Hollowed

Enne awaited by the entrance, wearing a sleek, colorful kimono with her hair tied into a low ponytail. Her gaze cast toward the withering trees lined within her gated residence. The leaves piled beneath, rustled by the passing breeze; Winter had drawn near. She remembered his pale body and weak pulse when she picked him up. She also remembered how he had to be resuscitated several times before he stabilized. But with everything that followed she felt uncertain about her place in Gardenia. If reason couldn’t reach Rita, what could?

The door behind her opened, grabbing her attention to see Iscah with Alejandro. He tried to play off his dull pain upon seeing her fists balled. His breathing kept a steady, shallow rhythm. Her glare remained for a moment before easing in the company of the maid. But, her eyebrows twitched in annoyance; On the rare occasion she asked him for anything, he wouldn’t comply.

“Why are you here?” she asked. “I asked you to stay, didn’t I?”

“And do what?” he answered. “Diddle my damned fingers? There’s still much to do.”

“You can barely breathe. I need you to sit this one out.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you!”

“I can’t get any stronger staying in bed.”

“This isn’t some fucking seinen manga,” she scoffed. “You can either come back completely crippled or dead. There isn’t some magical ornament I can wish you back! To be honest, I’m surprised you’re standing here after that close call.”

“I guess it’s my will to live.”

I saved you, you fool, it wasn’t some miracle, she rolled her eyes.

“If I can’t convince you, then at the very least, fall back if things get too hectic,” she continued. “Who knows how things have been after 50 years—I just hope everything goes well.”

Alejandro couldn’t remain as uninvolved as he always did. He imagined all he could’ve done in the past; Allies and conspirators alike didn’t always see eye-to-eye in the outliers. Many had a false sense of change, uneducated and short-sighted. While they were keen on uplifting their own, they’d often forget about the community at large. Yet, Enne stood out with her genuine desire for change and diplomacy.

Billy awaited their arrival by the Hollow’s entrance. It was a strange sight not to see his father tag along. His sheathed sword, weathered armor, and well-worn clothing gave the impression of his would-be guardsman's aspirations. Enne raised an eyebrow before covering her mouth to withhold her laughter.

“W—What’s so funny?” he asked, flushed as he turned away.

“You don’t look too good in that uniform,” she answered. “I guess we can talk about modernizing these dinky getups. Looks like we’re a shade away from being some guerilla group rather than representing the city’s defenses.”

“Oh, this is my dad’s old uniform.”

“He still had them?” the wanderer asked.

“Perhaps we can draw inspiration from Iscah’s outfit,” she said. “Skirt and all. I mean, Allie, you’ve got some nice legs on you.”

She sure perked up quick, he thought.

“Eh, so you’re suggesting kilts for us guys?” the wanderer asked.

“You don’t see that as a problem, do you? After all, it’s not much of a cultural thing these days.”

“Do as you please, but as an advisor, I’ll just wear what I’m wearing now.”

“Oh, but you’d get frills with yours.”

“Fuck that,” he muttered.

Enne laughed boisterously before turning toward the narrowing, beaten path. The scent of decayed wood was enough to flood her memories, leaving her to wonder what she would find. She turned to everyone, seeing their readiness to set out; Her lax expression shifted with sudden seriousness.

“It definitely stirs up memories,” she said.

“I can imagine,” the wanderer replied.

“Let’s stick close together. The Hollows is eh—Disputed territory. Vampires aren’t on the prowl, but the subhumans are.”

“You ready, kid?” Alejandro asked. “Don’t worry, we got you if anything happens.”

“T—Thank you, sir,” he gulped.

“Um, Al is fine.”

Enne guided them through the barren woods. Her colorful kimono stood out against the stilted environment. Their silence amplified the sound of their footsteps besides Billy’s wary breathing. The young man reminded Alejandro of his younger, inexperienced self as he looked over to check on him. The fear felt foreign, especially when much lost their luster.

People born today didn’t have to experience the dreadful feeling of the world ending. He remembered being at the cusp of the events of the Collapse. The world was helpless to the natural disaster that came with the portal's opening. The necrobytes invaded and destroyed much of the wildlife and agriculture like biblical locusts from the Abrahamic religion. What a luxury it was not to see humanity descend to its tribalistic roots. What remained of the world was much like the barren woods: So much life in between.

“You okay, kid?” he asked.

“Eh, yeah,” The young man answered reluctantly.

“You can be honest. This place is kind of off-putting.”

“No. I have to do this.”

“Trying to prove to your dad you can handle yourself?”

He nodded.

“I’m sure he has his reasons.”

“I just wish he’d be less protective. I’m not a kid anymore. He was like that ever since my mother passed away.”

“Perhaps that’s why.”

