The atmosphere thickened with an unsettling tension as Evelori stood before them, her pale-white skin gleaming faintly under the sun's rays.

Her silver hair swayed slightly in the breeze, but her face remained stoic, unreadable. 

Around her, the creatures that had emerged from the soil stood motionless, their grotesque forms casting eerie shadows on the ground.

Evelori's calm voice broke the silence, soft yet carrying a weight that chilled the air.

"Congratulations... for killing my sister, Selene."

The group exchanged confused glances. 

Zach, gripping his enchanted sword tightly, stepped forward. 

His voice was steady but edged with suspicion.

"What are you talking about?"

Evelori tilted her head slightly, her blue eyes glinting with something between amusement and indifference.

"It was my sister. My younger sister," she said softly, her words deliberate. 

"The one you all teamed up to kill. It was my sister, my foolish, immature sister."

Her gaze dropped to the group's weapons, lingering on each one before meeting Zach's eyes again. 

She continued, her tone eerily calm.

"My sister always loved to morph into my body and face... because she adored how I looked. Pale white skin, white-silver hair, blue eyes, a beautiful face... skinny arms. She did it to appear intimidating. Powerful. But it was a lie. She despised her own form—blonde hair, blue eyes, and skin that was fair but not as pale as mine. Pathetic, isn't it? A child... a child indeed, despite having only just been born."

The words hung in the air like a haunting melody, and the group listened in stunned silence.

Evelori paced slowly, her bare feet brushing against the blackened soil beneath her.

"You may wonder how she could be my sister when we are skeletons, as she claimed during your first encounter. It's simple," Evelori said with a faint smile. 

"I created her. From scraps of flesh and bones. From villagers... from animals. Organs, skin, hair, eyes. Everything. But I never wanted her to be my child. That's why I called her my sister instead. My younger sister."

Ruby visibly flinched, her face paling at the casual way Evelori spoke of piecing a being together. 

Jiighual clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking audibly.

"She was always annoying," Evelori continued. 

"Ranting. Whining. Always complaining. And then one day, she saw you."

She extended a long, bony finger toward Zach and the rest of the band, her blue eyes narrowing slightly.

"You. She said she'd toy with the village. With all of you. She said I should stay beneath the ground and watch as she killed. Killed. Killed everyone. But it didn't end well for her, did it?" 

Evelori's lips curled into a faint smirk as she added something unexpected

"For that... I thank you."

Zach's grip on his sword tightened, his brows furrowing.

"Thank you? For what? We killed your sister."

"Exactly," Evelori replied with a slight shrug. 

"That's why I thank you. For getting rid of her. I didn't want her creation in the first place."

The group stared at her, trying to process her words. Qarek, his voice tinged with disbelief and frustration, broke the silence.

"So you came all the way here just to say that?!"

Evelori chuckled softly, shaking her head.

"No," she said, her voice calm yet ominous. 

"I didn't come all the way here. In fact..." She gestured around her with a graceful motion. 

"This island itself is mine. I am the island. While my younger sister was the dark forest."

She adds as she looks to Gargeal.

"And I was also the woman you've talked to, Gargeal."

Leeani's eyes widened.

"You're... the island?"

Evelori turned her cold gaze toward Leeani and nodded.

"Yes. Every root, every patch of soil, every blade of grass belongs to me. And if I wanted to..."

Her voice trailed off as her right arm began to morph. 

The pale skin bubbled grotesquely before stretching into a long, spiked appendage that gleamed wickedly in the sunlight.

"I could kill all of you here in an instant," she said, her voice dripping with menace. 

"If you choose to provoke me."

The group instinctively readied their weapons, but Zach raised a hand, signaling them to hold their ground. 

Evelori's piercing gaze swept over them before she tilted her head slightly, her tone calm once again.

"So... what do you want?"

The question hung in the air, heavy with tension. 

The Renaissance Band exchanged uncertain glances, their breathing uneven. 

