The Phoenix Act

Chapter 3 - An Unfortunate Encounter Chiyo tried to keep her wits about her as the two of them made their way through the forest, but it was proving to be somewhat difficult. The atmosphere had been growing even heavier and more oppressive over the last couple of hours, and she could not help but wonder if there was something more to it. It was as though something was deliberately trying to disrupt her connection to the divine, to block her ability to sense the world around her.

Chapter 2 - The Ruins of Home As the pair of them left the cave the change in atmosphere was immediately apparent, so that Alice felt as though she had been snuggled in a comfortable blanket that had suddenly been stripped from her. Fears that had lain dormant the night before began creeping in from the corners of her mind, and she could clearly skull-like faces of those skeletal creatures in her imagination. Her disposition was not helped by the fact that the day had dawned so overcast, and the sunlight was filtered through the heavy clouds, so that everything was bathed in a miserable grey light.