She grabbed Yaagnar's legs and dragged him away from the tree, deeper into the pathway. When she seemed satisfied with the new location, she let his legs drop with a thud, her expression calm and detached.
Standing over Yaagnar, she began muttering words in an unfamiliar tongue, her voice low and rhythmic. Gustov could only watch in tense silence. As she raised her gaze to the canopy of trees, she sliced her palm with a sharp motion, letting the blood flow freely. With her index finger, she began drawing runes on the ground, the crimson liquid mixing with the dirt as she worked.
Her chant grew louder, echoing eerily through the area of the forest where they stood. Gustov felt the hair on his neck rise as a sense of unease enveloped him. The symbols on the ground glowed faintly as she finished the ritual, and she stepped back to her original position examining the works of her hand.
Then, with no warning, she let out a piercing screech throwing her head with great force against her back—a sound so intense it felt like it would shatter the very air. Gustov clamped his hands over his ears, dropping into a fetal position as the inhuman cry overwhelmed him. The sound reverberated through his skull and the bones in his body, driving away coherent thought from his vicinity. It was unbearable, a torment he could only hope would end but it just started.
As the echoes of her screech died down, other cries began to join hers, high-pitched and mournful like the wails of banshees. Gustov's mind teetered on the edge of madness, the cries hammering into him relentlessly. He could not even discern if all these voices where coming from this young lady, he could not even think of that in the first place. Even though she was not small but as tall as a guy, it did not justify being the source of such banshee screams.
Through the haze of sound, he caught movement in the corner of his eye. Yaagnar's limp body twitched and then convulsed violently. Febronia leaned forward, her hands clutching her chest as she emitted a keening wail, as if mourning. And Yaagnar's unconscious body shook more violently which was quite concerning.
Suddenly, Yaagnar's body jerked upright, his head snapping to one side as his unfocused eyes scanned the surroundings. When his gaze landed on Febronia, a flicker of recognition crossed his face.
"What is it?" he spat, his tone laced with venom in a very bitter tone. His movements were unnatural as he stood, his posture almost puppet-like looking at the runes that were drawn around him.
"I want the boy," Febronia replied flatly, her green eyes glowing faintly as she locked her gaze on him.
"He is mine," Yaagnar hissed, standing with an air of defiance, his mannerisms sharp and precise. "Why would I give him to you?"
Febronia did not respond as she stared at Yaagnar's body as she communicated with Maelstrom, the entity already attached to Yaagnar. Her request was not the first of its kind. There has being cases of people that bonded with more than entity, it took a huge toll on the bodies because it's like three people sharing a body.
Let's imagine three people sharing one phone. Only one person can unlock it at a time, and when they do, they have full control. They can use their own apps, send messages, or even change the wallpaper.
When the next person gets the phone, they see the changes the last person made but don't always know why. Maybe the playlist is different, or there's a text draft that doesn't make sense to them.
Even though it's the same phone, how it's used depends entirely on who's holding it. Each person leaves a mark, but they all share the same device.
If a new person wants to use the phone, it has to be authorized by one of the current users of the phone. In this case, the phone is the physical body and the the person/user could be the person's soul or the Entity.
In this case, the Entity that possessed Febronia has contacted Maelstrom that was already bonded to Yaagnar to be a third party. But this request would not be normally granted as it would cause a lot of stress on the physical body leading to the body being useless to be used by one Entity.
"This body is mine," Maelstrom said through Yaagnar, his voice dripping with disdain. "If you want someone else, go find another."
"I want this one," Febronia said, her tone icy. "You owe me. Consider this my reward for old times' sake."
Yaagnar narrowed his eyes, his expression shifting between anger and resignation. "I've already made a deal with the boy. It—"
"That's your concern," Febronia cut him off sharply. "This deal is done."
Before Yaagnar could protest further, she began chanting again. Her voice resonated with a power Gustov couldn't comprehend- being the only conscious being in the area. The air grew thick, charged with an oppressive energy. Yaagnar's body shuddered, and with a heavy thud, it collapsed into the center of the runes, raising a small cloud of dust in the quiet forest under the gigantic trees.
Gustov, still trembling from hearing the whole ordeal, barely being able to process what was happening. Febronia stood tall, her green eyes burning brightly as she completed the ritua, the forest fell into an eerie silence.
Gustov's breath hitched as Febronia turned her gaze toward him. He felt exposed, vulnerable, as if her stare could see every thought and fear he'd ever had.
"You will come with me now," she said, her voice calm yet commanding.
Gustov hesitated, every fiber of his being screaming at him to run, but he couldn't move. Her presence was overwhelming, her authority undeniable. Slowly, he nodded, his legs moving of their own accord as he stepped closer to her. Following her to climb the hill, he help carry Yaagnar's unconscious body by his legs and Febronia carried his hands up the hill
The path ahead was uncertain, but Gustov knew one thing: whatever he had stumbled into was far beyond anything he could have imagined.