Rivers of the Night

Lyra was so scared by the words that she couldn't even bring herself to move… if her shivering wasn't counted, that is.

She felt a suffocating weight come not just from the realization of the horror presented before her, and how the Sect she had once known had rotted beyond reason or choice, but the presence of Matriarch Macie's aura as well.

She was only in the high tiers of Gold Mancy. What chance did she stand against an existence like Matriarch Macie, who was a step away from Ascended Cloud Resonance?

Suddenly, that pressure vanished and Lyra almost collapsed to the ground.

Matriarch Macie looked away and Lyra thought that that was her cue to leave, but she could hardly move even after several seconds, no matter how hard she willed it.

But it seemed that she was wrong. Matriarch Macie still had one other thing to say.

"The rules of the Sect are quite lax now, and I hear that after my number one disciple ascended to the rank of elder, you took her spot as the number one beauty of the Sect. Even as the Third Core Disciple, I'm sure that places you under a lot of pressure and stress. After all, Kaelen and Blackmaul both are probably not very happy with you right now."

Lyra's heart sunk to rock bottom as though it hadn't already crashed along the darkened reefs and been tossed in the violent waves.

"Maybe you can defend yourself quite well against Kaelen in a normal situation, but his scheming has always been beyond your own. You might fall into his clutches without even realizing where you misstepped.

"As for Blackmaul, I'm sure there's even less to say about him. You were never a match for him, now were you? It was just your luck that he's always been obsessed with the First Core Disciple of the Resonate Eye Sect.

"I wonder… will that still be the same now? It seems to me that you'll need some protection if you want to maintain that innocence of yours."

This sounded like a new approach. Maybe it was supposed to be some sick, twisted form of good cop, bad cop—a forced realization that Lyra was cornered no matter where she looked.

Kaelen had been pining after her for years, ever since they were Outer Disciples. While she was weaker than him, because of the rules of the Sect and the fact the gap wasn't substantial, she had always been able to keep him at bay.

Blackmaul had never bothered her at all, and he had always been cheery and carefree. In fact, as a First Senior Brother, she had always respected him and cherished his leadership, though she had never had feelings for him. Maybe she had had too many worries on her mind to ever develop real feelings for anyone.

But now, Kaelen was given free rein to attack her from any angle he saw fit, while Blackmaul was there when she stood opposed to him.

With the situation the way it was now, the only person she should be able to rely on was Matriarch Macie, the master she had known ever since she became a Core Disciple. But…

She would be a fool to hope in such a thing now.

She was only an in-name disciple to the Matriarch, and clearly the latter had every intention of abandoning her.

"You may go now. I would like my peace."

Macie waved a hand and Lyra was shuttled out of the Patriarch's abode, incapable of saying even a single word.

The Matriarch stood there in silence, darkness flickering in her eyes. In that silence, she felt a door opening up to her.

For too long, she had been soft-hearted. What an irony.

The moment she stopped caring about anything, and became as unscrupulous in her means as the former Patriarch, the door to Ascended Clouds had opened up before her just the tiniest crack.

Somewhere, observing from a corner of the abode, though, stood her first disciple, Andra, the very same woman who had been overlooking Sadie's grave before the Dark Spirit destroyed it.

Andra looked on with sadness in her eyes and then toward where Lyra had left.

**

Lyra stood before Theron's Immortal Cave to find that it had been sealed shut.

She had already expected this before she came, but she wasn't sure what to do about it. Even now, she hadn't made a decision on how to go forward.

Would she really have to contact her family for help?

How many years had it been? Five? Ten? More?

She had lost count how long it had been since she set off on her own. She had expected to be much further along by now, but what did she have to show for it? Just some jingling jewelry?

Maybe her best hope was for Theron to remain inside for the entirety of the next three months, and maybe that was what she should do as well.

The Matriarch couldn't blame her if Theron simply never appeared, right?

Lyra rolled the ring on her finger, her thumb continuously gliding over it.

A scream came from over the horizon.

Lyra's head snapped in the direction, but it came from so far away that she wasn't sure what to make of it.

But then she saw the pillar of fire and it clicked.

'The Sect…'

Absolute chaos. The screech of that poor woman just now—even if she rushed out, would she even make it in time?

Her eyes dimmed.

Would she even be strong enough? Who knew what powerhouse had chosen to take advantage of those unscrupulous rules? And wouldn't she put herself in danger?

Lyra's thumb pressed against her ring so hard it drew a line of blood. As the crimson liquid trickled, she squeezed her fist tight.

She refused to cower. What had she come all this way for?

Lyra pivoted, her destination the complete opposite direction of her Immortal Cave.

She knew it could protect her. She knew that it had formations even Blackmaul couldn't break through with ease. But she still made this decision.

Otherwise she would still be that same scared little girl who left home out of stubbornness.