Moren awoke with a start. The ground was hard and cold and . . . glowing? His eyes struggled for a moment. He had been making his way down a warm, Esaer path in the woods with an old friend and a new friend and then. . . this? Had he fallen? Where. . .
The Dhomharan took a deep breath and opened his eyes, forcing himself to take in his surroundings. Very quickly he became aware that something had happened, but he wasn't sure what exactly it had been. Rising carefully to his feet, he saw a crowd of Spiritfolk. The Talohm, was what they were called, and he had only ever seen a handful in his entire life. They served the lands and aided in the passing of the dead to the realm beyond, this much he knew, but beyond it, nothing. This place, he realized, must have been their great city. He had never even glimpsed at it from a distance, but he had heard stories. Nobody had ever entered into it. They simply walked towards it and after a certain point, it stopped getting nearer. A person could walk for a thousand days and never get closer to the city after that point. Some said it was haunted with darkness, others laughed at such a belief, insisting it was simply the home of the Talohm and nothing to be feared. Moren wasn't sure what he believed but he was bothered by the suddenness by which he had arrived here. If he truly
was in Yvir'ilae. . . then he was far, far from home.
Looking around, he saw that Eruanna and Alavara were there too, along with several other strangers, all the races seemed to be present to some extent but it seemed the majority were Sylvuin. He was about to move closer to Alavara who had gotten to her feet, along with the rest of them, but then the crowd parted and let through a party of very unique and very strong-looking folk. These were Talohm for certain, but they were different. Stronger, perhaps, more vibrant and visible. While the rest of the race looked as if they would blow away in the wind and pass from existence at any moment, these few were. . . stable.
It was only a moment later when they received a strange and brief explanation of what was happening when one of the beings, a large, purple one, stepped forward and seemed to fade into an Almiun woman's body, disappearing entirely.
"
What is all this?" Moren asked quietly, looking around to see if anyone else was as concerned as he, and it seemed a good number of them were.
Suddenly, he noticed a tall being was stepping towards him, veiled in a shade of bright green. With each step nearer, the being grew shorter and shorter until he was precisely the height of Moren. Moren only assumed it was a he, but he wasn't positive. Looking closer at the being, he saw that the wisps of green essence were curling out into vines and leaves, just faint and small shapes forming at the edges of the being's hair and on the fringes of it's robes. "
I should think you owe us a fair better explanation for all of this. You can't just take people. It isn't right of you."
~We did not choose this. Fate has decided what will be, Fate has delivered you here. We are only strokes in a masterpiece that has grown thick with darkness. Alauum is missing. You have been chosen as bringer of the Great Balance. I have been chosen as your guide, your companion, and your strength.~
The being was definitely male, but Moren was no more comfortable with what he had just been told than he had been before he had been told it. "
So, you'll just. . . step inside of me? Fuse with my soul? And I'll go on my merry way?"
~There is more on your path than you can know, but yes. One step at a time is all that is required. You cannot understand now, but there is darkness creeping through the heart of this land. It lurks and waits and now it has been given a chance to rise. Alauum alone can allow us victory. Without its Authority, Balance will fall away and Endurn will fall with it. Rest your heart knowing that you were born a part of something bigger than yourself alone. Welcome me, for I will guide you. Welcome me, for I am your strength: you need only to see it in time.~
Moren sighed. This was the making of an adventure, the likes of which he could not have dreamed of nor he would ever have wished to dream of. Suddenly, he missed his dear cottage and longed for the brumbling of his companion, Grimsfeldt. The being stepped forward and Moren tried his best to stand his ground, to not flinch back in fear. When the essence of the being drew near enough, they began to creep out to him, like vines seeking light, and when one met his flesh, the being released itself from the physical world and fell into Moren's soul.
He felt it then. It was within him and it was as if it had filled a void he didn't know he had. He felt full, strong, complete. For a moment, his eyes flashed green, and the voice of the Talohm entered into his mind.
~Your friend. I have reached out to him and he knows you have not left him alone, but left for a time only that you might return. He will wait for you at home. You have not abandoned him. He knows in his heart this is true.~
And then the voice faded away. Silence returned in his mind and Moren felt. . . normal. The unusual feelings, the foreign presence, it all. . . felt normal. He turned to Alavara, to Eruanna, and to the others. "
Well. . . I can at least say to you that it doesn't hurt."