After Jasmine was taken to one of the inn’s rooms to recuperate, Annale could only wait in frustration with the rest of the patrons.
As she waited in the inn's tavern area for further information about Jasmine, Annale learned just how much she had underestimated Jasmine's standing in the eyes of the inn’s customers. The girl was clearly cared for by the inn and its patrons, so much so that after she had been taken upstairs, the inn's friendly and warm mood took a turn for the worse.
Annale saw confusion in some of the guests as they questioned the sudden mood change. However, the rest of the patrons had scowls and frowns on their faces as they took worried and angry glances at the stairs leading up to the inn's second floor. The whole place was a low buzz of anger and worry, as it felt like everyone was one step away from rushing up and checking on Jasmine.
After a few minutes, which to Annale felt like hours, Heledh came downstairs, and Annale felt the room tense. Heledh clearly noticed the atmosphere and managed to diffuse the scene with a smile as she addressed everyone with her cheery voice.
“Don’t worry everyone. Jasmine is fine. She didn’t even get hurt by the fall. Either way, I have called for one of Sol’s clerics to check on her. I will also apologize as I am not a fitting replacement for her, but in order to make sure she makes a proper recovery, I simply cannot allow her to keep working tonight.”
Then, with those words, the entire place completely recovered as everyone returned to their previous state of jollyness. The mood was further enhanced as the small band played a favorite tune often used to depict the rise of Novaris after the invasion.
Annale, content that Jasmine was safe, waited until she saw her fellow High Cleric head upstairs before heading to her temple to confirm Jasmine’s identity.
----------------------------------------
Elegnos woke up to someone shaking him.
“Sir! Sir! Come on, it's time to go! We are closing for the night!”
As he rose from sleep, Elegnos groggily responded to Heledh, whose voice he faintly recognized.
“Uuuugh, what happened?”
“You drank too much. That's what happened. Now, if you could please move along, I don’t want to have to call the guard.”
Hearing the word guard sharpened Elegnos's dazed mind, and he was quickly out of the inn while trying to remember how he had blacked out. Sure, he had drunk a lot, but he was a trained professional and always kept up a base body enhancement spell that kept him drunk enough to feel good but nowhere near enough to black out.
Going back through the events of the night, Elegnos had spent most of the evening just drinking and being annoyed at Jasmine. He remembered ordering some fried eel hound tail, which put him in a good mood with its delicious lamb and fish flavor. Afterward, he remembered setting his head down on the table before feeling some sort of energy very similar to his goddess wash over him.
Then he remembered feeling angry—very angry. Had he gotten so enraged at something that he had passed out? No, that wasn’t right. Something was missing, but Elegnos couldn’t figure out what. At least until he felt the tug of his goddess, and with her descent into his mind, so too descended the memories.
“Finally awake, my useless servant?” The goddess said petulantly as if the mere fact that he was a mortal angered her.
Of course, knowing better than to respond, Elegnos simply took the insult and awaited her command as the deity's pressure made him feel like an insignificant ant. As the pressure lessened, Elegnos clearly made the right call.
What did not lessen was the goddess’s anger.
“I don’t know how it happened, but Luxana’s little wench has somehow taken what is rightfully mine! And I cannot abide by the fact that my power shares the same vessel as Luxana’s tainted energy! So, find the girl, learn what they did with the brother, and end her miserable existence!”
Almost passing out again due to his goddess’s rage, Elegnos simply sent acknowledgment through the bond, and her presence soon dispersed, leaving Elegnos a bit woozy.
After a few seconds of putting himself back together, Elegnos activated his body enhancement magic and felt his body gain a rush of energy and power. Then, with a predatory smile, he diluted some of the goddess’s dark mana with his own and pulled the darkness around him as a coat of disguise before taking off toward the orphanage.
Running at full sprint through the city, it took him a minute or so to reach the orphanage.
The lights were off, and everyone within seemed to be sleeping, so with the darkness shrouding him all over, Elegnos quickly climbed the building as he further enhanced his body and hands to allow him to climb much like a spider would.
Opening one of the upstairs windows without issue, Elegnos found himself inside the orphanage and was quick to send a prayer to the God of Thieves for giving him such an unguarded building to infiltrate. Then, before moving to find the girl, Elegnos released his climbing magic and thanked his lady for allowing him to see in her darkness.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
With the darkness also shrouding him, Elegnos moved through the second floor like a ghost and soon found his target sleeping peacefully in one of the simple dorm-looking rooms. Elegnos knew that though the girl appeared mortal on the outside. She definitely had some divine elements within and should not be underestimated. So before the questioning began, he had to make preparations.
The first was to ensure no noise left the room. Channeling some of his mana, he quietly called forth a dome of silence.
“Silence descend, in waves profound;
Blanket the space with hushed sound.”
As Elegnos concentrated on the silent spell that covered the entire room, he moved to cast another spell. However, only being C Rank, he could only concentrate on two constant spells at a time and regretfully released his body enhancement. With that out of the way, Elegnos moved to cast the second spell he would need for tonight.
This time, Elegnos decided to empower the spell with his goddess’s mana and use some of his own to dilute the energy just a fraction. Then, as he felt the slow burn cold of his goddess’s energy pass through his body, refining it just a fraction as it passed, he began the quiet incantation.
