With instructions from Daress, the three headed towards what he deemed the Harm Lands.
The transition from the Horhor Basin was relatively seamless, as it initially appeared identical to the place they'd been treading for the past few hours.
Looking down, they'd recognise the many corridors or corners they passed, which led them back to the same exitless passages. Daress guided them, however, through what he called the safest road, complete with many holes in the ground, steep cliffs with sharp, rocky edges or slippery tops that were a daunting climb.
The colours didn't change; it was the same monotone grey, which filled the air and any surrounding structure. The ground evened, from big bumps to little ones, and then into a long, silver plain, complete with formations in thin lines, zig-zagging up, before stopping out of their reach, and into the various tunnels splattered about.
They led into the many mazes resembling the Horhor Basin, though they were swiftly avoided, even if it meant taking a more dangerous road.
There was no real way to know if what they were doing was right. It seemed as if no human had ever set foot in these lands, and Daress was the only thing they could rely on.
Except for words such as "Come!" or "Here!", the clowinger didn't speak much to the morians, leaving them with enough time to find reason in these strange choices. morians weren't made for travelling in dry lands; their shoes were made to handle snow, and sometimes they'd slip down into the most mundane places. Daress would wait and chant the same words. It was a sickening pattern for Jyuzou and a chore for Morio, but they persisted.
Over time, the roads that spread left and right headed down a slope into what seemed like a long corridor etched between two formations. At times like these, the clowinger counted something on his fingers, looking back at the two. He smiled, reassuringly, and then turned, signalling with his claw-like hand.
The steaming temperatures of earlier faded, turning to ones resembling the first days of a Shimori Dear. The two put on their cloaks, even asking Daress if he was cold. Their question wasn't ignored. He looked into Morio's eyes, letting him know he heard his words, but refused to answer for whatever reason.
Morio gulped, scratching his head, turning to the other morian. Jyuzou looked back as a small wind picked up, and he could barely make out Daress's silhouette through the thick fog.
Even if he vowed not to harm him, the two were fearful of the unknown. This came with both the stranger as well as the Harm Lands. Wherever they went, it all looked alike, save for these long, red flowers, with dark green stems and many dry leaves, that shook around even without any wind as if they tried responding to the morians' words. Sometimes, they'd disappear into the ground, only to find themselves elsewhere.
"Morio," Jyuzou tapped his side. The other morian peered at Daress before creating distance between each other.
"Yes?" He whispered.
I'm starting to think our best course would be to head back home."
"Why?" Morio asked. "Wouldn't we remain cowards?"
Jyuzou ground his teeth. "T-There are no interesting plants, animals or anything of nature that would make it even remotely worth it. It's all dead. Only rocks and those weird red flowers that I can't even recognise," he signalled to one that grew out of the ground, with its crown staring directly at Morio's face.
Morio breathed in before shaking his head.
"Damn it, it's so quiet too!" Jyuzou stepped. "...and now, we've got whatever that thing is promising to lead us to its home. What if it's just trying to kill us?"
"I get why you're scared, but let's not take this for granted, okay? Maybe things will change sooner than later." Morio proposed, treading forward.
"Demons go a long way to find their prey. They won't give up until it's dead. Remember what Mr Bruno said?"
"Don't let these f-feelings take over your rational thinking," Morio said, although he too seemed a nervous wreck.
"This is my rational thinking." Jyuzou furrowed his brows. "You're scared too, aren't you? Afraid of trusting that creature, even if you already convinced yourself that it won't hurt y-you."
"Dorians?! Are you coming?!" Daress yelled from afar.
Morio clenched his fist. "We're Demonears, Jyuzou. Don't forget that," he put his hand on Gloria's sheath, turning on his heel and following Daress' echoes. "If he tried hurting us again, he'd be dead."
Jyuzou wiped the sweat off his forehead, following after.
Passing through the small gorge, the morians climbed up a bigger formation, where the edges of the cliffs faded into a distant fog. The ground almost resembled frozen lava, but with a few more turns, everything evened out, leading into the splits.
"D-Demonears, huh?" Jyuzou smiled. "I don't think I ever got the chance to ask you about it."
"About?" Morio turned.
"Your weapon, class, element, all that other stuff that the blacksmith mentioned that I forgot about," he scratched the back of his head.
"I was completely lost through the second part of his speech!" Morio smirked.
"Me too! Why would you possibly read three pages from some weird book that's not even written in our language? How's that supposed to work out?"
"Don't even get me started about all those fear attacks!"
"Wait, no. That was actually pretty important. How long have you spaced out for?"
"Um."
