The Dawn of the New World

Four days later another barbarian came forward complaining about the loud whistling and banging noises. When asked, he said the noise was coming from the floor and the ceilings.

At this point, Burak told Hao Xuan about everything that was going on.

Hao Xuan did some investigation on his own and upon checking the first barbarians living area found some symbols etched into the wall. There was dried blood and bits and pieces of fingernails embedded into the symbols. He had written it with his bare hands.

Hao Xuan didn't recognize the words but Burak did. It was one line in their language being repeated over and over again but, the most peculiar thing was that it was carved upside down and in the reverse order.

They looked like a reflection from a mirror, which reminded Hao Xuan of the mirror dimension.

He told Burak and Isak about it as well, reminded them about what it might mean.

"Then can he still be alive?" Burak asked after a moment of contemplation.

"Maybe, I'm not sure," Hao Xuan answered full of uncertainty with no small amount of fear mixed in.

"Can...you help us look?" Burak asked hesitantly, giving Hao Xuan no choice but to accept. It would only strain their relationship more if he declined which would problematic since they would still be there for a few more months at least.

But this time Isak and Burak went with Hao Xuan, along with Tasgall even though he still had quite a few reservations about this plan.

So they picked one of the tunnels that had been explored the most and followed it down into the mountain.

It took them nearly 16 hours to reach a spot that had not yet been disturbed by any of the others.

If Hao Xuan had any doubt before, it was gone the moment he peered into the howling abyss that blocked their path. The strange yin Qi that was present all around them made them feel like this was a dream.

The majority of the tunnels all ended on this same exact side and standing on it made it look like a cliffside.

If they were currently standing in the physical world, on THEIR world, then what was in front of them was something unnatural, something that should not exist here.

Giant pieces of black rocks ranging from 1-2 meters to all the way up to a hundred meters and more floated in front of them. At first it looked like they were floating on nothing but air but upon a closer inspection, Hao Xuan noticed something below them.

The sound of splashing water reached his ears when a small pebble loosened and fell from where they were standing. It was a liquid of some kind and there was so much of it that they couldn't even see any of the other sides.

The liquid itself was so wickedly dull that not even their own reflections could reflect off of its surface. No, it would better to say that it simply did not let anything escape it.

"Look!"

Burak pointed ahead as a yellow light shone from somewhere in the distance. Hao Xuan narrowed his eyes, focusing his vision as far as it would go when finally he saw where it was coming from. There was a huge landmass floating on the dark sea, some 3-4 kilometers away.

And there were dozens of buildings on top of it. It looked like a small city from the looks of it and the lights could only mean there was somebody living there as well.

"How do we get to it?" Isak asked, "We don't," Hao Xuan answered.

It was a simple gut feeling, a sixth sense, and a mixture of instincts all mixed together that warned him not to leave the land. It was not a matter of ifs or buts. If it was doable, but how?

Every grain of dust on his body warned Hao Xuan that if he were to ever step into that sea, there would be no coming back from it.

"Whatever it is, we have no business with it," Hao Xuan said before turning around.

It was good to be fearless in battle but more often than not, fear was your mind's way of warning you of the danger ahead, or in this case an impending doom. Although it might strain their relationship, Hao Xuan simply refused to go forward.

The party returned to the surface in silence and the barbarians made another plan to try and rescue their brother. The concept of abandonment or 'leaving' one of their own behind simply did not exist in their language.

Unless they knew for sure that he was dead, they would not stop even if it cost them their lives, something Hao Xuan found quite foolish even if it came from a good place.

The plan was to cut down trees from the forest outside to create small rowing boats that could hold two people each and be carried all the way down through the tunnels.. But before they could bring this plan to life, the second barbarian also disappeared.