The darkness was not complete.
Irregular gaps between the planks allowed the light to pass through the walls of the cabin.
Narrow beams cut through the interior.
Slid across the wooden floor...
Climbed the walls...
Until they reached the bed.
Outside...
The wind traveled along the slope.
The gusts met the aged wood and made the entire structure creak faintly.
Creeeak...
Even so...
Nothing moved within it.
Upon the simple bed...
A boy remained lying down.
Black hair fell past his shoulders.
It spread across the pillow in disordered strands, covering part of his face.
His skin carried an almost lifeless pallor.
The sheet covered his body only from the waist down.
His lips remained slightly parted.
His chest rose.
Slowly.
Stopped.
Then fell.
The next breath took longer than the previous one.
Beside the bed...
A figure remained seated.
Long dark fabrics covered its body.
The hood cast a deep shadow over the face.
One hand remained resting beside the boy's body.
Two fingers discreetly touched his pulse.
The other hand rested upon its own knee.
Motionless.
Farther ahead...
A second figure remained leaning against the wall.
Arms crossed over the chest.
A long bow followed its back beneath the black cloak.
Only one of its ends emerged above the shoulder.
Near the foot of the bed...
The third kept its hands clasped behind its body.
Its posture remained rigid.
No movement seemed to escape its hidden gaze.
For a few moments...
Only the wind could be heard.
Creeeak...
The body on the bed trembled.
The fingers tightened around the sheet.
Once.
Then again.
The wood beneath the bed creaked.
The seated figure did not remove its hand from his pulse.
The contractions became faster.
The boy's arm stiffened.
His chest arched slightly.
Then...
Everything ceased.
The fingers relaxed.
The body returned to the bed.
Motionless.
The figure beside the wall uncrossed its arms.
"He stopped moving."
The seated figure remained silent.
Its fingers continued over the boy's pulse.
It waited.
One beat.
Then another.
Irregular.
Distant.
The figure beside the wall moved away from the wood.
Tap.
One step.
Its eyes remained on the bed.
"Does that mean it worked?"
"It means something changed."
The voice that answered was feminine.
Low.
Controlled.
The man beside the wall tilted his head slightly.
"That answer would be more reassuring..."
His eyes lowered to the boy.
"if he still looked like he was breathing."
The boy's chest remained motionless.
The figure at the foot of the bed did not alter its posture.
"Explain."
The woman calmly withdrew her fingers from the pulse.
Her hand slid to the boy's chest.
Remained there.
For a few moments...
Nothing happened.
Then...
Thum.
A single pulse met her palm.
Weak.
Deep.
The woman raised her face slightly.
"The body responded."
Silence occupied the cabin once more.
The man beside the wall turned his eyes toward her.
"And the soul?"
Her hand remained over his chest.
The woman did not answer immediately.
Beneath her fingers...
Another pulse emerged.
Thum.
Stronger.
A line of light crossed one of the gaps.
Slid across the boy's face.
For an instant...
Touched his closed eyelids.
They trembled.
The woman followed the movement.
"It is still finding the way."
The man with the bow let air escape through his nose.
"After all this time..."
"it would be very kind of him not to get lost precisely now."
The figure at the foot of the bed discreetly turned its face toward him.
The man carrying the bow held its gaze.
Then...
His eyes returned to the boy.
"It has been more than a year since he entered the Abyss."
The woman remained seated for another moment.
Then rose.
The dark fabric slid around her body.
"When they came looking for me..."
Her voice remained low.
"they said he would return."
The woman turned toward the two.
The hood continued to conceal her face.
"When he turned fifteen."
Her eyes remained hidden beneath the fabric.
"On the eleventh day of the eighth month."
Silence filled the cabin.
"That was the certainty they brought to me."
The figure at the foot of the bed held her gaze.
"The reading was confirmed by more than one source."
"Sources can agree."
The woman turned her eyes toward Éreon.
"Reality does not have to follow them."
The figure at the foot of the bed remained motionless.
"There was no divergence until the beginning of the ritual."
"And yet..."
The woman indicated the body on the bed only with her eyes.
"he remains unconscious."
The wind passed through the gaps.
The light over Éreon's face wavered.
"The prophecy may have indicated the moment when the path would open."
Her voice grew lower.
"Not that he would cross it."
The man at the foot of the bed narrowed his eyes.
"You believe he is trapped?"
The woman remained silent for a moment.
"A trapped soul searches for any opening it can find."
The woman turned her eyes toward Éreon.
"His tried to close it."
The man at the foot of the bed held her gaze.
"Are you saying he resisted?"