"Morio."
"Well, I'm sorry half of his words sounded like something from a Bollsend book!" Morio jumped up, and Jyuzou shook his head, almost playfully.
"Dorians, come on! Uuh! Over here!" Daress ran back to the two. "Follow me to the left!" he muttered, before treading forward again.
Morio followed his moves and then turned back to Jyuzou.
"Anyway," he shook his head as Daress climbed up on the side. "M-My element is air, and my class is Vitaglia. You?"
"Vitaglia too!" Morio clapped his hands. "Thunder for me! I already saw your spear, but what about its name?"
"The Great Kowitzer." Jyuzou held it in both hands. "It's made out of arkan, found in the depths of Mirillis. Elton told me that the people living there had to mine for months to reach such a rare, wood-like material, found halfway through the Orawood Forest. I'm glad then that something like this is in my hands."
"From what I've heard, the Guardian Demon chooses its host by itself. Meaning, the rare arkan was fated to land in your hands!"
"See. You can be nice." Jyuzou beamed.
"Four-eyes." Morio grinned.
"Shut up."
"Over here!" Daress continued.
"Well, I'm not sure what my weapon is made of," Morio added. "It was Mama who made it."
Jyuzou raised a brow as Morio took the blade out of its sheath. "I-Isn't that?"
"Yeah, exactly! I always wondered what weapon I'd get when I finally became a Demonear. Do you think Mama would be proud?"
"She does seem like that person." Jyuzou folded his arms. "M-Man, now that you mentioned it," he fixed his glasses. "Victoria will be pissed about the sweater."
"Worried about all that, and there's something I've always meant to ask you!"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you always call her Victoria?" Morio asked. "Mama would kill me if I dared to use her real name. We're not some erans to do that!"
Jyuzou looked away.
"She doesn't seem like the type of person to just go with the flow," he chuckled. "Eh, Jyuzou?"
"She's not... exactly my mum," he scratched his neck.
"What?"
"I thought you knew that...?"
"But you look similar!"
"Dressing the same doesn't make you look the same! First of all, why doesn't she wear glasses if I do? I've been told it's genetic, so my real parents would probably wear them!"
"Real parents?" Morio thought for a second. "So that's why you don't have a dad..."
"Not like you're one to speak!"
"Hey! Mama said that he's out exploring the world, okay? Look into my eyes! They're testimony!"
Jyuzou sighed, moving back. "W-Well, maybe mine are somewhere in the Mainland as well, or even further away. Victoria told me that a man left me near the well in Mistwick one day, and never came back. Hell, I'm not sure if they'd want to see me." he scratched his cheek, looking to the side. "I'm fine like this either way. Victoria and everyone else are good enough."
For a second, the glassy morian thought he spotted something in the mist. A floating figure, permeating through the thick fog and looking back. In the blink of an eye, however, it disappeared, turning back into a formation. He blinked twice before rubbing his eyes.
"Tsk." Morio scratched his forehead. "Sometimes I wonder how little we know about our world."
"Huh?" Jyuzou fixed his glasses.
"It seems like everything everyone tells me is wrong or right, in a strange way. Like... every story I've been told was made up or changed like they don't want anyone to know what lies beyond a lie." Morio squinted.
"Dorians!" Daress yelled, jumping down from a rock. "I found a shortcut! Come on, quick, quick~! Uuh!" It closed an eye, trembling.
Morio and Jyuzou hesitated before deciding to climb up a few square rocks to an open hill above the long corridors. From the thick of the mist grew red and black clouds, forming around Mount Aria.
"What is that?" Morio asked, standing behind a dead bush that swang in the wind.
"Night is coming, dorians. We need to tread quickly and safely! Uuh!" Daress shook. "We need to find somewhere safe, out of the Harm Lands!"
"Why not here?" Jyuzou asked, a bit agitated.
"Uuh," Daress muttered. "You don't want to know, dorians..."
"We do, so we can be ready to fight it," Morio spoke up as well.
"Demons... deadly demons." Daress put his hands together. "Even ones that a Demonear couldn't defeat!"
"N-Nothing's that big of a challenge!" Morio added, bumping Jyuzou's shoulder.
Daress looked at one of Morio's eyes, and his own gleamed. Biting his claw, he leapt forward.
"Quick, quick, come, dorians! Somewhere safe, somewhere safe!"
Jyuzou turned, afraid. "Last chance, Morio," he grabbed his hand.
"Come on." The morian shook his head before treading down.
Afterwards, they ventured into another set of identical mazes, with the only difference in sight being slightly shakier ground. There were more of those red flowers, some in groups of three to five, and others in line, as if they were creating a path for the three to follow.
