According to the mysterious woman, the settlement where her community lived was not far from the party’s campsite. Based on Tariq’s so far accurate translation, it would take them around two to three hours to reach it, but they had already been walking for about two and a half hours with no sign of any settlement in sight.
“Are you sure she’s taking us to a settlement, Tariq?” Urraca asked, her voice groggy as she struggled to wake fully, “because I don’t see anything - anywhere.”
“It’s the dead of night, Urraca,” Tariq responded in his now-usual dry tone, “it’s dark, and there’s a good chance no candles are burning in the houses.”
Uxue and her community aren’t particularly fond of working under the light of the sun, Julien echoed Tariq’s words in his mind. If they really do only work at night, there should be candles and torches all over their settlement by now.
What truly unsettled Julien, though, was how welcoming Uxue seemed toward him, Robert, and Tariq. If Urraca is the one she can help, shouldn’t she be the only one taken to the community? He wondered. If they indeed acted solely at night, there was a good chance they did so to keep their activities hidden from the outside world. So why would she be so eager to bring three ‘normal’ people along with the one who had the ‘arima?’ Julien couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, but still, what Tariq had said was also very true - it was their duty, after all, to seek out such abnormalities and extinguish them.
After a few short moments, Urraca suddenly exclaimed with a mix of excitement and relief, “Oh, thank God! We’re close!”
Julien and Tariq exchanged confused glances, both failing to notice any change in the situation they had been in for nearly three hours.
“Oh… I see…” Urraca’s voice took on a playful tone, “it’s an ‘Island of Melqart’ type of situation again…” As she finished speaking, she pointed toward a patch of snowy meadow near a dense forest - where, to Julien and Tariq, there was nothing but empty space. “So many lights! From here, they almost look like a swarm of fireflies!”
Urraca’s expression was one of mild amazement, but it started to bother Julien that, for the second time, he was failing to see something that Urraca could. Wasn’t I the one supposed to see more than the others?
A few more minutes passed before Uxue began speaking again. She glanced at each of them as she spoke, but, as usual, only Tariq could fully understand her words.
“Yes, it’s an ‘Island of Melqart’ type of situation indeed,” Tariq translated, “she says we’ll soon cross a barrier - and that we shouldn’t be afraid of such unusual experiences from here thereafter,” his lips curved into a brief smile.
“I wonder if we’ll see anything that could come close to scaring us,” Julien commented smugly.
Just a few steps further, a new scene unfolded before the Enochians: The barren, snowy meadow gave way to a small but bustling community. People walked around with simple candlesticks and torches, going about their lives as if it were broad daylight. Some were erecting a fence beside a freshly built barn, while others tended to a small vegetable garden, watering it with care. Children roamed about, running small errands for the adults, while a few chased after a frantic chicken. Every adult had that same ‘glistening,’ homogenous iric energy around them, while the younger ones bore an aura similar to Urraca’s current state. Despite their corrupted energy, most of them wore natural, contented smiles, as though perfectly satisfied with their situation.
“This whole place is infested,” Julien whispered to Tariq, his voice low and cautious, “even if it all looks so… tame…”
Tariq remained silent for the time being, his eyes sweeping over the scene with intense focus, observing every detail.
The dwellings in the community seemed to fall into two categories: simple tents not unlike those Julien and his companions had been using, or freshly constructed, makeshift shacks. In fact, most of the activity around them seemed to involve starting new projects rather than maintaining or continuing existing ones. “They can’t possibly have been here for long,” Julien muttered under his breath.
As Uxue guided them through the settlement, speaking in the unfamiliar tongue that only Tariq seemed to understand, a small group of men - each with the same ‘controlled’ layer of corruption - crossed the barrier, carrying fresh game, wild apples, and what looked like foraged mushrooms. They only lit their torches once they were inside the barrier.
“They’re all clearly touched by iric energy, but none of them seem to be succumbing to madness,” Julien whispered, clearly baffled, “I feel like I can’t fully trust my Chazah any longer.”
“If you hadn’t told me about it - or about the barrier - I’d think this community was as normal as it gets. Except for the whole ‘working at night’ affair, that is,” Urraca commented, her voice low but observant.
“I hope neither of you is letting your guard down,” Tariq finally spoke sharply, “Uxue says she sees great potential in Urraca, and that we now should speak to their leader for guidance.”
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“Leader?” Julien blurted out, “isn’t this escalating a little too quickly?”
“Look around, Julien Mazars,” Tariq responded, a serious edge to his voice, “there might be thirty, maybe forty people in this whole ‘community.’ We’re not talking to some strong political leader - this is a patriarch or matriarch of a household. This circumstance is hardly unexpected, after some thought.”
“I agree, but still,” Julien voiced his concern, “doesn’t this feel a little too odd? Shouldn’t we start discussing a plan based on what we actually know?”
Tariq sighed heavily. “And what do we know?” He turned toward Julien, his gaze intense, “all I see is a group of people with strangely tame yet brimming iric energy, living their lives in the middle of the night as if it’s all completely normal - and at least one of them has taken a keen interest in Urraca.” He turned his face back to the path ahead. “We could slaughter them all right here and now, light a pyre, and purge them from existence - if that would ease your conscience. Or we could use the fact that they can still talk and think clearly and hunt down the source of this corruption.”