Behind them, Haerak gently pushed Aina behind him while Seraphina stepped closer, protectively shielding the child. 

Lyra kept her bow trained on Evelori but glanced at Ruby, ensuring she stayed out of harm's way.

Zach, his face hard as stone, took a step forward. His voice was low but commanding.

"Why now? If this was your island all along, why let your sister torment these people for three years? Why not stop her?"

Evelori's expression remained unreadable, and her voice, when she replied, was devoid of emotion.

"Because I didn't care. Her games amused me... until they didn't. I've been watching you all. Watching to see if you could do what the villagers couldn't. And now you have."

"You're lying," Yzavynne spat, her whipblade trembling slightly in her grip. 

"You don't just let your 'sister' kill for amusement. There's more to this!"

Evelori didn't respond immediately. 

Instead, she stepped closer to the group, her movements slow and deliberate. 

The spiked appendage retracted back into her arm, which returned to its humanoid form.

"You may think what you like," Evelori said finally, her calm tone sending shivers down their spines. 

"But I am not your enemy. Not yet."

The group tensed, their weapons still at the ready as they waited for what Evelori would say next.

Evelori exhaled deeply, her chest rising and falling in a hauntingly human motion. 

Her spiked arm began to bubble and shift, flesh twisting unnaturally as it morphed back into its original humanoid form. 

The soft pale skin glistened under the faint light, yet the group felt no relief—her presence was still suffocating.

She gazed at them with her piercing, icy-blue eyes, her face devoid of expression. 

Then, with a measured calmness that sent shivers down their spines, she spoke again.

"I only came here to congratulate all of you. Yes... to congratulate you."

Her words carried a twisted tone of mockery, though her face remained neutral. 

Evelori's eyes flickered between each member of the group as she continued, her voice soft but with an undertone that chilled the air.

"You're all my toys. Continue with your daily lives. Continue with everything you do. Continue planting your little trees and crops everywhere, as if the ground beneath you will never betray you. Continue hunting the fragile creatures you deem precious, snapping their bones and roasting their flesh. Continue eating—biting, chewing, swallowing, and digesting—until your bodies wither like the food you consume. Continue shitting and peeing into the earth you love so dearly, as if it doesn't resent your waste.

"Continue drinking the water you so desperately hoard, sipping, gulping, and spilling it on your skin, believing it cleanses you of your filth. Continue sleeping under the stars, dreaming your insignificant dreams that will never be anything more than fleeting shadows. Continue building your brittle homes, so easily broken, as if they'll protect you from the inevitable.

"Continue mating and rutting, sex, yes, creating more of yourselves, only to send them into a world that will swallow them whole. Continue birthing, crying, wailing, feeding your offspring like animals, as though they are any different from the carcasses you devour. Continue celebrating your trivial victories, dancing, singing, shouting in the night, deaf to the silence that waits to consume you.

"Continue fighting one another, spilling your blood, wounding your flesh, breaking your fragile bones for reasons you barely understand. Continue lying to yourselves, convincing yourselves you matter, that this island, this pathetic game you call survival, means something. Continue expanding your fragile little village on land that was never yours to begin with.

"Continue. Keep going. Because I enjoy watching it. The chaos. The monotony. The suffering. The joy. It's all fun. So very fun to witness. To watch your tiny lives play out, knowing they mean nothing. Absolutely nothing."

The words hung in the air like a curse. 

Haerak's face darkened with anger as he instinctively pulled Aina closer, covering her ears before the twisted word could fully register in her innocent mind. 

Seraphina turned away in disgust, her lips curled in revulsion, while Lyra's hands trembled slightly on her bowstring, her knuckles pale white.

Evelori seemed to relish their reactions as her cold, unblinking gaze returned to Zach. 

Her tone shifted, laced with eerie amusement.

"And you, Zach..." She took a step closer, her voice becoming almost intimate, as though she were sharing a secret. 

