While Arion's last words were still echoing in the cold air of the cave, the torch suddenly went out. It wasn't a gust of wind, nor a lack of firewood. It was as if the burden of confession itself had choked the light, leaving darkness to envelop them like a shroud.
In that utter darkness, Evelyn sat witness to the collapse of the man before her. She saw how his disclosure of his truth – with that terrifying simplicity – was like pouring a bucket of cold water onto the embers of his soul. It had extinguished the fire in his heart momentarily, and with it, the real fire in the cave.
They both sat in silence, the cold, damp air carrying the scent of earth and lingering questions. Then, as if responding to an internal call, she began to hear the rustling of his hands searching for the stones in the dark.
A click of stone against stone. Then a spark. Small. Fleeting. Then another. And another.
And in the cave's darkness, Evelyn realized the terrifying truth: he wasn't trying to light a fire to illuminate the darkness; he was shedding light on his guilt. As if he was saying: Look, this is what I am. Look at the monster.
He was rekindling the fire, even though he knew it would burn him before it warmed him.
With patience, with determination, as if he were rebuilding his world from scratch after every collapse. The spark became a small flame. The small flame became a fire, feeling its way. And the fire became a torch crawling over the firewood, bringing life back to the cave.
"You... aren't lying," she whispered, her eyes unable to leave his face.
He shrugged his shoulders, that hint of sarcasm returning to his voice, but this time it was weaker, like a worn-out mask. "When your hands freeze, even cold water feels warm."
In his eyes, Evelyn saw the truth: he was talking about himself. About that bitter cold that had settled in his soul, until his confession of atrocities became just an ordinary fact, like cold water that feels warm to one freezing in hell.
The fire was now blazing between them, illuminating their faces and wounds. And it was clear that this fire wouldn't warm anyone; it would only reveal how deep the snow was within him.
After the fire settled between them, Evelyn closed her mouth, noticing how Arion had withdrawn into himself, his eyes fixed on the flickering flame as if reading countless secrets within its folds. This was the first time she had seen him so silent since their conversation began, as if the last confession had exhausted all his words.
Then she smiled softly.
"You don't look as scary as you portray yourself."
She chuckled gently, "You even surpassed me! You have a friend... and let me tell you something: monsters don't get friends. By the way, what's the name of this friend of yours?"
The echo of her voice mingled with the crackling of the fire. Arion didn't lift his eyes from the flame, but his lips moved with a faint whisper:
"Jacob."
"Will you tell me about him?"
"Ah... there isn't much to tell."
Moments of silence passed during which Evelyn thought he wouldn't answer, then he began to speak, a fragile smile forming on his lips as he stared into the fire:
"He was a foolish boy who pretended to be brave, even though he was the most scared person; he was annoying... wouldn't leave you alone even if you asked him to. And sometimes he was so rude it left me speechless."
"He was so stubborn... for refusing to leave even though he knew he would die if he stayed with me. He was like an annoying younger brother, even though we were the same age."
Evelyn looked at his smile, which hid a world of pain.
"He must have loved you very much."
Arion laughed sarcastically, glancing towards a dark corner of the cave, where it seemed like two angry eyes were staring at him.
"Believe me... now he doesn't."
Then he turned his face towards her, "And now, let's leave him be for a while."
He looked at her scrutinizingly, his eyes studying the minutest details of her reactions.
"You mentioned before that this lake was a place of prayer for the Moon-Touched or lunar races, as you called them. As I recall, those races were the Elves, Vampires, and Lycans, if I remember correctly. And given the nature of this place, I deduce it belongs to the Elves."
"But I heard the Elves were wiped out about thirteen years ago."
"Which leads me to ask... why are there spell remnants on your face? Did you change your form?"
Evelyn's hand trembled slightly. How did he notice this?
"That's... not that simple."
Then she smiled, trying to mask her confusion, "Ah, this... I made some modifications because there are people who want me dead."
She looked at him to find him shaking his head calmly.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to. That just piqued my curiosity... but I'm not really interested."
In the silence of the cave, as the fire continued to burn, Evelyn realized that this broken man saw far more than he let on. And this frightened her more than anything else she had feared.
---
After that heavy moment, Evelyn tried to steer the conversation away from her identity. She touched her stomach, smiling, and said gently, "I'm hungry... Will you share some food with me?"
