The Maid and Her Princess

Shadow Forest (Shadow Forest 1/5)

I.

The sound of giant bolts ripping through the air roared from those large ballistae. They echoed through the sky, making the inn shake, but outside the window they seemed to bounce off of an invisible force. The twin moonlight was barely visible at all, so she did not get a good view when she was outside, nor did she care. Madoka ignored the commotion and shoved the door aside. The wood unexpectedly shattered into several pieces with golden chains flailing against the frame. The familiar cold atmosphere the girl exuded was not there and she never thought she wished to feel that chilly sensation again. She tore the place apart with her Knotting magic unexpectedly going rampant, but the sight of a red blade lying on Audrey's bed caught her eye. Her breath hitched as fear nearly crushed her. No, she realized after inspecting it. It was a thought-shard, like the one Ceghinort showed her. Panic welled up inside of her as her hand shakily reached to touch the shard. Incomprehensible whispers surrounded her ears, but she grabbed it.

Pain instantly shot through her mind. Madoka's vision became covered in blood. She was stuck in a crimson haze, but branches of trees suddenly swatted into her face. Metallic dust stung her cheeks as the whirlwind of the chaos rushed through her. Madoka gasped, suddenly realizing she managed to let go of the red hot thought. It dropped to the floor and shattered into a flash of sparks, but no sounds came out. Instead, the shattered needle's remains rushed outside the door. Audrey's memories were terrifying, she tried to recover the breath she lost and nearly collapsed. The unintelligible whispers were coming closer to her ears, forcing Madoka to hurry out and chased those sparks.

This must be how those villagers near the Mines must have felt.

The streets were dark now and eerily vacant. She broke out into the streets and realized that the sun was gone. Everyone seemed in a hurry to get indoors. Madoka strode by a group of adventurers as she searched for more of those red shards from Audrey. No one could stop her. The thunderous roar of a rope releasing something launched into the air, but Madoka noticed the glint of a bolt soaring skyward instead of at a target nearby. Though the twin moon's light was veiled by the fog, she noticed that something was indeed filling the sky with a noticeable and more ominous shadow darker than the night. It stretched all the way over the far away Petals. Instantly, she knew exactly what it was.

Ceghinort, God of Tomorrows, and even the kind god Ares's creatures all have interest in the Uracksheegal's demise. Why are we the ones responsible for that? Madoka wondered. If Audrey was with her right now, would she be able to avoid this shadow? Loud clomping and neighing interrupted her despair with frantic rustles of thoughts in the rain. The stable next to the inn was full of chaotic thoughts and its walls were being slammed against by its agitated occupants. She was able to pick a particular horse's mind so she ran over to it.

"Salzeberry?"

"Dangerous Hue-Hue!" The frazzled horse cowered in the corner of his stall. "Get away! Away!"

His shouts only caused the others to join in.

"The Sky is falling, hee, hee, hue-hues and lizard hue-hues, Us are not worthy!"

"My master has been taken by the Beast," Salzeberry warned her. "Hue-Hue, dangerous one, she-she has been stolen too. G-Get-get get back, Hue-Hue!"

A chorus of scared horses' horrified thoughts and whining was not something Madoka realized would unnerve her, but she shivered and pushed through the unison of the neighing and reached for Salzeberry's thoughts. She recoiled at the sight of an Esmeralda emblem. That man...! The captain who owned this skittish brute had a twisted look on his face. The horse witnessed his master rip an axe out of a log and scream out a maddening roar before running to the hills just beyond the stable. The whole place surrounding this stupid beast was covered in a red hue, however, Madoka could not tell if the horse's vision was affected by the Uracksheegal. What was more problematic was that the horse did not see Audrey being affected by it.