Marrakt

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Callie was glad that she got an answer regarding the light, but she was a little annoyed that she didn't get an answer to her second question. However, the Will O' the Wisp did bring up more questions. How did Merrill know what this was? Why was he not afraid of it?

The questions were mounting and all of them seemed to have the same answer, which set Callie on edge. She didn't want to believe it, but the answer made sense. Still, she was not about to just leave on suspicion alone.

She followed him and his Will O' the Wisp down, following his footsteps and being careful of where she stepped. She stopped when Merrill did and she looked at the rectangular object when he picked it up. She didn't have an answer. She simply tilted her head in wonder. What was it used for? Then there was a square object that opened and had strange nodes and other features. Then there was a knife like object.

She didn't really know how to answer his comment about how he wished he knew more about them. She commented "It's too bad there doesn't seem to be a journal around..."

She then looked to the final door that Merrill gestured to, and she approached it. She watched as he listened before rapping on it. Then he tried to open it, but it didn't work. She raised an eyebrow when he said that he needed her help, and she became even more confused when he gave her the strange directions on how she could help.

She commented as she walked forwards, "I don't know how that's going to help, but ok..." She then placed her hand over his. Her hand was warm and she took a silent moment to try and think of a tune. Honestly, she also wondered how this was going to work. Chances are that the two of them are going to think of two different tunes...

But again, she said she would help. So she started humming to a tune that came to her mind just as he began to hum softly.

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

”Its called a Will O’the Wisp. Its a creature from the old world Callie. I have to be careful about who I show it to as anyone who did not understand magic would destroy it the moment they saw it, believing it to be a plague-bringer. We have travelled together for a couple of years now, and he has always lit my path in the darkness. In turn, I protect him from those who would do him harm.”

Merrill did not answer her other question as he carefully threaded his way down the metallic passageway, covering his nose and mouth with his hand from the smell of mildew that permeated the air here. He walked carefully, treading carefully over certain parts of the strange metallic chamber that seemed particularly rotted.

Finally, following their slow and painstaking progress, the two of them reached the bottom of the cabin. With a small smile, Merrill gestured for Callie to come over near to him. He showed her some strange looking items on the floor. Merrill picked up one, a strange rectangular object of a material and texture that he had never seen before. He bent it slightly, a look of curiosity forming on his face as he watched the light from the Will O’the Wisp dance and refract on its polished surface.

"What do you think this was used for?" he didn't really expect an answer to the question, but he whispered one anyway as he passed it over to Callie.

Then, he took a second object, his eyes lighting up in fascination as he opened what looked to be a corroded metal box. The hinges squeaked slightly, angry from the sudden, harsh movement, and he looked at the cracked glass within. Placing a hand on the surface, he touched it, tapping the glass several times before passing his fingers down on the square, rubbery shapes on the bottom slab. Placing pressure on them, he pushed them down gently before closing it down again. This too he placed gently next to Callie.

Finally, he took a plastic, knife shaped object, turning it around in his hands, marvelling at how feather-light it felt in his hands, if not particularly sturdy. He placed it gently on the floor, next to the other objects.

"What stories I bet these objects tell. I wish I knew more about them."

He gestured finally towards the door at the very end of the metallic corridor. Walking up to it, he turned his head and placed his ear to the door, almost as if listening for a sound.

Nothing.

Not that he expected to hear anything. Making a fist, Merrill rapped on the surface of the door lightly. It let off a hollow thunk, indicating that there was another chamber beyond it. Reaching out slowly, tentatively, he pushed the door handle down, trying to open it.

Nothing.

Stepping back, he surveyed the door, before looking to Callie.

"I cannot open it alone, but perhaps with your help....."

Placing his hand over the lock again, Merrill stood there with his back to her.

"I need you to trust me Callie. Place your hand over mine. Think of a tune in your head, and begin to hum to it. I will do the same, but I need you to join your voice with mine."

Closing his eyes, he began to hum softly. The globe of light hovered near him as he did so.

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Callie honestly couldn't tell if Merrill bought her excuse or not. She rubbed the back of her head when he said that she was stronger than she looked. She led the way in and Merrill had followed her in.