The light from a passing torch gleamed ominously against Tariq’s curved sword. “So what’s it going to be?” He asked, his gaze piercing as it locked onto the young Enochian, “will we trim the weeds - or uproot them altogether?”
Julien felt the weight of the decision pressing down on him. With no further argument to offer, he simply followed Tariq and Uxue along in silence.
…
The freshly-made path cutting through the white field led them to an unassuming shack - very makeshift, not so different from the others around it. Uxue gestured for the small group to wait outside for a moment before she entered.
“Uxue was talking quite a lot over the past few moments,” Julien observed, his brow furrowed, “any new insights?”
“Oh, I wish,” Tariq exhaled, his words heavy with frustration, “she used so many words, terms, and expressions I could only dream of understanding… From what I could faintly piece together, they’re all people with ‘arima,’ and their leader, through some kind of ritual and training, can teach them how to channel it into something useful.” He glanced toward the shack, “she said a lot more, it is true, but most of it was simply unintelligible; my Basque can only take us this far.”
“Well, thank you anyway, Tariq,” Urraca said politely, “if it weren’t for you, none of us would be able to understand a thing Uxue says! Basque isn’t a language many outside Navarre know how to speak…”
“Let’s wait, then,” Julien added with a resigned tone, “there’s nothing else we can do, anyway.”
It didn’t take long, however, before a feminine voice called out from inside the shack - in Latin, much to the delight of Julien and Urraca. “Come in, please,” the voice politely invited.
Inside, the shack looked just as modest as one might expect from the outside. It wasn’t tall or particularly ornate, nor was it packed with furniture. In fact, much of its contents seemed to be stored in chests, bags, and bundles - further evidence that this group hadn’t been here long. The shelves, however, were lined with various ingredients, potions, and stacks of tomes, books, and scrolls. Julien couldn’t help but notice how oddly reminiscent this place was of Gregorio’s old shack, though the contents were entirely different. It’s more about the aura than anything else, he thought.
By a desk near the shelves stood another woman, similar to Uxue in many ways but clearly older, exuding an air of confidence. Her clothes were much lighter than Uxue’s - making the contrast between them even more noticeable - and her light-brown hair was dry, suggesting she had been inside for quite some time. “Apologies for making you wait outside in the cold,” the mysterious woman said, her accent thick and her voice raspy, “Uxue mentioned we might have found another sister, and though I was excited to meet her, I simply couldn’t let her see the absolute mess this place was in,” she let out a warm, jovial laugh.
Uxue said a few words in her native tongue, to which both the mysterious woman and Tariq chuckled. “It was quite fortunate that one of you speaks Euskera,” the woman added with a hint of amusement, “though I would never have guessed it would be the most Southern-looking one of the group.” Her eyes locked onto Tariq, as if trying to decipher him, and he returned her gaze, but after a moment, Julien noticed that in this silent battle of wills, his fellow Enochian was the one to blink first.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Julien interrupted politely, “may I know your name? And since Uxue seems to defer to you, what is your role within this group?”
With an easy, unpretentious smile, the woman turned her intense blue eyes toward Julien. “My name is Agerkunde, young man. And Uxue and the others do not defer to me; I’m merely someone who offers good counsel, and they are wise enough to heed it. We call ourselves the Sorginak, for we aid in the birth, the creation, of fellow brothers and sisters,” she said, her gaze shifting almost immediately to Urraca, “like this lovely young lady.”
Agerkunde’s eyes lingered on Urraca, their piercing intensity refusing to waver. Urraca now understood why even Tariq had struggled to withstand her gaze. “Nice to meet you,” Urraca stammered awkwardly, “I’m Urraca.”
The woman smiled, her expression one of quiet authority. “And more than that, you are a Sorgina. Your arima still looks malformed, defective. It taints the environment, though this interesting cape you wear seems to block its ill effects.” She raised her arm, bringing her hand closer to Urraca’s face. “We will teach you how to harness your latent power, Urraca.”
Urraca remained uncomfortably quiet, unsure of how to respond to Agerkunde’s unnerving intensity.
“Uxue tells me the southern-looking gentleman is called Tariq - an unusual name for these parts,” Agerkunde said, glancing briefly at Tariq before turning her attention back to Julien and Robert, “and you two… You most definitely look foreign, and your Latin carries an accent I can’t quite place. Who are you?”
“I’m Julien Mazars,” the young Enochian responded promptly, “and this is Robert. We hail from Omois, in Francia.”
Agerkunde’s face darkened into a frown almost immediately. “I see… and I wonder what has brought such a diverse group of people together here in the Euskal Country. That is hardly a common occurrence.”
Her scrutinizing gaze seemed to pierce them, so suspicious and all-encompassing that it felt like a physical weight pressing on the group. “But it’s past midnight, and I suspect none of us have eaten properly in a while,” she added, stepping toward the exit of the shack and opening the cover, motioning for them to follow, “why don’t you answer my questions over a nice, hearty meal? I’m sure you have your fair share of questions for me as well.”