After a millennium, evil has been probed and evil will be reawakened. Although everyone is happy, the dwellers lived in peace until fate decides to play a cruel game.
A child is born to the lowest class, the lineage of slaves bounded to the Royal House. On that day, an unnatural phenomenon occurred causing a spectacle in the land. The moon rose from its abode and covered the sun, swallowing it whole and plunged the land in total darkness. That moment, a child was born to Nascoto and Sconoscuito. The innocent child is a boy, encircled in an obscure aura. Like a mirage, the moon reclined, leaving the bright sun in the sky like it never happened.
Nascoto and Sconoscuito had never seen anything like it before. Luckily, no one was present to help her during labour. So the secret was kept between them. Days passed but Nascoto is so troubled that he had no choice but to seek out the knowledge of the wisest and oldest of Selvatico Council, Alyra. Alyra visited the home of the troubled slaves to interfere in their secrecy. Alyra felt the child presence before seeing him. Sconoscuito lay weakened on a woven rafia mat, spread on one side of the hard wood floor, she managed to cover her body with a long grayish woolen fur that looked worn out but still durable when it comes to circulating heat. She has never been this cold but she feels so cold, her son's darkness sucks the warmth from her very essence and her ruby coloured eyes are starting to turn sea blue. Humming to herself, she rocked the suckling in her arms protectively but released it to Alyra who had entered to observe both mother and son before holding out her hands to reach for the child. Alyra carried the child and tried to look inside his chi but all she saw was darkness, voices enfolds her, many, different, whispering to her, chattering at once. She probed deeper, trying to reach for the child itself but she could not see in the darkness, the child was lost in the void. Like he didn't exist at all, although he is there, he is engulfed by his demons."What is going on here?" She thought, she had heard of the predecessors talk about darkness, she had witnessed darkness herself and she had felt it, but not like this. This darkness was different, it felt empty, it was sorrowful, harsh, loathing and it was gathering for something. When she opened her eyes, she could not speak what she saw because she saw nothing, she could not describe what she saw because she only saw darkness, she could not interpret because she was scared of what she had felt. But these slaves, she pitied, she knows the joy of being a mother and she wished for all women to experience it. On a case as such, this child is supposed to be presented to the entire council where a befitting judgement would be passed on him; which is death. But she wavered for something, don't ask me what it is because I do not know either.
"This child must not stay here." She whispered as she looked into both their eyes, as if it was expected, the parents understood the sorrow in the eyes of the elder and they knew what must be done. If this child was discovered, they'll have to give him up to restore balance, watching their child drained publicly like a cow being milked is one thing but being marked as an unprecedented evil is another. "He might not be evil, he's just trying to balance -' Sconoscuito's words sliced the silence. She had managed to feebly sit up and reached out for her child in a motherly instinct of protection.
Alyra was closer and knelt down gently but cautiously in front of her, leveling eyes with hers and placed the child in her stretched out arms. "You know it don't you?" She asked, "You know he's killing you." She continued, staring deeper into Sconoscuito's eyes of the pale blue sea, making her flutter them in defeat and closed them shut. They had to sacrifice their only legacy to appease the Gods but Sconoscuito was not ready to abide by the law. Sconoscuito shared a mental note with the Elder, the pain in her eyes reflected in Alyra's, Alyra felt the need to protect this child, not for the sake of humanity. She also has a personal score to settle. Therefore she will wait for this evil egg to hatch and oh it will.
That night after supper, Nascooto shut the creaking wooden door to cease the wind's relentless whistling and moved on lit the lamp. Neither of them spoke as they embraced in silence and were soon dragged into the web of dreams. Sconoscuito had a dream, a dream of scale and bones, she saw fire, stationed in the middle of chaos... Amidst the fear and terror, she saw the great forbidden, encircling its master. The Lord of pain stare into the forbidden eyes. They shared the same understanding, She watched helplessly while the nation moan in pain and cower in fear as her own son, her flesh and blood turn into a Basilisk. Heat engulfed her, sending her back to reality. Sconoscuito screamed, waking up to agony. Fear flashed in her eyes as she clinged to her child and hugged him tighter to her chest. In that moment, her guiding spirit appeared to her, shaping itself in the form of a cat. She moved slowly towards her master and stared into her eyes. The bond unfolded itself, reflecting in their eyes, a dazzling red rugby.
Sconoscuito knew what to do; she needs to leave to protect her son. So she fled. That same night, she packed her clothes and carried her son. Leaving Nascoto and Selvatico for good.
Indeed, the Gods are cruel, they are seething in anger and pure rage, they need the sacrifice of a damned soul and they will get. For a fleeing soul is indeed a damned soul. Sconoscuito journeyed far, too far to retrace her steps in the freezing cold, Sconoscuito has strayed from the path of light, she had been cursed by her ancestors and she becomes a lost dog who refused to hear the voice of its master. Now, she will die in perpetual sorrow of obscurity.
Yes! She died, leaving her son with nothing. He lay curled up in her arms; in the arms of the dead.
A shadow has been watching. Behind every scene, she was there. Alyra, the mastermind behind the events. She had earlier invaded the slave's mind with the scheming plot, leading her to her doom. It's true they all possess powers but one is bigger than the other. Alyra has been in existence before the land was occupied by the dwellers. She is one of the Old Ones, the Aboriginals, and she will continue to be in existence when the dwellers live no more... Why?
She is the Fox and the Tortoise, the trickster in the shadows. Slowly, she moved out of the trees and walked towards the dying soul. Of course, Sconoscuito clearly saw the evil lift her son from her arms, claiming him as her own, she saw her walk away but she never lived to tell you what she saw for she let out her last breath, lying in the forest of an unknown grief... Sprawled out in the vast, harsh and endless cold.