Since the day of the offering, she had been having terrifying visions while she slumbered. Most were veiled in shadows and fog, except one. Frightened, it saddened her enough to seek comfort at the side of Willow as he day slumbered. Curled up into a ball, she snuggled tightly next to his sleeping body. When nightfall arrived, she awoke to find him standing over her with a bowl of boiled vegetables and herbs. "It's time to eat," he said, smiling down upon her. At the table she appeared sullen, barely touching her meal. He knew about the visions she was having and how troubling they had been for her.
"More visions?" he asked as she slowly nodded yes. Each slurp he took from the spoon seem to reverberate throughout the cave. "I'm sure, in time, you'll know the meaningbehind them, young one."
Her eyes continued to dart between her bowl and Willow's eyes, which were busy with his meal. "Only one troubles me," she mumbled, fidgeting with her spoon. "It is about you," she said. Willow stopped eating, carefully placing his spoon on the table. This was what he feared the most, not her vision, but the temptation to understand it.
"Whatever you have seen about me, do not tell me. You must act as if it will never happen and forget about it."
Tears were in her small eyes. "How can I forget the day when my heart shall be broken forever?"
Slowly, he reached over the table for her hand. "The heart breaks, but soon, it mends. Whatever shall be my fate you must accept, because it cannot be changed."
Tears were streaming down her face. "Yes, it can!” she sniffled. “Just, don't leave me."
Willow got up to walk over to her side of the table. He bent down on one knee in front of her as he wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "How can I not go, when I don't even know where I'm supposed to be going?" he chuckled softly. "Whatever the purpose of my life, it was because of you. And whatever the value my work shall have after I am gone, shall be because of you." Slowly he placed a still, loving kiss upon her forehead.
Three days later, Willow left and never returned back to the cave. No one needed to inform Eunice about Willow's fate; she had seen it all taking place days ago. Dru, the companion of Kah, along with some other Krethan vampires, found Willow and two of his assistants out searching for prey and ambushed them in retaliation for the death of Kah.
Alone inside the cave with three of Willow's remaining assistants, Eunice became more isolated as word spread amongst the Krethans that she was an evil Witch and fed Krethans to her pets. Many were warned to stay away from the cave, while others, out of curiosity, made their way to the cave only to find that what they had been told about Eunice was mere speculation. But as time moved forward, she was mostly forgotten about as a new breed of Krethans were exploding on the scene.
Two hundred years had passed, and now the Krethans had been divided into five factions, some holding onto the old ways, while others were becoming more progressive, as was the world around them. However, a longstanding feud between two factions - The children of the Tusk, led by the Krethan Nevin and The Guardians of the Crest, led by the Krethan Logan, was causing a breakdown in talks of a unification.
The Guardians of The Crest held to the old ways of the Krethans, exhibiting a form of brutality with mortals that was reminiscent of days long ago.
Converting teen girls into vampires as their brides, then using them to seduce male mortals into becoming prey. Their goal was simple, they didn't care to share the world with mortals, they wanted to reduce mortals to live as slaves underneath the Krethan banner. But Nevin saw things differently. He understood that living peacefully with mortals increased their position in the world, and living to a standard of personal conduct made them stronger as a people.
The feud was spurred on by more than just ideology, it was also about land. The old city of Corra belonged to Nevin and his people. But after many battles, the Children of the Tusk, weren't strong enough to overtake from them. But the council of sixty meeting inside the old city were mostly aligning themselves behind Logan, suggesting that Nevin should give up the old Capital of Corra for what was best for the unification of the Krethans. But Nevin dug in his heels, and for six nights, talks of unification had all seemed lost. Around this time, Eunice was making her way to the pool of Mara, a ritual she understood through instinct she would have to repeat every two hundred years.
She undressed underneath the gray skies of early morning. Without her Nameds to protect her, she appeared vulnerable. But she was anything but vulnerable; a hard lesson that had been learned by five unsuspecting mortals who discovered the young looking Eunice out during the day while making an offering. Unaware of who she was, the five foolishly tried to force their way upon her. Eunice caused the ground underneath them to open up, swallowing the five deep within the earth, burying them alive.
Her powers were only used for her protection and could not be summoned to cause harm to anyone or anything that posed no threat to her or her well being. Her body carried the inscription of the Nummah that had been a permanent fixture on her skin for the past two hundred years. Yet, once she dipped her feet into the pool, the inscriptions upon her feet were washed clean. She slowly continued to lower her body into the pool, and the inscriptions upon her legs, hands, back, and face, were all washed clean. Pulling herself out of the pool and lying on her stomach, she watched as the curious markings begin to swirl about, troubling the crystal green water of the pool, soon becoming murky.
Her eyes followed as the strange paint used to mark her skin bled into each other, colliding until they formed pictures that seemed to come to life upon the surface of the water in the pool. Her eyes, filled with tension, confused by the strange and unusual events she was witnessing. Her brows were drawn together by the images that were taking form on the surface of the waters.
Tilting her head to the side slightly, her eyes narrowed. Her mind was churning. What is this? she thought. Her fingers were placed against her parted lips, while the other hand dug firmly in the grass and soil at the edge of the pool, the images became more intense. Her stomach was filled with heaviness while staring into the image of a man's face. A face that made her skin tingle all over, she began shaking her head slowly from side to side in disbelief. She was trembling, desperately wanting to turn away but understanding that she could not. She must witness the events until the very end.
Her eyes grew large, her mouth was open in a silent scream as pain was etched onto her face. Gasping between her sobs, she was frozen in agony as the images grew violent and terrifying.
Tears were racing down her face and then, the images stopped. Tears continued to fall slowly from her chin into the murky waters of the pool of Mara, the waters now receding back into a gentle, crystal clear green. The edge of her hair was submersed, with her face hovering over the water as she carefully lifted herself from the water's edge, trying her best to regain her breath. Her legs felt heavy as she picked up her gown from the grass to get dressed.
Overcome with emotion she collapsed to the ground on her knees with her face buried in her hands. Her muffled cries echoed throughout the dense forest. Her sobs grew louder at the thought of the many swords she saw falling from the skies; seventy-five to be exact. But there would be time to mourn later. It was time to complete the offering. Wiping away her tears, she got dressed, making her way to the Forest of Sorrows. After the offering, her skin was inscribed with a new and different Nummah which would remain sealed until the next two hundred years. Saddened by the visions she witnessed in the waters of Mara, she was contemplating its meaning. The handsome face that wasn't meant to be. She saw his life, his heartaches, his eventual triumphs. She understood that together, along with another, their fates had been ordered by the Throne. That like lost children wondering through the dark night, together they would seek the light of day to battle an ancient force. A force so dark, so powerful, it would take the very power of the Throne to conquer it. Her heart was filled with great sympathy, understanding that one was nothing more than just an unfortunate pawn of the Elders.
