The sudden assault on Eshalu's senses brought about by the terrifying vision - not, not a vision, but a rush of corrupt energy - snapped her out of her trance. She dropped her shortsword and found the blood staining its edge had become black like tar. This was an ill omen. The Great Mother could still hear her and that brought comfort, but there was a force at work on the island beyond her understanding. The spirits here were malevolent. Not just capricious or hungry or vengeful - for that was to be expected of spirits in her own homeland - but hostile to life.<br/><br/>Eshalu's heart hammered with a mixture of fear and anguish. It was unnatural not to be able to commune fully with the Great Mother. She rose and briskly washed her face again with cold water. That distanced the lingering sensation of corruption for the moment.<br/><br/>She carefully washed the crescent-moon shaped blade of her shortsword, dried it with a hemp cloth and then oiled the weapon again. She sheathed it in its scabbard and decided that she needed to fetch Aeryn. She had to tell the naturalist that something wasn't wrong on the island, but something was wrong<em>with</em>the island itself.