Chapter 5: Attero

‘So this is Attero? It looks and feels much different from before… Maybe because the suns up and it’s not dark?’

At first glance, Attero was a wasteland of dirt that stretched as far as my eyes could see. I would have considered it normal, but there was an eeriness in the air I could not describe. There were no animals, not even bugs. If I had to point out a living thing in Attero, it would be the trees that were growing here and there around the landscape.

‘But even then, these trees are so corpse-like. I’m not even sure if they’re alive. Huh? Wait a minute. Did that tree just move against the wind?’

As if reading my mind, Cedric replied, “It’s not your imagination. The trees here will attack you if you enter their domain. Be careful.”

Cog sighed at Cedric’s comment, “It wasn’t always like this…”

I had to agree, “Yeah, the trees didn’t always move like this, did they?”

Cog looked at me and sighed again, “No, the trees always moved, but they didn’t used to be so aggressive. Everything is so tense now. If there were children playing in the fields, now they’re all gone.”

“All gone?”

At my question, Cog looked away into the distance and muttered, “I want the old world back…”

Cedric smirked, “If you want the old world, you can visit Otium anytime.”

Looking at Cedric, Cog clicked his teeth, “Otium? No way! Even if Otium is like how Dominia was before, it’s not Dominia. I mean, look around!”

Cog let out his frustration as he gestured to our surroundings, but Cedric kept smirking and replied, “That’s right. Dominia has changed.”

I looked at the two bickering and shrugged, “If it’s changed, it’s changed. Why change things back or try to keep them the same? Let’s just get to the Recorodor and meet up with Clautz. I’m sure we’ll have a better idea of what to do from there.”

Cog muttered something I could not hear. He looked frustrated, but he nodded his head and clenched his fist in front of his chest as if he were determining himself to do something. Cedric continued to smirk, but his eyes drooped so I knew he was thinking about something.

I didn’t know what else to say, so I left it at that.

----

‘How far is this forest? I can see it right there, but it doesn’t feel like we’re getting any closer…’

As I was thinking about the forest, I felt my balance shift to the left and then the right. I felt dizzy and started to wobble.

‘Huh?’

Without another thought, I felt my body falling towards the ground.

“Stop walking.”

Someone had grabbed onto my arm. I looked to my side. Cedric had called my name and was now holding my arm to support me. I looked at Cog, and he had fallen on the floor.

“We’ve now entered the heart of Attero. Let’s take a break here so you guys can adjust to the fluctuations of the ground.”

Cog, looking a little sick, sat upright and said, “Every single time… I’ll never get used to this place.”

I tried to regain my footing, but I couldn’t. Cedric let go of my arm and let me sit.

I looked at Cedric in puzzlement, “Does this not bother you?”

Cedric smirked, “No. It does. I need to rest too.”

After taking a closer look at Cedric, I noticed that he was balancing his weight with his elbows lifted a little to his sides. It looked as if he were submerged in water trying to maintain his position.

When Cedric sat down, he closed his eyes. Cog seemed to be thinking about something, so I focused my time on adjusting to the fluctuations of the ground.

The landscape was tilting left and right, but my brain was making adjustments to my vision. After an hour of resting, I had gotten used to the wobbling. I noticed that the ground was not shaking like during an earthquake but that it was moving around in a wavelike manner. It felt as if I were sitting on water.

‘Now that I think about it. Even though we haven’t moved from where we have been sitting for an hour, we are definitely not in the same place we started. The ground is moving us.’

Even though I thought that, I had an odd feeling that there was something more to the fluctuations of the ground. There was something suspicious that kept me on my guard. Attero was a living place, and there was something alive that I couldn’t see. I tried to look for it, but it always escaped me.

When I stood up, Cog looked at Cedric and said, “I guess it’s time to go.”

Cedric nodded, and they both stood.

‘I guess I was the slowest to adjust…’

-----

As we continued to trek through Attero, I noticed that swamps appeared and that the gigantic forest that seemed so far before was drawing closer. It was weird because the closer we drew to the forest, the more I felt my mind playing tricks on me.

When I looked at the swamps, they would grow and threatened to encase us, but upon taking a second look, they would return to normal. Even the trees seemed to change. Faces appeared on the trunk of the trees and they seemed to scoff at us from afar.

