Echoes of Hollow

Everything that was harvested and brought was delivered to a team that seemed entirely responsible for preparing food for everyone. There were several people, both men and women, working together to get everything ready before nightfall.

The left side of the city was as hot as an oven, with so many wood-burning stoves lit at once that the heat was unbearable. But not for those who worked them. With smiles on their faces and clay pots in front of them, jokes were exchanged continuously as more and more ingredients were brought in.

On the right, an extensive vegetable field stretched for miles, tended by many other lycanthropes. They watered, harvested, and planted the crops while returning to their human forms.

"This is probably where their leader lives, but... unlike the others, he doesn’t seem to do anything. He doesn’t even bother to fetch his own food... how will we even see him like this? The security here is even tighter than at the entrance gate."

"We could use a distraction, like your lightning ability. Or maybe poison, tainting the water they drink."

"Though simple, a distraction is a feasible idea. Poison, however... I’m not sure if my dagger can poison liquids, and I haven’t seen any poisonous herbs while following them here. They are an intelligent species capable of creating a civilization, so perhaps they’ve removed them?"

"Yes, maybe, but there might still be some scattered around the forest."

"Well, I’ll continue observing them for now, and then we’ll decide. But something I’ve noticed so far is that this place has a rather strange atmosphere. There are many eyes constantly directed towards this place, but not at me; they’re all directed at this house. It seems this city is maintained through fear and nothing more... Huh?"

Some time after those who brought food for the leader had left, with an enraged look and trembling body, a hesitant woman slowly approached the red doors.

‘Hmm… So your senses are that good?’ questioned Samael. ‘Tell me, if you can minimally perceive the hatred they all feel, can you sense that it is about to intensify?’

Grinding her teeth, Samantha clenched her fists tightly. Although she couldn’t see, her ears could distinguish every detail of what was happening in each part of the city.

The woman emerged moments later, stumbling against the door and, giving in to the trembling of her legs, falling shortly after descending the small flight of stairs. With tears in her eyes, she repeatedly wiped her lips as if trying to clean something that wasn’t there... at least not now...

"Poor Lykos... it seems it’s his turn now..."

"Be quiet! Continue what you were doing and forget this...! Or do you also want to join the door?!"

The voices and the stares... as if the disgust she already felt for herself wasn’t enough, now there were so many people looking at her. A being endowed with superhuman strength, yet still as fragile as any other at that moment... she tried to get up but slipped again. Clenching her fists full of sand, she stood up despite trembling and, with her head down, walked past so many gazes.

'Join the door...'

'Exactly. How good would a leader who rules through fear and force be if he accepted having his will defied?'

Seeing the blood trickling from Samantha’s lips, Hye leaped over the houses and followed the woman silently.

By the river that surrounds the upper part of the city, she knelt. Bringing her hands to the water and then to her mouth, repeating the process over and over. Her claws were exposed and so much force was used that the only reason there were no visible wounds on her face was due to her rapid regeneration.

Her tears mixed with the water for hours, and after leaving a hole and some of her blood on the stones surrounding the river, she took a deep breath, wiped her tears again, and stood up.

With an indifferent face, Arche walked towards her house, ignoring the voices and the stares. Standing before the small dark wooden door, she took an even deeper sigh before mustering enough courage to open it.

"Mama!"

Raising her arms, with a genuine smile on her face, she caught the little girl who jumped towards her, but carrying a heart-wrenching pain in her chest that felt like being hit by numerous small sharp blades.

"How was your day today, dear?"

As she lifted her eyes and looked towards the chair under the small window, the constant struggle to hold back her tears was immediately lost. Seeing that loving face looking at her so affectionately, her tears fell, and her knees gave way. In her mind, Arche could only wonder how long... how long would he continue to look at her like that after discovering what had happened...?

"Mama? Daddy, mama is hurt!"

With a leap, Lykos left the chair and quickly approached Arche. The warmth of his hands only intensified the pain in her heart. If she could... she would undoubtedly tear it out with her own hands right at that moment...

"Dear, what happened?! Are you hurt?! Where is it? Where does it hurt?"