Chapter 3: Darkness Is the Light

Winter had finally arrived as snowflakes fell from the sky. The trees had all lost their leaves as they began to hibernate from the cold, cold weather. The animals were also hibernating, many have stocked food upon food to last the winter. For some, this would be their last winter as they starve from the lack of food that they couldn’t gather.

              “Push!”

              Grunts came from a group of people as they pushed themselves at a cart. The cart was stuck in a pile of snow, the muddied road helping in keeping the cart from moving. This didn’t deter the group as they kept pushing. The group in question was an assortment of people. From different age to different genders. Artisans to soldiers. They all struggled to push the cart forward, uncaring of the differences in profession and status. In this group though, there was one person that stood out. It was a girl with silver hair and red eyes. She was dressed in mercenary type clothing, but the arrangement of her clothes almost hinted that she was, in fact, a crusader knight.

              “Almost there! Push!”

              As if focusing all of their strength, the group pushed as hard as they could. Suddenly, the cart leaned forward and soon, the momentum caused it to break free from the frozen muddy ground. Everyone shouted with a cheer as they congratulated one another. The silver haired girl immediately left though before anyone had the chance to talk to her. This was a common thing in the caravan. The two girls, Diana and Mikaila, have become a rather mysterious topic to the members of the caravan.

Having only joined them two months ago, they were the newest additions that had a very undefined past that no one knew about. It was rumored that only the taskmaster, Semir, knew the full story. As for everyone else, no one knew anything about them. Some tried to get close to them, but Diana merely pushed them away. As for Mikaila, it’s known that she wasn’t very fond of talking since no one has heard her speak. Although she’s managed to move about herself, many had seen deep into her eyes and immediately felt pity for the girl. Her eyes were very akin to the many slaves they had seen. Slaves, which have lost their light and only sought an end to their miserable life.

              “Mikaila, are you here?”

              Diana immediately opened the flaps of one of the carriage. There, Mikaila sat holding her legs at a corner of the carriage. Slowly, Diana approached her with a fruit she had found on one of the trees she found.

              “Here. It’s not lunch time yet, but I thought you would want to eat something”

              Mikaila didn’t say anything, rather she only gave a short nod. Diana took out her knife and began to peel and cut the fruit into several pieces. She then placed one of the piece towards Mikaila’s mouth. Slowly, Mikaila began to chew and a fruity taste spread across her taste buds. It was an apple. A fruity apple whose juice has properly matured of making it a top class fruit. For many, this fruit would have instantly calmed you down. For Mikaila, it only reminded him of his home.

Unknown to Diana, the juiciness of the apple was very comparable to Samantha’s homemade pies. Pies, that Mikaila knew, were very far away from her. Tears began to stream from her eyes, yet she didn’t make a single sound. Diana could only sit there, anxious of her master’s sadness. She didn’t know why Mikaila was crying, yet she knew it was probably caused by the apple she gave her. She felt vexed, angered even. She was angry that she wasn’t able to save her master back then, angered that she can only try to calm her master, hoping she wouldn’t kill herself. Yet, she hid these anxieties deep in her heart and gave a heartwarming smile towards Mikaila.

              “It’s alright master, I’m here. So please, try to rely on me more. Ok…”

              Her words slowly trailed away as she cradled the girls head on her chest. Soon, Mikaila began to calm down as she silently listened to the soft cadence of Diana’s heart. The two girls didn’t even notice that the caravan was moving as they seemingly created a world of their own. Hours passed before Diana finally noticed that they were on a different road. She lightly placed the now sleeping Mikaila on the floor where a small sheet was spread out. She then took a hay pillow from one of the corners and placed it underneath her head. After tucking her in, she made her way to the flaps and slightly opened them. Although it was still snowing, the sky was rather clear. The trees around them also retained some of their leaves. Diana then stared at the leaves. They were pure black. She also noticed that the caravan was actually moving slowly, slower than what she was used to. She immediately got off the carriage and ran for the lead carriage. On top of the carriage, Semir spotted her running for the carriage.