Billy hoped for clarification but was instead left to wonder for himself. Enne’s perked ears, hearing the fatherly undertones in his words throughout their conversation. It was a touching moment since he never experienced fatherhood himself after centuries of existence.

“When he sees you, he probably sees aspects of your mother,” he continued. “A child is a link to the past, parts of many people… Losing that connection would be devastating. But that’s just my thought and—I don’t think he views you as less capable.”

“I never—looked at it that way.”

Enne smiled, embracing his thoughtfulness.

After nearly an hour, they arrived at an abandoned culdesac. The street’s vines coursed through its concrete cracks, widening the damage done. Homes were weathered, broken windows and spreading mold lent to the awful stench that kept them at bay. They stood amidst the foundations of a once-thriving community overtaken by centuries of isolation and unchecked overgrowth. While Alejandro’s interest piqued, Enne looked on with an uncharacteristic melancholy setting in.

“We can stop here,” she said.

“We should remain vigilant,” Iscah advised.

“This isn’t some walk in the park, Iscah. I’m aware of the dangers here.”

“How are far do we have left?” Billy asked, walking on the sidewalk with Alejandro.

“Less than an hour,” Enne answered. “This leads to a nest in the mountainside.”

“Wow, so they used to live in places like this?” Billy thought aloud.

“They did,” Alejandro chimed. “Back then, there was something called private property! And homeownership was a big thing.”

“Eh—Alright.”

The wanderer explained the intricacies of the bygone market, believing it to be a good thing private property went away after the collapse. With governments faltering from the rise of cataclysmic threats, local jurisdictions made shelter available to the displaced without fear of eviction. Attacks from the necrobytes and the Ethoxian Republic’s creeping influence resulted in the inevitable collapse of the state. Without a powerful force to quail insurrections and conflicts, culdesacs like these were a common sight in a post-American society.

In the same bane, it was with the guidance of the Elven overlords, which emerging settlements thrived. This partnership was a part of a long line of controversies, still prominent in the anti-Republic rebellions. But why rebel against a system that offers everything, even they were under the boots of their oppressors? The ethical question stood, but the elves resolved a long-standing issue with old economic trends. Thus, the world Alejandro once knew still had remnants scattered within society.

The housing structures and pavements revealed how little society progressed. It contrasted her father’s great admiration of the Elven accomplishments, acknowledging the edge they had over inferior cultures. It was left to her imagination of how the Ethoxian Republic compared to the world she knew. Born to a human mother, she saw the conditions her human counterparts lived in, which were far from the marvelous existence of her Elven counterparts.

She looked toward the emotionless, vigilant maid. Iscah fled along with her father, once having experienced what it was like living in the comforts of the Republic.

“You’re awfully quiet,” she whispered.

“What—Am I supposed to say?” the maid winced.

“Nothing, but you can loosen up a little. You make Allie look like a natural. Besides, how are you going to get a date like that?”

“With a human?”

“I’m half-human. I turned out fine…In all sense of the word.”

“It’s against the Code to mix Elven blood with any other race.”

“The fact half-elves can exist says a lot about the similarities to our genetics, no? You’ve been here for a long time too! Have you considered you may not be able to return?”

“Whether or not I return, I can’t do that.”

The half-elf’s cheeky smile waned to her cold reception. She loathed the Elven Code to its core due to its xenophobic outlook. There were reasons humans hated Elves, and it was as simple as their oppressive tendencies to “lesser” races. But seeing Iscah as the full-blooded elf she was, she acknowledged she was contending with centuries of Elven traditionalism where human lifespans were short in comparison.

“I’ve gotta ask,” she continued. “What do you think about Mathias and me? We’re half-elves. I imagine we disgust you with our impurities.”

Silence left the maid’s glossy lips while her eyes trailed off to reflect on her response. Enne wasn’t surprised by Iscah’s reluctance since her opinions were rarely asked of from her brother. The maid and the Elven matriarch spoke seldomly, even now.

“You’d kill us if not for my father, right?” she probed.

“N—No,” the maid panicked. “You’re not a problem. I’m in no position to give my own input. You’re a good woman, like your father. I served him all my life without fail. And I’d follow him to the abyss if he asked me to. But, my job is simple: I’ll do whatever is told per Mathias or you. I’m nothing more than a vessel to your bidding.”

The half-elf winced, visibly disgusted by her comment.

“If I ordered you to live your life, would you?”

The maid looked toward the skeletal treeline toward the mountain. Aspirations and careers weren’t things she considered, since she served her father for as long as she could remember. Nothing else seemed to matter. Enne always questioned the blind loyalty of the several millennia-year-old maid. Her blue eyes returned toward Enne with a conflicted expression.

“This is all I know,” she bit her lip.

“Eh,” Enne softened her gaze. “If you decide to loosen up, I won’t say anything. You’ve served us so well all this time. I don’t think it’s right to deprive yourself of a little fun.”

