A new update! So soon? Well, since Taee was writing the previous chapter, I took the chance to work on this one, so yeah, here it is.
"Aisha!"
The young mage was startled out of her guard. She looked down to see Rena, waving a wrapped snack at her. Aisha left her position to levitate down the roof she was. With the night gone and the terrors that came with it nowhere to be seen, the villagers were finally able to get out the buildings and start rebuilding the little defenses they were able to put up. The morale was pretty low, and having to bury their priest after he lost it didn't help at all. Elsword and Raven were helping creating barricades on the rest of the streets while she was tasked with surveillance. Rena was the one sent into the forest to scout what the enemy was doing.
"I hope you have something more than food…" Aisha said, with a sad tone. The elf switched her lively expression into a severe one before speaking.
"They're regrouping, a large pack of wolves, pretty much like yesterday."
"I see… We'll do the same then, I'll start preparing,"
Aisha began reuniting the villagers for the defense. There were some less than yesterday, some of them were already exhausted or too scared to fight.
"They're not normal wolves," Raven said. He wasn't fully recovered but at least he was able to lend a hand "Aside from their extrange behaviour. This isn't just a group of wolves attacking a weak village."
His words were interesting enough to caught Aisha's attention, who came back to listen at his theory.
"We are up against a human, or an intelligent being at least. This is their strategy. The bats that attacked us at night wouldn't have been a problem during the day, however we're attacked by large creatures in the daylight. They are trying to worn us out. While we fight during the day, these small critters keep us from resting at night, it's an attrition war… and we're heading to a defeat."
"And that's not all," Raven continued, now he had the attention of the full group, Elsword just arrived to check on them "There's something more. I don't know what this is, but take a look at this people. They're too sad, too scared. It's like something is forcing them to be on this negative status."
"They have been enduring this situation by some time now…" Elsword said.
"Raven is right. Something is affecting the townspeople," Aisha said "I don't know what it is, but it could even be a curse…"
"Or something on their water," Rena proposed as well.
"Whatever it is, we can only defend this place for now, and hope that those two are doing fine…" Raven said, prompting them all to look up at the raging blizzard.
"Eve!" Chung yelled. She was lying on the snow, not moving a muscle, and what was more worrying, the white monster that took her down was standing right next to her. He rushed to the beast, in his mind he only cared about taking it away from her. But to his surprise the creature didn't attacked her any further.
It waited until Chung was near enough to turn around, its claw clenched in a fist that could have vaporized the young boy if he hadn't lifted his cannon in time. He felt the bones of the creature crack against his cannon before being launched in the air. He passed through many trees before finally crashing into one. He fell on the ground, and even before he could get up, he was forced to roll out of the way of the werewolf, who came crashing into the trees. The flora didn't stood a chance against the beast and every three on its way was torn in two. As the werewolf overshoot him, it crashed and rolled on the ground, it got up immediately and started to charge towards Chung again. They needed the whole effort of the entire party to take down one of them before, and now he was alone against this one. And to make things worse, Eve was down, who knows how badly injured.
It wasn't the time to grief. Not only had this monster hurt her, it also hurt Chung's pride as a Hamelian. To let a comrade in battle get hurt, it was against what he stood for. But he wasn't going to let rage take over. The words he had been hearing in his head for a long time resonated now. All the lessons he received had prepared him for this.
"Time to get a bit reckless," Chung said to himself. He knew that the situation was dire enough but trying to keep on the defensive would only have him killed. He would have to take down this creature in one blow. And he knew how. It was something that Elsword proposed to him once after a practice, it sounded interesting, but it was too stupid to work. Maybe the snow could help.
He was snatched out of his thoughts when the monster came barreling at him. The claws teared the snow on their way to his gut. Chung stood his ground and threw his arms around the sharp nails of the creature. His armor trembled under the blade like claws, but it held in one piece. Chung used his own weight to push the arm down, the creature tried to resist, but the weight of his armor and cannon were enough to make it break. The monster jumped back, licking its forearm. It was all the time he needed. Chung reached for his grenades and throw a handful of them at his feet.
