Children Of Myths, Act One: Scotland

Cold and Darkness

Needless to say, the dreadful sight had left the people of Tobar astonished and scared, hearing it was one thing, seeing it? Completely different.
While they mounted the tents with the other soldiers, Artica and Brendan took their time to explain Evans who they were dealing with, who Crom Cruach was and the few things they knew about its cult and their leader.

"A serpent like monster..." Evans held a little silver cross on a chain around his neck "Good heavens, could it be Satan himself?"

"Captain, no, he's not" Artica shook his head, trying to calm down the British man "But there's no doubt it's a tyrannical entity that would unleash chaos and destruction over this realm and the ones our Good Neighbors live in"

"What about the Godless Witch that leads his troops?"

Both uncle and niece shrugged, there wasn't much information about her, only that she had managed to find the Eye that brought death and use it to kill a Fae Queen.
Evans sat down and chugged some beer, then stared at the ground "Do you know anything else?"

"Nae, I didn't have the time to ask more about him. Long story"

Artica didn't have time and didn't want to give him personal info, especially about the fight between her and Saraide. Telling a British that she'd almost made a woman lose her arms via ice magic wasn't smart, so she'd keep it for herself.
However, the situation was critic, she was nervous because she didn't know where to start and how to start...
Yes, she had her theory which was solid but how to put it into practice?

"Don't even think about going alone" Connor followed her with Brendan and Evans "If something happens, I'll pull you out of there, understood?"

The girl nodded, swallowing saliva and starting to descend the hill towards the black mass below. What first felt like a mild discomfort, now it made her even more unease. Her breath was heavy, her steps were slow, as if she had a weight on her shoulder. The humans felt bad, yes, but she had to stop at least three times on the way down.

"Darling, what's wrong?" Brendan supported her and carried her to a boulder to sit on, she breathed in deeply and then exhaled, like she was on top of a tall mountain where the air was thin and more difficult to breathe.

"I... I feel like there's something dense around me... As if I'm walking into a huge pool of mud. No, denser... Like oil, honey, I don't know" She breathed in again "A sticky fluid that presses all around me and prevents me to move and breathe normally"

"Shall we go back?" Connor sat with her in concern

"Not now that we're close..." Evans muttered between his teeth, receiving the most murderous glare Brendan could do "It's not that it's going to spread in the next hour. Let her rest" He didn't say anything else because that would be inappropriate to say to a British Captain, but he had a lot of insults with his name written on.
Artica weakly stood up and walked down with an arm around Connor's shoulders as they descended some more.

"Here we are" Evans folded his arms, wanting to see what she had in mind and if she could actually be of help.

The redhead stared at the black icy carpet in front of her, her mind bringing back the memory of that terrible sensation she felt last time. She didn't want to go through that pain all over again, but she had to grit her teeth and move forward. Not now that she was this close.
She took out the talisman from the necklace and spoke to it "Last time you led me through the memories of my mother, you showed me the magic within those memories... I need your help, once again"

It floated from her hand and latched to her right eye, the next few seconds she gasped and shut her eyes tightly with a startled yelp, then she gradually opened her eyelids and looked around.