As soon as she stepped out of the temple, Anna immediately sensed the Æther had changed. Outside, cosmic energies were swirling and weaving into a complex lattice, both through the earth and across the sky. Her Sight took some time to adjust to the shift in intensity.
Still, she didn't need her power to realize she was standing on a mountain. The moment she set foot outside, she was struck by the warm blast of the foehn. She stood at the top of a massive carved staircase, in front of the entrance of a colossal structure hewn directly into the mountainside. Built in a Greco-Venetian style, Kalypso's temple rose majestically along the cliff, like a guardian watching over the forest.
Vegetation still clung to the base of the buildings. Mostly wildflowers, bushes, and alpine grass. A few resilient conifers lined the lone path leading above the snow line. Some had even grown straight through the stone-shingled roofs. Anna figured they must've been planted in the courtyards centuries ago. Now, they ruled the land.
It was hard to tell where the temple ended and the mountain began. Some Doric columns seemed to rise directly from rock and shrub, their tops merging seamlessly into the cliff face. The ruins of annexed buildings were connected to the temple by aqueducts, of which only the piers remained.
Most of the site was troglodytic. A large portion nestled within a hollow beneath a waterfall. Inside that niche lay the crumbling remnants of old mountain homes. Anna scanned the area with her power, but even with the Sight, she detected no signs of life.
No human soul. No animal presence. Her only clue toward civilization: the hundreds of steps descending into the forest. Anna decided it was time to go down.
Before leaving, she took a moment to fill a large leather gourd she had found in the priest's bag. It seemed to have kept special properties, despite its age, as it held an impressive amount of water. One less thing the female traveler had to worry about.
Her steps were timid at first, but grew steadier as she ventured deeper into the primeval forest. The conifers soared thirty meters high. Anna had never seen trees this tall on Earth. Perhaps such giants once existed before humans cut them all down.
It was amusing, being able to walk without a cane. Not only did she have her power, but she had sharpened her other senses over the past three years. Her hearing was particularly acute, and her sense of smell quite developed.
She inhaled the scent of fresh humus, with notes of hazelnut and green pine. Her Sight couldn't tell her whether it was day or night, but the sun on her face could. It warmed the top of her head, meaning it was probably midday.
A beastly roar tore through the skies. Anna instantly dove behind the foliage. Overhead, the nearby fluxes began to condense into a massive vortex of energy. The chaotic storm made it impossible to recognize the shape of the beast inside.
The mass grew, distorting the Æther in its wake. The thing must have been extremely powerful to divert the cosmic energies in this way, the same energies Anna instinctively feared to explore.
Anna held her breath. Another roar, closer this time, caused a tremendous gust. The woman's body slid several meters across the ground. The massive creature streaked across the sky and vanished almost immediately after.
Stunned, Anna wiped the cold sweat from her neck. She hadn't gotten a look at the beast. Its mana was far too dense and unreadable. But she would never forget its color and texture. Pure like gold, burning like magma.
'A dragon?' she wondered.
She didn't dwell on it, and cautiously resumed her journey.
---
Anna followed the path for several hours. Only when the forest of giant pines gave way to a mixed woodland did signs of life begin to appear in her Sight.
She also noticed that the Mist surrounding the temple had vanished, replaced by another. The difference was immediately clear. The temple's Mist had carried a comforting, familiar presence. Its medicinal scent reminded her of the Goddess. She had already noticed its diminishing presence when she left the temple.
She wondered if the veils of Æther represented the domains of deities. Perhaps the Mist around the temple belonged to Kalypso. And this new Mist was a sign she had entered another's territory. But all of that would remain mere theories until she found some proof or some peers to confirm them.
Here, the air had grown cooler, and the smell of rain was thickening. Around her, several small mammals scattered as she passed. Some looked vaguely like Earth animals, while others were strange, almost bizarre.
Then she felt them: two human presences, just at the edge of her perception.
At first, she considered approaching them, but changed her mind. Kalypso had explained the terrestrial origins of the Asurians. Judging by Earth's myths, as well as the presence of Asuras in Hindu mythology, this civilization had likely existed for at least several centuries.
Humans loved to multiply. The first native-born must have appeared generations ago. And their descendants had probably developed their own cultures, maybe several. In such a case, what guaranteed they wouldn't be hostile to her?
Of course, the parents of these natives had also been dimensional travelers. It was likely this constant incoming migration was part of Asurian society. But humans remained a complex and contradictory race. Who knew what ideologies had spread across the planet?
Anna didn't like taking unnecessary risks. She had seen too many movies and read too many comics where newcomers paid the price for their pride. So she kept her distance and observed.
She had been following a very stable branch of the Flux, which gave her a hundred meters reach, all the way to the human duo. The two men possessed different kind of energies. The taller one radiated like a typhoon of metallic air, while the one close to her own height released a water-like translucent aura.
Both stood still, waiting in a grove. After studying them, the athlete scanned their surroundings and finally noticed they were not alone.
She swallowed hard at the third presence, with nothing human about it. The biped with a gorilla-like body had massive bear claws on all four limbs, and a small head at the end of a long neck. A pointed snout peeked out from under a thick mane, that fell like a huge mop in front of its opaque eyes.
The surrounding Æther gathered inside a jewel in the middle of its forehead, and radiated pure energy. The gem fascinated Anna and terrified her at the same time.
The beast had hidden itself in a tree, about thirty meters away from the two men. It waited, motionless like a branch, surely ready to pounce.