To He Who Reads This

Inside the small pouch was a scrunched-up piece of paper with strings wrapped around it.

Carefully, June extracted the paper first, placing the pouch with the string still inside on the ground in front of him. 

Then slowly, he opened the paper, its age apparent straight away.

The edges were frayed and partially torn, appearing somewhat yellow.

Yet, despite its age, the ink was still visible and he understood the writing.

Without a wasted moment, he began reading… it read:

'To he who reads this… I have failed those dear to me. I, Ethope, an esteemed noble of the Eternal Settlement, have made the foolish mistake of trusting a Tarnished. I am utterly ashamed to have made such a costly mistake and now… it cannot be undone, no… I wish it could. Now, I am simply rotting away in the depths of an obscene cave due to my negligence, my existence slowly fading away. If only I could see my beloved daughter once more… rather than hold onto a memory of her through this pendant. Wherever you are, I hope your fate isn't as dark as mine.'

June could feel the sadness conveyed through the man's words, his writing filling the entire page from top to bottom, leaving no space. It was truly a regrettable ending for him, a man who in his dying moments only wished to see his daughter one last time. 

In the end, the only thing he could do was pray her fate didn't end as woefully as his.

And to be honest, so did June. 

Wherever she was, in the honor of the man's last dying wish, June hoped her conclusion was less sorrowful than her old mans, despite not knowing either of them.

Also, though the letter had a lot to say… one word in particular stuck out to June.

'Tarnished…'

It held significant weight to both the man named Ethope and June himself.

After all, it was the exact same word the cursed tree had uttered out of its vile mouth.

'Exactly what is a Tarnished?'

He couldn't even begin to guess.

When the cursed tree had first uttered it, its guttural undertone was evident with a depth that was palpable… as if it despised saying the word alone. 

Now, that same word was written in the letter, and the ink had been significantly darker over it compared to the rest of the words. 

As though Ethope had consciously pressed down on the paper to express his… anger?

Or perhaps sadness, or something else entirely. 

June couldn't have known, but Ethope certainly felt some kind of emotion when spelling out the word itself, especially given the boldness of the letters.

Regardless, it wasn't something June had time to ponder.

With a sigh, he folded the letter and kept it wrapped in his palm as he reached to grab the pouch. In it, he very prudently lifted out the pendant with the tips of his thumb and index finger holding the string.

Soon, a very beautiful silver locket escaped the bottom of the pouch, gleaming under the dim teal hue as it meticulously dangled from the string holding it. 

Compared to the letter, the locket was in great condition, its polished surface void of age.

June placed it softly on the palm of his other hand before reaching to open it.

"Hm?"

Inside, a distinct rune was carved into its glossy material, standing out in contrast.

'What's it mean..?'

June didn't have a clue. Perhaps it related to his daughter — no, not perhaps, it likely did. 

He spent a few more seconds inspecting the design itself, shifting it around. Eventually, he shut the locket with a resounding click, and wrapped the string around it.

Slightly reaching over, he then stuffed it back inside the pouch alongside the paper.

June planned on keeping it.

'Hope you don't mind…'

With that, he stood back up and tightened the drawstrings on the pouch before wrapping it around his wrist and tying it all together.

His gaze lingered on Ethope for a few seconds, feeling a sense of sadness for the old man whose bones were left in solitude.

June hoped for Ethope's soul to find peace wherever it was, before walking off, continuing down the rugged path. 

The tremors above remained echoing in the distance, the fight still raging on.

To be honest, the damned tree was lasting longer than he had thought…

At this point, he expected it to have fallen, utterly destroyed by the Great Serpent.

But to his surprise, that wasn't the case.

'To think, the tree was really holding its own against that damned colossal Serpent, who would have tho…'

June suddenly stopped in his tracks, frozen.

'Crap…'

The tremors had stopped… 

Not even a second later, a thunderous crash resounded through the ravine, shaking the path entirely.

'You just had to jinx it didnt you?!'

The Great Serpent was coming.

Flinching, June hunched low and stuck close to the walls veiled under the shadows, making sure to stay away from the light illuminated by the vibrant river. 

At first, he wanted to run to be honest, but it was better for him if he didn't. 

No matter where June went, it was clear the Great Serpent would follow. Running away and making noise wouldn't help in the slightest either; it'd only doom him.

As he hid within the shadows, more deafening crashes could be heard in the distance, the path beneath his feet threatening to crumble.

The Great Serpent was likely just bulldozing its way through the chasm, attempting its damndest to fit through the gaping hole, all to quench its urge to feast on June. 

The walls abruptly shook, rubble raining down while the ravine as a whole struggled against the Great Serpent's uncontrollable assault. 

Only, a few seconds later, everything surprisingly fell silent.

It was then that June knew… all the way from where he had come from, it had entered. 

To prove it, he could now hear its chilling hiss bounce off the walls and echo throughout the space, reaching all the way to him. It was low and soft, but laced with an urge to find him as it traveled through the space with an ominous chill.

'This damn Serpent…'

Carefully, June crouched and somewhat crawled back over to the corpse of Ethope, making sure to stay vigilant as he did.

Compared to everything else, the shadows there were darker so it was a better spot for him to hide overall.

Once he arrived, he quickly embraced the shadows by hugging close to them, hunching down low and keeping a lookout.

He could still hear the distant hiss inching closer, and the sound of the stone walls crumbling.