"She arrived not with a shout but with a whisper."
Eve's eyes flicked back once more, making sure the elderly rat hobbling after her was still keeping up. She hadn't been sure she believed him when he called himself another bearer of the Red Crown, but the whispers in her head called him a friend so she let him stay close. He wasn't as helpless as he'd first seemed, apparently well skilled with the rusty sword he carried on his hip.
She held up an arm, stopping his progress as the sour scent of fear caught her nose and a new sacrificial array appeared in their line of sight, surrounded by heretics in their hooded uniforms.
"Another poor soul fit to be sacrificed to the Old Faith..." the rat murmured, following her gaze. Something sparked to life in his eye as he gestured, the glint something she associated with a merchant closing on a deal. "If you rescue them, they'd have no choice but to join your cult."
The gratitude would be effective, Eve conceded stepping into view as the crown surged again, reshaping into a dagger once more.
"Who dares to intrude upon the holy rites of sacrifice," one of the cloaked figures demanded, charging angrily.
It took Eve even less time to tear through this unprepared set of guards, the power pulsing through her veins tearing through tender flesh and subpar cloth like her hooves scraping through mud. Moving toward the sacrifice, they felt the crown beginning to pulse, a new wave if vitality beginning to throb on their veins.
She reached out, removing the rope gag silencing the frightened bunny and allowed it to pool on the ground at her hooves.
"T-thank you," it stammered. "I-I don't have much to repay you with but-"
Eve held up a hoof, silencing the frightened mumbling and placed an arm across their chest. She inclined the upper half of her body, offering a respectable motion before straightening up again and gesturing to them.
"M-me? You want me?"
"The bearer of the Crown thinks you would be most helpful among her ranks," Ratau agreed, earning a cautious expression.
"I- okay," the bunny said uncertainty. "You saved my life and it's not like I have anywhere to go..."
A deal then, waved Eve and took the creature's bound palm.
The power burning through her arms flared once more as the array activated, a startled and frightened shriek leaving the bunny as murky black tendrils arose from the ground to wrap around the newly acquired follower. it yanked downwards, the tendrils disappearing and the array's brilliant light dying once more.
She released a soft huff and raised a brow at Ratau, prompting the crown about what she'd witnessed.
"Fear not - your new follower has merely been transported with your borrowed power," he insisted immediately. "When you arrive in the lands of the fallen cult, he shall wait for you."
Eve did her best to convey an expression of disbelief as the crown confirmed her inquiry. She grasped the rat's hands and dragged him to the center of the array - she worried for all of a second that it was blood fueled, but the rescued prisoner hadn't been blooded quite yet. And sure enough, the magic surged up once more, this time grasping the two of them and for a brief moment, Eve only saw red.
Then she blinked and found herself surrounded by soft if failure overgrown grass and scattered trees. She followed Ratau down the mossy covered stairs from what she supposed must have been a transportation array, looking around at the messy weedy land.
If this was just woodland, there should be a healthier mix of bushes, Eve mused. But it was mostly full of brambles, the small and rapidly growing plants seeming to have strong-armed out any more delicate ones. The same could be said of the flowers too - hardy pioneer plants making candid attempts at dragging the confusingly sunny place back into the grasp of the wilderness. Someone has lived here before.
