The villagers had tried to send people to ask for help. Zephyr had also asked the chief to send a letter to lord Whitewater, the lord of the land, to inform him about what was happening near the village, and through him inform the storm tower.
But, for some reason, those who tried to leave the village fell asleep. Hence, they weren't able to leave or send a message.
Zephyr massaged his head as he heard the village chief speak.
'Ah…my luck.' He groaned.
Initially, he wanted to evacuate everyone. But something prevented them from leaving.
'We are like fish in a barrel. Trapped with no way out.'
He didn't have to think hard to know why they were trapped. After all, who else but the dark mage could do something like that?
'The damned necromancer doesn't want the information to leak. He might be doing something nefarious nearby.'
*Sigh*
'I should look into it and find a way to send the messages out. Staying here, trapped, would mean certain death.'
Zephyr looked into the shed and thought.
Finally, someone noticed his presence. Immediately, everyone went silent.
Despite being a young mage, he held more authority than anyone there. So, everyone waited while the chief welcomed him inside.
'Ah!'
'This is going to be a very long day.'
One thing after another was going wrong. Zephyr had no idea about what would happen next or what he should do.
"Can you tell me more about what is happening?" Zephyr asked.
He didn't want to waste any time.
"About?"
The chief wondered aloud.
"About what happened to the messengers you tried to send out."
The chief nodded.
"The edge of the village is covered in thick dark fog. For some reason, the moment anyone enters the fog, they will feel dizzy. If they stay in it for more than a few breaths, they will fall asleep."
"And once you fall asleep in the fog, you won't wake up." The chief added gloomily.
"So, no one was able to leave?"
"Not quite true. One left before the dark fog appeared. Before we went to find the missing person, I had asked one of our messengers to inform the lord about the impending storm."
"Hm…"
Zephyr nodded.
Although they couldn't send any information right now, someone from the village is out there. So, there was a possibility that someone would notice the anomaly.
'But I can't depend on luck to survive.'
As one of the unluckiest persons alive, Zephyr didn't think he would be saved by luck.
'I need to send information out.' He said in his mind firmly.
—
A few minutes later, Zephyr walked to the edge of the village with the chief and a few others.
The fog was hampering their vision.
They could barely see a few meters away.
The rain made it impossible for them to carry a torch or an oil lamp. So, there wasn't any light either.
Still, the moment they reached the area covered by dark fog, they immediately noticed the change.
The fog was thick and viscous like a thunder cloud. It was gently rolling forward ever so slightly, against the wind.
Instantly, they knew it was the culprit of their current plight.
Zephyr stopped and observed it for a few seconds before touching the wall of dark fog with his palm.
Immediately, he felt a tingling sensation travel through the fog into his hand.
'What is this?'
'Mana? No, something even weirder.'
Zephyr promptly forced out his mana to resist the thing invading his hand.
That gave monetary relief. But his mana was depleting quickly.
'Damn it.'
He pulled back his hand. He didn't want to risk it yet.
"The fog is some kind of dark magic. The necromancer must have cast it to trap us here." Zephyr mumbled.
His voice was barely audible, but those around him heard it clearly. Their faces immediately darkened.
"Is there a way to leave?" The chief asked hopefully.
"There shouldn't be. The necromancer is stronger than me. I won't be able to break the spell."
Large-scale spells like the dark fog cannot be cast without proper preparations. Just from the fact that it was already cast, Zephyr knew his chance of leaving was slim.
'A weaker mage can defeat a stronger mage if he can take them by surprise. But defeating a stronger mage who was thoroughly prepared was practically impossible.' Zephyr thought.
He didn't want to induce any panic, so he didn't share these thoughts with the villagers.
'We are done for.'
"Let's go back." He said and promptly turned around.
With his strength, there was nothing he could do.
—-
Meanwhile, on the island far away, the dark mage, the necromancer, smiled.
He was using the fog formation to trap the village and observe what everyone was doing. So, he saw Zephyr come up to the dark fog and retreat in defeat. This made the necromancer smile in happiness.
'There is more to the fog than meets the eye, you man.' He thought before taking his attention off what was happening in the village.
—-
Meanwhile, those who fell into a coma after touching the dark fog began to stir in their sleep. Their bodies quivered as they abruptly sat up.
With hollow eyes, they looked at their surroundings before going back to sleep.
—-
Zephyr returned to the village hall to strategize.
There was no way to send someone out of the fog. But his life depended on transmitting the information out.
'Yes, transmitting.'
Zephyr suddenly thought of something.
'The lighthouse.'
He was a stormkeeper and knew some secrets.
'By destroying it, I might be able to gather the attention of the magic tower.'
The lighthouse was built by a master mage. It was a magical object with strategic importance. It had other unknown functions that very few knew about. Something like that being destroyed would certainly send a signal to the mage tower.
Zephyr was sure of it.
'They would think someone is attacking the kingdom and will send a powerful mage here.'
When he thought all hope was lost, a crazy idea sprouted in his mind.
'I will have to deal with the consequences of destroying the lighthouse. The tower might even hang me for the crime. But, dying later was better than dying now.'
Zephyr decided to do it.
It was his only hope.