Chương 39: UNSEEN ENEMY

A week later, the chilling sensation of being noticed still clung to Elias like a shroud. The garden, once a place of serene meditation, now held a subtle, unsettling dread. He avoided it, preferring the perceived safety of the manor's sunlit corridors or the quiet solace of his room. Sleep offered little respite, haunted by vague, unsettling dreams of formless shadows and an ancient, predatory gaze.

He was jumpy, prone to flinching at sudden sounds, his small frame still vibrating with the echo of that malevolent energy. Aina observed him discreetly, her gaze unwavering yet distant. She noted his lingering distress, the subtle tremors that sometimes ran through his body, and acknowledged, in the quiet confines of her own mind, that the time she had given him to stabilize was indeed necessary. He was still a child after all. The evening after Elias's terrifying encounter, Aina had sought out Lord Alaric.

She found him in his study, poring over maps of the Dukker lands, his brow furrowed in concentration. Her report was concise, devoid of embellishment, yet delivered with an urgency that immediately captured his full attention. She recounted Elias's experience in chilling detail, emphasizing the profound sense of being noticed by the ominous energy.

Then, with a rare, almost imperceptible tremor in her voice, she described her own fleeting, terrifying perception of that malevolent gaze – a shard of pure, ancient cold that had pierced her own carefully guarded Soul even though she herself did not seek to perceive it. The proximity of such a threat, close to Blackhaven, the central city of thier region and where the manor was quite alarming. Alaric listened, his expression growing progressively grim.

He trusted Aina implicitly, his faith in her judgment absolute. She was more mature than she looked and so he knew this wasn't a childish prank. He wouldn't have left his son's training in the hands of just anybody regardless of lineage. Her account, coupled with her own unusual display of concern, left no room for doubt. This was a serious matter. Besides, as the overseer of the Blackwood region it was his job to ensure the safety of his family and the people.

Some would call him overcautious but he wasnt going to leave anything to chance. He was still going to check things out, just in case. Within hours, Lord Alaric had assembled a small, elite contingent of his most trusted knights and soldiers despite the approaching darkness. These were not mere guards, but hardened veterans, Flow-users themselves, trained to perceive subtle disturbances in the ambient energy.

He personally led the investigation, focusing their efforts not on the manor grounds, but outside the main city within a radius of several miles. The sprawling lands of Blackwood were a region known for ancient forests and hidden valleys there were a lot of places for any danger to hide and so they were thorough. They returned late into the night having found nothing. For a full week, they scoured the designated range and even moved a little further beyond.

Day after day, the knights moved with silent precision, their senses extended, their blades ready. They found nothing. No tracks, no disturbed earth, no lingering scent of corruption. The ambient Flow of the forest seemed normal, healthy, undisturbed. They patrolled every ravine, staked out every hidden grove, but the ominous presence seemed to have vanished without a trace, leaving only the mundane hum of nature in its wake.

On the final day of their week-long stakeout, just as the last rays of sunlight began to paint the western sky, a subtle piece of evidence was finally discovered. Knight Commander Eddie Gable, a formidable man whose weathered face bore the marks of countless campaigns, knelt by a gnarled oak. His Flow senses, honed over decades, picked up a faint anomaly: a patch of ground where the ambient Flow was unnaturally thin, almost dead, as if life itself had been briefly siphoned away.

A faint, residual chill lingered in the air, a cold that had nothing to do with the setting sun. It was almost imperceptible, a ghost of a presence. He bent down and picked up a hidden object glinting in the sunlight.

"It was here, my Lord," Eddie rumbled, his voice low raising a blue scale. This whisps of cold emanated from it and a layer of frost began to grow in the fingers of his gauntle.

"And it was powerful. Very powerful." Alaric took the scale from Eddie and studied it.

"It's retreated." He said, crushing the scale in his fingers. They speculated on the nature of the threat.

"An Awakened Beast," Eddie murmured, confirming Alaric's own suspicions.

