Chapter 747: Draebala

Despair and desolation, two who walked hand in hand, a closed loop of sufferance. A hard wrathic gale forced down the mountain, the trees or what appeared to be the forestry, cried in sharp intervals. "-where are we?" he wondered, Intherna, a few steps forward, threw her sharp chin to the side, whereby a line of densely packed plants bristled. Her fist clenched, a sense of worry washed her face. Flames tenderly lit the ends of her flowing hair, her eyes narrowed, "-Get down," she ordered, a crescent shape projectile slit the prior dense plants in half. 

'Wind cutter?' sidestepped Igna, Tharis unsheathed, the receiver, Intherna, casually dropped backward, the back of her head nearly touched the ground. The projectile crashed yonder, she sprung with a fiery orb within her palm; motioned in a submarine pitch, *bang,* for the size, a large explosion rattled the vicinity.

'Malice,' glanced Igna, '-such a tremendous aura,' he turned on his heel, aimed towards the back, facing an upward path headed for a jarring mountain, pairs of red sprinted, galloped, no matter the phrasing, a horde of unknown creatures ran. '-Channel the mana from the atmosphere,' the updated weapon lit, barrel, slightly longer than the previous version, the slithering dragon had a darkened hue fill from its tail to the menacing head whereby he fired. One-shot, one kill, "-we should retreat," fired Intherna, "-down the mountain is a bad idea."

"You insane?" they leaped to lean against one another, "-will climbing increase our chance of survival?"

"Hell no," she gritted, "-wiser move is to head down, still, look at the horde coming from below. The entities here are resilient but not foolish, if we gun it they won't be able to follow. No flying."

"Understood, I'll open a path, keep the horde at bay."

"With pleasure," she smirked and jumped, a hovering raiment summoned to carry countless fireballs, a whip and a deluge of explosions shook the ground, a meteor shower on first impression. *Bang, bang, bang,*

'Too many to handle,' 

*Come forth, Vengeance, slay my enemies,* a shot of nothingness rampaged across the path, the ground carved under its sheer pressure, "-Let's go," he called, "-the path's cleared." Between guarding the back and foraging a path onto an unknown area, the adventure didn't follow as expected. The hours swam, Igna led the charge until a remote cave overlooking the area. 

Hands against the top of the entrance, a tired glance to the realm broadened the horizon, the inherited somberness unique to Draebala cleared at specific parts. Mountains, forests, the landscape was rough and primitive, a constant feeling of terror presided over his head. 

"Come on, rest," said Intherna, "-I've cast a barrier, we'll be safe until daybreak."

"Great," he exhaled and shuffled inside, the low-hanging ceiling proved hard to freely move, a small fire summoned without conduit, it burnt nonchalantly, no smoke, only heat. 

"Here we are," a black portal summoned, "-sleeping bags and dinner."

"You're prepared, nicely done. The portal, a variant of the Spatial arts?"

"Pocket dimension, I say it to be more of a variant on the Shadow Realm," they sat around the fire, "-this place is far worse than I remember."

"Tell me about it," she dove into her plate, "-last time we were here I fought Éclair, the layout of the land is foreign to me, here's the deal, if we want to find a suitable soul, we'll have to cross the thick forest and make it to one of the towns."

"The spots marked by the sun?"

"Yes, don't let stories about the place alter the narrative; harsh as it seems, people do inhabit the realm. Here's what I know, there are three nations, Eipea Empire, Aapith Nation, and lastly, Zuyan D'ol Sak, the kingdom of the people, or the refuge people of Kronos. Each controls major parts of the land, and to be frank, the Eipea and Aapith rulership aren't kind to the Zuyan people, the latter is seen as bait for the strong. Distinguished warriors are allowed to visit the restricted towns, anyone can actually – travel is very deadly, our ambush should have given a glimpse. The better option is to venture towards a town, Eipea or Aapith, doesn't matter, we only need to capture and kill a suitable entity. That being said, the likelihood of what I said coming to reality is minimum. They won't take lightly to strangers, especially not us – we stand out, the inherit aura we channel comes from the Shadow Realm."

"I say we move to a town ruled by the Zuyan, they know the land – not quite interested in being drawn by either faction. I was thinking," he relaxed, "-time here goes much faster to the overworld, right?"

"Way faster," she nodded, "-why?"

"Draebala, scary and dangerous as it seems, the people must be strong – I want to learn more."

"Fair deal," she smiled, "-curious about the land, are we?"

"Very much so."

"Let's call it a night, we'll figure out where we are tomorrow. Good night, Igna." 

"Good night, Intherna." 

Two gentle taps across the cheeks, "-good morning," said Intherna, "-did you sleep well?" she held Igna's head on her lap.

He wiped his eyes and replied, "-good morning?" the brows lowered in confusion, "-did I miss an episode?"

"You mean this?" she caressed his head, "-you screamed in thy sleep, crying about dying and being useless, must have been quite the nightmare," her awry scarlet hair stopped short of his forehead, "-the first time I've seen you in such pain."

"I'm always in pain," he rose and nodded in gratitude, "-that is that and this is this, forget what you heard or saw, I'm fine, I'll be fine."

