Atop the dead Mirewood tree. The rising sun casted a golden light over the crimson sea, which had now receded to its original level. Hera sat there silently, scouting the area, looking out for potential escape routes. Zavian was lying down, looking at the sky, trying to calm down the effect of the loads of information that was flooding his brain. Riven was sitting near the edge looking at Zavian with a remorseful expression. His usual charismatic energy had died, all that remained was deep exhaustion and guilt.
The silence was heavy with unspoken trauma. They all had survived, but the cost of the choices that they made had to be exacted. Riven finally gathered himself and broke the silence, his voice was quiet, raw and mundane, "I abandoned you."
"You fell down and Hera was unable to move. I could have dived to save you, I could have carried Hera and you too the top, I could have tried… But, the chances of saving you were zero. So, I made a choice. I chose to save her and left you to die."
Through his transformed vision, Zavian didn't only hear Riven's words. He could perceive the crushing and tumultuous state of Riven. He could feel the self-loathing and guilt radiating from him. He couldn't look Zavian in the eyes.
Riven was expecting anger, resentment and hatred from Zavian. But Zavian offered understanding and forgiveness. "You made the right choice." He said quietly in an even tone. "You saved the one you were certain you could save. You made sure that at least one of us survives. If the roles were reversed. I hope I would have been strong enough to do the same."
He placed his hand on Riven's shoulder and said, "Even when I was drowning, I knew that it wasn't a choice to abandon me. It was a choice to save someone."
Riven finally looked at Zavian with a mixture of shock, relief and awe.
Amidst his relief, Riven asked, "But how did you survive? You were to first one to undergo the tempering. You were not able to move, collect or direct the ether inside you."
Zavian briefly described his experience. He told about his singular drive to survive, to see his brother again, and the arrow moving on its own. He said he didn't understand it, but he knew that his strong will and his intent to survive saved him.
Hera listened to the entire conversation. She stood up, looked at Riven and Zavian and said in a hesitant and low tone, "Thank you."
There was a moment of silence that lingered amongst them. Then they discussed and shared their awakening experiences to better understand each other's skills and abilities. After their discussion, they realized that they were still not safe yet. They had to find a way to leave this island before nightfall.
Hera turned her focus to the crimson sea. Using her Umbrasil Drift, she observed the metaphysical threads that belonged to the sea. She identified an anomaly in the threads. She found out that a long, narrow stretch of water where these threads were unnaturally solid and straight as if forming a path on the water surface. This "specter's path" was hidden by a powerful illusion.
Zavian used his Cognivault and scanned the path that Hera discovered. He confirmed that there were no Velcryn creatures present on the path. The path itself was safe but there was a raw, predatory thirst emanating from the borders of the path that was deadly.
---
At the bottom of the deep, icy ravine, enclosed inside a cave, the members of squad alpha had successfully awakened. The wounds that they had suffered from the terrible fall and the fight with the horrendous monster inside cave were completely healed, but their minds were in array. The new sensory input was flooding their minds, making them unstable.
They noticed the changes in themselves and their teammates through their awakened Pulse. Sayan composed himself by isolating himself from the flood of sensory information emanating around him. He sat down straight and commanded, "We have to climb out before we starve, freeze or get found by the monstrous Juggernaut."
Kaelen and Elyria gestured in agreement. Both of them composed their minds and regained a stable state my meditating. The first step in exiting the ravine was to exit the cave. Closing off the cave was easy, because even if they were found out by nearby Velcryn creatures they would be sealed inside the cave. But now they had to exit without attracting attention to themselves.
Sayan used his Parallax Sight to study the arrangement and geometry of the rocks that sealed off the cave to effectively remove them without making too much noise. He found out the foundation of the rocks and removed selected rocks slowly and strategically in such a manner that a path to outside was formed without any ruckus. Sayan entered the path made amongst the fallen rocks and boulders.
They followed Sayan and the three of them exited the cave. Despite being morning, sunlight barely reached the bottom of the ravine. The team had planned to climb to the top to exit the ravine, but that was easier said than done. Even though they were newly awakened guardians, the climb in front of them was grueling. It was vertical, treacherous puzzle of rock, snow and biting wind.
As the leader, the responsibility of finding the most suitable path to climb up; fell on his shoulders. Despite being discombobulating, his Parallax Sight was his greatest weapon as of now. He tried filtering out the sensory intake and focus to figure out a safe path to climb, but the depth of the ravine was enormous and his brain and sight were flooded with grid of geometric patterns.
