The surface of the lake was disrupted as a strong breeze sent ripples running through the lake. Leander had followed the map, only taking a wrong detour every now and then, getting lost occasionally. Now, he stood next to a simple wooden dock, a small boat floated in the water, gently rocking with the waves that splashed against the gravel beach.
From an outsider's perspective, Leander was simply gazing across the lake. His calm demeanour looked as if he was enjoying the breeze that tousled his hair. Except, Leander's inner monologue was anything but calm.
'How deep is that thing.'
The lake was large, much larger than it seemed on the map. The other side of the lake was small, only just being able to be spotted, to Leander's left the lake curved the lake curved crossing into the Wilds and to his right far in the distance the lake gave way to a river that disappeared into the distance running through the Goddess' Kingdom.
Leander's gaze wavered as an unknown feeling within him bit into his mind making his eyes shake. Looking away, he covered his eyes with one hand.
'What is this feeling? Why am I scared of a bit of water? No… this is more than fear, I'm- I'm scared. Terrified.'
Fragments of another memory – fragments of emotion drifted through his mind.
Sinking.
Something enormous beneath him.
Terror.
Surrounded.
Desperation.
Sinking.
It was a fleeting feeling Leander hadn't truly felt since being reborn. Leander's very being froze as he tried to step onto the dock, which is why he ended up only standing next to it. Turning away from the lake, Leander grimly rubbed his face. What he had thought to be a simple venture north to visit the blacksmith had turned out to be anything but simple.
Even the walk to the lake had ended up taking much longer than Leander had anticipated. It was the same as with the size of the lake – Leander had underestimated how long it would take to reach the lake. It had been two weeks since he had left Funerary.
As it turns out, the Undead Kingdom was lacking horses. Ilia had explained that beyond the Undead Kingdom, zombies, skeletons, ghosts, and undead of all kinds were mindless creatures that attacked anything living. But each and everyone was drawn to the Undead Kingdom – specifically Melaine, her presence awakening the consciousness within the mindless undead.
Not all made it to the Undead Kingdom, either being struck down by humans or demons. For this reason, the kingdom lacked horses. Any that made it to the kingdom were acquired by the army.
'Two weeks, two weeks, two weeks with no horse.'
For the first time, Leander felt mentally exhausted. Two weeks of walking nonstop.
'Maybe this is some leftover fatigue from everything that has happened to my soul.'
Over the two weeks, Leander had mentally visited his Soul Sanctuary to inspect his soul. The strings enwrapping his soul – repairs left behind by Melaine. Leander had assumed that the strings would disappear after a few days, but as the weeks passed – Leander was left disappointed as the strings remained.
Shaking his head, Leander cast his gaze to the lake once more and then slowly to the boat.
'Looking at it again… That boat does seem… Awfully rotten, I can't take that. If it breaks apart, I'll have to swim the rest of the way.'
The boat Leander was looking at was not in any state of disrepair. In fact, it was completely safe, not rotten at all. Two paddles sat inside the boat, waiting for somebody to take it out across the waters. It seemed whatever aura caused the Undead Kingdom to rot ended at the gravel beach.
Slowly turning his gaze towards the Wilds, Leander stared at the patch of land that stretched from the misty mountains. Wisps of fog rolled along the land. As he followed the wisps back to the base of the mountain, Leander felt a cold chill run down his back. Glancing at the lake, Leander began walking.
Whatever uncomfortable impression the fog left on Leander was far weaker than the unnatural fear that overwhelmed his senses as he thought of the lake.
It truly was a nice day, if he didn't have something to do Leander might have taken a moment to enjoy the sun. As he left the Undead Kingdom behind, the world became more vivid – more alive. Small patches of grass began to poke through the dead land. Soon, more and more patches of grass appeared until Leander left the land of the dead behind.
But as Leander continued, he was unable to enjoy himself, unable to enjoy anything as his mind was on guard. Leander took every measured step, his left hand tightly holding onto the sword that sat in its sheath.
