Three days on the trail, and Sera cupped cool water from the rushing stream to her face. The dawn light chased away the shadows, a stark contrast to the darkness that had clouded their journey since leaving the village. The chief had been generous, providing a week's worth of provisions and three horses to navigate the unknown path.
As she stared at the shimmering water, memories of their farewell surfaced. Neither she nor Rezak could recall the route to The Creator, a fact that even the scholarly chief found baffling. His face, etched with concern, mirrored their own frustration as he struggled to decipher the red-haired man's cryptic words.
A rustle of fabric and the murmur of tent canvas drew Sera from her thoughts. Rezak was breaking camp, and the red-haired man's grunts echoed nearby. She had seen the same ancient glyph, a chilling symbol of Creation and Destruction, etched onto his wrist. He, too, was a puppet, bound to The Creator's will. Lost in the grip of Destruction for so long, his memories, his very identity, had become blurred. His purpose now: to serve.
Filling a wineskin with water, she noticed Delena sitting by the stream, her small legs dangling in silence. A change gnawed at Sera. Ever since they embarked on this perilous quest, the little girl had withdrawn, her laughter and playful spirit replaced by a quiet unease. Initially, Sera had attributed it to leaving their village friends behind, but now, a deeper concern gnawed at her. Delena was hiding something, a secret buried in her silence.
Suddenly, Rezak's voice pierced the morning air, laced with urgency. "Sera! He's… something's happening!"
She rushed towards their makeshift camp, finding the red-haired man convulsing, his face contorted in pain. Incoherent sounds gurgled from his throat. "What happened?" Sera demanded, fear twisting her stomach.
"One minute he was cursing us, the next…" Rezak stammered, his hand instinctively reaching for the long-knife at his hip.
In an instant, the man's spasmodic movements ceased. He spoke, but the words were nonsensical, garbled. Sera, ignoring Rezak's warning, cautiously approached him. She knelt beside the whimpering figure, her voice gentle yet firm. "Hey! Can you hear me?"
The only answer was a choked sob. "I could not…" the man rasped; his voice thick with despair.
"What couldn't you do?" Sera pressed, her unease growing. She glanced back at Rezak, their shared gaze reflecting the same troubled question.
The response came unexpectedly, his voice suddenly booming with power, devoid of the earlier fear. "You are welcome, Master. I permit you."
Chaos erupted. In a heartbeat, the red-haired man was on his feet, moving with unnatural speed. A swift kick sent Rezak sprawling, his cry of surprise lost in the sudden shift. With a brutal grip, the man grabbed Sera by her hair, his voice a guttural growl. "You have been a… trouble."
His face morphed before her eyes. The crimson locks, once vibrant, faded to ash-grey, his skin sallow and wrinkled as if aged decades in seconds. His eyes, once pools of blue, now resembled obsidian voids, the irises replaced by chilling white crescents. A rusted iron circlet materialized on his forehead, pulsing with an otherworldly energy.
Sera's heart plummeted. The Creator had taken control, his presence radiating from the man's now-tainted form. He raised his hand, and with a snap, their world dissolved, swallowed by an encroaching darkness.