"I never knew there was such a price to pay for appearing before the Third Presence."
"I can sense your presence. Come forth."
The mysterious figure phased through the door moments later, without opening it. A decorative black silk gown fell from their shoulders in uninterrupted lines, the high collar of the gown meeting a fine veiled mesh that concealed their face. The mesh stretched from beneath a lacquered wide-brim hat, settling atop their head. Their hands were sheathed in black leather gloves, and polished heeled boots covered their legs. A golden signet ring with intricate grooves worn on their left caught the dim light of the room. With each step they took, the dark-headed cane in their right hand guided them, deliberate and elegant. Silas had done well to clear the space of any ritual traces, yet the speckles of blood remained, still wet on the floorboards soaked with his crimson fluid.
Hearing who had just spoken, he was suddenly shaken with fear. He resolutely deactivated his fifth Veil power, Shadow Merge, and walked out of the shadows. He was trembling slightly, beads of sweat forming along his forehead.
"Lord C… Cor… Corvane," he muttered, bowing his head, and his eyes wide with a mix of confusion and fear. 'Corvane. Why is he here? And why is he putting on the ring...'
Corvane, known as the Third Presence by members of the Highmen branch, seemed to carry an invisible weight beyond measure. He was a high-tier Unveiled who was extremely distant with a seemingly calm demeanor, yet his mysterious appearance always gave off a scary sense of malevolence. Which, of course, made him dreadfully unpredictable.
With the supernatural strength of an Unveiled of the seventh Veil, Silas could not withstand the oppressive aura pressing upon him.... and this aura he was feeling signaled doom whenever the Third Presence appeared unexpectedly in this manner. It meant that Corvane had chosen to interfere this time. He had not truly committed a grave offense though—the rules of the Highmen forbade rituals unvetted by the leaders, and he had violated them. Which meant that inevitable punishment awaited him, whether a grave trespass or not.
Corvane suddenly vanished and reappeared next to Silas, closing their gloved hand around him, and lifting him by the neck without any apparent force. Their voice was measured and authoritative.
"Pray tell, Silas, what were you attempting?" Silas... was shocked at the great speed! He shouldn't be, given that he was before a high-tier being. Yet, he couldn't help but be—
"Arh—" Silas choked as Corvane's grip tightened more on his bruising neck.
"Did you think hiding behind your office and influence in the Trade Authority would shield you from the laws you know so well? You joined this society for a single purpose. To seek power. Yet, you violated its ordinances, believing none would perceive your secret deeds." Corvane spoke with impassive precision, his voice phasing through Silas' mind. "You have overstepped. Not merely because you carried out an unvetted ritual, but because you underestimated the surveillance of the Highmen, even the Three Presences. Have you no fear of anyone?" The next moment, Silas felt the atmosphere deepen its pressing force as Corvane continued, "Even me?"
Releasing his grip, Corvane let Silas fall to the floor. He hit the wooden floorboards heavily, pain and fear overtaking his whole body. He crouched and shivered, his voice strained and ragged as he begged for forgiveness. "I'll make amends, Lord... Pls grant me forgiveness... I... I can atone for my sins later." Corvane's unyielding gaze remained fixed upon him, unmoved.
"Finish what you have begun," Corvane said finally. "Before the next Vaelis month."
Corvane turned and walked to the wall, passing through it as though no barrier existed. The room feel back into quiet, left with the domineering presence of Corvane's aura in his wake. Silas was left trembling even after the Third Presence had gone. Yet he still spoke.
"The person I attempted to Burden is not an ordinary being." Silas spoke tentatively. Moments later, Corvane returned back, phasing through the wall again. The atmosphere of the room was succumbing to his presence once more.
"You have been careless, wretch. You attempted your Burdening on an Unveiled," Corvane said, his tone pressing, betraying his rising anger. Silas could sense his anger, and so he dared not speak. He was merely a seventh-tier Unveiled with limited access to the Vault of Refusal. He had no authority to counter Corvane's judgment. Given their mysterious existence that no one knew of their gender, Silas was once intrigued enough to decipher a little about the powers of Corvane. The Third Presence could remove a living heart without tearing the skin. The Three Presences were ever so unpredictable, capable of striking at any moment.
Silas whispered, his voice low and tentative, "I'm afraid the… the person is a commoner. Yet… something obstructed the ritual. It almost took my life." He looked up with evident fear. "I must complete the ritual… or I will… I will go wild. I have begun it and must finish."
Corvane laughed in an elegant and sinister manner, shaking his head slightly. The sound echoed across the room like a devil's scorn. "A commoner with an 'invisible force'? Nonsense. No power rivals the Continuance in magnitude. Only the Midnight Reliquary could contend with us, within Kargoth. If he is not a member of the Interveners, then to who does he belong?"
