Two weeks after seeing the edge of her new world and learning there were lives beyond it, Arianna had gotten used to many strange things that she was sure—memory or no—would have been considered unlikely, or even downright alarming, in her old life.

  For starters, food. Arianna did feel hunger, but no matter how little she ate, it was never a gnawing pain. Also, she was quite sure that if anyone else were to only eat a fistful of berries or a shriveled apple once every other day, they would be in such a state of malnutrition that they would not be functional. Yet, for Arianna, it seemed to be nothing more than a slight inconvenience.

  Even her animal companions seemed to have more trouble with it than she did. Though, if she were being honest, even they seemed to exist on less sustenance than should have been possible. Perhaps that was why they still lived, while just about everything else had died in this place. And, ever since their miraculous transformations, they seemed better than ever.

  Another observation made by Arianna? As the days went on, she seemed to need less and less sleep. She could sleep if she wished to... but it was hard, and she didn't feel drained when she couldn't manage it, nor did she feel refreshed when she did. Vilkas and Varnas slept every night, but she couldn't tell if it was a necessity or if they were like her and it was merely a habit of theirs.

  Perhaps the biggest observation was the strange-colored fog that rolled in at odd intervals. Vilkas and Varnas still avoided it every time, making sure that Arianna was rushed into the cave if they were out when it happened and keeping her there. The fog itself was clearly not natural, but neither was Arianna's reaction to it.

  At first nothing would happen, but three days after returning from their adventure to the edge of the dome, they were holed up in their cave—experiencing yet another fog incident—when she started to feel strange. It was like she was coming down with a slight cold. Still, she didn't think much of it at the time. She didn't even attribute it to the fog at first, thinking that it was probably brought on by living in a damp and moldy swamp. That would make anyone ill, right?

  By the time the sixth fog instance rolled around, she had become sure that it was due to the mists. Whenever they filled the swamps with their strange purple glow, she would get increasingly worse. Also, the strange illness had started to persist, even after the fog dissipated, leaving her shivering and feverish. Considering she seemed to now be an entity that no longer needed most of the basic necessities of living creatures, this reaction alarmed Arianna even further.

  As the days went on, she went out less and less. She stuck to the cave, curled up on what little the two large animals could find to make bedding out of. She wasn't in pain, per se, but she was lethargic, found breathing difficult, and her mind was often as foggy as the swamp itself. It was during this time that Arianna was most grateful for Vilkas and Varnas. Without their companionship, she may have sunk into despair.

   Vikas observed, watching his mistress slip in and out of a sleepless sort of unconsciousness over the last few days.

   Croaked Varnas. He had outgrown his old perch and now sat upon a boulder situated next to Arianna's bedding. As aloof and sardonic as the avian was most days, even he was stressed over the woman's state.

   Said Vilkas, pressing himself closer to Arianna. He felt a brief but intense rush of mana surge between them before it vanished.

  This seemed to happen every time either he or Varnas touched the girl while she was in this state. As spirit beings tied to Arianna, as their god, it was natural for mana to be constantly supplied from her to them. It was the tie that bound them together as master and servant and what made her their god and not some other being like the Witch. They lived and thrived off the magical energies provided by their mistress, needing nothing but that to exist.

  However, this was different. It was possible to consciously offer a burst of energy, of course... yet this felt very unintentional.

  "This could be a baseless guess..." started Varnas, red eyes locked on Arianna where she slept like the dead. A horrifying thought.

  "What?" Vilkas asked, confused. He was sure the bird knew this. Had his brain become addled at last?

  

  Vilkas shook his head. < Arianna didn't become a god till we were bound to her. She had already been affected by the mists before that too, remember?

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  

   Agreed, said the wolf. He refrained from pointing out that he hadn't believed that Arianna was sent to kill them, like the raven had.

  

  <-And we saw her slam into the dome. > Vilkas remembered, picturing how the dome had flashed just before Arianna appeared in the swamp.

  
  Yes, a raw, unprotected soul would have felt unimaginable pain touching such powerful divine magic like that. It should have been a cruel and violent end, worse than death.

  

  Understanding finally hit Vilkas, like a kick to the ribs. Are you suggesting that, in her desperation to live, Arianna forcibly absorbed the mana around her to construct a shell for her soul? >

   "Sighed Varnas," eyes slightly hooded as he thought.

  
  Core magic was a root magic. It was uncontrollable, mostly random, and exceedingly rare. It was a magic that occurred in the very soul of a creature, granted not by the gods but by a mixture of an entity's desperation and the universe itself. It was a thing that was beyond even the gods to control or explain. It was this magic that proved the gods were not all-knowing and infinite.

   continued the wolf, astounded. It would have been an unbelievable feat of magic.

  Varnas nodded.

  Surprised, Vilkas realized that he actually hadn't once seen Arianna have to urinate or defecate... Even he and Varnas needed to do this when the lack of a master meant they needed to eat to survive, having no mana provided to them any longer.

  Seeing his understanding, Varnas nodded.

  Alarm suddenly rang in Vilkas' heart.

  The dome was basically a balloon chalked full of dense and poisonously stale mana. Mana was sucked from beings like Vilkas and Varnas. It was the leftover mana of countless gods, all left to grow stale, fester, and condense in this small area. The mist was the visual manifestation of that. It was not a thing that normal mortals could withstand. It was an endless cycle in here: the dome drained their mana—their life—and condensed it, then the compressed mists overloaded the beings that survived the drain. Every time the fog grew stronger and more potent.

  These days there were little or no spirit creatures left alive, and those that were still barely clinging on had slipped into a kind of hibernation. Before Arianna arrived, he and Varnas were on the verge of slipping into this final sleep themselves.

   Vilkas thought out loud, a sinking feeling coming over him.

  Varnas nodded.

  
  

  Vilkas stood up and nodded. Varnas was right; it was only a temporary patch-up job, but they needed to buy time to think of a better plan. The more spirit beasts Arianna bonded to, the more of the mana she could funnel to them. It could be bad if she became too overburdened with spirits... but right now was not the time to think of that.

   said the wolf, shaking out his fur before butting heads affectionately with Arianna. A zing of mana coursed between them, and he hoped even that small amount eased some of her suffering.

   Groaned the bird, wings sagging in disappointment.

   Grinned the wolf, glad that the dire desperation of a moment before had been alleviated somewhat. It may be a temporary solution, but that was better than no solution at all.

  "No..." croaked the bird, looking annoyed.

  
  

  Vilkas shook his head.

  Varnas sighed.