(Eve Solaris POV)
“Hey! Hey mom, watch it! Are you trying to cut my ear off?!?” I yelled, clutching my ear in pain.
“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing… Kinda.”
“Kinda?!” I looked at my mom through the reflection artifact, raising an eyebrow in sudden concern for my hair’s wellbeing.
“Relax, birthday girl,” My mom chided with a chuckle, “I’m only joking. I couldn’t possibly ruin my daughter’s special day with a haircut accident,” she said with a mischievous grin that made me gulp silently in fear.
“Speaking of which, I heard some interesting things the other day during the village gathering. Something about a certain someone holding hands with another someone while they were leaving the Solstice,” she said with the most shit eating grin I had ever seen.
I nearly choked and replied way too quickly, “Oh, is that so? Who could those two mysterious lovebirds be and why were they holding hands?”
“Eve, dear, your ears are bright red.”
“Hey, hey! Pay attention to cutting my hair, not my ears, woman! Don’t want that accident to actually happen.” I said with my face turning red as well.
“Alright, alright.” My mother said with a laugh. She continued to cut my hair in silence for so long, I began to doze off when:
“Finished! What do you think?” She asked me with a hint of pride in her voice.
I turned my head to the left and the right, admiring the delicate trims here and there and the braids of my hair forming a gorgeous crown on my head, falling down to my waist.
“It looks amazing.” I said, feeling the excitement bubble up in the pit of my chest.
“I’m glad you like it.” My mom said with a smile. “Now, why don’t we pick out some nice clothes for you to wear before we head down?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walked down the stairs towards the living room, wearing a simple yet elegant royal blue dress that complimented my waist-long, blonde hair and shaded green eyes.
As I walked through the archway, I heard the chorus of a certain song: “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear, Eve! Happy birthday to you!”.
The sound of a pop followed by colored ribbons of string floated down all around me. The sight of all my friends and family with my mother holding a cake hit me all at once and, for the first time in a long time, a tear began to fall down my cheek.
“Awwww, see, Phelix, I told you the party string would be too much!” Gabi said teasingly as if I was some little kid easily overwhelmed by her feelings.
“Oh, shut it. It’s obviously the cake!” Phelix argued with his trademark idiotic grin.
I wiped the tear away and walked towards the table with a huge smile on my face. Dad had laid the table out and sat in the middle with 2 more chairs directly to both of my sides and a chair at the head and end.
My mom put the cake down and lit the candles one by one. There were 18 total candles; one candle for each year, each bigger than the last, all creating a mini spiral to the middle with the 18th candle being the biggest.
Everyone crowded around me and waited patiently for me to blow the candles out.
“Make sure to make a wish before you blow them out, Eve!” Gabi said.
“Yeah, yeah. Eighteen years of birthdays hasn’t taught me a thing on how they work, miss nun.” I retorted with a roll of my eyes
“Just wanted to remind you, you know, since you’re now old and all.” Gabi quipped.
“Fuck you.” I said with a snicker.
“Eve, language.” My mom said with a glare.
“Sorry mom.”
I closed my eyes and blew out the candles, making the only wish I could think of: ‘for my mana to finally awaken.’
“What did you wish for, Eve?” Cenric asked with a shy smile on his face.
“And wouldn’t you like to know?” I answered, quickly giving him a peck on the cheek.
I watched as he blushed uncontrollably while the others teased him.
“But seriously, guys. Thanks so much for being here today. It means a lot to me.” I added, bowing my head.
“Eve, we are all basically family here. We wouldn’t miss your eighteenth birthday for the world.” Gabi said.
“You’re finally turning into an old woman. Oh, how they grow up so fast!” My dad teased me.
“Not quite yet, I don’t feel as old as you two do at least,” I teased back, as I embraced my family and friends in a warm hug.
“Now, why don’t we get this party started!” I said as I began cutting the cake into smaller pieces.
The table was filled with a variety of home cooked dishes and fruits to different meats and even pastries of every kind.
Everyone filled their plates to the brim and began to indulge in the many flavors waiting for them. Although it wasn’t as extravagant as a noble’s dinner, it tasted like the comfort of home and that’s what truly mattered to me. My family mattered more to me than gold or power and even mana.
The night went on as we sang and danced; we were the life of the night and the life of the party.
Soon, night became day and one by one, we began to head our separate ways. Gabi was the first to turn over and soon followed Zilpa and Phelix. I hugged my friends as they each began on towards their respective roads home. The only one that was left was Cenric.
“Hey, I wanted to give this to you.” Cenric opened a miniature box containing an emerald green stone- a garnet, attached to a silver necklace.
“It’s your birthstone. I also thought it’d look really nice with your eyes and all.”
I was speechless.
“Do you like it?” Cenric asked, worried I might not like it.
“I… I don't know what to say. I love it! ” I said, breaking my trance.
“Really? Can I put it on you?” Cenric said with a look of relief.
“Sure” I turned around and watched as he gently slid the necklace around and over my head, connecting the ends behind my neck.
“Here, look” He said, pulling out a reflection artifact that he must’ve been holding onto for this exact moment. It felt nice to know just how thoughtful and caring he was. It made my heart melt a little.
“It looks amazing… I love it, a lot. I really do. Thank you so much!” I said, giving him one last kiss on the cheek.
“Now head home. It’s late and I need to get ready for my trial.”
“Oh, right, of course. I’ll see you later after your trial, alright?”
