Welcome to Gaia! ::

Though the bank of fog moved along at a relatively fast clip, there were many miles of open ocean between Nokohai and Virconia. As such, it didn't near shore until after the sun had risen, but even the warmth of the sun's rays did nothing to disperse it.

Dark and ghostly shapes seemed to dance ominously within its depths, but they were just illusions caused by the roiling clouds of gray.

Or perhaps not.

Soon, the wall of mist rolled over the ship out at sea like a slow-moving wave, taking the craft into its murky embrace . . . and it was as if a switch had been flipped.

The sun suddenly disappeared behind several layers of thick fog, plunging the area into a bleak, gray twilight. The air temperature dropped like a stone, going from the comfortable 80's into the low 60's in a matter of seconds. And as the mist closed around them, visibility dropped to ten feet, leaving the men barely able to see each other, let alone what lay beyond the boat.

But most unsettling of all was the sudden lack of noise. The sound of the ocean was ambient. It is always making its own music -- the waves lapping against the hull, the gentle shifting of billions of gallons of water, the occasional splash -- but the sound was suddenly gone, muted by the fog.

Nothing is louder than the end of a song that's always been there.

The mist -- and the ethereal shapes within it -- swirled slowly around the men upon the frigate, like a group of sharks circling a lone piece of prey floating in the water . . .

As Asherah's fingers brushed the Draconian's face, she stirred, groaned . . . and started to open her eyes slowly.

Suddenly, her eyes shot open, black pupils narrowing to slits no wider than a hair. She made a sound that was a cross between a shriek and a roar -- an expression of outright terror -- and tried to pull away. She fell off of Asherah's lap, claws scrabbling in the mud as if trying to escape. Then, abruptly, she stopped as she seemed to realize something, and sat there staring with huge eyes and breathing heavily.

The poor thing looked absolutely terrified . . .

Enki stays on his knees, watching Asherah and the Draconian, knowing that it's probably not best to move a whole lot near something so strong and so utterly terrified.

Silence reigned.

Then, in the direction of the ocean, a dark silhouette materialized slowly, walking towards them, stalking slowly as it drew closer to the boat.

It got closer, gaining definition as it did so . . . and finally, a Draconian stepped out of the fog. Well, what a relief. This was their island, after all. There was no reason to be alarmed . . .

. . . Except for the fact that the creature's flesh was burned and seared beyond recognition, so much that a good deal of the creature's blackened skeleton was visible beneath areas where the skin, muscles, and organs had been seared away.

The thing looked at them with, empty, blackened eyes sockets . . . and let loose an ear-splitting roar, moments before leaping towards the nearest man with its claws out . . .

The Draconian sprawled across the boat deck after its target had rolled out of the way, only able to score a glancing blow with one of its claws. Snarling, it then tried to push itself up to attack again . . . but it collapsed as a relentless barrage of bullets ripped into its already tattered flesh. A Draconian's scales, though they provided moderate protection from bullets, were useless after they had been burned to a crisp. It only took a few seconds of continuous fire before the creature stopped moving.

It seemed that though this fog was ominous, whatever threats it held were eas-

Without warning, another Draconian, this one possessing a bloody gaping hole where it throat had once been, reared up over the side of the boat without a sound to plunge a set of sharp claws through the back of a man's neck.

As this one climbed on to the deck, more shapes appeared within the mist -- seven more mutilated monsters -- stalking towards them.

Things did not look good . . .