The sun shone brightly overhead as Soren finished the last of his al. The bench he was sitting on overlooked the busy street.
Market peddlers made the rounds, voices overlapped, workers maneuvered about their day, street perforrs sang their songs, carriages went and ca…
It all looked so peaceful, and yet, beneath that bright mask, Soren knew the reality of it all. This world was slowly fracturing apart… And it wasn’t just him that knew, everyone around him knew as well.
Beneath their smiles and eagerness to continue on with their day, an air of tension could be felt wafting through the air, slithering in between the faint cracks of their fated forms…
Yes, they all knew deep down that sothing was coming… Maybe the trigger was that horrific night that tore the empire apart in its gruesoness, or simply the prospect of a new age of conflict looming over the horizon…
Or maybe, the distant threat of Rift crossing armadas slowly growing from beyond the Endless Sea…
Whatever it may have been, Soren could see it all, even without [Eyes of the Fairy].
As his lips hung down, he sighed and stood up.
Ti waits for no one…
Indeed…
Everyone, from the wealthiest of kings, to the most berated of serfs and peasants… Even the very gods themselves…
None could beat the flow of ti.
None could beat the orbits of fate.
None… But him of course.
Soren smiled as he weaved through the crowd, vanishing into the sea of bodies.
“Move it!”
He could hear the orders from the city guards outside the window of his carriage. The street he was passing by was heavily monitored for activities as countless patrols could be seen rounding up anyone that remotely looked suspicious.
“Sir, we’ll be arriving in Silvest Plaza soon. There is a checkpoint there, so prepare yourself.” The coachman’s voice reverberated inside.
Soren smiled. “Got it.”
The carriage passed by a few more streets before coming to a stop. Soren saw an officer approach his window.
“Young man, we need to search your belongings before letting you pass.”
Soren nodded. “No problems, sir. Here’s my Guild Badge.”
The soldier’s brows knit. He glanced down at the small badge Soren handed him. A silver, four pointed star with a ring going across it.
“Star Fate Guild?” There was a hint of astonishnt in his voice.
“Yes, sir.” He affird. “I am going to be eting up with a few friends for the morial vigil…”
“Ah!” The officer’s eyes widened. “I apologize for stopping you! Thank you for your service!” He perford a salute and let the carriage pass.
Seeing this, Soren glanced down at the guild badge and sighed. “Things really have changed…”
After the Crimson Ritual Incident, Star Fate Guild, and a few other smaller shadow guilds that were present in the area were rewarded for their efforts at trying to protect the civilians. The Paeon Royal Family decreed that they would, from now on, be registered as official groups allowed to operate independently within the city.
Of course, Soren knew that this was just an excuse.
Shadow Guilds, though unlawful, are seen as a necessary evil by the governnt. Many efforts were put in place to abolish them and to prosecute anyone involved with their activities, but in almost all cases, it would only backfire, causing cri to spike rather than decrease.
That’s why, the Aelloran governnt opted for a more lax approach. They tend to ignore the existence of shadow guilds as long as those groups remain to themselves without disrupting the public. It was through this mutual ‘look the other way’ approach that Star Fate Guild was even able to be commissioned by the Aetolus Royal Family in secret. Corporations like these might be seen as unlikely, but they were necessary at maintaining the fragile balance put in place…
After all, the Mysterious World was ant to stay Mysterious. The existence of Phantasms was not sothing either the Shadow Guilds nor the governnt wanted to be known.
That was until… the Crimson Ritual Incident occurred.
Cecil Vylanus, the man who the Whispering Dream used to carry out the massacre was an undercover spy working for the Court of Nightshade. He had been stationed in Celestine for a few years under the disguise of a dungeon explorer working for a Shadow Guild…
After tthat incident, the Aelloran governnt rightfully grew fearful that enemy spies could exploit the existence of Shadow Guids as cover. Yet, past attempts had proven that abolishing the system entirely was impossible.
That’s when they had a clever idea—why eliminate them directly when they could let the guilds destroy each other instead?
Giving so Shadow Guilds legitimacy in exchange for their services in protecting the community was bound to create friction between the hidden factions.
So in a way, Star Fate Guild’s current rise was a result of that horrific massacre… Even though they were the ones most involved in the incident.
No, it was him alone that was most involved.
Soren leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes. Images played in his head over and over…
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Images of human bodies hung from vines like forbidden fruits.
Images of crimson ichor seeping deeply into the grooves of cobblestone slabs.
Images of priests reciting hymns and prayers to a god that never listened...
Images of…
His lips curled up even further. “I have to live with my choices…”
Suddenly, Tazzith’s voice entered his mind.
“[Eyes of the Fairy]... This ability of yours is truly monstrous.”
Soren exhaled slowly.
Ever since that night, the visages of every priest, nun, mother, father, son, daughter—every living soul present during that horrific night—had been seared into his mory. Their final monts, their fears, their prayers—unanswered—were now a part of him.
All of it, forever trapped within him, a curse woven by [Eyes of the Fairy] and [Record]. One that he voluntarily accepted as his punishnt.
Just as he was about to respond to Tazzith, the carriage ca to a stop. He thanked the driver and left him a tip then stepped out into the street.
