The air inside the barrier felt... wrong. There were trace particles of mana lingering in the atmosphere, but it wasn't like anything I had ever come across; nor anything we had been taught about at the academy. My eyes drifted up towards the sky and laid sight upon the cosmic ball of black energy that had formed above the house.
I assume it has something to do with that sphere of death hovering above the village.
Every nerve, every bone, every piece of muscle fibre in my body was signalling the alarm, begging me to turn around and walk away. The mana here was abhorrent, corrupted, and yet... strangely powerful. God only knows what would happen if I tried absorbing it.
The house door swung open, and the robed figure from earlier slithered out. Their voice was flat, authoritative... and... feminine?
"It took you long enough... Henry."
They reached up and pulled down their hood, revealing the angelic beauty that was hiding within. Snow-white hair, deep ruby eyes, pale skin and a pair of pointed ears - unmistakeably an elf. She looked young, seventeen or eighteen at the oldest.
A naive man might have fallen to his knees and proclaimed his love for the princess standing before me, but I wasn't about to succumb to a feeling like that. Years of studying the human psyche, learning to recognise subtle expressions by the wrinkle of ones skin to determine their inner thoughts - combined with an extensive catalogue in my mind of different body postures and their meanings... this chick was bad, bad news.
It might be easy to mistake her expression to be soft - perhaps even kind - but looking closer... looking behind her eyes... her glistening pearls, peering into the deepest parts of my soul, regarded me as little more than an insect.
Her arms were crossed over her chest as she leaned against the wooden cottage. Her soft face contorted into an expression of superiority.
In the next moment, the world around me faded into darkness, leaving nothing but an empty void as far as the eye could see. No... not quite empty, the silver-haired girl stood above me, her face filling with more contempt by the second.
My eyes were beginning to feel dry. How long was it since I last blinked? Just... blink, Henry. It's easy, right? In all my years walking this plane, I'd never had trouble blinking, but every inch of my insignificant body was screaming to keep my eyes open; at all costs. Even if you have to keep your eyes open for the next thousand years and watch them dry out and wither to dust - do not close them. That's what my body was telling me.
My eyes closed for an instant - for less than tenth of a second - it was an uncontrollable subconscious reflex. That instant stretched into eternity, and images of unimaginable terror flooded my mind. Images of flayed corpses, horrific otherwordly monstrosities, the ruins of entire civilizations... and standing atop this mountain of misery was a silver-haired witch with blood-coloured eyes.
"My, my, Henry. You really are a fragile thing..."
A hand dragged across my cheek, caressing my face. Brought back to reality, my head swivelled to check my surroundings. House, sky, the sun, grassy hill, cottage... Phew...
"You..."
I gazed up at the girl.
"Who... who are you?"
A sinister grin crept across the girl's face, warping into a sadistic smile as she looked down at my trembling body.
She placed her hand under my chin, and pulled me up onto my feet. Without a word, her hand slipped into mine, and she guided me towards the house. I offered no resistance, partly out of curiosity, but primarily out of fear for my life.
As soon as we entered the entrance hallway, a foul, repugnant smell pierced my nostrils. It was unmistakeably the stench of death - something I had grown rather accustomed to now - but amidst the harsh, sharp scent of metallic blood and rotting flesh, there was a subtle undertone of something... more.
The girl stared at my face from beside me, carefully gauging my reaction. It was as if she was reading my mind, because as soon as I had finished my train of thought she gave my arm a tug and pulled me further into the building. The stench was becoming fouler the deeper we went.
Finally, we turned a corner and reached the source - the kitchen.