Rav
The night was calm and the wind was still.
The fire at the center of the traveling crew was doused unbeknownst to them, the cold taking over and the lingering aura began to make its play.
The swamp came alive, corrupted, and swarthy, speaking to Rav. It was disrupted, magnetic, and in Faetong.
Regardless, Rav was familiar with the language of the Old, so the moment it spoke forbidden to his ears he awoke with a start, swinging his blade around a nonexistent enemy.
The whispers were gone. But the fog was thicker and he realized he was alone.
"Alda!" he swore to the Allfather. The phantoms of the Abyss were at play. "ISADORA!" he called for her, his scarlet eyes searching everywhere but he was isolated. This shouldn't happen... the phantoms wouldn't dare to come close.
"Kraven" realization struck him. "No" he panicked, if the phantoms could get through it could only mean one thing.
Kraven's forts were gone. What could be worth it? Why did the phantoms dare to disturb? At what cost?
"Rav!"
Rav spun and found Isadora. "Isadora!" he called but she dashed into the fog, disappearing into the cloud.
He quickly grabbed his things and chased after her, he knew the poor girl would be frightened but why did she decide to run? Something doesn't feel right.
The deeper he ventured the more the fog got denser. Rav instantly came to a stop looking around the area, not a thing could be seen at all.
"You can't save them" A sharp erratic voice spoke, followed by a trail of whispers that reverberated in the entire area.
Rav quickly set his arrow and pointed it everywhere he felt a threat was looming.
It was suddenly quiet but the eyes on him were unmistakable. The bloodlust for his soul was as clear as the sun, it hungered for it like a ferocious critter—the phantoms of the Abyss.
The whispers amplified and it was maddening like a satiny haunting voice toiling its way into the mind like a viper.
Rav tried his hardest to silence the mind, but they were cracking through with a sheer amount of force, his grip on his arrow weakened and his mind swayed with the unknown. They were breaking into the corners of his senses.
Rav shook his head quickly "Come out!" He barked ready for the kill, his arrow warming up.
"Rav"
He turned but it was not the threat he expected. He leveled his bow and his lips parted in shock. 'No, it can't be real, it can't'.
"E-Eris"
It was no longer the view of the abyss but a garden filled with colorful flowers. The little girl had ash blonde hair and scarlet eyes like Rav's.
She held onto a makeshift toy so tightly it became a part of her. Her dress was a peach color and beautiful. Her smile, the most radiant like the sun itself, smiled at him with warmth.
It was like a dark memory tipped to the surface, so vividly clear and hauntingly disturbing.
Rav didn't know what disturbed him the most, the fact Eris was before him or how real he prayed for the image to be.
To be lost in this fake illusion because the warmth of her smile was so real, the fruity aroma that always followed her around blinded his thoughts.
'She's not real' he thought vehemently, but his resolve was lacking... he couldn't look away and his expression was full of disarray.
"You couldn't protect her"
He squeezed his eyes shut as the words echoed tenfold until eventually it was the only thing he could think of... breathe even.
"What makes you think you can protect them too?"
He flashed his eyes open with a rasp of breath watching with quivering eyes as Eris' bright smile slowly faded and her eyes went wide with horror, her golden clothes ripped and drenched in blood
"You were there" she whispered in her soft erratic voice. "You were right there, but you let them take me" Tears streamed down her eyes. "Do you even love me?!"
But that was the plunge Rav needed, it succeeded in mimicking her. But they made a mistake.
Rav inhaled and exhaled, his eyes closed briefly and a nailing pain deep in his chest threatened to pulverize him. Her cries and yells storming his ears and tugging deep in his skull. Her words pierced deeper than any blade.
Regardless he opened his eyes and pinned the phantom posing as Eris with a brutal look.
"That is not her face..." he began, tightening his fists. "...That is not her voice" he released them and a spark emerged at his palm, the heat coursing through his blood and bones and acting under one command.
"Don't you dare mimic her with your nonsense," he stretched his hand and the flame flared consuming everything whole with a tenfold worth of rage.
~♧~
What remained were ashes, the trees, and the grasses burnt to cinders, blown away by the wind.
Rav remained still, completely unharmed from head to toe. He inhaled once again, trying to stay calm but was eager to combust again, to burn.
The sudden croaking sound snapped him out of it. The familiar sound was enough to clutch his attention toward a pending disaster.
"Kraven" he feared the worst, attempting to search quickly but a strong sting halted his movement.
Quickly rolling the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a runic tattoo drawn boldly on his arm leaking weaving shadows.
"gods' no" he shook his head.
If this were truly happening as he feared, they would worry less about phantoms.
He needed to find Kraven as fast as he could, it would be a nightmare if Isadora found him first.