Something that Jyuzou noticed was that, when Daress was far enough from the two, he'd start treading on all fours, making leaps forward at a higher speed. When the two approached, however, he'd straighten up on both avian-like legs, a bit slouched. Morio mentioned that his wings were probably a burden, not understanding the creature and trying to learn more, even if they knew asking questions right to its face would be pointless.
Jyuzou kept a safe, rational distance, however. Every time Daress did something strange, he tried to remind himself to take out the book and search for whatever a clowinger could be, yet they kept getting distracted by either the wind's hisses, blowing at Morio's maps, or Daress' distant footsteps.
Now, letting you in on a little secret, clowingers are what came out of a fusion of an eran with a bird, somewhere before the First Errarion War. It was rumoured to be a bolt of lightning at the edge of Mount Aria, which connected through an eagle and onto a traveller who tried to cross through. Other stories involved demons which had the power to put two and two together, and... one that I don't think deserves to be mentioned, but that's probably what happened.
They weren't a mystery either. The elders of Errarion had seen them, flying over the mountains, or scouting for food. They were friendly, had specific but understandable accents, and could be seen virtually anywhere in the Mainland. Over the years, however, it seemed as if they had disappeared without a trace.
"B-Back to the Demonear topic." Jyuzou's grip around his shoulder strap tightened. "Were you paying attention when the forger talked about magic?"
"Oh, yeah," Morio replied. "Mr Bancho has these spells he chants without using his Guardian Demon!"
"I've heard a thing at the bar as well." Jyuzou nodded. "Chyuuichi was genuinely devoted to the idea that his spells would help him gamble in the casinos..."
Morio chortled, snorting. "Good mindset, though!" he clapped. "When do we get ours?"
"No clue," he answered.
Morio stepped forward. "Welp! More fights mean a bigger chance for it to happen out of the blue,"
"R-Right," Jyuzou replied. "Demonears don't just learn from listening, so by that rule, I don't expect us to master anything by talking. You have to experience it firsthand."
"Same here." Morio scratched his elbow, grinning. "Ugh, but I'd love to know now! Magic and all those wizards sound so damn cool!"
"Patience is key."
"You tap your fingers against the pot to make the soup boil faster!" Morio pointed. "It doesn't work!"
"It does," he looked away. "Maybe."
"Whispering to flowers, drawing in the snow when waiting for someone. Petting the horse to make it go faster, even if it doesn't work..." Morio counted on his fingers, and Jyuzou kept glancing around, trying to make something out of the fog. "I bet you want to see what spells you can cast as soon as I do! Don't try and hide it!"
"M-Morio." Jyuzou turned. "Where did he go?"
"Who?"
"Daress." Jyuzou gulped. "I can't even see him through the mist."
Morio picked up the pace, stepping in front, glancing down to see if he had left any traces. Back in the Horhor Basin, some rocks were covered in what resembled dust, but there was nothing between the formations here that could disperse their suspicions.
"Daress!" he yelled out, as his voice echoed to nowhere. "Hello?! Daress!"
"Shin." Jyuzou covered his head with a book, and Morio suddenly darted ahead. "What the hell are you doing?!"
The white-haired morian glanced around, but nothing seemed to change. The clowinger was nowhere to be seen, and after a heavy breath, he rubbed his eyes and squinted, feeling something strange.
An ache came back, striking at his forehead, and his heart skipped a faster beat.
When he turned forward, the landscape seemed to shift.
Tall, brick towers, made out of a thin black material, ruins, formed into massive buildings, and shadows of people treading back and forth, striking the ground with tools that Morio didn't recognise. His eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised.
The structures soon turned taller. The sky seemed just a bit bleaker, and when Morio instinctively glanced at his own hands, they seemed to be moving in accordance with a consuming shadow, dissolving into a colourless version of what once was.
The shadows halted their movements.
Morio opened his mouth, shocked.
"J-Jyuzou! Daress! There's someone here!" he screamed out, and eight turned towards him, opening their white, glaring eyes.
They waited for what felt like an eternity. The towers seemed to only grow taller before crumbling when the first whisper sounded.
"What are you doing here?" one seemed to ask, without opening its mouth. "You said you were human."
"So what now?"
"What now?"
"What are you here for?"
"What do you want?"
"Why now?"
Morio stepped back, taking a heavy breath.
"Leave."
"There is no place for you."
"You're the strongest."
"Are we mistaken?"
