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PouchA call within the shadows
"And so the tale begins"
With a sharp flinch, Lumikki turned her head, batting away at the air like a fly buzzed too close to her ears. She hated that feeling—the constant nagging at the edge of her perception and the shadows flickering at the corners of her eyes didn’t help.
”Is it bothering you again?” Alvis asked with concern lacing his words as his hand moved toward her ear, hoping to comfort her. ”This has been occurring too many times lately. Are you sure you can’t entertain my suggestions to go see a doctor?”
The suggestion made her recoil, disgust evident on her face as she clapped her hands over her ears. ”I wouldn’t have that, no thank ye. Sides, I told ya I’m fine! Me aliment, if me guess is right, it something more….magical…” Her eyes darted around the street, as if speaking the words might conjure whatever was haunting her. As a Spellhowler, she knew curses when she felt them. But this wasn’t malicious—it was prying, as though something, or someone, was watching her.
”My Lady, I have no idea why you couldn’t just stay at the inn to rest. Leave the errands to me.” He sighed deeply as his patience was wearing thin and Lumikki couldn’t blame him. “I hardly need any help with fetching the remaining fabrics….but…I wish you could understand how much I worry…” His voice soften as he spoke, but the tension was still there.
She rolled her eyes, her own annoyance bubbling to the surface. The whispers had been constant for weeks, the shadows creeping at every turn, but she didn’t want to admit that Alvis might be right. “Fine,” she snapped, and then, more softly, ”come…walk me back. I know ye won’t find any peace unless ya do.”
Alvis’s expression softened with relief, his lips curving into a tired grin ”Very well! Let’s head back. And when I return later on, I’ll be sure to pass by the shop and pick you up some sweets to cheer you up. Just until then, please do try to relax my Lady.” She had no words to respond with, so she’d make do with nodding her head in agreement instead. Seeing that it proved enough for him, the pair would wander back just a short ways to where they stayed.
”I shouldn’t be but two hours my Lady, but if I risk needing more time, you’ll hear word of it by a raven.” Just as soon as the two entered the room, Alvis once again departed. The sooner he completed the remaining errands left to them in the city of Eyrrstad, the sooner they can return back to Fjallgard and Lumikk’s parent’s home.
Lumikki, now alone in the room, plopped herself onto the bed. She’d breathe another sigh of frustration as she adjusted her shadowy magic into something more comfortable. Her human appearance now melting away to reveal her base form as she isolated herself in the utter darkness of the four walls. ”What is going on!” She exclaimed loudly into her pillow. The fluff was muffling the yell until it was hardly a sound. She couldn’t even relax, not fully. There was a chill in the room that wasn’t there before, yet not by her making. At this point, she was contemplating if she’ll fall into paranoia but with much breathing to calm herself down. That was until she saw the note on the bed, a slip of paper that wasn’t there before. She was sure of that because Alvis fixed the bed just after she rose yet he never mentioned it.
The parchment was a deep grey on thick stock, as were all the others. There were no blemishes, no bends, no traces. The wise would share the occurrence with another, queuing the others around you in but….not Lumikki. Something like this would usually bring a person stress, but at this point it had been one of many. Just reminders of her madness unfurling along with the gnats agitating her senses, yet she couldn’t pin the culprits down.
Written in shadow like all the others was a message that often faded away shortly after being gleamed by her eyes.
”Do no be dissuaded when peering into the darkness, it only mirrors your own.
Your guides among the Abyss are with you.
You won’t walk the path alone any longer.”
This was perhaps the most starling of all the notes, being the most “clearly” and by far the most wordy. Where the others were simply mentions of her Demonic nature or phrases in Iceberg, this one felt more intimate than she’d like. But Lumikki didn’t want to dwell any other… Instead the Demoness would attempt to take a nap to relieve what was the little left of her mind.
There was darkness…a sensation that wasn’t normally stifling but it could prove to be too much in other ways. Not like this though. Lumikki felt smothered, suffocated, drowned by it. She felt trapped by powers that were still unknown to her, even felt watched and studied.
Within the hellscape of her mind, Lumikki erupted into many different forms. Constantly changing in a myriad of bizarre ways and all with Abyssal undertones to pull them together.
The surfaces of darkness were either matte and endless, like the void they presented to be, or shiny and reflective like obsidian. Hinting at all Lumikki’s transformations upon its clear surface and forcing the Demoness to take them all in as they’d flickered through. It brought her an intense unease, almost like a nausea, as if all the shapeshifting was also violently shaking her stomach and organs. She was getting sicker with each glance and soon enough, would rather take her chances with the utter unknown instead.
