God of Discovery [high fantasy, slow build, mlm]

Northern lands, part 1

Everything was covered in blood. The snow around the pillar was soaked in it, the steps leading to their camp and beyond it were a road of crimson on white, and all of their boots were stained up to their knees and beyond as the entire group trudged away from the still-sinking pillar.

But it was not blood.

D'Argen twisted his hand around where the grey stains had yet to dry into the cracks of his skin. The shade was exactly like that of fresh blood. The stickiness was the same too. But, for some reason, it refused to dry and harden and darken.

"You touched your face again," Yaling said from beside him.

D'Argen flinched and went to touch his face to find the source until he realized Yaling was not talking to him. No. She took a ripped piece of cloth, licked it, and then used the wet end to rub harshly against Abbot's cheek. The artist did not even bother to grimace. With D'Argen's inability to see colour, he could not see the dark grey stains on Abbot's dark skin. At least, he would not if they were actually blood and dried. He still saw their shine, slightly different from Yaling's spit where she tried to clean the artist.

"Ugh, when are we making camp?"

D'Argen turned to look at the source of the question only to find a small group of mortals trudging beside him. They were slow, their steps heavy, and their frames hunched. They looked tired. A glance past them, ignoring the responses from the others in the group, revealed that almost everyone was walking that slowly.

Even Haur, so intent on getting them as far away from the pillar, was walking as if wading through water. D'Argen felt the weight of the pillar as if it was inside him, trying to stop him from leaving. It was a contradiction that made his head hurt and he stopped walking. Yaling and Abbot continued ahead as if they did not notice him. Lilian did and made sure to turn around and stare at him even as they continued walking away. They took a few steps back before turning around—too swift compared to everyone else in their line—and skipped a few steps to catch up to Yaling and Abbot.

D'Argen waited to be level with Haur and Nocipel before he started walking again.

"Are you alright?" the runner asked.

Nocipel glared at him. She was clearly being affected as well though trying to hide it. Haur only grunted in reply. The three were at the back of the group now, no longer a single column since they were on solid ground. Thar still led them at the front, his mahee opened so wide that even so far back D'Argen could feel it.

"Not yet," Haur finally said, what felt like hours later but was probably only a few minutes. He sounded so tired. "I still feel it."

"We started feeling it days before we saw it," Nocipel responded with a growl in her voice that revealed how annoyed she was at the entire situation. "We have to make camp."

"We are still too close." Haur shook his head.

D'Argen looked back and he could see the black line of the pillar. It was still too wide. It would still be easy for someone to reach it and come back. If they came back.

"When the sun falls," Haur finally announced his decision.

D'Argen nodded and walked faster, passing the message along to his usual three companions and then moving even further ahead of the crowd and to where Thar was leading.

Thar's response was a hum. It was hard to figure out if it was in agreement or not though because he was frowning and his eyes were squinted as he scanned the horizon in front of them.

The winds were gentle, the sky was free of clouds, and the sun was shining bright on them all. The sharp contrast between the bright blue of the sky against the white of the ground created a straight line on the horizon that they were walking toward. When D'Argen felt the scents of oil and dew around him as Lilian and Abbot talked, he closed his eyes and breathed in the cold.