              “Diana? What’s the big rush?”

              “Why are we moving slowly?”

              “Is this… perhaps your first time being here?”

              She remained silent though that only helped confirm Semir’s question.

              “For a knight, I was sure you would know what this place is”

              “Well, are you going to explain it?”

              “…”

              He couldn’t compete with her straightforward attitude as he began his explanation.

              “Where currently in the forest of lost souls. Now, you’ve been with us for the past few months so you already understand how this world is filled with labyrinths”

              “Yeah. Is this forest another labyrinth?”

              He nodded his head.

              “Precisely. As you’ve seen, the labyrinths cover the majority of this world. Many cities were made to protect themselves from these labyrinths, each one focusing on technology capable of stopping that particular quadrant of the labyrinth”

              “It’s just like with the trees of Voraya. The huge wall would stop any type of monsters from entering”

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              “Yes. Even the men were trained to fight the monsters specifically seen in that area”

              Until now, Diana didn’t really bother learning about the labyrinths. That’s because she was more focused in helping Mikaila as well as defending the caravan. As far as she knew, the labyrinths were merely areas filled with monsters that needed to be kill. That’s why she really didn’t care about the labyrinths. But now, she was curious. She didn’t expect for Semir to explain to her the idea behind these labyrinths. Rather, she only wanted to know why they were going so slow. With the direction the conversation was going, she knew that the labyrinth they were in now must be special to the point that they were going through it slowly.

              “Ok, so why exactly are we moving slowly?”

              Semir pointed around them. Diana stared into the forest, but all she saw was the dark leaves and snow around them.

              “Do you see it?”

              “See what?”

              “… The smoke?”

              Diana, albeit confused, looked even more clearly around them. Suddenly, the mist surrounded them. There was no warning and the heavy fog immediately covered their caravan in Diana’s view.

              “What?”

              “I guess you didn’t see it before”

              Diana stood their gawking as Semir looked through a glasses type object. He then leaned towards Reccile who was driving their cart.

              “Move the cart a bit to the left. Their appears to be a cliff on the right side”

              Reccile nodded as she urged the horses to the left. The caravan behind them followed, avoiding the huge fall that could have killed them.

              “How long…”

              “Hmm?”

              “How long have we been in this fog?”

              Semir noticed that Diana’s voice was slightly shaken. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, wondering what was wrong with Diana.

              “The fogs been here the moment we entered the forest. It’s just, you need to know it’s there before the fog actually shows up”

              The concept was highly confusing for Diana. She didn’t understand what Semir meant by his words. This highly irritated her and she was angry. Not at Semir, nor at the forest known as an illusionary labyrinth. But at herself. Since she was summoned, she’s wanted to protect Mikaila from anything. Seeing as she was a servant, she wanted to make sure that nothing bad can possibly happen to her master. Yet, at this very moment. She didn’t even know that she was walking through an illusionary world. A place that if she ventured far from the caravan, can have her going in massive circles.

              It is at this point that she finally realized,

              I am weak…

But, it truly isn’t her fault that she was weak. Instead, it was natural. Her summoning contract was a rather special form of alchemic magic. The magic system was usually activated at high perils. In other words, it was a last resort for many female mages. That’s because their summoned beings gain an increase in their stats in order to save their masters from the peril. But, after the peril is resolved, the second part of the contract activates. The summoned being loses all of its powers and is demoted back to level 1. Of course, by training as well as killing monsters and other deathly creatures, a summoned being may rise back to their former power. Diana understands this… yet, seeing her master. She could not hope to move very far from her.

              What can I do…?