”Fasinating…” Lumikki could hear a voice unknown to her echoing in the nothingness, but she’d shrug it off to the back of her thoughts. Usually her eyes could see through dark and shadows just fine, but right now she was simply helpless. Though this wouldn’t be her first prophetic dream to pass. The mage knew something was happening, she just didn’t know what….
”Who daaaares try to toy with me!” The Demoness growled. Her frustration was reaching new heights as she couldn’t even find comfort in her dreams. ”Forgive me Mistress, we have to be sure…..before we tell yo—….”
Tell me what? Lumikki was snapping out of the trance of the dream, her fangs were gnashing in her mouth from frustration and annoyance. Reality was now slipping through the cracks off her ending slumber, but the Demoness found no rest and peace from her sleep. As the dark finally fell away, she could finally see—
Just outside, a shadowy figure stalks from the fringes of one’s perception. Their existence was hardly a whisper, yet they were always a tangible threat when need be. But now, they came in peace, a passive observer watching for their chance. Stalking their benefactor until they could finally draw her out for a moment alone.
——The day went by like any other. The woman woke just before noon, her servant assisting her as she rose. These were all the observations of a man perched on a roof top just a few meters away, and he’s been observing for since dawn. The two within the room took some time before they finally left. Mostly due to the woman of short stature, as she lazily moved about. Almost kind of cute how she stumbles around like that, the thoughts echoed through his head. He adjusted his position every time something cut off his sight—all for the mission of course, or so he thought. The calm of the morning however wouldn’t last. The Pinion by her side insisted that she’d stay but Lumikki wouldn’t listen—though the watcher wished she had; it could make the job for him far easier, but that rebellious nature was something he loved about her amongst other things.
Like her pale silky white hair, or her glowing colorful eyes. His gaze would never wander too far from the walking Abyssal before him. And even with his men sharing the task of shadowing her, he would take the bulk of the work for himself. Learning just about everything he could about Lumikki Hrútr. Her enemies, magic, friends, habits, history, guild….all there was to know about her was reveled in time. Through a myriad of skills, tools, and connections, Maren Shadowtide was sure to unearth every last detail. His ravenous desire to consume her information was tied to his fascination with the Abyss. It was an obsession of his for quite sometime, enough to make him join the Valr Frostguard, and enough to provoke him to pursue Lumikki now. Yet his recklessness would prove quite detrimental, a stark contrast to the usually calm and poised master of shadows. It was like his patience was waning….
——- Barely a half hour later after the Lady’s return, did the frost Demon stir in her slumber. At first it manifested in a thickly black fog. It curled against the windows, staining the glass and blocking Maren’s vision. With a gasp, he’d lunge forward, meticulously keeping the veil around him as he was out of sight to all but the Demoness herself should her gaze fall upon him. But he darted so impatiently that it didn’t occur to him to have a plan until he was foolishly standing beside her window. ”Fool!” He thought out loud to himself, but he would not suffer her hearing him yet. That was until a loud crash in her room moved him to consider otherwise.
As Maren was working his way through opening the window pane, just was it was almost entirely risen, the dark poured like trapped smoke leaving a glass jar. Maren pulled away and just as he had, a feathered figure flew through the window. Heading for the direction that lead it out of the city and by the steep descending cliffs. He barely registered that it was Lumikki flying away. In a jolt to action, he was compelled to follow the harpy of a Demoness as she flew without much thought.
___
Rather, there was no thought attached to her movement at all. Lumikki was not herself, she was not even awake. Whatever unseen force now puppet’ted her, stirred her into action and lead her into the unknown. Lumikki darted through the sky, long passing the mountains and cliffs and now soaring above the frozen forests. With no clear destination, he could not see where she was going.
Only Maren was here to notice, and he’d do his best to keep the pace. Her speed outmatched his, and he regretted not taking Thorne’s training more seriously. The black wings he conjured for the pursuit could hardly keep up, his body quite frantic moved erratically. Lacking all the efficiency that Maren was accustomed to. But he could not let up for a moment, not if it mean his patron was left unguarded. Unguarded… Maren thought to himself, with the slightest amusement. Oh how he desired to help her more directly but until now, culling the hunters and pursuers had been enough. Yes…Lumikki needs me, his thoughts would go on and in their flickers within his mind, it only pushed him harder. The devilish desire to be of use, of purpose, in contact with a Demon of the Abyss was far too compelling. This won’t happen again. Of course it won’t. She has m—the Valr to watch over her now. The Frostguard to guard the matron of the Abyss….first impressions are the hardest, I shouldn’t falter now…. With each thought, his form tightened and his speed rose, almost like it was his silent prayer, his means to focus. And now, now he was but a few meters away. If only he could reach out to her….My magic! He remember! In the crux of the moment, he overlooked such simple solutions and with an outstretched hand, he willing his dark magic to reach toward her, coiling around her body the moment it came close. But he would not predict what happened next.
