The Spirits of Arthan

24: Keep Your Focus

Crescent couldn't see, everything was dark. Her eyes were blinking relentlessly to try and see, but she couldn't. She didn't even know if she was floating or lying on the ground. She couldn't tell if Pasque or Nova were around either... she felt so... alone...

Suddenly, her eyes were beginning to work again. Wherever the wings had been they were gone now, and the surrounding area came into shape as if certain, specific pieces were to be placed in certain areas. Like a puzzle putting itself together.

This place had no sky, the sky was pitch dark. No stars, no Shimmering Spirits... no nothing. Beyond nothing.

The area in front of her looked nearly identical to that in her vision when she was merely a young pup taking her test to receive her name. There was a narrow, broken path up ahead with deathly cliffs that fell into nothing on all sides. She was alone, Pasque and Nova were nowhere to be found, and neither was the demon that had attacked them.

She looked in all directions, terrified to move, trying to find her friends. Her brother...

Tears welled up in her eyes again as she thought of Gale. She didn't even get to say goodbye or attempt to save him. She was too busy being frightened by the Outcasts...

"You deserved this." Said a voice around her. Crescent felt herself beginning to crumble under her own weight. The one thing she had to keep her going... was gone. She had no one left... No one to count on.

"T̷̜̀́̅͑̑͝͠h̵̡͎͍͔͉̱̠͖̟̀̓͛͐̾ę̷̢̬̰̞̝̭̲̥̠̅̑̊r̴̭̬̪̺̖̝͚̲͊̿͒̑̎̓̆̕ē̴͈̗̽̀̎͆̒̔̿͘͜ ̵͚͇͍̀͠î̴̹̣̠̦͠s̵̨̰͇̟̙̝̪̼̀͛̔̆̽͗̀̈́͠͝ ̷̛͕̣̒̃̊͂̌n̷̠̼͔̬͋̄̄̄͆͑o̶̧̖̖̟͇̬̭̜̬̎̈́ͅw̵̨̛̛͚̬͓̺̩͓̯̐̿̍̂̊h̸̨̨̖͚͈̒́̃ĕ̵̦̻͕͚̮͕̲̽̾̀̕͠r̴͎̣̦̥̹̖̱̎̑̈́͐̐̽̓ē̶̛̞̭̘̟̠̼̣͍̑̑̎͐̎̈́̋̊ ̷̠̼͖͇̖͉̲̼̥͊͜ẗ̸̮́̽́̓̅̑̐͘͠ö̸̲̳͔́́̊͆̈́͛̓̌̕ ̴̘̼͊̀́̾͆̄̚͠ṟ̴͔̎͝u̴͍͎̝̞̙̠͇͓̅͆̍͑̓͗̀̂̏n̸̡̢͓͍̘̗̤̔̈́̇̕ ̶̣͔̯̬̖̝̀͌̉͊͝ͅt̴̢̞͓̱̩̪͉͌̽́͛̊͊̔̈́͝h̴̠̙͍̭̮͕̘̤̍̀͂͋̈́̀͋͘i̴̛̻̬̲͉̯̪͆̈́́̈́̎͆͆̀̚š̷̰͎̪̞̗̘̪̜͜ ̵̪̭͎̜̲̘̯̻̙́̎̇̍̔̈́͗͠ț̸̝̊̎̆̀̃͛͂̚i̷̢͈͎̲͉̼̼͈̯̇́̐̍̾̊̓͝͝͠m̶̫̙͈̗̪͖͉͕͆̊̆̽͝͝ḛ̷̛̐̃͆̊́͛͜͠.̸̛̳̪̲̣͖̦̼̗͍̐͒̕ͅ"

Crescent looked behind her as a bit of path materialized. The demon was coming into view, it was... flying. Eyes wide in terror, Crescent lunged ahead, blindly trying to keep on the unsteady, dangerous path. She howled out for Nova, Pasque, anyone who might hear her to help her. She didn't know how to fight this thing! Let alone did she even learn enough before being banished!

