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"Time to wake up," said Finn, shaking Aein.
Aein opened her eyes and realized the dawn was rising. She sat up swiftly as she realized where she was and what was going on. "Why didn't you wake us to take over the night watch?" she asked.
Lars stretched and yawned. "We would have taken over, Finn. You don't have to do everything yourself."
"It's easier for me," he replied.
"You have to sleep sometime," pointed out Lars. "You said the reason you couldn't shift was because you were exhausted."
"I'll catch a nap when we stop to give the horses a rest."
"Finn..." warned Aein. But before she could continue her sentence, he shifted with the sun. She squinted at him. "You planned that, didn't you? To transform right when we woke so that we wouldn't have a chance to yell at you for not getting any sleep?"
Finn sneezed and trotted towards the end of the road, as if to say that continuing this particular conversation was delaying them. Aein sighed and stood up. The wooden planks were better than muddy earth, but not by much.
"Oh, for a soft bed and a warm meal..." wished Lars.
"The sooner we get going, the sooner we get both," replied Aein, not bringing up the fact that they were going to have to fight their way through fog and past monsters they had never faced before to do it. The reality would make itself known sooner than anyone wanted.
Aein and Lars chatted in low tones as they put the blankets on the horses, talking about everything that would be waiting for them once they arrived in the Haidra kingdom. Finn continued his duties as lookout, but nothing threatened them. Aein blew out the lantern and hung it from the high post for the next traveler.
The road extended over the water like a low pier. Aein stepped in. It came up to her calves. Lars handed her the horses’ reins and she led them both in without incident; then Aein and Lars mounted. Finn edged into the murky water and then strode ahead. Aein remembered their guide's words and kept her sword ready.
Despite the rising sun, Aein realized the swamp was becoming darker and darker. The branches overhead were so entwined, they blocked out the light and cast the world into shades of gloom.
Aein spotted the first wisp of fog in the distance. It was winding its way around the sunken trees like a snake in the water.
"Fog..." she murmured to her companions.
It brought with it the screams, the cries, the heavy breath of the monsters which lurked.
"It is just the fog," Aein continued like a mantra.
Lars sat beside her. He was pale and his body was rigid.
"I thought you said there was nothing the fog could show you that could bother you anymore." When he didn't answer back with some smart remark, Aein leaned over and whispered, "Remember to breathe."
He looked at her as if coming out of a trance. He took in a great gulp of air. The fog behaved itself so well in King Vadim's swamp and now it seemed keen to make up for lost time. Aein cursed Lord Arnkell for burning the road.
But just thinking Lord Arnkell's name seemed to cause the swamp to respond. In the distance, a shadow appeared.
"Soldier!" the shadow of Lord Arnkell barked.
Aein closed her eyes, willing the mirage to go away. "Do you hear that?"
She heard Lars's horse shift in the water next to her. "Yes," Lars replied. There was something haunted about his voice. Aein looked up at him and there was a distant, faraway look in his eyes. It was not natural. It was not real. He began to tug away from her.
She grabbed onto his forearm and pulled. He did not respond. In fact, it seemed to make him angrier, seemed to make him pull harder.
"Lars, it's not real," she insisted. "Lord Arnkell is not there."
"He is!" Lars said. "The man who did all of this is right there! I could kill him now. He's alone. He is vulnerable."
Lars was so much stronger than her, Aein realized. She reached out to take his horse's reins, but Lars had edged out of reach. Her own horse started prancing nervously and she realized he was starting to spook. The packhorse was tied to the back of hers and was getting tangled as her mount spun around. "Finn!" she cried. "I need your help!"
At once, the wolf leaped out of the water and struck Lars. It was so unexpected that Lars fell from the saddle and landed with a splash.
"Oof!" he cried as all the air was knocked out of him. He rattled his head as if shaking off the madness. "What happened?"
"Fog," said Aein, watching as Lars's horse ran away. Aein made a split second decision. She untied the packhorse from her steed and called "I'll be back!" over her shoulder.
"STOP, AEIN!" shouted Lars. "COME BACK!"
Lars's voice followed her, but she didn't stop. The horse was directly in front of her. She needed to grab his reins and bring him around.
But then, the sound of Lars's voice echoed in front of her, even though there was no reason for there to be an echo. They were in a swamp, not a canyon. She pulled her horse up.
There was another echo, but this time, the voice which returned was not Lars. Her horse's foot struck rock instead of the murk of the swamp. Where was she? The land was black and rocky. Something in her gut told her to turn around and run as fast as she could. But the lost horse was just feet ahead of her.
Aein crept forward. The horse was standing on the edge of a cliff with a deep chasm below. He shied away from her like he was playing some sort of game.
And then the ground around her turned black as shadows came out from behind the rocks and over the lip of the canyon. They flowed around her like spilled ink.
"Come on, horse," she whispered, reaching for him once again though terrified to move. The horse's eyes were white and wild and he shied away. From behind a rock came a creature larger than a hay wagon. His body and head was that of a lion, but his back looked almost like a goat. His hind legs appeared to be that of a dragon, and instead of a tail, a viper hissed menacingly with fangs that dripped poison. It was a chimera. Aein pulled her sword out.
And then, out of the lion's mouth came a blast of fire. Aein spurred her horse out of the way, feeling the heat chase her.
She decided they would make do without Lars's horse.
She needed to get back to her friends. But the chimera blocked her way. She tried to take a swipe with her sword, but three heads all watching her, the chimera was able to sidestep her attack.
And then Aein heard the panting breath of a wolf and great splashes through the water. She prayed it was not one of the mad wolves. As he broke through the fog, Finn's silvery scar was the most welcome sight she had ever seen. Without a signal, they both stormed the chimera, battle cries and snarls ripping from their throat.
