A Day Later…
The sun hung low but seemed powerless against the black swamp. As Halcyon and Asher arrived at the edge swamp, where they saw the sunlight barely filtered through the towering trees, their bark charred and twisted like burnt flesh.
Around them, were weathered tents and small fortified strongholds stood guard over the swamp's border.
Now that they'd arrived, the group split Jackson wanted to explore deeper into the swamp alongside them. Normally, Halcyon preferred meeting new people first before venturing out, but not this time.
She forced a smile. Not with the relic so close, and something changed, how she explored with newly meet people.
Asher and Halcyon stopped before the Swamp Guard… a warrior radiating a powerful energy, he would be a formidable warriors against the Silver Bandits, but not against Asher.
Either way, no payment was needed to enter. Instead, the guard tested their strength by sensing their energy, using a pendulum.
Halcyon passed easily, but Asher clenched his fist, behind his back, as the guard suspiciously eyed him down, before nodding and stepping aside.
I'm sure he wouldn't have let me through… probably thought I came here to die. Maybe even to end it myself. Just another lost soul drawn in by the Dreadmoor's whispers. That's how it feeds, on guilt, shame, and broken oaths. Maybe he sensed mine.
He remembered growing up weak always being looked down, that he finally trained by Lucian threw blood, sweat and tear because his weakness… But he left that life behind, he's doing everything to got forward even when for what he wants from Lucian.
He had stood behind a old wooden window, looking outside at multiple children pulling among each other sword fighting.
"Kit… Why don't you go play with the boy's."
He heard a soft female voice behind him, he ignored it and kept his eyes locked on the kids… His heart tightened in ache.
Nonetheless, as he stepped into the swamp, his eyes caught a graffiti etched on the base of a nearby watchtower?
"WE LEFT OUR DEAD! NOW THEY CALL US HOME."
None of them had ever set foot here before, but the swamp's dark reputation was known well… Heard whispered of it's legends, a place cursed and feared.
The Black Swamp is one of seven Forbidden Biomes, each twisted by a failed experiment of the First Magisters.
Not as bad as the Glass Wastes, but close.
"For the most dangerous location on dreadmoor, packed with vile fiends, it doesn't seem very safe having these people coming and going," Asher muttered.
Halcyon scanned their surroundings. "I suppose it's become a pilgrimage site for the desperate… mages, truthseekers, mad prophets," she said softly, her gaze dropping before narrowing at Asher. "To the depths of this place, seeking ancient power… knowledge… or redemption."
They went fell silent, before pushing forward further into the Black Swamp.
The land stretched endlessly… covered by the slick ground of rotting muck and cracked stone veined with dark purple faint pulsing luminescence. Towering trees, twisting unnaturally skyward, roots writhing across the land like serpents hungry for blood.
Both their nose flared, as pools of tar-like water covered the terrain, some bubbling with ghostly blue flames. The air was thick and poisonous, black with a corrosive miasma that drained a mage's energy over time… turning their own power against them if not constantly purified.
Asher even spotted a half-submerged corpse fused with roots. Its face twisted in agony, eyes still open… but the bark had grown over its lips.
Beside all this, there were warnings they noticed… no birds, no wind only oppressive silence, occasionally shattered by distant, unnatural howls.
Asher mind raced with possibilities.
We've got some time before the relic shows itself. It might be here, sure… but we'll need to study the swamp's layout first. Even with the Bloodlink Compass, we can't rush this.
As they passed between some gnarled trees in a narrow swamp alley, Asher's gaze caught a weathered poster?
THE ROOTBOUND ARE REAL!
If you see one, do not approach.
Burn the corpse.
Do not bury it.
Do not weep for it.
They are not who they were.
"Silverroot sprigs! Grown near the Lantern Line! Keeps the swamp from crawling in your bones! One pinch a day keeps the Black Cicada away!"
Before they could think about the warning… Asher glanced at Halcyon, who was already staring at a female vendor's table.
Halcyon no longer seems frustrated, even after seeing how close we are to the relic. Maybe she's thinking of using some of these herbs to craft a new concoction… something to help her figure things out.