Sayan understood that with his current level of proficiency and control, he could only discern a safe path that was within ten meters of range at once. The ravine was around two hundred meters deep. To find the most efficient and secure path, he had to repeatedly execute his navigation process. This was a daunting task because it required high Ether expenditure and this much use of his Pulse would cause extreme mental strain and fatigue.
Due to their circumstances and limited Ether Pools Sayan concluded that it would take them at least two days to exit this ravine and reach to the top.
Sayan turned to his teammates and instructed, "To successfully and securely exit the ravine, it would probably require us two days. Elyria will watch out for danger and Kaelen you will be our anchor and guard the rear of the formation."
"We will move during the day and take reprieve near the ridges at night to avoid nocturnal Velcryn creatures." Sayan continued.
After Sayan briefed his team about the details, the squad began to move. As the navigator, Sayan focused and found the most stable handholds, safest ledges and the most efficient path up to the cliff, treating the path like a spatial equation.
Elyria's role was to identify unseen dangers. Using her Pulse, she could perceive the world in temperatures. She warned the team away from the cold spots on the rocks, patches of unstable and damp rocks or thin ice that could collapse under their weight. She also looked out for any foreign heat signatures of beings other than themselves.
Kaelen's role was the role of endurance. He tested ropes and provided stable base to climb. He was the foundation of the team as the one with most physical endurance and persistence. However, his mental state was in shambles. His Pulse flooded him with constant, agonizing echoes of the past agony that reverberated from the mountain. He had to function and protect his team while enduring this constant psychic torment.
After securely covering around fifty meters, it was almost evening. Elyria sensed a heat signature approaching them from the bottom top right. It was a long, serpentine form creeping up from beneath the surface. The creature's skin was not made up of flesh but with interlocking plates of black ice and frozen rock. The predator's head was a narrow, arrow-like shard that cracked open vertically, revealing two long, crystalline fangs dripping with dark venom.
Elyria alerted her teammates and they secured foothold on a short ridge immediately. The creature saw them move but didn't attack blindly. It slowly crept upwards and slithered in their direction from the top.
Sayan knew they had to strike first because if they gave the opportunity to attack first to the obsidian serpent, they would be in extreme danger due to terrain disadvantage. Sayan anchored himself firmly to his position using his mark and instructed Kaelen and Elyria to engage first, and stop the creature's advance; as he lacked the means to partake in a ranged battle.
Kaelen materialized his daggers and dark mist started diffusing upwards toward the serpent. The mist hindered the serpent senses and caused frenzy. Elyria used this opportunity to launch a frost blizzard using her sword Glacient Fang. Even in a frenzied state, the snake was terrifiengly agile and adept to the terrain and dodged most of the Ice shrapnel in the blizzard.
Kaelen's mark deepened with a dark glow and became obscured for a moment. A wave of stored anguish was released from his mark, immobilizing the serpent momentarily. At this moment, Elyria precisely used her ability to mobilize cold-based constructs to make the serpent lose its anchorage to the surface. Her mark shimmered with a layer of frost as the snow near the serpent repulsed the beast from its surface and the beast fell down. Sayan had calculated and devised the outcome of his teammate's actions. He had positioned himself accurately waiting for his opening to attack. A grim satisfaction flickered in Sayan's emerald eyes as he saw the serpent tumbling down from the ledge.
Kaelen had frenzied and disoriented the serpent; Elyria had removed the serpent's anchorage and forced it into a vulnerable falling state. The stage was set for Sayan and everyone had executed their parts thoroughly and now it was Sayan's turn to land the decisive blow. Sayan stood on the short ridge as an unshakable mountain. He was deeply anchored to his position by extreme gravitational stability making him resistant to displacement. The falling serpent bared his fangs as it fell towards him.
Sayan's gloves rippled with a silver-glow as he took his stance made the gloves heavy. Sayan read through the geometry in front of him, as Ether surged within his Azure Gloves and his entire body; he precisely punched the falling serpent avoiding its fangs. Paired with his robust anchoring and the supreme force generated by his punch, the impact of the punch caused the body of the serpent to shatter into numerous pieces when it connected to the falling serpent's body. In just a single attack Sayan had completely obliterated a Velcryn creature.
Surprised with his own strength, he stopped and looked at the remains of the creatures he defeated and froze for a moment before catching up to his teammates who were above him. They looked at Sayan with awe and emulation. No one said anything and they continued their advance towards the top.