Great waves of flame sprang from both the goat and lion heads. The snake snapped the air inches away from Finn's leg before the chimera turned to focus its attention on Aein. With a swipe of its paw, it knocked her off her horse. She rolled as she tried to escape its claws.
Finn grabbed the snake end of the beast and ripped it out of its socket. The pain was enough to distract the remaining two heads. Aein took aim with her knife. As she let it fly, the lion end of the chimera belched flame again. But the heat from the flame struck the knife, melting the tip. It dropped into the tender place where the two front heads met. Writhing and crying, it fell to the ground. At the sight of the chimera's defeat, the shadows swirled around it like carrion birds and picked it to the bone.
Aein recoiled, trying to get as far away from the shadows as possible. Lars suddenly rode up on the packhorse. "Are you all right?" he asked, holding out his hand.
Aein wiped her mouth and spat. "Get the horses," she growled.
The fight had gone out of the steeds and they docilely allowed Lars to collect them this time. He brought them back over to Aein and dismounted to give her a leg up.
Aein sighed. "I never should have chased after the horse. It's been awhile since any of us have faced the fog," she said. She glanced over at the bones of the chimera. Chills ran up and down her spine. "Thanks, Finn," she said looking at the werewolf.
He gave her a sneeze.
Lars retied the packhorse to his regular mount and shook his head. "I had forgotten how bad the fog was," he apologized. "I should have resisted it." He gave Finn a grim smile. "Thanks from me, too."
Aein gathered the reins in her hands. "Let's get out of here."
"Gladly," replied Lars.
Aein searched for the sun, but the fog hung overhead and blocked it out. "Which direction should we go?" she asked.
"Back the way we came?" offered Lars. "At least there were the burned road markers."
Aein was so turned around, she didn't even know which direction was back. "Lead on, Finn," said Aein. "If you can figure out where we were."
Finn sniffed around and for a moment, Aein worried he might be as disoriented as them. But he came through. He headed off in a swift trot and she was so glad for his wolf nose. It wasn't too long before he led them to the marker again. It was so close, Aein wondered if the chimera would have come after them if they hadn't stumbled into its territory. Aein realized she had grown relaxed in King Vadim's portion of the swamp. She had been lulled into false expectations that because they had such an easy time before, it would remain that way.
They continued on for hours and the fog kept getting thicker. All of the normal animal noises of the swamp disappeared. It felt like being wrapped in a blanket of cotton wool. Even moving seemed in slow motion.
It caused the hairs on the back of Aein's neck to prickle. She turned to Lars. "I don't like this," she said. "I think we need to get out of this and soon. There's something very wrong."
It was as if she had whispered magic words and the fog heard her. It pulled back, revealing the world plain and barren, and then returned like a tsunami. The wave of fog crashed through the trees, as if hungry for their thoughts and fear. Lars pulled back on his reins even as he instinctively wanted to run. Aein didn't know if running would make things better or worse. Instead, she closed her eyes and gripped her legs tight around her horse, allowing the fog to wash over her.
It was so dense, Lars and Finn disappeared completely in the white haze, leaving her alone to face its tricks. She had forgotten how the memories the fog brought could be felt and tasted. The fog decided to replay the battle between Finn and the mad werewolf for her this time.
"But he lived..." she thought to herself, repeating the words to drive away the memories. "Finn survived and it led us to a land full of knowledge and friendship... he lived..." Somehow continuing the thought past the terror and into what came next, knowing that they survived and it all served a purpose, took the teeth away from the fog. The mist began to thin.
Aein looked around. Her friends were nowhere. "Finn?" she cried. "Lars?"
And then she heard the snarls and knew the fog was not replaying memories. She spurred her horse forward towards the sound.
Finn had Lars cornered as if he was trying to drive him back the way he came, as if he did not want Lars to go any deeper into the swamp. Did the swamp somehow know their mission was to reach the western land to heal the tear?
"Finn?" Aein called gently, hoping that her voice could somehow call him out of the madness.
"It's no good, Aein," said Lars in even but tense tones. "He's gone mad. He'll kill us both the moment he gets close enough." Finn snapped at the nose of Lars's horse and caused him to rear up and shy away. "Do you have the berries?"
"Finn?" Aein called again, this time with more urgency. "Finn, you're falling to the fog. You're forgetting who you are. You're not a wolf." She was not getting through to him. She pleaded. "You're a man. Do you remember? Remember!"
He snarled and foam frothed from his mouth. He nipped at the horse's legs, close enough to almost take the mount down.
She was losing him. "You know how to transform. Do you remember, Finn?" she wept. "You can turn into a man right now if you decide it is what you want to do. Please don't make me feed you a berry and take this gift away from you. It's not what you want. Please return to us. I believe in you!"
The fog began rolling in again, as if it sensed Aein was reaching her friend and it was going to do whatever it took to maintain its grip.
"We are your friends, Finn!" she shouted. "We've been through everything together! Remember? We've fought side by side and saved each other's lives. We're not your enemy!" Finn had taken her from the jaws of death too many times for her to lose him to the swamp. She shouted, "You're a man, Finn! You are one of the most wonderful men I know! And I love you!"
He turned his head and looked at her. The growl was still on his lips.
"Aein, get ready!" shouted Lars. "He is about to attack!"
But Aein refused to be frightened. "Do you remember how you healed as soon as I was by your side? Let me heal you again. Let me be your touchstone and strength. Please Finn! Remember!"
He stepped forward.
"Remember!"
"I have the silver harness, Aein!" shouted Lars. "Get ready!"
"Remember!"
And suddenly Finn sprang.
But as he jumped, he transformed into his human shape and fell hard into the water. He lifted his eyes to Aein. "Help me!"