"If you say so," she followed suit, "-I took the liberty of scouting the area for a bit." A bird, smaller and tamer version of the phoenix, flew inside, perched onto her arms, imploded into golden dust, "-we were teleported to Talia's Mountain, which means, behind us stands the great Elaps mountain range. Wasn't able to procure a map, the location is favorable for travel, we're in the center – which consequently means were in greater danger. The Elaps range is famed for being nests of dragons, they say the peak is so far up normal sight can never discern the shape. Lucky for us, people of Zuyan, else known as people of Draebala, are ingenious in making fortress-villages and towns. All of them are kept within tall skyscraping giants. We'll rarely come across villages, and even if we do, they'll be closely guarded. The closest town is to the south, on foot, maybe three weeks of walking, whilst flying should get us there in three days."

"I'm guessing flying won't be an option for a while."

"Yeah, the dragons and flying creatures around Talia's Mountain are very aggressive. Best we make it to the trade routes."

"Isn't the realm fill with battles and constant death?" he shrugged; the prior stories didn't quite seem to collaborate what she recounted. 

"You talk too much," she chuckled, "-the populous has to live, gods and demons aside, the kingdoms have to live and adapt. You'll see when we travel, the battles are spectacular and not frequent, two high-beings going head-to-head." 

The downward hike resumed under the somberness of the sky. A full stomach sufficed to start the day right, "-the bodies," he stopped and glanced the mysterious beings of yesterday, '-humanoid in the figure, slumped and savage, the canines protrude, carnivorous,' he leaned and slightly shifted the dead body's head, '-a primitive necklace with a tooth as locket. Tribal creatures, the attack was premeditated, they retreated after Intherna's attack – signs point to intelligence, they know what we did,' the examination stopped, a brisk jitter scattered across the tree line.

"Igna, now isn't the time to play doctor," she inched closer, "-we're surrounded."

'They came back to check on the deceased,' he kept one knee to the ground, '-if my hunch is right, we might be able to get out without having to fight,' the eye shut, '-breath and sense their hearts, sense their auras,' a rudimentary greyscale outline scanned the tree-line, '-the hunched back carries spears, some, slender, have perched atop, archers. Where's the leader,' he scoured, '-there, he waits for our guard to drop. Too bad,' he reached for Tharis, flicked to the side and shot, a heavy mass stumbled and fell into the foliage. "-Igna?" she frowned.

'I've been worrying about nothing,' Orenmir slid out the sheath, '-who cares if I can't use the death-element, I fought in wars without magic – don't underestimate me,' a horde of armed entities leaped, some bore their claws, others gnashed their teeth. *Woosh,* he made for a lonesome 'hunched-one,' sliced its head clean off, *Blood-Arts: Crimson Threads,* a web of razor-thin wire rose suddenly, momentum from their jumps ultimately ended in the deaths of many, heads, limbs, torsos, name it and the body parts hit the ground – inner organs exposed onto the coarse dirt path. Blood hung onto the thread; the massacre reflected in splatters across Intherna's face.

"Stop!" said one.

'Good, the message is sent across,' 

"Please, strong one, do not hurt my people," he limped, fell, clawed to stand, fell, and repeated. Strongly shaped facial features woefully reflected the trauma the mangled mess of bodies, "-why, my people," he fell, head to the bloodied path, "-why did we have to take revenge. The holy ones have always said to never attack outsiders," clenched fist slammed the ground, "-WHY!" 

"First warrior," archers leaped from their trees, "-please, do not lower your head. We take the blame for the attack."

'They speak clearly and understand one another, are they people of the land?'

*Blood-Arts: Bloody Mary,* "-who are you, people," he returned to Intherna's stead, she kept a reserved look and had her spells ready to explode.

"We're of the Temihan tribe, tell me strong one," the lowered gaze rose to speechlessness. The bodies; body, organs, flesh, bone, grind to a fine gleaming scarlet-shaped apple, "-Temihan tribe," *crunch,* "-where do your people reside?"

"In the forest of Kuvah," he gulped, "-what happened to my comrades?"

"I ate them," he returned nonchalantly, "-Temihan tribe, my name's Igna, and this here is my partner, Intherna," he crossed the safe distance, the survivors – five archers, drew onto arrows from their quiver, '-the leather armor and fabric seem to be of the same quality to the overworld. These people know more than is let on.'

"Do not approach," said one, "-the safety of the first warrior is the safety of our village"

"Another step and we shoot," the bows pulled, "-first warrior, please, retreat," the foreheads shimmered in sweat, a howl broke the tension.

"That scream," the bravado dwindled, "-the first warrior…" frightened faces sought confirmation.

"I know," he replied, "-the ruler of cold is here." An oppressive force rampaged from the mountain; each step rattled the ground.

"Igna, run," said the first warrior, "-leave me behind, I will be the sacrifice for the ruler of cold. Run, my comrades, run, there's no use taking an injured man home."

"We should listen," said Intherna, "-I'd prefer to keep my powers hidden, I see no way we can win against such a beast," she pulled onto his shoulder, "-come, let's go."

"No," he broke out her grip, "-this cannot be real," he walked steadfast to the frightening aura, "-I don't believe it."

*HOWL!* pure white fur interspaced by a light blue glared from the slope murderously. A thick mist accompanied each step, temperature dropped considerably. 

"IGNA, WE NEED TO LEAVE, NOW!" said a worried Intherna, '-that's a legendary beast, there's no winning in such tight quarters.' The rumbles intensified into gallops, he escaped Intherna's grasp and sprinted onwards to death, '-I don't believe it, the aura, the warmness – I sense it, I know this feeling,' the scenery blurred by the sheer speed – thickness from the fog wrapped the already thin path tighter. Burning crimson eyes dowsed to light blue. 

"HE'S CRAZY!" cried the first warrior, "-ARCHERS, BE AT THE READY." 

"FENRIR!"