When he asked, she nodded and answered, somewhat jokingly to ease her own tension, "Sure...I mean, it's not like there's going to be treasure in here,"

After opening that door, she could feel it. The magic she worked so hard to suppress. There was now more of a chance that it will act and surge on its own in front of this guy now.

She watches as Merrill takes a step forward and she noticed how his expression turned grave when he turned to face her. She raised an eyebrow and she answered, "O...kay? I won't tell a soul," Even if she wasn't sure about Merrill, she was a woman of her word. She wasn't going to tell anyone.

She watched as he pulled out a small orb of light from his pocket and it came to life, rising and floating above his palm. It seemed to obey Merrill when he told the light to light their path. Callie looked back to Merrill after it moved ahead of them. Before she could answer his question, he had already started descending further down into the darkness.

Against every fiber of her being telling her to leave, she decided to follow him anyways. As she did, she asked "Hey, wait a minute! What is that light? And what do the secrets here have to do with what you wanted to show me?"

Callie was so confused. And she had a feeling that she won't get her answers until they found the secrets of this contraption.

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

”Yes. Yes I guess it did,” Merrill said with that strange, ghostlike smile. ”You’re stronger than you look Callie.”

Beyond the door, as he steps in, he can see nothing but dust, shadow and cobwebs. Looking to Callie, who stood just before him, he nods.

"Shall we uncover its secrets together?"

Merrill takes a step forward. The smell of rot and mildew hits him full on as he enters the compartment. Seeing the vague outlines of what appear to be small, rectangular inanimate objects on either side of him, with a small passageway down the middle, he suddenly stops. Turning to Callie, his expression is grave now.

"What you are about to see......nobody else can know. Just......trust me. Please?"

His eyes meet hers, pleading, and then he turns away from her.

Merrill reaches into his pocket. Bringing it back out, he holds out his hand to her, fist clenched.

He opens it slowly. In the palm of his hand, a small globe of light floats just above his fingers. With a wistful expression, he watches the light globe suddenly rise and float above the palm of his hand. Merrill closes his eyes.

"Light our path, little one." The light suddenly darts forward, bobbing and weaving, illuminating the compartment that they stood in.

On either side of them, what were once leather bound seats lay, rotted and torn. The smell of dampness and rot came from them. On the once-painted floor were dark splotches. Next to his foot, a spider the size of a coin scuttled past him, running back into the shadows that it had come out of. Smiling, Merrill takes a step forward, stepping down the angled passageway.

He takes a look back to Callie. "Well? Shall we see what secrets the bottom of this holds?"

Without waiting for a response, he takes a slow, cautious step downwards, hand reaching out to touch either side of the seats to steady himself.

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Callie was relieved to hear that he would accept the medical attention, and it didn't take long for Freya, Bruenor, and Guy to come back with the food, water, and supplies needed to tend to the man.

Other than that, the rest of the day seemed to progress normally, until the sundown. With the news that Merrill had been had walked out of the Antsy Anklebiter against Freya's wishes, she told the healer she would go get him, and headed off to meet him. Maybe she can convince him to come back to the Antsy Anklebiter after he's done showing her whatever it is he wants to show her...

It didn't take long for Callie to reach where Merrill was waiting for her. She noticed that he was staring off into the distance, and she couldn't help but wonder what he was looking at specifically. She raised an eyebrow when he told her to come with him, and she followed him. His limp did concern her. There was a reason why Freya wanted him to stay to rest after all...

He led her to a strange metallic ruin that stuck up from the ground. She didn't have answers for Merrill, so she could only answer him, "I don't know..."

She looked at the ruin, unaware of how he smiled when he looked at her. She then commented, "Well, the only way to figure out what stories it has to tell us is by looking inside..." She then looked around, and after brushing some of the vines away, she found a door.

She grabbed the hand, and tried to pull. Once...twice...it wouldn't budge. Setting her mind to the stubborn door, she tried to open the door for a third time. However, in the middle of her attempt, she realized that she felt magic course through her once more. But it wasn't a surge like before, it was more like...she was using magic to help her. And with that magic, she was able to pry the door open.

She looked back to Merrill, and she came up with an excuse quickly, "Rusty...I guess the metal finally gave in..."

She then clambered into the ruin to see what they could find.

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Merrill merely smiled in response. It was a very ghost-like expression he closes his eyes.

”You have a deal Callie.”

