#umbralflare

Urgently then she rose to her feet and as she did, a second brazier lit along the river, granting her more sight. She peered down upon herself, gasping in horror of what she discovered. The skin above her heart had discolored into a completely blackened patch with many thick and thin veins alike sprouting from it and spreading all over her body. Had the lightning of the fates struck her heart? Was it the Ioa? Elune’s curse? A horror from Xoroth itself? Nothing seemed to fit as she stood there, attempting to recollect her memories. Her head tilted up, eclipsed hues scanning the shrouded river bank.

It was wroth a try... With a deep inhale she called out.

“Zaelus?!”

No answer came. Visendris was likely far from here, though the Lord’s face was the last thing she thought she had seen. Had he betrayed her? She shook her head. Surely not...

“Revenar...?”

Again no answer. It wasn’t usual to not hear immediately back from Revenar and it worried her. She tried again, more urgently.

“Revenar! Zaelus?!” The girl was answered by silence and not even her own echo returned to her, swallowed up by the expansive nothingness around her.

Her eyes squinted as she tried to pierce through the haze.

I need more light.

She felt a pull then, as if the river was urging her along it’s side, tugging her deeper. With a few more steps another flame lit and then another. It seemed to become a trend that so long as she stayed close t the bank and moved forward, the dancing flames would light her way.

Is this a test?

“Lord Furseth? Is this a training exercise?” Silence.

Her voice wavered then, cracking under the steady increase of anxiousness and fear.

“Lynx...?!” Silence. “Please. I forfeit. You may fail me as you desire.”

As no answer then came, even still panic set in. She had held off calling for the soul that was eternally bound to her in true fear of not receiving an answer, though now it seemed like the only thing left to do.

“Ragnar...?” She whispered, knowing it usually didn’t even take a whisper for the direwolf to sense her, though when no answer came then she was shaken to the very core. She began to try and accept the fact that it was unlikely that any of her friends were the cause of this, meaning the danger was very real. She tried to turn, but the moss did not release her feet to go back the way she came. With an overwhelming sense of defeat she slipped to her knees, her hands folding over her face.

“Ragnar! Ragnar her me!” Mina’riel cried out, her voice laced with distress and pain. Her hands slipped from her face and her fingers laced before her as she settled into a prayer. 

“I call upon the Guardians of the Beasts, the supreme of the primals. Hear my plea. My soul in twine I made a pact, our blood as one, consumed as altar wine. Our string of fate, it cannot break. not death not love, not betrayals breath. Hear me, Guardians of beasts and bonds, restore mine even in this black moor.  Hear me Primals, hear me fates. Return to me the Ender Beast!”

Mina chanted over and over, it seemed as though for an eternity until her voice was barely functioning anymore. Her eyes fluttered open to discover that the moss had already conquered her legs, growing a thick layer over her thighs. How long had she been sitting here? The girl couldn’t help the feeling that the ground itself was trying to consume her. Her gut feeling was proven correct as she took a closer look around her, discovering the bony tips of fingers or caps of skills peaking out from between the vile green, mossy bed.  In a moment of hysteria the Ranger girl managed to free herself, racing further along the river which she realized seemed to be sitting mostly still instead of flowing. She meant to call out again to the souls she was so fond of but realized it wouldn’t be of much use. Her pace slowed to a trance-like dragging of feet. Countless flames had lit up so far to bring the tiny, insufficient glow of illumination to her path and as she looked behind her she realized that they died as well, the further she stepped from them.

There is no way back... Only onward. There is no way... back? No way... back.

She felt so forlorn then. Abandoned and wholly lonesome. It was unbearable almost to be without the people she’s forged such strong bonds with but perhaps the worst was to be without Ragnar and Revenar. It was unsettling to not be able to reach out to Lord Umbralflare and look to his guidance. Or to seek discipline and direction from her Spy Master. The whimsical bond of friendship between Velsolariel and her, it seemed so distant now. Her hours of silently watching over the people of Sunrunner from the shadows felt as though they’d never happened at all. 

She came to a stop, her attention caught by movement on the black water’s surface. The images that began to play out there ensnared her and rooted her to to mossy fleece underneath her once more. 

There was a multitude of banners, all familiar to her being consumed by ravenous flames. She screams of countless familiar voices reached her ears. She saw Lady Frostbane  cut in half by a Claymore.

“You weren’t there to protect her...” A static whisper rolled past her.

The surface blurred and Lady Alstromeria came into view. Midna, her mysterious arcane savant that had been so valiantly watching over hear was now laying in a pool of her own blood, lifeless and mangled.

“Your lack of power and bravery led her to her death...” The voice rang again.

The surface blurred and any confidence she had left within her was stomped out by the image of a still Lord Furseth, his only working eye pierced by an arrow, his own blades protruding from his chest. Beside him her fellow shadows. Miss Velsolariel and her mate in a heap of death.

“Had you been a better shadow, this would not have happened...” The voice taunted.

The water next showed her the burned down remains of the Sunrunner Estate, it’s lord a lifeless corpse at the peak of the rubble, surrounded by his Templars.

“You brought them ruin... as you did to your Father.”

Again the images on the water shifted, showing her the half charred remains of Lord Umbralflare, behind him a few bled out Auxiliary. 

“You pulled him to his death with your greedy heart for companionship...”

Mina’s body shook in terror, tears streaming down her face. She knew what was next.

The water shifted and she saw herself crumpled over the corpse of Revenar. Surrounding her was the disfigured body of Ragnar, under him a dead pup and the two fox brothers close by, in a heap of feather was her trusted owl. 

“You let your heart love and see what it brought those around you? Destruction... Death... “

The girl had only once before felt so much loss, and even from the event in the past, this seemed so much more tragic. Was that really the fate of those she touched? Was this truly the end result her presence brought? Just then the soul shattering image on the water was disturbed by something slithering just beneath the surface and then an oncoming boat. The dark hooded figure on the rowboat seemed to be the only passenger and although it was moving there were now rows pushing it along. She could make out three hydra-like heads that were perhaps the pulling force but her attention was drawn back to the shrouded figure.

“Come child... I shall ferry you along. It is time to go now.” The indistinct voice called. It couldn’t be determined as male or female and it was impossible to read the intent in it’s tone though Mina was drawn to it none-the-less.

A thick row of scales pierced the water’s surface, providing her a slick bridge over the ominously still river. She stood here then, one foot on land and one on the serpent’s back.