According to the legends, in ancient times there were countless stars in the boundless sky. Which only appeared when the radiant light of the forgiving Sun had retreated back into the abyss.
The stars felt inferior and envied the Sun because it was one of their kind after all.
Only it burned more, to shine brighter, enough to outshine the rest of them. Then one day, the Sun vanished suddenly, leaving behind nothing but a dreadful eternal night.
Many of the stars tried to become the new Sun, tried burning more to take its place.
However, their radiance was never enough. Some lost their shine along the way, some perished trying and some tapped out early from the race.
This desperate attempt to conquer the night made them realize how really inferior they were. Their existence was insignificant, their attempts …useless.
However, none of them regretted conspiring against the former Sun. Regardless the consequences of eternal night they were satisfied. True, now the sky was shared with many of them but also there was a place for all of them in the new universe built upon the ashes of the sun.
As for the conspiracy, they were all at fault, which meant …no one really was.
Lands below lost their light, preserver and …life all at once. So did the vegetation populating it. Every creature that needed even a glint of sunlight to survive, died. In their stead, born from the darkness, creatures of the night began populating the region.
That was how the saint described the history of that terrifying place. August for once, hesitated to continue with the journey when those same creatures roamed the lands in search of prey or maybe just entertainment.
However, the maidens, regardless of knowing what awaited them inside the dreadful place, agreed to the saint's request without a second thought. Perhaps it was the trust they shared with each other or maybe it was just stupid.
But this arrangement worked just fine for August, he did not have much time to spare anyway. Even though the danger was huge, his conviction to return home quickly was stronger.
Just like that, their journey continued. The wind blew faster, sails rose high. The five carriages had crossed the boundary and had entered into the territory of the night.
Everyone was in alert mode.
Danger could come from any direction. Starry sky illuminated the night only their light was unable to reach the blessed lands. Darkness fell everywhere consuming everything in every direction.
The lanterns placed on the fast moving carriages were able to penetrate the thick darkness that too in a very small area. Only a fraction of the path ahead was visible.
Not too long after, a terrifying scream was to be heard from somewhere within the forest. They were all at the mercy of that strange creature if it decided to attack them or not.
Fortunately nothing happened, the carriages continued to move with constant speed. Even though various terrifying screeches and screams were to be heard nothing had attacked the armada till now.
The mood inside the carriages was tense and was growing more and more as the time passed. There was no guarantee what would happen if they set up a camp to rest here therefore they had to continue moving forward without stopping even for days, if they had to.
In the very next moment the ground shook with a sudden disturbance. Then another and another after that.
The armada of carriages suddenly came to a halt. It seemed like something had finally appeared. August within the carriage closed his eyes, spreading his senses wide.
There it was, a fraction of sudden movements which could have been missed by him if he had not trained his senses to this extent. The maidens immediately engaged in a fight with the creatures of the darkness.
They were a group maybe, or a single creature. It was hard to see the surroundings even, more like the creatures dwelling in the darkness. Crescents of wind flew in the air, severing something in the darkness.
Warrior Miles was already on the battlefield, stumbling on his novice moves.
A cacophony of the dangerous battle rang everywhere.
"Oh… god I've led my sisters straight into death's maw"
The saint after a while also engaged in battle. Since she could not fight in a straightforward way , she still was the most powerful mage among them.
Saint Aireen flicked her wrist, at the same time an enormous presence seemed to have been thrown away. She concentrated the wind under pressure and launched it towards the creature or its swarm into the darkness.
The presence seemed to have shifted once again, changing its position. A wave of unseen creatures was approaching from another direction.
The wind concentrated around the maidens and their weapon seems to have materialised from it. Or maybe they were just being stored in a separate space that decided to unfold just now.
Spears, swords and shields, everyone grabbed their weapon and lunged into darkness. The horrifying screams intensified even more. Only the carriages stayed unharmed by the creatures of darkness till now. Possibly because of the lanterns.
August had not still decided to join the fight.
'Not yet'
A presence which was too huge to be ignored suddenly moved in the other direction from where the maidens were fighting the swarm of darkness. The saint, as soon as she felt it approaching, she turned towards it and using her absolute control over the winds she made the gentle breeze turn into a violent storm.
Wind clashed against wind causing a butterfly effect to take place and thus forming a giant storm out of a gentle but perfectly timed breeze.
A tornado seems to have taken shape deep within the darkness containing the anomaly within itself. The beast tried to move, it's vigorous attempts to break out of the storm prison sending waves of shock across the ground.
But it was proven very difficult for the beast to break free.
The saint knew waiting too long here would certainly mean death so the journey had to continue. For that they needed to get rid of at least one side of the monstrosities. From the looks of it however, the situation seemed more difficult.
Suddenly the maidens guarding from the rear sensed another abomination and it seemed a lot more dangerous than the rest of them. The reason for it was that the creature in the back was able to see. They sensed a vile gaze lingering on them making their skin crawl.
One of the maidens fell on the ground vomiting blood, the rest of them shivered as the creature slowly approached them. A shapeless form, born of the darkness looked at the armada from a towering height.
It took a while for maidens to compose themselves, as soon as they did in the next moment they were already upon the dark creature.
Now, when they were completely surrounded with the swarm of darkness from one side, an unknown beast of the darkness from the other and a formless creature from the rear which by far seemed the most dangerous of them.
