11 Ghost Canyon

Zanir agreed to provide Reed with some spatial water for brewing. Reed stored it away like a precious object as he took great care not to spill any. Zanir chuckled in amusement at the sight.

Reed had a vast knowledge of the area and could escort Zanir anywhere he needed to go. Zanir explained that he was trying to reach Ghost Canyon. Reed was curious why he wanted to go there. It was desolate as far as Reed knew.

Zanir didn't want to reveal the existence of his world space. Reed could see that he was hesitating. Reed took the initiative to reassure him.

"It's alright Zanir you don't have to explain it to me. I couldn't detect any signs of magic earlier so you must be a spatial mage."

"You're so young that you must have only recently acquired your powers. There are so few spacial mages left these days and so little is known about them."

"I won't pry into your matters and as long as you stick around these parts I can ensure your safety. Let's get going to Ghost Canyon, it's not far from here"

Reed let out a sharp whistle and after a few moments a large wolf came trotting into the clearing. It stood next to Reed and let his head down. Reed scratched the wolf behind his ears and the wolf's hind leg reflexively twitched.

"C'mon hop on"

Zanir had to wait for the wolf to kneel down before he able to get up onto his back. The wolf was sniffing Zanir's hands curiously. As the wolf stood up Zanir felt that it's powerful legs would be able to carry them quickly. He'd have to hold on tight as the wolf didn't have any kind of harness or saddle.

"What about you?"

Zanir asked Reed after noticing that he had only summoned a single wolf.

"Not to worry!"

Reed replied as his body started to shift and change.

Zanir was amazed to see Reed grow much taller and his body became canine and hairy. His arms became elongated and his fingernails twisted into viscous looking claws. His facial structure shifted into a snout and his canine teeth grew much larger.

"Areeeee yuuuu reddddy?"

Reed's deep voice brought Zanir back to attention. He noticed that the wolf form's mouth had trouble pronouncing certain letters and sounds.

"Yeah, let's get going!"

Zanir's enthusiastic reply caused Reed to emit a gravely sounding chuckle. They took off in the direction of Ghost Canyon. Zanir was glad to have a tour guide. He knew that he wasn't always the best with directions and the system hadn't unlocked a map for terrain yet.

Reed and the wolf were able to make very good time on the journey there. Zanir was surprised to find that Reed's wolf form was easily able to keep up despite being so large. It felt like he could even travel faster than the wolf Zanir was riding.

The creatures in the forest didn't want any trouble with two large and dangerous looking creatures. They had moved out of the way long before Zanir and Reed arrived. Zanir didn't mind since he wanted to get there without any interruptions. If he could get what he needed Zanir would be able to have everything up and running tonight.

Arriving at the canyon entrance they could already feel the breeze. Reed transformed back into his human form and quickly produced a small wine skin he had brought with him.

"Alright we're here! Go on and uhhh do your thing kid"

Reed stood back after making the announcement. He was kind of curious to see what Zanir would do. This was the most exciting thing that had happened in the area. Reed was starting to think that maybe he wouldn't quite be so bored on this remote assignment.

Getting right to it Zanir reached out his hands and started to absorb the wind. It took several minutes but it eventually worked. A system prompt indicated that he had collected enough air.

Reed was shocked to see that the canyon had become still. It was eerie without the usual sound of the wind. He thought Zanir was kidding when he said he wanted to take the wind with him.

'That brat wasn't kidding'

Reed had only seen Zanir raise his hands up. Reed expected something to happen but there was no whirlpool or suction. The whole thing turned out to be very anticlimactic.

"If you're all done let's get out of here kid. This place gives me the creeps!"

Reed wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. He hated these kind of creepy places the most.

Just as they were about to leave they heard scraping sounds coming from one of the mine shafts. There were a few people that seemed to be walking out. Reed and Zanir were both concerned. These mine shafts had all been long since abandoned.

"Something about this doesn't feel right. We should leave"

Reed had been around long enough to know that it wasn't worth the risk to stay around. Especially since they already had what they needed. Nothing good would be crawling of those caves.

As the figures started getting closer Zanir and Reed had made preparations to leave. They both noticed that the figures were all in various states of rot and decay. A horrible stench assaulted their nostrils as the zombies shambled over.

There were only about a half dozen coming out at first but more kept coming behind them. They just kept pouring out and Zanir didn't want to stick any longer. Reed was starting to get concerned.

A large black cloud rushed out of the forest in front of them halting their advance. They had become trapped inside the canyon between the oncoming cloud and the shambling zombies. Zanir and Reed noticed that the black cloud caused all the trees it passed to shrivel and die.

They would choose to fight through the zombie hoard instead!