"I'm saying he does not intend to return of his own will."
Silence filled the cabin once more.
The figure at the foot of the bed spoke:
"Why?"
The woman watched Éreon.
Her eyes lowered slowly.
Stopped over the black half-moon marked on his shoulder.
"I couldn't get far enough to find out."
Silence occupied the cabin.
"I wasn't the only one to reach him."
The man carrying the bow kept his eyes on Éreon.
"Whatever it was that reached him..."
His arms crossed once more.
"we can't keep waiting."
The woman remained silent.
"The County is already gathering its forces against the Western Marquisate."
He turned his eyes toward her.
"If we don't move in the next few days..."
"all the entrances will be under surveillance."
The woman remained motionless for a moment.
Her hand reached the edge of the hood.
The fabric slid back.
Long silver-white hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves.
Beneath the light passing through the gaps...
The strands almost seemed to emit their own glow, standing out against her dark skin.
She raised her face.
Her irises were white.
Incandescent.
"Good to know you still recognize an urgency when it presents itself, Karna."
A small smile touched his lips.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You shouldn't."
The figure at the foot of the bed looked away from Karna.
"What do you intend to do, Brianna?"
She watched Éreon once more.
Her eyes traveled across the boy's motionless face.
"The opening closed when he refused to cross it."
Brianna raised one hand over his chest.
"But it left a path."
Her fingers slowly opened.
"If he does not intend to return of his own will..."
The white of her irises intensified.
"his will will not be part of this attempt."
The figure at the foot of the bed held her gaze.
"Can you bring him back?"
Brianna did not take her eyes off Éreon.
"If nothing decides to keep him there."
Her lips moved.
"Phasmatos..."
The white of her irises became absolute.
Luminous lines appeared within her irises.
First one.
Then another.
They crossed.
Multiplied.
Little by little...
They formed a delicate web around the pupils.
At the center of each...
A small circle contracted.
Narrow.
Sharp.
Like the eye of a needle.
"Anima, viam sequere."
A green glow appeared around her wrists.
Thin.
Almost imperceptible.
The first filaments slid from beneath her sleeves and snaked along her arms.
Brianna moved two fingers.
The lines detached from her skin.
Rose through the air...
Curved over the bed...
And remained suspended above Éreon.
Brianna slowly turned her hand.
The filaments followed the movement.
Descended over Éreon.
One of them reached his chest.
Upon meeting the skin...
it passed through it without leaving any sign.
Others followed.
Passed through his arms.
His neck.
His temples.
No wound appeared.
No mark remained.
Even so...
Éreon's body stiffened upon the bed.
Brianna closed her fingers.
The filaments stretched taut.
"Mea voluntate..."
Her hand descended a few more inches.
"ad corpus redi."
The final word left her lips.
For an instant...
Nothing happened.
The filaments remained stretched over the bed.
Then...
They trembled.
A vibration traveled through each of the green lines.
Started at Brianna's fingers...
And advanced toward Éreon's body.
His fingers dug into the sheet.
His arm stiffened.
The muscles of his abdomen contracted.
Suddenly...
His body arched over the bed.
The wood creaked beneath the movement.
Creeeak!
Brianna kept her hand raised.
The filaments tightened between her fingers.
Éreon fell back down.
His head turned upon the pillow.
Black hair spread across his face.
A spasm ran through his shoulders.
Then another.
More violent.
His heel struck the bed.
Thud!
The figure at the foot of the bed took a step forward.
Tap.
"Telvaris."
He turned his eyes toward Karna.
Karna made a brief gesture with his hand, indicating that he wait.
Telvaris held his gaze for a moment.
Brianna closed her fingers even tighter.
"Return."
The green lines glowed.
Éreon's chest rose all at once.
His lips opened.
No air passed through them.
Then...
The black half-moon over his shoulder pulsed.
Once.
Brianna turned her eyes toward the mark.
The dark edge contracted.
Then expanded again.
A black streak escaped from one of its ends.
Slowly slid across the skin...
Reached the collarbone...
And continued forward.
Another appeared.
Then a third.
Thin.
Irregular.
Brianna discreetly moved her fingers.
The green filaments drew taut.
The half-moon pulsed again.
Thum.
The surface of the mark rippled.
Something detached itself from it.
A black filament rose above Éreon's shoulder.
Narrow.
Almost as thin as a strand of hair.
Its tip curved in the air.
Moved slowly...
As if recognizing the space around it.
Brianna remained motionless.
The black filament found one of the green lines.
Touched it.
For an instant...
The two remained joined.
Then the black coiled around it.
One turn.
Then another.