Nothing more than that was said as he settled back, laying his head down. Soon the healer, Freya returned, as did Bruenor with the food and water that had been heated.....

***

The sun was setting over Edhel, bathing the village within its hues of orange and purple. It was a beautiful cacophony of colours that marked the end of the day. As most of the villagers were retiring to their homes for the night, Merrill was doing just the opposite. It was against the wishes of the healer Freya that he had struggled out of bed despite his injuries.

He couldn’t stay here, that he knew. And, if his suspicions were true, he wasn’t leaving the village alone that night.

Arriving at the designated meeting spot just at the edge of the village, Merrill was sitting when she arrived. His eyes were staring off into the distance, fixated. It was as if he was looking at something that only he could see....

His eyes still staring off into the distance as she arrived, that ghost-like smile crossed his face once more.

”Come with me,” he simply said as he stood and began to walk.

It was an hour they walked, Merrill limping the entirety of the journey. As they did so, the sun continued to fall as the onset of night came, walking through the forest that surrounded the village first of all, before reaching green fields on the other side. Eventually they arrived at the object that had caught Merrill’s interest on the way in.

A large, metallic structure was "embedded" into the ground, its rear pointing upwards into the air. Walking over to it slowly, Merrill ran his hand over the painted white surface. It had been eaten away by rust, it's corroded surface rotted away, and various holes piercing it's metallic exoskeleton. It was not possible to see the interior of this object, suspended as it was high up into the air. Merrill circled the object slowly.

”What do you think it was? What it was used for? What stories could it tell us?” he asked, as much to himself as Callie.

”A remnant of a time long past.....” had he known the word or had any concept of what it was, he would have known that this thing, once, long ago, had been an aeroplane.

Looking back to Callie, he smiled that strange, ghostlike smile once more. Soon, he would know if she was the one he had come here to find....

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Callie nodded in thanks to his comment about her name. When he said that it wasn't his wounds and stated that it was just that he couldn't stay for long, she wanted to ask why.

When he mentioned that his wounds weren't that bad, Callie once again pointed out, "Not that bad?! You passed out when you got to Edhel! That says otherwise," Then he asked her to meet with him outside the village at sundown tonight.

A part of her felt like she should. But she had no reason! This seems weird, and she had a terrible feeling about it all. Against her better judgment and to satisfy her curiosity, she sighed, "Alright. But you still need to let the others heal you,"

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Merrill exhales softly. Closing his eyes for a moment, he lies there, not speaking. I wish I could say, he thought to himself. I would give anything.....anything in the world to be free off this burden, just for a few small minutes. To share this....with someone who understood. I would do anything for that.

Opening his eyes, he looks to her. Taking in her features, her hair, her eyes, he committed them to his memory. Inside he felt torn.

I have to ruin your life. I’m sorry.

How could he ever.....ever hope to explain that? Finally, he smiles.

”Callie,” he says softly, turning the name around in his mind. ”It is a strong name.”

Sighing again, he closes his eyes.

”No.....not my wounds. I cannot stay anywhere for too long. It is too dangerous. Not since.....”

His voice trails off and he says no more. How long had it been now? Three years since he had had any semblance of a home. It had not been long after he had been turned out that the shadows first started to chase him. Merrill had found to his cost that it was not possible for him to stay anywhere. No matter where he went or who he turned to, they would be dead soon after talking to him. At the start, he had believed himself bereft of hope or purpose, always doomed to flit from one place to another, journeying from village to village, never really belonging anywhere.

It was then that the visions had started. Strange visions that he could not quite explain. Visions of a young person, about his age. They were born with a great power inside of themselves, one that they did not know of. This person, they were fated to do battle with an ancient evil, long thought forgotten in the world. And so Merrill found a purpose. Going from place to place, always hiding, always fleeing from the dark shadows that chased him, always looking out for the one who was chosen with this power.

Now, after three years, he believed he had found her. But.......first he needed to be sure.

And I do not know yet which side she will stand on. Swallowing, he pushes the thought to one side. There would be time for that later.

”My wounds are not so bad,” his eyes continue to look to her as he speaks. ”Will you meet me outside the village at sundown tonight? Will you trust me?”

Looking to her intently, Merrill waits for her answer.

