???

I had a smile on my face as we continued on in silence. Cellestra and I were both enjoying the scenery around us. More and more flowers started appearing in the grass creating the most colorful beds of purple, red, and blue that I'd ever seen. Their scent only added to the beauty of this place.

I giggled at the sight of Cellestra not knowing where to look. She kept turning her head to take in the view, whereas I could see everything at the same time without issues.

"I'm kind of jealous, you know?" The elf said with a smile of her own.

"Because of the eyes, right?"

Cellestra nodded. "Must be convenient."

I was about to confirm that once again, when all of a sudden, I felt my legs grow cold at the ends. Within a second, the cold shot up and entered my core. When the chill invaded my body, I lost complete control over my limbs and fell forward. At the same time, everything around me turned to the blackest black.

What is going on? Cellestra…

I looked to where Cellestra was only to find out she'd disappeared. I was left alone in the cold darkness with nothing but my mind which was racing, trying to figure out what was going on.

I had experienced something similar after I'd touched the obelisk but it had only been very briefly. This time, the darkness remained.

Then, a blue square showed up before me.

-

Á̸̟č̵̞̮͇̗̰̽͂̅ẖ̵̖́͗͘ị̸̣̤̱̊͊e̴͓͆̚ͅv̶̧͚̎̽̌̂͜e̶̡̻̚m̷̢̾e̶̺̙̪̺̊̓̓̏͜n̶̫͓̥̐͐̀t̶͙̯̳̜́ ̸̝̬͚̾é̷̩̪͚͗̍̐͜ä̴̳ṙ̸̢͓͖̗̇̽͋̂n̵̲̩̏e̵̦̫̓͂͂̈́̈d̶̳̦̔͋͊͘:̵̟̤̲̋̓̃̀͠ ̷͎͎͊G̶̺͇̱̱͐̉͜r̴̛͈͕̬̞͗̆̽͜ę̴̙̖̹̘͂͗̓e̶͈͋̄̕ț̶̢̡̹̆̓̊͛͐i̶̧͇̬͓̫̇̂́͘ņ̵̞͓͆̎̏̓͘g̵̨̘̘͔̉̅̄̊͝s̷̤͉̣̠̅̔͌

̷͚̀̅͋͂̚

̴͈̬̰̭̑̚?̵͍̩̙̽?̶̙͎̩̪̑̈̆͐?̶̺̎͑͆̎?̶͕̞͐͆̋͜

̶̤̺̊͗

̸͉̣̿̒̂̓̚?̸̡̯̤̲̽?̴͍̽̐̽?̷̛͔̦̊̌̈͜͠?̶͔̰̀̚

̴̥͂

̵̘̰͂?̸̹̖̙̔̑̇͌̊?̸̡̘͗̐̚?̴͇͈͉͕̀̒̈̕?̷̻̮͉̰̞̕͘

-

With my mind seemingly kept in place, there was nothing I could do but stare at the message before me. What was written in the message scared me.

The letters kept moving around, making it hard to read. Not only that, but they were tainted by weird symbols that I'd never seen before. I couldn't tell at all what they were, or what they were even supposed to mean...what was this?!

The darkness around me pressed against my mind, like it was trying to crush me from all sides. I tried to fight back against it, but I couldn't do anything against such absolute darkness... Despair had begun to take root… I was fighting a losing battle and knew it.

Cellestra, Elysa, anyone, please… get me out of here…

"Kealyna!" A voice… Cellestra's voice…!

I heard her call out my name, but it was muted, as if I was underwater. I jerked my head towards where I heard it coming from.

I tried to speak, to call her name, even to yell, but my voice was silenced.

"Kealyna!"

I saw a glimmer of light in the darkness this time as her voice called my name a second time.

The coldness in my limbs faded and the light expanded, causing the darkness to recede. The first thing that my senses picked up was the smell of flowers.

I still felt pain in both my minds but the darkness was gone at last. I let out a groan and tried to find my hands. When sensations returned, I noticed I was down on the ground.

"Kealyna!" Cellestra called out again.

My face was down in the grass, but I could still clearly see the blue square with text before me. Only then did it shimmer before it faded away completely, leaving me confused and most of all, scared.

