(From Ingrid)

Shortly after I was born, I was abandoned at an orphanage attended by the church of Enki. I care not for my biological progenitors, my family are the ones who took me in. They cared for me, and taught me everything that I know now. From a very young age, I decided to dedicate my life to return the favor to the church. I studied and trained a lot to become a priestess myself. It was a bit disheartening when I heard my compatibility with the collective was low.

—Do not fear, my child. We can feel the strength of your faith. If you continue praying, you will become one with the rest of us —the nun who was in charge of the orphanage told me once.

—And even if you fail, you can still work as a clerk like me! —Lucius added with a big smile, and I barely avoided the impulse of punching him in the face.

He was also an orphan, just a couple of years older than I was, but he was already helping with the management of the orphanage. He had an even worse compatibility with the collective than I did, so he never got a mask. But he had other talents that made him useful to the church, despite his carefree and annoying personality.

By the time I became an adult, I was able to receive and transmit my thoughts to the collective, albeit with some effort. I also learned how to use holy magic, though only the most basic prayers and incantations. Still, that was enough to be able to receive a mask. But to my surprise they appointed me to train to become a holy knight. I had learned how to use a sword, but only because I thought knowing self defense would be useful if I was posted at a remote orphanage. Still, that was the will of Enki, so I accepted it. I started to train more rigorously under the guidance of the knight’s instructor at the Cathedral,, but despite their best efforts, I was a slow learner. Still, I had faith in the path that had been laid for me.

Then, the Curse of Calliope fell upon these lands. We knew of it, of course, our knowledge was better kept within the memories of the collective. And we knew of its true name; Lilith’s Wrath. We knew how to save everyone, but at that moment, there was little we could do against the poison of Tiamat’s first spawn. It had been centuries since the last saintess had appeared, and we also were unaware of the location of the seed of the world’s tree. A great commotion happened when we heard that the Dragonroot’s witch, the latest heir of Lilith’s blood, had the seed all along. We were even more confused when she voluntarily gave it away to the royal family.

—She must be planning something —most of my brothers and sisters thought, and I agreed.

When it was announced she also knew a few locations where the saintess could be, her true intentions became pretty clear to all of us. She was clearly using her ancestor’s poison to take advantage of the crisis it would cause, and capture the saintess during the confusion. Our elders told us to not act impulsively and to not to jump to conclusions, but they did act to counter her actions, volunteering some of our own to help in the search for the young saintess. We wouldn’t let her fall into her hands!

—Hey, Ingrid, long time no see, how have you been doing? —Lucius said while I was eating my lunch. We have seen each other in the hallways of the cathedral, but it had been years since we had talked, almost as long since we left the orphanage. It was almost nostalgic. Almost.

—What do you want?

—Well, you see, I have been working at the Academy, where they are treating the Curse of Calliope. I have become acquainted with the person in charge, Doctor Maxwell Conrad.

—So I have heard —I replied, not really interested. I have heard from him as well. The rest of the church had a good image of him, but his closeness with the witch was suspicious. I couldn’t help but think she was manipulating him, and therefore, the whole operation to deal with the curse and finding the saintess.

—I suspect he and Madame Dragonroot are going to go look for the saintess themselves.

—WHAT? —I said, jumping from my seat.

—Yeah, yeah, when the search groups were being formed, Maxwell dismissed the importance of one of the possible places where the saintess might be, but he has been showing signs of regretting it. It became more apparent when he received the notice that we haven’t detected signs of holy magic in those areas.

—That doesn’t mean she is not there, the results were very preliminary and superficial.

—I know, I know. But Maxwell is not one to leave things to chance. He also heard about the rumors that say that the Queen and the King had also fallen victims of the curse.

—They had? —this was the first time I had heard about that.

—I don’t think it is confirmed, but since neither had appeared in public, the people are suspecting things. After he heard about that, he went straight to discuss it with Madame Dragonroot, and is probably going to take matters into his own hand.

—That’s an insane assumption. Even if what you were saying was true, why wouldn’t he ask for help like he did before —I told him, but I thought about it for an instant, and something clicked in my mind—. Unless… unless the witch is manipulating him to be the one who gets to the saintess!