"Are we-"
"J-JYUZOU! DARESS!" Morio pleaded, backing away, grabbing at his emblem. "JYUZOU!" he screamed, trying to run back, before stumbling into another figure.
The two morians crashed, and the book fell to the ground, landing right next to his friend.
"Morio?!" Jyuzou yelled. "What happened?"
"T-There were people here!" he pointed back, and yet...
Nothing was there.
He blinked, breathing out.
"I-I swear I just saw something in the mist...!" his voice echoed. "Buildings, humans, and they saw me too! They asked me what I was doing here, but then they-"
"You're pale," Jyuzou muttered, looking into his eyes.
"I'm s-serious, Jyuzou!" he turned, pushing his hands onto the other's shoulders. "They were right here, staring back at me!"
Morio's emblem dropped out from below his vest. Jyuzou turned to such as Morio quickly stuffed it back in, with his expression changing.
He brushed off some of the dust and dry grey dirt. His hand shook, and his eye twitched, ever so lightly.
"What on Errarion is up with that emblem you're wearing?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Ever since we stepped into this land, you've been acting stranger by the minute. Then, the emblem drops out."
Morio's grip hardened. "I was just holding onto it. What's wrong with that?"
"You answer me," Jyuzou uttered.
"It was a gift from Mama." his eyes were half-closed. "She'd never hurt me."
"I know, Morio." Jyuzou stepped to the side, glancing around. "I just don't get it, and I'm more scared with each minute that passes."
"I'm fine," he repeated. "I g-guess I just need to get some sleep," he shook his head, rubbing his forehead.
"Sleep?"
The white-haired stepped away, stuffing those thoughts in.
It felt real. It looked real, and the voices still echoed back into his mind, as if they lingered.
Yet, Morio glanced back, denying the possibility.
"It's not that emblem," he stated. "Everything that happened these past few days is getting into my head. Let's not turn this into an argument, okay? I'm sorry."
"N-No, it's my fault." Jyuzou breathed out, closing his eyes. "I should've never assumed that from the get-go. I swore I saw something in the mist, but it turned into a couple of rocks. It's this damn place!" he stomped. "We need to keep our wits together, and now that the scheming clowinger fled, we can't leave each other out," he tapped his shoulder.
Morio nodded, slowly peering down at a red flower, with its crimson crown turned towards his face. The mist grew thinner, revealing the rocky walls of the place they found themselves in.
"T-There's nothing here," Jyuzou admitted, sliding one hand into his pocket.
"So you were right. Let's head back." He turned on his heel and slowly headed up the incline before a strange noise permeated the area.
Something rolled beneath the ground.
"Did you hear that-" Jyuzou uttered, but before he could finish his words, a massive wave of rocks erupted from beneath the ground where the flower stood.
A black, void-like hand reached out towards the stem, revealing the second part of its body, made out of silver flesh, covered in specks of dried blood and ripped apart. It stood at two meters, and one of its eyes rolled down, immediately meeting the glassy-eyed morian, who bellowed in fear.
Morio subconsciously put his hand on his sheath, and the other morian tripped, falling headfirst, as the creature extended its thin, twig-like arm and wrapped its bony hand around Jyuzou's shin, dragging him around towards itself.
"MORIO!" he screamed, as Morio gripped Gloria with a weary breath, as the gleam in his eye shone off its sharp blade.
A small bolt of lightning pulsed. He furrowed his brows, gritted his trembling teeth and ran forward, yelling courageously.
The weapon snapped through, leaving a trail of lightning. He appeared to the demon's left, and it turned towards him, creating a different limb from the black void that held onto Morio's head, pushing him down.
Yet, he still held onto his weapon.
Jyuzou's body jolted upwards, with a leg sinking into the black void that was its stomach.
"MORIO!" he pleaded. "DO SOMETHING, PLEASE!"
The boy tried everything he could to strike, but was unsuccessful. Only when seeing Jyuzou's terrified face, he slammed the grip down, as it bounced off, barely cutting through the hand and letting him go. He almost tripped but insisted on saving the morian, blindly striking, and when the demon attacked, he ducked, with a black shadow following after.
Jyuzou's eyes traced Morio's movements. The morian yelled, before stabbing the demon's flesh, as blood came pouring onto his sword. It made a terrifying noise before Gloria moved inside the void. Morio's eyes shrank, and then it spat Jyuzou out, causing him to land on the ground with a loud thump.
The darkness materialised seven different hands, and all started heading towards Morio, who desperately tried fleeing in a matter of a few seconds. Four grabbed each of his limbs, and the other three, his mouth, stomach, and chest. He mumbled something before they threw him into the sky and extended into a massive lump carried by a tiny vessel.
