Eden decided to continue going inside, driven by curiosity and excitement. Despite her unease of being alone in the dark, somehow the orb made her feel safe and protected, like a special aura just for her.
Deeper she went, and darker the cave became, until Eden couldn’t see the entrance behind her anymore. The walls of rock closed in, but Eden continued onwards, determined to find the gift that Kesh had told her about.
Up ahead, Eden heard a faint buzzing sound. It sounded like Kesh!
She sped up, carefully climbing over a large boulder. The buzzing grew louder until it sounded like a hundred flying insects.
Eden stopped and held out her palm, her orb hovering along with it. Her path was illuminated in a blue haze, and there, Eden saw it.
Dozens of sprites, flying around the walls of the cavern. The smell of rot was strong. At first, she was stunned, and then she became horrified.
In amongst the bustling sprites, Eden spotted a shape stuck to the ceiling. She saw no discernible features, only the form of the body covered in a blue gelatinous slime, like a cocooned bug captured by a spider.
A dog? Eden wondered. Or some animal?
The shape wriggled and let out a muffled shriek.
It was a child.
The sprites buzzed around the trapped child. Eden screamed when she realised that some were eating it, their heads sticking deep inside the slime and ripping out chunks of bloody flesh.
The shape let out another muted scream and wriggled.
It was still alive.
Then she realised there were more. Half a dozen other child-sized shapes cocooned against the walls and ceiling.
Eden turned and bolted.
The sprites on the cave walls erupted in a mass of buzzing wings and teeth, flying after Eden like a swarm of angry bees.
In a panic, Eden lost the glowing orb, and her world went black.
She collapsed before being lifted into the air by what felt like hundreds of fingers across her skin and clothing. The sprites pinned her against the cave ceiling.
Eden thrashed and cried out for help, but it was futile.
She felt hot, sticky resin covering her arms, her legs and eventually her face as the creatures entrapped Eden with the thick slime. It solidified near instantaneously, and in a matter of seconds, Eden was completely enveloped by it.
In the darkness, Eden wailed for her mama and her papa.
But the cries were drowned out by the swarm.
Interlude - Ruin
“Archers! Prepare to fire!”
The Sergeant’s order echoed out over the seawalls of Port Denarim and were followed up by the bellowing call of war horns.
Cendel took in a deep breath of the moist sea air through his mouth, tasting the salt as he inhaled. He nocked an arrow from the quiver at his hip against the body of his longbow. The arrow’s shaft rested on his forefinger as he raised his well-defined arms into a firing stance.
Elbow pulled back in line with his chin.
Arms straight.
Eyes on the target.
Just as he’d been trained.
On each side of him, Cendel heard the men of the Port Denarim garrison nocking their arrows as well. Dozens of archers, preparing to fire. They were situated behind stone parapets, the archers filling the gaps between the man-high defensive structures.
The tug of holding the arrow at full draw was tough on the muscles in Cendel’s back and shoulders. But he waited, waited for the order.
“Hold!”
Several hundred yards ahead, Cendel saw the flickering lights of flaming torches aboard the dozen or so Akurai ships as they sailed yet again into the bay.
He heard them screaming and chanting, smashing their weapons against their shields and the decks of their ships in a violent, fear-inducing chorus.
The tides were high tonight; they would probably breach the walls.
The outer hulls of the wooden ships were sparsely decorated with mounted pieces of metal and hanging shields. Adorning the bows were menacing figureheads of foreign deities, intricately carved into the black wood with expert precision.
Cendel still felt the sting of panic lingering in the back of his mind. An unrelenting instinct to flee.
He had been a townsguard most of his adult life, but never had he faced danger such as this.
I thought by now this feeling would have worn off.
To his surprise, two days of fighting the Imperial Akurai invaders had done little to quell his nerves. It helped ease his conscience, though, knowing that his sister and little nephew were able to flee town before the attacks began.
Where are Enoia and Rastin now, I wonder? Miles away from here, I hope. They were all he worried about anymore.
Sergeant Reneda waited until the ships were within range, indicated by the Imperial flaming torches being adjacent to the small pyre that sat alight on a lone rocky island in the bay.
He gave the order.
“Loose!”
Cendel released his arrow at full draw, his green eyes still locked on one specific ship straight ahead. He felt the force of the bow whip through his body like a surge of energy.
All around him came the symphony of zipping arrows fired from the seawalls, straight into the dark abyss of night.
A chorus of death.
The arrows screamed through the sky, peppering the Imperial fleet. Many arrows met their mark. Imperial soldiers cried out as they were hit. The constant thud of metal on wooden decks and shields came from their ships. Other arrows missed and simply flew into the sea.
Another volley was fired into the air. Hundreds of arrows.
But the intimidating double-masted ships kept coming, riding the sea winds and rushing tides closer to shore.
“Archers! Fire at will!”
The men in the garrison drew arrows and fired into the bay. As the ships approached, they became more visible. Easier targets.
Cendel lined up a shot,
