The Valley of Mist

After reaching Stonemount, Lucian and Tess no longer walked at the leisurely pace they had taken since the start of their journey, opting to make full use of their cultivation and the lightness technique to shoot across the land faster than any horse.

The Valley of Mist was located at the center of the continent, within The Declaration mountain range. In fact, it was positioned right at the crossing of all major borders, making it a point of contention among the factions of Prokos.

When Lucian and Tess neared that portion of the mountain range, approaching from the west, they did not run straight in, but rather reported to the western Demian fort, positioned upon one of the shorter mountains at this edge of the range.

No soldier or officer barred their way, the platinum badge of Fist of the King allotting unspecified authority, and the golden badge of a knight proving the strength to back that up.

The Valley of Mist was a restricted region, but not one they were disallowed access to, given their status. In truth, any sect, noble house, or martial clan, so long as they were sworn to the kingdom and not rogue organisations, were allowed entry so long as they registered their passing in the fort, as Lucian and Tess did.

After passing through the western fort, the two of them traveled through the mountains and valleys at a slower pace now, keeping an eye on everything that moved.

It was not until an hour of travel had passed, that the rumored mist began to creep around them, like immaterial tendrils.

Demia was a cold country, but got warmer towards the southern ends, where they were now. And yet, despite that fact, the deeper they traveled into the Valley of Mist, the more like a northern winter it felt.

The trees and foliage grew larger and more bountiful the further east they traveled, and yet, the sounds of insects or animals became ever quieter, until none could be heard at all.

Instead, it was eerie silence that met their ears within the Valley of Mist. The perpetual fog grew denser as they travelled until they could barely see more than 2 meters ahead of them.

Lucian did not fear mist on a normal day, no matter how dense, but this time he truly did find himself feeling for his sword as he passed. His lifesense, one of his first ever techniques that he relied on every day, was little better than his eyes in this fog, sensing only what lay within a 10 meter radius.

Lucian ensured Tess was close enough that they would not lose track of each other and began to recall what he knew of the place. The Valley of Mist was a spiritual region, a place with greater ties to the many plains beyond. It is said that within the valleys, spirits, apparitions, and illusions of all kinds dwelled, some harmless, and other lethal.

But where there was danger, there was sure to be temptation, and as a spiritual region, the Valley of Mist held many natural treasures and opportunities for those foolish enough to seek them.

"Can you tell what's ahead?" Tess asked, already knowing the answer.

"Not more than 10 meters, you?"

"More or less the same." Her voice seemed casual and calm, but Lucian could tell she was serious by her slow posture and movements.

"We'll look for the Spirit Orchid Field first, then… I want to try and find the Ghostly Pavilion." She said, a hint of eagerness in her voice as she spoke of the latter.

"Alright. The Orchid's first, we should be able to find it without too much issue."

Many people had explored the Valley of Mist before, and a few consistent phenomena were recorded. Among them, Spirit Orchid Field was said to be a large clearing in the mist that housed many natural treasures, the spirit orchids, which were not only full of qi, but could be used to sense the presence of the plains.

As they traveled, the eerie silence finally gave way to only more disturbing sounds. Like metal grating in the distance, or crunching noises, like the snapping of branches.

Only sound was not restricted in this mist, a realisation that did little to grant relief to the two.

The deeper they traveled, the colder it got, and the more frequent those sounds became. At every step of the way, the two felt as if there were eyes watching them in the fog, but never could such a thing be found.

A high pitched wail sounded from their right, as if right next to them, and the two spun their heads and drew their swords, eyes radiating cold intent, only to find nothing. The sound suddenly felt so far away from where they were now, but the two could not tell how far.

They exchanged a worried, confused glance, before moving on. They did not sheath their weapons again.

More sounds haunted them as they travelled, but the two were becoming used to it. They had not met any real danger, no matter how sinister the sounds.

Nevertheless, Lucian maintained a vigilant expression as he focused on what he could hear, trying to make use of the alert state taught in the Unhindered Motion technique. It was daunting to have his senses so severely limited after years of training to always focus on them, and take in as much information as possible.

*Ba–dum*

A low, bassy sound echoed in the surrounding fog, faint as if distant, and yet in every direction.

*Ba–dum*

Lucian exchanged a glance with Tess and the two continued forth.

*Ba–dum*

...

*Ba–dum*

The sound grew increasingly infrequent as they moved, and yet it became louder.

*Ba–dum*

Lucian knew this sound. It was a heartbeat.

He gripped his sword, the bloodbond that had grown to hold an incredible amount of condensed blood from those he had killed, and continued forward.