"I know you. Every single bit about you. Every breath you've taken. Every step you've walked. Every drop of blood you've spilled."

Zach stiffened but said nothing, his hand gripping the hilt of his enchanted sword tightly. 

Evelori's lips parted into a faint smile, her eyes alight with a twisted excitement.

"It was thrilling to watch you fight. Thrilling to watch you kill Selene. Thrilling to watch you wake up after the poison coursed through your veins. A cinematic return of the great captain of the Renaissance Band."

She tilted her head, studying him as though he were an insect beneath a magnifying glass.

"Grow strong. Be strong. Fight to become strong. Fight more. Earn more. Learn more. Then perhaps, one day, you'll fight me—"

Zach's voice cut through her words like a blade, sharp and commanding. 

"Enough!"

His eyes blazed with defiance as he stepped forward, putting himself between Evelori and the others. 

"Evelori. We've heard enough."

Evelori blinked, her expression unreadable. Zach straightened, his voice steady despite the tension in the air.

"I have no plans on fighting you," he said firmly. 

"Not unless you are a threat to anyone on this island."

Evelori's gaze lingered on him for a long moment before she let out a soft, dismissive hum.

"Hmm."

Zach's grip on his sword tightened, his knuckles whitening.

"So, I'll ask you directly. Are you a threat to us? Or aren't you?"

The air grew colder as Evelori's lips curled into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

"Hmm. I suppose I am not," she said slowly, as though the words amused her. 

"It would be boring, anyway, to fight all of you here. Wounded. Battered. Exhausted. Drained. Weak. Weaklings. Yes, weak."

Her smile widened, and for a moment, her calm facade cracked, revealing a flicker of malice beneath.

"Grow strong, little toys. Grow strong, and perhaps one day, I will challenge all of you. So you may bear witness to the true power of the Mistress of Death."

The title she uttered sent a shiver through the group. 

Jiighual clenched his fists, his face dark with frustration, while Yzavynne bit her lip, her whipblade trembling slightly in her hands.

Zach stepped forward again, his tone firm but measured.

"Evelori, we don't want to fight you. We don't want conflict. We just want to live here in peace."

Evelori's head tilted, her expression blank but her voice laced with genuine confusion.

"Why?" she asked, her tone uncomprehending. 

"Why would you not want to fight me? To challenge me? To destroy me? Is that not what humans do?"

She took a slow step forward, her pale, piercing gaze sweeping over each of them as though dissecting their very souls. 

Her voice became quieter.

"I have watched humans for centuries. Everywhere. Across lands you will never see, across lifetimes longer than you can fathom. You speak of peace, but I have never seen it. Never."

Her tone grew colder, her words sharper, like blades slicing through their resolve.

"I have seen what humans do. I have seen your villages burn because of greed. Because one man desired what another had. I have seen families torn apart because of anger. Because of petty disputes over lines in the dirt you call borders."

Evelori's eyes narrowed, and for the first time, her calm facade cracked ever so slightly, revealing a flicker of something darker.

"I have seen empires rise from blood and ash, only to fall to the very same. I have watched kings and queens slaughter thousands in the name of their gods, their beliefs, their so-called justice. And those who rose to topple them? They became just as cruel. Just as twisted. Just as broken."

Her gaze bore into Zach now, as if she were speaking directly to him.

"You speak of protecting. Of building. But I have seen what you call protection. Villages fortified with walls built on the backs of slaves. Armies sent to 'defend' by razing entire cities to the ground. You call it peace when the screams stop, but the silence is only the beginning of the next war."

She took another step forward, her voice softening, but not in kindness. 

It was the soft tone of a predator circling its prey.

"Humans kill for love. They kill for hate. They kill for food, for power, for fear, for sport. You kill because it is what you are. It is what you have always been. You speak of peace, but your peace is a lie. A fleeting moment between chaos. A dream that dies the moment you wake."

