The day started as usual. The sun rose, and people went ahead with their routines. The first thing they did before even eating breakfast, as there was no way they could stomach anything anyway, was to hurry outside and flock to the central area of the tribe. As long as this wasn't done with, they couldn't go on with their days. The stress was too much to bear.
Mornings had become nerve-wracking these past few months, for it was at this time of the day that the tribe headcounted its people and investigated if someone had gone missing during the night. While the investigation was ongoing, all everyone could do was pray, hoping the name of a close acquaintance wouldn't pop up later. The process took time, and the anxiety took its toll on their bodies as they waited for their chief's report.
Things had improved since a little over two weeks ago, and no more victims had been accounted for. Still, the weariness had yet to settle down. For some reason, most people felt things were too quiet, and something was bound to happen.
And they were right.
As the tribe members converged to the center of the settlement, where a wide, circle-shaped space had been left empty for gatherings, some sensitive folks noticed the atmosphere around the elders wasn't quite right: it felt tense and somber. It was a first, for the elders kept calm and stayed cool-headed even as the disappearance cases became a plague to their tribe, and no one among their closest allies agreed to lend a helping hand. Despite the dire situation, the elders had stood tall and strong, reassuring countless fellow tribe members. In a way, they were the pillars that shouldered their people's fears and shielded them from panic.
Now that cracks were marring their foundation, the fear they kept at bay came crashing into those who noticed something was amiss. The precarity of the situation struck back, especially when they realized one elder was missing. No, it couldn't be… They tried to push the intrusive thought aside but to no avail. And soon, their chief would crush the little hope they had left.
"Hi, everyone," Corriel spoke with a steady but solemn voice, standing before the elders. He waited a few more minutes for the latecomers before taking in a deep breath. "Today, I bring sad news. I'm afraid another member of our family has been spirited away. Tuppel is missing. None of us have seen him since he went to sleep yesterday evening. If any of you have information about his whereabouts, please raise your hand."
There was a moment of stunned silence before gasps and whispers spread like wildfire among the crowd. People grew agitated, fear creeping upon them like a vicious snake. Had one of their estimated elders truly disappeared?! The mere thought felt unreal. And terrifying.
"Please, calm down!" Corriel clapped his hands. "I know how you feel, but we must not panic. Nyell and Myrven will search the surroundings for clues and venture inside the jungle. Are there any volunteers who want to accompany them?"
No one answered, and a deafening silence befell the crowd. Many lowered their eyes in shame but thought the same thing: Nyell's endeavor was reckless and useless. Wandering inside the jungle was, like always, dangerous, and doing so for clues that probably didn't exist wasn't enticing for anyone. They did it so many times in vain in the past few months that people now didn't see the point of doing it. Warriors had been hurt by beasts while scavenging for clues, and some even lost a limb in the process. Being too eager to help caused many to suffer, and some had to live with life-lasting consequences.
A simple thought twirled in their heads: was it worth putting themselves in danger when they knew it would most likely lead to nothing…?
After a respite, the disappearance of a new person shattered their already weakened willpower to nothingness. They were too tired to fight back and too desensitized to motivate themselves.
Months of fruitless endeavors broke many of them, and most came to accept the harsh reality and move on. Moreover, the White Moon tribe's help had been their last hope, but even their chief disappeared into the jungle, vanishing into thin air. So, what was the point of forming a search party? Struggling was taking too much energy and putting too much stress on their bodies.
Everyone was too exhausted.
The tribe's lack of reaction was nothing surprising, however. The elders had controlled the situation so that it would lead to exhaustion and acceptance, making it easy to manipulate their people. But that was coming back to bite them, as now, no one had the strength nor the will to continue the fight and search for Tuppel. If the elder was gone, he was gone forever, just like the others, and there was nothing they could do about it. Even crying was too hard; they had already shed too many tears, and their eyes were dried.
Burg gritted his teeth. If Tuppel had indeed been spirited away and taken by Dangu, he knew there was nothing left to do. Tuppel was long gone from this world. Burg wouldn't delude himself: wrathful daemons weren't known to go easy on their prey.
Now the question was: how did this happen? Was it a one-time thing, or were the other elders also at risk? Until then, they had been spared from the anxiety induced by the possibility of becoming the next victim, as they were supposed to be protected by the shaman's confusing spell and the ancient array surrounding the tribe. But if the daemon somehow managed to find a loophole… They were done for.