"Honestly Lord, I am dazed at this. The relic items, I—"
"Speak not, Silas. I saw the ritual. I witnessed all."
Silas stiffened, suddenly uncomfortable—He shouldn't have been surprised however—. 'He had… been watching the entire time? How many did he know?'
Silas lowered his head, his voice barely above a whisper, "I—I did not anticipate… the presence of such power. The Burdening… it resisted me. I feared for my life." His hands trembled as he clutched at the floorboards, the crimson speckles staining his gloves. "I must complete the ritual… or the effect will consume me. I don't want to die"
Corvane's gaze bore into him deliberately. The room seemed to shrink more again under Corvane's scrutiny. After a long pause, Corvane spoke, voice brimming with menace.
"Power is not wielded through recklessness, Silas. You toyed with forces you cannot fathom. Do you understand the consequences of your actions?"
Silas nodded frantically, fear pressing at every corner of his mind. "Y… Yes, Lord Corvane. I understand. I... I shall correct my error."
Corvane's lips curled into a faint and almost imperceptible smile. "Correction is not sufficient. You will finish what you began, and you will do so with precision. Every step must align with the laws of the Highmen. Failure… is not an option."
A tense silence followed, broken only by the subtle scrape of Corvane's polished boots against the wooden floor as he circled Silas. Silas felt as though the very air had thickened, pressing against his lungs and tightening around his chest.
"You comprehend nothing of subtlety," Corvane continued, stopping right in front of him. "Yet you dared initiate a Burdening upon an Unveiled. You are fortunate that the Third Presence favors restraint from punishment today."
Silas could only swallow as his voice got caught in his throat. He knew he was entirely at Corvane's mercy, every heartbeat echoing the weight of the silent room.
However, why would the Third Presence suddenly grant him a pardon? Silas was stunned by this. He suddenly realized that Corvane might have wanted something from him in return. But what? Had Corvane not always seemed so mysterious and powerful that no one even knew what he — or she — looked like? The same was true for the other two. They were so mysterious that no one knew their appearances. Silas had only met with Corvane, and his mesh veil had never once lifted, not even by accident. Silas realized he could not understand the situation, so he simply waited for Corvane to speak again.
Silas raised his head slightly, though his face was still directed towards the floor. The atmosphere remained overbearing. He could no longer move his body the way he wished. The pressure pressing on him was only growing stronger.
'I never knew there was such a price to pay for appearing before the Third Presence,' Silas thought amidst the struggle.
"However," Corvane continued, which made Silas tense up even more. This was the moment he had been anticipating. At least he knew that whenever Corvane wanted something, it would be asked directly, even if Corvane possessed the power to simply take it. Silas wondered what Corvane would demand of him next.
"There is a mysterious figure who appeared in the Principal Kargoth Market two Vaelis months ago. He began as a merchant dealing in some common trade goods. As time passed, he gained a reputation for his fair prices and the cordial relationships he maintained with fellow traders. On the first day of the second Myrr phase each month, he would occasionally drink with his companions at a barshop in celebration of the Church's Monthly Festival. Yet when I observed him more closely, something about him proved… unusual."
The room fell abruptly silent, and the tension in the air thickened—for Silas alone, of course.
[Note: Haha]
However, Corvane continued.
"It struck me instantly that I needed to kill him. Unfortunately, I am currently in a remote location and cannot complete the task myself."
"Huh?" Silas jerked his head up, his eyes widening. "L–Lord, what do you mean? Can you split yourself in two? I never knew you had unveiled so high…"
'Well, it is not that he is incapable of such power. But based on my previous assumptions about his—or her—Archetype, Lord Corvane should not possess such an ability… What is going on?' These thoughts flashed through Silas's mind as he struggled to comprehend what the Third Presence had just said.
Corvane slowly turned their veiled face toward Silas, appearing indifferent. Yet Silas could swear the atmosphere had grown even more oppressive.
Then, without warning, the figure of Corvane standing before him dissolved into a spiraling mass of dark mist. Startled, Silas instinctively Shadow Stepped and emerged from the shadows where his back nearly struck the wall.
His eyes widened.
"What… Lord, that was not you the whole time?"
The spiraling mist gradually shifted in color, dark green spreading through it as it continued to coil in place. Slowly, it began to take shape.
Moments later, a ghostly green arrow hung in the air before him.
Silas muttered again, his voice trembling.
"Wh… what manner of trickery is this? Is this Lord Corvane's Archetype?"
The arrow ignored his questions entirely.
"Anvil," the voice said calmly. "That is his name. He was jilted and now works as a labourer. Find him and kill him by tomorrow, and I will exempt your punishment."
"Wh..wh.."
Silas suddenly felt as though he could die on the spot!