind, she thought the energy cloud was still there, just as it had been.

Perhaps, it had affected her a little. The annoying voices were gone, thankfully. The ringing had subsided but she couldn’t ignore the sudden fuel she felt coursing through her limbs.

It was probably just adrenaline from all the excitement.

Aftershock of spirit pressure.

Regardless, what bothered her the most was, why she had ventured so close.

Normally, she’d have kept a safe distance and she for certain could tell when things were getting too dangerous.

She wasn’t easily afraid but some ounce of fear should have told her to stay away from that strange storm.

But it didn’t. Retrospectively, all she felt was calmness.

A sure confidence that she’d be fine and dandy.

Now that she thought of it, she recalled a single voice out of the many thousand that spoke to her soothingly.

No harm will befall you,

Come… closer…

Closer…

It pissed her off but she didn’t feel like wasting brain waves thinking about it right now. She felt fine anyway. She’d just tell the old man about it when she got back.

Until then, the hunt for the raven was on.