Part 15; Evergreen and Silver; Through the Dark Folds

More about Part 15; Evergreen and Silver; Through the Dark Folds

After following the River of Allantuin for almost two hours, the children began to feel increasingly uneasy about their travels as they were suddenly entering a spot in the wood, strangely engulfed in so dense a mist, and so dark, that they could scarcely see two feet in front of them, and the trees seemed to be more closely spaced than any other place they had yet come to. On top of that, the fog presented an almost unbearably frigid chill, even colder than what they had experienced in the blizard. They stopped on the edge of the bog-like threshhold, unsure if they should continue further. The river beside them moved swiftly on, disappeared into the black mist.
"Well, is this the end?" Arani asked in a challenging tone.
"What do you mean?" demanded Kahle.
"I mean, are we just going to stand here petrified, are we going to turn back in defeat, or are we going to press on like proper adventurers and honorers of our appointed quest?"
Her friends were dumbfounded for a few moments, Kahle staring speechlessly into the unknown and Shaiya's eyes running hack up the river, with wistful eyes looking hopelessly toward the sun still rising in the sky, its comforting rays glistening upon the waters of the Allantuin, as if bidding the sight farewell. Then, she turned back to the next step of their journey.
Kahle glanced at Arani with a slight, decisive smile pulling at his lips, shrugged, and then took a brave step into the foggy abyss, his female companions close at his heels and leading a reluctant Sliver in tow.
As the three of them pushed forward, they could almost feel the trees and darkness closing in around them, the coolness of the mist encompassing their skin like blankets of ice.
Then, something remarkable happened, which shouldn't have surprised them too much, considering their recent experiences.
Kahle, still in the lead, had felt a tingling and shock-like flare in his hand and fingertips.
When he raised his right arm to see if something had touched him, he found his hand glowing with a beautiful light, which permeated straight from his fingertips and lit up his palm; a celestially green shine which radiated several feet in front of him, penetrating the darkness and mist so that they could see much about them, though there was little to see but trees in the first place, which were placed little more than a foot apart in some spots.
Arani and Shaiya's mouths fell open in astonishment but Kahle only grinned at them and they pushed on.
"Gee, what is happening?" Arani finally said. "First Shaiya calming the storm, now you bringing light straight from your fingertips. What'll happen next?"
"I don't know," said Kahle. "But I'd like to wait as long as possible before finding out."
"How does it feel like to have light coming from your hand?" Shaiya asked curiously.
Kahle simply chuckled and said, "How did it feel to have lightning coming from yours?"
Shaiya said nothing, so they trudged on in silence.