Niyari was shaken up. They had encountered so much darkness in the last few days that it felt like a month. Niyari yawned. They needed to be back on the road... It was easy to want to just go back home but the way back would be even longer than going onwards towards their goal. Niyari didn't even want to go to sleep after the last nightmare. It felt like whatever was happening would only become worse and worse from here on out. Niyari had forced some food down this morning before begrudingly starting on the road again. If everything went well they should make it to the town tomorrow. One more night sleeping outdoors. A prospect that Niyari didn't mind on any other day but with all the weird and threatening occurences around miasma spilling and poisoning the region, the overwild border with the pocket dimension and now the nightmare of... the thing that Niyari could only describe as being a Daeva it was hard to feel excited about sleeping somewhere without the security of four walls around them. Niyari checked their belongings and made sure they had everything on them before leaving the room they had rented for the night.
Before leaving the village they made sure to stop by the market place and get some more food while also listening around to any gossip that might be of importance. Thankfully it seemed like there hadn't been any more sightings of destroyed mana wells or overwild borders, at least not somewhere close enough for the news to already have travelled to this village. It was comforting and that alone let Niyari shake their head. That shouldn't be comforting, that should be the normal thing! Niyari really hoped that it would be normal again soon.
The sun had already reached it's highest point and was slowly sinking again, painting the red-orange leaves of the Bellmoril tree in a beautiful light and making them almost seem glowing. This otherwise breathtaking scene felt a bit hollow today though, Niyari just couldn't feel the scenery warm up their heart, the red glow especially seemed more threatening than anything else... Niyari went onwards, trying to keep their gaze up ahead and focused on the path even if it had been quite a while since they encountered another Elnin on here. That would probably change soon though, Niyari could see something dark in the distance. It was hard to make out more from here, the path had a curve to it and didn't go completely straight so a lot of the figure was still obscured by bushes and trees. Niyari did their best to try and smoothen down their face so they could just get out a quick and pleasant "Hello" while nodding at the other travelers without getting roped into a longer conversation. Niyari really was not in the mood for other people. Well... If they had more information about the upcoming town it might be worth it though... Hahh. Niyari would see when they reached the other Elnin.
The closer Niyari came, the more a feeling of unease grew in their chest. It seemed like the other Elnin wasn't moving. Was it even an Elnin? The sun was pretty much shining into Niyaris eyes and it was hard to stare ahead to see details. But if it was another traveler, why would they decide to take a rest right on the route? even for an animal that would be a pretty weird behaviour. Niyaris eyes were tense, listening ahead. It was quiet. A part of them wanted to take a big detour so they wouldn't have to follow the path and meet whatever waited there but they knew... they had to look. Maybe someone needed help. Niyari couldn't just go and leave with the knowledge of leaving someone alone that could be hurt. Or maybe it was a lost Kittom and that's why they stayed at the path, not knowing in which direction to go.
The closer Niyari got the more they didn't want to believe their own eyes. A part of their brain knew what was waiting on the ground but the bigger part tried to block the image away. A sob escaped Niyaris mouth. There were anima splinters. Everywhere. It looked like the biggest part was at the side of the road and the traces then disappeared in the tree line. Niyari shook their head and heard a soft whimper, realizing only afterwards that they had made the sound themself. Niyari stopped around five meters from the biggest splinter. Dark purple anima traces were still in the air and Niyari didn't know what would happen if they got too close to them. It was an eery sight. Was this was an Elnin corrupted by miasma looked like? Or was this where it happened and the Elnin was gone already? Niyari had only heard stories of corruption happening. They had never witnessed something like this with their own eyes. Was the big part of splintered anima just a residue or was... there an Elnin underneath? Inside? No. No that couldn't be. It was probably just... whatever was left after the event.
Niyari walked a big circle around the anima traces in the air, not wanting to risk it, and made their way into the forest. They weren't quite sure how it worked... Would they follow the trail and find an Elnin that might need help or... was this a trail leading to a Daeva? Niyari took a deep breath. They wanted home. They wanted to go back into Lunes warm embrace. Seeing this all without anyone by their side was mentally draining. Niyari had to be strong. And they hoped that whatever Elnin had been here would be strong and healthy as well.
