Beyond the Void

Chapter 22, Dust came to life

of Fleeting 669 - The Humans and Alyar have had brief encounters before, but we count this year as the beginning of relationships between the two entities. During the following forty years the number of Human kingdoms changes almost daily.

of Fleeting 709 - In the north, the kingdom of Iordur is founded.

An excerpt from the diary of Pia...

ANDREW

One moon and one ten since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

The gloom had left them alone. The group of eleven had only left the river twice to hunt and prepare food. They had slept in the boats and over the course of maybe fifteen and a couple of more days they were now approaching the point where they would have to leave the river and their boats behind.

Andrew and Becca constantly kept watch on their surroundings, but all was quiet. The mass of oil in the distance had pulled further away, and all that surrounded them were the animals.

Despite the terrifying presence the nightmare had brought with them, neither Becca nor Andrew could find out where those abominations had come from and where they had gone. Constant fear kept many of them awake at nights. They did not dare light torches, even in the middle of the night.

The exhaustion had returned in full force. They picked up the pace as much as they could, no longer allowing the river to carry them forward. They organised shifts and while some slept, the others rowed as best and fast as they could. There was one hope that they would outrun their pursuers.

If they were still pursuing them. The worst part was that there was no sign of the horrors from that night. That tangible terror was the only thing that kept them from discarding the events as a collective nightmare.

The river had taken a sudden turn to the west, now surrounded by deep, rocky cliffs. The map gave hope that the badlands surrounding them would force anyone travelling by land to take a roundabout way, while the river cut straight through the badlands. They needed to hurry, so that once they were forced to travel overland to the south, they would have a head start.

And maybe those things had left them alone by now? But there was still a lingering promise in the air. Like on that night, there were moments when the animals and birds were all quiet. Thick snow now covered the riverbanks and trees. The weather had improved a little, but winter had finally caught up with them.

"I said, why can't we stay on the river? Keep going west as far as we can? The route on the map can't be the best one!" Sarah shouted.

"Because the river doesn't keep going west!" Sten's angry voice made Andrew look at the people arguing in the second boat.

"It does! Right here, on the map, see, a line going west! What's the big deal?"

"Sarah, let him finish." Anna grabbed Sarah by the shoulder. Andrew turned his attention back to the river. The boats were closer together now as they had tied all three boats into a row.

Sten sighed loudly enough for Andrew to hear it. "Look here then! The deal is, the route on the map has been clearly mapped out! Everything beyond is a great mystery. All the little scribbles on the map have corresponded to points of interest, landmarks and terrain we have passed on our way south. We know exactly where we are. Do you want to go out there, trying our luck?"

"Things could have changed, Sten. It is reasonable to assume that those who came north came here a long time ago. Our powers, and the perfectly preserved chests and their contents. The boats!" Eric's voice trailed over from the third boat. "This world is different. The possibilities are much different."