Tale of Eldramir

When Ezekiel woke up, he found himself slowly coming to consciousness in a much more natural manner than the previous times he’d fallen asleep over the past week or so. However, the moment he realized that he was awake, he shot forward, nearly slamming his head into the inside of the tree before Shine calmed him down. The fact that he’d been asleep for something like fourteen hours didn’t help.

After a brief panic, Ezekiel took a moment to calm himself as Shine explained what had happened. To say that Ezekiel was upset was an understatement. It was at this moment that he expressed more emotion than he had at any point since he’d entered the Cruor’s territory.

“Do you have any idea how much trouble we’ll be in if it turns out that they managed to find the dead beasts we’ve been leaving behind?” Ezekiel mentally shouted. “We can’t afford to keep still right now!”

“But you needed to rest! You were on the verge of collapsing, and if you get hurt now then there’s no guarantee that you’ll recover. There’s no Life Magic to heal you.” Shine cried back. “I was going to wake you the moment anything seemed to approach or get close to the first block we put on the hole. But nothing showed up, so I let you sleep for as long as you needed to.”

Ezekiel could tell that Shine was upset that he was mad at them for taking his health into account. Shine truly believed that they had done the right thing in allowing Ezekiel to get some much-needed rest. A part of him believed that Shine was right, but they were so deep in enemy territory right now, that Ezekiel was constantly worried that they were going to get caught.

For him, he’d merely die. Either by the claws and talons of the Cruor, or by the Forest Spirits Seed that was set to kill him if he absorbed any Ichor. But for Shine, they may very well not get the chance to die, and Ezekiel didn’t want to think about what the Cruor might do to them if they fell into the Cruor’s grasp.

“It worked out fine this time. But that doesn’t mean that it will in the future. Besides, we still need to find an encampment. Ideally, we’ll find their main base, but for now, anything will do.” Ezekiel said.

He figured that the main base would likely be at the furthest point from the border as possible, as it would allow the Deep and Winged Cruor to have a joint base of operations on the water. Unfortunately, with how big the island is, it was impossible for him and Shine to get there in under a month of travel. Most likely longer, given that he and Shine had to slow down in order to stay hidden.

Given they were just over a week into their journey, that meant that they weren’t getting there anytime soon. Ezekiel hoped to find a smaller encampment in order to maybe sneak in and find more information. The world had a unified language, so he figured he would be able to learn something that could help him.

Even if not, then planting some seeds in an encampment might at least make the Forest Spirit’s job easier when he would eventually activate the seeds. At the moment, the seeds were strewn about in relatively random locations that Ezekiel thought would make do as jumping points, like islands, that could act as safe zones for Spirits or Hunters to use in order to infiltrate the Cruor’s territory.

“Just, promise me you won’t do something like this again. At least not until after we manage to either find and infiltrate an encampment, or another week has passed.” Ezekiel said.

“... Fine. I promise I won’t.” Shine begrudgingly said.

“I’m just trying to keep us both safe. That’s impossible so long as we’re in the Cruor territory.” Ezekiel said. Shine did not reply, and he let out a frustrated sigh as he allowed himself to sink deeper into his mana.

Over the course of the time, he’d spent in the Cruor’s territory, he’d realized that if he passed out while his mana was suppressing his emotions, the feedback wasn’t bad enough to paralyze or make him sick when he woke up. It meant that he had nightmares and a restless sleep, but it allowed him to function during the day.

This time around it seemed like he was so exhausted that he slept through any restlessness. He figured his fairly good condition was either due to that or the fact that he was growing accustomed to the nature of their situation. He honestly didn’t know what a better option at this point was, as he knew that getting used to this situation had its own downsides.

Making his way out of their little tree hole, Ezekiel made sure to Shroud himself, but left his hands for now, so that he could cover up the hole as he left. There was no point in allowing others to see where he’d been without making them put in some effort, after all.

Then, he set out into the wild once again. Making his way further and further into the Cruor’s territory, and unknowingly straight towards a Cruor encampment.

Things had officially turned for the worse for Ezekiel, as he finally ran into his first patrol team of Winged Cruor. It was barely a couple of hours after he and Shine had set out from their temporary shelter that he noticed smokestacks rising in the distance. Knowing that such a thing was only caused by small scale fires, like campfires, Ezekiel headed in that direction. Within a few minutes of his detour, he found himself running into a team of three, Winged Cruor, all with prominent avian features.

He came to a stop roughly a hundred feet from them, making sure that he wasn’t upwind from them. Luckily, he had just finished resting not long ago, so his mana was still mostly full. So long as he didn’t enhance his physique, he would be able to hold his shroud for another forty minutes or so.