I had asked Cedric about the swamps and trees, but he shrugged saying it was the effect of the forest. Since Cedric had shrugged it off, I felt like relaxing, but Cog seemed to be wary of something. He kept looking around on full alert and did not reply to Cedric even when he tried to bother him.

After a couple hours had passed, Cedric sighed and shouted, “Ah, this is so boring!”

It was at that moment that I spotted something shinning on the floor ahead of us.

Cedric rubbed his eyes and asked us, “Well, this is new. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

Looking ahead, I replied, “Yeah, there is something on the floor over there.”

Cog ran ahead and cried, “It can’t be!”

I looked at Cedric, but he shrugged and said, “I wonder what it is…”

Catching up to Cog, we saw a thin silver dagger with a fancy looking “M” carved into it.

For a moment, Cog looked confused, but then he laughed, “I can’t believe it! This is my dagger I had lost just a while ago.”

Concerned, I asked Cog, “What does this mean?”

Replying, Cog said, “Ah, just great! We have already fallen into a trap!”

Alarmed, I exclaimed, “What do you mean?!”

Cedric looked at Cog and replied, “He means that we have been caught by the currents of the ground. Somehow, we’ve been walking around in circles, or maybe… something is trying to keep us from advancing.”

“And to top it off, it’s almost nightfall!”

Looking at Cog, Cedric laughed and said, “Wow, you sure do know a lot about Attero. How do you know about nightfall?”

Cog didn’t say anything. He was speechless. He looked at Cedric in shock. His eyes grew wide.

“You tricky beast! You knew about this, didn’t you? What are you going to do now? Kill us? You—”

But before he could continue, I interrupted his accusation, “Hold on! It may be true that he knew about Attero, but that doesn’t mean he is against us.”

“What makes you think that?!”

Cedric was about to say something when jolted his head around and yelled, “Brace yourselves. He’s coming!”

Confused, Cog and I turned to look. A huge wave of darkness was rushing into the deserted wasteland. The sight had dumbfounded me. It was coming, but I could not react to it. I only had time to take a glance at Cog whose face had turned pale before the darkness swept us away.

…

“Cog!”

I tried to fight my way towards where Cog was, a few feet in front of me, but I could only watch in horror as he grew further away. His figure grew smaller and smaller until he vanished into oblivion.

“Cog! Where are you?”

No answer.

‘I can’t see him anymore. I can’t hear him anymore. What happened to Cedric? He’s gone too. What should I do?’

…

“… Gratus…”

A faint whisper in the distance floated into my ears.

‘Huh? Isn’t this…’

It was Cura.

‘What is she trying to say?’

“… Gratus… remember…”

‘It’s faint, but I can hear you Cura! What do I need to remember?’

As I thought this, a part of my mind presented itself to me.

‘A spell for the darkness…’

“Conspicio.”

My eyes flashed into a radiant brilliance, and the light from my eyes expelled the darkness covering my vision. I could see once again. Looking around, I spotted Cog lying on the ground unconscious.

‘But where’s Cedric?’

I searched around but could not find him.

It was then that I noticed a grotesque shadow extending from me. It was not mine. I tried to move away, but it followed. The shadow was emitting a foul smell that made me nauseous.

‘No, this isn’t a shadow. It’s something underneath the ground!’

I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was there, a tremendous evil crawling about from within the ground. The moment I had realized its true nature, weeds appeared from the ground surrounding me.

‘These weeds are—!’

I tried to escape before the weeds could ensnare me, but I was not fast enough. The weeds had already wrapped around my legs and were dragging me into the dirt. With each passing moment, the weeds crawled up my body. I tried to flail my body like a rabid beast, but the more I resisted, the more the weeds strangled me like a snake.

I roared in rage as I fell deeper and deeper into the mouth of despair. When my body had submerged into the ground, the weeds grew thorns that bit into my skin. It was as if the monster itself was gnawing away at my body. I screamed in agony. I couldn’t resist. The more I did, the more it hurt. I felt my fighting spirit being drained out of my body. It was as if the monster was leeching away my hope.

‘I’m going to die.’