              Diana constantly asked herself this question. To train away from her master or to take care of her. But, their journey has led them to many unforgivable instances. In one case, a rogue mercenary group tried to kidnap Mikaila and several other female mercenaries from the caravan. They were immediately dealt with, but this caused Mikaila’s trauma to return. In another case, the caravan was almost overrun and they had to fight for their very lives. Mikaila was almost killed as a monster managed to break through our line and headed straight for Mikaila. That’s when we found something out. Monsters tend to seek out Mikaila.

              “Wait, are there any monsters here?”

              “No. As far as I know, there aren’t any here”

              Relief filled Diana’s face as she relaxed. But, Reccile said something worrisome.

              “Ahh… there’s no monsters here, but there are ghouls. But, we should have that covered since we have several holy magicians in the caravan”

              Suddenly, Diana felt something wrong. She stared back towards Mikaila’s carriage though nothing seemed visibly wrong. She felt it though, her masters suffering. Without caring for herself, she jumped to the ground and headed for the carriage.

              “Oye, Diana? Shit… something must have happened”

              A whistle pierced the air and the caravan immediately stopped. Diana didn’t pay anyone any attention as she ran towards the carriage. She then opened the flaps and their stood an ominous figure. A shadowy figure whose eyes were a swirl of chaotic red and whispery black smoke. Even though she was a divine being, Diana shook at the sight though she still took her sword out. She looked at Mikaila’s condition and saw her squirming uncontrollably. She was having a reaction akin to that of a person in seizure, her eyes were wide open in fear. Diana felt her master’s emotions. Pain, suffering, confusion, she felt them all. Normally, Mikaila hid her emotions from her but now, the link was at its strongest and she felt every ounce of pain she was experiencing.

              “GET AWAY FROM HER”

              A red aura surrounded Diana as she charged towards the monster.

              It is futile young spirit for I cannot be hit. I do not exist in the plane of understanding, therefore the mortal plane cannot harm me

              Her sword cleanly passed through the being. She was shocked, yet her anger stopped her from realizing the futility of fighting the being. Slicing and jabbing, she kept trying to kill the figure in front of her. She even began using elementary based magic to no avail. As she did this, Mikaila was beginning to become unstable. A dark aura began to surround her and Diana noticed that her life was beginning to disappear.

              “NO STOP!”

              She stopped trying to hit the dark figure as she quickly knelt towards Mikaila. She cradled her in her arms as the girl was enveloped by the darkness. Desperately, Diana began to swat the surrounding film away. No matter how much she tried, though, the foggy smoke would always come back.

              “Why are you doing this? WHY!?”

              Continuing her futile struggle, the figure didn’t answer her vain question. Instead, it closed its eyes as if it was waiting for something. As this scene happened, Semir and the mercenaries were trying to get in. A strong barrier blocked them though as many were pushed back. They kept striking at the barrier, cursing at the fiendish figure inside. As this happened, something unexplainable happened. A small light began to appear near Mikaila’s heart. It was small, but warm. Tiny, but bright. Diana, in tears, stared at the light. In her mind, she began to feel calm. As if the pain from earlier was nothing more but a dream. Then, the figure opened its eyes. Gone was the chaotic swirl of black and red. What replaced it was sea green eyes that was seemingly able to calm the darkness around them.

              I have done my part. Remember this gratitude for in the near future, I too require something of equal value.

              Diana shook, fearing that they’ve unknowingly made a contract with a devil. But, the figure didn’t look at them. Instead, the figure was looking at the sky as it slowly disappeared. Soon, even the barrier broke as the men who were striking it fell into the cart. Lastly, the dark film that surrounded Mikaila vanished. Diana began to shake her awake, hoping that her master was still alive. Then, the girl slowly awake.

              “W… where am I?’

              Everyone froze in their spots as the calm and beautiful voice of the girl could be heard. The girl tilted her head in confusion as she watched the people before her.

              “Master…”

              Diana once again began to cry but was only met by a confused gaze. No one really cared though as they all felt joy in their hearts. That’s because the girl whose eyes were dead, were once again filled with life.