The group stood frozen, her words cutting deeper than any blade. 

Evelori's tone shifted again, this time filled with a strange, twisted curiosity.

"Do you know what it is like to watch? To feel the ground quake beneath the weight of your destruction? To hear the cries of those who beg for mercy, only to be silenced by the same hands that once held them in love? I have seen it all. Every moment. Every failure. Every death."

Her voice dropped to a whisper, and yet it carried an intensity that made the air feel heavy.

"I watched a mother poison her children so they would not starve. I watched a son bury his father alive to claim his land. I watched lovers carve each other open because they believed their god demanded it. Is this the peace you speak of? Is this what you fight to preserve?"

Evelori turned her gaze to Haerak, who stood protectively in front of Aina, shielding her from the weight of her words. 

Her lips curled into the faintest hint of a smile, but it was devoid of warmth.

"And you," she said, her voice almost mocking. 

"You protect the child, hoping she will know something better. But she will grow. She will learn. And one day, she will fight too. She will take up a weapon, as all of you have, and she will spill blood. Because that is what it means to be human."

Haerak clenched his jaw, his fists trembling with restrained fury, but he said nothing. 

Evelori's gaze swept back to the group as a whole, her expression calm once more.

"You build. You fight. You destroy. You repeat. Over and over and over again. You call it survival, but I call it madness. And yet, you claim to want peace. Explain that to me, Captain."

Her eyes locked onto Zach, her tone now coldly curious.

"How do you reconcile what you are with what you claim to desire? Convince me, Captain. Convince me that humans are capable of anything other than ruin."

The challenge in her words hung heavy in the air, daring Zach to respond. 

The group looked to their leader, their faces filled with a mixture of anger, sorrow, and doubt. 

Evelori's words had exposed a wound they all carried, and now it was up to Zach to find the strength to answer.

Her gaze flickered between the group, as though searching for an answer she could not find.

"I do not understand your reasoning," she admitted. 

"Explain."

Zach hesitated for a moment, his brows furrowed as he considered her words. 

Then he let out a slow breath and spoke, his voice calm but filled with quiet determination.

"Because fighting you isn't our purpose. It's not why we came here. We're not conquerors. We're not invaders. We're not here to destroy you or anyone else."

Evelori's gaze narrowed slightly, but she remained silent as he continued.

"We've fought because we had no choice. To protect the people here. To survive. That's why we fought your sister. Not because we wanted to, but because she gave us no other option. If you truly mean us no harm, then we have no reason to harm you."

Evelori blinked, her expression unreadable.

"You speak of peace," she said slowly. 

"But what is peace to you? To humans?"

Zach met her gaze, his voice steady.

"Peace is living without fear. Without looking over your shoulder, wondering when the next fight will come. It's building a life. Protecting those you care about. It's not about power or control. It's about... existing. Together. Without conflict."

Evelori tilted her head, her expression thoughtful.

"An existence... without conflict?" she repeated, as though tasting the words. 

"Strange. Foreign. But intriguing."

Her gaze lingered on Zach for a moment longer before she turned away, her pale hair catching the light.

"Very well," she said softly. 

"I will allow you your... peace. For now."

The group remained tense as Evelori and her creatures began to sink back into the ground, her body dissolving into the soil like mist. 

Her parting words echoed in the air, chilling and cryptic.

"Grow strong, little toys. For peace never lasts forever."

"Here," Evelori said, her tone calm but chilling, as though she were delivering some twisted gift. 

"These two are your friends."

Without warning, the soil near them rippled and shifted, as though alive, and then it began to part. 

The ground groaned, pulling back like a gaping maw, and from the dark, damp earth, two figures emerged—Kazaks and Andhur. 

Their bodies were limp, their clothes dirtied and torn, their breathing shallow.

"And these two," Evelori added.

"Are the village's top hunters."

The ground rippled again, and two more figures were spat out from the earth—Micah and Killian. 

