Chapter 205 - Settlements
Rosa was long since used to not feeling in control. Used to feeling adrift — a castaway clinging to the flimsy raft that was her life, tossed about by the turbulent waves of circumstances she didn’t even completely understand. She had grown used to this feeling, sure, but she had never been comfortable with it. Instead, she had always been fleeing in some way. From people, from her past, and whatever uncertain future lay ahead for her.
Surrounded by an endless, suffocating void of darkness, Rosa was confronted by yet another embodiment of this seemingly uncontrollable destiny of hers. This was how it looked when Anguish held the reins, and Rosa couldn’t deny that it terrified her to the core.
Yet, for once, her fear seemed almost inconsequential. Because, for once, while she wasn’t the one in control, she was the one in charge.
Slowly, she tapped into this mysterious newfound power that was now a part of her. The dark void responded, and its oppressive emptiness started to recede, morphing under her order. Whispers floated across the expanse, carrying unheard voices and incomprehensible sounds as the space shifted and bent like a maelstrom around her.
The darkness tried to evade her, to slip through her grasp, but it couldn’t. It was bound, inescapably shackled by unseen threads running through everything, all responsive to Rosa’s intent. Despite seeing nothing, she commanded an almost paradoxical awareness.
The world sharpened around her as she gradually regained control of her body, pushing Anguish’s influence back to whatever nook of her soul that the demon dwelled in. She found herself in the heart of a village shrouded by the veil of night.
Crowcairn.
She had only visited the settlement briefly in her search for Malachi, but she still recognized it. There was a wide open area before her, lit up by torches, with a wooden platform at its center. Atop it sat a menacing, black stone artifact, its presence practically screaming at Rosa’s senses.
It was a scene that felt all too familiar after the times she had accompanied Scarlett to Freymeadow.
The village square was populated with various groups of people—elders, adults, and a few children—all seemingly prepared for departure. Many wore anxious expressions as their belongings lay on the ground beside them, their attention split between the platform and the sky above the village. Among the people, individuals in black, armed and faces painted, moved with purpose.
Rosa hadn’t thought Scarlett was lying about the village being connected to the Tribe of Sin, but seeing it in person like this stirred conflicting emotions inside her.
But what did that matter? In the end, she could barely say she was doing this for others.