Chapter 203: Even When No One Sees
As years passed, the shroud continued its self-appointed task, a relentless guardian in the blizzards that now lingered with unnatural persistence.
I watched, a silent observer tethered to its burgeoning awareness, as it delved deeper into the intricate tapestry of human emotions.
It helped, yes, guiding lost hunters back to the Keep, subtly shifting snowdrifts to reveal hidden paths for desperate foragers, even deterring hungry ice-wolves with sudden, disorienting blasts of wind.
But the gratitude it came to understand, the connection it yearned for, remained elusive.
A few times, I saw it try to speak through its illusions, weaving whispered words into the phantom forms it conjured, attempting to explain its presence, its intentions.
The results were always disastrous: terrified shrieks, wild accusations, people scrambling away from the "voice of the storm" or the "ghost of the winds."
The people of Eclipse Keep, oblivious to its true nature, began to weave their own narratives around the inexplicable rescues and unsettling phenomena.
They called it the ’eyes in the snow’, a chilling moniker that settled over the Shroud like a fresh layer of snow, heavy with fear and superstition.
Was it all worth it?
For the first time, the Shroud doubted the value of its efforts. This doubt was intricately woven with its growing understanding of negative emotions, fear, distrust, anger, and so on, which it inadvertently evoked.
This must be the turning point, I thought grimly. Where salvation and damnation wore the same frozen face.
The blizzards thickened around us like a second skin, a perpetual white gloom pressing down on the land. On us. The air grew colder, heavier, charged with an oppressive stillness that permeated even my own thoughts.
The Hollowlands.
I realized with a creeping dread, my long-held suspicion solidifying into conviction.
This desolate, storm-wracked expanse was slowly, subtly, corrupting the Shroud.
Its burgeoning sense of wrongness, its empathy, was being twisted, tainted. It began to act more impulsively, less discerningly, stopping to actively seek out those in distress, sometimes forgetting to even dissolve its illusions, leaving spectral figures to fade slowly in the biting wind.
So, my guess was right, huh?
I had long suspected a scenario like this, the Shroud originating as a neutral, unseen entity, only to be slowly, tragically, tainted by the very essence of the Hollowlands.
There were countless reasons for this theory: from the records of Ashenfang Whitefall, the encyclopedia’s info, the conversations I’d had with the infected during my investigations, to the countless cautionary tales passed down through generations. And of course, my existing memories also played a big role.
Hmm?
Just as my thoughts were circling, I felt a strange, jarring sensation from the Shroud, a jolt that mirrored in my own phantom body.
My eyes, the Shroud’s eyes, widened as I experienced the same profound sense of recognition it did. Our collective gaze snapped to a lone figure, a young boy, no more than ten, who had just stumbled directly through the formless mist.
Is that... me?
A chilling certainty settled over me as the Shroud instinctively shifted, moving in front of the boy, its formless awareness now focused entirely on him.
The messy black hair, plastered to his forehead by melting snow. The dirty, ill-fitting clothes. The bruised face, a purple smudge under one eye. The swollen, chapped hands, clutching nothing.
He was walking absentmindedly, lost in his own world, and passed straight through the Shroud again.
A new surge of memories flooded the Shroud’s awareness, and mine along with it.
They were my memories from that age. I saw myself trying to help whenever I could, pulling a trapped animal from a crevice, warning someone about thin ice, even just now, saving a few kids from a mad snow dog. But the kids ran away from the fear, not even noticing child Aman, who came for help.
I went silent, absorbing the echoes of my own forgotten childhood.
Baron’s words about my younger self, about a time when I saved those kids, resonated. And the illusion the Shroud had given me during the luring process, a memory of gratitude and childish heroics, suddenly made twisted sense.
Seeing what really happened, I felt a strange mix of confusion and a dawning understanding, my own guesses forming in the silence.
Meanwhile, the Shroud was feeling a new sensation that I could easily identify — déjà vu. It saw itself in this small, lonely child. Both of us, trying to be good, offering help, but never getting the recognition we deserved, never truly forging the connection we sought.
The Shroud lingered, swirling around child Aman, drawn to this kindred spirit. It devoured his memories, each one a testament to small, unnoticed kindnesses.
Thankfully, there were times my past self did get recognized, but only by my parents, their quiet pride a fleeting warmth against the world’s cold indifference.
The Shroud stilled, its formless edges trembling with revelation. In this child’s memories, my memories, it found neither grand heroics nor glorious gratitude, only small, stubborn acts of care repeated like prayers into the wind. A hand extended, again and again, even when no one grasped it.
And yet...
The boy kept trying.
A realization unfurled between us, delicate as frost crystallizing: This was the answer.
Not in the reward, not in the recognition, but in the act itself.
The choice to reach out, even when the world bit back.
The Shroud had spent decades craving connection like a starving thing, never noticing how its own outstretched hands had already become the connection...
....To the land. To the lost. To me.
A new purpose, quiet but firm, solidified within the Shroud’s vast awareness. Its gaze lingered on child Aman, who shuffled forward, head bowed, likely replaying the bitter sting of unacknowledged bravery.
’...’
The Shroud’s formless essence pulsed with a gentle, fierce resolve.
It could not speak words, nor offer physical comfort, but it had a language now, refined over decades of quiet practice.
Suddenly, the biting wind around Aman softened, swirling into familiar shapes. From behind him, the faint, joyous sounds of children’s laughter, bright and clear, pierced the wind.
Aman paused, his head snapping back.
Three spectral figures, translucent but vivid, appeared from the swirling snow, their faces beaming, their tiny forms running to catch up to him.
"Aman! Wait up, Aman!" one girl’s voice chimed, clear as bells.
"You were so cool!" a boy’s voice followed, echoing the awe. "You saved us from that dog! You’re a hero!"
They reached him, their illusory hands clapping him on the shoulder, their ethereal smiles wide.
Aman stood frozen, his bruised face slowly breaking into a smile, pure and unguarded, a child’s dream made real.
He stammered, a choked sound of disbelief, his eyes wide with a fragile, hopeful joy that reached into the very core of the Shroud.
Then, as quickly as they appeared, the figures wavered, their laughter fading into the wind, their forms dissolving back into the swirling snow.
The illusion was gone.
Aman stood alone again, the wind whipping his messy black hair. He remained motionless for a long moment, his chest heaving, the vibrant color still on his cheeks.
Slowly, he turned, his gaze sweeping the empty, howling expanse. He seemed to search, to listen.
Then, his eyes, impossibly wise for a child, paused. They didn’t land on any specific point, but directly into the heart of the formless mist where the Shroud hovered, where we watched.
He hesitated, then the words, barely audible over the wind, escaped his lips, imbued with a quiet, profound sincerity.
"...Thank you."