Everything was hopeless! It was-!

She blinked and she found herself back home. Stunned, she looked around as wolves went about their day as if nothing happened, as if Gale were never cursed, as if Crescent and Gale were never banished. She found that her paws decided to move for her and she slowed to a walk as she watched her pack roaming about, happy as can be. Pups running around playing, and Gazer... her father up on the rock. With Blizzard and-

"Gale!" She called, running towards her other brother, who was on the other side of Gazer. All three of them looked down at her, their eyes were searing yellow, no pupils, just a solid color. Crescent stopped dead realizing something was clearly off. They each stared down at her and said in sync.

"T̷̛̲͑̑̽͋̔̈̾̓́͝h̸͚̻̤̝̝͐͋́̋͆̇̑̃̐͌̔̌͆̀͠e̶͚͎̮̪̤̻̩̰̬̐́̀͆͒̅͒̋̂r̵̳̻͕͒͆̀̉͒̐̂ͅe̶̡̻̐̎̓͆ ̷͍̯̫͔͚͕̉̽̈́̐͛̏͠͝ḯ̴̡̗̻͓͈͍̾̿̀̆̇̂͐̇̎̂̀̋͌s̶̨̱̹̩͎̥͙͍̭͓̆͋̓̋͋ ̴͉̹̙̳̲͍́̑͆̇͝n̸̮̱̮͋̀̈̊̀̌͝o̴̘̲̺͍̩͇̹̥̹̰͖̳͘͝w̴̧̢̯͙̗̬̱̰̺̪̰͋͑̕h̵̢̻̟̱̻͈̓̎͑͊̈͗̆͋̀͠͝ȩ̷̩̣͔͔͍̼̈͊ͅr̸̜̗̫͎̼͉̘͚̼͆̔͛͗̒͜͠ͅè̵̖̳̓̑̌̈́ ̶͍̠͖͍̭̿̈́̚ͅt̸̯̞͙̹̹̫́̄̾̀͑o̵̩̼̲̬͍̥͍͚̎̑͑͂̿̄̍̈ ̷̨̧̨̛͙̱̜̮͈̩͉̥̐͆ͅr̸̦͔̪̄̑̓͛̈́̃̓̎̾̊͊͝͝ư̷̛̥̇͗̑n̶͎̰̒͑̌́͒̏̆̉̐̊͆.̷̳͑̌̋̀̇̌̿̋͑̈́͝͠"

The demon pushed through the vision, sending it up in wisps. A grin had spread across its face as it slowly grew closer to her. Jaw agape and fangs drooling blood. Crescent froze in fear, legs shaking and tail dragging as she looked up at the demon.

"P-please..." She whispered, tears uncontrollably rolling down her face now. "I just w-want to go h-home..."

A cold laugh rang through the air as everything vanished around her.

"Are you so easily swayed?" The voice asked as she began to fall, a scream emitting from her jaws both from terror and to try and block out the voice... it didn't work. "You're a coward." The last words rang through her ears like the howls of hopeless pups lost in a storm. She blinked and she was once again at the beginning of the path.

The moment she lost focus on the path another set of horrors were sent after her. This much she learned on the third try of getting through the path. It took her several times to realize nothing was going to hurt her in here at least... this area in particular... despite how horrifying it was, she had to keep going and stay focused.

The seventh time she restarted at the beginning of the path, she raced through telling herself repeatedly, "Find the others. Find the others. Find the others."

She ran as fast as she could, as the voice screamed in her ears that there was nowhere to run anymore, but there was. She was running now. She had to tell herself over and over that she was going to be okay. She was going to make it out of here in one piece.

Sure enough, the pathway was getting wider it seemed, and safer. And there was something up ahead in this... hazy black atmosphere. She pushed harder to get there, and she skidded to a stop. Her two friends were fighting the demon, and there was something else in the shadows... something watching.