Chapter 30: Escape

“Seriously though,” Tacey said as she lifted a box effortlessly with one hand. “What is your strength?”

Vina grunted in response, trying to match her pace, "I'm not a strength class. Can we focus?" Despite her protests, she infused more strength into her slots and tried to lift a larger box with right hand.

“I’m guessing you have less than sixty strength,” Tacey commented as she hoisted their conjoined hands.

Vina, irritated, snapped back, "How about you? What's your strength?"

“Depends,” Tacey answered.

“On…?” Vina huffed as she hauled the box onto a wagon, then leaned on it to rest. She watched her stamina slowly recover. Night was approaching and she knew to not exhaust herself no matter how much she wanted to help Prosit’s people leave.

“Time, need, situation, desire, feelings…” Tacey listed.

“Can you do that with all of your attributes?” Vina inquired, intrigued by Tacey's unusual openness.

Tacey effortlessly tossed another box onto the wagon. “Saryne and I had class restrictions, but we have nearly unlocked everything.”

Vina gaped at her. “That sounds amazing! How long did that take?”

Tacey straightened abruptly and ceased loading. Her vibrance hinted that her defenses were back up. “It doesn’t matter. This wagon is done.” She gestured to a man in the distance, and they moved to take over.

Tacey steered Vina out of the loading area. The town was abuzz with frantic activity as townsfolk packed their belongings hurriedly. A sense of urgency and trepidation hung in the air. Contrasting the adults' distress, a group of children played near the town's well. Their laughter rang clear and bright against the backdrop of turmoil. Their game was accompanied by a sing-song chant, their voices innocent and carefree. Vina watched them with a fond smile, keeping an eye out for Milly. In fact, she had been on the lookout for the girl she saved during her first visit to Prosit but hadn't yet spotted her.

“This is going to be a disaster,” Tacey muttered.

“What do you mean?” Vina asked, concern rising within her.

Tacey gestured toward the eastern gate. “Saryne is doing some scouting out there, and it says the forces are gathering. An attack is imminent. The town won’t withstand that army, and only half the people are evacuated at this point. It’s going to be a slaughter.”

“I hope you’re reconsidering your choice to keep holding me like this. You need to let go so we can both fight effectively.” Vina reasoned. “Tressi won’t let Langternem be outside The Town Hall anyway, and I can’t leave it behind. You need to stop worrying I’ll somehow disappear behind your back.”

Tacey ignored her once again and started toward a town well. While Tacey let the bucket down to fetch a drink, Vina leaned against the stones. She soon realized the children knew exactly who she was when they gathered around her and began to pelt her with questions.

“Can you tell what kind of food I ate by looking at my blood?” One girl asked, but before Vina could answer another piped up.

“I get a lot of nosebleeds. Can you make it so I never get a nosebleed again?” asked a boy.

“Does blood talk to you? What does it say?”

“If my blood moved faster, could I run faster?”

"Can you make my blood turn into paint, so I can paint pictures with it?"

"Could you use your power to make my scrapes stop hurting?"

Vina focused on the last two questions. The one about paint surprised her, and she immediately turned to the little boy. “When you are able to improve your skills, come find me. We’ll do some painting together,” Vina encouraged with a smile, careful to be clear with her words.

Next she turned to the other little boy who had asked about his cuts. “I can help take your pain away.” Vina reassured him. “Where are they?”

The boy pulled up his pant leg and showed a long scrape from his knee all the way down his shin.

Vina let blood flow into her right hand, and she reached out to the boy’s leg. She activated blood aid as soon as her hand touched his skin, but was then violently pulled back against the well’s stones. “Ow!” she cried out.

“Don’t touch the children!” Tacey warned her angrily.

“I healed him, Tacey!” Vina shouted back at her.

The other children had circled the boy to see Vina's handiwork. But they soon looked back at the two irate women at the well. “Tacey?” one of the older kids asked. The children looked at each other, and one began to sing.

♪Covered Lady, hidden deep♪

As the first line echoed through the air, the other children chimed in. The tune was reminiscent of Rain Rain Go Away, a melody Vina immediately recognized.

♪In silence, make us weep.

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Running from words so harsh and shrill

She hides alone, so cold and still.♪

Vina felt Tacey’s vibrance rise even further into hostility, but the children did not end their song. Some took hands with each other and began to dance.

♪Fearful of truth, following lies

Hunts the ones who once were allies.

Serves those who cause her strife,

Oh, why can't she just take her life?♪

♪One dark day, she did betray,

Trapped a friend, and made her prey.

Stole power, a vengeful trend,

Covered Lady, where will it end?♪

“How do you know that?!” Tacey screeched over the singing children, but they were unphased, their voices growing louder as they belted yet another verse. Vina hung onto every word like a lifeline in a stormy sea.

♪In shadows, their secrets kept,

Safe families quietly slept.

New Lady tore the veil aside

To hunt them down, nowhere to hide.♪

Fueled by rage, Tacey lunged at the nearest child, but Vina attempted to hold her back. She managed to slow Tacey just enough for the children to scatter, their laughter and screams a chaotic ending to the song. Tacey’s own scream of outrage echoed ominously, barely swallowed by the noise of the crowd.

As Vina watched the children scatter, her eyes slowly met Tacey's. The song, the children's warning, neither weren’t meant for her, they were meant for Tacey. And yet Vina knew now that this Tacey was the one who had exposed her family, setting them up to be hunted down by The Darkness. She was the reason Vina had been abandoned on Earth for sixteen years. A strange wave of numbness washed over her, mixed with a poignant twinge of sadness. She had suspected this truth, but hearing it sung so openly felt like a wound reopened. Staring into Tacey’s eyes, she voiced the woman’s emotions: “You’re afraid.”