Jyuzou's hand finally landed on his glasses, which earlier tumbled to the side. Bearing the pain, he stood up, fearing the beast which seemed to swallow Morio's energy each second that passed.
He breathed heavily, trying to hold back fearful tears that he was so scared of letting go.
He heard Morio's screams, even if they weren't there. The morian didn't budge. Staring right into death's eyes and the gaps of what consumed Morio, he didn't dare to move an inch.
It really was, in all accounts, terrifying.
Yet, Morio ran forward.
Morio didn't hesitate.
He closed his eyes, pacing back and forth, before finally reaching out towards the grip near his back.
Jyuzou dashed forward, hitting the demon's body with the sharp end. Quickly enough, he was sent flying backwards, rumbling a ditch in the ground. He grasped the spear's handle and instinctively began swinging the weapon back and forth.
The demon stepped back, trying to resist.
With raised brows, he put the Guardian Demon in both hands, creating a gust which, with its force, blew through the void, erasing it bit by bit. The demon yelled out as a weak hand grabbed Jyuzou's leg, yet something suddenly cut through the mass.
Morio soared through the air, crashing next to a rock, and the two immediately scoured to turn.
The demon fell on its back, and Gloria landed next to the morians.
The darkness spun like a tornado before shrinking into its body and exploding, creating a massive hole spouting great winds that cleared a good chunk of the surrounding fog.
Jyuzou breathed heavily, and Morio started moving, slowly peering up.
"It's..." Jyuzou wanted to say something, but couldn't catch his breath.
"Gone," Morio muttered, reaching out to his weapon. "It's gone."
The other morian held his hands together before slowly standing up.
"Daress was right." The white-haired coughed out. "The demons are dangerous, but we have to learn to fight them, Jyuzou." he clenched his fist as if declaring victory. "...and we stood back up again!"
Suddenly, footsteps rushed over, and Jyuzou's eyes darted towards the upper stones.
"DORIANS!" Daress screamed out, looking at the two in pure awe and joy.
His eyes gleamed, and his smile seemed wider than ever.
"Dorians! I'm so glad, uuh!" he jumped, rock by rock, before sprinting towards them. "I thought you got lost! I thought you were going to die! I thought I failed you, dorians!"
Morio slowly sighed in relief.
"Uuh." Daress covered his head. "I'm so glad, so glad!" he bowed, landing on his knees. "Glad, Daress is glad!"
"Stop lying, clowinger!" Jyuzou yelled out, putting his hand around Daress's neck.
"Ack!" Daress panicked, grabbing Jyuzou's forearm.
"J-Jyuzou?!" Morio yelled out.
"He left so that demon could kill us!" Jyuzou announced. "You wanted this to happen, didn't you?!"
"No, n-no!" Daress shook his head, huffing in exhaustion. "I lost you in the mist, dorians! If I found you earlier, uuh, I'd help you kill it! I'd help! Really! I'd try my best!" he insisted. "Even if I'm not an amazing Demonear like you, I'd try my best! I'd never lie, uuh!"
Jyuzou's grip tightened before Morio slapped his hand, and Daress tumbled to the shaky ground. As if terrified, he climbed to the side before cowering right behind Morio's figure.
"Huu, huu." Daress breathed out. "I wouldn't ever leave my friends to die! Never! Never, never!"
Jyuzou ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
"Please." Daress bowed again. "You're so strong, dorians! So strong!" he nodded, grabbing onto Morio's leg.
"He's plotting against us..!"
"Wouldn't we be dead if not for him leading us out of those damned mazes?" Morio furrowed his brows. "We're looking out for one another, remember?"
Jyuzou ground his teeth before angrily turning around. He closed his eyes, breathing out, and then glanced to his right, spotting that, where the demon met its demise, grew a grey flower, now withered.
As if relieved, he slid down the rocky wall. Landing on the ground, he pressed a wound near his chest.
"Dorian..." Daress slowly came closer. "I would never betray your trust. Uuh, a clowinger's words are worth a million Silver!"
"How would you prove that?" he stared at his backpack, which lay next to him.
The clowinger slowly inched closer, and Jyuzou moved back, covered in the grey dust. Daress put his hand on the morian's arm, raising it and revealing his bleeding elbow.
His sharp claw slowly reached into the open scar, and then, the blood flew back to the source in thin, veiny lines.
Jyuzou put his leg up. "How did you..."
The wound appeared to be healed, and his elbow was clean.
"We all have a bit of magic in us, dorian!" he smiled, before turning to Morio, who eyed Jyuzou, unsure. Yes, there were a hundred tales he had heard of when it came to hands being the only thing one would need to heal someone.
