Chương 60: Eshwyln The Elf-Knight, Part 1

The harrowing bleakness of the moonlit path was paved in an endless sea of red. The first indicator that things were not as they seem. Ash and her partner slowed to a crawl, sword, and bow drawn out.

Not far now.

Overlooking that steep grassy mound right ahead of them… where everything would change.

I remembered standing on that very same hill, perched atop amidst a scene of senseless slaughter.

That hill there was a threshold. Climb it, cross it, no going back from it. Can never unsee, never unhear the things that lay beyond its dreaded peak, and there was Ash… gradually ascending to its summit.

Wouldn't have minded so much if it was just a video game, you know, just an assortment of pixels and polygons displayed on a screen. That it just wasn't real…

But Ash made it real.

Her shock, her confusion, the horror on her face… they made it all too real.

"Master, what is…?"

"Keep going," was my only response to her inquiring eyes."

No need for words, nor need for explanations. Asteria would answer for me. The blood-curdling screams blaring from the laptop speakers, the heavy crashes and tumbles of the violin in the background, and the gory visage strewed across the landscape, reflecting back in her emerald eyes… all of them answered for me.

If the developers went out of their way here to do their best to elicit a reaction from the player, then mission-fucking-accomplished - pat yourselves on the back, my dudes.

Unlike me, however, Ash had already recovered within seconds and continued delving deeper into the heart of darkness. Soon confronting her came the horrifying monstrosities of flesh and blood, shrieking out their cries of terror, lunging their malformed limbs at her with twisted intent.

Ash stood unwavering against their blows. I watched her closely there, saw her every button press, every split-second decision - utilizing tactics and maneuvers that I myself have never even thought of doing. The way she vanquished her foes… like it was all very second nature to her. Hell, it probably was.

The Elf-knight forged on into the village. There was a glint in her eyes - outrage, I surmised… from how her jaw was clenched tight. So much pent-up anger directed to the culprit responsible for all of this.

If only she knew… I wish she didn't have to, but she was going to.

Screen went black.

Cutscene finally started.

Everything played out exactly the same way as it did last time, with buildings engulfed in flames, lifeless bodies in heaps, and mounds scattered across a vast desolate meadow of deep dark red, and there lying at the epicenter of scorched earth was that one pleading villager on bent knees with a sword pierced through his throat.

Gargling. Choking. Dying…

Leonardo brandished his sword and recited his line.

"I won't let you get away with this! You servant of Evil."

Then, expectedly, keeping to the beat like a scene from a play, came the laughter. Mad, derisive laughter.

First time through, having heard such a cackle, it unsettled me. Second time now… seeing those bloodied lips spreading from ear to ear - knowing who they belonged to.

I could hardly keep my eyes straight.

Ash. Poor, poor Ash. Her ears perked, her eyes sharp, seemingly at the ready for anything the game would throw at her.

Anything… everything... but for this.

"Evil?" Eshwlyn spoke out. "Evil implies that the actions I've taken were immoral."

The camera slowly panned upwards.

Then there it was - realization dawning.

Those glittering emerald eyes that filled every inch of the screen mirrored back at Ash's in ways that went beyond physical resemblance.

Elf to Elf.

Knight to Knight.

Ash stared into the deranged gaze of herself, her lips thinning to a narrow slit, and took in a heavy breath.

No questions came my way, no outrage to be heard. Ash silently watched as the cutscene unfolded, as Eshwyln continued on.

"Tell me o' great chivalrous one, what do you find so immoral about death?"

Words that resonated with Ash more than anyone else in the vicinity and that includes the reality projected beyond the border of the rectangular screen before us. Thought briefly about pausing, but ultimately decided against it… didn't want to intrude, especially not here, not now… Ash just couldn't tear away from herself.

She saw it all - Eshwyln through the looking glass. Every act of terror committed, she'd smile and she'd simper, a total inversion of Ash, who'd look on at herself without a flinch in her vacant expression.

It was a rather brief cutscene at least when compared to the many countless others that would come after.

Brief but yet so, so long…

The end couldn't come soon enough, but eventually, it did... with the archer companion dead, Leonardo defeated, and Eshwyln reveling above him in pure ecstasy.

'Just who are you?' - were the last words of the great hero before unconsciousness would overtake him.

There were many questions that lingered still, many mysteries left unaccounted for. That was no question, that was no mystery… nonetheless the ugly truth reared in and leaned in glee, that devilish smile contorting Ash's lips.

And so ended the stage play of revelations, with a curtsy and a bow from Eshwyln of the Old Guard, a servant to the Demon Lord Terestra - at our service.

Another cutscene was supposed to play after. The resulting aftermath of that devastation. It would have, had Ash not interrupted it with a press of a button.

Some unknown force kept my gaze deflecting, matters not how much I forced myself to - I just couldn't look at her, at Ash.

Night and light painted shadows to the walls of her room, that there - that inky silhouette hunched over with its head tilted downwards, that I could bear to look at, that I could actually talk to…

And talk I did with nothing to say.

"Good reasons," muttered me to the unfeeling shadow. "Like I said."

Dared another peek, and saw the shadow move its head, a subtle nod once.

"Won't ask if you're okay. I know you're not. I just wanted to know… you know… if you got what you needed from this."

Her reply was short, simply… sorrowful.

"I did..."