Chapter 248 - Undeath (1/2)

Ti heard the word 'serpent', and her pointed ears pricked up. ”Papa? Someone like me?”

”Perhaps,” said Li. ”But I suspect not quite as much as you would like.”

”That is so,” said the aarakowa. ”The Dread Eye holds not the sacred fire of life in its heart, if a heart it even holds. It is death and dread manifested. Undeath.”

”Have you seen this creature?” asked Li.

”No, but of it, I know well. Its presence has haunted this pit for years long before my life. In the third blowing of the Dark Winds two cycles past, the thrice crowned mountains fell to the Fog. With the Fog, a swell of death and terror, of desperation and suffering and all things harsh and cold passed through even to here, and that swell swirled into a maelstrom given form.

That is the Dread Eye. Its dark, slithering body lies still, and to all life that enters within its bounds, its eye passes judgement and curses.”

”I understand what it is now,” said Li. He noted how the aarakowa referred to the demonic invasions as 'Dark Winds' and centuries as cycles. The beastman was in tune with a longstanding culture that spanned centuries, remembering all the scars that had been left upon the world through conflicts. ”And I have made my decision. Passed this creature, the Triforge Mountains are far more accessible, no?”

”The Dread Eye bars entry into the underground caverns leading into the mountains. Caverns the half men once used. Were the Dread Eye to fall, then surely, those caverns would remain.”

”I see now. This Dread Eye you speak of is a relatively powerful undead creature, and its presence is a known harbinger of undeath and negative energies. Or, as in this case, a manifestation of them. It is likely projecting a wide-ranging curse that is turning this entire ravine into an infested hotbed of undead.”

Li stepped closer to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the ravine that spanned down. His gaze traveled over the rocky land and how at the bottom, wisps of light mist rose up from spaces between rocks, covering the area in a purple haze.

This was not a land in balance. Whatever had happened to the Triforge two hundred years ago, during the third demonic invasion, had fundamentally altered something deep within the land, causing undeath to spiral out of control.

He would bring order to this chaos.

”It is settled, then,” said Li. ”We will travel down, and we will vanquish this 'Dread Eye', restoring the balance of this land.”

”Fight! Fight!” Tia wriggled in Li's arms, her eyes wide as she smiled down at the sheer drop to the ravine, seeing all the undead energies emanating from the deathly ground as a challenge where she could finally let loose.

”Yes, Tia, a fight,” said Li as he patted her head. ”And a fight you will take alone.”

The aarakowa stiffened. ”You will send the hatchling to fight?”

”A hatchling, she may be, but she is more a fighter than most any I have met,” said Li. ”And I will teach her to see what imbalance is. And when it must be uprooted.”

”Your decision, I will respect, grass-touched one,” said the aarakowa. He sat cross legged at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the purple shrouded ravine. His avian eyes were sharp and open wide, shining yellow with a focused intensity Li had never quite seen so far in this world.

”I will watch, as I have watched for many years, as you challenge the depths. The same depths that many younger and more spirited than I have challenged. I shall pray for your victory, and if it is such that the winds do not favor you, then I will ensure your corpses have reverent burial.”

Li smiled back at the aarakowa. ”You have lived many years. I recall that your kind can live easily up to a century, or, as you would put it, a cycle. You are likely nearing the end of your cycle, and in all those years, you have never before seen this undeath lifted from the land.

You have only seen life fall before you. Over and over again. Perhaps at one time, when you were yet younger, you looked to the sturdy backs of warriors in your tribe believing they would lift the haze. Now, the novelty of hope has faded from you.”

Li turned and gave the aarakowa a nod. ”I will restore it.”

===============

”Papa, will I really fight alone?” said Tia from Li's arms. They were walking down the side of the sheer cliff leading down into the ravine, and he stopped himself from falling off by having roots grow from the soles of his feet, embedding themselves in the rock face like hooks.

Tia was not at all scared of being carried down what was essentially a ninety-degree angle descent. Mostly because she was fearless by nature, but also because she had flown before, and flying removed any sense of fear for falling she would have had otherwise.

”Will you be fine with it, Tia?” said Li. He held her tighter to him. ”Papa will fight if you want. He can also help as much as you want.”