“Fun? That’s not why I’m here.”

“Jeez, you can be so stubborn.”

A heavy object flung overhead, slamming into the house the wanderer gestured at. He gasped, dismayed by the destruction, while Billy ducked from the scattering debris. The wanderer ground his teeth, glanced around for the culprit. Enne’s ears perked, honing in on countless approaching them from all sides.

An ambush, she thought.

“Alright,” he yelled. “Somebody’s gotta explain why they did that!”

A horde of subhumans emerged from the crevices of the many homes surrounding them. Everyone scrambled to a defensive position as the subhumans kept their distance. Iscah tried to hold Enne back as she approached the intersection. The half-elf wouldn’t listen to her as a smirk crawled along her face. Iscah jumped over her to kick away a subhuman.

“There’s too many of them,” she said.

“This is child’s play,” Enne responded.

Billy’s nerve-wracked hands skewed his aim while trying to keep up with the overwhelming numbers. Alejandro razed the grounds, collapsing the decayed structures upon the subhumans still within the decrepit homes. He staggered forward after the burst of mana, feeling pain along his chest. Enne delivered an energy blast at the oncoming subhumans to protect him.

“What are you doing?” she yelled.

“They’re going to overrun us,” he answered.

“You’ll hurt yourself! Let me handle this.”

He bowed out; She closed her eyes, absorbing the chaotic atmosphere. The gunshots, the scent of mana, and the war cries of the subhumans became muddled under her measured breathing. Mana coursed through her body, surging with discomfort while she built up energy. Alejandro sensed the overflowing mana, seeing her glowing skin. Her silver hair wafted as the air grew unstable.

What the hell is she planning? he wondered.

Mana enveloped him and the others, realizing she was protecting them while she wound up her attack. He blocked off a subhuman when it tried to deliver a bludgeoning strike. Having felt nothing, he glimpsed it stumbling away with the bloodied stump of where its arm once was. The wanderer observed the maid’s acrobatic display of force. Her graceful movements flowed like the shifting of the wind. She struck down her opponents with ease.

“Hey guys,” Enne spoke with closed eyes. “I’m almost there!”

A subhuman slipped past Iscah when she desperately tried to hold it off. Amid her concentration, Enne gently waved her hand, summoning a current that tore the subhuman into cutlets of flesh. Billy looked away in horror as a mesh of flesh skid along the battered pavement.

That’s impressive, the wanderer gasped.

Her untapped energy beyond his comprehension, even surpassing noted elves he’s encountered in his travels. Alejandro sensed something ominous about her stored energy. The strange wind howled over the shaken earth, painting an apocalyptic scene. She opened her eyes as the wind picked up beneath her feet.

“Everyone,” she yelled. “On me!”

They rushed to her side while the large trees along the neighborhood’s edge were uprooted. With her hands, she arranged them into a propeller, giving enough space for those in the center. Everyone watched as the propellor descended into the culdesac; The rapid speed created their sharp edges. Its brutal force ground everything caught by its thick trees. The wooden propellors became bloodied and dull by the impacts of their victims.

The dreadful cries of the subhumans synchronized with the whirring grinder. The propellor ascended, gushing blood after the screaming ceased. Billy averted his horror from the nightmarish sight while Iscah awed to Enne’s monstrous power. The bloodied logs dispersed throughout the leveled culdesac as she lowered herself with a cold grin. Her euphoria quickly turned to disgust, seeing everyone’s startled expressions.

The impressive display of force confirmed the wanderer’s assessment of her power. With such power, she easily posed a threat to nearby settlements. Without uttering a word, Enne pressed on deeper into the Hollows. Alejandro caught up with her, gently grabbing her arm before she turned toward him with an icy gaze.

“En?” he uttered.

“Sorry you had to see that,” she said. “I—I felt like a different person.”

“En?”

“Maybe I’m off my rocker these days. So many think mana is a blessing, but it’s a curse. Such power corrupts.”

“A curse?”

“Elves are the only ones who could wield it effectively. Most other life form uses a more archaic form. This is why I told you not to push yourself too hard. When an elf uses it experiences more detrimental effects, worse than death.”

“What do you mean?”

The half-elf responded with a sigh, leaving him with her cryptic expression. She walked on as though her body didn’t ache, focused on the muddied, narrow path ahead. A particular dread filled her conscience with each step. Although she walked further away, he did his best to stay close, hoping she’d open up. Alejandro wondered what he would find in the vampiric realm as they became engulfed by the stilted silence of the Hollows.



Mana is an interesting thing, but not something I've covered much on!
Though we got a crash course chapters ago, we see how it impacts the world.
Let me know what you think of it compared to other magic systems!
Leave a like and thanks for reading!