By now, spring was already in full swing. The birds sung quietly as they welcod their new hatchlings, flowers blood in the most unlikely of places, and the air was filled with the freshness of a new year…
“The Nurturer of Nature… Should I be thankful to Him for this blessing?”
Soren knew that Tazzith heard him, but he didn’t respond. He sort of expected it. Ever since he signed the contract, they were able to communicate telepathically all the ti, thanks to his strange abilities. But there was a limit—their conversations tended to get disrupted from ti to ti.
“I guess he wouldn’t be in a prison made for demons if communicating outside was that simple…”
Shaking his head, Soren made his way across the street to where the Silvest Plaza was. His eyes imdiately caught wind of it—how could he not recognize the place that had been vividly present in many of his dreams for the past week?
Though, unlike the night of horror, it was once again as pristine as it used to be. Not even an ounce of blood splatter could be seen.
At the center of the plaza was sothing new as well. A large statue that commorated the lives lost. It was made of bronze, and showcased the visage of a large branch with what looked to be a flock of birds sitting atop it—a symbol that's widely present used by the Church of Nature.
Surrounding the statue were countless civilians of both the families of the victims and others related to them. But there were also those who were uninvolved but simply wanted to mourn with the others.
As he walked through the crowd, he began to hear their conversations.
“Those damn elves… Even after all this ti, they still look down on us.”
“Hey did you hear? Apparently, Yadria is doubling down. They invaded one of the border villages.”
“What? Those scum!”
“Those poor children… I was volunteering at the church today. One of the kids there lost his entire family in the massacre.”
“How horrible!”
All Soren could do was sigh. None of the people here truly understood what had happened, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered now was that blood had been spilled, and a price must be paid.
Who paid that price didn’t matter. As long as it satisfied the citizens.
Atleast, that’s what I think the royal families are thinking…
How could anyone here know that this entire massacre had been nothing more than a tool to pit two countries against one another? Or that the person who helped facilitate that outco was currently pacing around that sa plaza nonchalantly?
Indeed, it was Soren who allowed this to happen—he had twisted fate for this outco to still occur…
During his chess match against the forces of fate, Soren was able to glimpse into many possible futures. So seed distant and unlikely, while others were ant to happen sooner rather than later.
And from those observations, he was able to deduce the future paths fate would follow after the Whispering Dream realizes his plans…
The first outco was cooperation. Soren, in that future he saw, cooperated with the Whispering Dream, allowing him to break all three promises of the Divine Accord.
The second outco was negotiation. In exchange for allowing Tazzith to contact the Whispering Dream, Soren would allow them to steal the holy materials for the ritual in exchange for not harming anyone in the plaza. This would allow Tazzith to be freed and two of the Divine Accord promises to be broken.
The third outco… was sacrifice… Soren would allow the Whispering Dream to massacre the believers of the Church of Nature in order to pin the bla on the elves and start a conflict between the two kingdoms while he proactively signs a contract with Tazzith instead. This way, the Whispering Dream would only be able to break one of the promises of the Divine Accord…
Soren… chose the third outco.
The second outco appealed to him briefly, until he realized that it would be no different from surrendering… Sparing the lives of those in the plaza might be honorable, but at the end of the day, the Whispering Dream’s goal was the destruction of the entire world…
Therefore, Soren decided to choose the option that would benefit him and also delay the inevitable end of this world the most… Since Silmar only had the chance to break one of the promises, the other two (helping Tazzith escape and disrupting the Greenfather Ritual) beca impossible to achieve. Aside from the fact that Tazzith was now contracted to him, Silmar would have to wait until next year’s Greenfather Ritual to try again…
Of course, that didn’t an that the enigmatic saint wouldn’t have other plans in the anti, but it was still the best option out of the possible futures that bought the most ti for this world’s existence to continue.
It was the most logical option…
And yet, the words still felt hollow.
Soren approached the statue and went down on one knee, placing a lone flower atop the pile of hundreds already placed there. He stayed in that position for a while—eyes fully closed, until a voice interrupted his silent prayer from behind.
“So this is where you were.”
Recognizing the voice, he turned around. “Cassia…”
His familiar senior apprentice was standing behind him, blocking out the sun. Dressed in a white blouse and orange skirt underneath her hazy purple mage robe, she planted her hands on her hips as if to make her displeasure obvious. Even her tail flicked in irritation.
He smiled. “Sothing pissed you off?”
“Yes, those Silver Vial Distillery bastards… They said our guild badges are ugly!”
It took him a second to recognize the na. “Ah!” It was the guild known for their potions in Star Fate Guild’s area. Cassia had to deal with one of their mbers when Soren first arrived in Celestine.
He chuckled, “Just ignore them. By the way, I heard the rest of the crew are coming back?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “The expedition has been delayed after all… It can’t be continued when two of the countries participating are now at war…”
Hearing this, Soren slowly stood up and patted his clothes. “Is Joyce and Candice with you?”
Cassia shook her head. “They were here so ti earlier but left to do so shopping. Will you co with to find them? They’re so damn annoying!” She pulled on her hair in frustration.
Soren chuckled. “I wish I could but… I have sothing else to do.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“I have to replace my spellfocus. I’ll be heading to Gunther’s shop.”
The na made her flinch. Cassia frowned. “I see… Tell him I said to stop drinking. Not that he would listen—hmph…”
User Comments
0 comments from readers