Return to the Mists

Gil joined his girls on the field outside of Rim Elm, and pointed them towards the town, which was fairly visible from the hilltop portal. The large hole that had been blown into the town wall marred its otherwise impressive defenses, plugged with a slipshod wooden barricade tossed up over a few days.

He took a deep breath and tried to draw in mana the way Zena had told him. Magic was in the air; not as much as in the sanctum, but he could feel it. He created a small candle flame on the end of a finger, hardly a real spell by Candress’s estimate, and it was all he could do to draw in enough mana to replenish his stores. He’d be able to toss out a few bolts of fire or frost, but didn’t think it was likely that he’d be able to follow up with much more magic once he burned through his reserve, at least without running back to the Sanctum.

“You two tell them Gil sent you, and when you get to the shop remind him that he promised me supplies.” Gil reminded them as they started towards the small town. “Don't let him weasel out of it, you hear? Also, ask about Vahn. He is definitely important.”

Having confirmed that the girls were headed to the right place with pockets full of local currency, Gil retreated back through the pulsing blue portal. Behind him, Snow and Candress hurried towards the town, the elf keeping alert for any attackers. She was quick on the draw, and the one Gobu Gobu hunting in the area was scared off by a blast of flame.

“Alright ladies.” Gil said to Zena and Keilnei back on the skyblock, “You two shadow me on the other side of the portal. My armor should keep me safe if anything tries to hurt me, and you two can probably handle most things. Remember what I said about the monsters in this world?”

“If there’s a heavy fog, don’t let anything that seems unnatural grapple with us or it will be able to possess us.” Zena said, bored. “I wasn’t planning on letting anything get in that close anyway.”

Keilnei nodded, far less flippant. She had an almost haunted look; perhaps she was more familiar with the results of possession.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” She murmured.

The yellow portal, as it turned out, opened into a cave. The glowing portal was the only light source Gil could see, so he was pretty sure the place was as dark as pitch. That would likely work to his advantage, if anything ran into him near this chamber. Alas, it seemed as secluded and unimportant as most of the spots he was dropped off. His backup stepped in behind him and kept an eye out, but there were no signs of life.

Gil waited a few minutes for something to happen, straining his ears. Keilnei did the far more practical thing and detected beasts, finding very few.

“There are eight in that direction.” She said, pointing at a wall. “Seven of one species I don’t recognize, and the eighth is a wolf. Surprising. Are wolves in many worlds?”

“Yeah, they’re common. Dogs too.” Gil said, “So how do we get to them?”

“Why exactly do we want that?” Zena asked between deep breaths of mana infused air, “It’s a wolf. Why is that relevant?”

“Good question; I’m just assuming that anything we can detect is likely to be looking into.” Gil agreed. “You scout it out. I don’t want to encounter any animals that aren’t worth capturing.”

He checked his pockets, confirming to himself that just detecting the creature didn’t count as an encounter. Nope. No nuzlocke ball had appeared.

Zena stared at him for a few moments then sighed and crept along the passage. With a **** of will, she dimmed the light of her eyes until it was barely visible. Her body seemed to blur slightly. She had never mastered the stealth skill common in her world, but even an improper use made her harder to pick out. Keilnei followed after her from a safe distance, arrow nocked, and Gil followed Keilnei as quietly as he could manage.

He gathered enough magical energy to call forth a floating ball of fire. It wouldn’t be for burning anyone, that would be a waste of his small quantity of magical energy. He wanted a little bit more light to see in the event that something unpleasant was waiting for him. Yellow was a somewhat less friendly and inviting color than blue, after all. For all he knew, they were color coded and yellow meant moderate danger while blue meant safe zone. He jotted down the words “portal colors” for a later note in his report.

He hung back, keeping Keilnei just barely in sight as she followed along after Zena. He deliberately kept himself limber as he moved, nervously looking down every branching tunnel and memorizing his path. He saw the faint green sparks of Zena’s eyes before anything else.

“I found her, and I think you’re right.” Zena said, “That wolf can talk, and she stinks of magic.”

••••••••••

Sorry for the delay, next arc is coming out nowish. Naturally, I’ve got polls for ya.

Gil will get to see an old friend with a new face. Readers of Erich’s story will certainly recognize her. She’s willing to be generous, but there are limits on exchange.

https://strawpoll.com/Qrgew0D1Xyp