Wizens, for one, and then came the mystical, or magic, that was beyond the scope of his understanding. Even a lecture as reliable as the Paladin rarely ever touched upon those topics, and Daress's eyes only seemed to reflect his own curiosity.
Jyuzou moved his hand back, turning away from the clowinger.
"Dorians!" Daress slowly looked up. "Night is coming. We need to hide, hide," he muttered, moving toward the withered flower, pushing a thick boulder that covered an entrance to a small opening between the formations.
Morio helped the other morian stand up, and with a thicker push, the two turned towards the entrance.
All, before something strangely similar sounded. Their hearts dropped as a loud screech echoed, followed by a light breeze.
Spotting an ice wolf in the depths of Camp Forest during hunts prompted Bancho to tell everyone present to scour, as they tended to be aggressive towards humans if food was at play. Much like an animal, fighting for its rights, humans often fought back against what could be struck.
Yet, the two knew that what was to stand before them was much deadlier than one wolf, or even an army of demons.
"QUICK, DORIANS!" Daress uttered, as the two morians sprinted towards the hole, leaping in.
The clowinger quickly pushed the boulder, sloppily rolling it back, revealing a small hole from which the grey light shone. Morio moved back, and Daress turned to the two before all eyes focused.
The creature appeared, with a black mist crawling into its insides. It floated above, echoing strange noises. Morio saw its hand, as it shook back and forth, growing endless fingers, which, strangely enough, didn't try to reach for the three.
It stopped for a moment, trying to hear something out of the eerie silence of Morta.
Morio forced one lip against another, holding his breath. The creature slowly turned, leaving the area in the same way it appeared, without much of a warning.
The white-haired morian moved deeper into the cave, eyeing the clowinger, who covered his face with his hands, and then at Jyuzou, who fixed his glasses.
"S-Serpigo," the other morian muttered. "That's what they're called."
"W-What are they, dorian?" Daress asked.
"I don't know," he put his hand on his forehead. "The book I have with me didn't spare many details, except for what was written by the author on the side." Daress turned to him, and Jyuzou closed his eyes. "We've already seen it once."
Morio hesitantly nodded, gulping.
"The book?" Daress continued. "What book?"
"A-All about the creatures in Errarion." Jyuzou smiled, and Morio turned, sighing. "Are you familiar with what these are?"
"Yes! No." The clowinger nodded. "We have something that looks like this in our village!"
"Huh." Jyuzou sighed, brushing the sweat off his forehead, before Morio's head landed on his shoulder.
"All this chasing and beating around from one bush to the next made me hungry."
"Now of all places, Morio?" the other asked, with an unsure smirk.
"No, don't eat, dorian," Daress muttered. "There's no food on the way to my people! You need to save it for the morning! You'll be twice as hungry, uuh!"
"O-Okay." Morio turned, looking into the depths below, seeing a set of rocks which led down into a deeper part of the cave.
"Eat, Morio," Jyuzou muttered. "Hell if I wanna hear your stomach rumble all night."
"No, he's right." Morio slowly reached his leg out, and the clowinger followed. "We'll share in the morning."
The two found themselves in an open part of the cavern, with round and bumpy rocks but smooth and firm ground.
"We're almost out of the Harm Lands, dorians." Daress announced. "If we venture through the cave, we'll be out to the Yuman Swamps! Lead right through, might take us a day or two," he scratched his head. "But then, we'll be one step closer to my people!" he nodded, taking out a stick from his pocket, scratching one of his claws against a rock sticking out of the ground, as it caught flames.
Morio's eyes widened.
"Muna rocks! They can be lit on fire, uuh!" he informed, smiling, sticking his tongue out, as he started drawing something with the stick from earlier. "Here, look!"
Jyuzou put his backpack up and then jumped down, looking at the ground.
"This is the Horhor Basin, the place where we met!" he pointed left. "These are the Harm Lands; they stretch from the river to here, and these are the Yuman Swamps, which we'll take quite a while to tread through."
Morio sat up, taking out a piece of paper from his pocket and sketching the map. "...and where are we going?"
"Here!"
Morio looked down at his sketch, then his map of Shimori. "Mount Aria?"
"We live right below, mhm!" Daress nodded.
"Woah." Morio's eyes shone. "I always wanted to go there, reach its peak, well... this might be enough to quench some of my thirsts!"
"You can see Mount Aria not too far from here," Jyuzou added. "You sure you got this map right?"
"We're taking the safest route!" Daress replied.
