…
Sometime earlier
"Stop!" Mariah heard a roar, "I said stop!" She stopped breathing at the desperation in his voice.
'Peter! Please be safe.' Her legs sped up to reach the stairs. Her eyes begged to look upon her child, to ensure he was okay. Before she could cross half the distance, Something vast and invisible slammed upon her shoulders. She stumbled, barely able to stay upright. A grimace twisted her face as her tendons protested.
With her steps uneven, she leaned against the wall and slid down. Looking straight ahead, she witnessed more than a dozen kobolds trembling on the stairs, lying on their bellies. A grunt escaped her lips, her frantic eyes unable to locate her son. Breathing required considerable effort.
'What is this? What is doing this?' Blood rose upwards, making her vision spin, reddening her cheeks. Her lips parted again, tongue moved, yet her throat failed to produce any sound. Mariah felt her heart quicken, trying to escape her chest.
Her head hurt, her soul creaked, and the world blurred around her. It was oppressive, suffocating, but still bearable despite the ache she felt deep within her being. The kobolds were writhing, crushed under the weight. She was just an unwilling casualty, faring much better.
Even as kobolds crawled away, Mariah stood frozen. The air stayed thick, but her lungs no longer fought it. Unlike before, the invisible vastness acted with purpose. Mariah groaned, standing up. As she reached the stairs, Mariah leaned sideways to look below, witnessing the cause of her recent misery. It was her son.
Peter stared ahead. A palpable aura surrounded his body, his face twisted in hatred as he looked at the kobolds outside Mariah's sight. Mariah grasped, beholding her son's shadow expand ahead. From it, a being – an abomination rose, standing before him. Mariah felt her spine tingle, goosebumps under her skin. A terror like never before assaulted her mind.
'Peter! No- Don't just stand there. Run- please run away,' Mariah begged, falling to her knees again as tears streamed down her cheeks. Mariah scratched her limbs, feeling bugs crawl under her skin. This being, its very presence felt unnatural to her, like it shouldn't exist. Mariah felt tormented, her eyes feasting on the corrupted being that went against the very fabric of the world.
Mariah wanted to crawl away, but her son was locked into a staring contest with the eldritch horror. Peter wobbled when the abomination tried to control him. Mariah's breath hitched as it spread its evil aura toward Peter.
Both clashed, the discernible aura around Peter spreading outward to grind against the abomination's foulness. Mariah was caught in the middle. The tangible aura around Peter didn't falter. It advanced swiftly, resisting corruption with overwhelming strength, but Mariah's soul and mind did not. Barely a candle compared to the abomination's campfire and Peter's inferno soul.
As the palpable aura spread to fight against the eldritch spirit's pollution, it covered Mariah's already fragile soul from irreplaceable harm. Her soul might have been protected from the worst, but her mind was unprotected. She lacked mental defences like Peter. Her eyes rolled back as it fractured and relapsed. With a thud, her head hit the floor.
…
Peter's gaze stopped at each skill, noting the increase in levels before it found a new section just under the skills. One reserved for contracted summons.
'It was not the time or the place to investigate it further,' he decided, vowing to check it later before rushing to check up on his mother. As he walked toward the house, he noticed the unusual quiet that had replaced all the noise from the night. A glance upwards revealed a reddish hue dominating the eastern sky, a phenomenon occurring just before sunrise. Crossing the threshold of the house, he made his way toward the stairs. "Mom! We're fine now. You can come out," Peter called out softly, his tone gentle and caring as he climbed the steps.
Very soon, he saw Mariah slumped on the floor, her head tilted sideways against the wall. With her eyes closed, saliva dripping from the corner of her lips, she remained unresponsive. Concerned – no, alarmed about her condition, Peter hurried up the stairs, skipping steps in his rush.
Reaching her side, he sat down. A deep frown settled on his face as he shook her lightly. "Mom…" he whispered, carefully pulling her head onto his lap. Mariah stirred at his touch. Slowly, her eyes opened and settled on him, and in their hollow, empty look, there was still a faint trace of recognition.
Recognition turned into fear, twisting her face in anguish. Clutching his clothes, she started to shiver. Peter slowly strokes her back, whispering assurances to calm her down. At first, Peter thought she was just frightened, likely shaken from the night's events. But she kept clinging to him, crying harder. Listening to her hysterical whispers over and over between sobs, Peter felt a cold pit of worry settle in his stomach.
Peter's breath hitched, a knot tightening painfully in the middle of his chest, 'What happened to her? Just now…She was fine just a moment ago. Why?' Tears threatened to blur his vision.
"Mom…?" he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper, searching her face for any sign of clarity. His presence had some effect on her. She calmed down enough to stop bawling her eyes out, but she still wouldn't respond to him properly. Her hollow eyes stared past him. Unfocused. Lost. A sense of helplessness crept up his spine, tightening that knot in his chest even further.
Without wasting another second, Peter activated Inspect, desperate to understand what was wrong with her.