The Morianna Reserve was on the outskirts of the Hold by the
same family. It was known for its unspoilt wild woodlands. The trees made up one
of the last remaining forests in Thaemor, protected from being used as lumber.
It was about half a day's journey from Darkperch along the trade route between
Auspar and Jyrek, although the heart of the reserve was still a few hours trek
from the closet point on the road. The group had elected to stay in Darkperch
overnight as no trade caravan would travel during the dark. It was Danton who
managed to secure passage for the group the next day. A few names mentioned to the
right people and they were passengers on a caravan for textile merchants, who
were also transporting an Aeon Priest.
On the journey; Xera, unable to identify one of the
curiosities he had found in the Feldspar Maw, was keen to sell. Aeon Priests
were well known for their compulsion towards these unknown fragments,
regardless of their use and practicality. Xera however, was not a salesman and his first attempt left him
worse off than when he had started. It was why he had teamed up with Styenbeck
in Auspar to help with the trade of Black Sunshine and now needed similar
intervention to get this item off his hands. The rescue came from an unexpected
source. Chance not only advocated the metals intricate and ornate engraving but
also the apparent rarities of its other qualities. The Aeon Priest's narrow
eyes widened at the prospect of finding such an unusual object for a small
price. Shins passed hands but the transaction was soon marked by the shouts of
the scouts of the caravan.
A raging storm was approaching from the west. The ink black clouds
were bubbling and boiling over themselves as it coursed its way through the
sky. Beneath its shadow, the ground exploded and ruptured into flames. Lighting crashed down into the pools, causing eruptions
to blast high into the sky. A few wild animals caught within the winds of it,
were swept up into the air and ripped apart atomically. The caravan, the
merchants, the guards, the riders and the scouts, all scattered. Danton pulled
out a small automaton from his pocket, fashioned into an almost identical replica
of Jarvan; who dusted it down and corrected its coiled wire moustache. Danton
brought it up to eye level and asked where they should go. Jarvan cocked an
eyebrow at it, as it pointed into the woods to a clearing and a structure
further in. With its answer given, it collapsed into a heap of constituent
parts and spilled onto the floor. Jarvan, before his master could speak, bowed
and darted in the opposite direction. There was an understanding between them
both with what to do in such situations. Jarvan would find survivors and tend
to them in Darkperch.
Danton on the other hand was now running with the rest of
the group in to the forest. The ground was shaking beneath them as the storm
gathered behind them, closing in at an incredible rate. Trees were blasted from
their roots, as channels of lava ran between their stumps. The lighting was
followed by intense thunder, while the wind turned the leaves into airborne razors. The structure in front
seemed to be an abandoned shack and somehow still standing. It was barely big
enough to fit two or three people comfortably, not the six that were running.
Eryn gritted his teeth and leapt onto the wooden porch. The storm was only a
few feet away from the rest of them that were following. Eryn could see others
from the caravan behind them such as the Priest, while two other figures were
keeping pace with his companions. One of them was a waif of a woman with golden
hair, and a surprisingly spry old man. Within a breath of being snatched by the
storm, the rest of the group had made it, although those behind had not. They survivors
watched on as they regained their composure. The Priest and those too slow to
outrun the storm were ripped apart in the sky and reassembled in grotesque
forms accompanied by gurgling screams barely heard above the wind and the thunder.
Above them, Xera noticed that the storm was passing around
the house as if something was shielding them. It buffeted against what was protecting the house,
while the flows of lava and the blasts of earth never reached within fifty
feat. Chance, now realising that the party had an extra female member, swiftly
went to her aid. He pushed back her blonde hair away from her face as she tried
to compose herself. He asked her name, and in an exhale, she called herself
Chail. A moment after that her eyes
darted side to side, her breath quickened for a few seconds, and then before
anyone could intervene, she passed out.
As her body went limp in Chance's arms, the slowly rotting
wooden door creaked open. It was as if that was the only sound now hanging in
the air. The raging storm outside inexplicably silenced by its presence before
the storm filled their ears again. Eryn
shook his head, knowing what this could signal. Chance however, swept Chail off
from the ground and carried her inside before the group could assess the danger.
Eryn turned to the other newcomer, the old man, but he remained silent as the
others went inside.
Lavinia upon entering, was struck with fear. There were
fragments, shards of glass in her memory, digging away at her. The pain of them
was coursing through every joint of her body. She closed her eyes, hoping to shut
out the pain and scrunched her fists till she could hold out no longer. Her
sight was bleary, which made the hallway they were in that much more obscure.
For old an old shack, the interior resembled that of a more wealthy, if un-dusted
home. A bright red carpet with golden
trim adorned a long hallway. To the left were there were two thick wooden doors and to the
right, another of similar quality. In front of them down the hall was a set of carved double
doors and a turning in the hallway to the left.
Lavinia remembered some of it, although the layout was
scrambled. Things were not in the right places, doors were in the wrong positions
. She couldn't place the bookshelves that adorned every wall and were flanking
every door and painting. The carpet in front of her slowly shifted and
twitched drawing her attention. Clouds of dust were shaken up into the air as it jerked. The gold
trim grew shell like shards from the sides, forming insect legs. Lavinina could
see all the way to the doors at the end, and what looked like a head with giant
pincers. The carpet hissed at her before it scuttled sideways and up the stairs.
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