0... all of the Northern Mountains are just hollowed of their spirit juice?"

“No, if that were the case then the demons would not be able to field their corrupted orc armies. Though they might have warped the wretched things beyond recognition, the northern orcs were still a part of this world and the life force runs in them as in you and me. The blackened earth of those mountains is merely a partial transference. Shifting the nature of the Land itself so that it may be leeched of its life whilst still sustaining the orcs who inhabit it."

's there any way to reverse this shift?

“That... is a conversation for another day. I sense the pull of a hollowed place in front of us. Goddess, it is strong. Take care, and do as I ask of you without hesitation." Valise Lifted her arm to show the line Talina should not cross as the dark clearing came into view.

In the night, it had carried a sort of allure. The eerie green Light had cast an enchanting glow despite its foul nature. In the Light of day, the place looked almost horrifying. The charred rock in which the pool was situated stood at the centre of an ebon field of death. A circle of brown decay surrounded the black, hollowed earth as the devouring nature of that emptiness consumed the life around it. At a mere close proximity to a few fallen leaves and the handprint they had discovered, Talina had felt a disturbing unease. Now, that sensation amplified to the point where she could feel exactly what Valise was speaking of. The blackened land carried a strange pull toward a deep wintery cold. That chill was more than a mere shudder-inducing sensation, and plunged past the Lowest temperatures toward oblivion itself.

Valise reached into her white robes and pulled two glass vessels from within the fabric. One was a modest handful, and the other a much smaller thimble-sized glass. The larger of the containers held a sky-blue concoction that carried a pleasant glow to it as if Valise had somehow bottled a summer sky. The other, smaller glass was merely filled with a clear Liquid.

Carefully, Valise removed the stoppers from each glass and then poured the smaller potion into the Larger one. She then placed her thumb over the end of the bottle and shook it forcefully for a moment before shoving the stopper back in and hurling the glass container across the field. It smashed upon the side of the blackened plinth, and the Liquid inside immediately began to radiate with its own Light that seemed to soak into the earth.

Talina lifted her hand to shield her eyes as the light grew ever brighter despite the hungry Land clearly devouring its energy. Though the foliage clearly remained dead, it took on that sky-blue colouring of the potion and began to spread out through the hollowed out flora from where the Liquid had fallen. The strange colouring served to show where it was safe, sating the hungry darkness from the dead foliage. It lasted until the ground around the pool was entirely blue, though the aura of decay that surrounded it wasn't saved, it looked oddly pretty.

“It doesn't feel as if it's trying to suck my soul juice up anymore,” Talina observed before taking a tentative step forward.

"The balance of energy has been restored." Valise nodded with satisfaction.

“What was in that potion?"

“A relatively simple concoction designed to produce light, amplified with a concentrating agent. The energy of the light was consumed by the hollowed earth, and the balance made right once again. It will no

‘longer-""

She was interrupted by the noise of something that sounded like liquid rapidly being brought to the boil. Both women turned to look at the pool itself, and saw the green-tinged water churning angrily.

“Ah... I was worried that might happen,” Valise paused with a disturbingly apprehensive expression.

“Worried what might happen?" Talina crouched slightly, bracing herself for any unexpected catastrophes

“In the worst possible case, we might have just accidentally summoned an arch-demon."

“Wel? You're the one glowing-up the forest here, Valise! What do we do?"

"I'LL need a sample of that Liquid in the pool if I'm going to be able to get any evidence that Wren is the one who created it. Then I'd say it needs to be destroyed."

"I am entirely behind the second part of that plan. I don't think the liquid wants to cooperate with the first part." Talina watched the bubbling water begin to steam before their eyes.

“Here, quickly now." Valise offered Talina an empty vial, and another small one filled with a blood-red potion. "Get the sample, and then pour the contents of the red glass into the pool. Then run as fast as you can in the opposite direction."

“What about you?"

“I'm going to have to speak with it."

"You're what! 7"

‘No time to argue the matter, dear one. Now hid With strength that Talina would have thought the slender woman incapable of, she shoved her friend back behind a gnarled tree. Day then turned into night, and the green pool glowed with power once again. As the Light grew ever brighter, Valise lurched forward whilst wrapping her arms around her stomach. For a moment it seemed as if she might vomit, and then instead she was hoisted up from her feet by an invisible power and held up in the air. Her arms were wrenched to spread out from her body, and she spasmed from the base of her spine to her shoulders. It looked almost as if she was reacting to someone running a razor blade along her central nervous system.