VISION ✔️ || The Keepers of Astraela #1

20.1 || Of Pillow Fights and Molten Flesh

EVA

EVA DREAMED OF SUNLIGHT.

It bathed the Guardian's dell in golden rays that streamed from wispy branches overhead. She smiled, drinking in its warmth before tilting her head back down to the springy moss beneath her criss-crossed legs.

Thana's leather journal lay open on the ground, half covered in elegant script from the endless fountain pen that held her spot. A smorgasbord of herbs, vials, and trinkets littered the surrounding area, haphazardly organized into a system only Thana—and Eva—would ever understand. But, at that moment, looking at the spread made her eyes cross.

On a rainy, overcast day, when anyone else would have sheltered away from the elements, it would have been far easier to focus. Cool mist brushing her cheeks was always welcome, even as she concentrated on a charm to keep her spellbook dry. But the sunny weather provided more distraction than anything, as did the rustling of clothes and leaves from behind.

"Any luck yet, Thana?"

Despite her annoyance at yet another interruption, an amused smile wriggled to the surface. She turned to find a similar grin on Emrys' lips while he dangled upside-down from one of the sturdier branches. Sunlight shone upon his face, illuminating the playful glint in his eyes, though his smile radiated brighter still.

The glow intensified, flushing his features in gold. Only then did she realize he had frozen in place. Held captive under the light, his expression was an endless beacon of happiness.

Of hope.

Slowly, the light darkened to a crimson that cast ominous shadows across his face. Its ray grew sweltering; tremors rocked the ground, rattling jars and trinkets like chimes. One by one, vials fell in the quake, spilling luminescent contents onto the moss. The liquid steamed and bubbled until it evaporated into puffs of smoke.

The ground split at her feet. Flames shot from the crevasse, igniting the moss inches beneath her boots. She scrambled back from the blaze.

Flinging a hand out, she reached for Emrys. A sticky substance met her palm in his place. She fought the urge to turn around, but morbid curiosity turned her head robotically—and she regretted it the moment she saw his face.

Or what was left of it.

Blood and molten flesh clung to her hand, slipping from Emrys' face to expose meat and bone underneath. What had once been a blissful expression was replaced by terror, jaw unhinged in an inhumanly distorted gasp. The remaining skin peeled from the bone in sickly, gray patches that crumbled away to ash.

Two empty sockets stared back at her. Flames licked where his eyes had been, taunting her by staking claim in his skull.

Another quake rocked the ground. The crevasse spanned wider, pushing Fromir Woods farther into the distance until it was concealed behind a wall of smoke and ash. Sweat dripped from her forehead and added to the stinging of her eyes, hazy at the edges with swirling, black smoke.

"It's not real..." Thana's voice was a whisper under the inferno's roar. "None of it is." Her eyes lifted to the sky, alight with flitting embers. Sparks flared in harmony with the rage boiling in her soul. "You little bitch! Show yourself!"

The world burst into light; the only sound came from the ringing in her ears that grew to a near-deafening drone. Moments later, the light faded, and she crashed into a room so dim that her eyes struggled to adjust.

Nearly blind in the shadows, slapping footsteps were all that alerted her to a nearby presence. Thana writhed for freedom, arms tugging against the force holding them above her head. Metal dug into her wrists to give indication of her bindings, and the following clang of chains confirmed her suspicions.

"How long?" Thana spat. "How long do you think you can contain me and torture me with these visions?"

White hair broke through the shadows, blurred against the frame of a tall, pale woman. There was something unmistakably familiar about her, though the thick fog in Eva's brain made it impossible to see her clearly.

"The rest of eternity, if need be."

Eva nearly stopped breathing. The feminine voice, dripping with malice and disdain, was one she hadn't heard in ages, but could never misplace.

Amaya.

"You have yet to see the error of your ways," the woman hissed, pacing before Thana with slow, measured steps. "We gave you ample souls to experiment on. Why him? Why not make one of our gifts into your special one?"

"They were cruel. Heartless." Thana pulled at her chains once more. "How could any of them satisfy me?"

"He was an innocent man."

"By your standards, I didn't think his kind was capable of innocence."

"You Corrupted him, just like everything else you touch." Amaya stepped closer, cold eyes unrelenting. "This is your chance to make it right. Save everyone."

"Before or after he dies?"

The following silence was heavy enough to break the backs of a million soldiers.

"I'm not dumb." Thana's voice trembled. "You'll drain him until he crumbles to ash... and when you do, I'll ensure your world crumbles with him."

A blur of movement swirled Eva's vision, as if her eyes had spun a million rotations within their sockets. Sharp pain pierced her shoulder, and once her sight cleared, Amaya's face was mere inches away. Up close, every detail was crystal clear, from her impossibly-flawless complexion to the murderous glare in her ice blue eyes—though it was hard to take in her beauty with her pointed nails grinding into Thana's sweat-slicken shoulder.

"Is that the thanks I get for waking your memories?" Amaya yanked Thana closer, bringing them nose-to-nose. "For granting you a fraction of your power? Keep it up and I'll bind the Touch's curse to your skin for eternity—for all except me."

Amaya released her grip on Thana's shirt, but neither her nor Eva had the chance to share a breath before she gripped Thana's head. Her fingers pressed into the skin with such force that Eva was sure her nails would penetrate their shared skull.

But the nails were the least of her worries.

Electricity fired from Amaya's fingertips. Excruciating pain brought forth a scream so loud it shattered the air, but Eva wasn't sure whether it was her or Thana whose cries bellowed loudest. Her body twitched and writhed from the voltage of Amaya's touch. The metal chains dug into her wrists with each violent constriction, and blood trailed down her forearms. Her vision continued to blur, plunging her back into the depths of unconsciousness.

The restraints on her limbs vanished, though her body thrashed from repeated shocks. It grew stronger as she slipped into a void so dark, so suffocatingly deep that she felt as if she would drown in its emptiness. The abyss was welcoming, warm, enveloping.

As she slipped farther into the darkness, the shocks lessened, and her screams fell silent. Amaya's fingers no longer staked claim in her skull, replaced instead by a new pair of hands that grasped her shoulders.

"You're dreaming! Eva! Please, wake up!"

She opened her eyes to meet the stare of two blood red irises.

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