The green glow wavered between the spirals.
Brianna slightly opened her fingers.
The line began to retract.
The black filament contracted.
The green line trembled between its spirals.
Its glow diminished.
First at the point where the two touched.
Then...
Along its entire length.
The light disappeared inch by inch.
Until nothing remained between Brianna's fingers and Éreon's body.
A tremor ran through her wrist.
Her eyes remained on the mark.
The half-moon pulsed again.
Thum.
More filaments detached themselves from its surface.
One.
Two.
Three.
They rose over Éreon's body.
Their tips snaked through the air.
Slow.
Irregular.
One of them found another green filament.
Coiled around it.
The second did the same.
Soon...
The glow of the lines began to waver across the entire bed.
Brianna turned her wrist.
The green filaments tried to detach themselves from Éreon's body.
The black ones contracted around them.
For an instant...
The two forces remained taut.
Then...
One of the green lines snapped.
Tsssk!
Its light dissolved in the air.
Brianna stepped back.
The black filaments stirred.
The slow movement disappeared.
One of the lines crossed the space above the bed.
Another struck the sheet.
The third hit the wood.
Thack!
A black stain appeared at the point of contact.
Spread along the side of the bed.
The fibers of the wood darkened.
The grain disappeared beneath the black.
Brianna opened both hands.
"Phasmatos..."
New green filaments slid from beneath her sleeves.
Ran along her arms...
Coiled around her wrists...
And detached themselves.
"Vincula naturae."
The lines crossed the cabin.
Crossed over the bed.
One over the other.
Little by little...
A green web formed around Éreon.
Closed over him.
The black filaments slammed against the containment.
Thum!
The web bent.
Brianna's fingers trembled.
Another blow struck it.
Thum!
Her feet slid across the floor.
The green filaments stretched between her fingers.
Brianna steadied her stance.
The web regained its shape.
For an instant...
Everything remained contained.
Then one of the black lines coiled around the barrier.
The green wavered beneath it.
Another appeared beside it.
Then another.
They spread across the web...
Wrapping around every crossing...
Consuming the light between the lines.
Brianna watched the black advance.
Her fingers closed.
The barrier contracted around the bed.
The black filaments struck it again.
Thum!
Thum!
THUM!
The cabin shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The planks creaked around them.
Creeeak...
One of the filaments escaped through an opening in the web.
Whipped through the air.
Telvaris leaned his body backward.
The line passed before his face...
And struck the wall.
THACK!
The wood darkened immediately.
The stain spread across the planks.
Climbed toward the ceiling...
Descended to the floor...
And swallowed one of the gaps.
The beam of light passing through the wall disappeared.
Brianna turned her face.
For the first time...
Her serenity broke.
"Karna! Telvaris! Get out!"
Telvaris moved at once.
Karna remained motionless.
"Brianna..."
She cast him a sidelong glance.
Her white irises met his light-brown eyes.
A green crack ran through the web.
Crack!
The black filaments compressed against the containment.
Brianna extended her arms.
The green lines began to glow once more.
"Now!"
Karna held her gaze for another moment.
Then turned.
Telvaris reached the bedroom door.
Pulled it open.
Crossed through the passage.
Karna followed him.
The two men's footsteps traveled down the corridor.
Creeeak!
The outer door opened.
Light crossed the interior of the cabin.
The wind traveled through the corridor...
Invaded the room...
Lifted Brianna's hair...
And stirred the filaments around the bed.
Another impact struck the containment.
THUM!
Part of the web broke.
The green filaments dissolved into tiny particles of light.
The black lines crossed through the opening.
Struck the floor.
The planks darkened beneath Brianna's feet.
The black spread in every direction.
Climbed up the legs of the bed.
Reached the walls.
The gaps disappeared one after another.
The light abandoned the interior of the cabin.
Brianna separated her hands.
The remaining green filaments followed the movement.
Stretched.
Tried to close the opening.
A black line wrapped around the first.
Another reached the second.
The green disappeared between them.
Brianna's fingers contracted.
A black filament crossed through the barrier.
Then another.
They whipped through the air around her body.
One passed close to her shoulder.
The tips of her hair darkened upon contact.
Brianna did not take her eyes off Éreon.
His body remained motionless upon the bed.
Motionless.
At the center of the darkness...
The half-moon continued to pulse.
Thum.
The last part of the containment gave way.
CRACK!
The black filaments advanced.
Brianna brought two fingers together before her chest.
"Transire."
A green glow appeared beneath her feet.
Rose around her body.
The black filaments closed over her.
Brianna disappeared.
The darkness became complete.