Stepping through the fable felt much more comfortable than it had when she first entered. Almost immediately, Aura could see clearly and easily move any part of her body.

The ground beneath her crunched as she stepped across the piles of flowers, both withered and fresh, below her.

What greeted her was a large group of people, blocking the beautiful architecture and scenery of Asanoch that she had always loved.

‘How irritable…’ She thought, understanding that there were few of these people that believed she would ever return.

Cheers began to erupt from the crowd as those that had been quietly communicating with the strangers around them noticed the woman’s presence. They cheered for her return, and for the return of the man behind her.

Aura turned around to face her companions, or she had expected to. Clyde was the only one there and he looked at his friend with an expression of horror, worry and guilt.

“Clyde?” she called out. “Where—”

“Clyde!” Dalea cried out with tears streaming down her face. She dropped the bundle of white and yellow flowers she had been carrying.

“My boy! You’ve returned!” Clark praised Halarion Holis before pulling Clyde and his wife into a warm embrace.

‘This doesn’t… What happened, what’s happening?’ Aura tried to sort her mind out but it continued running in circles. She could barely comprehend her own thoughts over the cheers of the spectators.

“Clyde, where—”

“Clyde, you’re back!” A pure nymph with deep veridian hair that faded into a beautiful jade called out. “I’m so sorry for everything, Clyde!” Tears began to stream from her eyes as she pulled Clyde away from his parents and into her own embrace.

‘Anahita…’ Aura thought of the name with great disdain.

The Ultimate of Asanoch turned her head, facing the black-haired woman and silently saying, “Pleasure to see you again, Aura.”

Aura felt the words transmitted directly into her mind. ‘This feeling is just as uncomfortable as I remember it. Fake tears? You really think they’re going to be able to win Clyde over?’

“I can only try, how’s your husband?” Anahita said, silently. Her lips curled into a deep grin as she watched Aura.

Aura’s pupils dilated as she exhaled. She refrained from having an outburst. This was not the time nor place. If she acted rashly, then she could be exiled from Asanoch due to such an outburst. Her family could even pay a steeper price.

“Hey, Clyde?” Anahita called out, confused.

“What is it?” he asked, inching away slightly.

“You’re fully clothed,” she said with an odd expression.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Clyde asked, he shared the young ruler’s expression.

“Oh!” Anahita was taken aback slightly. “N—nothing. This crowd is a little loud. Should we head back to your estate?” She turned to face Dalea.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Dalea said, her voice hoarse as she pulled Clyde back into her clutches.

As Clyde, Dalea and Anahita began to walk away, Clark approached Aura.

“So,” Clark said, “is it just the two of you?”

Aura first looked towards the floor, slight tears welling up as she lifted her head again and said, “yes, it’s just the two of us. Korman sacrificed himself to save the three of us and then… I think Syllis was torn.”

“I see,” Clark looked to the side with an expression of pity. “Would you like to notify Korman’s family or would you rather I did?”

“It’s alright,” Aura said. “I’ll do it.”

“I will make sure to throw a grand funeral for Syllis,” Clark said. “You and Clyde would like that, right?”

Aura stood silent as she mulled it over. ‘Could she have really been torn? Clyde was holding her arm. They both would have been torn unless… she stayed back?’

“It might be best to hold off, Clark,” Aura said with a strained voice.

“Alright, would you like me to accompany you to the Rens’ estate?” Clark asked sympathetically.

“No, it’s fine,” Aura answered, shaking her head side to side. “I would appreciate you setting up a time for me and Clyde to talk. Obviously I would not want to take him away from both you and Dalea but whenever there is time. It is quite an important matter.

“Also, I do not know whether Clyde contracted an anathema but if he has… it will have started out immensely powerful.”

“How powerful?” Clark asked with a gulp.

“It will have the potency of an anathema that had been nurtured for at least six months,” Aura replied as if it were an everyday occurrence. “I would recommend getting it transfigured right after its first assault.”

