Kara hit the man’s head with her staff before the knife stabbed Ilys. She dropped her weapon and covered her mouth to keep from crying when she saw him fall to the ground. Never before had she used her staff to hit someone, and she felt a little sick from doing so. She didn’t mean to hit him so hard, but panicked when she saw him nearly kill her sister. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” 

Ilys groaned as she sat up and looked over at the man. “You didn’t kill him. He’s just knocked out,” she told her sister.

The Snow Elf walked over to the man, seeing that he was still breathing but had a little blood trickling from the side of his head where she'd hit him. “A-Are you sure he’ll be okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” Ilys assured, standing up. “Probably have a headache when he wakes up, but he’ll live.” She picked him up and carried him over to a nearby chair. He stirred a little when she sat him down, but didn’t wake.

Kara looked worriedly at the man as her sister walked over to the area where his stuff was. Now that she could see him better, he was an old Light Elf man dressed in tattered gray robes. His long gray hair was shaggy and wild. His body emitted a foul odor that made her feel nauseous. He looked emaciated and deathly pale, like he hadn’t eaten or seen the sun in months. She caught a glimpse of his hands before Ilys moved them to the back and saw blood on his fingertips. “He looks and smells like he hasn’t bathed in months.”

“He probably has been here for months,” Ilys replied as she tied the rope around his wrists. “And most likely went mad if he’s been living here.” She stood in front of the man when she finished restraining him.

“Now what?” Kara asked.

Ilys didn’t answer her and picked up her dagger. She stared at him for a few seconds before backhanding him. The man woke up with a gasp and looked around frantically before focusing on them.

“Ilys!” Kara shrieked, not expecting her sister to do that.

“I’m not feeling particularly nice after he tried to stab me,” Ilys quipped. She used the tip of her dagger to lift his chin and looked down into the light gray eyes. “Who are you and why are you here?” The man began moving, trying to free himself. She pushed her weapon a little harder against him. Not enough to cut him, but enough to scare him. “Either calm down, or I’ll cut your throat.”

“You have to get away,” the man croaked. “The Eye…it showed me everything. We’re not safe.”

Kara shared a confused look with her sister. “What are you referring to, sir?”

The old man continued looking at Ilys with unfocused eyes. “The Eye of Avi…it showed me the truth about everything. The world isn’t safe! The Buquenian is among us! The Vessel of Rebirth will end the world!”

“I've never heard of any of this,” Kara whispered to her sister. “Sir, is this item causing the lights and noises at night? Or is it spirits? Necromancers? Something else?”

Ilys rolled her eyes and pulled her dagger away. “He’s not making any sense. I don’t think we’re going to get any straight answers from him.”

“We should be patient with him,” Kara insisted.

The man struggled to break free and glared at her. “You don’t understand! The Dimiosa is here! HERE! To end the Incarnates!”

“Can you tell us who these people are? And is the Eye causing the lights and noises?” Kara asked gently. She feared that the man wasn’t going to give them any answers, but she had to try.

“You don’t understand…,” the man told them in an eerily calm voice. “The Eye is calling to them. When they touch it, it’ll unlock their powers, and the world will end. The Dimiosa will end the Incarnates, and the Buquenian will burn this world and create it anew from the ashes.” He looked around again and started mumbling incoherently to himself.

Kara sighed and looked at her sister. “I’ll go check out the next room.” The old man continued mumbling, not paying her any mind as she walked down the hall to the other room. Using her magic, she cast a spell to light up the top of her staff. She gasped as she saw blood and scratch marks all over the walls like he’d been desperately trying to find a way out. She saw some writings talking about “The Dimiosa” or “The Buquenian” and ramblings about the world being “purified by our True Creator.” She felt sick knowing this was all written in his blood, but wondered how long he’d been in here. From what she could see, there was no food or drinks anywhere in the room. By all means, he should’ve been dead from that or blood loss. There was nothing in the room except a stone table and some chairs that were knocked over. A tattered journal rested on top of the table, and she picked it up. She opened it to the first page and saw it was written about nine months ago.

“-’LL KILL US ALL!!!”

Kara dropped the journal and ran back to where Ilys and the man were. She saw her sister pressing her hand against her neck and cursing. The old man was lying face down on the ground with a small puddle of blood beneath him. The rope looked like it’d been cut. “What happened?”

Ilys sighed irritably. “He broke free and screamed about the Dimiosa and attacked me with a knife he had hidden. I had no choice…”

The Snow Elf nodded and rolled the man over on his back. She brought his hands up to his chest and rested them there. Lowering her head, she whispered softly, “May Memoria’s benevolence bring peace to this poor soul.” She stood up and examined her sister's cut, relieved that it wasn't serious. “It's not bad. I’ll heal you when we get back to the inn.”

“Don't worry about it. I'll be fine,” Ilys assured her. “What did you find in the other room?”

“I found his journal. It seems like he’s been here since late Morn’s Ascent,” Kara replied. “It’s now the beginning of Dusk Star…”

“So, he’s been here for about nine months,” Ilys remarked. "From what we saw, some of the traps in the ruin were reset. Unless he reset them himself, but that would mean he didn’t leave to get food or any supplies...”

