Interlude

The Wisp floated high above the treetops, its faint glow barely visible in the darkening sky. Below, Claire, Elise, and Harold moved slowly through the forest, their footsteps crunching over leaves and roots as they looked for a suitable place to make camp. The day’s training had left Claire drained, but she held herself upright, walking with the stiff determination of someone who had learned quickly how not to give in to exhaustion.

Interesting, the Wisp thought, watching the trio from a distance. It had been following her, this Aetherian, since the moment she first arrived in Grimoria. At first, she had seemed no different from the others—lost, frightened, and stumbling through a world she didn’t understand. But something was different now.

“She’s stronger than most,” the Wisp murmured to itself, its glow pulsing faintly as it watched her. The last time it had observed an outsider, they had faltered much sooner, crumbling under the weight of Grimoria’s harshness. But Claire? She was adapting. Not gracefully, perhaps, but she was surviving.

The Wisp drifted lower, hovering just above the canopy, keeping its distance. It wasn’t supposed to interfere. That much had been made clear. The rules were simple—observe, don’t influence. Grimoria had its own way of balancing the scales, and those who entered the world from beyond were meant to find their place in it—or perish.

And yet… The Wisp’s light dimmed slightly as it pondered. Claire had already encountered one of Grimoria’s creatures, an event that should have been her end. She had faced it with little more than raw instinct and desperation, barely escaping with her life. And yet, she had survived. That was more than most could claim.

It had watched her encounter the shadow as well. That had been… unexpected. Claire’s brief connection to the darkness was not something the Wisp had foreseen. It hadn’t planned it, nor guided her toward that encounter. Yet, instead of being consumed by it, she had endured. There had been hesitation, fear—understandably—but Claire hadn’t broken.

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And that was what kept the Wisp watching.

It drifted closer as Claire slowed her pace, clearly worn from the day’s trials. She let out a weary sigh but didn’t stop. Harold was babbling about something as they made their way into a clearing, where Elise began to scan for a suitable campsite. Despite her exhaustion, Claire held herself with a quiet resolve, her hands gripping her makeshift staff with a kind of familiarity that had been missing just hours before.

Interesting, the Wisp thought again, its light flickering curiously. It had been following her for days now, expecting her to falter, to beg for intervention as the others had done. But Claire had not asked for help. She hadn’t even sought it out—not from the Wisp, and not from Grimoria’s magic.

A part of the Wisp was intrigued, almost… hopeful. Claire was succeeding where others had failed. Maybe she didn’t need intervention, after all. Maybe she could survive this world without a push.

But then, a whisper of doubt crept in. Grimoria was not kind to outsiders. The Wilds would grow more dangerous the deeper Claire wandered. And what about the magic she’d touched, that dark thread of shadow? It had stirred something within her—a connection the Wisp had not foreseen. Could that connection become a threat?

The Wisp hesitated, its glow flickering as it weighed the decision. If it bent the rules, even just a little, Claire might survive longer. But if she was already succeeding without help, what right did the Wisp have to interfere? And what if that connection to the shadow grew stronger? There were forces in Grimoria that even the Wisp didn’t fully understand, forces it was bound to leave untouched.

It hovered indecisively, watching as Claire finally sank down onto a patch of soft grass, sighing in relief as she stretched her aching muscles. She winced slightly, her hand going to her side where the bandages still held yesterday’s wounds together. She was hurt, yes, but not broken.

The Wisp’s light dimmed as it drifted away, giving them distance. For now, it would hold back. Claire had survived this long without interference. Perhaps that was enough. Perhaps… she didn’t need the Wisp’s help.

But the temptation lingered. Claire was different. And if she kept succeeding, bending the rules might become all the more tempting.

With a faint pulse of light, the Wisp faded back into the shadows of the night, leaving the camp behind.