Nightblade (Darkest night)

‎Lucian calmly stared into the distance, watching the water wash across the sandy plain.

‎A cold breeze stirred the waters, creating waves.

‎Behind him, Samantha and Amanda sat quietly around a fire.

‎" When are those two getting back?"

‎Talia and Cassius had left a while back to hunt for the group's next meal.

‎The small cohort had long since abandoned the burrow.

‎The river had mysteriously overflowed its banks, washing over the sandy plain.

‎That fateful day, Lucian had woken up to the sound of water flowing into the burrow.

‎The group had quickly scrambled out of the burrow.

‎The vast plain of sand had become a lake of sorts.

‎" What the actual hell?!"

‎The rest of the group mirrored his expression of shock, their faces frozen in shock as they stared in disbelief at the scene before them.

‎In the distance, undulating waves of water surged forward, rippling rhythmically across the sand.

‎Lucian moved forward, stopping on top of a small sandy hill overlooking the river.

‎Moments later, Talia and Cassius arrived, standing beside him

‎With the small amount of umbralis at his disposal, Lucian was much faster than Talia and even Cassius without his ability activated.

‎The trio watched the strange phenomenon in somber silence.

‎" Rivers can't overflow their banks without rain. That's impossible."

‎His eyes narrowed, running up and down the length of the river.

‎" What the hell am I supposed to be looking for?"

‎He threw a furtive glance at Talia, then sighed.

‎" Hey Talia, what do you see?"

‎At that moment, Amanda and Samantha arrived panting breathlessly.

‎Talia stared at him in surprise, her beautiful brown eyes narrowing.

‎" What?"

‎Talia smiled faintly.

‎" Nothing much, just surprised."

‎She turned back to the blizzard landscape.

‎" Honestly, I'm seeing the same thing you are, and it's not making sense."

‎" What are you two going on about?" Cassius asked in exasperation.

‎Lucian carefully scanned the river and the sprawling plain.

‎"What we're seeing right now isn't normal," Lucian explained.

‎" It hasn't rained in days, and yet, the river is overflowing, and if you've noticed, the whole phenomenon is occurring across its length."

‎Cassius' eyes widened in understanding.

‎Lucian nodded at him.

‎" So there must be something causing it."

‎Amanda stared at the river in silence

‎After a long while, she pointed at something in the distance.

‎" Over there."

‎The rest of the group turned in the direction she was pointing.

‎After a while, Lucian frowned slightly.

‎" What are we supposed to be looking at?"

‎" The forest," Amanda whispered.

‎"It has moved."

‎Lucian's head immediately whipped back in the direction of the forest.

‎Like Amanda had said, the dark forest had indeed moved.

‎Somehow, the forest was much closer than it had been.

‎" But how is that even possible?" Samantha asked incredulously.

‎" It's not supposed to be possible," Lucian muttered under his breath.

‎"But Amanda's right. What's happening is undeniable."

‎Inexplicably, the haunting forest was closer.

‎ Talia and Amanda were all too familiar with the horrors within the mysterious forest.

‎Several thoughts flew through Lucian's head, clamoring for dominance.

‎Had the land moved? It wasn't out of the question for massive chunks of land to move, but then what would have caused it, and how come they hadn't heard a single thing?

‎The other gnawing possibility was that the entire thing was one living creature.

‎"The forest could be alive," Lucian whispered.

‎That would certainly explain why Talia and Amanda had moved for days without ever finding its edge.

‎Until somehow...

‎" They outran it."

Lucian inhaled deeply, raking his hands through his hair.

‎But why would the river's overflowing and the forest's movement coincide

‎ It simply didn't make sense.

‎Lucian closed his eyes in quiet contemplation.

‎In his mind, he feverishly thought of the possible reasons for everything that was happening.

‎Unless...

‎His eyes flew open from the realization, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

‎" Shit!"

‎Talia turned to him in surprise.

‎" What's the matter?"

‎Everyone's attention turned to him.

‎" I think I know what's happening."

‎Lucian let out a small sigh.

‎" Both the forest and the plain are moving."

‎Cassius frowned, staring at him in bewilderment.

‎"But how is that even possible?"

‎Lucian turned to him.

‎" A tectonic shift, except the forest is the cause if it's moving like I'm assuming."