But then, without warning, Lumikki’s wings faltered. One moment she was gliding through the sky, and the next, she was plummeting. Maren’s breath caught in his throat as he watched her fall—no graceful descent, no warning. Just an unforgiving drop, as though her body had given up.
Panic surged through him, more intense than any battle he’d faced. His heart raced, pounding in his ears louder than the wind whipping past. No. No! Not like this. It was as if time slowed, and in that horrifying instant, he felt the weight of his failure settle into his bones. He had promised to protect her, to be her shadow, yet here she was, slipping through his grasp—literally falling out of his reach.
I’m too far. The realization stung, bitterness washing over him. For all his knowledge, all his power, he couldn’t stop this. I should’ve been faster. Should’ve been stronger. The thoughts crashed over him, but none of them helped as the distance between them widened.
Her feathers, once majestic and defiant against the wind, now fluttered uselessly, catching the cold air as if mocking her descent. She won’t wake. The thought sliced through him, a raw, jagged thing. He had always admired her strength, her defiance, but now, seeing her so vulnerable—it was unbearable. His stomach twisted in knots, and for a brief moment, it felt like the Abyss itself was swallowing him whole.
Please, Lumikki, wake up, he thought, but the words never reached his lips. His throat constricted, his voice strangled by helplessness. His mind raced, searching for a way to stop this, but all he could do was watch her plummet, feeling like a failure—like the fragile thread between them was unraveling.
Just as the ground rushed up to meet her, Lumikki let out a sharp, piercing screech that tore through the sky, a sound so fierce it sent a shockwave through Maren. He recoiled, clutching his head from the sudden force, but relief flickered through the pain—she was still there. Barely. But she was fighting, as she always did.
In an instant, her wings snapped open, and her fall halted mere feet from the ground. She touched down gently, but the fragile control was evident in her movements, as if she weren’t entirely herself. Maren let out a shaky breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. Relief washed over him, but with it, guilt and anger at himself. He had let her fall—he had let her slip too far.
And as the shadows stirred around her, the creatures creeping from the darkness toward her, Maren’s resolve hardened. Never again. He would not fail her this time.
Ever since the prophecy, it felt as those events began to fall into place. Not just for them but for her. As if they woke the Abyss with their meddling bond her to their fate, tethering their foretold Demoness into a mess well out of their hands.
Were they protecting her or was it the other way around? He’d never be sure even if Seraphine or Lyra assured him otherwise. But for now he’d push the thought out of his mind as he unleashed his magic on the infernal creatures that meant his Demoness harm.
——
Still lost in the thick darkness. Lumikki wandered aimlessly. But unlike an empty void, her hands could touch upon what felt like cave walls. They were oddly wet but smooth, sparingly jagged and parts that were uneven, but mostly consistent. Lumikki ran her hand along the wall to guide her. Ironically grounding her as she braved her element in hopes that moving forward would grant her an end. But the journey didn’t come without a cost, she was tiring. Her breath getting heavier by the moment like she risked suffocating in the Abyss. Despite the shortness of breath, she trapped. That was until…a new chill befell her only to be tempered by the heat of another. The wind caressed her skin in ways it could never have in her room and she could hear the gales shaking the trees. What more, the smell of the sea had oddly grown stronger and she could taste the salt every time her tongue has passed her lips.
The sleeping harpy stirred from the heavy trance, enough for her eyes to being fluttering even when her lids still carried the weight of the dream. ”…huh…” Lumikki muttered with a startled gasp that only made the person cling to her tighter. Slowly did she wake from her stupor, still not realizing what had happened. It took her a few minutes before her eyes could even focus, and when they had, they fell upon him. Still so tired, Lumi reached for Maren. Her fingers barely curled around his arm, weak but searching for stability. She was too tired to speak, but the warmth of his presence was the only thing anchoring her to reality.
”There, there young miss. No need to move around so suddenly. Tell you what, things will become more clear soon…if you let me?” Her feather fell away as she tried to look upon him but she was too fatigued to utter another word and so she’d rest upon him. Her compliance was subtle, and he’d gladly take it.
"Just how much does one know about where they come from?."
