Traverse The Fog

A few days later.

Between the Shifting Forest and Mellor were plains nestled in the middle. And from what previous Wayfarers once reported, small communities would build their homes on the river whose name was lost to time.

One of these was a small village that once had no more than a hundred villagers at the height of activity. Webbed with fog, its huts remained silent, and one would assume it would have been abandoned long ago. But the echoes that aimlessly wandered its dirt roads and crumbling and rotting houses proved otherwise.

Suddenly, one of these shambling husks stood still. With a cloudy gaze, it slowly turned toward the tepid rivers that once brought life to the village. Slowly, it trudged closer to the shore and stared listlessly at the murk, sensing something within it.

An ugly thing stared back from the water's surface. What was that? Whatever it was, it looked miserable. Just as the echo was to reach its clawed fingers into the river, several watery tendrils shot forward and latched onto it. Unable to struggle, the monster was quickly dragged in without so much as a sound. One second. Two. The bubbles that remained slowly crossed the river and reached the opposite shore. And casually emerging from the river's depths was a young man with a long, fiery mane.

It was Morgan. Soaked with water, he held the now-dead echo by its ankle and dragged it across the grass field into a nearby forest. There, Anari, Lilie, and the canaries waited for him.

"One echo down and fourty more to go," he quipped, dropping the echo before them.

He then flicked his wrist, and the water drenching both him and the echo coalesced into a coiling snake before latching onto his arm. How convenient.

"Alright. Inspect away, Miss Capitana!"

Anari smiled at him before kneeling to inspect the cadaver, ignoring the ice shard embedded in its temple and on its form. There.

"Do you see it?" She said, pointing to the muscles developed in its body.

Morgan nodded solemnly. "I know. I think there are some evolved hiding inside the houses."

"Then we'll need to clear this village out before they become a problem," Anari said. But then she frowned and turned to their silent companion. "Anything to add, Lilie?"

"Huh?" The young woman broke from her daze. "Oh. Um, I didn't notice anything else on the echo..."

It was obvious that the girl wasn't paying attention. No, she had been in a gloomy mood ever since they left the shelter.

"Lilie..." Shaking her head, Anari stood up. "Focus on the task at hand, or do you want another goblin incident?" She didn't wait for a response and turned her focus to the village. "I'm going out while you two ready up. Once I draw the enemy, cover me."

She left after glancing at Lilie, who played with her cuffs in embarrassment. Once alone, Morgan placed a hand on Lilie's shoulder.

"Hey, cheer up," he consoled, lightly squeezing. These things happen, and you have nothing to be ashamed of."

A look of self-loathing appeared on Lilie. "But I'm the daughter of The Dúndraíocht."

She spoke as if that should have been enough to have prevented her current predicament.

"Do you think she's disappointed in me?" Lilie asked, turning her gaze toward her departing leader's back. Anari was so strong.

"Don't think that way. You know she isn't." Morgan then smiled cheekily. "If anything, I bet she's half a mind to report you for dereliction of duty with you all gloomy like that."

Lilie held back a smile. He always knew what to say.

"You're right." She broke into a fit of giggles. "Did you see the look on her face?"

The two laughed for just a few more moments. It was nice. A brief respite from what they were about to do.

Morgan then sighed, his hazel eyes lingering on her. "How long until you fully recover?"

Lilie's smile vanished at the question, and she began playing with her cuff again. "A few more days."

"Then we'll recover together." Morgan brightly smiled.

She returned his with one of her own. "Yeah."

And so, they began their preparations. Lilie made a soft but long whistle with three short stops. The call sent the three canaries up in the air and circled the village. Then, the two moved. Once before the river, mana surging, Morgan quietly stomped on the shore, and a layer of frost formed on the river's surface. The ice quickly spread over the waters and then dried and hardened. The bridge awaited.

Lilie and Morgan nodded at each other and brandished their weapons as they crossed the bridge. The river was wide, and should the bridge somehow crumble beneath their feet, the two would have sunk into neck-high waters. Once on the other side, the two stayed put. Their gazes soon locked on the Anari, who stood by the village's entrance. And she remained expressionless despite standing next to a village of monstrosities. Everything was set. Unsheathing her sword, she expertly decapitated the nearest echo that had noticed her.

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Then, she swung again. A wind crescent left her blade that easily bifurcated a hapless echo before crashing into a hut. It toppled, and a defending boom resounded throughout the village, drawing every cloudy gaze in Anari's direction. A silent roar came. Then more. It was something that only Anari could hear with a combination of biomancy and aeromagics. And it only meant one thing: Echoes on the verge of evolution.

Deep in the village, Anari heard a door break apart. Then another. Without hesitation, she dashed toward the others as a horde of feral echoes, frothy fog spilling from their mouths, rushed toward her at terrifying speeds. If Cyrus had been there, his first thought would have been: Run! And he would be wise to think so. They were twice as large as any of the echoes he had seen and moved on all fours like beasts. Their skin was almost melted and stitched together onto their bodies than natural. Moreover, they looked ready to tear into flesh with their bare claws. They were feral class echoes. And Team Breeze, a group of three, was to fight twenty of them.