Seeing the Cruor confronting a pack of Umbral Beasts, Ezekiel was surprised to see that they didn’t finish off the pack. Just the most powerful members, and one or two of the weaker ones. Afterwards, the rest ran off, and the Cruor didn’t move to chase after them.

This made Ezekiel’s heart nearly stop. He realized that, not only would the corpses of the Umbral Beasts he left behind be a potential clue to his presence, but the sheer number would also stand out.

He hadn’t seen any other packs fighting with each other. But, given the way the Cruor were behaving, it might be that they left some alive to continue to reproduce. That, or maybe it for efficiency when it came to hunting for what they needed, and not wasting energy.

“We’ll have to make sure we don’t make that mistake again. If they run in the future, we leave the Umbral Beasts alone.” Ezekiel muttered.

“Okay... But what if they don’t leave you alone? They eat mana, don’t they? Why would they just leave?” Shine asked.

“Void Mana is different. Maybe the Umbral Beasts won’t look at me like a parched man in a desert looking for water. It’s not like we’ve bothered to risk testing it before.” Ezekiel replied. “Besides, weren’t there a few instances where we chased down some of the Umbral Beasts that attacked us, not wanting them to get away to bring back trouble?”

There had actually been several instances where Umbral Beasts had tried to run away from Ezekiel and Shine. But he hadn’t allowed them to get away since he believed that they would either return, or that they would draw trouble. Now he knew better.

“Regardless, let’s let this group be. Killing Umbral Beasts is troublesome enough. Killing these Cruor will be far more difficult and will raise an alarm with the encampment. We’ll go around. I can still see the smokestacks.” Ezekiel decided. “We’ll get a bit closer before taking another break. I’ll need to be at my best before I go into the camp.”

“So, it was a good thing I let you rest last night.” Shine sounded smug as they spoke.

“... Thank you.” Was all Ezekiel was willing to say. Too embarrassed to do more.

A feeling of forgiveness and warmth filled him as Shine didn’t say anything back, only sharing the feeling that they knew Ezekiel was truly sorry.

Neither one said a word as they watched the team of Cruor fly away with their quarry. The moment the Winged ones were out of sight, the pair moved forward, wanting to get closer to the camp, but also to find a shelter where they could rest again. Ezekiel would hopefully recover his mana within an hour. Then they would be able to make their attempt to infiltrate the Cruor and plant some of the Forest Spirit’s seeds. Hopefully without being noticed.

It took longer than he would’ve liked, but Ezekiel and Shine managed to find an area where they could safely regain as much of their mana as possible. Once Ezekiel was fully rested, they set off toward the area they knew the encampment was in. It took little over fifteen minutes to get there, but it seemed like, since they could fly, there were little to no ground patrols from the Cruor.

Above them, however, was a different story. As they had gotten much closer to the encampment, the number of flying Cruor had increased by a lot. Luckily, there was enough cover in certain areas so that it was possible for the pair to find their hiding spot. If not for his Shroud, however, it would’ve been impossible for Ezekiel to get as close as he had. To the point where he found himself outside the large wooden walls of the encampment itself without being seen.

“Are you sure that we can do this?” Shine asked with worry. “We don’t know what we’re going to see on the other side. Maybe we should just bury the seed in the ground right here. I don’t think that they’ll notice.”

Looking up at the walls of the Winged ones’ encampment, Ezekiel took a moment to think. Spotting several Cruor flying above them as they stayed on the lookout. Tall guard towers with posts jutting out to the side like telephone poles with branches for them to perch on.

All around them was nearly a hundred meters of flat land with little vegetation. No trees were nearby. Ezekiel thought that this was weird at first, given the Winged Cruor didn’t have anything to roost on. But then he realized that it was ultimately a smart decision, as it wouldn’t allow enemies, if any got this close, to peer into the camp from nearby trees due to the distance.

Not that Ezekiel had been able to do so. The tree line was littered with Cruor, and he’d had to hold his breath in several instances in order to keep his scent enshrouded.

“... Do you think they’ll notice a hole in the ground as we bury the seeds?” Ezekiel asked Shine. “If not, then fine, but if there’s even a chance, they notice the earth moving, then we need to go in, and find a place away from prying eyes. Preferably one with lots of cover.”

Shine remained silent. Ezekiel took a long slow breath and moved to jump over the wall.

“What about the little gopher holes?” Shine asked. Ezekiel paused mid crouch before he could jump. “Could we stick some of the seeds in there? They’re utterly hidden when it comes to their mana, so maybe they won’t get eaten?”

Ezekiel thought about it for a second.

“We’ll try it.” He said. Remembering that there was a gopher hole along his path to the wall, Ezekiel began to backtrack, finding it with relative ease roughly twenty feet away. “Watch my back and let me know if you sense anything coming up from the hole.”