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Callie answered his request for her name, "My name is Callie,"

When he said that he needed to leave, Callie looked confused, and she answered his question, "No, I don't understand. Does this have something to do with your wounds?" She had a sinking feeling that she knew why, but she didn't want to believe it. It had to be something else. There had to be another reason why he looked like he had the world on his shoulders.

She then pointed out "Besides! How can you go anywhere? You're hurt and in need of healing!"

She blinked when he said that he didn't expect her to understand. She raised an eyebrow when he said that he needed to show her something, she asked confusedly, "O...kay? What is it you wanted to show me?"

The Genesis of Ansolera (Guardian Angel Haruki / Marrakt)

Merrill looked to her for a moment. He didn’t answer straight away, almost as if he was carefully weighing up his options and the pro’s and cons of giving her his name. In actuality, that was exactly what he was doing.

”Merrill,” he finally answered slowly, looking at her as if he had just given away a large part of his existence.

”And you are?” he asked in turn.

Once Callie had decided whether or not to give her his name, Merrill continued, signing softly.

”I cannot stay here, do you understand,” he said now, looking at her with a desperate look. For all of the world he did not look his young years at that point.....

.....he looked like he had seen terrible terrible things and had the world on his shoulders.

”I......I don’t expect you to understand, but I will need to leave soon. But first.....”

How can I possibly explain that I will not be the only one who leaves here?

Sighing again, he closed his eyes.

”.........first I will need to show you something.”

***

Far, far away, in a small, ice-encrusted grotto, something ancient stirred. From high above, the snow rained down from the heavens. Neverending swirls of snow blew all around in beautiful circular patterns. All around, as far as the eye could see, all there was was a neverending plateau of snow, and of ice. A white carpet that stretched across for an entire eternity. An all-encompassing winter wasteland. No explorers, no adventurers came here to this frozen paradise. To do so would have cost them their very lives. In the sky above, blackness ruled over the world below. This blackness was punctuated by small, individual twinkling stars.

This was a giant frozen, icy tomb. It was never daylight here, here in the furthest reaching, most extreme corner of the world. There was only ever night, eternal, everlasting darkness reigning supreme over the world and its cowering servants far below. The only creatures that roamed here were mindless, feral beings that existed only for the bloodlust that consumed them so. Yet these savage, primal creatures were not the worst things that roamed these savage wastes. Worse things dwelt here. Things that no sane, mortal being would ever want to lay eyes on.

Here, in this frozen world, there were deadly secrets that lay entombed under the sheets of ice that lay across its surface. It was here, in the icy grotto that something crawled into existence, wakened by events elsewhere. It was here, under the watchful gaze of the silver moon that an ancient, whispered sigh was heard by all who lived in this frozen world. Creature, spirit and all bowed their heads at its sound, offering their complete obeisance.

For their master had returned.

It was one such creature that stood in the center of this grotto. Leathery, gray wings were folded across its chest. Taloned hands jutted out underneath the leathery flaps of its skin. Red eyes glowed, reflecting off the moon's light. Around this creature, there was a slight movement. To those who were not sensitively attuned to the atmosphere around them, they would not have noticed anything. To those who were, they would have seen it. The shadows flitting around the creature grew darker and deeper. The already frigid air grew colder still. But most of all, the aura around the area carried with it a tinge of darkness and dread.

Faint whisps of shadow formed in front of the creature, becoming opaque before fading into insubstantiality. Fragments of nothing -- or perhaps something? Yet the winged creature bowed to one knee as the ghostly whispers of a voice echoed around it.

"Maleficence, first of mine and last to live, you were always my most loyal servant."

The creature's red eyes glowed ever brighter as it raised its head. "I serve, as always. What is your will?"

The shadows swirled. They were nowhere -- they were everywhere.

"It has begun. They have begun to tap into their power. They must fulfil their destinies. The dark dreamer has awakened."

An audible crack echoed around the clearing.

The winged figure stands. It snaps its head from side to side, watching the ghostly essence flicker in and out of existence around him. The voice echoes forth once more.

"Go to Edhel. Destroy it. Do this for me, Maleficence."

It bows his head.

"Your will be done."

Snapping its head upwards, it unfurls its wings. Gazing to the sky, it flies once more, heading southwards. The creatures of the arctic vale prostate themselves at its passing, paying homage to its magnificence.

It flies for blood.

It flies to kill.