Chapter-66 Eldritch Prime

Frederique didn't know why she had woken up in the middle of a forest... again.

The damp earth soaked into her bare knees as she knelt in the moss, the cool morning air clinging to her skin. A fog drifted low around her, thick enough to muffle the world into silence. The trees loomed tall and ancient, their twisted branches clawing toward a pale sky, but no birds sang. No wind stirred. The only sound was her own breathing, ragged and uneven.

She was alone.

Or so it seemed.

But Frederique knew better now.

Frideria was with her.

Not beside her.

Not visible.

But inside, as she always was, a voice without sound pressing on the edges of her thoughts. A presence she had come to understand... if not control... more intimately since mastering Willow Wisper.

This wasn't like the other times Frideria had seized her body without warning. This felt deliberate. A lesson.

The sensation arrived not in words but meaning.

" You are ready. Today, you evolve."

Frederique's heartbeat quickened. She clenched her fists against the damp moss, steadying herself.

"Ready for what?" she whispered aloud, half expecting no response.

" To go deeper. You mastered Willow Wisper... the ability to sense the currents of life, the pulse of the world itself. But sensing is not enough. The next level of Primal is Eldritch Prime. The raw shape of creation."

Her vision blurred. No... shifted.

The forest around her felt... different. The air was heavier. More solid. The trees seemed to breathe in slow rhythm, their roots tangling beneath her fingers like veins beneath skin. She could feel the pulse of life in everything... roots, leaves, the damp decay in the soil.

The primal heartbeat of the world.

A flicker of heat stirred in her chest, like a dormant ember.

" You sense it. But can you grasp it? Draw it forth, shape it into the real? That is Eldritch Prime. Fire. Water. Earth. Air. Wood. The five pillars beneath all things."

Frederique swallowed hard.

"How do I... "

" Focus. Call it. It will answer."

She closed her eyes. Reached for that ember, deeper than breath, deeper than hunger. The pulse of the world pressed closer, urging her to connect.

And something answered.

A spark ignited in her palm.

Frederique opened her eyes to a delicate flame dancing above her outstretched hand... small, pale, yet alive.

It didn't burn.

It was pure.

Raw.

Her heart swelled with triumph...

The flame twisted.

Blackened.

It surged, heat clawing up her wrist as pain lanced through her arm.

"Stop!"

Frideria's voice cracked like a whip inside her mind.

The flame snapped out, leaving only a wisp of smoke curling around her fingers. Frederique gasped, clutching her arm, though the pain was already fading.

" You forced it. Primal is not commanded. It is called. Invited. You cannot crush it into your will."

Frederique grit her teeth.

" Then how do I control it? If I don't push, it just..."

" Control is balance, not force. Remember your hunger. Not when it consumes you... but when you hold it back. The ache before the feast."

The ache.

Frederique exhaled slowly, steadying herself. She thought of the hunger that never left her. The constant, gnawing void. But she didn't reach for it fully.

She held it.

Kept it at the edge of her mind.

The ember stirred again.

A droplet of water this time, trembling above her palm.

Not burning.

Not wild.

Just…existing.

The droplet shimmered, reflecting the gray sky above.

"Good." Frideria's voice was softer, but there was a hint of satisfaction now.

The droplet twisted, warping into a thin thread of water that coiled upward like a tiny serpent... then collapsed back into mist.

Frederique blinked, her breath fogging the air.

" I… I did it?"

" You touched it. Eldritch Prime will answer now. But the second level is not simply summoning. It is shaping. Creation drawn from essence. Repeat it... stronger."

Frederique nodded. This time, she didn't rush.

She reached deeper, past hunger.

Past the pain.

Into something older.

Rawer.

The flame returned, but it was different now... steady. A perfect sphere of pale gold, hovering above her palm. She could feel it, as if a piece of herself existed within that tiny flame.

" Like this?"

" Yes. But now...choose."

"Choose what?"

" The element you wish to shape. Fire is destruction. Water is flow. Earth is strength. Air is freedom. Wood...wood is growth. They all answer, but only one will resonate."

Frederique closed her eyes, focusing on the flickering heat in her palm.

And she knew.

Not fire.

Not yet.

Water.

The flame shifted... no, it melted, the light folding in on itself, becoming a swirling sphere of crystal-clear water. A perfect droplet, larger than before.

It hovered, pulsing with her heartbeat.

" Now...move it."

Frederique extended her arm. The water twisted, curling into a thin arc, trailing from one fingertip to the next like a ribbon. It felt…natural.

And then the mist around her shifted.

The fog reacted.

Responded.

Joined.

Frederique's eyes widened as the mist thickened, swirling in unison with her gesture, coiling like smoke drawn toward her hand.

The water expanded, growing heavier... more difficult to control.

"No...wait...!"

The mist collapsed. The water fell, soaking into the moss with a soft splash.

Frederique slumped forward, trembling.

* Silence.*

Then, softly:

"You understand it now."

Frederique exhaled shakily, bracing herself against the damp earth.

" Not really. I lost control again."

" No. You reached too far. But the connection is made. Eldritch Prime is yours to wield now. Control will come with practice. You created. That is enough for today."

Frederique stared at her empty palm. The ache in her chest hadn't faded…but it felt different now.

Sharper.

Less like a void... more like a well, waiting to be drawn from.

She didn't feel empty.

She felt…powerful.

And she knew this was only the beginning.