Kara shrugged, looking unsure. “I don’t know, but I think his journal has answers. I’ll bring it with us and look through it when I have time. Let’s go see what’s causing the strange lights and noises. I’m sure we’re getting close.” She walked back to the room with Ilys and grabbed the man’s journal, putting it in her pack.

Ilys opened the next door, seeing a long hallway. They could see lights flashing around the door at the end of it, along with hearing the strange noises. Kara looked at the bloody tracks that were on the floor and walls. The sounds got louder as they got closer and made the ground vibrate.

“Stay behind me,” Ilys ordered once they reached the double doors. She pushed the stone doors open. Both of them walked into the room, seeing a large hole in the middle of it. But what caught their attention was the strange and large spinning globe made of black stained glass on top of a large pedestal in the middle of the hole. Ilys walked over to the edge and picked up a rock from the ground, dropping it. She listened for the rock to hit the ground, but after a minute, she heard nothing. “Well, I think it’s safe to say we shouldn’t fall into that hole.”

“I don't plan on it,” Kara said as she examined the walls. “I don’t recognize this language carved into the walls.”

Ilys looked at them for a few minutes and frowned. “All of this is in Ancient Luxivitan. From what little I can translate, they’re warning others from taking this thing. I think we should leave, Kara.”

Kara sighed as she walked over to her. “How do you know Ancient Luxivitan?”

“You really should get out of the temple more,” Ilys replied, rolling her eyes. “Miss Glory taught us a little, but even she doesn’t know how to read it that well.” She pointed at a line of markings. “I know this says, “The Eye will cause the world to shatter…” It doesn’t sound like something we want to touch.”

The Snow Elf female walked away, sighing irritably. “Look, this thing is causing the lights and sounds. We were hired to remove the problem, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

“This ominous warning isn’t scaring you?” Ilys asked as she walked along the edge of the hole, examining the strange spinning orb. “I wonder how the old man got to it since there’s no way to get close.”

“There used to be,” Kara told her, looking down at the ground where it was clear that there used to be a stone bridge. A small pedestal stood at the edge of the hole. Ancient Luxivitan writings were carved all around it and the top had a strange symbol.

Ilys walked over and looked at the writings. “I don’t know what it says, but that's a strange symbol.” She held her hand over the symbol, feeling some magic coming from it. A sharp, burning went through her hand, making her cry out and fall to her knees. Sticking out of the pedestal was a metal spike that penetrated her hand. “Fuck!”

“Ilys!” Kara rushed over to her sister, seeing her hand bleeding profusely from the spike. Before she could try to help her, the spike retracted back into the pedestal, making Ilys cry out again.

The Stone Elf female held her hand to her chest, breathing heavily and trying to catch her breath. Her hand throbbed and shook from the pain. It hurt to move her fingers, but she wouldn’t be able to hold her weapon if she needed to. She was thankful that it wasn’t her dominant hand.“Fuck, that hurt. Didn’t think that would happen.” Just as she was about to say more, the globe stopped spinning. The stained glass pieces slowly rearranged themselves to create a small platform on the pedestal. A mysterious black orb that had prismatic lights swirling inside it floated in the middle. Magic pulsated from it, answering what was causing the lights and sounds.

Kara quickly pulled out a small cloth from her backpack and tied it around her sister's hand. After that was done, she helped her stand up. “Is…that the Eye of Avi?” She created a bridge of ice to the platform, making sure to create a railing they could grab onto so they wouldn't fall. “Will you be okay?” She looked at her sister’s hand, seeing that it was still bleeding.

“I’ll be fine,” Ilys assured her in a shaky voice, ignoring the pain for now. They walked to the platform, feeling power coming from the orb. Ilys got a bad feeling from looking at the colorful streaks chaotically swirling around, and the noise went from sounding like pulsating magic to something almost sinister. To her, it sounded like a large, muffled group of people screaming in agony. “Kara…I don’t think we should touch that.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ilys,” Kara told her, as they reached the pedestal. “Let’s take this artifact so that the lights and sounds stop. That’s what we were hired to do.” She reached out to the orb, feeling the power coming from it, but paid it no mind. “What a strange object…”

Ilys reached out with her uninjured hand to her sister’s. “Kara, don’t tou-” Just as she grabbed her hand, Kara’s hand touched the orb. Both gasped as light surrounded them.

They found themselves standing in front of a burning chapel. Other buildings and homes were on fire as people ran away and screamed. Kara looked over at her sister and saw Ilys's pale face. Her heart dropped when she saw what she was looking at.

Standing in the middle of the fiery chaos was a small, shadowy figure laughing and dancing around. Dead bodies were lying around them. Some looked like they’d been burned to a crisp, some looked as if their limbs had been ripped off their bodies, and others had been cut in half. But the figure seemed to revel in the death and destruction happening around them. Neither woman could clearly see their features, except that it looked like a small child. As the vision faded, the shadowy figure stopped dancing and looked over its shoulder at them, showing one distinction…

Its eyes matched the orb. 

Both women gasped as the vision ended and the orb let out a strong burst of magic that sent both of them crashing into the walls. Kara gasped as the impact knocked the wind out of her and pain shot through her body before falling to the stone floor and passing out.