Shadow Beings

19. The Land of Destructive Tenebris

Holly's Perspective

Smoke surrounded her solitary being as she stared into the eyes of darkness, breathing softly to inhale the sparse fresh air present. A sigh left her as her feet touched the damp and uneven ground, shivers of sorrow flowing through it. 

Holly opened her eyes to another darkness, the moon lightening the sky as if it were a part of a haunting ritual, hidden behind a thin screen of fog. The girl had always loved moonlight and the feeling of peace it invoked, but there was something unsettling in that land. As if the moon were keeping an eye on you with caution for itself rather than looking out for you.

It seems as if the land has been through much, Holly thought.

It was a desolate forest. The stagnated water mixed with the horrendous smell of the polluted ground sent a wave of despair over her. It deeply saddened Holly to see Nature so hurt. 

Holly bent down, keeping her hand firmly with a gentle touch on the cold land. She slightly flinched as something sharp hit her palm but it mattered not, for she sought to comfort the ground. After a moment she stood up, humbly bowing to it. The area where her hand lay now seemed a little more lively, as if a cloud of life hovered above it. Holly smiled, turning towards Trina and Theo.

Suddenly a loud, buzzing noise surrounded her ear. Various flies began to gather around them and the three shadows soon found themselves amidst pestilent noise.

"Yikes, this place is not good at all," Theo remarked, his aura tight and cautious and he was unsure of what to say.

Holly sighed, holding onto the neutral energy of the land that was now scattered. Understanding these Seven Lands wasn't easy, but she had always felt a sense of duty towards them. The land's energy was the only part that wasn't affected by emotional energy, and Holly didn't think that was a coincidence.

The shadow-trapper closed her eyes and reached to the insects. Usually, she did not talk to such creatures, but she had a power to use and they were also living things. Holly requested them to leave the shadows alone and moments later the atmosphere was majorly free of them. Conversations between those sort of living things - especially in a highly dulled state - wasn't easy, so Holly merely conveyed her intention and a glimpse of her emotion.

"Thank you our life-saver, Holly the great," Theo bowed on his knees in an amusing fashion.

"There is no need for that, kind sir," Holly bowed, returning the gesture while giggling.

"Whatever you did seems to have healed the land's aura, even if only in a minute measure," Trina said softly with intrigue and a little fling of pride, so Holly couldn't help but smile shyly. "And off with that, Theo," Trina hit his arm lightly.

"Alright, we have three potential places where we could go. There's the Odious Pool - even one sip of water from it can make you very sick, that is, harm your energy in a way that is the worse for you in a personal sense. Then there's the Caliginous Chamber which shows a total of three glances of your future, one on each visit. And the third is the Desolated Grave, which shows you your worst memories."

Holly's eyes momentarily fell to the ground, feeling disheartened. When she deeply looked into the past and Nature of the land through the remnants of its aura scattered around her, she realised it once used to be wonderful... perhaps only Tenebris. Silent and soft, caring in the pursuit of a truth. Darkness could be comforting, after all.

Holly wondered when it became so destructive.

"Jay said something about the key being in its home, and I remember reading about it in the book Entity. I think the little light here is the most prominent feature with the moonlight as the only source of light."