"Luna! Who is she?" Aria stormed out of the palace doors and stopped by the gravel path in the garden.
With her keen eyesight, Luna watched as Aria's face twitched with concern. She saw the anger flash in Aria's eyes as she looked at Theia clinging to her.
Her face lit up red, a sharp pang that she was not the one holding her.
From afar, Luna shrugged. Aria thought that shouting from a distance wouldn't make a difference, so she moved closer to them, up the small hill, and stopped by their side.
Looking down at Luna, she asked with a bitter voice, "Who is she?"
"I don't know. I found her around in the outer garden," Luna said. "Her name is Theia, she told me."
Aria sighed, massaging her temples, then looked at Theia, who kept rubbing her face into Luna's stomach.
She felt something in her chest—a really unpleasant feeling. She bent down and tried to pick up Theia harshly, but the girl resisted by gripping Luna's clothes tightly.
Aria kept pulling, but Luna wrenched Theia back into a firm embrace, her eyes meeting Aria's in a concerned way.
"Aria, leave her, please. She really didn't do anything wrong."
Hearing her words, Aria sighed and gave up. She straightened her back and replied, "Luna, as much as I want to listen to you, I can't help but not trust her. How am i supposed to believe her, as you said, she appeared out of nowhere in outer garden, just for you to find her coincidently"
"Luna, that just doesn't make any sense"
"it's too suspicious to be believable"
Aria sighed and said "Luna, I need to inform father about it, so come with me"
Luna gripped Theia and hugged her saying "No!, You can't tell him now, I will tell him but later, If you just tell him now, he will take her away without listening, so please I will tell him but not now, later!"
Theia looked up at Luna. She was glad Luna was acting like this.
Aria muttered to herself "No he won't…"
Then she cut Luna off when she responded, "Luna".
Luna couldn't meet Aria's eyes, an uncomfortable feeling in her chest arose. Looking away she said "I know that all this sounds and looks so suspicious, but it's really not like that. She really is sweet and kind, she doesn't have any motive behind this"
"I found her in the outer garden, bloodied on the flower bed, she had many bruises and wounds, so i took her into my room to treat her"
Luna looked into Theia's eyes, an uncomfortable feeling in her chest that was bothering her went away , and said, "Please understand, so… Please sit down with us and let's have fun, the three of us"
Aria looked at them both, she sighed and rubbed her face with her hand, and while covering her mouth with her hand she replied "Now you are making me feel bad for being cautious… Okay, I'll let you do what you want, but I'll make sure to watch over her from afar"
Luna nodded with a smile and looked at Aria happily, and Aria was happy to see that look from Luna
I hope this lie won't turn into something later, but well, there is nothing I can do.
"Well, I'd play with you, Luna, why not, if that's what you want"
Despite the fun, a thread of suspicion ran through her. She made a point of watching Theia, her glances sharp and assessing, waiting for a false note in her laughter, a calculating look in her eyes.
***
Somewhere in the barren land of Dravger, past the Wyrmgrave capital of the island—the only city on this enormous land—the environment was more of a wasteland than barren land. Filled with hills, it was a place where far and few stood dead, dried-up trees. From behind one, a man stepped out.
Draped in a black coat with sharp corners, its cloak glided as the wind blew with treacherous speed. His porcelain white mask, with holes for eyes and a slit for a mouth, was cracked across the face, illuminated by the hot, scorching sun.
He walked towards the massive spiral hole, its size was that of a mountain, and its depth far surpassed the size of an enormous cloud. He sighed as the dust flew past him, restricting the view to only a few meters away. "If only they did their job correctly killing her, we wouldn't be in this predicament."
"If he accepted my offer, at least I would have some leverage over this."
As time passed, he arrived at the path leading towards the core of the spiral hole. Hundreds or thousands of flying humanoid monsters surveilled the area, keeping the place safe from intruders. Their rotten flesh, exposed bones, and lack of eyes was a disturbing sight to Eyril. He added in a monotone voice, "The work of a necromancer is never pleasant."
He walked down the downward spiral path, his voice echoing through the land. "When will this miserable life end…"
***
He walked through the barren, stone-square hallway. It was devoid of any decoration, just walls carved out of stone, with a door embedded in the wall at the end.
Eyril walked up to the door and opened it wide. He passed through the frame as the door closed behind him.
There in front of him sat two people. Cineris and Duven sat in chairs before stairs leading up to the curtains, behind which a candlelight pulsating frequently illuminated a towering shadow of someone.
The room was too dark to distinguish anything; the only thing noticeable was the path in the middle to the chairs and the curtain with the shadow of a person.
Eyril walked up to the middle chair and sat silently. Cineris looked away with eyes closed, her white hair battered and her fox-like ears dirty from the battle. She gritted her teeth as sweat poured down her face. On the other side sat Duven, his fiery red spiky hair and deep blue eyes watching the shadowy figure. He sat relaxed in his chair with his arms crossed and his legs spread far apart.
Eyril, looking at them both, spoke up in a monotone, tired voice. "We've all gathered, Master."
Just as he said that, the shadow behind the curtain moved and stood up, watching over them as a human watches over a pest.
Cineris burst into a sweat as tears welled up in her eyes, and she kept biting her nail. Eyril did nothing, but Duven sat there oblivious to everything.
The Shadow moved as if it were finally looking at them with a judgmental look.
It took a few steps up to the curtain; the sound of bone hitting stone bounced off the walls. It stopped at the curtain and watched them silently.