Tobi held a sickle, a nice tool he got from the angler; its sharp, hooked claw made a familiar weapon, which, swung with effort, made a suitable weapon. it was quite heavy but it would make do and that it did. Their hunt was successful but to call it that would be a lie; they found a pitiful creature, not an angler this time; it was a transparent fish that sadly must have swum down before planting on the floor, where it flopped on the ground before dying recently here. It did make good food for them; they made a small makeshift fire from the skeleton of the fish and talked.
"So you and Elentera got separated from the rest of your cohort?" Tobi asked.
"Yes. There had been a strange creature in the water; I cannot recall it clearly. But I do know Elentera saved me, and we ended up separated from the others," Alariel responded. She murmured sorrowfully under her breath, "Vaerion and Vaenera too..."
"You needn't worry. Elves tend to fare well," Tobi replied. "However, that creature you spoke of, was it like a shadow above the water, perhaps?"
She nodded slowly, curious as to how he knew of the shadow. He returned the nod, understandingly. Just as she was about to speak again, something appeared ahead of them: a glow, a faint, ethereal blue in the endless dark. Alariel instinctively reached for her bow but paused upon recognizing the moose but was curious about the figure beside it with the glossy armour.
"I-Is that a human?" she asked hesitantly.
Tobi shook his head, his gaze settling on the strange creature with a trace of nostalgia. it had an armour that covered his whole body from head to toe; you couldn't see a speck of skin only the streaks and markings intricately placed through the porcelain-white. It had been like marble; the cracks underneath held colours of red, blue, and green.
The creature looked in their direction, then acknowledged them.
"Cer oro?" it asked.
Alariel tilted her head in confusion, unfamiliar with the strange language. But Tobi responded almost instinctively.
"Veyr oro."
The alien nodded, then strode forward, embracing Tobi tightly and laughing as he patted the hunter's shoulder. As Tobi let him. If the moose was passive and led him here, then he was no threat to them.
"Suva veyr ler forer," he laughed warmly. He turned to Alariel, smiling.
"Furuer ehyl see tim eru du bruviere," he said with a chuckle, gently patting her head.
She flinched slightly, bewildered. Why is he touching me? she thought, startled.
"W-What did he just say?" she asked, both curious and unnerved.
"You're the same age as his daughter," Tobi replied bluntly as the Dagor looked at them confused, not familiar with Elvish tongue. Tobi was a linguist thanks to living a thousand years; even if his memory wasn't there, it was ingrained into him.
Her eyes widened slightly, her earlier assumptions falling away. "Oh... I see," she mumbled.
The hunter turned back to the armoured warrior, resuming their conversation in the ancient tongue. He could vaguely remember his mother speaking to him in it.
"Who are you?" Tobi asked.
"I am Urpho, a warrior of the Dagor race. And you?" the warrior replied proudly.
"I am Tobias, a hunter of the human race," Tobi answered, cold but courteous.
Urpho studied him with interest. "You look similar to an elf."
"We are distinct, but also related," Tobi replied simply.
"Like the vampires and the elves then?" Urpho asked.
Tobi nodded.
"I see. Well, it appears I've arrived... but it seems they sent me to the wrong place on this planet," Urpho muttered, annoyed.
"What way of transportation did you use?" Tobi asked.
"I fell," Urpho replied casually.
"Ah. Effective, isn't it?" Tobi responded in kind.
"Yes. It costs almost nothing to drop through the atmosphere. It is quite exhilarating."
"My body isn't as sturdy. If I did it again, I would probably die," Tobi said flatly.
Urpho laughed, glancing upward to the water and way beyond it to a land unknown. Meanwhile, Alariel stood silently, watching them. To her, their conversation sounded like pure gibberish, and she couldn't help but wish Elentera was with them inside; luckily, they began their trudge back to camp, which was uneventful to say the least. Tobi gained some knowledge of the tongue he spoke as Urpho told him his beliefs; he remembered this phrase.
Veyr beru natsu be vortyr uf veyr semra vortyr
To become known by god is to speak god
The belief is that acknowledgement by the gods is what allows you to speak this ancient tongue and converse with people of other worlds.
Here they were, back at the campfire but where the hell were the two undead? Tobi paced around. He saw the dead fire extinguished and looked at the clutter on the floor, his wonderful makeshift fire sprawled everywhere. Something had happened.
Alariel was worried. Urpho was confused. The moose was tired; it grunted, nodding in a direction for them to follow, already knowing where to go.
"Should we be worried?" Alariel asked the hunter.
He shook his head. Two immortals wouldn't die; if anything, they should be worried about whatever had caused this.
Tobi was the first to look up, having a hunch. Urpho, feeling his spine tingle, followed his gaze. It was small at first but then the rumble grew. Alariel looked up too.
"Es ayl medum?" Urpho asked curiously.
"Is that bad?"
"Sevro lem ayl," Tobi said casually.
"Something like that."
"Wyr mura ter evra?" the elf asked, surprised.
"What does that mean?"
"Ava Waluk," he replied honestly.
"A monster."
A tentacle shot down. Water splashed. The tentacle stopped mid-air, dark black, oozing dark red blood as it scraped against the floor, tearing it apart. It came swooping toward Tobi, who dove out of the way into the moose.
He looked behind as the maze started to crumble. Something screamed from the depths of the abyss beneath it, but the maze reformed just as quickly as it had fallen, refusing to allow such destruction. Whatever lived in the cracks of the maze's walls came from the darkness, which seeped through and stitched it back together.
How confusing it all was as the world shook!
He stood still. The girl was protected by Urpho, who held her steady as the maze violently trembled and shifted. The floor moved; everything moved. It was a new development.
Tobi fell.
The moose jumped, and so did Urpho, swiftly evading the collapsing stone. But Tobi wasn't as fast or strong as them and worst of all, he was missing an arm. He was a cripple as of now. And alas, flames wouldn't help him break through rocks tumbling from above.
So he dove.
He would pave a way through the abyss below and he did, sinking into the darkness as it came to consume him. He lit aflame, the fire crackling loudly but then, as always, fate intervened, pulling the strings of this horrid act of his; something above him crackled louder still.
I thought you my mother's?" Tobi looked confused
He looked up to see a wide, white grin in the dark, two eyes opening. The noise intensified as its eyes flickered; the noise stopped, the world was black.