There isn't any screaming that accompanies it, mercifully; there's just the sound of flames and the rush of wind around it as it takes in oxygen, but thankfully the area is open enough and the flames are sending enough light around the area for a few things to become apparent.
There's an exit to this chamber, just across from where you're standing; it's broad and looks decidedly more open than the mineshaft that you just left, though it seems there's something off about it as well - the walls are heavy with calcification, pouring thick and white down the side of the chamber like roots, like veins, like the last remnants of an area that's sick and dying but still doing its best to hold on. It doesn't look welcoming, but it's somewhere to go, somewhere that's possibly better than here given that it seems to be where the current airflow is coming in from.
There's also, however, the matter of the Shimmer itself.
Her grip is tight over her chest as she watches the tree burn; judging from the way her hand is twisting into the fabric of her dress, fingers digging into her chest, it seems almost as though she's in pain. She doesn't look away, however, just watching the fire, the tree, and her expression hasn't changed from the usual blankness; the odd pressure from earlier is back, only this time it's accompanied by sound - something harsh and grating, not unlike metal being scraped together, with a far lower frequency below it that can be felt in your chests. It varies in pitch, arching upwards in tone before dropping back down and bottoming out, only to start to rise up again, and doesn't seem to be originating from anywhere - not from her, not from the tree, not even from the chamber itself; it's just something that your body is intensely aware of, vibrating through your system and reverberating inside your skulls, and it echoes long after the sound itself stops, the sort of thing you aren't likely to be able to forget easily now that you've heard it.
She doesn't move; if she's noticed it at all, she doesn't seem affected. She simply remains where she is, her breathing heavy and pained, seemingly unable to look away from where the tree is being reduced to nothing but ash.]
I have done nothing to keep you here.
[Her words are quiet; you can hear them just the same. As though she's standing right next to you, regardless of where you are.]
I don't...want to harm you. If you continue like this, you have no one to blame but yourselves for what happens.
[And like that, she's gone; as it was before, she was there and then she quite simply wasn't anywhere.
There's enough airflow to make it obvious that you won't die if you stay here; whatever happens next is your decision.]
CONCLUSION.
There isn't any screaming that accompanies it, mercifully; there's just the sound of flames and the rush of wind around it as it takes in oxygen, but thankfully the area is open enough and the flames are sending enough light around the area for a few things to become apparent.
There's an exit to this chamber, just across from where you're standing; it's broad and looks decidedly more open than the mineshaft that you just left, though it seems there's something off about it as well - the walls are heavy with calcification, pouring thick and white down the side of the chamber like roots, like veins, like the last remnants of an area that's sick and dying but still doing its best to hold on. It doesn't look welcoming, but it's somewhere to go, somewhere that's possibly better than here given that it seems to be where the current airflow is coming in from.
There's also, however, the matter of the Shimmer itself.
Her grip is tight over her chest as she watches the tree burn; judging from the way her hand is twisting into the fabric of her dress, fingers digging into her chest, it seems almost as though she's in pain. She doesn't look away, however, just watching the fire, the tree, and her expression hasn't changed from the usual blankness; the odd pressure from earlier is back, only this time it's accompanied by sound - something harsh and grating, not unlike metal being scraped together, with a far lower frequency below it that can be felt in your chests. It varies in pitch, arching upwards in tone before dropping back down and bottoming out, only to start to rise up again, and doesn't seem to be originating from anywhere - not from her, not from the tree, not even from the chamber itself; it's just something that your body is intensely aware of, vibrating through your system and reverberating inside your skulls, and it echoes long after the sound itself stops, the sort of thing you aren't likely to be able to forget easily now that you've heard it.
She doesn't move; if she's noticed it at all, she doesn't seem affected. She simply remains where she is, her breathing heavy and pained, seemingly unable to look away from where the tree is being reduced to nothing but ash.]
I have done nothing to keep you here.
[Her words are quiet; you can hear them just the same. As though she's standing right next to you, regardless of where you are.]
I don't...want to harm you. If you continue like this, you have no one to blame but yourselves for what happens.
[And like that, she's gone; as it was before, she was there and then she quite simply wasn't anywhere.
There's enough airflow to make it obvious that you won't die if you stay here; whatever happens next is your decision.]