Arion's eyes flickered for a moment, then his deep gaze turned towards the dark corner where Jacob's shadow stood. In his eyes appeared that hidden conflict she had grown accustomed to seeing – as if he was exchanging a silent conversation with the ghost, pleading for something or apologizing.
"I'm not hungry," his reply was dry and sharp, but Evelyn detected a faint hesitation in his tone.
Evelyn insisted, her tone carrying genuine worry this time: "But you look like you haven't eaten for months. Your bones are showing under your skin... You must eat something... Come, let's eat together."
Silence stretched between them, a silence filled with that hidden conversation taking place between Arion and his ghost. Then Arion suddenly stood up and headed towards the cave entrance, where faint daylight seeped through, casting golden shadows on the cave floor.
Evelyn thought he was leaving angrily, so she leaned forward slightly and said in a voice as soft as the evening breeze, "You don't have to leave if you don't want to eat..."
Arion suddenly turned around, the faint light behind him forming a ghostly halo around him. His gaze held clear annoyance, but there was something else – perhaps a hidden concern: "I'm not going to cook the food... but I will hunt something. Eating by the lake shore will be much better than in this gloomy cave."
Evelyn noticed how his gaze repeatedly drifted to that empty dark corner, as if exchanging a silent dialogue with a ghost only his eyes could see. At that moment, she heard the rustle of tree leaves from outside the cave, and the distant murmur of water, giving the scene a vivid and contradictory atmosphere.
She asked him with curiosity mixed with worry: "Are you looking at something?" She turned her head towards the same corner, trying hard to see what he saw.
"Nothing... It's Jacob." He said it with a complex expression, mixing honesty and self-mockery. "He's a little angry, but it's fine... I'll give him a share of the food."
Evelyn fell silent, staring at him as he turned and left the cave. She stood watching his shadow recede, then turned her face once more towards the empty corner. A deep contemplation appeared in her eyes, and she began to wonder: Was this just a psychological disorder? Or was there another truth hiding behind this hallucination? Perhaps Jacob was more than just a ghost – perhaps he was part of a larger, still obscure game.
---
With slow, deliberate steps, Arion walked deep into the jungle, lost in his thoughts. He didn't need to turn towards the beasts trying to approach. All it took was a faint flash of anger in his eyes, and a hidden electrical charge would shoot out, electrocuting the creatures and throwing them far into the forest. It was as if there was an impenetrable barrier around him that killed anything daring enough to approach him.
He acted as if he were walking in his own private garden, not in a gloomy forest infested with deadly creatures.
Minutes passed and turned into hours. Evelyn, who had prepared a tidy spot by the lake and lit a small fire, felt anxiety creeping into her heart. She looked at the sky where the sun was starting to set. "What kind of hunt takes this long?" she whispered to herself.
She knew she was one of the best hunters in her world, and that no one could disappear from the likes of her, despite none of those said hunters remaining. But something told her he wouldn't run away. Maybe because he simply... didn't care enough to run.
"I'll wait until sunset," she decided in a quiet voice. "If he doesn't return, I'll find him and teach him an unforgettable lesson about making a woman wait for him."
Meanwhile, Arion had gone far away. He looked at his gaunt hands, then at the surrounding forest, and a wave of anger at himself swept over him. "Why do I always do this? Why am I always this weak?" he whispered in a hoarse voice.
With lightning speed, he struck the trunk of a massive tree with his fist. It wasn't an ordinary blow, but a wave of energy that shot from his hands, shattering the tree into flying splinters. Then he stopped, breathing heavily.
"I need to explain my delay," he said to himself and closed his eyes. He spread his etheric senses, letting the energy flow from him to sense everything in the surrounding area.
As the last threads of sunlight faded, Evelyn stood squinting at the jungle with narrowed eyes. She was determined to carry out her threat. But suddenly...
The ground beneath her feet vibrated slightly. Then a large shadow began approaching from among the trees. It was a massive beast being dragged along the ground, with terrifying horns and red eyes. But even more astonishing was the slender figure pulling it by one of its horns.
Arion. With his gaunt hand that seemed incapable of holding anything, he was gripping the gigantic beast as if it were a small doll.
He stood before her, waving the massive beast like an ordinary hunting trophy. The fake, condescending smile had returned to his face, but this time there was a genuine flash of challenge in his eyes.
"I told you I'm stronger than I look."
Evelyn couldn't hide her astonishment. She looked from the massive beast to the slender man, then back to the beast. In her eyes, something began to change – it wasn't just surprise, but the beginning of a real understanding of the man standing before her.