"What about the rest of the road?" Jyuzou said. "It's unmarked."
"It depends on the weather, dorian," Daress replied. "It splits into two paths depending on how everything goes!"
Jyuzou nodded, closing one eye.
"Don't worry, friends! I'll lead you there without any more wounds!" he reassured.
The two glanced at each other, and then back at the clowinger.
"Oh, I get it, dorians! I keep saying friends, and I haven't even learned your names!" he nodded. "You are...!" he put his hand on Morio's shoulder.
"Morio!" he replied, excitedly.
"Morio, okay! And you...?"
"Jyuzou," he added.
"Morio, Jyuzou, okay!" he nodded. "Then, we're all set!" he chuckled, putting his hand over the fire, only letting it smoulder, barely lighting up the cave. "Sleep then, and I'll wake you when we're to set out, uuh, dorians! Be prepared for lots and lots of walking."
"Not a problem for us, right, Jyuzou?" Morio turned.
"Sure," Jyuzou responded, coldly.
"I know, dorians! You're great travellers, just like us!" Daress said, before lying down. "Tomorrow, I'll tell you all about it, now that we're, uuh, friends!"
Jyuzou eyed him unsurely, while Morio didn't seem bothered, soon climbing back up onto the rock and sleeping quite soundly. With a few more words from Daress, everything went silent, only to be broken by their occasional snores.
Meanwhile, the glassy-eyed morian had trouble falling asleep.
He gazed out from the crack in the boulder, spotting a reddish, dark sky and lumps of clouds forming above Morta. It seemed that the fog was gone, even if only temporarily. The one in his mind, as well as what piled over the Harm Lands.
He closed his eyes, eventually drifting off, later than the two.
***
At dawn, Morio felt his dry lips.
He reached out towards Jyuzou's backpack and searched in the pockets he knew so well, but couldn't find anything except for a few old crumbs, lying beneath other items that weren't edible.
He reached deeper, trying to find something to quench his thirst, even though deep inside he knew that the only thing Jyuzou had was an empty cup.
Still, he couldn't really believe there was no food to snack on, and his stomach soon responded with a thick ache after a rumble that woke Jyuzou up.
Out of the blue, the nearby wall fell apart, with Daress proudly standing next to the few rocks, and a distant light illuminated the morian's faces.
"Good morning, Morio! Slept well, uuh?" he asked, smiling.
"W-Where are our snacks?" he asked, and Jyuzou launched from above, rubbing his eyes.
"Told you there wasn't much," Jyuzou uttered.
"W-We're out of food." Morio's eyes shrank.
"This might be a problem, uuh." Daress scratched his head. "I know. If you kill another demon, maybe you could eat its meat?"
"Huh." Morio rubbed his chin.
"H-Have you gone mad?!" Jyuzou raised his voice.
"Okay, no, sorry!" Daress backed out and crouched. "When we get to our people, you can have all the food you could fit into your little stomachs, uuh, dorians!"
"His is definitely not little," Jyuzou said, and Morio elbow-punched him in the stomach.
"Quick, quick," Daress instructed, now turning to the light shining out of the cave. "A few steps to the swamps!"
The last of the Harm Lands were made out of empty, dark fields, sprinkled with silver rocks and seldom completed with small ponds or tiny lakes with shallow water. Sometimes, they'd step in, cleaning their cold feet or getting rid of the grime that stuck to their clothes. The further they went, however, the rockier did everything turn, cornered by mossy stones springing above whatever could hide inside the water.
After a few more hours, they made it, finding themselves in the vast area of the Yuman Swamps, which would seem a bit more friendly than the Harm Lands, if not for the mist that returned as suddenly as it disappeared. The waters felt sticky, yet as shallow as before, filled with small, dead bushes. Some had many twigs and branches, and others were taller, extending above the surface.
The grounds that surrounded the ponds were of a thick brown, made of lumps of dirt, ones that, when stepped on, essentially absorbed your legs, leaving them with some moss, so most of the time they travelled atop the waters. There were many trees, some had thick bark while others bore thin timber with many dark green leaves. Although nature was present, nothing they found was edible; some were instantly recognised by Jyuzou and deemed poisonous, so Daress didn't lie there.
There were sections where the area was made out of dry land with thin, naked branches sticking out of the ground, and a mist broken by the surrounding mountains that they weren't to venture into. One time, they encountered the skeleton of a large, dead demon, which led back into the watery parts and above some grass, which revealed more of the empty carcasses, rotting atop a darker background.
