They found a small alcove of rocks to rest in for the night. It was not great shelter, but it was better than laying on the open grass.
A dream came to them. This was not a memory- it was a projection, it seemed.
A being- no, a god- appeared to them. It was a woman in a leafy green dress.
“Ah,” she said. “My gambit worked. The human lives.” She paused for a brief moment. “The body lives, but the soul is dead. This is not a full human, but a husk. It is no matter- the soul is incidental to the properties of a human, and for the body to be revived is more than I hoped.”
“The God of Light’s legions have scoured the lands. Nearly all of the Hallowed Realms have fallen. My Aether Tree was first, and with humanity fallen, Mekalric was soon to follow. On land, in the air, even in the sea, none have been safe. The only ones left, besides the Heavens, are the Great Mountain and the Convergence, which are adjacent. You will have a role to play- but I cannot tell you now. A messenger will arrive when the time comes.”
She made one final pause. They could feel tiredness emanating from the goddess. Weakness, even, something she inherently should have lacked.
“I see that you plan on travelling to the realm of some of my subjects. I will inform them. It is the least I can do.”
They awoke in their makeshift shelter. They didn’t have any reason to stay, so they started their trek to the forest. It was not hard- they were well rested, and they had a little over a week’s worth of mana-rich water. They did understand that they should need to eat, but they felt no need at the moment, and felt well enough to just continue.
When they got to the forest, they arrived at a crossroads. It was in an elven language that they somehow understood. It read:
To the left goes friend, and to the right goes foe. Liars be damned.
Even without their memories of old, their head began to ache, as if traumatized by elven riddles. Oh well: they had to pick, anyways.
- Left
- Right