Ezekiel placed Shine on the ground next to the hole. They immediately put up their own Shroud before Ezekiel let them go, feeling his intent as he got onto his knees. Looking into the hole, Ezekiel didn’t just drop the seeds. Instead, he held his breath, and using his fingers he slowly carved out another hole, this one a few inches below the top of the main hole and a few inches into the side.

He then placed one of the seeds he’d palmed before leaving their hideout into the newer, smaller, hole. Lifting some more dirt from within the hole, Ezekiel covered the seed and packed the dirt as best he could. Once it was in place, Ezekiel pulled away from the hole.

“Don't move!” Shine’s voice sounded panicked as it passed through Ezekiel’s head.

Ezekiel stopped. His breath still held, but his body was now incredibly tense. Glancing upwards, Ezekiel saw that there were a couple of Cruor gliding in his direction. He knew his Shroud was up, and he knew that Shine’s would last for a little while as well. But the moment it looked like they might be approaching him, Ezekiel internally swore that he’d make a break for it.

The two Cruor landed roughly ten feet in front of him. They were walking slowly towards him. Closer and closer they approached, but no threatening motions were made. As they continued forward, they walked right past Ezekiel, calling out to the guards watching from their roosts along the wall.

So focused on remaining hidden, Ezekiel barely listened to them when they mentioned how frustrating it is to have to land whenever they wanted to enter and leave the camp. As they got closer to the walls, a large gate was opened up to allow them entry. However, the words that Ezekiel heard as they entered drew his attention.

“I heard you lot were scouting for a human. How’d it go?” The guard opening the door asked. His voice was deep and gruff. “As if he wasn’t used to small talk.

“No luck. Honestly, I have to wonder if there even is a human in our territory. I know the Chief said there was, but I don’t think so. We’re too far from the border.” One of the Cruor that landed sounded frustrated. “Even if there was one, they’re likely out of our range at this point. Let the other camps find it.”

“That kind of talk will get you put on border defense. I heard the old Forest is acting recklessly lately.” The gruff guard said.

The scout just made a sound of derision and disinterest before pushing past and entering the camp. The guard took one last look around outside before reentering the camp, closing the large gate behind him.

Ezekiel didn’t take any chances. He slowly picked up Shine, before making his way to the tree line. Making sure to step on larger rocks and solid ground that wouldn’t give away his footprints. Even with his carefulness, he still didn’t let out his breath until he was well past the tree line, and nearly halfway back to his previous resting area.

Crawling into his little hole, Ezekiel took several deep breaths in order to calm down. Even with his current focus and state of mind, he nearly panicked just now.

“Ezekiel.” Shine quietly spoke up. “Those were Cruor, right?”

“You saw the feathers, the talons, and the beaks just as well as I did, didn’t you? I’d say yes, those were Cruor.” Ezekiel said. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just... those ones were different from the Rot you showed me your memories of. These ones... they almost seemed human.” Shine’s words came out as barely a whisper to Ezekiel’s mind. Yet they struck hard and deep as Ezekiel was forced to face a realization that he’d been trying to ignore.

“Yeah... Yeah, they did. But we can’t let that get to us. We need to do our job. Besides, just because they seemed like humans, doesn’t mean they won’t kill us if they find us. Besides, we’ve killed people before. Now is no different” Ezekiel said. “Just try not to think about it too much. Okay?”

“Okay.” Shine seemed conflicted with their reply.

The two fell into an uncomfortable silence as they rested for a little while longer. There was still plenty of time left in the day, and Ezekiel wanted to put some distance between the camp and himself. Even if he didn’t think he’d been caught, that didn’t mean he wanted to stick around for much longer.

Later the next morning, after Ezekiel managed to get another full night of sleep, he couldn’t help but feel a hint of regret. He’d intended to infiltrate the first Cruor encampment that he could find. Information regarding the other encampments was sorely lacking for him, so any help right now would greatly improve his chances of survival. Unfortunately, he now realized that his hopes were too high.

Now that he’d actually been right up at the gates of one of these encampments, he knew that actually getting in and out would be far more difficult than he’d expected. He now understood that getting seeds planted as close as possible was already a challenge. He needed to ensure that, if he was going to break into one of the Cruor’s bases, then it had to be a much bigger one.

Of course, this just made the task all the more daunting.

“Is it just me, or did it seem like it was easier to sleep last night than almost all the other previous nights?” Shine asked as they set out.

“It’s not just you. Now that we’re further in, and close to one of their camps, they need to make sure that the Umbral Beasts don’t get too rowdy. It’s just like us when it comes to Wild Spirits. Sometimes you need to clear the area.” Ezekiel explained. “That doesn’t mean we’re safe though.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” Shine said.

The two fell into a more comfortable silence than before as they continued onward. Ezekiel was once again using his mana to move faster. This time, Shine focused on holding up a Shroud for the beginning of the day. This would allow Ezekiel to get them further away more quickly as he expended more mana to enhance himself.