He was praying for this to work. Once it was done licking its injury, the werewolf charged again, with one arm less it was a slower and clumsy rush. Chung waited until it was close enough before stepping out of the way of its claws. He took his cannon and swung down, preparing a shell inside. The cannon hit the ground, smashing the grenades on it at the same time that he pulled the trigger. The resultant chain explosion propelled the cannon up so fast that it could have ripped off his hand hadn't he let go the cannon. It lifted as a rocket and crashing straight under the monster's jaw. With enough strength to snap its neck, the monster rose and fell backwards on the snow. Short movements and a low growl confirming Chung of its death. He managed to catch the cannon as it was falling, but it wasn't the time for fancy celebrations. He rushed back to where he last saw Eve.
His soul fell at his feet when he couldn't see her. He saw the mark on the snow where she was, but nothing around it. She just banished. Chung fell on the ground. What if another werewolf showed up while she was down and took her?
Whatever happened, it wouldn't solve by standing there. Chung tried to stood up again, but suddenly fell again. He hadn't realize it, but he was out of breath. The cold air was cutting his lungs now, as he tried to recover his breath. He would need to find a place to rest, but there wasn't time. If Eve was still alive, he wouldn't have time to spare. Chung gave himself a bit time until he finally was able to feel the warmth of his blood again and then stood up. He looked around. There wasn't any paw prints or anything similar around him. Not to mention that those monsters aren't precisely sneaky.
"Calm down, don't panic…" He said to himself "Think what she would say if she sees you like this."
He started walking, with no clues about her, he had to chose one direction and walk. Considering the situation, he decided to head deeper in the valley. It was hard to believe how big it was, and how conveniently it's orography was keeping it safe from the horrible storm. He was so immersed in his own worries that he was easily startled when his hands came in contact with some strange magic. Chung took a jump away from… nothing. There was nothing in front of him, but he definitely felt something strange. He took a few steps and cautiously moved his arm. His hand contacted again with the same magic. He saw how the air around it broke, it was as if he was pushing an invisible layer of ice. He recognized this, it was something that Aisha showed him once. A magical barrier. Most likely to hide something from sight considering how easy he was able to break it. He slowly walked over it, making sure to feel with his feet first if there was solid ground beneath it, and finally sticking his head inside.
The view on the other side was shockingly different. While still in the same large valley he was in, there wasn't any snow in it. What was inside the barrier was a huge castle. The valley sank beneath it into a ravine too dark to see, and the large building rose from it with thick stone columns. Made from black stone, it was shaped as a cross, with a tall tower on the central part. From the top of it, Chung was able to see an intense light as well as a never ending stream of snow coming out of it. There was only one way of accessing the castle, and it was from a long bridge in front of it. Chung wondered if Eve was inside, and was about to start walking when he felt something hitting his back. He immediately moved into a defensive stance before realizing that it was Moby. The black drone was beeping and moving like crazy, and although Chung couldn't understand it, it was clear that he was worried about Eve.
"Moby! Calm down! Do you know where Eve is?" Chung asked. However the drone felt silent and after a moment, it stared into the castle "Is she there?"
Moby beeped and Chung could guess that it was correct. Was she taken there? By who? He was hesitant, unsure about how to act now. If she was there, at least she would be safe. If the owners of this place were friendly. He looked up at the tower. It looked like that was the source of the storm.
"Let's go get your master," Chung said. The drone happily chased him on their way across the bridge. Made of pure black stone, the bridge extended over the bottomless ravine under them. He wasn't sure how safe this whole building actually is, or how it was possible to have it built there; but still had to press on. If the little drone was saying the truth, its master should be in there. Chung prayed that the people who pick her up were actually good people, however the ominous sense he felt from the castle as well as the storm-generating tower told him the contrary. On the other side of the bridge, two tall doors welcomed him. They were tall enough to allow a giant through.
He knocked on the door and asked if there was someone there, but there wasn't an answer. He was about to knock again but the door opened. The huge door cracked with an eerie sound as it made way for him. He looked at the drone at his side who was now as worried as him and they stepped in. There was nobody on the other side. The door opening mechanism was so covered in dust that probably nobody has ever operated it. They were in a huge hall. It seemed even larger due to how empty it was. Stone pillars on the walls with a fireplace between each of them with some other smaller doors, along with two rows of decorative armors were everything they could see in there. The soft light that penetrated the windows was barely enough to lit the entire room even with the help of the many fireplaces.
"Let's find her quick…" Chung repeated as he started walking with one hand on his cannon, ready to swing it at any moment "Can you tell where you master is or something?"
