She had laid Tivon on a velvety moss. His body was still shaking. He's in shock. Why? There was nobody there. She had looked around, but she hadn't found any traces of a human being. She placed a soaked cloth over Tivon's sweaty forehead. She had already cleaned the blood from under his left eye.
None of this made sense.
Nobody was there.
She was trying to connect to the other side, despite that she had never even tried before. She could only hear silence. Until she heard him screaming. Cornelis found Tivon clutched to the ground, eyes shut, hands covering his ears, screaming. Screaming not just because of fear. He screamed in terror.
What did you see?
Cornelis hugged her knees tighter to her chest and looked at Tivon's twitching body. He wasn't dying. She was sure of that. She had managed to steady his heartbeat and his breathing. Now she just needed to wait for his body to stop shaking and for him to wake up.
And do what?
She couldn't possibly force him to tell her what he saw. He looked too terrified.
Cornelis sighed and leaned against the tree. Things were getting out of her control. First the job, the curse, then Elias' disappearance and then... She looked at Tivon. I'm pushing him too much. She knew it wasn't fair of her to force him to resume work after Elias' disappearance. She could've come to these ruins alone. Despite that he was obligated to be here, she felt guilty. Cornelis wanted, more than anything, to help Tivon get rid of the curse, even though she was aware it was nearly impossible.
But you need him.
We need him.
Cornelis shut her eyes. The voices were crawling in her head.
We choose him.
She knew that. They did choose him. She hadn't yet figured out why.
Ask him.
Cornelis couldn't. She wouldn't do it. But she knew better than to counter the voices. She did it once and it almost cost her, her sanity. Tivon suddenly moved his hand to the cloth on his head. Cornelis moved her mental barrier, awaiting for the impact of the voices slamming against it.
Tivon's eyes fluttered open. He tried to sit up. Cornelis placed her hands on him. "Careful."
She helped him sit up. He looked around, his body still shaken.
"Nobody's here. You're safe."
Tivon slowly nodded, his eyes dull, fixed on the ground. He clutched Cornelis' scarf closer to his body. Cornelis handed him a cup of some warm liquid. "Drink this."
Tivon always asked about all the ingredients before he accepted anything from her. Now he didn't disobey. He silently took the cup and drank it.
The silence terrified Cornelis. Tivon would always tell her if something was wrong, even if it was just once. She needed to do something. But what? She wouldn't want to force an explanation out of him. If she would, he probably wouldn't tell her. The trust between them was thin.
Rea.
He would tell her. She could help him.
Cornelis knew she was running out of time and if they would pause their work again, she might never get back the time they would lose. But Tivon needed some rest.
Cornelis sighed. "We'll go to Rea." It was the first time Tivon looked at her in hours. "You need to rest. I've pushed you too much."
Tivon just looked at the ground and nodded.
He stayed silent the whole time. Cornelis rode slightly behind him, eyes fixed on him, alerted at every surrounding sound. Tivon didn't take his eyes of the path. The voices slammed against her mind.
Ask him.
Cornelis swallowed and asked quietly.
"If you want to talk about it, you can tell me. But if you don't want to that's okay too."
At first, she thought he didn't hear her. She turned her eyes away and then Tivon asked, his voice weak.
"Did you live in that town?"
Cornelis looked at him. "I don't know. I remember it already being burnt to the ground when I was little."
The next questions startled her. "How old are you Cornelis?"
"I'm mortal Tivon."
He didn't look at her. "I didn't ask you that. I asked you how old you are."
Tell him.
Tell him the truth Cornelis.
She sighed. "Over hundred years. Maybe more. I don't know the exact number."
She never wanted to tell others her real age because they wouldn't believe it. Her skin was smooth and unwrinkled, and she looked nothing but young. Cornelis looked more in her twenties than more than hundred years old.
"How did you do it?" His voice was steady.
Cornelis looked away, guilt shading her face. "I wish I could say magic, but it was more than that."
"Curses?"
She flinched at the word. He said it so easily, like it meant nothing to him. "Yes." She barely heard her own voice.
"But why live that long?"
The voices started slamming, crawling at her mind.
Tell him.
Tell him the truth.
She pushed them away, even though they were choking her. "I don't know."
Tivon didn't ask anything else for the whole way to the castle. She was grateful for that. She couldn't tell him why, she wanted to keep living in this world. She didn't quite know it herself. Power? Vengeance? Revenge? Guilt? Loneliness? It has been so long that she had already forgotten.