“In shroud of darkness, chains unseen;
Binding forces, vast and keen;
Through darkness bound, our will proclaimed;
Conjure forth, our darkest chains.”
While Elegnos quietly muttered the chant, chains of pure darkness began crawling from under Jasmine’s bed and entirely wrapped the young girl.
----------------------------------------
Jasmine stirred from sleep, feeling like her entire body was being squeezed. As the pressure increased, she let out a groan as the air was forced from her lungs, and her eyes shot wide open. Panicked, she looked around the room and was shocked to find a rather familiar face staring at her. An average-looking elf with midnight skin and dull brown features who had visited the inn almost every day for the last two months was in her room. Giving the elf a look of confusion, Jasmine began to speak, only to find her words produced no sound. The elf noticed, and after seeming to concentrate for a second, he spoke with a malicious grin.
“You may speak now. Though do know that no sound will escape this room.”
“Who are you?! How did you get in here?! What’s going on!? What do you want?! I don’t have much gold if that's what you want!” Jasmine shouted with a tremulous voice as panic began to set in.
“Well, who I am doesn’t really matter, but this might let you recognize just what is waiting for you this night.”
As the figure spoke, Jasmine watched a ripple pass through his appearance. Then the illusion shattered, revealing the hidden silver hair and eyes underneath. Seeing the change in appearance, Jasmine instantly recognized it.
One of the many things that Jasmine had read as she looked into her changes was the appearance of silver eyes and hair in the world's various species. And only one matched the looks of the person currently in front of her.
The elve was a follower of Setiel, and nothing good could come of him being there.
Fear and panic were fully setting in, and to the elf's amusement, Jasmine began to struggle and scream for help. Jasmine then saw the elf close his eyes for a second, and the dark chains binding her moved as they also gagged her mouth, silencing her.
“Listen. It’s been a long night, and I want to wrap this up as soon as possible. So, if you just tell me what I need to know, I will be on my way. Understood?”
The elf spoke, showing clear irritation but also displaying a dagger that he calmly and playfully caressed against Jasmine’s cheek, adding just the faintest level of pressure to cause a small cut to form. Jasmine wide-eyed, tried to speak with mumbled words as she vigorously nodded. Elegnos, seeing her acknowledgment, smiled creepily and continued in an unapologetic and pretentious manner.
“Very well. First, where is your brother?”
The chain around Jasmine pulled back, and she couldn’t help but yell.
“Help! Help! Somebody, please help!”
Elegnos, rolling his eye at Jasmine, slapped her face so hard that a mark formed on her reddening face. After the slap, Elegnos lost his temper and yelled out in annoyance as if to demonstrate his words.
“Get it through your thick little skull! No one—and I mean no one—is going to hear you!”
The elf, who was clearly unstable, then composed himself before flashing his dagger again, and in a blur of movement, he disappeared from where he had been standing and rushed toward her. The next thing Jasmine knew, he was crouching near her bed with his dagger pressed against her throat.
“Now, I am only going to ask you once more. Where. Is. Your. Brother?” The words came in a sharp, irritated, clipped tone as the elf was clearly losing his patience.
Jasmine, now sobbing with fear, spoke in botched words as tears dripped down her face.
“ I-I don’t know. I-I have never met m-my brother. Pl-pl-please, y-you have to b-believe me. A-all I know is h-his n-name. I-I w-was th-the only one left h-here.”
Giving Jasmine a sigh, Elegnos got up and replied with a cold and uncaring voice as he headed to the door. “I told you that was your last chance. I don’t have all night. It looks like I am going to find some helpers.”
At those words, Jasmine screamed. “No! Please No! They have nothing to do with this! Please just kill me instead.”
Screams that turned to mumbles as Elegnos left the room, and the dark, oozing chains covered her mouth once again.
Moments later, Elegnos walked into the room holding one of the older children whose mouth was gagged with ripped bed sheets.
Elegnos brought the child in front of Jasmine’s as he held a dagger to their throat. Then, looking coldly at Jasmine spoke in the cold, clipped, and deadpan tone of a murder.
“Where. Is. Your. Brother?”
As the chains pulled back from Jasmine’s mouth once again, she shouted while looking into the terror-filled eyes of Jeremy.
“Please! Please! Please! Don’t do this! I don’t know where my brother is! His name is Arelion Siandel! That's all I know! I swear by all the gods!”
Tragically, that wasn’t the answer Elegnos wanted, and with a slow and steady hand, he cut the young soul's throat as blood gushed out onto Jasmine’s bed.
Jasmine, feeling the warm blood on her body, could only scream in anger and terror as the young life in front of her was slowly drained out and his eyes dulled.
As Jasmine thrashed, begged, and screamed, her voice gave out, and so did her mind. Jasmine wasn’t ready for this. The world was too brutal. So, in an effort to maintain her sanity, her psyche fractured, and darkness claimed her.
However, unlike previous times where the darkness had been naught but an empty void to wander alone and seek freedom from the world, this time, something stirred within the dark abyss of her mind.
A presence that had been with her since the day she was born.
A presence that had been fighting and peeling away at the seal of her soul.
A presence who could no longer just watch her life go by.