67 Will-os-the-Wisp I (1/2)

Near a swamp, two human figures could be seen moving under the dense fog. Their movements were only minimal, not disturbing the other creatures that could be lurking around the swamp.

It was a quiet night, as was mostly the case here. The bubbles popping at short intervals in the swamp was the only indication that life was once present in this area. One wouldn't think that though if the only movements were caused by the wind.

With the breeze only blowing softly, the dense fog was not getting blown away, however, the two figures were swaying from a tree branch, making the wood creak. The rope that was hanging them two feet off the ground was almost frayed. Just a few sways would surely make these two humans, now corpses, fall on the wet ground.

They were probably not even acquainted. Fate had just led them both to choose to die here on their own terms. Soon, both of them would just be another part of this infertile land.

The scene was a lot different from the one Ling and Maga had seen in the yellow 'haze' desert. Like what Mayari had told them earlier, this swamp was a recently formed desert, caused by the deaths and despair of the suicide victims.

They could still see the remains of the recently dead. Their flesh were either rotting or the remaining bones were already partially burried under the ground. Surely, more were lost under the soil or their dust taken by the softly blowing wind.

That was a disgusting thought. What if someone had actually breathed in those remains? Fortunately, Mayari had already warned the two young ones to keep their shields up, even against the fog.

In a single line, the two people and one dragon continued to walk on the muddy pathway, their shoes, bare paws in the case of the dragon, squishing on the wet ground. They were distracted by that wood creaking earlier, but it was just the same view, another dead body, or bodies in this case.

Since the three were trying to avoid falling into the swamps on both sides of the path, Mayari was in front, leading the two while still explaining the area. ”The fog had already thickened here but we still had to go deeper, past that darker fog at least.” He stopped to check if the two behind him knew were he was pointing at. ”That was where the we can collect the bigger stones too.”

Of course, they had already collected enough from the yellow 'haze'—especially Ling and Maga, since they had reached far deeper in that 'haze'. They had carried back several large stones for the troupe, taking those out too when they left that area.

It had already been two days since these three separated from the rest of their group. The others probably returned to the shore by now, and would eventually reach the Sikat troupe's camp to deliver the stones. Now, Mayari only needed to guide these two for their practice, but that didn't mean they still couldn't collect more stones.

As the three continued to step forward, they finally reached the boundary where the fog started to turn darker. The squishy sounds of their footsteps stopped, muffled by the heavy atmosphere of the place.

It felt like their ears were bombarded by a huge pressure, like they were suddenly submerged underwater. Still following behind Mayari, Ling decided to inhale sharply to make sure that he could still breath.

Immediately, he realized that that was a bad decision. Stopping his footsteps, he had to suppress the bile rising from his throat as he covered both his mouth and nose with his hands. The rotting smell in this area was way worse than the path they were walking at earlier.

Squinting his eyes now to see, Ling noticed that the man he was following was still walking. He then tried to call out to Mayari in front of him, but he realized that he couldn't open his mouth. Another surge of bile has threatened to go up! If only he could use his 'mist' to shield the smell too!

That was when Ling noticed that his friend, who was supposed to be behind him, has also stopped walking. With his ears muffled, he wasn't able to hear that Maga was already retching a meter behind him.

Without another choice, Ling let out a ball of 'mist' and threw it to hit Mayari on the back to get his attention. Mayari almost tripped from the force. He turned around angrily, about to scold the boy behind him. But then, his expression changed to surprise when he saw the scene behind him. Under the dense fog, a boy had both hands covering his face while a dragon was on all fours, casting out its meal.

Confused, Mayari was about to ask what the problem was as he walked back. But when he opened his mouth, he suddenly had a thought. ”Damn!” he said with a slap on his forehead, ”I'm sorry. I forgot to remind you about the smell. Don't worry. You'll get used to it soon.”

Ling and Maga were speechless. Or more like, they literally couldn't speak. They had to wait for half an hour to 'get used to it', as the old man had said, but their eyes were still watery as they glared at the old man.

Mayari ignored their looks. When he saw that the two were not going to vomit anymore, he turned around and continued walking. Helpless, Ling and Maga just stared at each other and soon followed.

After a few steps, Ling caught a slight movement and light in his periphery. ”Uncle, what's that?” He pointed at the light floating above a swamp.

Mayari stopped to look. ”Oh, that's a will-o'-the-wisp. That means we can stop here. You can start searching for stones, but avoid touching those. We're only here to collect and have you experience another desert since we don't know what you'll experience in the Limaw Sea.”

”But what is a will-o'-the-wisp? Why can't we touch it?” Ling asked when the older man didn't continue explaining and just crouched down and started looking on the ground. Maga also stopped staring at the ground, interested with that light.

”Hmm? Oh, those were gases or something. I forgot the science of it.” Mayari said distractedly. Then, his eyes lit up. He looked up at the two, smiling and looking like he had another story to tell.