Still, how?
'It must have received help from inside the tribe, as there's no way Karen betrayed us,' Burg squinted, glaring at the back of Nyell's head. 'Tuppel just so happens to disappear the night after this brat's return. If this isn't suspicious, I wonder what is.'
***
Karen looked nothing like her former self. She could be mistaken for a ghoul with her sunken eyes and disheveled hair. Her umkpet appearance was repulsive, yet she barely registered it. She was currently kneeling in a corner of the cave, her arms tied behind her back. It had only been a day since her abduction, but she felt like an eternity had gone by. It was hard to keep herself sane. At one point, she wondered if she shouldn't just let her mind go. It wasn't like she could ever escape her abductors' clutches, so why keep resisting?
"I'm surprised," a deep, ethereal voice said, sending shivers running down Karen's spine. She felt like something was pushing down on her shoulders to make her kiss the ground, and she did not dare lift her head. "I thought Nyell would go after Burg first."
"Why would he?" Allen asked in a nonchalant tone. "If anything, he'll keep him for last."
"Isn't it dangerous, though? Unlike the rest, that geezer has a head on his shoulders. If it were me, I would get rid of him first as he poses the biggest threat, just in case."
"Even so, Nyell won't. Sending him first would be an ending far too kind for him. My dear fated mate has it for the man and won't go down the easy path to bring him to his knees. Playing mind tricks may not work, but the stress will still erode Burg's mind over time. I fear he wants to inflict upon him the same pain he inflicted on his people, starting with anxiety and fear."
"My nephew is making his life difficult for no reason," the daemon pinched the bridge of his nose. "I could always keep Burg alive and let him witness the end of his era if that's what Nyell wants."
"And how will you do that? Thanks to your overwhelming aura, some people can't even stand to see you without their brains turning into mush. And let's not talk about your voice. Get it? Burg would break down too fast if left in the same room as you. Looking at Tuppel's wretched state should be enough to tell you what will happen to him. You have absolutely no control over your spiritual energy!"
"Will you stop nagging? I never needed to control the outside flow of my spiritual energy until now as the array did a good enough job to contain it inside the cave…"
"Well, you'll have to learn how to do it, and fast. You don't have much time left."
"I know."
"Also–"
Karen turned a deaf ear at their squabbling and glanced at Tuppel, who was nothing but a shell of his former self. The familiar spirit had taken possession of the elder last night, making him hike through the jungle to bring him to the canyon and send him to its master's doorstep. Karen witnessed how the moment it left Tuppel's body, the man seemed to wake up from a long dream and screamed in hysterical fear when he was met with a face-to-face with the daemon. It wasn't the kind of abject fear induced by meeting an evil spirit, but something deeper. It was like he had seen hell itself. And when Dangu opened its mouth, uttering words that left her speechless, Tuppel's spirit broke.
Now, the elder's soulless body lay limply on the ground, his mouth still foaming. His mind had been shattered to oblivion in a split second.
'Long time no see, teacher,' were the daemon's words, letting Karen know they were old acquaintances. However, that was all the daemon managed to say. Tuppel had no resistance to its voice whatsoever and dropped half-dead, half-alive after hearing only a few words. Even Karen had difficulty shouldering the weight of this wrathful spirit's voice, and she was a not-too-shabby shaman. Allen was the weird one for conversing with it all day.
But thanks to their lengthy conversations, Karen heard about parts of the tribe's history that the elders had either hidden or twisted. It was shockingly different from what she knew, and she was still in denial, trying hard not to pay heed to the information she was involuntarily gathering. Because if she recognized what she'd heard as the truth, she would genuinely go crazy.
She did not want to face reality: she did not want to admit she had been nothing more than a clueless pawn that danced into the elders' palms at the rhythm of their whims. But regardless of her will, she would have to accept the reality at one point. That was the only reason she was kept alive. The daemon did not need to torment her, for the truth was enough to haunt her even in the afterlife.
However, it was too late to regret her past actions, and she had no right to ask for forgiveness. Willful ignorance was no excuse for what she had done.
At the very least, Karen could console herself with the fact that she was allowed to witness the miserable end of every elder, for she knew the familiar spirit would bring them one by one to Dangu. And she felt no pity or sympathy for these wretched people. Unlike before, she now felt relieved that they would share her fate.