He waved his hand in front of her face."Why don't you grab some herbs? You never know… we might need them."
Halcyon didn't answer. She dashed forward and bought the Black Cicada herb, but also began picking up a wide assortment of other strange plants and ingredients.
She had learned the gentle art of healing from her mother at a young age, slowly mastering it herself… helping Lucian and Lazarus when they were hurt… until everything changed one day.
Remembering her. Young Halcyon was a fresh garden filed with multiple types of herbs, as she picked them.
"Mom. What the point of these ugly one?"
"Halley. Remember making herbs, even the ugliest plants have a reason."
As Halcyon continued gathering herbs for the swamp's vendors, she discovered ingredients she'd never seen before… potential new experiments waiting to be made.
Another vendor sudden pulled her and leaned in, whispering, 'My sister turned Rootbound after she lost her son here. Now she watches me from the trees.'
Suddenly, a sharp "Ka!" echoed nearby.
Asher snapped his head up, as heavy footsteps slapped against the mud. Upon seeing the sound source, it was the Elite Swamp Wardens approaching.
They rode monstrous jarkath fiends… four-legged beasts with elongated skeletal limbs, their translucent skin revealing veins of burning red. Moss clung to muscle stretched tight over blackened bone. Their skull-like faces had long snouts and a row of glowing eyes climbing their necks like vertebrae.
Smoke coiled from their nostrils, their hooves scorched the ground, leaving behind sizzling trails in the wet mud. Six hooked tendrils protruded from their shoulders like living reins.
The wardens themselves wore layered green-gray armor adorned with bone charms and painted runes. Each bone charm worn by the Swamp Wardens represents a lost comrade, their names carved on the underside of each charm.
Their half-masks were carved from pale wood, designed to ward off spirits. Each held a forked polearm…
Do NOT enter Black Swamp during the Dusk Moon. Travelers have reported time loss, hallucinations, and possession.
By Order of the Heathage Empire Council.
The Wardens barked orders and warnings. Some pushed past the crowd, uncaring if their beasts knocked aside anyone too slow to move.
A warden knocked over a vendor's cart without apology. No one dared complain. "They're the law here. And the law doesn't kneel to beggars." Asher murmured.
He never trusted any Empire. Not after what they did to a friend. Not after how many friends he'd seen dragged away for "training" and never come back.
Back in their Empire, common folk were mixed. Some view it as a necessary shield against the wild world others whisper of conscription, disappearances, and unjust taxes.
"How many dangers does this place have?" Halcyon muttered. "That creature the royals seek to kill… it shouldn't even be possible for someone like me. But thanks to Lucian, to what he did to my body… maybe now, just maybe…"
He watched, the sunlight broke through the trees for a second… casting his shadow ahead.
Even with Lucian's gift… I still feel like I'm walking in someone else's shadow.
Later, as they searched for a place to rest, they came across an old man stumbling from the swamp. A withered traveler, his skin like wax, eyes filled with terror.
"Please… help me…"
Halcyon stepped forward instinctively. "What's wrong?" she asked.
However, Asher caught her arm.
"What are you doing?" she snapped. "Can't you see he's about to die?"
"Let him," Asher replied coldly. "We can't bring attention to ourselves." He glanced seeing, that crowds were approaching.
"I don't care about this attention," she hissed. "I will save him."
She knew the odds were slim, but the idea of standing by, doing nothing, felt like betrayal. Not just to him… but to herself
Still, she dropped to her knees beside the man, who had collapsed … muttering cryptic words. Her heart ached as she found… he was gone… His heart had stopped.
Still, as she reached out again, Asher yanked her to her feet.
"Look..."
Halcyon didn't want to. Her eyes stayed fixed on the man who had died in her arms. It wasn't until she turned her head, reluctant, that she saw…
A figure in all black between a tree canopy, watched them.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced, that made her cold and unshakable.
"Can we go now?" Asher asked.
He been accustomed to all knew places bringing attention to himself. It just seemed like this was deliberate. And he wasn't alone where he won't have cared, just that Halcyon here her safety was top priority.
"…Hmm."