act16mini

I'm familiar with this sense of weariness and despair.

Whenever the shadow of the Feranmut appeared in my memories, it was always accompanied by a vast, empty wasteland.

I was with the team, fighting against the sandy squall, walking towards where the sun rose.

Yellow sand filled the sky, smothering out all the color of the newborn sun... Yellow-white, muddled yellow, grey-yellow, until it all became deep and darkest black.

In the end we managed to make it to nightfall, covered in darkness for the second time that day. A thick mist creeped in, and those poor sods who were injured cried out in pain. We were lost.

Blood and sweat soaked into my boots, and the blisters on my feet went numb. The adults carried me and kept going forward.

The smell of dust in the air, and a mist so thick that you can't see your hand in front of your face.

Vague shadows, and in the darkness... light.

Where am I?

A great, gaping cavern, with bioluminescent organisms emitting light as dim as an old miner's helmet.

Myriad creatures rustle about in the shadows behind Ray, making her reflexively raise her crossbow.

Several small mounds on the ground scatter and bump into each other, revealing themselves to be sandbeasts.

Sandbeasts?

You fellas brought me over here?

This isn't just your den, is it?

Groups of sandbeasts on the ground and atop the walls jump about, guiding her towards a path that leads deeper into the cavern.

The stone pillars of the cave slant and cross over each other, protecting the glowing area in the center, like a stone nest built by a giant fowlbeast.

The ground itself is folded and creased, the vestiges of the passing of some unknown creature, cutting off at the entrance of a route leading even further down.

The stone beams strewn about are its shed scales. Those great piles of soil its rotting dander.

The sound of the howling gales outside is already cut off, leaving only a drawn-out whistling to echo throughout this natural sanctuary, establishing an order for the creatures who live in the dark.

...I remember.

That time... when I saw that shadow in the mist, the wind brought along a murmur. That sound soothed me, and let me forget the pain for a while.

Move forwards, Rayella. Leave this darkness.

You must...

...Eh?

Why aren't you going ahead, little fellas?

What's up ahead?

Not wanting to deal with the darkness any more than she has to, she turns on her miner's lamp.

It's a closed-off cavern.

Can't get in here.

I could chisel it open. I need to chisel it open.

Ouch!

Wha-!

The whistling stops, replaced by a different sound, one whose pitch stretches from the highest highs to the lowest lows. Countless syllables intertwine with the bellows of the beast.

Ray presses down hard upon her ears, but the echoes still reverberate within her mind.

I thought I was just dreaming that there was something poking away at my eyeball. Good grief, this place is twice as lively as it should be—should be—be!

Strange.

The sandbeast... is speaking again. Hundreds of sandbeasts speaking at the same time.

Sandbeast—beast—east?

How could I possibly be a sandbeast—beast—east?!

I swear, first it's a group of little longears clanging about with their little sticks chiseling away at my braincase, then they tried to dig into my ears with little exploding iron pellets—pellets—lets.

And when they finally got tired and headed off, I managed to actually get some sleep... but I barely even closed my eyes before you came along and woke me up again—again—gain!

Ngh—

Apologies, little one. I got a bit too stirred up just now and shouted at you. I must have startled you into falling over onto your backside.

But given that you were the one who woke me up with your racket and trod on top of my tongue, making me bellow about and make a fool of myself... I'd say we were even!

Ugh...

What's that smell? Why does it stink so much...? What is this?! Get these things away from my nose, right now!

A hallucination?

Hallucination? I assure you, I am no hallucination. If I were, I wouldn't be feeling a little bit itchy right now.

Fellas... Why are you yanking those plants?

Gah! Those are my nose hairs! Smelly little things! Don't pull tho— A-Achoo!

The rock wall splits open, the darkness once more beginning to crack open.

...Feranmut?

Are you the one I've been looking for?

The giant eye shines like a great gemstone.

Ray has never felt her heart beat this strongly before, thumping about inside her chest.

A hunter's daughter, a pitsinker who broke free of the dark, a traveler who chased the light... From then until now, every instance of her reaches out a hand towards that giant eye.

What?

Feranmut? You mean me?

Well I quite like the sound of that name! A much mightier name than 'Sandbeast'!

I'll have to remember that one... I don't remember who decided to give me a name last time, but after waking from my nap I find that I've completely forgotten it all! I swear it was just a moment or two ago.

Ah, forget it, sleep's more important, got to hurry... Say, little one.

Why did you come looking for me?

You... saved me.

Did I?

A sound that's been echoing from deep in my mind, an immense shadow, a light.

It was a miracle. You saved my life, along with many others.

I remember your light.

I've always thought it was something right out of a legend, that the thing that saved us was some giant, friendly beast who lived out in the wilderness.

But I checked so many animal almanacs, and none of them ever mentioned a creature large enough to cast the shadow in my memory, or one that could talk to people.

All I know is, you are definitely not a hallucination.

I just felt that I had to come and find you.

I'm sorry, little one, but I'll have to stop you there.

As you can see, I have no way of moving my body. Even when those little sandbeasts were jumping about in my nostrils, with their horrendously noxious stench, I had no means of removing them.

I am trapped in darkness, bound for decades, perhaps centuries...

So how, I ask, could I have saved you and the other little ones, as according to you?

But, if not you, then who?

Maybe there's another Feranmut out here in the wilderness?

I regret to tell you, little one, that there are no more of my kin about here. What little I know of these wildlands, that much I am sure of.

Take heart, little one. Do not be so down. If it truly vexes you, perhaps you will feel better if you closed your eyes and took a little nap?

Ah, perhaps not, for closing your eyes means being in the dark, and you have a look about you that says that you fear it... Alright, I admit I'm not used to consoling people.

Well, that's enough out of you, I'm feeling sleepy again! You'd best be on your way now, and make sure to take those smelly little things with you!

In the blink of an eye, the sandbeasts beside her are in uproar, coming together to create their bizarre sound once more.

Ahead of Ray stands a muddled darkness, so dark that she is unable to tell which way the sandbeasts are carrying her.

All she feels is that she's getting further and further from the light.

Suddenly, from the cavern that quickly fades into the distance, the Feranmut's voice rings out once more.

Don't mind me, little one. I might not be able to move my body, but that doesn't mean I can't budge a bit.

Since you took so much effort to come all this way, I have one more question for you.

If I am the Feranmut, if I am the light you were seeking...

The roiling sound of landslides washes over her and the earth trembles, as if shaken awake by the jab of a pitsinker's crossbow bolt.

Considering how far you've had to come to get here, what exactly were you hoping I would help you with?

Doctor, I'm not afraid anymore.

They asked me a lot of questions, and I told them everything... Our long journey, the places we've been, and whether we had fun or not...

But there were a few questions that I found no answers to.

Is the Doctor looking for something? Why did they all say behind our backs that the things that the Doctor wants to see can't ever be seen again?

Why did the Doctor save me and travel with me?

All drivers, ears—both long and short—up, this is guidance for our departure in six hours.

Watch the Catastrophe forecasts and drive safe. Don't chase wildlife. Let's get the trucks in and get home early...

Well, you don't look so bad, old bones.

You should be thankful your last trip is with me. Others probably wouldn't have what it takes to get you fixed.