“Shine.” Ezekiel spoke. His voice was weary but determined. “The next encampment we come across; we need to make sure we actually go into it. We got lucky with this one, but we need to get more information. We can’t just keep doing what we’re doing. Not anymore.”

“Alright... I guess we were going to have to do that sooner or later, weren’t we?” Shine replied.

“Yeah... For now, let’s try to find a river or something. Maybe we can get some water that we can cleanse. Or stores aren’t running low, but still.” Ezekiel said. “A river might also lead us to another camp.”

“Right!” Shine replied.

As they continued moving forward, away from the camp, Ezekiel couldn’t help but muse to himself about how he seemed to be doing much better now that he’d actually seen his enemy. Looking back, his time in the wilderness was much worse than his brief proximity to the encampment. Even though he’d nearly been caught. It seemed the areas safe for the Cruor were, ironically, safer for him as well.

“When did you find this?” The Chief of the encampment Ezekiel had fled from asked as she looked over the remains of the shelter Ezekiel had made for himself.

The sky was essentially pitch black as the sun had set not long ago. A patrolling team noticed a pack of Umbral Beasts causing a fuss and moved to investigate, only to discover a large hole that had been partially uncovered. Usually this wouldn’t be anything to make note of. Beasts dug holes all the time.

However, this one had clean walls, carved from a blade, not a talon, and from what they could tell it was freshly made. Noticing these few signs, the patrol team had immediately sent word back to their base. At which point their Chief had set out to meet them.

“It was roughly an hour ago when we discovered it. But we expect that it can’t be more than a day old. Though we don’t believe whoever dug it will be coming back.” The scout who’d found Ezekiel’s dugout replied.

“What makes you say that?” The Chief asked.

“There’s nothing to return for. Clearly this was a temporary shelter, perhaps a spot to hide from beasts and rest. There’s nothing here that’s meant to be sustainable. Nor is there a reason to return now that it’s been uprooted. If the human that made this was smart, they’d move on as soon as possible, and get as far away from here as they could.” The scout explained.

“True enough.” The Chief said. “We need to change our search patterns. It seems like our prey didn’t pass through as I had thought they would. They must’ve stayed somewhere last night and moved through our territory today. Perhaps scouting out our base while they were here.”

The Chief paused, thinking over what her next actions would be. She wasn’t particularly happy with what she needed to do.

“Send scouts to the nearest rivers within our territory. As well as messengers to the surrounding camps. If the human’s this far into our lands, then they might be looking for water. As tainted as it is to them. That, or another encampment.” The Chief commanded.

“Yes, Chief!” The scout and other Cruor replied before taking flight. The Chief followed soon after, seeing no point in remaining where she was.

The area soon became flooded with Umbral Beasts trying to take control of the dugout Ezekiel had left behind. A safe space for whichever one could control it. All while its maker continued further and further away, unimpeded for now, and unaware of what was coming for him.

It had been another day since Ezekiel and Shine had left the immediate area surrounding the encampment where they had planted one of the Forest Spirit’s seeds. While it had been smooth sailing at first, as the land they were in didn’t have as many Umbral Beasts to fight, that soon changed in the morning after their first night away.

There were now just as many patrols watching them from above than there were in the heart of the encampment’s territory. It was also obvious that they were looking for something, as they seemed to be stopping to inspect different locations almost constantly.

“How did they figure out that we’re here?” Shine asked as they hid from another patrol. Ezekiel’s Shroud was still going strong, but they’d need to find another shelter to rest in, or else they’d soon be exposed.

“One of their patrols near the camp must’ve found our temporary dugout by chance. They’re probably on high alert now.” Ezekiel guessed. “If we can get far enough away, or last long enough without getting caught, then they may assume that we’re no longer in their search radius, and they’ll lower their guard a bit.”

“What about the plan to find a river?” Shine asked.

“We might have to scrap that, as they probably assumed that we would be looking for one. If we assume that they think we’re looking for their bases. Which, as an enemy force, would be the most likely targets.” Ezekiel explained.

The two continued moving forward, dodging patrols for several minutes as they looked for a natural shelter that they could use in order to rest. Coming across a crag that seemed to have been torn up unnaturally, Ezekiel dove in, landing with soft thud as he Shroud briefly flickered from the hard impact.

Looking around, Ezekiel saw that this area had some pretty good cover. It would hide them from the patrols from the air, but he knew that the Cruor would likely drop down to investigate. So, for now this was simply an area where he could move a bit faster, unimpeded.

As he let his Shroud flicker away, Ezekiel started darting between the shadows and the cover of the trees and rocks above him. Cautiously moving further and further into dangerous territory. All the while hunters circled overhead.