December • 6 • xxxx86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfJW2qgMky
"I've been away for so long that I must have forgotten just how big Solaria is." The voice emanating from Hecate's speaking device remained constant, but she was rather out of breath.
Isabelle, who was nowhere near as tired, continued marching ahead to the next statue. "What? You don't get any exercise at the temple?"
"Not enough to make this trek any less taxing it seems."
Isabelle had spent the last day or so escorting Hecate through Solaria to break the curse on the statues. Once it was taken care of it was up to Egan and the rest of the removal crew to get rid of them. It was a fairly doable journey when they were closer to Mount Solaris where the weather tended to remain warm and summery, but the further away they got, the more the traces of winter became evident. By the time they reached the plains further North, the snow had piled up somewhat, making it a little more difficult to see the extent of the damage done by the statues.
"How are you so sure they won't just put up more statues?" Asked Isabelle.
"They're probably not expecting you to have figured out a way to get rid of them. The only people who know how to counter Li's magic are myself and most likely mother. Mother is gone, they don't know I can break the curses and since they don't know how you're doing it, they're probably not going to risk the resources to put up more when you can just get rid of them again."
"Wait but wouldn't the Ashen Eyes become a target? You did say that you guys had a bunch of records from Li's Cult."
"As far as Li knows, the Ashen Eyes destroyed all of those records when they split in some kind of act of defiance. The Ashen Eyes stole everything they believed to be dangerous when they left but from what I can tell, the only reason they still have them is because the magic is so old that if we got rid of them then we wouldn't know how to reverse its effects."
Their steps slowed as they came to the final statue. At the foot of the statue was a rather morbid scene. Smaller animals like birds and rabbits were laid around the statue, confirming Hecate's suspicion. The pale collection of shi that Hecate could see at the foot of the statue was a stark difference from the vibrant shi held by herself or Isabelle, telling her that whatever was there was dead.
Isabelle approached the statue first. Covering her nose, she recoiled at the stench and kicked them away for Hecate. Hecate kneeled and bit by bit began to undo the runes on the statue.
"Looks like it was a stronger curse than I first thought. Whatever it was, it seems as though it wasn't just meant to mock mother but to slowly poison the land. There seemed to be more death around this statue since it took us the longest to reach it. If we had gotten here any later I'm sure that it would have become strong enough to kill any humans that interacted with it as well."
Isabelle kissed her teeth. "Damn them. They couldn't get to us from outside so now they're trying to poison us from within? What a joke."
Just as Hecate was finishing up, Egan and the other resistance members tasked with removing the statues finally caught up.
"Are we ready to get rid of this one too?" He asked, walking up to them.
"Yes I'm just about f-f-f-f-in-ish-ish-ish-shed-" Hecate smacked her device again but this time it lost its glow entirely. She turned and signalled to Isabelle that it had reached its limit for the stretch of time that it was willing to function.
"Alright, guys take care of it!"
Egan called the others over and they began taking apart the statue.
"That was the last of them, I'll bring Hecate back to the temple and—"
A shrill scream cut Isabelle off. Silence filled the air as they tried to determine where the scream had come from. Hecate tapped Isabelle's shoulder and pointed in a direction. A look of recognition flashed across her face and she jumped into action.
"It's coming from here! Hurry!" She urged.
Egan took off after her, half transforming into an ifrit to cut through the snow-covered path more easily. Catching up to her, he pulled her onto his back before another scream cut through the forests. Egan and Isabelle sped towards the screams reaching a clearing that reeked of blood. They trod carefully through the clearing until they came upon a body laying face first on the ground. Isabelle hopped off of Egan's back and gently turned it over.
"They look awfully young...their neck's been cut open too," she said.
"There's another body over here. I don't think this person is an adult either." Egan had wandered not too far from where they found the first body only to find another. "I've seen this kind of violence before...these children were hunted down like animals." Egan scowled, remembering the way he was found and brought back to the asylum each time he tried to escape as a child.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Their heads snapped towards the sound of a woman's scream. The closer they got, the more they could make out two figures. The first figure was obscured by the canopy that darkened the area significantly. The other looked to be that of a young woman around the same age as Isabelle. She was clutching her chest and breathing rather heavily.
Stone began to cover Isabelle's arms as she readied for a fight. "Someone's still alive! We have to help her!" 86Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjty57hHIxr
