War of Dawn

Chapter 26: The Wraith

Paula's tunnel goes on for a long way, deeper and deeper into the ground beneath Valarheim. There's no indication of depth, though they're going quite a few meters down its slope. Hilda could almost believe that they're going around in circles because the entire thing looks absolutely the same – featureless, gray stone floors and walls illuminated by the frequent glowing spheres of blue light, set about simple, cross-shaped brass candlesticks.

Paula seems certain of their destination, however, maintaining a steady pace as her steps echo through the passage. That being said, Hilda can see in her eyes, staring aimlessly into the dark path ahead, that she is still a bit conflicted about going against Eliza's will. In truth, Hilda isn't too sure herself but she'd rather go along than let Paula off on her own – plus, it's a good opportunity for her to get some answers.

With that in mind, she figures she ought to break the tense silence that fills this hall and try to get her friend's mind focused.

"Hey, wouldn't it be faster to use one of your portals?" Hilda asks.

Paula turns to face her, slightly startled as her mind's brought out of her own little world. "Y-yes, it would. But I'm not good enough to transport someone else with me and, moreover, the flow of Prana is distorted down there. It takes about ten minutes to get back to normal."

"Distorted how?"

"You'll see. But, in short, a dark portal spell uses Prana and the dark elemental to bend space and time and create a passage to a nearby-ish location. Distortions in the flow can hinder the spell, however, and—" Paula starts to explain but is soon interrupted by Hilda waving her hands around, distraught.

"Aah, no, that's too complicated for me. Forget I asked," she groans.

"Fair enough." Paula laughs. "But we'll be reaching the bottom soon – after that, we'll go find the Wraith."

"Hmhmm... Speaking of, how are we gonna do that? I reckon they aren't found by Scouts or folks outside your crew would know about them," Hilda asks, raising her eyebrows with curiosity.

"Indeed, they aren't." Paula nods. "Let me ask, do you remember how the Sight glyph works?"

Hilda answers almost immediately, that spell being pretty much second nature to her now. "Combs the flow of Prana around an area for anything that doesn't belong – undead and Valnr, yeah?"

"Their Prana doesn't belong because it is incompatible with our world's, yes. A Wraith is a far more extreme case: their Prana isn't just incompatible but outright hostile," Paula answers, her voice shifting to a very serious tone.

"Hostile?" Hilda asks, feeling a wee bit of worry crawling up the base of her neck.

Paula stops in her tracks, rubbing the bridge of her nose as if thinking of a way to describe color to a blind person. "It's... hard to explain. If, to the flow of Prana, a regular Valnr is like pollution on a river, a Wraith is like fire on skin; their Prana is harmful, cutting and bruising the flow just by being there. Those who are especially sensitive can feel that anomaly's bite."

"And that's you, Eliza and those three weirdos?"

"Lady Eliza." Paula wags her finger at Hilda. "But, yes, that's us. We've a higher sensibility than most and, thus, if a Wraith even starts crossing into our world – anywhere – we feel the hurting Prana. When that happens, we set out and intercept the fiend ASAP."

"Ah, so your group always gets to the things first and that's why nobody runs into them?" Hilda slowly nods in agreement, feeling some semblance of relief that she's not going to bump into one of the things when on patrol.