"You come across a partially-collapsed tower, perilous but possible to climb. After spirals and spirals of half-eaten stone steps, you make it to the roof. Over the top of the parapet, the entire battlefield is visible, and the wreckage is more vast than you had ever imagined. You cannot see a patch untouched. How do you feel when confronted with the true scope of the destruction?"

---

They had returned; ready and more prepared to see why the Moor of Sleep could be both rife with treasures and souls of the lost.

Fetch had tried to prepare the young knight with words- but action always served as a superior teacher. Where the ether usually had typical gear, a shield, leather strappings, maybe light armor- here she wore something heavier and at her side a bow with a quiver. An odd choice for a hooved beast, typically... had Fetch not brought her true abilities as a dungeon-born to light.

Ethereal limbs joined her; allies in making sure the dappled courser could survive the Moor. They provided her a weapon of distance and in making that choice a warning was clear.

Keep the creatures of the Moor far; do not engage unless one is forced to.

So in following Fetch for as long as he had, Kalim took this hint of wisdom in stride. His steps would be cautious and his eyes sharp; the knight would keep his bayonet raised and a torch lit. He would allow no shadows at his heel.

"Fetch... should we scope out the Moor first?" The bay courser raised his ears, head nodding towards a tower that settled at the end of a stone bridge. It looked dangerous, but the rubble collapsed around it might hold fast. "That looks like it would make for a good vantage point, you believe?"

The dungeon-born raised her head, studying it briefly before offering a nod of agreement.

"I do... but steel yourself for what you are about to see Kalim," she warned.

Confusion crossed the knight's features, but he would not take the warning lightly. He held it close in his chest as he moved to approach the tower, steel shoes clicking against the ancient stone as he began his ascent. While he wanted to think about what he might see once he scaled the tower, he was instead forced to hold his attention on what he could see. Forced to keep each stride upward steady and sure; careful.

... It felt like an eternity had passed, climbing that tower.

But once he finally ascended all his wonderings left his mind; now he had a greater understanding of Fetch's warning.

It was nightmarish.

Where one might expect towers or walls there were instead impossibly large pyres; steel warped around long abandoned marrow. What looked to be a field of red flowers was instead a wave of red feather fletching that swayed against some dark breeze that had no origin. The few beasts that prowled amongst the battlefield either seemed lost, like a soul uncertain, or gnashed their teeth against bones- hungry.

At one point something dark even settled its gaze on Kalim; a shadow that turned to face his exact vantage on the tower...

Kalim couldn't tell if it was a warning... or the beginnings of a hunter looking down what it might prowl after should the courser risk walking the battlefield.

The bay felt heavy in his chest, so heavy that his heart felt like it could sink into the barrel at any second.

After an eternity Fetch joined Kalim's side, the ether courser and the ethereal hands had arrows at the ready as they ascended.

Just in case.

"I see why you warned me Fetch," Kalim spoke but never looked away from the sight below, "Could have said a little more though."

"Words never work," The dungeon-born replied, "I think it better your eyes speak for me."

An understandable answer.

Then something caught Kalim's eye; a spirit of ghostly blue straddled by something darker seemed to be wandering the field.

... They were not there before.

"Hey, Fetch-" The knight's tone held a question as curiosity raised his brow, "That's the ghost of a courser, isn't it?"

The ether glanced down, nodding in agreement once she saw the spirit. "It is."

"Why are they carrying a human spirit...?" The bay's face contorted in more confusion as they watched the below, bewildered the longer they looked over the type of gear the courser wore. Some of it was seemingly made to accommodate the ghost on its back; a show of nonsense, to him anyhow.

"It would be no fun for me if I offered direct answers to every curious mind," Fetch responded, her blue eyes settling on the curious specters below.

Kalim couldn't tell if she was being cheeky, withholding the truth.

Or maybe she truly didn't know and was only trying to save face.

Maybe.

"Alright then, if no answers then might I ask for your wisdom?" Kalim asked, brown eyes finally turning to face Fetch. Something heavy, but resolved in his tone. Fetch had not heard this from the knight before.

The ether courser raised a brow, curious.

"What would happen if we tried to cross the Moor?"