Miko: Miko brought his hood to the side to block the wind, “The air swells in the middle. It will be strongest there.” He was right, it wasn’t quite a pit because the field was primarily flat, but water would no doubt pull to the center with the angle

Maleki: I awoke fully bandaged. Sweat rolled down my head, colliding with dried, crusted blood that stuck my clothes to my body. I leaned forward, grunting deep in my chest from the pain. Exhaling, the wounds I had endured from that foul creature became more prevalent. Five gashes through my

Miko: Shuffling off to the side, I kept the Aeternae in my peripheral, trying not to make any sudden movements to spark the creature into action. Before I could focus on my surroundings, a roaring bleat that evolved into a blood-curdling howl rang out through the room, stopping the

Miko: That short walk up the ridge to our climbing point yesterday was the first time I’d had full function of my arms and legs since I started getting symptoms of the sickness. I couldn’t see or talk, but I found comfort in what was finally possible for

Miko: I awake, and even the world does not greet me. Brighter objects reach through my eyelids, but they do not open even at my command. I reach out with my voice, and not even a sound escapes my throat; my sounds trapped underneath my lips. They refuse to part,

Maleki: I’m not upset that Kallen left, although the company was welcomed. This journey is mine and Miko’s alone, and I never expected anyone to take us this far. My poor brother, with no social skills, seemed to be finally warming up to him. A shame, I guess.

Miko: The inn we returned to felt the same. Same noises, same voices, all the same smells. Yet, there was a subtle difference compared to the previous night. The same exhaustion filled our bones, and the quiet tension remained all the same. A faint drop of hope filled my mind

Maleki: Kallen didn’t seem to understand my question and responded with disbelief. “Come on, be serious now. You just tussled with a kaliber two maji like it was a normal day’s work. There’s no way you don’t know about majik.” He laughed at himself and took

Maleki: The boy’s silvery hair dipped to the side, and his hand moved impossibly fast towards my chest. I braced my shoulder forward and tensed my body, knowing I couldn’t avoid the imminent blow. White energy moved with the boy’s hand, and a blurry spherical shape collided

Miko: It was another four to five hours in the cart before we reached Quavoris, but the time flew by as I overindulged myself in the books I brought. I’ll run out of new reading material at this rate. When we get into the city, I should find more

Maleki: The fire burned as we waited for the driver to return. He had been gone longer than I expected but displayed himself as more than comfortable in these environments. Bright open fields and trees were something I was familiar with, but had this forest been dense and dark, there

Miko: “Maleki?” I murmured aloud. “Yeah, what’s up?” He responded. I had fallen asleep and slumped over on the bench in an uncomfortable position, so I grabbed the back of the bench with my left hand to pull myself back upright. I knew the forest would be dark with

Maleki: We decided to leave at sunrise the next day since we would have to walk for around three hours to get a cart to Quavoris. The upsides of being away from civilization are also the downsides. On one hand, you are far away from everything, and on the other,