Spirit Gathering: Part 5 [Legendseekers]

And with that, all of the spirits surged together like a massive current, tearing a single tunnel through the wildfire that threatened to consume the settlement. As the spirits passed through the flames, their ephemeral bodies extinguished the fire that they touched, leaving behind a scorched but clear path of earth for the xyns to trudge through. The walls of flames around the path continued unabated; but somehow, just for now, they radiated no heat. The air within the tunnel was clean of smoke.

One spirit remained left behind to beckon to all of the living xyns, flying in circles around the entrance. “Make haste… Cannot keep… Path open… for long…”

Samson was already using his magic to lift as many purified, unconscious moxyns and pixyns as he comfortably could onto his back, and already attempted to gallop through the path to lead the way forward. “Come on!” Samson shouted. “Evacuate everyxyn and follow the spirit’s path! Don’t leave a single xyn behind!”

Numerous other Vexyns together with the Lullay knights roused the unconscious vexyns; the vexyns supported each other, moxyns attempted to use, and everyone supported each other to enter the pathway. Bravura was already lifting several moxyns and pixyns onto his back too, and prowled forward on all fours, unable to walk in his bipedal stance or fly through the smoke. Pantalaimon, Troia, and Chiptune supported moxyns on their shoulders, walking them through the path and encouraging them with nudging and to let them.

When the last xyn exited the settlement and walked far into the clear path, the last spirit entered the tunnel between the flames, allowing the fire to the end of the tunnel closed in on itself, flames and debris crashing down.

Gradually, Samson and the other xyns saw that the path of wildfire began to wane; and Instead of smoke and flames, their entire world began to become enshrouded in glittering fog and mist. The silhouettes of the spirits were indistinguishable here, and many of them pranced and floated quietly next to the xyns as they walked, slowly through the path. The light of Yanwei shone softly through the fog to illuminate every xyn and spirit.

“Where is this…?” asked Troia. The xyn she supported faltered for a moment in their steps; she gently used the stinger on her tail to brush their hindquarters to encourage them to continue moving. None of the xyns made a sound as they; their footfalls were silent as thick pools of mist swirled around them on the cool ground.

“I don’t know.” Pantalaimon was gazing about their surroundings, taking care not to let unconscious pixyns and accipidrakes slide off their back; everyone was passing through the dark silhouettes of trees in a forest, now. Even more spirits poked their heads through the trees to smile and greet the newcomers. “Might be a stretch… but if spirits are memories… I have to wonder if this is a special place, born from their own memories… perhaps they all like to rest here…”

After what seemed to be an eternity trudging through the spirit’s dreamlike realm, the fog and mist gradually cleared- giving way to dry, deadened grasses. All of the xyns were able to exit the Perilunal Plains and made it back to shortly outside of Moonreach’s games. The xyns saw it’s castle and buildings enclosed within the barrier like figurine in a snowglobe, towering above them all.

All of the spirits that had guided the way paused together, a faintly glowing and shimmering mass of bodies. Samson was the first to step forward to address them. Throughout his life he had witnessed and endured numerous hardships; but the recent passage of events was near unbelievable, even for him…

“I will never be able to thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us,” he said to the spirits. His voice quavered, and he lowered his head to bow it deeply in respect to them. “You saved all of our lives. Thank you.”

Every other xyn that was conscious also bowed their heads, echoing their thanks to the spirits.

The spirits collectively smiled. All of them spoke in return, one by one again:

“We want…”
“To help…”
“The living…”
“The spirits… in Wingfell…”
“They told us…”
“What you did… for them…”
“You saved… the helpless…”
“Banished… corruption…”
“You proved…”
“There is hope…”
“We will… tell… every… spirit…”
“And so… on the day…”
“Of… Sunrise celebration…”
“When every voice sings… on this planet…”
“Every spirit… will come…”
“We will… help…”
“Save… Lunerest…”
“Memories… of the past…
“Of happiness…”
“Of hope…”
“Of love…”
“Of care…”
“Will give succor to all that succumb…”
“To endless… despair…”
“We will tell...”
“Every memory…”
“In this world…”
“To come…”
“To your aid…”
“Never forget... this promise… that we made…”

The spirits walked away, dissipating into nothingness- the only traces left of each one behind were sparkles that faded as quickly as they came.

Samson rallied all of the xyns, and with one last spurt of energy, everyone present hauled themselves back into the gates of Moonreach, where they could rest, safely… at least, for now.

Troia thought to herself as she helped the exhausted xyn shuffle along by her shoulder. The question of having to unleash Yang, deep in it’s dimensional lair, was being pushed further away… would if she ever have to release Yang if all of the xyns had the spirits on their side?