Moby stayed quiet for a moment, it seemed like it was thinking, or rather connecting with her. After a few seconds, it came back to its lively motions and flew pass over Chung, heading for one of the doors. Chung ran behind it hoping that the small nasod was on the right track when he heard something metallic behind him. He looked back right in time to see an halberd being swung on his way. He was able to duck right in time to save his neck and immediately back pedaled. The armor sets that were peacefully decorating the sides of the room suddenly came to life. One by one they started moving with heavy and robotic motions until they formed a line. With they halberds raised they started walking towards him.
He loaded a shell and trained the cannon at the armor's formation. Unsure about who to hit first, he decided to shot at the center to disrupt them, and to his surprise, the shot was enough to make the armors crumble. Even though they were made out of steel, the magic pulling them together didn't seemed that strong. With their formation broken, it was easy to him to rush them, blocking their slow attacks with his cannon. They would be taken down with almost any hit from him, however the problem was that once on the ground they would slowly be reformed and stand up again. That, and the sheer number of them in the room made winning this fight impossible, and he was lucky to realize that soon. He locked at Moby who was beeping at him from one door and ran towards it. Ducking beneath a swinging axe and dodgy several more halberds on his way, he pushed the door and closed it behind him, hoping that those animated armors wouldn't know how to make it through it.
And it seemed to work, there wasn't any disturbance to the door as if the armors didn't even tried to get through. He turned around and realize that they were now on a long corridor that connected the central part of the castle with the left wing from the outside. There wasn't any armors there luckily, but there was another row of doors and even stairs. This place was a real maze, if it weren't by the help of Moby he would have almost no hope to find Eve here. Even with Moby guidance it was hard to narrow her position down precisely, so he had to resort to try all these doors. The rooms they lead into were pretty different from the main hall. Most of them seemed to be normal living rooms, storages or kitchens. They were small, with a nice fireplace on each of them, comfortable looking furniture, beautiful carpets and paintings. They looked like the perfect cozy shelter from the storm outside. However he didn't saw anybody. Not Eve, not the inhabitants of the castle, not even staff personnel. Someone had to lit up all those fireplaces, he thought; so there should be someone there at least. There was an ominous feeling that only grew the more he wandered into the castle.
He reached the stairs on the hallway and decided to go up, he was now so distracted by the boring rooms behind the doors that he didn't realize there was someone behind him. For when he finally turned around, he was smacked and pushed down by someone that he was only able to see for a second. Moby beeped and tried to hit the aggressor only to be covered by a black fabric and be put into a sack. It tried to make its way out violently jerking around but the person holding it was strong enough to handle both of them.
A orange log of endless data scrolled down in front of her eyes. All she could see was countless logs and reports flashing on her eyes until they finally started to die out. She was finally able to open her eyes and awake in an unknown room. She was in a bed, the first thing she did was to feel her face. The deep injuries she took on the fight against the werewolf were now gone, except for the round gem on her forehead, where she still could feel small cracks, but it wasn't nothing serious. She was recovered, however…
Remy flew into her, almost pushing her back on the bed landing on her chest, it beeped as if it was afraid of having lost its master. Eve was shocked at first, but was finally able to cradle the white drone on her arms and pet it until it started to behave as usual. Only then she finally analyzed the room. It was a small one, there was a fire lit and some food on a cart next to the bed. A window open that leaded into a balcony from where Eve could see the blizzard she was in just hours ago. She got out of bed and realized that she was wearing some strange black robe. She recalled her white drone to her side.
"Where is Moby?" She asked. There was a silence between the two of them, however you could tell how they were communicating with an internal network just by looking at Eve's face. She reacted with subtle gestures as the information came in "I understand. So Chung is alive then? I guess that's the best possible outcome."
Eve let the white drone wander the room while she walked towards the door. She tried it but found it locked. She then tried the balcony, but she was way too high to flee from there. She was able to see the tower with the blinding light from where the storm was emanating.
