Taking over the Abyss

61- Too much sand - 7.8/10

Marianne let out a near deafening roar as she took off sprinting, allowing the entirety of Teyvat to hear the return of the Vishaps. Powerful limbs thrust forward as you gripped onto her scales to keep yourself from flying off, Leiptr behind you letting out a sharp gasp before doing the same. You squinted as you felt some sand in the wind whip against your face. Of all the times you could've used a shield...

Leaping over a small ledge with draconic grace, Marianne landed in the sand hard enough to kick up a small cloud of dust. With a snort, the Vishap leaned back on her hind legs, before unleashing a beam of Hydro energy to clear a hole through the sand cloud she'd kicked up. With another roar of victory, she took off sprinting again, exhilarated to be back on the surface.

You were sincerely hoping there was nobody around, not wanting to terrify them with a gigantic, extremely excited lizard, who were pretty sure was about to launch into a fit of zoomies. You decided to let it slide, holding on tighter to the Vishap and let her run wild. You'd get there... eventually. Leiptr grumbled behind you, prompting you to turn back to him.

"You can hold on to me, if you'd like," you offered, acknowledging that he had less room to grip onto Marianne, and lacked your dragon-gifted strength.

Leiptr paled slightly, "I- I could never dare to touch you in such a way, milady. What if I were to wrinkle your clothing?"

"More than the desert would?" You replied, eyebrows raised expectantly, "Besides, this isn't anything super fancy. Idunn and Ithunn would- ah, they wouldn't, actually, but... you get what I mean, right? I'm not wearing anything for official duty, so I don't mind. And I don't want you to go flying."

Leiptr hesitated before relenting, keeping one of his arms on Marianne's back with a white-knuckled grip, while the other struggled to settle around your waist in a way that he believed would cause the least damage. Marianne passed by the side of the mountain that had been obscuring most of area from your view, allowing you to see what exactly was the cause of these weird beige clouds.

You tensed at the sight of giant white spikes steadily leaking Abyss energy into the world, though the giant crater was what had truly captured your attention. Dark purple swirled ominously around the portal, darkening until you were gazing a pure black void. Marianne growled lowly at the sight, her joy forgotten as she slowed down, tail flicking from side-to-side viciously.

You would've asked what had happened here, but the answer was fairly obvious. If Khaenri'ah was truly beneath you- even just a fraction of it- then the sheer magnitude of the destruction laid out in front of you made sense. You felt your throat dry up- not from the dryness of the desert, but from the intensifying longing you felt spreading from your chest to your fingertips.

"Leiptr, you can feel that too, right?" You asked him, the eerie feeling making pins and needles shock through the tips of your fingers. Leiptr nodded silently behind you, then realized you couldn't see him.

"I do," he said after a moment, just as effected by the Abyss' calling as you were, though it lacked the biting command of obedience it usually demanded due to your spread Abyss Resistance, "Our home lies beneath our feet. It is only natural that there should be some sense of yearning."

You winced and shook your head to try and rid yourself of the feeling, phantom strings of Abyss energy poking at your mind, whispering to you the urge to obey, return, and serve your purpose. Your purpose? You shook your head to rid yourself of the phantom murmuring. It had no real effect besides being annoyed, but the fact that it was strong enough for you to hear the calling of the Abyss still worried you. Being here for too long probably wouldn't be good for you.

You gently tapped on Marianne, "Mary, could you speed up? The sooner we get away from here, the better."

She let out a rough chirp in response, going faster as you'd asked. The initial excitement of the surface and foreign sand had worn off, your Vishap more determined as she moved with purpose. You continued to stare at the crater of energy, able to pull your gaze away from it, but unwilling to.