(44) No Visitors

She stumbled through the trees, feet bruising on the rough ground, toes breaking against gnarled roots. Her feet were a disturbing shade of purple, but she did not notice.

She wandered between trees, some normal, others covered in fungus. Eventually, the flora gave way to drooping mushrooms, with caps so wide that the forest floor saw no sunlight. A carpet of glowing moss covered the ground, cushioning her bludgeoned feet, but she did not notice this, either.

She passed a myriad creatures, some stumbling along with her, others lying on the ground, and even some stuck to mushroom stalks, as if they had grown into them.

Every creature was possessed of some horrible deformity, whether a head that seemed to explode from within, fungal growths emerging from the cavity, or creatures nearly encased entirely by the mycelium.

They all, without exception, ignored her, and she them. She walked for days, neither broken bones nor blood stopping her, until at last, she came to the side of a cliff covered by the glowing moss. Her shaking legs finally gave out, and she collapsed onto the moss-covered wall.

A calm smile overcame her.

“This is where I will die,” she croaked, the words barely intelligible from her hoarse, dry throat.

Suddenly, the wall gave way. She tumbled backward, landing on her back with a thump that was far too light. Her skeletal frame shook, making a series of horrible cracks and pops, as she rose to her knees.

Before her, through the hole in the cliff, stood ruins that must have been untouched for centuries.

Cold blue eyes snapped open, glowing in the dark that surrounded them. With four disturbing cracks, her limbs snapped free from whatever device held them. She hit the floor with a dull thud, landing on her feet, her knees only slightly bent.

Green flames ignited in hanging braziers around the room, illuminating a macabre menagerie of flesh covering the entire wall on one side of this cuboid chamber. She seemed to have detached from four focal points jutting from the flesh wall, sucking sphincters pulsing where her limbs once were, eager for their next connection.

Her flesh crawled across her body, pulsing, writhing, forming itself into a recognizably human form. She emerged into the pale green glow, reflected eerily off her snow-white braid, which hung so low it nearly dragged the ground.

Shadows boiled around the edges of the light, then ran like water, encircling her and clothing her in a robe of darkness, before solidifying into a black silk that seemed to draw the light in. The robe hung loose against her now-still skin, pallid in the ghostly light, draping her feet and dragging behind her as she moved.

She strode over to a dark corner of the room, which began to glow the same color as her eyes as she approached. An orb the size of her head sat on a stand of twisting metal fingers, casting the glow that continued to brighten as she drew closer.

She placed her hand atop the orb, closing her eyes and stilling for long moments. For several seconds, she appeared to have frozen in place, a statue intricately carved in her likeness.

After what must have been minutes of stillness and silence, she removed her hand from the orb, and both it and her eyes pulsed with a rhythmic blue glow.

She turned rigidly, marching toward the door and exiting without a glance back. The blue glow faded, and the green flames died, casting the room into impenetrable darkness once again.

——————————

“They have made fantastic progress, my lady,” Ramose said, his ethereal form bowing slightly.

Tara thrust her fist forward with a grunt, pulling it back and bringing her hands to her face.

“Use your legs. Each punch should involve your entire body, from the ground to your fist,” Nephthys coached, sitting on a barrel near the inn’s back door.

“Any surprises? Anything worth noting beyond their recovery?” she asked, glancing at Ramose’s ghostly visage.

“Hmm, well, although I do not consider it worthy of note, there have been some long-term effects, for which we have had to deploy healing magic,” Ramose replied, his hand on his chin.

“I see. Some are low-level enough that the air itself is toxic?” Nephthys asked, pulling a leg up and hugging it to her chin as she watched Tara punch.

“Indeed. Scarring in the lungs, chronic coughs and sore throats, and various other maladies have affected them, though we are only seeing this right now because the worst has already passed, namely, their states of starvation. Chronic issues are only chronic if they live long enough to feel them.

“Regardless, such trifles have been taken care of, and even the most ill of the bunch is moving about the guild without aid,” he concluded, clasping his hands behind his back.

“Excellent. Thank you for the report and your time, Ramose,” Nephthys said.

With a nod, Ramose vanished, the illusion broken with a wave of Nephthys’ hand.

“Surely,” Tara started, huffing and puffing. She had been at this training for hours now, since dawn first broke. “I should be learning magic, rather than…this.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Are you not channeling the body enhancement spell?” Nephthys asked, her eyes beginning to glow, giving Tara’s body a once-over.

“I am! I am. I just don’t get why we’re focusing so much on physical stuff,” Tara replied quickly, sending a right hook as emphasis.

“I have explained this already, but let me try a different way.

“I can, and will, teach you offensive magic. However, consider how long it has taken you to learn circulation. This is not meant as a slight. Learning spells takes time, and you could be attacked at any moment.

“Propping up your physical skills right now is going to do far more to ensure your safety than teaching you a powerful spell that will take weeks to even use.

“Even more than that, magic is a sport of the mind, and the mind and body are inextricably linked. To strengthen one is to strengthen the other, and the same for neglect. Even once you know powerful magic, you must not neglect your physical training,” Nephthys finished.

Tara was silent for several moments, considering. Thinking was slower while she juggled mana, motion, and breath.

“Still, perhaps it is time to move on to something else,” Nephthys eventually said, breaking the silence.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Tara’s feet began to shift, sliding backward at an alarming rate. With a yelp, she jumped forward, but the ground continued crawling away from her. She broke into a run, yet she could only keep pace with the receding ground, not get ahead of it. She was running helplessly in place.