The northeastern wind eerily howled at an unnatural speed as Verbena continues to follow Ahsa's wagon eastward across the wasteland. Celia felt the tailwind, then glanced behind her. "There's a storm coming," she noted the oncoming wall of clouds in the distance behind them.

'Let's hope to get to Ahsa's house before it arrives,'Verbena stated as she glanced into the white haze ahead of them. After a brief second, her head jerked slightly in surprise at the proximity of the previously-assumed distant mist. 'That fog is advancing on us,' The dragonet hesitated as her hair stood on end, 'I do not like this at all.' She shuttered slightly.

Celia frowned a bit as she felt goosebumps rose on her arms under her dense clothing. "I do not like this either," she glanced down, then watched as the perplexing vapor swallowed the cart below them. "We need to fly lower, I lost sight of Irin and Xan in the haze, and without Ahsa as a guide, we will become lost."

In response, Verbena looked down to the obscured expanse and swiftly descended into the unknown. She roared into the blind expanse and hoped Irin could hear her from their position on the ground.

Verbena's ears perked as Irin's roar resonated through the mist. Though the haze obscured the sound, it was the only clue she had to follow. She tilted her wings and glided towards the sound.

"How is the wind still howling, yet the fog is still so dense?" Celia mumbled to herself as a tremor ran up her spine.

Verbena briefly flapped her wings in an attempt to clear a bit of the opaque mist, but the minimal effect only lasted a brief moment before the mass of suspended water vapor swallowed the space. 'Irin!' She barked again.

'Are you all right?' Irin's mental voice entered Celia's mind as he gave a low verbal crumble in response to Verbena's call. 'Ahsa has used her magic to clear a sphere that the fog cannot enter. This haze seems dangerous and eerie.'

'We can tell this is mysterious,' Verbena admitted as she rushed toward the sound, then finally emerged into the space Irin mentioned. 'Finally,' she sighed in relief as she kept up with the cart. Thankfully, Ahsa had made the sphere of clear air just large enough for the airborne dragonet to continue to fly just above him.

Celia glanced up to the close proximity of the dense mist a mere arm-length above her head. After a pause, the human looked to Ahsa, "do you happen to know anything about this fog?"

Ahsa looked ahead with a far-away glaze to her eyes. "Yes," she admitted, "the nomads have many legends of this fog and what happens to those that wander into it without protection." She paused and closed her eyes, then opened them and looked to Celia. "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

Celia nodded without hesitation. "Yes, I want to know. I want to learn more about the land beyond my homeland. I have already heard the few legends we have, and I have learned through my quest that the world I grew up in is tiny compared to the vast landscape." A small smile formed on her face.

"I understand your point of view," Ahsa admitted as she looked back ahead to the quadruped ice beast pulling the cart, "I try to learn what I can from beyond the border of black mist. "The nomadic tribes have a few different stories about this mist, but most of them are similar, so I will give you a rough amalgamation of the stories they have told me, and my own experience with this mist." The magic user took a deep breath, then began to tell the indigenous tales of the mist that surrounded them.

"According to the stories, this mist is the spirit of a dragon named "Light Mist" that once protected the land it owned with its magic. Some say the white creature was massive, while others make no mention of its size, but they all agree it bore a white coat that shimmered like mist as it moved. It loved to stay invisible and lead those that entered its territory into blind circles until they became so lost and discovered they arrived where they had started at the border.

"One day, the dragon encountered a young, beautiful woman with the name that translates to "Wispy Cloud" The dragon fell in love with the woman for her beauty and kindness. While he watched from afar, the white creature allowed her to freely wander his homeland and never caused her to become lost.

"Soon, Light Mist decided to reveal himself to Wispy Cloud in the hopes that he could perhaps convince her to stay with him. The dragon had a massive hoard of wealth in metals and jewels. He could also provide safety from both animals and invaders. Light Mist believed his offerings would be acceptable to her and her family.

"To his delight, the youthful lady, though initially scared, calmed down and began to visit more often. Even she began to feel emotions towards the stunning dragon and his gentle, though slightly mischievous ways. She thought of the creature as even more intelligent than the males of her tribe and the other clans. Eventually, she also accepted Light Mist's proposal and ran to her family to tell them the news.

"However, none of her kinsmen approved of the arrangement. Her father was especially opposed to the idea. He banned Wispy Cloud from entering the dragon's lands, but she still managed to occasionally sneak away into Light Mist's land and visit him. Her father was not happy when he discovered his daughter had been constantly sneaking out of the camp and disobeying his orders.

"When his daughter still refused to refrain from visiting Light Mist, the father concocted a plan to slay the beast. He pretended to come around to Wispy Cloud's pleading and made plans to meet the dragon.

"However, his plans included a dangerous magical spell that he would use to kill the dragon so it could no longer entice Wispy Cloud. In his mind, Light Mist had used his magic to cause Wispy Cloud to fall in love with him. In the father's mind, destroying the dragon with magic was a form of justice, even if the spell was dark magic that was banned among his people.

"When he finally met the dragon, the father took the first chance he had and launched the spell and pierced the dragon through the heart. The dragon collapsed and the light disappeared from his eyes. Light Mist died.

"Wispy Cloud was devastated and tears flowed down her cheeks like a river. However, her crying did not last long as the dark magic once again sprang out of the father's fingers and engulfed Wispy Cloud. Soon, she was also dead as well.

"The man forgot something in the formation of his plan: dark magic comes at the cost of something near and dear to the user, nothing was more dear to the man than his daughter. The man recognized his mistake and fell to his knees, but the deed was done and nothing could bring his beautiful daughter back to life.

"However, the sorrowful tears shed caused a tiny bit of Light Mist and Wispy Cloud's and spirits to remain on this plane. Their spirits intertwined and became the spirit of the fog. They wander the lands together Those who enter the fog become lost and rarely return, but those who pause and watch the small swirls can see the beauty hidden in the mist.

"Some believe the swirls are Wispy Cloud and Light Mist dancing together, while other tribes believe it is simply Wispy Cloud's beauty shining through Light Mist's mischievous nature."

When she finished, Ahsa looked to Celia as the human rider blinked and refocused on the real world. "That is an interesting story," Celia admitted.

"Do you believe the story is true?" Xan suddenly piped up from the back of the cart, "it seems pretty far-fetched to me. There is no way a bunch of mist is even remotely sentient. It makes no sense."

"Is it as far fetched as saying someone used magic to steal the sun?" Ahsa remarked, "though I am unsure if all of it is true, many old legends ring with truth, or at least started as a true event distorted and changed over time. If you were in the mist, you would sense that it holds ancient magic. Even those born without magic can feel it, but I have shielded us from the mist.

"Verbena and I felt something strange in the mist while we were up there," Celia spoke. "I am unsure if it was magic since I have limited experience with it, but we definitely felt something."

Xan paused and glanced around to the white fog that surrounded them. Though he was still doubted the presence of any magic in the mist, he at least believed in the mysterious nature of the mist.

Suddenly, they emerged from the opaque haze and into the clear air. Celia glanced back to the wall of white behind them. "We are out," she breathed a sigh of relief, then looked to Ahsa. "Are we still on course? We are not lost, right?"

"My ice horse can't get lost. It will always walk straight to our destination," Ahsa assured with a smile on her face. "All I have to worry about is making sure we do not run into anything. The construct corrects the path afterward if you are worried about my changes getting us lost." She looked to Celia and Verbena, you two can go back up into the sky for now since we are now out of the fog. We should be at my home soon, and then you can land and rest."

Verbena nodded in understanding, then flapped her wings a few times and rose back into the sky.