And it really was.
The towering form did not pay any mind to the maidens attacking it, the creature however, suddenly moved with unimaginable speed towards the swarm of darkness.
Suddenly the screams coming from the direction stopped. The maidens who were busy fighting the swarm retreated.
"What? What is happening?" the saint asked while enduring the strain from the spell she was using to contain the creature on the other side.
"We …don't …don't know" one of the maidens replied with confusion and fear clearly to be seen on her face under the pale light of lanterns.
Then the towering figure moved again, this time it was towards the beast the saint was containing with her spell. The spell formed by the saint which had brought a storm, came undone. The surroundings grew eerily calm.
Saint instructed everyone to be alerted. Warrior miles who was now covered with dirt from head to toe was also to be seen among the maidens trying his best to protect the armada.
"Where did it go?"
"Stay alert!"
"It can attack from any direction"
The mood grew tense not because there was a dangerous creature ready to attack, but because there was no one to be sensed, only darkness was all that remained.
A moment passed no one attacked , then another and another but no one attacked.
"We should leave saintess"
"Its our chance"
However, the saint was reluctant to leave just yet but even after waiting for at least an hour there, no one attacked the armada. Now, the mood was easing a bit. There was unspoken tension in the surroundings.
Surprisingly the saint asked for maidens to set up a camp on the spot. While the decision was unexpected no one questioned the saint.
A day passed then another and another.
It took some days for the tension to slowly ease and the mood to lighten a bit. At this whole time, no one had seen August leaving the carriage though. Which stirred quite a turmoil among the maidens. Considering he did not join the last fight also.
"Has anyone seen our new warrior on the battlefield?" The maiden named Elina poked fun, "Maybe he's too afraid to come out" she clicked her tongue, "It's preposterous that the saint thinks he can help us cross the Valley."
"Yeah I wonder that too," another maiden replied.
"Isn't he just a coward?"
"I don't think he has the guts to face even a lesser creature."
With that everyone followed suit.
"You're wrong," warrior Miles said unexpectedly, "you are all so wrong."
"Excuse me?" someone said.
"What did you say?"
"Look who's talking"
"So you are now on his side?"
"No it's not like that" the youth replied,
"I know warrior Augustus is someone we don't know much about. It's not like I know him enough to trust him either but if there's someone here I trust with my life, it is Saint Aireen. She chose warrior Augustus to help us cross the Valley and I trust her judgement. We all know the task assigned to him is the most important part of our journey and the most dangerous as well. He had already agreed despite knowing the danger. So, I think it's rude to ask for any more of him."
Suddenly the maidens went silent. The words of warrior Miles were nothing but truth. They all understood that.
"You hear that?" back inside the saint's carriage August sat with his eyes closed before the saint herself. He was trying to find something out until now. And his search was about to end, "they are beginning to trust you."
August did not respond for a while and then spoke only words, "they're here. You know what to do."
Far in the forest some of the lights of lanterns shone with indignant light trying to penetrate the darkness of the night. Maidens of the night seemed to be approaching them again.
"Saintess of the wind" the night maiden said, "we are here to escort you all to the night manor as our guests. Please come with us."
The saint remained silent and did not reply. The saintess for a long moment fell into deep thoughts.
"Saintess, what are you thinking about? It is our best option for survival" one of the maidens suddenly spoke.
The rest of the maidens looked at each other with no idea of what to do or to say. Honestly they didn't had to do anything, the saint was the one to take decisions afterall.
August who was secretly observing the situation stepped forward and grabbed the maiden who had spoken by her throat.
"What are you doing?"
"What's the meaning of this?"
"Don't make me kill you"
All of a sudden every one of the maidens had their weapons pointed at August who was standing there holding the throat of one of their sisters between his fingers.
The maiden began to cough, "what? Why? ….un …hand me" her tone grew somber as her eyes began tearing up, "help me sisters. Kill this wretched boy."
All maidens were now glaring at him with murderous intent, ready to attack at any moment.
"Warrior Augustus" Miles asked, confusion clearly written on his face, "what is the meaning of this? explain yourself."
Meanwhile, August only tightened his grip around her throat causing her to suffocate, her volume getting lower, "help… my sisters."
"Enough" the saint suddenly said, "kill her now."
Every maiden looked at the saint with wide eyes, they were unable to understand what to make of this situation.
"...but saintess, how could you?" the maiden Elina spoke, "she's our sister. She's one of us."
"No, she's not" this time it was August who spoken, he turned to her,
"Isn't that right? Monster"
Suddenly the maiden stopped crying for help no matter how strong his grip was, her expressions changed. Both corners of her lips curled upwards in a devious smile and she spoke as though not knowing how to speak anymore,
"Help me sisters …saint …help …sisters"
The darkness began to surge around her and suddenly she wasn't in his grasp anymore. She wasn't even alive. The real maiden had died a while ago when that huge creature of the night had suddenly decided to expose its presence.
Without anyone noticing it was able to kill one of the maidens and replicate her form just as clearly. The reason no one attacked them until now was because the monster was already hiding between them wearing the skin of a human.
Pretending to be one of them.
Unfortunately for the creature it wasn't able to hide itself from August' sharp senses. And when it is finally caught, it has nothing to hide anymore.
August felt the darkness around him surging and taking shape.
Suddenly, maidens of the night were charging at him.
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