A Hand-Woven Universe 74 74. A Harsh Figure

Tobias patrolled through the night, being extremely careful with his movement and covering more ground than any of the others in the group. Although he yelled at the two acolytes, in truth the power of the shockwave was enough to stun even himself. He couldn't imagine anything that would cause such an explosion except the highest level of experts within the known world.

Maybe there was a hidden expert in the area that came into contact with the epoch tribe? Or some kind of natural phenomena? A meteor would do it, but meteors were so rare that they could basically be considered legends. There shouldn't be any kind of expert out here either. The more Tobias thought about it, the more it didn't make sense.

And then there was the necklace. Why did it suddenly switch from being sun-side to moon-side after the explosion. Tobias couldn't help but feel that there was more to this than he suspected.

The party traveled from sunrise. Sally walked at the lead and Tobias took up the flank. He carefully scanned the horizon, looking for the figures of any epoch Tribesman. Despite their city being built on an island almost 600 miles to the north, he didn't want to become too careless. Being caught in a surprise attack right now would be extremely unfortunate.

Sarah and Feylin too remained vigilant. Although Tobias would discover any other beings long before they could, they needed to be ready to act as soon as anything changed. Each one breathed long steady breaths – their hands hovering near their weapons at all times.

Raelith walked in silence, there was no tension in her movements or wariness in her steps. Her thoughts in this moment were back at the grand-temple, thinking about a human paladin she had begun courting in the city. Every once in a while, a smile would break out on her face as she thought about what she could bring back for him.

Suddenly Sally stopped walking. Soon everyone joined her, looking over her shoulder as she stared back and forth between her map and the land in front. Tobias narrowed his eyes in interest.

"I think… we have a problem." Sally's voice was commanding but unsure as it rang through the dry air. Her finger touched the edge of the landma.s.s etched into the map. The sound of a small bell rang out indicating their current position - showing them to be within a few hundred meters of the edge. Tobias frowned.

"According to the map, we are here." She said. "Not far from the edge…" Sarah and Feylin's eyes widened slightly, they looked from where her finger was on the map, to the land in front of them.

"I wasn't sure if it was an illusion or not at first, so I was waiting till we closed the distance. But now I am certain of it." She looked back at Tobias. "There's at least 30 miles of desolate land in front of us, not drawn on the map."

Sarah and Feylin didn't think much of it at first, for a map as large as that one to be off by a meager thirty miles shouldn't be uncommon. But when they thought of the value and rarity of the map, a doubt wormed into their mind. They shared a look.

"So, what does that mean?" Feylin asked, never having been one to shy away from questions.

"Well…" Sally started, but then she paused. "Well… I'm not entirely sure." Everyone frowned at her response, no one doubted her cartography skills, but for thirty miles of land to appear uncharted… it left them with an uncomfortable feeling like ants crawling across their spine. Sarah glanced back at the endless land they had already pa.s.sed, half expecting a tide of epoch tribesman to have appeared at their flank.

Tobias cleared his throat. "We will press forward then. That adds another two days' worth of travel into the mix… but it's not unreasonable. We will follow the pendant until we reach the true edge and then decide from there what to do." His voice left no room for questioning, and without further hesitation they began walking west again.

Only half an hour pa.s.sed before they reached the end of the map, standing right where it said the cliff should be. Tobias frowned but they pressed forward.

It wasn't until they crossed into the uncharted section of map that they realized something felt off. Tobias, Sally and Raelith all stopped simultaneously and began to look around. Sniffing the air, sticking out their tongues. Waving their finger in the breeze and tasting it. The acolytes looked on in confusion.

"It's a barrier." Rae said, a light smile on her lips. Her eyes sparked in interest.

"Well, it was a barrier," Sally mumbled, finger on tongue.

"Mm." Tobias. "Well that explains what the explosion was."

Sarah and Feylin couldn't help but begin to mimic the actions of their seniors. It was extremely subtle, but the scent of metal could be smelt, and even tasted to a degree. They looked at each other in shock, what a weird feeling.
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"It must have been ancient, maybe it was done by the epoch tribe?" Raelith said, looking around curiously.

"And powerful. Incredibly powerful. When this came down recently - presumably last night - for a barrier to create such a powerful explosion and be able to avoid the eyes of whoever created this map. It can't be underestimated…" Sally's voice trailed off. Tobias grunted in response, he was deep in thought. It worried him that the barrier, as strong as it must have been, came down right when they were going to reach it. He couldn't even imagine how ancient it must have been.

