The carriage fell into a deep silence. A heavy and hopeless atmosphere enveloped the children, their faces reflecting fear and concern after what they had just witnessed.
Suddenly, a little girl's sobs broke the silence: "Wahh, Blair, I don't want to die," the small girl with blonde, pale hair cried, clinging tightly to the older girl, whose hair was as black as night and skin bronze. Both wore white dresses adorned with fine embroidery. "Calm down, Guinevere, everything will be fine. Just stay by my side; you have a great aptitude for magic, you have nothing to worry about," Blair replied, hugging and comforting the little girl. "Sniff, sniff, thank you, sister," said Guinevere before falling asleep.
"Damn those warlocks, they really know how to make an entrance and instill fear," Aiden commented with a worried expression. "Yes, that spider really leaves a mark," added Eric, still shaken by what he had just seen.
Eric had never imagined encountering a creature like the one he had just witnessed. The spider was something out of a nightmare. As his mind spun around Aiden's words and what little he knew of Blair, a crucial question persisted: what was the rating that spider had referred to? He deduced it must be something significant, given the mocking tone it had used. 'Not that I know any gods in this world, and it's unlikely they'd pay attention or help ants like me,' Eric thought.
"What does that rating mentioned by the spider mean?" Eric asked. "It's the magical talent assessment. Wizards use it to measure a person's capacity and resonance with magic, according to what my family told me. The greater your talent, the further you could go on the path of magic. Incredible powers, from natural disasters to eternity, are possible, though the latter is just a legend," Blair explained in a calm tone.
"You seem well informed," Aiden commented to Blair. "Of course. Most of those traveling in the caravan to the Tower of Dawn come from distinguished families, whether knights or wizards. They would do whatever it takes to ensure their descendants could enter that tower, even if they lack talent," Blair replied with confidence.
"So all we can do is wait to reach our destination," Eric said.
"Unfortunately, that's right," Blair answered with a sigh.
After that, Eric looked around and noticed that, although most of the children had calmed down a bit, they were still tense from what they had experienced and the uncertainty of what awaited them at the Tower of Eternal Night. As the minutes passed, Eric perceived that the forest was changing. The plants and trees, once healthy and green, were now wilted and decaying. They blocked the light of the moons, plunging the surroundings into oppressive darkness as the caravan moved forward, leaving only the sound of the wooden wheels of the carriage, the neighing and galloping of the horses, and the clinking of the army's plates that guarded them. As they ventured deeper into the forest, roars and strange noises echoed in the gloom that surrounded the deteriorated path.
Realizing the situation, Eric sat in the carriage, unable to do anything, just like the other children around him. No one seemed willing to speak; the atmosphere was heavy with apprehension, and all they could do was wait to find out what fate had in store for them.
As he waited in the darkness, a faint green light illuminated the left side of his face. Turning his head toward the light, he glimpsed the front of the caravan in the distance: an intense wave of green light revealing part of the forest with twisted trees and surrounding swamps, encircled by strange shadowy figures. These creatures, perhaps out of fear or because they were unaccustomed to the light, did not approach either the light or the caravan. Eric, adjusting to the light's intensity in the darkness, saw it was similar to a huge green vortex, perpendicular to the ground, with a dark center and green lights extending like tentacles from the vortex.
As the first carriage and the front of the army entered the vortex, they seemed to disintegrate into particles of light and were absorbed. The carriages continued advancing until Eric's carriage reached the vortex, a magical phenomenon that defied all he knew. As they approached, Eric saw how the wood and bars at the front disintegrated into green particles, leaving only a dark hole in front of them. When the first child touched the vortex, he began to disintegrate and scream in agony; only his head and part of the left torso remained, to everyone's horror, revealing the interior of his body, showing his organs and spine before being swallowed by the darkness. The vortex continued to devour everything in its path until it was Eric's turn. He felt a strange sensation; the absorbed part seemed to still be there, but he could not move it. "What have I gotten myself into?" Eric murmured as he disappeared along with the entire caravan and the army that guarded them. With one final shudder, the vortex vanished, leaving behind an area of absolute darkness as if it had never existed.