Between the trees of the forest, a deadly silence lurked, watching every movement, every breath, every heartbeat.
The air was heavy, and the shadows twisted around her, as if the forest itself were testing Eiscara.
Her body was exhausted, her soul weighed down by the cost of the Dichotomy, and each step became a burden on her heart, drawing her closer to the truth… and the Eye of Truth waiting in the depths of darkness.
Tonight, she would learn that power comes at no small price, and that the true cost of pain and confrontation is not only in the body, but in the soul.
Chapter Eight: The Eye of Truth
The forest was silent… an unsettling silence, as if it were watching.
Eiscara's steps were heavy, staggered, unsteady.
Every breath that entered her chest burned, and every exhale came out as if carrying a piece of her soul.
She knew the cost of the Dichotomy.
And knowledge can sometimes be heavier than wounds.
She staggered.
She tried to place her hand on a nearby tree trunk to steady herself, but her fingers slipped. Her vision wavered, the trees swayed, and the ground was no longer where it should be.
Another step.
Then… nothing.
The ground vanished beneath her feet.
The wind slapped her face violently.
The fall was fast, harsh, merciless. Her hair lifted, her cloak fluttered like a broken wing, and her body was nothing but a stone plummeting to its fate.
She did not scream.
She could not.
The impact took care of everything.
The sound of shattering.
Not an echo… but bones.
Her legs twisted in ways no living body should endure, her pelvis cracked, and a scream tore from her throat, primal, savage—not the sound of a human, but of a creature being slaughtered.
The pain was not a wave.
It was an ocean.
Everywhere.
She tried to move… screamed again.
She tried to breathe… she cried.
Sweat drenched her forehead.
Her teeth clenched.
Her hands dug into the dirt until they bled.
"Rise…"
She whispered to herself.
But her body had betrayed her.
There was only one solution left.
In a broken, stuttering voice, she called upon Immortality.
Heat surged through her bones. The cracks mended, flesh returned, joints realigned… as if nothing had happened.
But the pain…
remained.
Like a memory that refused to leave.
She felt it in her marrow, in her nerves, in the depths of her soul.
She knew.
Another month… vanished.
She chuckled faintly.
Even her survival stole years from her.
She lifted her head, and with difficulty, saw a massive tree, its trunk hollowed like a mouth awaiting confessions.
She crawled toward it, entered, and leaned her back against it.
Darkness swallowed her.
For the first time in a long while… she surrendered to sleep.
Inside Her Mind
There was no ground.
No sky.
Only void.
And he was there.
Her father.
The same features that bore ruin, the same eyes that offered no warmth. He looked at her as if she were a soldier… not a daughter.
She spoke bitterly:
"Why did you come?
Did you come to mock my weakness?"
His face did not change.
"Search for a cave…
I had hidden my belongings there.
There, you will find what you need."
He paused.
"The Eye of Truth."
She woke up.
Suddenly.
Air returned. Pain returned. Her heavy body returned.
But the goal became clear.
She stood.
And walked.
The Beast
The ground trembled.
A massive creature emerged from the trees, bulked flesh and fangs dripping hunger.
It froze.
It looked at her.
It did not see a girl.
It saw something merciless.
It took a step back.
Too late.
One strike.
It split in half before it understood it was dead.
She did not stop.
The Humans
Soon after, humans.
Their eyes glittered with greed.
Her head = reward.
They surrounded her.
She did not explain.
She did not warn.
She did not hesitate.
She moved, and with every motion, a body fell.
Blood no longer meant anything.
She kept walking.
The Cave
A black maw in the heart of the mountain.
It beckoned… it threatened.
She entered.
Step.
Her foot triggered a mechanism.
Click.
A giant blade dropped from above.
She tilted her head just in time. It passed beside her, and she felt the cold air slice through strands of her hair.
She continued.
Until she reached the end.
A chest.
Ancient.
Waiting.
She opened it.
Inside… the Eye.
It was not just a tool.
It was a promise.
And a curse.
Fear whispered.
But she extended her hand.
She spoke:
"O Eye of Truth…
reveal what is hidden,
even if you extinguish the light in my eyes."
The pain did not scream.
It sank.
Integration.
Silence.
It was done.
She stepped out of the cave.
She had to test it.
She looked at a distant animal.
"O Eye of Truth… illuminate my sight."
The world opened.
Lines. Points. Death paths.
She saw them.
Then—
A dagger in her eyes.
She screamed.
The fog exploded, blood poured, her vision shattered, and she collapsed to her knees, clutching her face as if trying to hold it together.
A voice.
Calm.
Cold.
Close.
Her father.
"You knew…
that truth is not free."
He paused.
"Now that you have merged… there is no return.
Remember this pain whenever you seek the truth."
The wind passed.
The trees did not move.
The entire world listened.
She stood.
Blood streaming from her eyes.
Face expressionless.
And in a faint, broken, but steady voice, she said:
"The light… becomes prey to the shadow."
Darkness stretched around her like a cloak that would never leave her, and the wind whispered secrets yet to be understood.
The blood had dried on her face, yet she felt the weight of something greater awaiting her, silent, a hidden presence in the shadows.
The silence was not just the absence of sound—it was a promise that every discovery carried more pain… and more surprises.
Eiscara stood, her face expressionless, her eyes staring into the void.
The night watched her, and she did not yet know what awaited her in what was to come.