Whispers in Mana

2-a new world

Elliot stumbled from his position in the middle of the mud road. The weight of what this meant... To have confirmation of an alien world multiplied his already potent anxiety to unknown levels. This has to be a nightmare, he repeated the declaration over and over inside his head. However, to his dismay, the repeated mantra had no effect and was slowly morphing into resignation that was hollowing out his hope into an empty husk.

His surroundings remained the same–the cold, quiet, dank muddy road in the middle of an oppressive forest. Too bad he was faced with the indisputable evidence of the rain dotting his face and skin, the frigid wind that seemed to pierce his muscles down to the bone.

It was the type of weather, horrible and unrelenting, that generated its own pessimisms despite the tantalizing and curious prospects that suggested that he might've survived the incident of him being hit by a truck.

Illuminated by moonlight, the muddy road proved to be little more than a blank mud avenue between a thick and oppressive forest. Worn and thin wheel ruts showed the road saw regular traffic despite the wild landscape. There were also groups of recent footprints and holes churned by horse hooves that were quickly filling and becoming small pools of water.

To go along the theme of it being a road, he thought he noticed the remains of bare or varnished wood that might belong to a destroyed cart or carriage, the very one that had probably contributed to the wheel ruts running the center of the road. It was a detail that both confused and jostled his sensibilities given the knowledge that he was no longer on his own planet.

Further investigations showed there were various pieces of spoked, round wood, much of which looked like it could have belonged to a large wheel, similar to what he imagined would have been connected to a horse drawn cart or carriage.

However, what caught him off guard the most were the large lumps that littered the road. Illuminated by the increase in moonlight, he noted that the lumps were the bodies of dead animals. They were horses, and there had to be dozens of the poor creatures in various positions, their legs pointed in one direction or another, upside down or their heads twisted in an odd direction, burnt hair and seared horse flesh.

The stench was enough to singe his nostrils despite the wet, windy air. In either case, the conclusion of death was assured. No animal would lay still for that long without breathing. To cope with the nightmare presented before him, he tried to pretend the dead animals didn't exist.

Continuing the inspection revealed that many of the dead horses were still harnessed to pull carts, or what was left of them in that shattered state. It was similar to the other wooden structures noted earlier that were lining the side of the mud road. And there were other animals who were still equipped with saddles and tackle, which then drew his attention to the smaller corresponding lumps. It was the horses' former riders. Men. There were dozens of dead men littering the ground.

Elliot couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd never seen a dead body in real life, and yet here they were, dozens, laying face down in the mud or on their backs, unmoving and many showing obvious signs of trauma.

Crawling forward and crossing the muddy road, Elliot did his best to avoid the dead, choosing to give them a wide berth and even holding his breath on the chance that there could be a smell.

The few bodies he did notice wore an odd mix of clothing, leathers, soft simple boots, shirts, and pants. All of it, in his opinion, appeared to have come from a medieval festival. Leathers, wool, and rough cottons–none of it appeared to have any special coloring or dyes, and all of it looked handmade.

The weapons they carried were a mishmash of swords, spears, bows, and staves. Rugged, dirty appearances–it was difficult to be certain given they lay in mud beneath a constant and unrelenting rain, but many looked to have gone without bathing for some time. They had ratty hair, piercings, tattoos, and patched clothing.