The whispers were there no more.
Aesther quietly stared at the curtains as they softly swayed by the night winds. Her eyes were distant and puzzled. Her heart beats irregular.
"I should remember…"
The door of her room was forced open with an abrupt crack. Aesther snapped out of her thoughts, flinching at the sudden sound.
Ezrahl paused for a moment, his voice was tinged with a sense of urgency.
"It's outside."
Aesther blinked, her mind was still hazy from her sleep and her thoughts. But as the realisation dawned upon her, she hastily stepped back from the window.
Ezrahl strode inside the room, pulling apart the curtains as he simultaneously summoned a protective ring around her feet.
Her windows overlooked a dense mass of thrashing shadows. They were too dark to let any light pass through, stirring and churning with a violent impatience.
"Fucking hell…" Aesther's expression turned white.
Ezrahl raised his hand outside the window, the darkness easily swallowing his hand. But as he clenched his fist, a sudden spark of crimson made the darkness hiss.
He channelled his spiritual energy into his hand.
All of sudden, bone-chilling shrieks erupted from the darkness. The noise shred the air, what sounded like a thousand tortured souls screaming together in a collective cacophony of torment and agony.
Aesther instinctively stiffened, suddenly wide awake and alert.
The screams cut off as abruptly as they had started, followed by a rotten scent of death and decomposition.
All the darkness dispersed, followed by a deathly silence.
Ezrahl's gaze was cold and piercing as he watched the last hints of a black corrupted spirit dissipate from his palm.
Aesther nervously swallowed.
The kitsune spirits were mindless wandering souls who descended into darkness because something too unthinkable happened in their lives or in their deaths. They never really targeted anyone but were known to be lured by the scent of 'death'.
She wondered if it was because of her.
She hoped it was only because of her.
Her uncertain eyes glanced at Ezrahl. His gaze was narrowed and dark, looking as mysterious and dangerous as the spirits of the night.
He must be thinking the same thing as her, questioning their unexpected circumstances.
Aesther cleared her throat, feeling cold and lost at the same time.
"Where is Ahzure?"
"Not in his room,"
He took out one of his daggers, a crystal blade with an ashen white hilt. The engravings were ancient and old, but as he offered it to her, Aesther could feel a hum of raw magic hiss into her blood.
She barely registered his voice as mixed emotions surfaced in her heart.
"Stay here."
Ezrahl said.
Aesther remained quiet as he jumped down the window.
Her thoughts were heavy as she still thought about how easily he eliminated a massive hoard of spirits. If Ezrahl wanted, how little effort he would need to put to liberate the whole Kitsune Forest from its berserk spirits?
Not much.
The Kitsune Forest was only separated from the town by half a mile. Its vast green expense now breathed with the softest of misty blankets that descended only in the cold nights.
As Aesther watched Ezrahl disappear, she felt more restless than ever.
"Heavens," she exclaimed, closing her eyes to regain her composure.
Those who ascend as higher as she did, were required to have mastery over countless spells and incantations. There could hardly be anything worse than forgetting a weapon as basic as them.
Yet, as Aesther subconsciously try to recall the warding spell earlier, her memories came back blank. No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember.
The realisation was frightening.
Because the spells weren't the only thing.
Her time could be very limited.
She had to get stronger.
Aesther opened her eyes, her lips set in a grim line as she too lept out of the window.
She nervously smiled, "I can't grow stronger by remaining behind."
The wind outside was freezingly cold. She whispered a few spells under her breath, letting the frosty ache of a blue light fade over her temples.
It was a simple spell to ward off any spirits that might come her way.
The spell was not enough to stand against any strong force, but they provided her with a temporary guard. And Aesther planned to face something far much worse and stronger than some berserk spirits.
All heavenly cities were not only created to forge warriors who can fight against the dark barriers but they were also created to imprison the five immortal beasts.
As time passed by, not all of them survived those shackles. But some of them still remained. The Infernal Fox of Akamori was one of them, bound in the darkest depths of Kitsune Forest. It was said to be the most sinful of them all.
Waiting, scheming, to break from its prison and take revenge from the heavens and the heavenly cities.
Aesther's gaze darkened as she entered the forests.
There was a dull gentle fragrance of flowers and rotten leaves. It kept growing the deeper she went, her boots hit against the grassy earth, and a thick layer of fog kept becoming more intense than it should.
Aesther subconsciously became wary.
But even then, there was an odd sense of vulnerability in her heart and mind. The restlessness from before returned, troubling her thoughts as they returned back to that devil of her nights.
Ezrahl.
"Is it your first time here?" she found herself asking, her voice breathless from running so far, "I hope so…"
In her former life.
A reason Ezrahl became as strong as he did was that he slayed one of the immortal beasts and claimed the last bit of its powers. She knew that memory very well, how it ignited a raw sense of terror when she first witnessed a flicker of that celestial power…
But the rest, everything else related to that instance had faded from her mind long ago.
Her pace faltered, and Aesther nearly fell because of her absentmindedness.
It felt wrong.
How could something that small make her lose the sense of herself and reality?
Aesther tightly grabbed Ezrahl's dagger. Her heart was loudly hammering against her chest as the fog became too dense, surrounding her, swallowing her as a spark of untamable heat flared inside her blood.
She pressed a hand against her temples.
"It's alright," Aesther whispered, her fingers trembling on the dagger, "I remember… I remember how to fight."
"Everything… should be okay."
His dagger was also a magical weapon.
"Everything…" Aesther blinked her eyes in confusion.
There was no fog.
She let out a shaky breath, clenching her fists together as she forced her mind to remain calm. It only took a few moments.
Aesther took one uncertain step forward.
Her heart was calm.
Her mind seeped into a serene emotion.
Nothing appeared to be wrong.
Then what just happened?
Aesther resumed walking, trying to pick up Ahzura's scent from the forests. That overbearing fragrance of flowers was there no more, and being a wolf, Aesther knew she would be able to find him as soon as she catches the barest whim of his scent.
The masses of closely packed trees gradually began to fade the deeper she went.
Instead, the grassy grounds carried scattered pillars of fine craftsmanship. There were numerous small shrines, each one of them unique and carved with heavenly grace. The forest appeared less like a mass of trees, but more like mystic gardens of the spirits.
The forest carried a certain beauty in its randomness.
Mossy cobblestone paths.
Broken statues.
Leaking fountains.
Shattered glass.
Aesther could not continue walking. Her mind was dizzy, her thoughts numb. She was not sure what to do anymore, but her vision was darkening.
She felt too hot on the cold night.
Her throat was dry.
"What's…" she whispered, as the shadows embraced her, "What's happening?"