4th day of Nardunae, 1283
It had been two days since the Offensive Team had arrived at West Etnovale. Lord Andrew and Lord Fred, the leader of the second team of fieldworkers, submitted their collected report about the situation here at Red Savanna. We labeled it as dire and in need of immediate attention. As a response, a meeting was organized.
I was assigned to write a report about the meeting and later mail it to the Magisterium for safekeeping. The agenda of the meeting was to create a team that would explore the Red Savanna to see for ourselves the real cause of the Stecars’ strange behavior. Our friend, Edmio, firmly believed that there might be something that threatened the Stecars’ territory.
The original plan was to send all of us to investigate the Red Savanna, but it might be impossible considering what we have on our plate. Sending all of us to investigate will put the citizens of West Etnovale at risk. We couldn’t leave the palisade without a group of seasoned Leechers and Enhancers to help them.
In the meeting, it was decided that our group and Edmio’s Offensive Team would lead the investigation.
If this happened before I had my eyes on Stardust Disturbances, I might turn down the idea of being at the Red Savanna. I’ll give Lord Andrew myriads of reasons for him to let me stay behind. But right now, I am eager to join this mission… or if I may say, what I want is to satisfy my curiosity.
Our objective for this mission was to see for ourselves the truth behind the current phenomena.
The locals gifted us a map of Red Savanna. Though it was unfinished since most of Red Savanna was left unexplored. Commander Finn told us that he marked places where they usually saw groups of Stecars.
I do not know what we will find in that place. But I hope it will answer every question I have ever since I saw those dead birds in Limbes City.
Lord Mikkaelo Sarganse
5th day of Nardunae, 1283
Our exploration and investigation of Red Savanna would last for three days. When we told it to Commander Finn, the comber expression on his face had vanished like a dying plant that received its sunlight.
He prepared enough rations for us to last for six days. Our group decided to begin our journey two hours after we pushed back the last wave of Stecars.
Lord Mikkaelo Sarganse
5th day off Nardunae, 1283
The wind was chilly here at night. I am writing this letter as I sat close to the fire.
The Red Savanna looked almost similar to every grassland I visited during our missions as Fieldworker, except for one thing, the grass growing in this place was red, including the leaves of trees and the petals of every wildflower growing from the occasional shrubs that I saw along the way. It looked as if the plants were feeding on blood instead of water.
There may have been truth to the legend I heard a few years ago. During the Origin Eon, Sadwinae, the Celestial Saint of Command, had punished Ingro the Rebellious after his failed attempt to overthrow Nuwae and his Celestial Saints. The punishment that Ingro received for his insolence was cruel. He was buried alive with ropes on both of his hands and feet.
After centuries of being barren, grasses and trees sprouted on this empty land, and one thing was common among those plants—they all possessed a bright red color, similar to blood.
People who lived then believed that this was where Sadwinae buried Ingro, and the plant was also part of her punishment for him. But there’s a way for him to free himself from the Celestial’s cruel punishment.
“The curse can only be lifted if someone pours Sadwinae’s blood on Ingro’s casket.” That would free him from the enchantment the Celestial had put before sealing him.
From it, Ingru will rise again, but no one said what would happen afterward. If I were him, I might take revenge against Sadwinae. I almost chuckled while writing this since Sadwinae was long dead, or so what the myths had taught us to believe.
Using the map given to us by Commander Finn, we managed to explore two locations, but to no avail, we didn’t see any trace of them. We finally decided to build our camp after we finished our investigation on the second location, which was near a small lake.
Lord Andrew was still mad after I refused to heed his command, so he made me sentry. Captain Edmio also picks one of his men to be my partner for the night.
After building our camp, we spent an hour planning our objective for tomorrow’s exploration. When the informal meeting ended, Edmio had finally approached us as friends. This was something he didn’t manage to do since they arrived. We spent an hour reminiscing about our time as classmates at the Imperial University. Our conversation was comforting. It brought down the walls that grew among us through the years of separation.
We continued talking, shifting topics here and there; each of us was eager to bring up an embarrassing memory of the other. Little by little, the members of each party left to sleep until there was only me, Edmio, and the person he chose as a sentry whose name I forgot.
“Why did you do that? The last time?” Edmio asked me.
I only looked at him briefly before I started picking on the fire using a stick. The shadow of the flames danced on his face and cast a vibrant glow on his red hair.
After a long time, I just told him one thing. “I need to confirm something.”
Edmio chuckled and sat up. “You had always been curious. That is really like you Mikkel-ishi. When I heard Andrew-ishi shouting from afar, the awkward feeling I felt before arriving here vanished from witnessing that bickering. It made me realize that you are all still the same people I met at the University.”
Hearing him putting -ishi on the first two syllables of our first name made me smile. The suffix -ishi is only used by people who could identify themselves as two persons having a romantic relationship. But this was Edmio we’re talking about. I do not know when it all began, but he started putting -ishi to everyone’s name for some reason. Lord Andrew thought he was in love with someone and that he didn’t want us to know who she was.
“Why will you even be awkward to us?”
I asked him, though I clearly knew the reason behind his anxiety. He still thinks he somehow betrayed us for choosing to be on the Offensive Team. When we were still studying, we promised to ourselves that the five of us would work together as Fieldworkers. But months before our graduation, Edmio told us he applied for the Offensive Team. We were childish then, and our group was soon divided after he and Angelo fought. Edmio somehow blamed himself after the group drifted apart.
I don’t hold any grudge against him now. Looking back at it right now, I realize how immature we were back then—to grow up means to grow away from each other, or so what this philosopher I knew said. Edmio doesn’t need to blame himself for what happened back then, especially the problem between Angelo and us. It was Angelo who cut us from his life. But I always thought that he was bound to leave us. Angelo was meant for great things. But he does not have the guts to tell us he wants to pursue another path. Edmio pulled the last straw for his decision. He became a good reason for Angelo to justify his own decision, a scapegoat. I felt conflicted toward Angelo. I felt bad for him, but at the same time, I wanted to punch him! That goody-two-shoes!
I looked back and saw that he was already sleeping. In the silent and boring hours that followed, I decided to busy myself with writing this entry. I couldn’t help but remember our days as classmates where the only problem we got was how we could pass the next test or get that girl’s attention from the next class. I felt melancholic as I thought about it, especially when I realized what we were doing right now. For some reason, I felt we were bound to discover something significant in this investigation.
Lord Mikkaelo Sarganse
