The Seventh Moon

Giant Serpent

As we're about to face a deadly war, I hope our faith can stand out really far… ~ Florence Joyce

xxxxxx

Everywhere around Risa was cloudy. Or covered in thick mist would be the better word. But... What was she doing here, anyway? Wasn't she supposed to be outside of the Master Mage's house, training?

'Oh, right. I was done training and was about to rush back to have something to eat.' So... how did she end up here?

And where in the world was she, anyway?

It looked as if someone had thrown a big black blanket over everything, which made it look even darker outside. And there didn't seem to be anyone around either. She tried looking for some familiar face, but couldn't find any. Just the fog and the quietness.

Risa did recall feeling extremely weak and her consciousness fading away before she knew it. It was the last thing that she remembered happening before finding herself surrounded with this mist.

But she was sure of one thing. There wasn't anything foreboding about the area. And yet, it wasn't enough for her not to feel anxious. Jehan would be worried if she didn't find a way to get back to the house.

If she'd be able to find her way back, that is.

Suddenly, she heard an unfamiliar voice calling out from somewhere in front of her.

"Risa?"

She whipped her head up so fast she almost got whiplash, only to see a silhouette of a woman wearing a long dress. And then it hit her.

It almost looked like the statue of the woman in her dream that was wearing a Chinese hanfu. The only difference this time was... the figure was moving. It was alive... and now, it was calling her.

"Hello? Who are you?"

She took another step forward, and stopped in her tracks. The fog was getting thicker, but that wasn't the scariest part about the situation.

The fog was moving towards her, slowly at first, then gaining speed until it engulfed her completely. As much as Risa wanted to move away from the dense, suffocating cloud, she just couldn't do it. The closer she came to it, the harder it was becoming to breathe. Her body wouldn't respond, wouldn't obey her.

The sound of footsteps grew louder, until suddenly... it stopped. The fog disappeared and Risa found herself standing in a large open field surrounded by tall grass and trees.

'Wait a minute...' She was standing on the hill that she'd usually stop by whenever she would gather herbs for Jehan. The hill where she could see Angarth Castle standing majestically. 'But what am I doing here?'

She continued to look around, and soon noticed that there was something different around her. The trees... were relatively smaller compared to what she would see in the Hareskoven Forest. And while she knew there were lots more than trees around her, they weren't as close together like they used to be.

As if her mind needed any further confirmation, she spotted a woman walking through the field ahead of her. She was dressed in a dark green cloak with a hood covering her head.

Risa frowned but made no further movement. For some reason, she couldn't think of what to do once she was able to approach the woman.

When the woman stopped in front of the base of a large tree, she turned around and Risa froze as she realized it was the same woman who appeared in the dream from earlier. Except instead of the Chinese clothes she wore when she saw her in the forest, she was wearing... well, not really any clothing. She was dressed in...