Some swamps were yellowish, with small stones sprinkled around what one would refer to as tiny shores, with dead and big trees atop the dirt hills. One thing, however, was always present. When land changed, rivers dried out, or twigs were carried by the wind, something always remained a staple.
Among the thousands of mountains growing in the distance, a wind howled, but only momentarily, and seemingly, out of reach.
It wasn't the demons or dangers which lurked around in the shadows, or the extending peaks, reaching out without an end.
It was the silence that struck the heart and caused people to go mad and slowly lose who they once were.
They hoped and prayed that when turning a corner, they'd find a human, an animal, something to eat or clean enough to drink.
When their fear reached its highest point, nothing answered.
***
Upon nightfall, the three hid in a small opening carved into a bigger rock. A few minutes passed, and heavy rain poured from the skies, with some of its drops falling into their small hideout. It didn't smell like a typical Herbes rain; it had no particular smell to it. The water felt empty, and even if Morio and Jyuzou gathered some in the cup, their thirst wasn't quite quenched.
Daress took out the muna rock he found in the Harm Lands cave and lit it up again. The surface was harsh, and they weren't planning on sleeping through the night just yet, so the clowinger started telling many tales of his race, especially focusing on the ones about morians.
Clowingers were once common inhabitants of Shimori, way before the Second War, when such wasn't considered part of Mainland Errarion, but land separated by its mountain passage. Often flying overhead and resting on the tallest of mountains, clowingers lived in the wild. Morians didn't mind them, as they brought no harm to their lands, homes or children. Daress even speculated that before their disappearance, there were more clowingers than paladians in Shimori now, according to what Morio said.
They often observed morians much more than they realised, keen on learning everything that made them different from the other races. Sometimes they'd seek traditions over in Mistwick, spurs in Magna, drinking parties in Wendigo, the howls of wind and the deer in Lot Thúrum, the fights above the rocks in the Lockum Mountains, the tigers of the White Mountains, the people living near the lake, essentially noting history as it happened, and explaining how customs came to be from the perspective of someone other than a morian.
Morio heard stories of how Shimori came to be thousands of times, yet was still interested in Daress' tales. In his words, morians came from travelling parties of paladians and erans who, during the First War, escaped into the inhabited, cold and frosty lands of Shimori, starting a civilisation which evolved according to the different climate.
Jyuzou threw in his three silver, mentioning that traces of the first morians can be attributed to as long as 900 years before the First War and that humans once lived in Shimori. None of them were old enough to know the truth, and even Jyuzou didn't feel like trying to prove his words.
Back to clowingers, their absence was noted on the first of Dear, two years after the second war. It seemed that with each day, clowingers moved into other lands, as if they were tempted by something there.
Daress wasn't too sure, however. He claimed that he lived in Morta but came from elsewhere and learned these stories from his people back home. Jyuzou asked Daress about the term dorians, and the clowinger, quite surprised, explained that the teeth of his people weren't as human-like to pronounce certain letters, opting for different ones. Although he had no speech impediment, the term stayed, and Daress promised to try and correct his words.
Then, Morio asked about Morta as a whole, which, to his surprise, Daress practically had no word about, even though he seemed quite knowledgeable about the things happening around them. He mentioned a place called Asno, one he wasn't sure if he had seen in his dream or was a vivid reimaging of something once lost.
He talked of beautiful, pink Gorro flowers, endless streams, two cities made out of different materials, towering over the mountains, libraries filled with books, olive trees that grew above the tallest of masonry and ripe fruits that even Jyuzou hasn't heard of. He mentioned many farmlands, with bountiful wheat, turned into soft bread or little gorges and bigger forests, with lakes and ponds.
Hearing those words, Morio dreamed of being taken to that mysterious Asno. He thought of Shimori in Herbes, with its purple shades, long trees and springing nature, bunnies running around the tall grass, first reaps of the soil in Lapida, the forest he and Jyuzou crossed, calling back to how they wanted to name it.
Then, he thought of his Mama.
He wanted to go back home but was scared to admit it. He didn't want to stay in these grey and desolate lands, which seemed to be only remnants of stories passed from one clowinger to another.
Before heading to sleep, Jyuzou finally remembered something he ought to have done the first time he saw Daress.
He took out the book from the Wendigo library, searching through its contents and stumbling upon the word clowinger.
He started flipping to page 272.
To his surprise, the book completely skipped over such, as if they were never there in the first place. He went back, making sure this wasn't some mistake, but alas, it wasn't there.
He turned back to the chapter closest, spotting the remains of what once held the page as if someone had ripped out the paper
He traced its uneven marks with his finger and then stared at the sleeping Daress, furrowing his brows.