Tobias took out the necklace and held it up, the pendant still s.h.i.+ned moon-side west. Now though, the light which had pointed at a sharp angle into the ground, had become slightly more level as though whatever it pointed to was rising. After a light sigh Tobias put the pendant back under his s.h.i.+rt and motioned for them to carry on.

They continued until the sun set. Setting camp within a secluded cave which formed from the stone around them. That night Tobias contacted the grand-priest, explaining the situation to him.

Normally, even though he was a grand-paladin, he would never be able to have such direct contact with the grand-priest at the head of their order. It was only because he was on a mission deemed important enough to require it that he gained the privilege.

When the grand-priest heard about the situation, he left for an hour, and upon his return told Tobias that he had the woman's rea.s.surance that they would be able to handle it. Tobias felt uneasy about it but chose to say nothing.

The woman of course was the individual who the grand-priest was doing this favor for.

The next day they continued their trek. Sally mentioned that she could tell they would reach the edge tomorrow before sunset, or by tomorrow morning if they wanted to rush it.

Tobias lifted up the pendant and frowned, the line was still slowly rising.

"Tomorrow." He said. "Tonight, we rest up well. I will take watch all night." Everyone looked at him confusion however no one said anything. Rae and Sally trusted the paladin with their lives, Feylin and Sarah had no reason to not trust in him.

That night the paladin mixed up a special tea to help the party rest into their full potential for the next day. The night was slow but uneventful. Everyone slept except for Tobias who patrolled the area, and continually used the pendant. They were closer to the cliff now, and he could visibly see the light pointing down ticking upwards.

Tobias couldn't shake the bad feeling he had. Before the sun rose, he took a chance to get his prayers in for the day, asking for the blessings of their G.o.ds to see them through safely and unharmed.

The next morning came with the harsh dry winds blowing at their backs. Sarah and Feylin woke up feeling sharper and more alert than they have ever felt. Their minds felt as though the world around them was slightly slower. They reacted to everything quicker, and all of their senses were more sensitive.

As they stood up to do their morning stretches, they felt a chill up their spine. Suddenly they both ducked. The wind swept an inch from their skulls. Behind them Tobias stood with his dual-war-axe brandished having just barely missed their necks. When Sarah and Feylin's minds finally caught up with their body, they stood in muted shock staring at Tobias.

"That's some good tea, huh?" Tobias smiled as though he hadn't nearly beheaded the two acolytes.

Both acolytes nodded dumbly.

After a few more minutes everyone was fully awake, and they began their final days walk towards the edge. The sun rose above the horizon at their backs casting deep shadows that seemed to stretch on forever.

They walked in muted tenseness, but as the day pa.s.sed and the sun went from being at its zenith, to approaching the western horizon, they knew it would only be a little longer until they reached the edge. From there, if there was nothing to be found, they would have no choice but to return empty handed. An excited energy was building in the group – finally, a journey which had taken some of them years would be reaching its conclusion.

Tobias at some point had begun walking while carrying the pendant. He didn't take his eyes off of it except to scan the surroundings.

The light had risen a lot in the last day, and it now was finally level with them on the plateau. Ever since rising though, it had not moved. It was directly to the west.

Tobias was unsure if this made him feel better or worse. Was the thing they were seeking stationary… or waiting.

The sun was now only an hour from dropping beneath the horizon and enveloping the world into darkness. Everyone in the party could now clearly see the edge of the plateau. It dropped off into a sheer cliff before becoming part of the eternal sea.

"Form up." Tobias took the initiative to group into a battle-ready formation. Whatever happened next, they needed to be ready. Tobias prayed they really were just going to collect whatever item the grand-priest wanted and then leave.

As the distance closed, Tobias stopped walking and stood 200 meters away from the edge of the cliff.

A chill suddenly pierced into Tobias spine unlike anything he had felt in a long time. All of his muscles locked up, his face twitched out of his control. A cold sweat appeared on his forehead as if from nowhere. It only lasted for a split second before a white light enveloped over his body breaking him from his shock. One of the holy spell slips which hung under his arm quietly disintegrated.

Everyone around him noticed this, and they tensed up. Sarah, Feylin, Sally and Rae all looked towards the edge where Tobias had locked his gaze. Sarah and Feylin had to squint, but they could barely make out the shape of a person. Sally and Rae had a better time of it, being more experienced and having higher magic prowess they reinforced their eyesight.

Suddenly a similar chill overcame them, they both were forced to grit their teeth. Something about what they saw made it feel like centipedes were crawling across their skin, biting their bodies. A s.h.i.+ver rocked through them.

Standing on the edge of the cliff, they saw the silhouette of a man. He stood with his back towards them, looking out over the horizon at the encroaching sunset