Anari kept moving. Without looking back, she swung behind herself and launched more wind crescents. A hit! It shredded into a feral with ease, and it toppled over.

Bang

A round flew across the air, followed by ice shards. It buried itself into a feral skull while the shards crippled another as they slammed into the dirt.

"Lilie, now!" Anari shouted as she neared her teammates.

Shattering cyan runes, she then turned around and swung again. The air bellowed, and a mighty gale was summoned forth. It struck at the frontline and tossed them back. The ferals flying into the air crashed into those who trailed behind. At the same time, Lilie moved and tossed several seeds onto the ground before her. Shattering eight green runes, she then stomped onto the ground. Instantly, thick, bramble bushes with thorns as sharp as knives grew, separating her and Morgan from Anari and the horde.

Seeing that the barrier was set, Anari moved. Aeromancy charged; she led the chasing horde toward the bramble and jumped over the nearly two-meter-high wall without strain.

The horde did not stop. They couldn't. They slowed down only when their skin and limbs entangled with the sharp hooks and thorns and tough-as-steel vines. But that was only the first and second lines. More and more ran toward the bramble and attempted to pass. But this is what Team Breeze wanted all along. Anari and Leal fired with their guns while Morgan shot ice, taking out a sizable chunk without damaging their barrier.

The wall wasn't enough. Soon, one feral broke through, followed by another. Flesh-rending, they tore through trapped companions or used brute force. Soon, ten were charging over to Team Breeze.

"Retreat!" Anari ordered.

Team Breeze crossed the icy bridge. Now was Morgan's time to shine. As he ran, the ice behind him slicked and smoothed. And it was no surprise what happened next. The ferals who stepped first slipped and slid across a path of sharp spikes that suddenly protruded from the ice's surface. And they were shredded into ribbons, spilling black bile onto the ice and river.

But Morgan wasn't finished. He waited at the bridge's end as more and more ferals stepped over their fallen brethren to reach him.

Now.

With blue runes surging, Morgan stomped onto the ice and raised his arms, fists clutching. With a crackle, the bridge then collapsed and erupted into icy shards that shot upwards! Those on the bridge who were still 'alive' were instantly eviscerated and fell into the murky depths. And that was the end of their troubles. Team Breeze used rifles or Morgan's aquamancy to control the battle once the wraiths were in the water. And the few that managed to make it across were met with Anari's blade or Lilie's rounds.

Prepare and strategize; that was the motto of Anari. Unless forced to, she would never take risks or fight uncertain battles. And through careful planning, Team Breeze had not lost a member yet through their half-decade of existence—a miracle, given the statistics of Wayfarers. After a prolonged battle, the last feral fell as its head plopped off under Anari's blade. She stoically watched it crumple to the ground before turning to the others.

"Well done, you two." She looked across the river toward the village and retrieved a mana crystal from her inner coat. "But there are some stragglers. We'll wait here and rest before conducting a thorough search."

"You got it, Boss," Morgan said. He exaggeratedly crashed into the grass, eliciting a giggle from Lilie.

Chirp!

Tuula, Scáth, and Amethyst swooped down and 'attacked' him as the others watched with humor in their gaze. But the moment was short. Soon, Team Breeze crossed another ice bridge and wiped out the weak echoes.

Then, they entered the village. Team Breeze methodically swept through each hut together. And the canaries swept over it from above, alerting the others of lingering echoes quickly dealt with. Once they were sure nothing was left, Anari split off from the group to cover more ground. Time passed. Anari was in another hut, sifting through it for valuables or signs of wraith activity. But she hadn't expected much from the former. This was once a peasant village, and even if they did carry valuables, they would have long been taken by the few villagers who survived the fog's changes. And Anari was right. Nothing was found.

"Anari?" Lilie called from outside, her voice tinged with concern. "Come take a look at this."

Frowning, Anari stepped out to find Lilie waiting. "Report."

"We found something at one of the larger huts. I think the village chief used to live there?"

Anari nodded. "Lead on."

A minute or so of muddy roads, and they soon appeared before it.

"It's inside." Lilie said, leading the way.

Before long, they entered a decrepit bedroom—surprising enough, given how poor people lived back then. And there it was. An echo lay face-first on the ground, with deep, black lacerations covering its remaining half.

Anari frowned and knelt beside it, carefully examining its wounds. "It's been dead for months."

She then turned it over. What they both witnessed drew a gasp from Lilie. The echo's face had been brutally slashed into chunks, while what was once considered its genitalia had been shredded by something long and sharp. But Anari remained calm.

"No bruise marks. So, this echo was killed without realizing there was an enemy." She gestured toward its arms before focusing on the large hole boring through the echo's temple. "This was likely the initial attack, and the rest was done post-mortem. Tell me, did you notice any echoes escaping during the fight?"

Lilie froze. She hadn't, and that could only mean one thing. "No, I didn't. Do you think..."

Anari nodded grimly. Her purple eyes fixed on the deceased echo. "Group up. One of the echoes had evolved."