‎" Elaborate"

‎" If the forest is truly alive, and its roots can reach the bedrock, then if it moves, that movement should be able to create a pressure gradient.

‎Such a movement would, at least in theory, be enough to realign the riverbed and trigger this kind of event.

‎Cassius stared at him in confusion and awe.

‎" Damn."

‎" But you're forgetting something," Lucian bit out, his gaze turning darker.

‎" If the forest moves, then that would mean whatever creatures are within its depths will move with it."

‎A grim silence settled over the group.

‎" What do we do now?" Talia asked quietly, staring at Lucian.

‎Over the last couple of days, Lucian had become the de facto leader of the small group.

‎Lucian contemplated their situation for a while.

‎After a long silence, he let out a weary sigh, turning his gaze towards the distant mountain.

‎A cold wind stirred, shifting the waves of water.

‎" There's only one possible choice. We'll move to higher ground."

‎He turned to face them, his eyes hardening in the dim glow of the rising sun.

‎" We'll need to move to the mountain."

‎Lucian and Cassius had braved the mountain range before.

‎As a result, they both had an idea of the horrors that dwelt within the distant mountain range.

‎" We'll move while the sun's still low. Let's go."

‎Needless to say, the journey had been perilous.

‎But with Lucian's enhanced abilities and the addition of the new members of the group, their progress was considerably faster.

‎The group killed most of the beasts they'd encountered on the way.

‎Amanda and Cassius' Talented abilities also came in handy in immobilizing the creatures they encountered on the way.

‎"I must say these creatures are much weaker than most of the things we've fought before," Talia said, holstering her beloved Echo.

‎The young aspirant had been rationing the ammo of her pistols for the last few days.

‎Lucian and Cassius smirked, stifling laughter.

‎"Trust me," Lucian said, with a solemn look on his face," you haven't even seen the half of it."

‎The group progressed slowly until they reached the mountain, beginning their ascent.

‎Rheyvsetlled into a routine, taking shifts at hunting down the Tenebrian creatures they came across for food.

‎One quiet evening, Talia brought up something that had been lingering at the back of their minds for a while.

‎"We need to find a way of leaving this place."

‎Cassius and Samantha nodded in agreement.

‎"How exactly are we even supposed to leave this place?"

‎" Therein lies the problem," Lucian muttered, staring into the fire.

‎"Usually when aspirants get sent to Tenebris, they are encamped within the human strongholds that have already been established."

‎

‎" But in this case, we're in the middle of nowhere with frankly no idea about where we may have landed," Talia chipped in.

‎" An unexplored region, a new territory you could say, therefore we would have to find a human stronghold or perhaps some sort of device that would help us get home."

‎ Cassius stared at the two aspirants for a while before looking away.

‎" So where do you think you would find such a device?" he quietly asked.

‎ Lucian smiled wryly, shrugging helplessly.

‎"I would think if we're able to stumble upon a ruin of sorts, from what we've studied, usually the ancient civilizations in Tenebris would contain such technology."

‎He drew on the ground with a stick." Theoretically speaking, that technology would allow us to find a way home if we're able to manipulate it in the right way."

‎ Amanda cast him a sidelong glance.

‎After a brief silence, she spoke.

‎"From what I can tell from everything you've said, it's mostly speculation. "

‎Lucian offered her a smile.

‎" Of course it's mostly speculation, but if we just sit idly twiddling our thumbs, we won't achieve much, apart from dying obviously," he scoffed.

‎" That leaves us with very few options."

‎He raised a finger into the air.

‎" The first of which is to keep moving. Hopefully that will bring us to option two," he said, a mischievous grin appearing on his face.

‎"We'll stumble upon one of these so-called ruins and make our escape."

‎That had been days back.

‎ Talia and Cassius had taken a while without returning from the hunt.

‎ The suspense was gnawing at Lucian.

‎He stood, passively staring into the distance where he'd last seen them.

‎Then, in the next moment, he could faintly make out frantic footfalls rapidly approaching their location.

‎ The two youths appeared moments later, gasping breathlessly.

‎"We need to move now!" Talia said, amidst pants.

‎Lucian frowned slightly, noting the hint of panic in her voice

‎"What's wrong? What happened out there?"

‎It was Cassius who replied.

‎" It's a monster, unlike anything we've seen before."

‎ In the distance, a monstrous roar ripped through the air.

‎

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