"I'll assume that whoever locked me here is also the responsible for that," She thought to herself. She was a bit relieved about how the situation turned out. She couldn't believe how easily she allowed herself to be critically damaged like that. "Maybe I shouldn't have allowed Chung to join that fight…" She thought to herself, but realistically, it would have been impossible for her to win it alone. Sure, if Chung weren't there she could have easily ran away from the monster…
Her chain of thought was interrupted by Remy, who beeped at her with something that could sound sarcastic for anyone who speaks beeps. "I'm not pushing him away," Eve protested at the drones beep, but it spoke again, this time a bit longer than before "I realize that I always do that, but the reason I always sortie alone in my quests is so I don't have to care about them getting hurt or something,"
The drone beeped again, but Eve ignored it this time, she heard someone coming on the other side of the door. She moved near the window before they opened the door. A woman's face peeked through the half opened door. Eve could only see half her face as she hided behind the entrance. She was a blonde young looking girl, with crystal green eyes. They looked so beautiful that Eve felt a strange sensation on her back when looking into them.
"You're awake!" She exclaimed, finally opening the door and coming into the room, revealing her tall and slim figure clad in a white robe that showed just enough skin to highlight her gorgeously distributed proportions "Master would be happy."
She ran into the room towards Eve with an honest smile in her face, yet Eve quickly summoned a spear and pointed it at her, stopping the intruder right on her tracks "Identify yourself!"
"Oh, sorry, you must be very confused… Master found you passed out in the snow and decided to bring you here. You don't have anything to fear, my dear. He'll take care of you."
Her words weren't enough to make Eve put her weapon down.
"I'm Elisa, one of the master's Kin. You'll meet my two sisters soon, but you have to meet with him now, it's very important. After all, he's your savior."
"If what you're saying it's the truth then I do owe him for saving my life, but I can't trust you. Why didn't he help my partner, who was fighting right next to where I was. And why is there such a suspicious tower in this castle that seems to be the root of all the trouble we went through?"
"You mean the young boy who was fighting our pet?" Elisa said, moving next to the food cart. She made a gesture with her hand the thing suddenly started rolling slowly out of the room "Don't worry about him, he already arrived at our home. He should be on the basement by now, enjoying my younger sister hospitality."
"Your pet? That thing nearly killed me, and you expect me to happily thank you for saving me from the danger you caused?" Eve asked, pointing the spear even higher now. If the girl in that room would even blink she would just shove it through her throat.
"I understand your frustration, my dear. However, it was necessary, after all, master has chosen you. He was so sad when you left this place some days ago, he thought you would never come back into this mountain, that's why he was so anxious this time…"
The food cart came back into the room pushed by the same mysterious magic than before, however this time it was loaded with clothes. The girl picked up a black robe that looked like hers and held it out as if she were imagining how it would fit Eve.
"Put on some nice clothes, I'll came to pick you up in a few minutes and we'll go see our master," She said with her happy face and left the room.
She was left alone thinking. These people had the chance to actually kill her, it would've been as simple as abandoning her in the snow. But they did bring her in and tend to her injuries. She wasn't sure how they managed to heal such deep wounds so easily, but considering that they had some sort of magic abilities they must have used them. And at the same time, they were the ones who sent that beast after them, and they also seem to be the culprits of creating the storm.
She walked near the cart an examined the clothes. Most of them were white or black robes, with few variety on design. Open on the sides, with long cleavage, open skirt… She wondered what kind of person was this master they talk about. And also thanked that the one they gave her was a normal one. She decided to not get changed at all and try to open the door. This time she was able to go through, followed by Remy. She found Elisa in the hallway, tending to a flower pot over a table next to the wall. This hallway was filled with pictures and other expensive looking decorations, from china vases to porcelain figures. The floor was covered by a long carpet with a royal red color and a beautiful gold pattern. The whole place was lighted up by a warming yellowish light coming from the many candles on the walls.
"You don't want to get changed?" Elisa questioned "Doesn't matter, master will be glad to see you either way," She moved next to Eve and gestured for her to walk ahead.
It was an awkward walk, Elisa was right behind her, Eve would glance at her from time to time and she would answer with a pretty smile. This girl was strange. All about her seemed overly beautiful. She moved with grace and agility, as if she were weightless. Her clothes fluttered around her skin, giving it an ethereal feeling, and yet at the same time her skin looked so invitingly soft and carefully tanned. Her eyes had an intense gaze on them, and once you look into them you seem to be sucked into a neverending stare. Eve couldn't help but wonder if this was part of her magic as well. This level of beauty was surely unnatural.
