Will-o'-the-Wisp (II)

Will this happen to them every time they entered a desert? And they were not even asleep this time!

Ling opened his eyes to see Maga rubbing its eyes, whimpering as it laid on the ground on its stomach. Unfortunately for the dragon, while they were running earlier, it turned its head behind them to see how far were the will-o'-the-wisps at that time. It had never thought that a bright light would suddenly flash like that.

Ling patted the dragon's head as he kneeled beside it. That got the dragon's attention, and they finally looked at their surroundings. It was not a surprise anymore to see a different view from the swamp they were at earlier.

The scene was actually familiar. There were dilapidated houses with rubbles on the side, and dried up trees with people leaning on the trunks to get even a little shade.

However, wherein the destroyed city had its dried up oasis, this area had swamps and muddy ground. It was obvious that the people left here were starving. There was no food to be found and their water was undrinkable.

Based on Ling and Maga's previous experience, they just waited for the illusion to finish. As they watchef, the people started stealing whatever another managed to find, then the killings came, and when one finally committed suicide, the others soon followed.

The events happened faster this time. Ling was exhausted as he opened his eyes again to a dark, foggy swamp. They were still sitting on a muddy ground but the will-o'-the-wisps were gone.

After the two had a second of rest, theu heard a squishy footsteps coming to them. The panting sound was soon followed by a shout, "Ling! Maga!"

Standing up, the two stayed vigilant but they saw that it was only Mayari running to them. When the older man reached the two, he checked their bodies but never found any injuries from that explosion. Worrying that their minds were affected, he asked them what happened. "The will-o'-the-wisps were gone, but let's move in the lighter areas as you tell."

As the three walked, Ling told a summary of the scenes they had seen, with Maga occasionally uttering a hum as if it was recounting its share too. Ling then realized that they had to share their experience in the desert too.

The group already reached the area with the lighter fog when Mayari suddenly stopped. With a confused expression, he asked, "Do you mean that in that split second, you've seen all that?"

"Split second?!"

"Yes. The light flashed and when I opened my eyes, you two were already sitting instead of standing as you were earlier. I thought the wisps attacked you, that was why I checked for injuries."

"Oh!" Ling never thought that all that happened in such a short time. He thought that Mayari was waiting and looking for them for long, but then he realized that the area where they regained consciousness was not different from where they had seen the bright light.

"Tell me everything later." Mayari said distractedly as he continued walking again. "The things that happened in the yellow 'haze' too. I think I have an idea."

Soon, their surroundings changed. The fog was all gone, until they were in a sparse and dry land again. There was a town in view that they would reach after a few miles of walking.

The group left some of their belongings in that town, renting a barn used as a storehouse of an inn so that they didn't have to spend the night outside this time. Most of the townspeople were returning to their homes when Mayari and the two with him arrived in town. As it was already late in the night, Mayari just ordered a meal for them to eat in their rooms while they talk.

Due to their experience in the swamp, they didn't spend more time outside to hunt or concern themselves with collecting stones. That was why they weren't carrying anything. Collecting all these stones was really difficult and it was only useful for people like Mayari who owns a theater troupe. If finding and collecting gems were this easy, wouldn't one be really rich by now.

"So, what happened in the yellow 'haze'? I'm sure you didn't realized, but you were gone for only a day." Mayari started once they were all seated around the boxes they used as a table.

"I see." Ling nodded. "We were in a city until it was thoroughly destroyed by a sandstorm for more than fortnight, but only around three days in the swamp."

"You should know by now that those were only a mirage, the illusions formed by the desires and emotions of the people who had died there. But what I'm concerned about was why you saw these illusions when you had your shields up. Though you put it away during the run in the swamp."

After a scolding look to which Ling and Maga just replied with a sheepish smile, Mayari continued speaking. "Not that I blame you. But that could be the reason why the will-o'-the-wisps also converged and exploded."

Through all the years he had visited the deserts, Mayari had never exerienced or seen what Ling had described. His companions then had no knowledge of it too except for the stories told by the neighboring towns.

"I'm thinking that maybe your shields were not strong enough or your emotions was too strong that the 'mist' could still sense it through your shields. The will-o'-the-wisps showed up and acted when you reacted to the smell in the area. Maybe both of you have to suppress your emotions even while we're not in a 'hazy' area to practice."

Hearing the advice, Ling and Maga frowned, showing their expressions again. He didn't want to be bombarded by these illusions every time, however, he didn't want to be numb everytime. Back in his village, Shaman Matnaad had already told him to suppress his emotions but the shielding he was taught might not be enough now.

Back then, the Shaman had also compared him to the women who were more emotional. Due to this, they tend to easily be possessed by the harmful 'mists' more than the men, hence, they don't leave the village much.

Deep in thought, Ling and Maga was left alone by Mayari inside the barn. They had to decide for their next course of action themselves. In the Limaw Sea, nobody could tell how strong the 'haze' was and Mayari couldn't let the two set sail when they might be attacked by another illusion.

Based on their decisions, he would test the two later. If they couldn't suppress their emotions enough even just to defend against Mayari's 'mist', he would advice them to go to the cities in Gitna to get more information. Besides, Mayari had heard other sailors say that people from Kal'wa Island also visit Gitna several times.

Left alone, Ling touched Maga's head and rubbed it as he continued thinking. Did he really have to be suppress his emotions to continue on their journey?

Could he even do that? It seemed like it would be difficult to accomplish, especially since he had tried to do it for eight years under Shaman Matnaad. Besides, he wouldn't want to be unable to get angry when Maga irritated him or laugh as he rolled around the ground with his friend.

Suddenly, Ling remembered Rin who never joined his and Maga's fun. How was she able to remain expressionless most of the time? But wasn't Ling's fast healing ability came from his strong emotions? Then, also back in the village...

Wroo~

As if it knew his thoughts, Maga suddenly whimpered. It distracted Ling further when the dragon moved nearer and licked his face.

"I'm thinking. Don't distract me." He patted the dragon and wiped the saliva off his face.

Then, Ling continued his last thought. He realized that he could hunt successfully back in their village. It might be different since the 'mist' in the forest there was of life. Still, wouldn't it be the same as hunting? He only had to stay emotionless as he hunt and the beasts couldn't sense him. Maybe he could do the same with the will-o'-the-wisps too.

When Mayari returned, Ling and Maga had already finished eating their dinner, still sitting around the makeshift table, waiting for him. "What's your decision?"

"I have a plan. Can we practice? I don't think I could do as you said, suppress or not show my emotions indefinitely." Despite the supposedly disappointing statement, there was a bright look in the young ones' eyes.

Mayari just nodded, having an idea of what the boy has planned. Additionally, he also didn't want the kid to change his personality anyway.

After another thought, Mayari spoke again. "Let's stay here longer then. Afterwards, we could practice if you could move near a will-o'-the-wisp without getting detected. Later, we could go to another nearby desert in the mountains and there was a path there we could use to return to the port in Kanan Island." Looking at the time, he added, "But we'll start practice tomorrow. Children should sleep early."