In the end, all roads lead to Rome

Time to make a choice.

I’m still not quite capable of handling the veils. After hours of practicing, I managed to find the darkness that inhabited the world, below everyone’s feet. I was surprised to find out that I could grab it no matter where I was, even without direct contact with the ground.

As long as I could visualize it, the darkness was below me.

How ominous, to say it like that.

Grabbing it is possible. Actually bringing it out from the earth? that’s a challenge I am still working on.

Which is an idea that right now looms over me like a guillotine, as the strip on the sky is almost closed now.

I can see it in Howard’s face, when he came to visit me. He said nothing when he saw me practicing, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but soon closed it and then went away in a rush. I didn’t see him again after that.

As far as I can guess, this is something that I should not be doing for my own sake. But his reaction to the training only got me more apprehensive.

The mood only got more somber and somber. It truly was noticeable when Lyra started to become irascible. She was now fidgeting around, looking at me insecurely, as if she wanted to say something but could not find the words to say so.

The only thing she said to me now, more and more angry every time she did so was:

“Train”

Train, train and train. Euryce now had taken it personally to see my progress. That was the final red flag for me, but unlike the others, I could not read her from her expression. She just kept that eternal frown of hers, no matter if I progressed or not. It was like no matter which result I got, it only made her angry.

Lyra very rarely left my side now, as Euryce had taken it to personally bringing me my daily meals and anything else that I could need, requiring a demonstration of my progress each time she came. Howard did not return after this.

I tried to ask to leave the infirmary, but she said that it was not safe for the time being.

Not safe? even to walk through the village? unlikely, but of course I was not going to say that to her face. I’m not an idiot.

When Lyra left my side, which happened less often and for shorter periods of time, I continued reading the notebook as quickly as I could. Unfortunately, I found that the second half had been ripped off and with that I lost any hope of indications for my escape.

“They will send you to the highest mountain, near the border of the city when the strip finally closes. By then, they will have taught you how to handle both light and dark, and by doing so, they will sacrifice you for the light to ever glow and everyone to live a day more.

However, you can escape that fate, you’ll go along with them, and when you reach the mountain’s temple…”

Were the last words in the notebook. I almost ripped out the rest of the pages when I noticed that was how it ended. After that, all my time unsupervised went towards preparing my backpack for escaping. A rope, a plastic bag, my swiss knife, the green knife they gave me and never took back, a water canteen, a quite spent med kit that Howard used when treating me and a change of clothes. It is very little, but it is all I have.

That, and a bit of mystery meat and veggies that I managed to sneak into the plastic bag. I must escape now, or that’s going to get very rancid very quickly.

Now what I truly need is an opportunity. Any chance to escape. I got the plan, but with Lyra permanently stuck by my side, escape could be all but impossible.

I kept sneaking so many side glances at her that even she got annoyed. She shot me down with her glare, and proceeded to stand up from her spot. When she walked towards the door I had hope, but they vanished when I saw her stand next to the door instead of crossing it.

Is so close. But of course they would not let me without supervision now. It's like I can feel how the strip of light is closing above my head right now. How long do I have? a couple days? a couple hours?

Then, a Godsend. A crash sound outside. Lyra peeked through the door when it happened. She was almost outside, only a little bit more and it would be it.

Then, a scream followed, a . I felt my blood curling. It wasn’t that close, but it was still too close for comfort. Whatever had happened, I did not want to know.

But, unlike me, Lyra knew what had just happened, as she then screamed a name I didn’t understand, before bolting outside and grabbing one of the several weapons they have stashed nearby some days earlier. If I had to guess, she still was nearby, clutching that weapon towards whatever had caused the crash and the scream.

I started feeling scared for whatever was happening now, but I steeled myself. If she was going towards the scream, that meant she was not paying attention to me anymore. I had been in this village for months, learning whatever would be necessary to survive by myself. I consider that goal a failure, but what I did learn was how to escape outside from the village.

When she left, I opened the medkit. As quickly as I could, I sprayed the door and the entrance with ethyl alcohol. When I broke the door, a long time ago, I noticed how dry the construction materials were, and when I went out, I also noticed how distant my little prison was from all the other village buildings.

So, a fire was the perfect solution. A measure to make sure that she would not be able to return inside too quickly, giving me time to escape. By the time the hut was consumed by the flames or they managed to fan them out, I would be far gone. I lit my lighter and threw it into the door without looking back. A fire started and quickly started consuming the entire wall with the main door.

Second, again, the hut is incredibly fragile. Putting my weight on the door the second day made me break the doorframe very easily. Meaning, I could break the walls easily if I tried to.

I threw myself to the side of the hut that would lead me to the veil, I passed through incredibly easily, the structure giving way as if it was made of paper. The sound of the fire breaking out even covered the sound of my escape out of the hut. It was not part of the plan, but it was a perfect coincidence for it.