She finally reached the other end of the hallway. A gilded door stood on her way and Elisa passed next to her to open it. She stayed at her side, gesturing for Eve to get inside, before closing it behind her. She was now I'm a gloomy room. The only light came from a lamp on a desk at one of the sides. There was tall libraries on both sides, and a carpet that went from the door to a few steps on the other side of the room. A slightly elevated position with a gaudy chair on it. And there was the person they referred as master. He was a young man with jet black short hair carefully arranged around his face. Two red eyes with an intense glare on top of his solemn aura. He was sitting on his throne, waiting for Eve to come closer. The man was wearing some kind of formal clothing, similar to a suit, although it looked way too antiquated. He had an impressive amount of big rings on his fingers, as well as a golden medallion on his neck. The expensive clothes and the jewelry, as well as the castle and everything else reflected how wealthy this man was. Something that would have impressed almost anyone else, but surely didn't had much impact on Eve.
"Greetings my Lady. I'm glad that you decided to meet with me," He said, standing up and walking towards her. He reached for her hand with a bow. Eve recognized this already dated courtesy, and just wanting to get over with it, she decided to follow him. The man carefully held her hand and kissed her fingers before standing up again. She would say he was looking happy, but it was hard to tell, his face was a mixture of curiosity, happiness and seriousness. As if her arrival there was at the same time a cheerful event and an important one.
"Not like I had another option," Eve stated, staring into his red eyes.
The man pointed with his hand to a couple of comfy looking chairs. Eve silently took a seat and waited for this mysterious person to give some kind of explanation.
"Now, Eve; I know you're full of questions, but I'm afraid you'll have to find the answer to them on your own. I need to prepare for a very special occassion. You see, now that you are here I have an offer for you…"
"How do you know my name?" Eve questioned. She was pretty sure that any offer this man could have wouldn't be beneficial for her.
"Elisa told me, she was able to know a lot about you when she healed you." He said, sitting in front of her "Now, about this offer…"
"And how did she do that?" Eve questioned. As far as she knew, nobody should be able to access her memory like that.
"She has her methods. I can see it in your eyes, you already noticed how special she is, right? You're clever. Incredibly clever… and beautiful too, Eve. That's why I chosen you."
"Why should I care about that? I still have questions to ask." Eve protested.
"The tower, right?" he said, getting ahead her question "I know, it's a worrying phenomena, but I'm sure you'll understand soon why…"
Eve was about to speak once more, but the man in front of her once again got ahead "The white werewolf that attacked you? I apologize, I ordered she to bring you back in one piece, but their kind never listens. She'll get punished for it, be sure."
Eve stood up. The way that man spoke was unnerving. She was tired from this. Her priority was to find Chung and take down whatever was causing this storm. She didn't had time to chat with some stranger that refused to realize the wrong on his doing.
"Dear, I'm afraid you're not ready yet to listen to my offer. Don't worry, I understand, they were like you before. And look at them now. Listen, I'll let you go so you can think about it. I have the feeling that it will be better like this. You're smart enough to find out by yourself, after all."
Eve turned to this man, who was already returning to his throne. She wanted to stab him with a spear and force him to spit out what was going on, but she felt like doing so would only make things more complicated than they already were.
"I'll give you permission to roam the castle as much as you want. Just don't go outside, it's really dangerous, and I couldn't forgive myself if something would happen to you. If you need anything, Elisa and her sisters are at your service, don't hesitate to make use of them. They are really talented girls."
She looked at him before finally getting out of the room. Slightly confused, she wondered why would he give her permission to do whatever she want on his castle. Elisa was surely waiting outside, with the same stupid perfect smile on her face. Eve was expecting her to ask about their meeting, but she didn't said a word. She did follow her once Eve started walking back to her room.
"I want to go meet with Chung," Eve said, once she reached the door of the room she woke up in.
"I would gladly take you with him, but I don't know where he is right now. You can explore the castle if you like, maybe you'll find him." Elisa said.
"Then I want to go up that storm-generating tower," Eve requested.
"Of course, follow me."
Another awkward walk. They passed through several hallways, doors and small rooms. The castle looked like a real maze, however they didn't come across nobody else on their way. The place was awfully empty and, at the same time; everything was perfectly tidied: every fireplace was lit, the carpets were clean, the furniture didn't had any dust on it. There wasn't even spiders on the corners, the only life in the castle right now were the two of them. Eve started to feel an unsettling feeling, it was like the castle itself was about to crumble on top of her. A dreadful ominous aura that emanated from every stone. She didn't need Aisha's help to tell that this place was under some kind of dark magical effect.