Tacey looked at her, eyes wide in realization. “This town. It’s being attacked because of you. Who made that song…?” her voice trailed off.

Vina pursed her lips and gave a single nod of her head. “Probably composed by Shan’s shadow. Stine must have taught it to the children before we arrived.”

“Th.. this town is a trap, Vina.” Tacey stuttered.

Vina watched the woman’s vibrance and demeanor in fascination. The normally confident woman was struck by dread as the horror of her own predicament sank in. Vina could see her realization: she was standing in a town about to be attacked by The Darkness, not because of some strategic advantage, but because of its connection to Vina.

By capturing her, Tacey had inadvertently drawn the attention of The Darkness onto herself, tying herself to its schemes in a way she had always sought to avoid. Now, Stine was using this opportunity to expose her secrets, to lay bare the truths she had fought to silence, and she was powerless to stop any of it. Her fear, always safely covered, was now brought to the surface.

Vina scoffed at her. "The friend you betrayed. It was Norimor wasn’t it? You used the Aspect of the Hidden to expose my family to Stine and The Twelve." Vina said, her voice thick with anger. Tacey remained silent, her face pale, but before she could muster a response, Vina felt a sharp sting on her cheek. She flinched, reaching up to swat at an invisible insect.

Tacey's gaze was locked on the sky, her face a picture of dread. Vina followed her gaze upward and her blood ran cold at the sight. Activating her lantern at the sound of the distressed howls of pain around her, she whispered, "It's raining shadows," the words uttered with a mix of grim fascination and burgeoning fear. The sky overhead had taken on a menacing hue, the shadows descending like a dark ominous shower.

A chill swept down Vina's spine as the shadows continued their eerie descent. For a fleeting moment, she was back in the Gloom with Trina, protected by a radiant sphere, as she watched the shadows gently fall for hours on end. Out here, there was no such protection. The sky had transformed into a canvas for Stine's malevolence, the falling shadows a distinctive signature of its power.

The implication was horrifying. "Has Stine stopped lurking in the Gloom?" Vina wondered, a cold dread sinking into her gut as she realized exactly why Tacey was so scared. If Stine was nearby, it could capture their shadows if they died.

Suddenly, a man's voice yelled authoritatively above the tumult, but his words were swallowed by the chaos. Without warning, the ground shook as something heavy crashed near the well, the force sending Vina and Tacey sprawling.

Scrambling back to her feet, Vina assessed the situation. A black, viscous blob, almost as tall as she was, gurgled menacingly at the center of the square in a crater of its own making. With a sickening squelch, its skin peeled back, and several small, multi-limbed creatures with one large body, and six eyes plastered on their chest each clambered out. They scampered wildly in all directions.

Vina summoned a blood sword instantly and stabbed the first creature that got too close. It wailed on the edge of her weapon, but still tried to pull its way up her blade to get to her. With a grimace, Vina twisted her blade and pulled, almost slicing the creature in two.

Tacey made a move towards her, but Vina stepped back, keeping the distance between them. “I’m not leaving!” she shouted at Tacey. “Go help people!”

“Protect Langternem!” Tacey shouted back at her, and then she simply vanished.

Vina paused, her gaze following the direction Tacey had disappeared in. She shook her head. She didn’t have time for this, not when more of those black blobs were still raining down, and the creatures they birthed were running rampant. “Damn you, Stine,” she cursed under her breath. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to think. What would The Darkness be after?

The realization hit her like a punch in her already knotted stomach. “Pawld!” she screamed, and broke into a run. The crowd was dense, their panic and chaos making it difficult to push through. She yelled again, hoping he'd hear her over the cacophony. When she finally made her way to his smithery, her heart pounded in her chest.

"Pawld!" she shouted again as she broke through the crowd. Relief flooded her as her gaze landed on the burly man, bloodied but undefeated. At his feet lay a small, twisted body of one of those six-eyed creatures.

“Vina?” He looked at her, confusion etching his features before melting into relief. “What..."

“The Darkness is attacking because of me!” Vina cut him off, her voice tight with urgency. “It’s sending creatures to kill the people I know! Where’s Milly?”

Pawld sputtered as he tried to answer when Vina placed a hand on his arm, “S.. She left! She’s gone already. Her family left after the west gate was cleared earlier.”

Vina activated Blood Aid on his left arm, and Pawld nearly jumped back in surprise. “Sit still!” she hissed as she reached for his other arm. “What about Jan?”

Pawld looked at his arm in fascination while he held out his other arm for Vina. “Same thing. I made sure Milly’s family traveled with Trina’s Professed.”

Vina pointed at the title above her head, “You’re leaving too. Right now!” she commanded.

“Yes Asharaina," Pawld replied solemnly, giving her title the respect she had hoped it would get. He hoisted a nearby bag over his shoulder and added, “I was just packing up now.”

The town was still under siege, the air filled with the screams of the terrified and the sickening squelch of more blobs landing. Vina hardened her gaze and said firmly, “All of those creatures coming for you, Pawld, because I pissed off The Darkness.”

He looked at his shop one last time, at the creature he had slain, and nodded. “Okay. Yeah. I’m leaving now.”

With that, Vina guided him through the chaos, toward the town gate. Once she was sure he was on his way and wouldn't turn back, she let go of him. With one last look, she turned away, her mind filled with what she needed to do next. "Go!" she ordered him, before disappearing into the crowd. Her next destination was clear in her mind.