The fog began to thin at last, but the night stretched on overhead as if Velura had no intention of letting the stars rest. Riley wasn't sure if this extended twilight was natural or just another paranormal behaviour. Either way, he preferred this slow, silent dark. At least the burning trees looked awesome under the night sky.
As the mist withdrew like a reluctant curtain, more of the forest revealed itself. A sea of trees cloaked in blue fire stood tall and motionless around him. The flames didn't crackle, didn't consume. They clung to bark like ghosts, radiating no heat—only an eerie light that blanketed the woods in a shimmering, sorrowful glow.
Riley slowed to take it in. Magical didn't cover it. This place was achingly beautiful—and it made him feel more lost than ever.
But beauty didn't mean safety.
The fractures he could see due to the [Eyes of the Wisp] still filled his vision. And now, with the fog clearing, he could see them more clearly. Thin, spidery cracks that marred the world like broken glass suspended mid-shatter. Some glowed faintly, others hovered just above the ground or drifted lazily like strands of web in still air. It was as if they watched. Waited. Riley didn't know what for.
As he was about to get lost in his thoughts again, a flash of white flickered to his left.
He turned sharply as adrenaline pumped through his body, only to find himself staring at a myth come to life.
It stood in silence, grazing beneath a tree wreathed in blue fire. Its hide gleamed like polished marble, untouched by dirt or dust. A jagged horn extended from its brow, transitioning from pale antler at the base to obsidian at the tip—shaped like a sword carved by war. Its wings were tucked, still as statues, yet somehow threatening in their stillness.
A Pegasus.
Riley didn't dare approach. It was amazing to see, but he didn't want to get skewered by that metre-long horn.
He took a quiet step to the right, then another, moving away with careful reverence, hoping the creature would ignore him.
Static hummed in his ear before Proxy's voice returned, steady and cool.
"See that pond ahead? Skirt around it and keep going straight. You should see a settlement soon."
A settlement. Relief flickered in Riley's chest—but it was followed by something colder. Dread. Safety didn't exist in Velura, it seemed. And Proxy, as helpful as he was, always kept details about the direction of Riley's journey to himself. The man never shared his reasons. Only offering mild comfort. And Riley couldn't shake the feeling that he was being led, not helped.
But Proxy needed him. He could've left Riley to die a few times now, but he hadn't. That much was clear.
Riley circled the pond, struck by its beauty. The flame-lit trees surrounding it formed a flickering frame, casting a ghostly glow across the water. The surface was perfectly still—a mirror reflecting the stars above. It looked less like a pond and more like a portrait, painted by nature in fire and silence.
Eventually, as he continued walking in the direction Proxy suggested, the forest began to thin. And beyond it, rising out of its flame like a forgotten memory, was the settlement.
Or what was left of it.
The buildings looked carved from the same dark, almost charred wood as the burning trees. They slumped into each other, leaning like they were weary of standing. Doors hung half-open on broken hinges. Windows gaped like hollow eyes. There were no lights, sounds, or signs of life.
A blue system panel flickered to life in front of him:
[Quest Complete: Find a Settlement in Luraleth Wood]
[Reward: ??? Received]
[New Ability Gained: Echo System]
The land shares its memories in strange ways. Find the echoes left behind by a past long forgotten.
[New Quest: Find all Echoes in Velura — 0/11 Found]
Riley frowned. An echo system? What kind of reward was this? It sounded like this Will of the Wisp system was giving him a job.
Proxy spoke again, as if summoned by his thoughts. "You can head in now. It's safe. For the moment."
Safe. Right.
He stepped forward anyway.
The town didn't feel empty. It felt suspended—like someone had pressed pause. Dust lay thick on steps and stalls, yet nothing decayed. There was no rot, no vines reclaiming the wood, no animals nesting in corners. It was too quiet. It was not abandoned. It was deserted.
As he walked, glancing at what was left in the town, he noticed a thread of pale mist slipping from one of those strange cracks—a thin veil of light drifting like smoke. It slithered down the street, curling through broken doors and between shattered beams. Riley wasn't sure what it was, but decided to follow it.
As he did, more appeared. Wisps of spectral energy leaking from every fracture. Some thick, some delicate, but all flowing in the same direction. They led him through alleyways of half-collapsed homes, past broken carts and empty market stalls.
A wooden toy lay in the middle of a cobbled path—a child's bird, carved with care, but cracked down the middle. One wing had snapped clean off, and the other was smudged with ash. Riley knelt and picked it up, weighing it in his hand before placing it back gently.
Shutters creaked as he passed a narrow home. A series of faded charcoal sketches was pinned beneath a bent nail on its outer wall. Images of warped faces and hollowed out eyes, some of the drawings smiling eerily. A sight Riley hoped never to see again, as it reminded him of his earlier encounter with the Oculus.
Further down the street, he nearly tripped over a black mask half buried in the ground. It was made from the same wood as the rest of the town. A crack spread down from the eye to the bottom of the mask. Was someone wearing this? Were they trying to hide something? It made Riley wonder more about the circumstances of this town's abandoned state.
A gust of cold air tugged at a blackened shape caught on a jagged pole. Riley turned to see a burned flag, its colours long lost but a faded crest still visible beneath the soot. Some kind of symbol. Authority? Belief? It flapped once, then went still.
In the water of a nearby fountain, he spotted a small silver ring glinting in its moulding depths. Riley brushed it clean. It was delicate, likely worn by a woman or child, and engraved with a word in a language he didn't know.
His stomach turned. Something about this place didn't feel right.
He then put the ring in his pocket for safekeeping. Maybe he'd find answers the further in he went?
The veils converged ahead—dozens of them, weaving like dancers in mourning.
They led him to the center of the town.
A wide square opened up beneath the full moon's gaze. And in its middle: a fracture. Towering, jagged, and glowing with the same pale light as the veils. It reached upward like a wound torn into the sky.
Riley stepped closer.
The fracture pulsed—once, twice. It was like it was breathing.
His hand hovered just above it. Something in his chest ached. A pull. A need.
He touched it. And straight away, the blue panel appeared in front of his eyes.
[Echo Found]
[Echoes Remaining: 1/11]
Pain exploded through his body, like his blood had turned to fire. His knees buckled. The world blurred. It wasn't like falling—no, the world was rushing into him, collapsing into him.
The last thing he saw before everything went dark…
…was the fracture blooming open like an eye