They collapsed to the ground with the same lifeless motion, their forms crumpling like broken marionettes. 

The soil near them returned to its natural state as if nothing had happened, leaving no sign of what had just transpired.

Haerak's voice cracked with panic as he rushed forward, his hands trembling. 

"Micah! Killian!" 

Aina, wide-eyed with fear, followed him instinctively, her small frame darting after her father. 

Lyra and Seraphina were close behind, their expressions taut with a mixture of shock and urgency.

At the same time, Zach and his group dropped to their knees, their hands already reaching out to check on Kazaks and Andhur. 

Ruby pressed two fingers to Kazaks' neck, searching desperately for a pulse. 

Gargeal carefully turned Andhur onto his side, his movements slow and deliberate, his jaw clenched tightly. 

Yzavynne crouched beside them, muttering something under her breath as her hands hovered over Andhur's battered frame.

Ruby whispered, relief softening her voice.

"He's alive."

Gargeal replied grimly, his calm demeanor breaking as his brow furrowed in worry.

"But barely." 

Qarek, his knife still clutched tightly in his hand, stood nearby, his eyes darting from Kazaks to Andhur. 

His usually sharp, sarcastic tongue was silent, replaced by a haunted look as though his mind was trying to process what he was seeing.

Jiighual, armless and still battered from their earlier battle, sank to his knees beside Kazaks. 

"Come on, you hammer-wielding bastard," he said softly, a flicker of his usual humor breaking through. 

"Don't let a little dirt nap take you out now."

As the group worked frantically to assess their friends' conditions, Evelori's voice rang out again, calm yet filled with an unspoken weight.

 She said.

"And these."

The ground shifted once more, and five weapons rose slowly from the soil. 

Qarek's war axe, Kazaks' warhammer, Andhur's glaive, and two dao swords.

Evelori watched their reactions with quiet amusement, as if she were a god presenting offerings to mortals.

She said,

"Till we meet again."

But then, her tone shifted, growing darker, heavier, her words sinking into their minds like poison.

"Zach. I know who you are. Don't convince yourself that everything will be at peace from here on out. I know you. I know what you 'saw' back there. I know who you talked with. I know everything. For I am Death, itself."

Her words struck Zach like a hammer to the chest, and for a moment, he froze. 

His grip tightened around his enchanted sword until his knuckles turned white, but his face betrayed nothing. 

He forced himself to remain calm, his expression blank, his breathing steady.

But Ruby saw it. 

The faint tremor in his hand, the way his shoulders tensed just a little too much. 

She didn't say anything, but her eyes lingered on him, her concern hidden beneath a mask of quiet composure.

And then—

Evelori was gone.

The soil rippled one last time before returning to its normal state. 

The oppressive aura that had surrounded them dissipated, leaving only an eerie silence in its wake. 

Zach exhaled slowly, his eyes scanning the horizon, but there was no sign of Evelori.

"We need to move them," Haerak said suddenly, his voice cutting through the silence. 

"We need to get them to the village and tend to their wounds."

He was kneeling beside Micah and Killian, his hands carefully brushing dirt from their faces. 

Zach nodded, forcing himself to focus. 

"Gargeal, help me with Andhur. Ruby, you and Jiighual take Kazaks. Haerak, can you handle—"

"I've got them," Haerak interrupted, his voice steady despite the tension in his face. 

"Lyra, Seraphina, help me with Micah and Killian."

As they worked to lift the unconscious figures, Ruby stole another glance at Zach. 

His face was calm, his movements precise, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. 

Evelori's words had unsettled him—deeply.

And for the first time since she'd met him, Ruby felt a pang of fear. 

Not for herself, or for the group, but for Zach. 

Because whatever he had 'seen' and 'talked with,' as Evelori had put it, was something he clearly didn't want to share. 

And that terrified her more than anything Evelori had said.

═════ ◆ TO BE CONTINUED ◆ ═════