The bog was the least lovable place to travel to, even compared to the barrens. At least in the barrens you could breath and if you packed right, traveling it wasn’t too bad. Then there was the bog. One would need a gas mask in the worse parts, the ground was never stable and if it was, well that seemed an illusion in and of itself. Mielikki despised the bog but that’s were she chose to live, well, the outskirts. Traveling through the bog tried everything she had in her. It was not very plant friendly and the air certainly didn’t do anyone any favors. It was risky to travel here in the day light, night time came with its own terrors.
There was pockets of thick mist, places where atmos nouls had yet to work on. Mielikki was generally good about avoiding them if she came across one. However, night had settled and caught her and Lapis deep in the bog. At first, their eye sight was able to pick out shapes and they could avoid running into something, well Mielikki could. Lapis was on her flank keeping watch of her back. The gloom seemed to subtly settle in and then thicken as the mist rolled in. Mielikki didn’t realize she had walked into a previously unexplored spot. Her eyes couldn’t pick anything out in the dark anymore and that made her wary. Pausing in her forward momentum, Mielikki squinted as she looked around.
“I can’t see anything in this fog,” Lapis suddenly said. “How am I suppose to catch sight of anyone sneaking up on us if I can’t see. This is ridiculous.”
“I can’t see anything either. Do you think this is a pocket untouched by atmos nouls?”
“Seems like it...where’d all the tree go?” Lapis licked her eyes and then squinted. “I’m getting down.” Lapis slid down Mielikki’s back leg and plopped onto the ground. She crawled forward and looked around. “There isn’t much here that I can see from down here. The fog isn’t too bad either. Seems to not be sitting on the ground. Give us a light.”
Mielikki nodded, not even able to see where the scuttle scale was but could at least hear her just fine. Ah, light. Mielikki knew what Lapis was asking of her, one ability that was quite useful out here was bioluminate. She reached out for her magic, sensing it’s eagerness to be released. The strange marking that went from her hip to her hock on one leg, began to tingle and glow as Mielikki summoned her magic and thought about bioluminescent fungal spores. They began to appear, one by one, a subtle blue glow but together began to brighten up the immediate area. They floated down to Mielikki and attached themselves to her fur and lichen beard.
The fog became more apparent and still hindered Mielikki’s eyesight but the light from the spores was still helpful. Lapis seemed appreciative and Mielikki could finally see the little scuttle at her feet. She looked up at the noul and nodded. “I can see now, follow me but don’t step on me!” Then Lapis took off, making her way across the uneven and often time mucky ground. They made careful progress through the thick mist, Mielikki coughed a few times as it reeked. She halved wish that either she was an atmos noul or had one with them. Anything to clear up the air here and make it more breathable.
Lapis, while concerned about Mielikki who was breathing in the mist, kept going. The sooner they cleared this odd pocket of nasty air, the better it was for both of them. Lapis was use to walking the ground of the bog but she had gotten quite fond of riding a noul ever where. While it was one motivation to find their way out, Lapis had grown to care for the strange noul. “I hope it isn’t much farther,” Lapis said after a moment. “I don’t like the sound of your coughing.”
“I’ll be alright,” Mielikki said in a soothing tone. “I trust you to find our way out.”
Time seemed to stretch on with the gloom and fog. Mielikki’s light was starting to fade and Lapis was bitting back a bit of panic. The noul was an adept and used her magic often, having grown strong but she was worried this air was weakening her.
“Keep moving Mieli. I’m sure we’re almost there.”
Sure enough, they broke free from the fog as Mielikki’s light faded out. The moon shone down through the skeletal branches of the dead bog trees and while the air wasn’t clean, it was better here. Lapis heard Mielikki breath in a bit and sigh. She crawled over and tapped the noul on the leg. Mielikki kneeled down a bit so Lapis could climb back up and settle on her back.
“I didn’t know the moon was out tonight,” Mielikki remarked. “That mist must have been particularly thick.”
“Then it’s a good thing we made it out. I’m not sure how toxic that stuff was and you took the brunt of it,” Lapis replied.
“Let’s get home,” Mielikki said tiredly, making her way through the mess of dead trees, boggy water and tiny islands.
WC: 878
Ability Used: Bioluminate