—Eh, I don’t think that’s the case. I already met Madame Dragonroot and she seemed pretty nice —he said, but I didn’t care.

—We need to inform the Pope! The future of our whole is in the balance.

—I already told them. Well, I told the cardinal, but you know, being part of the collective, everyone already heard about it. They told me that they’ll try to free some and send them over there, but everyone is really busy dealing with the curse. It might take at least a week or two, and then they would have to travel from here to there. The priests that are in the other locations might get there sooner. So they told me to follow the doctor, and tell them if something happens. They’ll use one of their miracles to send people over there in an instant, but only if it is absolutely necessary.

—Then what are you doing here?! You should be right behind him!

—I can’t quite use the link to call them, can I? I need help from one of you. You, specifically.

—Me? Why me?

—Well, unlike everyone else, you aren’t that busy —he dared to say to my face.

It was true that I couldn’t help with the treatment of the curse, and I was still but a squire, so I had been assigned to be a guard. It still wounded me to hear that, and it made me want to punch him.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

—But more than that —he continued—, I want to help you! We come from the same orphanage, we are family! If we find the saintess, the Pope may change their mind and put you in the job you wanted. And if this hunch turns out to be nothing, you can just blame it all on little old me.

—That sounds tempting, but I can’t just leave my post like that.

—Don’t worry, I already talked with your supervisor.

—Then why are you wasting our time if it was already an official assignment!

—Eh, that would ruin the fun, wouldn’t it?

And that’s how I got roped on that mission. We departed towards a mansion in the middle of the forest. Who would have thought the witch had prepared such a remote hideout. When we encountered her and the doctor, they were already getting ready to depart. Their plan to travel sounded insane, until I saw the creature that would be pulling our carriage. Meeting up with a crocodilian was very unusual, they tended to live for centuries, but were very isolationists, even from their own. I was left agasp for an instant, his physique would put to shame the statues of heroes of ancient eras. I shook my head, he was still a spawn of the beast of the abyss. That being said, he seemed quite civilized and well spoken, albeit a bit aggravated due to our unexpected arrival.

Lucius explained the situation, omitting information that was irrelevant, and we were allowed to accompany them. We left immediately, only giving time to the witch to say goodbye to her kid. I… I knew that that girl was also a Dragonroot, but she seemed so cute and innocent, I couldn’t imagine her becoming like her mother. The witch’s expressions were cold and calculating most of the time, but she could change suddenly and mimic natural reactions without any trouble. Truly a double faced individual. There was also a dark aura around her, I could feel the hair on the back of my head rise whenever she got close. But more importantly, there were two horns coming out of her forehead. She was trying to hide them, and they were barely bigger than my little finger, but they were a clear sign that she was not a human.

We went into the ocean and traveled a few hours towards the north, making a very decent speed, and we managed to arrive at a port town before the sunset. We were going to continue traveling through the night, but we needed to get some provisions for the rest of the travel.

—Go with the doctor, I’ll stay with the Madame —Lucius said, and I agreed.

We couldn’t have her parading around looking like that, after all. We brought what we needed rather quickly, we didn’t have the luxury of the time on us. But as we were going back to the port, I heard something that made me stop in my tracks, and by the doctor's expression, he had heard it too. Someone had said the name of Lilith. Without even having to say anything, the doctor and I understood what each other was thinking, and walked towards that person.

It seemed too much of a coincidence that someone would just mention that name just as we were in town. I suspected it was a member of the cult that idolized Lilith, the ones who were suspected of releasing the curse. I was pretty sure that the witch was controlling them from the shadows, but the doctor didn’t seem to be aware of that. Even then, he must have realized that if they were indeed a member of the cult, they were following our tracks.

I was gripping the hilt of my sword, ready for a battle, but what we found instead was a bunch of children sitting around a campfire, with an old man sitting in front of all of them. His skin was pretty dark, but his long hair was silvery white. His face was covered by a hood, but his eyes seemed to glow like fire. Maybe that was the reflection of the actual fire in front of him. A crow and a dove were sitting on one of his shoulders.