*Ba–dump*

Lucian found his sword heavy as his sight was blurring.

...

*Ba–dum*

"Something's wrong. Do you feel it?" He asked Tess beside him.

She looked fatigued as her head swayed slightly.

"Tired. The heartbeat..."

*Ba–dum*

Lucian and Tess both felt a pain in their chest as their vision blurred and sweat ran down their cheeks.

"We need to go ba–"

Lucian saw the ground approach as he fell to his knees.

'What is… happening?'

A second later, it rang out again.

*Ba–dum*

It had grown slow and infrequent, but oh so loud in his ears. In fact Lucian could no longer discern whether the sound was an external thing, or whether it was in his mind.

*Ba–dum*

Feeling his chest move with the sound, Lucian realised what was wrong. His heart was not pumping!

*Ba-dum*

No, it was, but slowly. As slow as the one he heard in the fog, and getting slower.

He felt dizzy as he lost sense of touch in the arms that supported him on his knees.

"It's our hearts!" He groaned out loudly, hoping Tess was nearby to hear him.

Gathering every ounce of lucidity he had left, Lucian focused his will on his heart, and with a sudden flare of intent, he forced it to beat.

Immediately, Lucian coughed, his chest hurting. Once again, he forced it to beat. Bit by bit, he took manual control over his heart using a mixture of his Control attribute that gave him great control over every part of his body, the Sanguine Control method, to force his blood to flow properly, and his will as a cultivator, to resist that external heartbeat from affecting his own.

As his senses cleared and he regained clarity of mind, Lucian made his way to Tess and found her with her eyes closed tightly. He could see on her face that she was resisting it herself and using her own methods, so he waited patiently, still forcing his heart to beat manually.

When finally she opened her eyes, the two exchanged a grim look as they realised just how strange the dangers in this place would be. New phenomena appeared all the time in the Valley of Mist, and neither of them had heard of this phantom heartbeat.

As they rose to their feet, the two continued in the direction they were heading, the phantom heartbeat continuing at an increasingly slower, albeit louder rate.

*Ba–dum*

Lucian felt intent on discovering the origin of this and stopping it as soon as possible. He did not want to spend the next few months manually beating his own heart. He would need to sleep eventually.

As they walked, the mist, which had only been getting thicker as they travelled, began to thin out before them, as more and more of the surroundings became visible.

The two readied their swords as they moved into the clearing, and noticed that the mist surrounding them was expanding and contracting with the beats of the phantom heart.

*Ba–dum*

When the two got so close to the origin of that noise that it was deafeningly loud, they finally saw what had caused it. A beautiful, crimson carnation flower, its petals expanding and contracting with the sounds of a heart, strangely beautiful; not at all as grotesque as one might imagine.

Lucian lowered the tip of his sword just slightly, his lifesense showing the crimson flower before him as a white hot ball of life, packed to the brim of its small frame with energy.

*Ba–dum*Ba–dum*Ba–dum*Ba–dum*Ba–dum*Ba–dum*Ba–dum*

Lucian dropped to his knees in an instant, his control over his own heart immediately forfeit as the phantom heartbeat became rapid in the blink of an eye. The sounds of thumping were so fast they overlapped each other as Lucian's eyes went wide and his chest was wrought with incredible pain.

Tess was no better, and the phantom heartbeat had become so incredibly loud, echoing far and wide that Lucian's ears and mind felt stabbed by the noise as sweat poured down his skin, and his chest felt as if it were closing in on itself.

He tried to speak, to shout, but only a compressed breath squeezed out his mouth as he fell on his side, clutching his chest.

In the distance, he could hear shrieks, wails, cries, and maddening laughter from the depths of the fog, as if the sound had caught the attention of an audience.

'What the hell was this? He's just entered the Valley and he was dying already?'

With clumsy, pained actions, Lucian pointed his bloodbond, in the shape of a longsword, at the crimson flower ahead of him, and willed it.

'Sever it… just… cut it out!'

His red blade extended in an instant, severing the flower from its root, and ending the painfully loud phantom heartbeat.

Lucian panted in ragged breaths, his chest untightening as his heartbeat returned to normal.

Looking at Tess who also lay on her side, her face was red and strained, but she seemed about as fine, or not, as he.

"Fucking hell." He cursed as he rolled onto his back, taking deep breaths as he calmed down.

Just a few seconds of peace passed like this until Tess' soft voice called out cautiously.

"Lucian…" Like a cautious whisper, she called to him as all the hairs on his arms stood on end.

"Whyyyyyyy?" A mournful voice called from beside him.

That one, was not Tess.