Divine Oracle (Part One)

The Earth Elemental Plane.

Everything was solid rock, soil, and stone.

The entire world resembled an underground realm, built of stone as far as the eye could see.

There were tunnels, fissures, and caverns winding through it.

Darkness filled this place. There was no sky, no sun, and the Earth Elemental Plane itself moved slowly, like thick batter.

Deep within the earth, a cocoon-like heart began to beat. Faint clusters of light started seeping outward...

While Romon sailed on as the fog cleared...

Far away, the Sea Behemoth had not simply awakened and sunk beneath the waves. That was not why the fog had vanished so suddenly.

A Sea Behemoth with its head smashed apart floated on the water, its blood staining the nearby sea red. Normally, a dead beast of this kind would have become a feast for marine life. But now there was hardly a living fish anywhere near it. They were all fleeing as fast as they could.

The earth trembled faintly. Invisible, imperceptible ripples spread outward.

In a distant forest, the small animals seemed to sense something. Whether grazing or running, they suddenly stopped and stood still, ears pricked as though listening intently.

A breeze swept in from one side of the forest, skipping over the tips of the grass and brushing past the treetops. It stirred the leaves and the branches of flowers and shrubs, setting them rustling.

The plants, too, seemed touched by some force. They behaved nothing like usual: some folded their leaves, while others burst into bloom all at once.

For a time, the forest held no sound but wind in the foliage. The air, however, filled with the mingled fragrances of countless plants, an intoxicating scent.

Before long, some of the forest's more advanced beings noticed the strange atmosphere.

"What's happening?