Only Darkness Lies

Chapter 3

"Very well as you wish. I shall provide you the powers you seek." He said.

His light expanded and brightened the whole room, then he raised his hand and as he did, thd light collected on his palm forming a sphere of concentrated light, blindingly bright.

"Here" he said "I give you all that I had for all these years." As soon as he said it, the light started entering Elvira's body, making it glow in a bluish shade.
"Use them wisely." As he said those words his body, missing all the light began to darken and degrade and finally turned to ash.

Elvira couldn't understand what just  happened. Her body felt no different and the man had ceased to exist. But something did felt different. It was the strange sense of familiarity she felt in his presence.

Beams of sunlight entered the room through the cracks in the window. It was early morning and the sky had a beautiful reddish glow. Elvira got out of the room unaware of how to use her newly found power.

A beautiful flower lied before her feet. As she bend down to pluck it, a blue light emerged from her fingers, crushing the flower at once. She was startled. She didn't want to crush the flower but it seemed to her that her power somehow leaked and crushed it.

This was a trouble, if she couldn't control her power then who knows how many people she may kill while simply walking on her way.

She ran outside the forest and was met by the same old woman from earlier. She greeted her and clutched her hand behind her back to stop any mishaps.

"What's it dear, did you find your brother?" She asked in an anxious tone.
Elvira's eyes blurred with tears. "He's dead." She said a heart wrenching tone.

The woman lost her balance and demanded to tell her all about the incident. Elvira told her that she found his dead body in the forest and is on her search to find his murderers.

"Please don't." The lady pleaded. "Don't put yourself in danger."
"I won't, I will be alright with my new power." It was a slip of the tongue.
"New power, you say? What is it?"
She couldn't hide the truth from her.
"Well..I don't know how to control it yet but it can crush things. I suppose." She said in an unconvinced tone.
"Well, I can't stop you I think. Focus on your motives it will show you the way." She said and kissed Elvira's head before leaving.
"Who are you?" Elvira asked as she was about to go.
"My name is Marin. If you want any help, ask me. I will always be there to help you dear." She said and then left.

Elvira's ruminated her words focus on motives she had said. Deep down in her heart she too was afraid of her powers. She had said that she would let herself be consumed by darkness but what if it really happens? Had she made a wrong decision? Such thoughts clouded her mind.

Focus, she said to herself. She focused on her motive to find and punish the murderers and it did work. Marin's words became clearer to her. To use her power she has to focus on what she wish to achieve through it. That was the key to using the power passed on to her.

She went to the village and asked the locals about the people in the portraits but no one seemed to know them. They were not of Ilsiome and that was clear to her but it was strange that no one had seen them other than Mr. Shim.

She decided to look for them in the adjacent village and packed her belongings. As she was about to leave, she was greeted by her neighbour who had just returned to the village from a trip.

He offered his condolences to her as he came to know about Aden's demise and asked her where she might be going to. After listening about her soon to begin journey in search of the murderers he wished her for her safety.

Suddenly a thought came to Elvira and she showed him the portraits and asked about them.

After taking a moment to remember he confirmed that he had seen them leaving the village and had heard them talking about some place called Tinpole.

Elvira thanked him for the valuable information and went to a shop. She wanted to buy a map but the price was a little too high for a map. She kindly asked him to give her a discount and to her surprise, he agreed to give her a map for free but only if she would do him a favor.

Elvira was hesitant at first but then asked him about the favour he was asking for.
The shopkeeper told her about some thieves in the Etiome village who were looting most of his supplies.

"My business is already in huge loss and if all the supplies don't reach me safely then it adds to it."
"But you could have appointed some people to ensure that they couldn't loot." Elvira suggested.
"Do you think I haven't? All I ask from you is that you ensure that the supplies reach me safely."
"But why me? And how is it even possible?" Elvira asked.
"Well.. I overheard you talking to that old woman earlier. If you are so determined to kill those murderers then you can help me too."

Elvira thought for a moment and then agreed to do it. She had to have the map or her search would end even before it begins.

The shopkeeper told her everything he knew about them.
"They are called 'Troupe'. They have 10 members in total, 6 men and 4 women. All of them are really strong and powerful. Please be careful."