'What is that…'
The fog had unnerved Leander since the first time he had seen it from the distance whilst travelling to the mining village. At the time, Leander was uncertain why he had felt this way. Even when he had walked into the caves under the mountains, where the fog couldn't reach, the same unnerving feeling stuck to his skin like an itch.
Now, as he neared closer to the fog, Leander understood why it left him feeling worried.
There was nothing.
Specifically, Leander felt nothing coming from the fog. Leander's ability to detect things around him was nascent, only being able to detect large threats. Without turning his head, Leander looked at the fog from out the corner of his eye. It was an uncomfortable feeling, seeing something, knowing it was there, yet feeling nothing.
It was as if the entire mountain range just did not exist. For this reason, Leander started moving a little faster.
The small patch of land that lay between the mountain range and the lake was small, barely half the width of the land bridge that connected Funerary to the continent. Leander had expected there to be some undead standing guard near the only place where the border between the Wilds and the Undead Kingdom could be crossed on foot, but as he neared it, Leander saw why Melaine was not concerned about beasts crossing into her lands.
A stream of fog towered over Leander like a river of clouds that stretched from the tops of the sky-piercing mountains and flowed into the lake, dissipating somewhere over the waters.
Staring at the fog, Leander weighed up his options.
'It might not be too late to cross the lake, although… I am curious. This fog is unlike the fear I feel from the lake. It seems to be some form of learnt terror, from a memory I have yet to regain, but this fog. The feeling this fog gives me is instinctual. I suppose that explains the lack of a guard – beasts are creatures driven by instinct, connected to the world on a spiritual level higher than man. So something that was not just instinctually dreadful but also unnatural was a perfect defence against them.'
Leander began to wonder whether this fog was created by the equally unnatural Melaine or whether it had been there long before.
Gritting his teeth, Leander began to walk closer to the flowing wall of fog. His body tried to pull him back, but Leander pushed forward; the lake left a far larger impression than the instinctual fear of the fog.
Reaching the wall, Leander held his hands up as he walked into it. The moment Leander's body was taken in by the ethereal fog, he felt something change. His already poor sense of direction vanished, and not only did he lose his sense of direction. Leander also couldn't distinguish between up or down.
Only when he dropped to a knee and placed his palm on the ground did Leander's confused senses begin to calm.
Which is when he felt it.
As the fog blinded his vision, Leander could not see his own hand in front of his face. So as his fingertips felt the ground, Leander was surprised to feel cold stone under his palm. But the cold stone was not the only thing that surprised the Hero of Peace.
Tremors ran through the stone, moving up through his fingers and into his body. The tremors were large and heavy; whatever made them had to be colossal in size.
Leander's eye twitched.
'Maybe I was right to fear this place.'
Leander remained still, motionless, not moving, not wanting to give away his position to whatever dwelled within the fog. Leander would have liked to think that time was slowly moving as he waited for whatever was making these tremors to move away, but his sense of time was another thing that had disappeared the moment his body had been encompassed by the fog.
'Where are you, where…'
Although from the outside, the fog emanated nothingness, now that he was surrounded by it. Leander's senses slowly became accustomed to the feeling of nothing, and as this happened. Leander felt… Something.
Moving towards him.
Without a second thought, Leander surged forward, barreling ahead with no concern for what dangers could lie ahead. His urgency was for a single reason. The moment he had sensed something within the fog, the tremors intensified – as if whatever was in the fog had felt him too.
Leander was unsure whether there was even potential for a fight if the creature found him, whatever it was – was born here. It had the advantage, whereas Leander couldn't even see where he was putting his feet.
At this thought, a dire thought crossed Leander's mind.
'My sense of direction is gone… So what's stopping me from accidentally turning left and running into the mountain?'
Sliding to a stop, Leander froze, turning to look back the way he came. Leander's expression grew grim, but then a moment later, his expression grew slightly lighter.
Crouching and touching the stone again, Leander let out a relieved breath. The ground seemed to be the only thing that didn't try to deceive him. The tremors were still coming from the left – from the direction of the mountains. Leander was relieved knowing he was still travelling in the correct direction.
Picking himself up, he started running.