It was common for upper-class kindred to refer to anathema with agricultural terms. In their eyes they were a commodity to be sold. Wealthy, young kindred were trained to view them as such.

“Six months!” Clark was taken aback. He quickly regained his composure before saying, “thank you, Aura. I’ll pay for your carriage, of course. As for your discussion with my son, I can set aside some time at a banquet, let's say… in a couple days?”

“Completely fine,” Aura answered. “Thank you, Clark. Also, there’s no need for a carriage, I’d rather walk.” She bowed before heading on her way.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

As she felt the weight of her steps against the ground, she noticed something. It lacked the compacted snow beneath. In the time they had gone, Asanoch had foregone their winter weather and transitioned back to summer weather.

Aura had of course known—roughly—how much time had passed inside the fable. But it wasn’t a focus for her or any of her companions because there were no changes in their environment. Now that she was back in Asanoch, she truly felt the passing of time.

Another aspect of her return nagged on her. She desperately wanted to visit her parents as soon as possible, to tell them she was ok, but she decided against it. The matter of reporting Korman’s death to his family was much more important.

‘Even when faced with a choice between myself and my spouse, I almost chose the selfish one…’ Aura frowned, disappointed in her initial inclination.

As she walked, she took in her surroundings. The almost identical trees were much more welcoming than the thick-root trees from the fable, the sun less volatile and the houses looked warm, unlike the cold and rippling abyssal forms meant to mimic them.

Knock! Knock! Knock! Aura’s closed hand clacked against the door. Each hit was far from the other. A part of her wished that no one arrived to answer the door.

The door creaked open, revealing a maid on the shorter end. She gasped before saying, “Ms. Aura! Is that really you?”

“Yes fina, it is me.”

The maid’s sparkly blue eyes lit up before she asked, “then… is Korman?”

“I come bearing bad news,” Aura said in a cold and distant voice. She wanted to keep this matter as far from personal as possible. “I would appreciate it if you could let the Rens’ know that I am here.”

“Is he injured?” the young nymph asked, shaking her head. “Pardon my lack of manners, I’ll let Mrs. and Mr. Ren know right away!” Fina bowed and hurriedly made her way back into the manor.

A couple of minutes later, two large figures approached the main doorway.

“Aura, you’re back!” Marvin shouted. “I almost didn’t believe Fina! But, I always held hope that you four would come back, safe and sound.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Ren, I have some bad news for you.”

----------------------------------------

As soon as she felt her body, Syllis opened her eyes.

“What happened?” she said out loud, hoping there was somebody around to answer her. “I thought I was torn?”

Syllis watched the pasty white roof above her ebb slightly. She merely dismissed it as a symptom of her tired body. She had nearly been torn or experienced something akin. It was only natural for her to feel weak.

Almost as soon as she spoke, faint ethereal cries sounded. They gradually grew louder until they were overwhelming.

“I guess I woke that kid up,” Syllis mumbled, irritatedly. “The cries growing was probably just my hearing returning to me…”

Without an adult response, she tried to push herself up from the ground. It was clear to her that she was not resting on a plump pillow but rather the floor.

With a couple groans and through the support of a wall to her left, Syllis pushed herself to her feet before leaning her back against the wall. She turned to examine the rest of the room.

The walls were the same pasty white as the ceiling, with simple shapes painted in seemingly random patterns. There was a long bureau with memorabilia set on top of it. On the right side of the room was a tall door, firmly in the center of the wall and most of the floor was covered by a dark rug.

Most interestingly was a pale crib with a blue undertone that stood perfectly in the center of the room. This was the source of the ethereal cries that refused to die down.

Feeling less disoriented, Syllis decided to investigate further. Naturally, her first objective was to look in the crib. These cries she heard were distorted. They were inhuman but also not so alien that she believed them to be that of some creature.

‘No, it’s far more likely that this ‘baby’ has a condition. One that impacts its vocal range.’ Syllis thought as she began to approach.

