After 15 minutes of struggling atop the crusader's captain shoulder, Eve is finally placed upon the ground. She paid little attention to her surrounding, wanting be set freed, and so, found herself surprised to be placed on an open area underneath the glow of the moon and stars. Encircling her were large boulders and half-cut logs, arranged haphazardly to form a rudimentary eating area. Close to her was a fire pit with a makeshift stand containing an assortment of cooking pans and skillets.
What was cooked was nothing fancy. It was mere gruel but to the poor, rugged Eve, it was enough to make her mouth water. The captain nods at the chef at the station, who hands him an already predetermined portion for him and Eve to eat. The still armored man hands Eve her portion, on a wooden plate, and gesture her to follow him to a seat to begin eating.
Instead of doing that, Eve just drops her plate on the floor and begin eating on the ground with her bare hands. There was a hidden innocence to her act, reminiscing of a feral, small cat, especially her frail, skinny build. Her movements were quick and deft, leaving behind small drops of food on the ground.
The captain shakes his head and quickly raises her plate, an act disagreed upon by Eve who reaches up and attempts to stop her flying food. Eve looks at him, her pupils dilated, and her eyes gleaning in tears, which were threatening to spill over.
"Come on, kid. There's no need to eat like that," he reprimands, with the men nearby chuckling to themselves and whispering conspiracies of the child upbringing. Eve even begins to jump up at him, in an attempt to reach her much deserved food. He lets her attempt to chase after it while walking to a nearby seating area with less men nearby.
Once there, he sits down and motions her to do the same. Eve responded by sitting on the cold hard dirt instead. "Come on, Hansen. Just give the poor lass her grub. Her much beloved grub. Reminds me of my dog" one of the men nearby speaks to the captain with mirth in his eyes. Letting out a sigh, the captain, Hansen, relents and gives her the plate along with a spoon.
He did try to tell her to eat with a spoon, an advise that was much ignored as the child immediately chows down with her hands instead.
"Your dog? That's a child, you bastard" Hansen reprimanded his fellow, "I mean, she even reminds me of my own daughter!". The man only responded with a singular eyebrow raised before Hansen continued. "Don't look at me like that! You know I'm well enough to afford a table!", tells Hansen, defending himself from the sin of inflicting such a terrible mood debuff. He lets out a sigh, tired after a long day of fighting, and an even longer time on campaign. "Maybe it's a cultist thing. Who knows?" Hansen finally surrenders.
Eve was finishing up her food, even licking the plate cleanly. She quickly rubs her face of offending particulates of food, cleaning her hands clean, with her tongue starting to taste slightly of dirt and mud. As she eats, she curled her body up, making it smaller. She loathes to be seen by the others here, and she wants nothing more to disappear from these unfamiliar people, and the strange environment that she's in.
As the campfire flickers, it casts a long shadow on everyone's back. On Eve's back in particular, two set of eyes sprouted, glowing dimly in the eerie darkness. The darkness around her deepening, and shifting as if coming to life. A wide grin opens up beneath the two pairs of eyes, as dark tendrils start to smoke, and weave into life surrounding Eve. The air grows heavy and Eve's knees become heavier as whispering began to sound in her ears.
"Eve... Finally a name... The child of dusk," a whisper reaches her ears, "These men don't have the best of intentions. Much like those who you previously knew...".
Eve's heart began to pound loudly in her chest, her mind feeling as if it were being torn apart and shredded into finer and finer pieces.
"Your only salvation is me... Has always been me. It was me that hid you from the night where you were supposed to die... And it was me that defended you, even in that forsaken cage" the whisper sounds louder, almost akin to a shout, "Become mine, Eve! Become mine! And thine pain shalt hold forever! Begone from the pain and suffering from this world!"
The campfire begins to flicker harshly, like the light from the flame is pushing back against the darker and deepening shadows around. It was then that Hansen and the men pointed the oddities in their surrounding.
"Is it just me or is it becoming darker here?" say one men as Hansen quickly drops his plate, rushing over to Eve, having noticed the dark tendrils surrounding. As he heads towards her, another shadowy tendril lashes out from the dark, striking his armor like metal. Hansen staggers and steps backwards from the strike. That's when more tendrils appear from the surrounding darkness. Mundus raises his hands, and clutches his fists, invoking the protection of Mundus. This creates a glowing orb around him that prevents the shadow from reaching him.
Meanwhile, Eve was at the edge of her sanity. Countless thoughts of her past begin to shift into her head. Of her suffering in cages, having to eat scraps. Of her stomach rumbling and eating itself again and again as she feels her heartbeat weakens and stops, only to restart again. Of waking up, and seeing dead bodies. In her orphanages, her school, her prison...
Her eyes seems to vanish and retreat into a well of darkness, along with nose. The darkness with her mouth expands to cover her lips and tiny cracks of shadows emerge from her scalp, and around her face. Her body begin to rise up, starting from her joints, as if multiple strings are pulling her upwards from there.
