The sun began to go past the horizon, darkness filling the landscape. The three people were walking up a dirt path, surrounded by a dense, eerie forest. Every so often, there were lamp posts with candles burning inside them, spaced out so far that you couldn't see the previous one when you arrived at the next. The sounds of crickets chirping began to fill the area, then owls, and eventually howling as the moon came out. It was a blood moon today, probably the scariest night to do something in a cemetery. Astrape was shaking from fright. Father had been to many cemeteries, graveyards, and abandoned places, causing him to feel nothing. Anemone, on the other hand, was a perfect mix between the two. She felt fine when the surroundings were quiet, but as soon as a twig snapped, an owl hooted, or a howl was heard in the distance, she jumped, causing chills to run down her spine.
The journey continued, and for a few minutes now, there had been no light, forcing the group's eyes to become adjusted to the night, maybe not as good as some creatures, but it was better than nothing. Father was holding his staff in his hand, to aid him in his walking, but also to be prepared for anything that may happen. Anemone was the next in line, but she didn't have a weapon in hand. Then, at the back was Astrape; her hand was on the hilt of the blade, ready to fight at any time. The blade could already be seen, as every time she was scared, she raised it a little, which coincidentally happened to be all the time.
In the distance was a dim, orange light, which was emanating from a building. The building couldn't be made out from this distance, but it seemed especially menacing as the moon was placed perfectly to seem like the building's crown. As the group continued walking, the trees surrounding them became increasingly sparse. They were spread apart, and now had very few leaves on them. There were no plants to be seen, and no greenery was in sight. The cemetery seemed to be sucking in all the life surrounding it, if this building was the cemetery.
The group found themselves now able to make out the details. There was a large, stone arch in the front, surrounded by two lamps which were glowing blue; the color was caused by something unknown, as most flames would burn orange. There was a metal fence on the sides of the archway, connecting to something out of sight.
As they approached more, just a few meters away, they noticed a small, cathedral-like building at the end of a dirt path. It had two angel statues in the front, one holding a book, the other holding a violin. On the left side of the building were rows of graves, on the right was a singular tree with its branches curved to create a hook shape, and at the end of the hook was a metal cage with bones inside. Whether it was a creature, a monster, or a human was unknown; Father or Astrape could go look and find out, but it was better left unknown.
The building had a single door in the front, with a window; from the window was an orange light, painting the green grass on the right side to become brown, and then causing the graves to become a slight orange on the left side.
Anemone stepped into the cemetery, past the archway, inhaling a putrid scent, and began to feel herself weaken. The other two never told her about the miasma, which was a terrible decision. Father felt his own mana being sucked out, but he also happened to feel his wound become less painful. Father made the conclusion that his wound could be healed if all mana was sucked out of it, but for that to happen, he would either have to stay here and have his own mana sucked out in the process, or have something skilled do it. The latter was safer, but still hard to come by and dangerous. People who could take the mana of others were very rare, and most were criminals, as they could just take the mana of others and not have to worry about battling.
Mana was a vital part of life; it was in everything. Every human being, every monster, every flora and fauna. Mana was even in the air, which was how people naturally regenerated it. When someone began to breathe in, the mana particles corresponding to the magic they can use are taken into their body to restore lost mana, but with the miasma, restoring mana was impossible. And since mana could be restored by breathing in mana particles, what was here most likely had the opposite effect, as people breathe in, they must inhale something that somehow destroys or gets rid of the mana inside them. Either way, the party was in danger.
Astrape looked around, still spooked, then jumped as she bumped into Father, screaming.
"Ahh!!!" She then looked up, realizing her mistake, and hurriedly added, "C-can we hurry… Please?"
"Oh, yes, sorry," Father replied, then spoke to himself. "Though this doesn't feel right."
Father stepped to the left of the path, feeling the dirt cave in under his weight, meaning the dirt was still loose. He approached one of the random graves, and near the headstone was a small group of three flowers. They had read leaves near the bottom, poking out from the ground. Then the actual flower part was a light green plant, almost a teal color, with red markings on the edge of each leaf.
It was a beautiful, but also ominous plant. This species only grew above graves, meaning they fed off of dead bodies. This sent chills down Father's spine, but he also knew that he needed it to survive now. He bent down, plucking the flower from the ground, then stuffing it into the jar that he was given. He needed to do this to all the graves here, which were around thirty. It would be a lot of work, mainly for his back.