The closer she got, the louder these voices became and her chest began to burn. When she was able to peer over the top of the crib, she caught a glimpse of the baby within, along with a much greater pain that felt like it threatened to tear her apart and louder cries that felt like they came from the deepest parts of her mind.

Syllis fell backwards and grunted in pain. Instantly, the cries mellowed out, becoming quieter by twenty-fold. Still, they were more than irritating, causing her to instinctively place her hands over her ears.

Simultaneously, she felt the burning pain in her chest recede. Like a once great river having succumbed to a great drought. It was bizarre, a circumstance that she had never felt before.

‘Not like I haven’t experienced my fair share of those in only my first fable. Well, hopefully it will be my last.’ Syllis laughed. She had long resolved not to enter another fable. They were horrific and even though the chance for her to enter another one as incredibly hostile and dreadful as her first was low, she did not want to chance it. ‘Fate has not treated me well.’

The next target of her investigation was the large door. It was not a door that you would find in a typical household. These doors were the usual in Asanoch, where the expected residents were nymphs of tall stature. Only in the last fifty odd years did humans begin to flock to it like birds, migrating for the winter.

Syllis made sure to move on the outer edge of the room. She did not know why the baby’s cries were amplified nor why her episodic pain activated when she approached, and in greater amounts than ever before. The latter in particular was more than bizarre.

These two details caused her to wonder if she was even in Asanoch, let alone Ethrailia. She held onto the thought though. In all of her time talking to Clyde, Aura and Korman—as well as attending Lurgica for the short time she had—Syllis had never heard of someone exiting a fable rift and ending up anywhere but where they had entered initially.

Carefully and slowly, she placed her hand on the door-handle. She twisted and pushed the door open. What greeted her was an endless expanse of black. Countless dark-blue stars were littered across this expanse as if they were stars in an ever growing sky. They pulsed softly and in sync, like they were tethered together as their gentle sounds, sinisterly tried to invade her mind.

“Outside, storm, together, escape, lost, bleeding, ethereal, protection, potential, divinity.”

After Syllis heard the words begin to repeat, she immediately shut the door again. She was not in the mood to be berated by another source of infinite noise nor was she ready to attempt to jump down into the endless expanse below. It was apparent that she was isolated from Asanoch and Ethrailia as a whole and seemingly, this room she was in, was the only solid area around.

Syllis scratched at her head as she tried to make sense of the area around her, but even with the passing of what felt like hours, nothing had. After carefully going over the facts again, she had not moved an inch in either reality or in her pursuit of an answer.

‘Damnit!’ Syllis cursed herself for being so stupid, as well as fate for putting her in such a predicament. Inevitably, she ended up at the same—yet seemingly impossible—conclusion that she always had, time after time. ‘Is this really another fable?’

Slowly, over the course of another long and boring hour, Syllis arrived at a potential conclusion. Initially she had dismissed it because of what her teachers always said, “being torn is to have a fable rift tear you apart, leaving the pieces of your body stranded in the expanse of the closed fable rift.”

Eventually Syllis had decided to approach it from a new angle. Over the course of her fable, she learned to grow more distrusting of the world and its people. Why not apply that to Ethrailia again?

Syllis recalled that even the most prevalent question about fable rifts—how they form—was based entirely on theory. ‘Manifestations of other civilizations stories? Through their collective consciousness?’ To Syllis, this was a greater myth than the fable rifts themselves.

“If there really is the possibility of getting torn—and the bodies are never found to verify—then who’s to say that these people are dying? Who isn’t to say that they aren’t all just trapped, in places such as these?” Syllis smiled and said out loud, knowing that being quiet was not going to cause the baby to seize its endless crying.

Then, only a couple seconds later, her smile was wiped from her face as she realized. ‘If everyone who is torn is trapped in similar situations and this isn’t known in Ethrailia then… nobody has ever escaped.’

This realization was more horrifying than her body being torn apart by a fable rift, ever could have been.