Book 2 Chapter Fifty-Two: Fond'asal

FIFTY-TWO

It took them two hours to reach the Fond’asal Sanctuary. The dust leftover from the passing caravan had choked any attempt at speech and neither of them felt like talking. Roan and Taoya were covered from head to toe in wyvern guts that stunk something awful.

“Not what I expected.” Roan hadn’t known what he was expecting to see, but the massive ring of trees was not it. At first he thought he was hallucinating and fought the urge to wipe his eyes. Getting closer to it he saw it was real. The trees reached up to brush the sky, hundreds of feet tall and sixty feet thick. Their bark glowed white, pulsing together in a synchronized beat.

“It’s getting cooler!” Taoya yelled, not pulling his scarf away from his mouth. The dust was settling around here, the dry dirt starting to show signs of life. Dark streaks of rich solid started out, tendrils growing into the Deadlands. Taoya was right, a cool breeze blew from the sanctuary, carrying with it the scent of water.

“It’s an oasis,” Roan said, figuring it out quickly. Taoya nodded and they slowed down on their approach to the outer ring of trees.

“Look up at the branches,” Taoya said, pointing toward a tree’s distant top. Along the thick branches were dozens of dead Dreadhawks, hanging from their feet. Their bodies were mostly decomposed, but Roan saw bits of flesh falling off of them to be caught by the wind and whisked away.

“Well, they don’t seem to be fans of the corrupted,” Roan muttered. Around the edge of the forest, hidden in the massive shadows cast by the trees, he saw movement. Thin figures detached from the trees and came forward, holding long bows at the ready. Each of them were covered by a cloak that blended into their surroundings. At first they were green and shadowy, but when their boots hit the dry soil it became gray and brown.

“That’s cool. Guess that’s what that chameleon armor would have been like. Still prefer my heavy leathers,” Roan muttered. Maybe if he was a stealthy type the camouflage cloaks would have been better.

“Halt!” The sentry raised its arm, palm flat and directed at them. Roan stopped, not wanting to tempt a bunch of archers while there was nowhere for him to hide.

Four of the sentries spread out in an arc, their bows partially drawn but aimed at the ground. The moment stretched out, Roan wondering what it was they were waiting for. Finally, right before his patience ran out, a fifth figure broke cover.

“This getting culty, or is it just me?” Taoya asked. Roan grunted but didn’t disagree with him. The fifth figure was barefoot with long brown hair that fell to brush against the dirt. Their skin glowed like that of the trees and antlers rose from their forehead, a massive rack that shone like starlight. It looked like a man, aside from the glowing skin and antlers, but there was something about it that felt off. It was sharper in a way than any human could be, leaner and foreign.

“Rest easy travelers, for you have reached the Sanctuary of Fond’asal.” Its voice was deep and masculine, a low soothing rumble that set Roan to ease. It wasn’t like Amir’s suggestion, an invasion of his mind. It was like a perfect day, the temperature just right and his stomach full, no worries on his mind.

“Fucking mental skills.” Roan forced himself alert and looked around to see if anyone was preparing to ambush them. Nothing stirred on the edges of the sanctuary and the skies were clear. It was a struggle to stay alert, but now that he was focused on it, he could keep himself on edge.

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“I merely need to ensure that you have not been corrupted. It is our one law,” the creature said. Before either Taoya or Roan could say anything, light burst from the antlers on the creature’s head.

“That is strange, there is a reverb between us,” the creature said, looking at Roan.

“Uhh, yeah. Strange. Can we go in?” Roan didn’t want to stand out here in the open anymore and the cover of the foliage was very appealing.

“Of course. Please partake in the comforts of our home,” the creature said, bowing at its waist and waving its hand toward the treeline. Roan started walking before it started to rise from the bow, pushing past the archers and booking it toward the trees.

“Did you feel the power of that skill? “Roan hissed at Taoya.

“Yeah. Made Amir look like a child.”

“Way stronger than any of the defensive mobs we saw last time,” Roan said. He risked a look over his shoulder at the figure and shuddered again. The archers' hooded faces followed after them, completely concealed in the cloaks.

“This storyline is off to a strange start. Ships on rails, weird antler men, glowing trees, and mutated birds. Honestly I think I prefer the undead,” Taoya said as they entered the embrace of the oasis. Instantly the temperature dropped and became much more manageable, the stifling heat held back but the rich vegetation.

They passed through the cool shadows of the trees and entered into paradise. Lush grass grew up to his shin, thick as a carpet with flowers blooming in a wide array of colors. Insects flew by, buzzing merrily through the sky, all the while the crash of water spilling across rocks created a pleasant background noise.

The oasis was built around a waterfall that seemed to simply emerge from the earth. Water came spilling out of the top and bubbled down to crash into a small lake that was at the center of the massive circular canyon. A green glow emanated from the pool, much brighter than any of the trees had, to the point it nearly hurt to look at.

“That remind you of anything?” Roan asked.

“The mushroom. It was a natural life treasure, right?”

“Yeah. Looks like something down at the bottom of that oasis is powering this thing,” Roan guessed.

“That makes the antler guy its guardian,” Taoya said. Together the two of them looked back the way they had come, but there was no sign of the antler man or his archers. Roan remembered the wealth they’d obtained from the last glowing mushroom, though he doubted this one would have another mana shard in it.

“Come on, the ships are over there,” Roan said, pointing to a line of ships docked near the pool. Together the two of them walked over to the ships, slowing as Roan realized it wasn’t their ships.

There was a slight difference to the build of these ones, they were thicker around and had a darker more polished wood to them. He went on alert, wondering if they were about to meet another hostile climber from a different instance. Climbers leaned around or chatted on the deck, looking over toward Roan and Taoya but not saying anything to them.

“There you two are!” Moira’s familiar voice rang out. Roan looked up to see the thick woman leaning against the rails of the closest ship. Her red hair was unbound and looked freshly washed, dangling in wet strands around her face.

“Darren with you?” Taoya called, bounding up and grabbing the rail with one hand to vault onto the deck.

“No, but I found Nikki,” Moira said with a grin. She winked at Roan who wondered who Nikki was. Amir had mentioned her before, but Roan didn’t know who or what she did. Taoya apparently did because he stiffened instantly and started to look around. He was too slow though.

“T!” A woman’s shrill voice screeched right before Taoay was sent flying off the ship.