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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerulean_Wings" data-source="post: 4078640" data-attributes="member: 55060">Chapter 34Azure NimbusThe Path was clear. For an instant, a fraction of a second, the road to Clarity opened, and Hantel Raft was able to take another step forward, getting closer to the goal of his life. He unleashed the divine essence within his body as he struck the ground with his staff firmly, releasing a wave of blue light that engulfed all the nearby spirits that had intended to slay him and his friends. This had the consequence of temporarily blinding his allies, but more importantly, showing each Nether being the Path towards the Kingdom of Light, what some knew as heaven. Since the spirits had been derailed from the Path, they never found rest at the end of their lives, making them restless, angry and resentful towards those who yet lived in the world. But Hantel’s Azure Nimbus pierced through that loathing and their essence, stopping each specter in mid-flight like a hurricane buffeted flying birds, and dissipating their incorporeal forms. More than a dozen spirits found rest at last, sending them from the Nether realm to the Kingdom of Light. By then, the intense blue light of the Nimbus faded, leaving a surreal after-image of the divine power, along with an empty circle around the group where the first wave of spirits had been mere seconds ago. Gon uncovered his eyes slowly, blinking repeatedly in order to regain his normal sight. Everyone else, save for the priest, imitated him.Gilliam began to ask what in the Hells had just happened when Hantel cut him off.“It’s not over yet”.His words were proved true when the remaining rushing wave of phantoms occupied the spots of their departed undead comrades. Their hands outstretched for the flesh of the six, the ghosts came from all directions at once, possibly more than two dozen surging in unison, wailing as one mad entity.Without hesitating, the Seer of Berethor struck the grass in front of him with his sturdy walking staff once more, summoning another blinding Azure Nimbus. The effect was the same as before: not a single spirit was left near them after the light was gone. Silence was king in the Spirit Wood then, but its reign was short, for voices could be heard ahead of the group. “I told you it would cause them to act in frenzy! It’s because of pure luck that we’re not dead” a man was saying to another, although their figures were barely a dark silhouette in the mist. “How else do you expect me to fill these God-forsaken crystals?” the other replied with equal anger.They kept on talking about crystals of some sort, but none of the six were listening; Gilliam quickly gave hand signals his comrades for some quick action. A finger-point sent Gon into the mist ahead, silent like a shadow. A clenched fist then told Vincent and Darius to remain close to the casters, while Gilliam himself assumed a position a few feet ahead in order to see where Gon was. Even though he had seen the rogue swallowed by the mist barely two seconds ago and he was already out of sight.  “Where the Hell did you put the crystal?” one of the men demanded to know with frustration. Sounds of intense ground-level search came after the words, indicating that the second man did not have an answer at the time. The first one began to yell further insults at the other one, making harsh comments about the other’s masculinity, followed by barely veiled allusions to incest. Just then Gon returned, and the rogue did not scare the living Hell out of the rest in virtue of making his footsteps audible on purpose when he neared them. “Light armored folk, well armed, only two of them” the scout reported swiftly in a low voice. “One had a small crystal in his hand, almost like a diamond, but didn’t look valuable for the purpose of jewelry”. “We can’t just let them go away” Darius said. “They caused the spirits to attack us; what if they’re doing this repeatedly, and causing harm to others?”. Vincent nodded in agreement, and looked at Gilliam for the order to move ahead. The mercenary nodded and signaled to march forward, full speed.They ran as one, with Gilliam and Gon leading the charge, and in the span of fifteen seconds they reached the place where Gon reported to have seen the duo. There was no one there.“What” Gilliam sputtered. The rest appeared as troubled as him. “We should’ve heard them move away, this isn’t normal” Kahleen observed with a grave tone. She had an arrow ready on Blood Moon, and did not take it down at the absence of enemies. “Maybe they used some sort of arcane power?” Darius theorized as he scanned the vicinity of the area. Hantel took several slow breaths to regain his energies, for that lone rush had cost him. “Very likely; there’s no other way a mortal being can elude others so quickly and effectively”. “What can you deduce from the tracks?” Gilliam asked Gon, who had started analyzing the footprints on the ground out of his own initiative. The rogue was focused on a set of barely-visible tracks as he bent low to see better, and shook his head at length. “Freaking impossible” the red-haired soldier muttered. “The tracks don’t come or go; they just show they were here. It’s as if they made the rest disappear”. No one said anything, dumbfounded as they were. “Shamans can do such things, but I wouldn’t say those two qualify as such” Kahleen said. “Then again, wizards and priests can teleport themselves over great distances, thus reducing the number of tracks”. “I’m not very knowledgeable in matters such as this, but I don’t see what else we can do here” Hantel said calmly. He gestured towards the direction in which they were to go. “I say we continue the journey”.All eyes turned to Gilliam, who was standing still in his spot, hands on his hips, looking grim. At length, as if resigning himself to letting the two mysterious men go, he nodded and began the march anew. Gon started to get up from the ground when a flash caught his eye. Brushing away a couple of fallen leaves and branches allowed him to find its source: a small crystal, like the one the man he had spied upon had. However, this one was different, with a faint green glow shimmering within. “Lookie here” the wily soldier said as he held out the hand with the treasure. “This is what they were looking for”. Everyone stopped walking and turned to face him.Hantel rubbed his chin in deep thought as he considered the object. Kahleen gasped silently and paled, but only Darius seemed to notice this. The soldier approached her and placed an armored hand upon her shoulder, a concerned look on his face. This made the shaman return to her more relaxed mood, and she smiled briefly at him to indicate she was fine. Her one eye was still filled with fear, however.“One more thing to have identified at Tidebreaker” Vincent concluded, and Gilliam nodded in agreement. “Maybe this will answer our questions”. “More often than not, answers lead to more questions” Hantel declared wisely. “That gem is filled with the essence of a spirit, but as to why it was trapped in there, I don’t really know”.Without another word, Gon pocketed the crystal and resumed the walk. As the rest did as well, Darius and Kahleen remained behind, if only for a brief moment.“What troubles you?” the blond soldier inquired. The shaman shook her head and started to move towards the group.“That gem,” she said as she went “such an object was used to trap the essence that was stolen from me, all those years ago in my tribe”.Like Hantel had said, that one answer brought forth several questions about Kahleen’s troubled past. But Darius did not have the time to dwell on that, and so he went after the group as well.They continued their journey to the end of the Spirit Wood, towards the fortress, Tidebreaker.</blockquote>

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