I was now face to face with the veil, if I extended my hand I would enter it. But for that problem, there was a simple solution. Grabbing one of the light stones in the village barrier. When Howard made me watch the three people leave, I saw the lamp they carried.

Their lamps for the veils were nothing more than holders for the light stones that allowed them to be safe. As long as I held one of them in my hand and allowed it to shine, they would have the same effect.

I grabbed the light stone and threw myself into the veil confidently.

And then the plan went sideways.

The light did work, but I chose too small of a rock. Not only that, but I could feel it starting to slowly dissolve in my hand. There was a sphere of light that went from my head to my waist, but did not cover my legs, and it was slowly shrinking. I immediately fell down to the ground as I could not feel my legs. I tried to walk crouching down, but it was too slow. I would be trapped in the darkness if I didn’t cross the veil too quickly.

“The other two veils are smaller and there’s no registry of any shadows in them, but you should always exercise caution” I remembered.

There should not be any creepy tentacles, but sure as hell I am not going to test that longer than I have to. After all, if I fall down and lose all feeling, I will never know if I’m actually walking, and could get trapped here forever. The idea brought me chills through my entire body, but I forced myself to go on.

I stood upright, feeling nothing from my waist down. I bent forward, to be able to put the light lower, but it was useless, I had to bend too much to reach all the way to my feet. I tried to walk forward, without falling down this time, but I could only do so because my steps were too short.

I had no idea how long the veil was, I had to go quicker. Maybe if I…

I tried to give a longer step, and it felt exactly the same. Moving without getting any feedback was absolutely maddening. I felt like I was swimming instead of walking.

And then, it came back to me.

The creature that went to the pond, its wobbly steps that looked like swimming in the air, ample, but taking care not to land too hard on the uneven terrain. As if walking on a slippery floor. If I didn’t have the light, I could fall down and walk towards the ground and I would be none the wiser, just like the creature didn’t know that it was crossing a pond. But if I imitate its steps, making sure that everything is in order every once in a while…

It was quicker, at least.

Time works strangely in this world, as again, I felt like it stretched until I finally reached the other side. I was in a clear, the forest with the pond on the right, in my view.

I ran towards it, separated from the village by the veil.

From my trip with Lyra I learnt that the forest is not that big. The reason we took so long in it was because we walked to the opposite limit, and then back. But the pond is near the village, and if I run in this general direction, I’ll find the paths that the villagers did when traversing it.

I could not fill the canteen, as they refused to give me that much water, but once I fill it, I should be able to survive for at least some days until I find something else. I looked at all the things that Lyra grabbed as food, if I got those, maybe I would actually stand a chance.

I found the path, and as quickly as I could, I got to the pond.

There was someone already there.

I thought it was the shadow cloak figure from last time, but soon I noticed I was wrong.

Scars. That’s the first thing I thought. He had a deep scar that crossed his face all the way vertically. Barely missing their eyes, passing over the nose.

He seemed to be as surprised to see me as I was of seeing him. That was when I noticed the spear he had. Just like the ones in the village, but newer, sharper.

“I can’t believe it. You just came out by yourself! How much of an idiot are you?”

The guy laughed as he stood up. I grabbed the green knife and tried to pull it out, but my fight or flight response decided flight when it got stuck in my backpack. I tried to turn around and run where I came from.

The man moved with superhuman speed. Catching me before I could even turn around. He hit my head so hard that I then hit the tree that was behind me. Once again, as I lost consciousness, I was in a limbo, without knowing if I was alive or dead.

I thought escaping was the best option, and it only brought me to this result, possibly killed by an unknown man.

But what could I have done? I could not simply stay in that village, knowing that they were going to sacrifice me. What should I have done to survive?

“It may be best for you not to be here. I’ll explain it once I return, okay?” Howard said to me before sending me for water so many days ago.

…

When we saw each other again, he simply walked away without saying a word, but I hope I still have a chance to speak with Howard sometime. I feel like there a lot of things left unsaid, too many questions avoided.

Did I ever try to actually meet him? I don’t think I ever ask him about himself. What an asshole I am.

“Let’s say, they are surely gonna take you as a work mule soon again, and then you’ll return here. When that happens, I’ll tell you the rest.” Had said the shadow cloak man.

They didn’t even have the opportunity to sacrifice me, as I escaped before that happened. I wondered if I would have stood a better chance staying there.

“Don’t you ever talk to anyone outside the village. Understood?”

Ah, there it was.

The detail that I had not accounted for. What an idiot I was. And Lyra had told me it so clearly, right here, back then.

I thought she was warning me about the man in the cloak, but she hadn’t even seen him, had she? She was never worried about him.

She was worried about the others outside the village. Maybe they are enemies? Maybe they are the ones they were looking for in the forest back when they sent me to fetch water?

No matter what it was, in the end, I got caught by them. And whoever they were, they surely would find me just as useful for the nefarious purposes they had summoned me for in the first place, making my fate remain written in stone once more.