“Of course, you owe me a date, remember?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was now time for my trial, a sort-of rite of passage. It was something everyone had to accomplish as soon as they turned eighteen to fully be considered adults.
The rite of passage you’d have to take would depend on your job for the village. Because I was a hunter, mine was to survive a whole night in the forest by myself with little to none materials and resources to start.
I started to grab the things I thought I’d need for my journey. Things like a water pouch, dried meat to eat, my knives, a piece of flint I always carried with me during hunts, and, as I was just about to grab my bow, I heard a knock.
“Who is it?” I asked, looking up from what I was doing.
“It’s your Dad. I have one last gift for you before you head out.” He said from behind the door with noticeable excitement.
“Come in dad.” I answered, raising an eyebrow, ideas swirling in my head as to what the last gift could be.
“I know you’re about to leave, so before you go, I wanted to give you this.” My dad said as he slowly pulled something from behind his back.
“Dad, is that?!” I asked, shocked by what was being held in front of me.
“Yes, Eve, it is. I figured you’re finally ready for this.” He said while smiling at me, holding it out further, beckoning me to take it.
I reached out to take the object of my surprise: a bladed bow. The weapon my dad had used back in his adventurer days. A beautifully crafted bow that could transform into a dual-sided, bladed staff by collapsing the handle to make it easy to use up close and in long range.
“Thank you so much!” I yelled as I jumped into his arms as my body shook.
“Of course, Eve, you’re ready for this. I know I haven’t taught you much about close combat because we’ve always worked on your bow skills, but as soon as you’re back, we'll work on refining those skills as well.” My dad said as he looked down at me with a goofy smile.
“I can’t wait! I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better teacher.” I said before releasing him from my embrace.
“You’re too sweet, Eve, but give yourself some credit. Your talent is natural and definitely not something that can be taught."
"Alright, come on, it’s almost time for you to go. Finish getting ready so you can say goodbye to your mom.” My dad said as he turned around to head downstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around an hour later, I found myself deep in the forest as the sun was starting to set.
I had made a quick, makeshift place to sleep in a tree as I heard a deer rustling through the gas below me.
I felt every fiber in my body grow with excitement at the opportunity to try out my newest gift.
I took deep breaths to calm myself as I slowly drew back the bow string. I could feel just how well crafted this bow was the further I pulled the string back.
The feeling of the smooth grip in my hands, the smooth draw cycle of the bow, the perfect weight distribution; it all felt like a work of art.
My breath steadied and my heartbeat faded into a gentle, rhythmic thump. I was ready to take my shot.
I watched the deer swiftly leap out of its surroundings and towards a grass clearing. It came closer and closer until it stopped at around seventy meters away. I let my one last deep breath out as I released the arrow, feeling no hand shock from the release. Just another show of how perfectly crafted this bow was.
I watched as it seemed time had slowed down, as the arrow cut through the air until I heard a loud thud as the arrow landed in the deers side.
‘Yes I did it!’ I yelled to myself in my head. I had managed to hit my very first arrow with my new bow. Now all I needed to do was track it.
I climbed down from the tree, and walked over to where I had hit the deer. Just like the many other times, I found the trail of crimson blood that stained the green grass and followed it.
I had been walking for around 10 minutes before I stumbled upon an unfamiliar area I had never been to before.
‘A Cave?’ I asked myself. I had been to this forest many times over the span of my life, but I had never seen this cave. I looked down once more, and saw the trail of blood leading deeper into the darkness.
“Well nothing wrong with doing a little adventuring.” I said to myself.
I looked around and found a broken branch on the floor a couple of inches thick and then grabbed a nearby rock on the floor and my flint from my bag. I struck the flint with the rock a couple of times - cursing my lack of mana - to light a miniature fire to form a makeshift torch.
After a couple of tries, I was able to get it to work and began onwards into the abyss.
As I walked deeper and deeper into the cave I noticed one thing above all else. I had seen other caves before, but this one was vastly different. It was so smooth and polished, almost as if someone had hand crafted this cave themselves.
I decided to put that thought into the back of my head, not even the gods had shown the ability to create to this magnitude. I kept following the blood trail until I saw the deer, with something I had never seen beside it before.
‘What is that?’ I thought to myself as I slowly walked forward.
I continued to walk forward, all attention I had for the deer being swept away as I looked at what was beside it. It was a singular plant with a sole fruit hanging from it in the shape of a star.
In all of my years hunting, I had never seen a plant or fruit that looked even remotely similar to this one. I continued to investigate, but couldn’t find any answers. ‘I should probably leave and just mention this to my parents when I return home.’ I thought to myself.
However as I tried to turn around to go back for the deer, I found myself unable to take my eyes off this fruit. I knew better than to just eat a random fruit, but it was as if this fruit had taken control over me and its powers were now beckoning me to eat it.
Before I knew it, I found myself slowly walking towards this mysterious plant until I had pulled the unknown fruit off.
I looked down at the new object in my hands and felt the urge to eat it grow stronger and stronger by the second until I gave in.
As soon as I bit into the fruit, I felt a wave of flavors unlike anything I had tasted before. It was so delicious; it was unexplainable. I continued to take bite after bite until the entirety of the unknown fruit was gone.
Once I had finished the fruit, it felt almost as if I snapped back into reality. I looked over and the plant started to wither away immediately.
Suddenly, I felt a strong power surge through my body.
I dropped to my knees, feeling an intense pain course through my body and a fire that felt as if all of my insides had been set ablaze. The pain continued to rise and rise until I could no longer take it and found myself drifting into darkness.
Comments (0)
See all