Ashes Whisper

Chapter 20 : Mother

My name is Lauria, and I am the mother of two daughters, Elara and Mikaela. We lived in a small village nestled among the rolling hills, surrounded by peaceful forests and shimmering rivers. But our world was turned upside down when the Kingdom of Arvandor invaded our land. Chaos and bloodshed ensued, and we lost everything we held dear.

During the war, both of my daughters went missing, and despite our best efforts, we could not find them. To make matters worse, one day, the dreaded Black Order assassins captured me and my husband. They demanded to know if we had seen our daughters. My husband, his voice trembling with fear and rage, asked them what they were going to do with our girls. But before we could get an answer, the leader of the assassins sliced through my husband's head with a swift stroke of his blade. Then the assassin Black Order informed me that it was Lord Thrush's order to capture my daughters.

My heart shattered into a million pieces, and I knew that I had to find my girls and protect them. But my search was cut short when I was captured by the Black Order assassins and sent to their Kingdom. I was thrown into a torture room where I was subjected to their twisted experiments, along with other slaves who were captured during the war. Each day was a struggle to survive, and I could feel myself losing hope.

I could hear the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked a man named Hassan the leader of assassin Black Order. He was followed by another man, who I assumed was Lord Thrush. "My lord, I have captured one of the villagers. She is the mother of the red-haired woman with the pale ash-like skin," Hassan said, bowing before Lord Thrush.

Lord Thrush's cold eyes bored into mine, and I could feel the fear creeping up inside of me. "What are we going to do with her?" Hassan asked.

"Send her to the torture room. We're going to use her as an experiment for our 'homunculus' project," Lord Thrush replied, his voice devoid of any emotion.

The sound of my heart pounding in my chest was almost deafening as I listened in horror to the conversation between Hassan and Lord Thrush. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. they planned to use me as an experiment for their twisted project. I was powerless to stop them as Hassan dragged me away to the torture room.

The room was damp and dark, with flickering torches casting eerie shadows on the walls. I could hear the sounds of other prisoners crying out in agony as they were experimented on. It was a place of pure horror. I was strapped down to a table and the experiment began.

I soon discovered the darker truth behind Kingdom Arvandor. Lord Thrush, the man responsible for my husband's death and my capture, had a twisted project called "Homunculus." Slaves were captured and tortured in this project, with the promise of receiving a special power from Lord Thrush. However, the cost of this power was their humanity. Those who were chosen for the project would become inhuman creatures, monstrous beings. And those who failed the experiment would become mindless, soulless corpses.

The project began with Lord Thrush capturing pregnant women and using their fetuses as effigies. Our bodies were sliced open and the effigy was placed inside, followed by a dark ritual involving dark magic. It was a horrifying and brutal process. I could feel the pain coursing through every inch of my body as they sliced me open and inserted the efigy into my womb.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. I lost track of time as I lay in agony, my body slowly changing into something monstrous. The last thing I remember before losing my memory was the excruciating pain of my transformation into Doomnettle.

Once the "Homunculus" project succeeded, Qrerza, the spider, and I, Doomnettle, the poisonous plant monster, were born. Our memories were lost, and we couldn't recall who we were before the experiment. However, there were others like us who had also been chosen to become inhuman creatures.

The failure of "Homunculus" project left its victims as mere shells of their former selves, mindless and soulless, waiting for Lord Thrush's command. They were doomed to a fate worse than death, trapped in their own lifeless bodies, unable to break free from the cruel experiment that had transformed them into monsters. The very thought of it sent shivers down my spine, and I knew that I had to find a way to escape from this nightmare.

Despite being inhuman creatures, I could still feel a glimmer of my past humanity, and it pained me to see what we had become. Qrerza, on the other hand, reveled in her monstrous form and the power it granted her.

Qrerza and I were separated from the rest of the homunculus and sent to a remote location, while the others were taken to unknown destinations, likely to keep them hidden from any potential adventurers. I knew that Lord Thrush's ultimate goal was to capture my daughter, and I feared for her safety now more than ever.

Now I knew that my daughter Elara was cursed by the Ashes Whisper, a curse that granted its victims extraordinary abilities beyond human capabilities. Those who killed someone cursed by the Ashes Whisper gained eternal life, and it seemed that Lord Thrush intended to use the curse to gain eternal life and sustain his rule. As for me, Qrerza and others homunculus we were sent to a remote location to prevent adventurers from interfering with Lord Thrush's plans.

I knew deep down that we needed to be stopped, but I didn't know how to break free from Lord Thrush's control. All I could do was hope for a miracle that would bring an end to our suffering and the suffering we caused.