As Eve floats upwards, shadows begin to whirl around the camp, with her at the epicenter, swallowing up trees, rats, animals, birds, and even men. Men who found themselves without the protection of Mundus are enveloped by the inky black darkness. They were left paralyzed, and insensible, suspended in a void, incapable of thought, sense, and action.
"Captain! What are our orders?" Screams a crusader.
"This is neither Mundus' nor Merlin's. Our creed deems us to eradicate this demon..." Hansen reluctantly states "But... I can't do it. There have to be another way!".
"Captain! Mundus' protection won't last forever!"
"I know! Let me think! Damn it!"
Then, from afar, a glowing orb appear from the hanging darkness within the horizon. The orb emits a radiant aura, giving warmth and soothing those who are hit by its rays. Behind it, the lady in the toga, Elastra, who was running down the camp with much haste. The light pushes against the shadow casted by Eve. To the men who was entrapped in the shadows, the warmth of the orb was the only sensation they can finally feel.
"Lumos! What a fool you are! Your champion is not here! The night is MY domain!" cry out the spirit from within Eve, his voice echoing in the darkness. This voice is understood by Elastra, but to the crusaders nearby, its merely sounded as a nonsensical muttering.
"O Lumos. With your power, pure and fair, Bind the darkness in your snare. For in this hour, by divine decree, shall the shadows succumb to greed. This is your chance to have your foul enemy entrapped in the child forever," chanted the enlightened mage, as the orb grows brighter and symmetrical seals begin to warp on the shadow surrounding the girl.
"Nocturnis! I come to barter! Should you desire this girl, then by all means, give up your freedom and your sovereignty! Live forever in this puppet of yours!" shouted Elastra, much to the shock of Hansen. With a solemn expression, he stares down, unable to look at the outcome of the event.
"You fool, disciple of Merlin! Do you think you can fool me?! I am the first deceiver, and the first manipulator! Light cannot exist without me! Do you think Lumos a fool as well?!" snarls the echoing voice in the woods, "Resume your foolishness! Tip the balance of the world! Your destruction will be of your own making".
"Darkness will still exist, and Lumos is most grateful for your weakness, Nocturnis. Lumos will be free to spread her influence unlike you, whose influence is limited to the child. Even in the dark, you must see. What schemes can a broken puppet commit?" answers Elastra, the sunburst mark on her forehead beginning to shine.
"Foolishness begets enlightenment. Just as light begets darkness. Even in your enlightenment, you do not see. Lights requires my existence! I give meaning to Lumos! Lumos is just a part of me just as I am a part of her!" replies the echoing voice within Eve.
"And do you not see that that darkness will still exists with you in the child? But your schemes remain muted, and your influence blinded. The world will shine, pure and bright, without your manipulation while you remain shackled to the child, impotent and meaningless.," shouts Elastra into the center of the swallowing abyss.
Both parties remain silenced for a few moments. But to Hansen, the moment seems to last for an eternity. Then, Eve crumbles and falls to the ground before the surrounding darkness, begins to mute and fade into the surrounding forest, the light of the moon returns, and the horizon is once more enveloped by the glow of the stars.
Both Elastra and Hansen rush to the child but Elastra reaches her first due to being closer to her. She cradles Eve and put her back against Hansen, as if shielding her. Hansen releases a deep breath that he felt has been held for far too long, staying further away from Elastra.
Elastra stares into Eve's face, searching for marks of injuries. As Eve awakens, Elastra smiles, patting her on the cheek and forehead. Elastra was at a loss of words, having not seen a child elf for a long time but before Elastra could say anything, Eve whispers "the voices... they're so loud".
Hansen was startled, his sweat returning before Elastra whispers back to Eve. "It's fine... Everything is alright. I will protect you. Merlin will protect you..." she whispers.
"Who's Merlin? And why-" asks Eve but before she could ask more question, Elastra shushes her and proceeds.
"Repeat after me... Take me under your arms, O Merlin" Elastra stares at Eve for a moment before Eve repeats.
"Be the interpreter in the court of chaos"
"Be the negotiator against the wicked"
"Guide me with your wisdom and strength"
"I place my trust in you"
After Eve repeats all that has been said, Elastra pulls out a small inkwell from her sachet and draws a symbol on her neck, a symbol that quickly dried and pulls into her skin. Eve's eyes widens as she stutters to Elastra.
"The whisper! They stopped! But-but how?!" she exclaims to Elastra, "I-I'm... I'm free". Tears fell down her face. "B-but, you... You're not gonna hurt me, right"
Elastra merely shakes her head. "You're alright. I'm here, Eve" Elastra responded as Eve weeps. The silence was a void in her head. She was unable to comprehend the sudden change in her life. The sudden silence brought a profound sense of peace to Eve, but it also revealed just how exhausted she truly was. The relentless whispers that had haunted her every moment had masked the fatigue that now washed over her like a tidal wave.