"One that seems to have awakened quite recently. A dangerous one." Awakened Beasts, creatures that had absorbed enough ambient Flow over a period of time to gain a level of mastery over it, graduating from being 'Imbued Beasts' to 'Awakened Beasts'. The increase in rank also ment they had gained some level of intelligence as well as power. They were terrifying. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Terrifying because their flow hadn't completely settled down within their bodies and was in a state of turbulence causing them to be more prone to violence and hostile even without provocation. The thought of such a creature so close to the Blackwood region, so close to his family, caused a cold knot to form in Alaric's stomach.' But why didn't the hunters deal with it or report it if they discovered it. But they didn't which meant that it was only recently that it came to the area as well and for a short time.

Elias and Aina sensed it within that that time frame. But then there are some holes in this scenario. What creature is it? There isn't enough Flow in the area for an Imbued to Awaken and there weren't also corpses to show that it killed and absorbed the flow of other creatures to Awaken. If that's the case, where did it come from? Did all of this happen by chance or was it....' Returning to Blackwood Keep, the Manor, Alaric immediately issued orders. The security of the Dukker lands was paramount.

All knight patrols were to be on high alert. Increased vigilance, expanded patrol routes, and a heightened awareness for unusual Flow signatures or disturbances were to be strictly enforced. The Blackwood region, like all noble territories, maintained its own dedicated force of knights. These weren't just soldiers; they were the backbone of law and order, trained in both conventional combat and the rudiments of Flow sensing and suppression.

With no ongoing wars, the greater army was judiciously distributed among all lands, ensuring that each region had a standing force capable of rapid response and maintaining their combat readiness. Knight Commander Eddie Gable, a pillar of the Blackwood defense and, unbeknownst to many, the steadfast husband of Elias's kind maid, Eleanor Gable or Miss Gable as she was fondly called would oversee the implementation of these new directives.

Later, on the afternoon of the seventh day, Alaric met with Aina in a quiet sitting room. They had tea and he relayed his findings, the week-long search, the subtle evidence, and the conclusion that an Awakened Beast had been present, now retreated. Aina listened, her expression unreadable, absorbing the information. As he finished, Aina's keen eyes, trained to perceive the slightest shift, noticed it.

A subtle tension in Alaric's shoulders, a distant, almost wistful look in his eyes that had nothing to do with the investigation.

"Are you alright, Lord Alaric?" she asked, her voice soft. Alaric blinked, a faint, almost imperceptible startle in his eyes. He dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Aina." He then reached out, playfully patting her on the head, an affectionate gesture.

"And how many times must I tell you? You don't need to be so formal. Call me uncle." Aina bowed slightly, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"My apologies, Uncle. I will endeavor to do so from now on." Alaric chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound. He looked at a clock on the wall and rose to his feet.

"Thank you for your diligence, Aina. For your time teaching my son. I know you could be pursuing your own advancement with all your potential." He smiled. Aina's eyes met his, her voice soft but firm.

"It is a big sister's duty to prioritize her younger siblings than herself." Alaric's smile widened, a flicker of deep emotion crossing his face. He noticed, however, that she hadn't hesitated to call Elias her "little brother," and the hint of genuine affection in her voice touched him deeply.' Why does she find it difficult to call me uncle then?' He looked almost… comical in his emotional suppression, a fleeting mix of paternal pride and jealous offence that he tried to quickly mask.

Aina, seeing the brief, unguarded expression, pressed gently.

"Are you truly alright, Uncle? You look… troubled." Alaric forced a reassuring smile, quickly regaining his composure.

"I'm fine, Aina. Now, I have work to do in the city." He rose, signaling to Knight Commander Eddie Gable, who had been waiting patiently by the door. Together, they walked out, their footsteps echoing down the corridor, heading towards the city for administrative duties. Aina watched them leave the room, her gaze lingering on Alaric's retreating back, still sensing the subtle undercurrent of hidden concern that he tried so hard to conceal.

Then, she turned her attention back to the cup of tea in her hands and looked outside the window which gave her a view of the garden. A faint, determined glint entered her eyes. He had had enough time to stabilize. Training would resume. She drank the tea and rose to her feet.