Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 5.11: Eva

**Disclaimer: Some violence/gore and emotionally disturbing/triggering content in this chapter.**

Day after day passed for those watching over Esmeralda's estate.

Nobody else stayed as vigilant as Austin. Many began dozing off or chatting in hushed tones. Austin was lying in wait for an infiltration but the days passed by uneventfully. Only sounds of crashes and things dropping in the estate rang out occasionally.

Was there someone so clumsy in this household all this time?

A bad premonition slowly grew in his heart.

It had just been another mundane day of observation when Austin saw something that made his heart skip a beat. Although he could only see the back view of the person falling out of the window, he found himself dashing to the window before his mind even registered the identity of the person. He stood below the window, ready to catch her in case she failed to pull herself back in. The sight of him shocked the servants in the room below the room that the trio was in, delaying their response in running to the source of the loud bang.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw her body go back into the room, however he frowned and quickly signaled for the rest of his men to secure the surroundings before running into the house. There was definitely something wrong.

When he broke into the house and ran up to the room that the trio was in, he found Esmeralda's parents reaching the door a second before he did. They began pounding on the door while Eva's parents stared at him in shock.

"Who're you?" Eva's father asked warily, drawing the attention of Esmeralda's parents.

Before anyone else could say anything else or make a move, they suddenly heard Briana shouting from the room. "Eva! What are you doing?! You shouldn't be doing this! When did you get so out of hand?!"

Everyone looked at the door in unison and Austin saw smoke drifting out from the gaps of the door. His mind blanked out and his body moved with only the aim of ensuring Eva's safety.

While he repeatedly and ferociously rammed into the door, Eva's parents looked at each other meaningfully.

"I'll go get help!" Eva's mother said to Esmeralda's mother before running off.

When the door finally fell through the doorway, Austin dove into the room through the fire as soon as the smoke cleared and he could see a path to his target. Soon after him, Esmeralda's parents rashly followed him through fire as well to get to Esmeralda. Only Briana's father stayed outside, calling for Briana.

Austin immediately carried the frozen stiff Eva in his arms and whisked her away and out of the room easily. He hastily scanned and checked her body while spinning her a complete round on her feet. When he was sure that she was not injured besides some light bruises, he heaved a sigh of relief.

It's- It's... Him...

So it's really Austin?! BaoBao started cheering and jumping for joy.

On the contrary, Eva felt anything but happy. Where's-

Your mother ran all the way home! No way, she just killed people! She's not even going to bother being secretive anymore?

Upon hearing her mother's location, she immediately took off, leaving a dumbfounded Austin behind.

Suddenly, crackling sounds that drew Austin's attention were heard from the room. Just as he turned his body towards the room, a heavy weight was thrown onto him, knocking him back. Almost immediately after he was hit with the mysterious baggage, a loud crash resounded through the room. The ceiling caved in.