Death of the Elements

CHAPTER 15

Sitting her doing nothing was driving her crazy. Mireen took a long breath to try to still her mind like Jazun had taught her but it didn't help. She stared down at the black smoke below them as it drifted slowly in the wind, blocking everything below them from sight. They were never going to find each other in this. As soon as Analie had noticed they had lost Bannon and Rizu she had ran back to find them leaving her alone with the Diaelee. Mireen had wanted to go and help but Analie had made her promise to stay hidden with Duatta until they returned. Duatta had begun climbing the closest tree without a word so Mireen followed her up. The young Diaelee had moved up the trunk of the tree effortlessly, her claws sinking into the soft tan bark. Mireen had never climbed a tree before but there were so many branches it was easy, albeit slow going. They were nearly thirty feet in the air when Mireen found herself sitting on the same branch at Duatta. The Diaelee was clinging to the tree under the leaves above.

"Why did we stop?" Mireen had asked her.

"Not safe at the top."

Mireen turned around carefully on the branch so she could look out to the edge of the fog below, the line discernible even at night. It was as if an invisible box held the smoke from spreading anywhere else, the top of which stopped about ten feet below her. Its sudden appearance had scared her at first but the realization of who was behind it made her grin. Jazun must have done this to cover their retreat. Mireen looked over to Duatta, who was perched just above her in the shadows, her gold eyes the only part of her still visible.

"I'm going down." Mireen whispered up.

"What? That blackness is down there! And she said to stay hidden until she comes back." Duatta replied back pleadingly.

"That was before! She won't be able to see us now. No one else will either so I'll be hidden. You stay up here and I'll go down and check."

Duatta told her to stay but Mireen wasn't going to listen. She was already climbing down the branches, finding this much harder than climbing up.

Mireen told herself not to be scared as her feet got closer and closer to the fog but her heart was pounding by the time she started to enter it. It ran over her legs as she swung down to a particularly wide branch, Mireen bracing for anything. She had expected it to feel at least colder or something but it was as if nothing had changed, except it was hard to see through. Mireen descended completely into the apparently harmless fog and found she was hardly able to see the next branch.

"This is crazy."

Mireen froze when she didn't hear her own words, repeating herself to the same effect. Apparently this fog did more than just limit her vision. She continued carefully downwards anyways until she recognized the rotting branch that she had grabbed onto first. Mireen hoped she was right, grabbing onto the dying tree limb and swinging down to the ground. She landed on her feet, smiling at her successful decent as she held her arms out to regain her balance.

Being out of the tree wasn't as helpful as Mireen would have hoped. She could only see the closest few trees before the fog took over, nearly walking right into a thorn bush before finally spotting it a few inches from her face. She stepped back against the tree she had came from, mentally confirming in her mind where it was. It was going to be hard to avoid getting lost in here. Mireen took a determined breath, her hand reaching inside of her worn orange cloak to the handle of her knife. She kept it there as she took a step further in. Her feet hardly left the ground as she shuffled forward, ready for anything to jump out. Despite her vigilance her heart leapt into her throat when a hand came out of the darkness.

Adrenaline and fear flooded her senses as she backed up, giving her just enough room for her to pull her weapon free. Mireen grabbed it tightly and stabbed forwards. A big armored arm followed the hand before a body came into focus through the heavy smog. It was a soldier, the huge muscled man running nearly full speed into the extended blade. His momentum carried him right into Mireen, knocking her off her feet. The narrow end of the dagger's handle rammed back painfully into the center of her chest as the soldier tumbled down on top of her. His weight took the air from her lungs, the man wheezing loudly as he pushed himself back, the dagger sticking in his sternum up to its hilt.