As Father stepped away, he felt the ground slightly shake before quickly going back to normal. It was quite an odd phenomenon, so he glanced past it. Father went to the next grave, then the next, then the next until he was done. After picking the final batch, he had three jars full, allowing him to keep two. After putting the jars in a bag, the ground began to shake again. This time it didn't quit, and it was much, much more violent. Father stepped onto the dirt path, and the light emanating from the door of the cathedral disappeared. It was now completely dark except for the two, dim lanterns in front of the archway.
The door of the cathedral slowly opened, with a very powerful gust of wind that made everyone step back. A moment later, a monstrous scream echoed out of the cathedral, terrifying everyone.
"No. I can't do that." Astrape said. She was now so full of fear that she couldn't even shake or scream.
Anemone stepped back instinctively, wanting to run away from the terrifying screech/
"F-Father. Can we go?"
Father stood there, motionless, unable to think. He had heard this somewhere, a dream, no, more like a nightmare. His mind was racing, and a buried memory began to surface. It was a humanoid monster, not a beastkin, nothing of this world. A completely black figure, like a silhouette, a woman with hair, and two horns on her head. It was a very distressing image.
Father pushed it out of his mind as Anemone called his name again. He turned around and just began to run along with Anemone and Astrape. They ran until they couldn't see the dim blue lights, and until finally they came into the light of the first lamp post. Now all they had to do was follow the pathway until the first right turn appeared, which would lead them to the Silvermoss.
They slowed their pace to a leisurely walk, occasionally glancing back to make sure nothing was following them. Astrape was still completely terrified. She was standing in the middle of three, trying to hide from any creatures lurking in the darkness. Father kept his eyes peeled as they continued moving. Eventually, they came across the turn they were looking for. They never saw the turn on the way to the cemetery, but thankfully, they did on the way back.
Father was told this walk itself would be long and arduous, but it wasn't. The forest was stunning, glowing bugs hung in the air, and some clung to the mossy trees. Glowing cattails were in the distance, a purple aura surrounding them. The landscape was so lush and green, it reminded Father and Anemone of elven land. Beyond the cattails were more flying bugs that sparkled blue, orange, and purple; some of them whisped around in the air together, like a school of flying fish. It was beautiful. There were some tall, moss-covered trees in which the light of the bugs bounced off, and then much smaller trees with the branches hanging to the ground. It was like a fairy tale; the three of them were living in a fairy tale.
Astrape forgot about how frightened she was and was now in a trance due to the beauty.
"I want to live here forever," She said in a dazzled manner. "It is so beautiful."
Anemone felt the same, her eyes becoming soft as she looked around at the captivating, lush forest. As Anemone grew used to the site, more beauties began to pop up. Hanging orange bulbs from the trees, most were tiny though. There was the sound of nearby rushing water, and as they grew closer to the sound, the ribits of frogs became apparent. Soon, candle-looking plants appeared. Green stems, slowly turning to glowing red at the top. There were so many animals and plants that they could see perfectly in this area.
Soon, they came to the most captivating area possible; it was better than the elven lands. There was one giant tree in the epicenter of an open area. Surrounding it was rushing water that split into two streams. Below the tree, in the center of the streams, lay a continuation of the land the tree sat upon; it was full of an assortment of mushrooms and plants. The roots stuck out from the ground the tree was on, some arching over the mushrooms and back into the water.
There were large bulbs of glowing, orange sap that hung from the tree's branches, fireflies surrounding them. Along the streams were more catails, more plants, and in the water were rainbow-looking fish, some with large scales, some with scales so small that they couldn't be made out with the naked eye.
Behind the mossy tree, according to where they stood, was a massive rushing waterfall creating a small pool. White trees and large rocks filled the remaining area. Everyone was starstruck, including Father. This place was much more dazzling than can be described on paper. If you look up, you see a mixture of glowing orange from the tree and fireflies, with the white peaks of mountains. If you look down, you see colorful plants and fish. And if you look forward, you see a dark brown tree with roots showing, silver colored moss covering the exterior, and behind it a rushing waterfall. Nothing in this area could be better.
Father looked at the bark of the tree, looking at the Silvermoss that decorated the tree. He would be fine for months, maybe years, at least supply-wise. He still had to find a permanent solution for his problem that he had yet to tell Anemone, even though he said to himself that he would.
Out of nowhere, a bulb of sap fell, scattering glowing sap over the ground and onto the surrounding area. The glowing sap scattered in mere moments, completely absorbed, and the mushrooms seemed to grow multiple centimeters instantly. (multiple inches)