Real thing

We abandoned our shelter, and followed as carefully as possible the emissaries who were taking people away in their filthy carriages pulled by macabre beasts, raging monsters with red eyes, shining with hunger and madness.

The bodies of the devourers, as thin as they were grayish, their skeletal hands with sharp claws that reminded me of saber blades that had to cut their enemies in a single stroke, made me shiver from head to foot. We could do nothing against these people, who were even more sinister than the cursed ones. Their ragged uniforms, complete with a black cloak, looked like they would crumble any second.

And as they melted into the suffocating webs of the night, we were left to listen to their decaying footsteps, footsteps of the damned, after burning down another burned out dwelling, where a few minutes earlier they laid out what was left of the bodies of those they took from who knows where, but an atrocious place where they robbed them of their shadows and the remainder of their life breath.

- We still have to follow them I suppose? I asked already resigned.

- That's why we're here! We have to follow them if we want to know where they take people's shadows.

We followed the traces of skin left by the decomposing bodies of the victims. We followed them for a long, long time. We followed them for a long, long time, until we reached an imposing wall of ashen red rocks. There, Seiran stopped me to ask me to stop making any more noise, when I thought of something I thought was obvious.

- Majesty, I called as quietly as I could.

- Yes?

- Uh, now that I think about it, these devourers don't seem to be affected by the curse.

- So what?

- So, maybe it's because they have the cure. Or better yet, they are the culprits.

- That's a workable theory, Dania.

- But you look skeptical.

- Unfortunately, yes.

- Why is that?

But the ruler didn't need to answer, because at that very moment, a portal carved in the rock opened, and carts by the dozen always pulled by those hideous beasts came out, carrying piles of corpses that didn't belong only to the people of Dirius.

When we saw this, we decided not to make any comment and to continue our journey. We set off to the top of the wall, and when we got there, despite some natural worries, we went into the dark without delay, carefully, of course. Then we knew we had arrived at a primordial place, when we saw a huge blaze of fire illuminating the bewitched darkness. It was lit in a crevice, glowing and growing, raising its devouring wicks towards the abandoned skies. But then we approached this sickening braiser, then we realized it wasn't fire. It was puppets, more precisely eight puppets flaming in considerable magic, each standing before a person imprisoned in metal bars, and placing their cold hands on their chest, mouths wide open, painfully, irreparably drawing from them their shadow power, to then transfer it into a kind of metal sphere engraved with dreadful spells. But the process seemed to last long enough. And when the detachment of one of them finally began, his shadow was peeling away from every part of his soul. I could see how much he was agonizing, even though he could no longer feel the pain. What was left of his soul was still coming out.

I was filled with horror at the sight. Of this willing work. I will never forgive the perpetrator of these abject acts, never. Never. Seiran, more lucid in the turmoil of his emotions, observed where the spheres were taken after storing the stolen magic. But the blue of his eyes came out as never before, turning to the color of darkness.

Somehow he was more shaken than I was by this spectacle, he who had witnessed the agony of his people for centuries. In his eyes, anger and conviction were united in a real ballet of fire.

I followed him discreetly but I did not know why my body was suddenly shaken by a spasm as incomprehensible as painful. The crisis did not last long, but the problem was the place. We were going through a kind of tunnel when the spasms started, and I realized with horror, once they were over, that the tunnel was only a branch of a gigantic labyrinth, and in which I found myself all alone.

Soothing my growing panic as best I could, I tried to remember where Seiran had gone, but nothing helped. In desperation, I had to trust my instincts. I took the corridor that I felt most confident in and entered it, hoping that it would be the right one. I walked for a few seconds when I came to another intersection. I did it again when I had the inexplicable certainty that I was not going anywhere. But that was not all, I soon felt my strength fail me, and not being able to make the slightest move, I slumped to the ground, and sank into a deep lethargy.

I didn't know how long I was unconscious, but when I finally had the strength to open my eyes again, I found myself in his arms. His eyes were clouded with worry and pain. I wanted to reassure him, but when I saw how pale his face was, I immediately remembered our magical bond.

- Seiran...

- Don't worry. It was all my fault for not checking that you were following me, for being so angry that I didn't warn you about the evil barrier they've erected all around this infamous place to prevent any intrusion.

- I am sorry. Can you continue or do you need to rest? I inquired weakly malicious.

- I must rest, as well, he decided while grimacing. Even so magical, I have my limits, especially since I became the energy source of a certain little girl.

- It's not all my fault, you know?

- Of course it is. And it was also my fault that you couldn't breathe.

- Of course it was.