They finally reach the base of the tower, an spiral stair was the only way to climb it, so they continued their awkward walk to the zenit. Eve didn't want to talk to this person, as far as she knew, they were the enemy, and she was but a hostage. They were trying to earn her confidence, but it would take a lot more than that to do it, specially after all the trouble she went through because of them. They finally reach a halt on the stairs. It was a round room decorated with beautiful blue tiles that created the picture of a blue haired woman on the ground. There was one single door in there, the problem was that it was covered in ice. A thick layer of ice that deformed the door reflection on the other side was spreading through the wall. Judging by the looks of it, it had slowly formed by the pass of time.
"Beyond that door is my older sister: Sarah. Unfortunately, as you can see, we can't reach her by now," Elisa explained. Her bright pretty smile was gone and now replaced by a sad expression as she reached out for the ice.
"What happened?" Eve questioned. If she was trying to get her empathy with some sad story, she wouldn't fall for it.
"Sarah was really skilled when master met her, that was what grabbed master's attention from her. She used her ice magic to punish criminals and help the good people, but doing so she created some powerful enemies. To keep the story short, Sarah had to run away from everything she loved in order to protect them, and then…"
Eve wanted to prompt her to skip all of that. She wasn't curious about that story at all, she was only interested in why they created this storm. To her surprise, as she was thinking about this, Elisa changed her expression.
"Sorry, I'm boring you with my story. Right to the matter, right?" She said, walking away the door and next to Eve "Once Sarah joined us, her powers started developing and growing stronger, which was to be expected. However, one day she started to lose her control over them. And, as you can see now; her ice magic simply overflows from her body in an uncontrollable torrent. She feels so guilty about it that she locked herself up there, she's trying to contain her powers inside the barrier she made herself… it's so sad, she's been so many days without getting feed..."
In summary, it was a monster out of control. Eve would gladly use her junk breaker to pierce through the ice and put an end to it, but now that the source of the storm was identified, another matter became top priority: finding Chung.
"But don't let her accident worry you. Have you already considered the master's offer?" Elisa questioned, already walking towards the stairs.
"He didn't explained to me what the offer was," Eve said. Not to mention that she wasn't nowhere near considering it.
"Oh, how playful," Elisa said, with an entertained smile on her face "He wants you to find out about… I see. Then, I'll better leave you alone with your meditations. Call me if you need me, I'll be right there in the blink of an eye."
Elisa started going down the stairs, and even when Eve followed her, she already disappeared as soon as she was out of sight. Whether it was magic or just agility, Eve didn't had time to spare, she descended the tower herself. You don't need much imagination to guess where they would be keeping Chung. If he was captured, they most likely took him into the lower levels of the castle, were usually you could find the dungeons.
"Remy, I'm detecting Moby's presence, but there's something disrupting it. Can you narrow its position?" Eve requested. Moving through this maze without any guidance could be a problem. The white drone booted up its scans and silently processed the area around it, but after a long load it shock it's body with a sad beep.
So the only direction they had was to actually go downstairs as much as they could. Truth being told, she was starting to worry. She didn't know how much time she was passed out, and how Chung survived the fight. He could even be dying right now, and would be oblivious to it. What if she did a mistake? Maybe she should have attacked Elisa right on spot and search for him, after all, there seems to be nobody else here to fight her. Was it a judgemental mistake?
No. She stopped her descend and leaned against the wall to take a deep breath. She was allowing her doubts to put her in panic. Chung was alright, she knew that much thanks to Moby. Even when the black drone was annoying at best, it was extremely reliable in this kind of situation. Eve spent so many time working on it, trying to give him that complex quality that humans like to call bravery. Surely, Remy would never back off on her commands, but Moby was different. It was brave. It will fight even against all odds, when all seems lost, and even more: the black drone would be proud of doing so. As if that were its own purpose of existence, just being the brave knight of its master.
And that bravery was inspiring. Eve resumed her search, finally reaching the base of the tower. The rows of doors and hallways didn't matter to her, she was looking for a way to access the lower levels.