—It was then that Lilith betrayed her mother, Tiamat, and sided with the great king Marduk, to seal her away and give humanity a chance to live freely in this world. They sealed her deep in the ocean, where she still remains to this day. But Lilith hadn’t helped Marduk for the goodness of her heart, she only helped because she fell in love with a human. And when this person started to desire power and raised an army against Marduk, Lilith followed him without a care for how many lives she would take. And when his lover died in the conflict, Lilith fell into despair, and desired to burn the world completely, just as her mother had tried. Before that happened, she discovered she was pregnant, with a child from her late lover, and decided to step down from the conflict —the old man was saying.

That was quite… a unique interpretation of the story, according to the records we have kept in the cathedral, but he wasn’t technically lying. The child that prevented Lilith from continuing her rampage was, of course, the first of the Dragonroot, the witch’s ancestor.

The old man suddenly raised her gaze, directly at us. No, directly to the doctor.

—All of Tiamat’s children are impulsive, they don’t care for what we think is right or wrong, only for what belongs to them. Their family, their friends, their possessions. If someone like Lilith were to lose them, they would become a walking disaster. Would any of you be able to contain and control such a maelstrom? —he said, without breaking eye contact with the doctor.

—We need to go —he told me, turning around.

—Did… did you know that person? —I asked him as I followed.

—No. At least I don’t think so.

I wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but I let it slide for the time being. He wouldn't have said anything if I pushed him more, and we were already arriving at the port at this time. Lucius was waiting outside of the carriage.

—Oh! Good timing, you two! —he said—, Rosanne and I were brainstorming ways in which she could blend a little more, and we came up with a pretty good idea for a costume! No one will suspect a thing.

The door opened, and she came out, wearing the same clothes as me and Lucius, and even covering her head with a mask.

—What is the meaning of this? Are you making a mockery of our traditions?! —I yelled, almost unsheathing my blade.

—Come on, Ingrid, please relax —Lucius said, putting himself between me and the witch —. It was my idea, those clothes are my old spares, and the mask is one that I happened to buy in a carnaval some time ago, it isn’t a blessed one.

—Why are you carrying such frivolous things with you!

I took another look at the witch. As he said, the mask didn’t have any holy power imbued on it, and even the style didn’t match what we use. It was a plain with a mask, with very simple cuts for the mouth and the eyes, each like a crescent moon. Half of the face seemed happy, and half looked sad.

—Fine! For the sake of this mission, I’ll allow it. But you are already in hot water, witch! —I said, and pushed her to the side to get into the carriage.

—Well, that’s great to hear —she replied—, Maxwell, are you coming?

—Uh? Oh, yeah, let’s get going already —the doctor replied, obviously still thinking about what had happened.

I was also curious about the identity of that old man, but thankfully I had taken a good look at his face when he raised it. I sent the mental picture to the rest of the collective, labeling him as a “suspicious individual”. If any of my brothers and sisters were to meet up with him, they would stop him to ask about his identity. Doing this left me tired, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

When I woke up, I could see through the windows of the carriage that the sun had set completely. All I could see was an ocean of darkness, with a few stars as the only lights in the sky. Lucius was snoring, but both the witch and the doctor were awake, murmuring to each other. There was something glowing in her hands, a red thread that connected both of her pointer fingers. As she moved her hands, the thread extended, shrunk, or swung, almost as if it was alive.

—At first I could only materialize a centimeter of it, but I think now I can get it up to 10 centimeters. And I can even control it, to some extent. The weirdest part is that I haven’t uploaded it to the world, but it still works. I’ll have to check it out with Neil once this is over.

—Hmm, your mana flow is stable even as you use it —the doctor said—, just try not to force it up. Have you thought of a name for it?

—No, not yet. Coming up with the magic formula for it was rather easy compared to coming up with a name.

—Well, it reminds me of Ariadne’s thread.

—Yeah, I like how that sounds —the witch said with a warm smile.

It scared me how good of an actress she could be. I would need to keep a close eye on her.