I had never felt so scared in my life before. Not even the time when the tendrils of darkness sprouted forth from the portal in Elysa's realm. This time, I felt as if something was out for my soul, to crush it. What would remain of me if it did?

I heard Cellestra call out my name once more, softly this time. I hardly registered it as I was shivering all over, not from the cold, but out of pure despair.

Everything… it was too much.

It had finally broken my spirit and knightly determination. I didn't want to, but I was reduced to softly sobbing in the grass.

"By the goddess, Kealyna…" Cellestra's soft voice came again as she knelt next to me.

I felt her hands on my neck and chest as I continued to let go. When she finally managed to lift my head off the grass, my tears flowed freely and in large numbers.

Cellestra, without words, took my head and laid it on her shoulder where I continued to cry. Her hands ran through my hair in an attempt to soothe me, but it didn't matter. I was broken.

I cried and I cried until there were no tears left to shed. Only then did Cellestra's comforting touch begin to sink in. My hands found their way around her frame and I held on to her with all my might. Her light was slowly calming my troubled mind.

Time passed wherein I'd just rested my head on the elf's shoulder, my eyes closed the entire time. My hands were shaking still, but slowly, I regained my bearings. As I did so, I refused to separate from the elf.

"What happened?" She finally asked with a whisper.

"I don't know," I replied softly. "There was… black all around me. It was like before, but…"

I paused as I had to inhale deeply with shaky breaths. "It was worse. The darkness, it… it tried to crush me. Then, a message from my blessing showed up."

"What did it say?" Cellestra asked while caressing my hair.

"I… I don't know. The text was tainted, corrupted. I have never seen it like that before. Something is wrong."

I waited for a few more seconds. "I'm scared…"

"Shhh. You'll be fine."

Her words… they were warm and kind, but they carried little meaning. The darkness that I'd seen… I didn't know if there was anything that could stand against it.

Elysa, please keep me… us safe.

It took me a long time to recover, despite Cellestra's help. Even after remaining in this position for what felt like hours, I still felt fear at the back of my mind, clawing away at my sanity.

"I cannot imagine what you're going through," The elf said softly. "But I'll be here."

She remained quiet for a while as she tilted her head up. "Let's call it a day for now. It's not late yet, but I don't want to have you continue in your current state. Take some rest, sleep if you need."

I nodded slightly. "Thank you," I whispered as I never broke the hug.

Cellestra tried to get up, but stopped herself when I tightened the hug once more. She resigned herself and kept where she was, continuing to run her hands through my hair.

"Honestly," She said quietly. "You scared the hell out of me when you suddenly collapsed. Look how dirty you've gotten yourself."

"I'm sorry."

"I hope you're doing a bit better now. Getting you cleaned up shouldn't be much of a concern."

I nodded weakly.

A few more tears that I didn't even know I had managed to find their way onto her completely damp shirt. I never opened my eyes, and continued to thank her in my mind for just being there. I could feel exhaustion start to kick in, but didn't fight it at all. I simply let it take me.

----------------

My dreams were filled with darkness, but unlike what I'd seen before, this was the comforting kind. Somehow, it put my mind at ease as I slowly drifted through it, free to go as I pleased. Then, Cellestra appeared in the darkness and smiled warmly as she approached me. When we met, she took me in for a loving hug.

Despite having her hug me outside of this dream for so long, this was the first time I felt happiness fill me. In here, I didn't feel scared anymore.

---------------

When I woke up, I found Cellestra in the same position as before, still hugging me. Her soft snoring confirmed that she'd fallen asleep at some point.

I looked around to see that it was almost dark, with the sun barely above the horizon, which left me wondering if it was dusk or whether I'd slept through the entire night. Half an hour later, I confirmed that it was dawn as the area surrounding us became more illuminated.

Poor Cellestra. She must have passed out from fatigue, as I did.

I felt… much better already. I gave the elf some more time to sleep while I finally got the presence of mind to start thinking about what happened yesterday.

The darkness, and the odd message… I could draw no other conclusion than that they had something to do with the obelisk. I didn't know who or what it was that was banished, but it seemed to mess with my blessing.

More worryingly, I noticed the clawing feeling at the back of my mind was still there. It felt as if something was trying to break in. It made me wonder, was this what Cellestra was going through?