DAJ Ch8: Swamped Mind

  “The Prophet of the Savior?” Aesthre repeated, stunned.
  “Yes, that’s what he calls himself. Have you heard of him?”
  “Of course I have! He’s from the later parts of the Divine’s ascendancy, he’s a legend! He was the one who told the Lord that his rule should be passed on to another.” Aesthre searched his mind for more bits of information. “It was said that a demon took over his mind and drove him insane before he disappeared.”
  “He seems relatively sane to me…” Krimsol mumbled. “Anyways I need you to take this to him.” Krimsol took a tablet from the table and handed it to Aesthre. “He lives past the swamps in the broken city to the east. You can ask the guardians to show you how to exit on the eastern side.” Aesthre turned to leave. “Oh and before you go I want you to have this.” He gave Aesthre the object he was holding. It was an oddly shaped bit of metal with a small bit of glass on it. “Put it on your ear like this.” Krimsol showed him how to wear it. It was weighed almost nothing, and sat securely in place with the glass over his left eye. “If you need to speak to me when you’re out there just press down on its center and speak.” As Aesthre was about to leave, Krimsol called out to him again. “Aesthre, if you encounter something huge that you can’t handle run. Don’t try to beat it, just run.” Aesthre stood for a second expecting more, but Krimsol just turned and went back to work on the things on the table.
  Aesthre made his way down the spiral stairs until he got to the room where the guardians had last been seen. He stepped out and looked about the room. It was just the way it was when he had left, the table center in the room with chairs down each side and at each end. The ceiling above it was occupied by a strange box with flat panels similar to the ones he’d seen upstairs. His curiosity was interrupted by a grunting sound. He turned to find one of the guardians standing next to him.
  He figured he might as well get going. “Can you show me the east exit?” he asked not really expecting it to speak back. It shifted and turned in silence, then headed for a door Aesthre hadn’t noticed. They walked through two more rooms until it finally stopped near a door. Aesthre opened it up to see the outside world again. Another shorter, wooden bridge was the only way to get back to main land of this world. Dark and charred, with almost no life at all, this place had no hope of revival. He’d been in the castle long enough to enjoy the breeze on his face again as he moved across the expanse. Of course it was nothing compared to that ride. As he stepped onto firm ground again he looked up at the sky. Like paint flowing down a whirlpool, the colors merged and fluxed. Aesthre returned to looking ahead to see a scar on the landscape. One of the roller beasts stood with its barrel to the ground facing away. Aesthre drew his sword and stepped close to the edge as to sneak around it. Its head lifted, moving back and forth as if looking for something. Aesthre held still to not alert it, but to his dismay some stones tumbled off the cliff behind him. The sounds brought its attention to Aesthre, with a strange eye-like opening at the end of one of its bars that held up the barrel. Its gaze swayed about and finally looked back to the ground in front of it. Aesthre sighed in relief and continued moving past the beast. ‘It’s good that these things have poor eyesight.’ Aesthre thought as he reached a large rock to press up against. ‘How did it detect me before then?’ he thought as he stepped lightly out of sight of the monster. ‘Smell’ he concluded ‘it must have smelled the blood of those other things on me.’ It made sense enough and he changed his mindset to other things. His mind drifted to his brother. ‘What was he doing now that he’d been gone? Was he studying, or training? Probably gotten his self injured like he always did.’ Images of the Spirit broke into his mind, showing all the mistreatment he had endured. He was about to shout in fury when he heard a splash. Aesthre looked down at his feet to see that his boot was now just an inch down in dark water. Looking about he realized the ground was now mostly mud and water with new trees replacing the older ones. Aesthre had never been in a swamp himself, but he figured this was one. The trees here were much taller than the previous ones, with their roots pushing them up above the waterline. The sky was now blocked by the tangled braches and dark leaves of the canopy above. It seemed that as Aesthre had pondered his past, his feet had taken him deeper towards his destination. Looking back the way he came there was a gradual change and it would be relatively easy to find the way out. He faced forward again ‘Assuming he didn’t move in circles within the swamp’. He trudged forward into the muck as it slowly got deeper. ‘With a change in trees would there be a change in the beasts here?’ he thought as he trudged along. He stepped forward into what he assumed was a shallow puddle only to learn its true depth was to his waist. In discomfort he flicked his sword clean of muck and trudged to a nearby tree root cluster. Using his left hand to climb up he shook his boots, sending mud back into the water. He stood up, looking at the trek before him. The dark water hid every pit and mire, making just walking the path treacherous. He didn’t like the thought of being trapped in a pit as an unknown enemy snuck up on him. Looking about to see if there was any other choice of movement was another nearby tree root cluster. It was pretty far, but if he could make it, it’d be much easier than guessing at puddles. He leaned forward, lunged for the next landing point and made it safely. He looked forward to see another set of roots within reach. It seemed he’d be jumping the rest of the way to the ruins. ‘No more mud for me’ he thought happily. He leapt to the next tree base and the next. It became easier as he continued even though he kept moving faster and faster.