"When a man takes from the river, the river takes in return."
As the last echoes of the battle faded, the creature's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, its twisted form splayed awkwardly by the side.
Within moments, its flesh began to dissolve, breaking down into a viscous liquid that seeped into the earth. The air was heavy with the stench of decay, a noxious odor that lingered for a moment, slowly dissipating, leaving behind an unsettling silence.
Eris sits in the cave after the shard seeker's defeat, chest heaving. His veins flicker dimly, the light inside him guttering like a failing torch.
Eris flexed his fingers, watching as the last of the stolen silver dissolved into his skin.
Kaylah stared at Eris, her own veins flickering. "You took his power."
Eris staggered back, gasping. His skin blazed with silver light that slowly dimmed to a faint shimmer.
Kaylah rushed to him; her breath ragged. "Eris…"
"I'm fine," he whispered, though his voice shook. His hand still trembled, faint trails of silver pulsing beneath the skin. "It answered me this time."
Kaylah's expression is unreadable. "No, it didn't answer…" she said quietly, "… it remembered you."
Then, Eris staggered back as the Shard Seeker's body was totally absorbed into the earth. The silver current still burned inside his veins; too bright, too alive. His breath hitched, chest tight, vision narrowing to a thread.
Then, the world tilted.
The cave was gone.
Eris's vision blurred, and he felt the mutant's memories flood his mind like a dark tide.
He saw the mutant as he once was – a human with silver vein, yet untouched by the silver's corrupting influence. But that innocence was short-lived.
The hunger began, a gnawing need for power that consumed him. The shard-seeker hunted beasts first, their silver blood a sweet, intoxicating nectar that filled him with strength. He tore into their flesh, drinking in their power, his body twisting, contorting, his mind unraveling under the strain.
The memory shifted, darkening…
The same man now crouched beside a human body – a woman with wide, staring eyes that reflected Eris's own horror. For a fleeting moment, he hesitated, a glimmer of humanity flickering within. But the hunger won, and he surrendered to its merciless demands.
The man's body convulsed as he sank his teeth into the woman's neck, the sensation triggering a mix of revulsion and fascination in Eris. As the man drank in her blood, silver threads burst forth, like delicate filaments of light, connecting her flesh to his.
Her light, her very essence, began to dim, fading to nothingness as the silver threads drew her life force into the Seeker's body.
Eris felt a twisted sense of horror as he watched the man's presence grow, intensify, his power surging like a dark elixir coursing through his veins. The woman's eyes, once bright with life, lost their luster, her gaze freezing in a permanent stare as her soul slipped away.
The memory was suffocating, heavy with the weight of the cursed hunger and Eris's own revulsion. He felt the man's twisted satisfaction, his power growing with each passing moment, but also the crushing guilt that followed, the knowledge of what he had become.
The memory threatened to consume Eris, and he struggled to break free from its grasp.
Eris gasped, his mind recoiling in horror, but the memory refused to release him, forcing him to witness the man's descent into darkness.
The memory kept flowing...
A figure emerged at dusk, a haunting silhouette against the fading light. It was the same man, a half-mutant, half-human; a fusion of flesh and steel, his body a patchwork of human and machine.
His skin was a blend of warm, vulnerable flesh and cold, dark metal, the seams where the two were joined visible and raw.
As he walked through the village, the creaking of his mechanical limbs echoed through the stillness, a stark reminder of what he had become.
The children fled in terror. He caught one by reflex and sank his razor-sharp teeth on the child's neck. The pure silver within the child recoiled from the foul metal coursing through his veins.
The man's veins blazed like rivers of dark fire, the rotten metal within him dancing and singing as he drank in the child's silver. With each gulp, his body seemed to writhe in agony. He laughed, the sound twisted and inhuman, born not of joy but of anguish.
Tears streamed down his face as he fed, his body convulsing with each swallow. The conflict within him was palpable, a war between the impure metal that sustained him and the remnants of his humanity that screamed in horror.
Eris could feel his grief, that terrible, twisted sorrow.
The man hadn't wanted to kill. He had only wanted to live, to stop the burning in his chest that the silver had started. But every time he fed, the fire inside him flared brighter, demanding more.
His body had changed with each kill, his limbs twisting, his skin stretching too tight over his bones. His eyes had hollowed out, his soul consumed by the silver's hunger. He had become a monster, a shadow of the man he once was.
The last memory came slowly. It was drawn out, heavy.
The Seeker, now barely human, crawled through the darkness, his body twisted in ways that defied natural movement. His voice, once a hallmark of humanity, had begun to change; it was a faint, menacing hiss that sent shivers through the air. The sound was like sand scraping against stone, devoid of warmth or emotion, a chilling reminder of what he had become.
Full of remorse, he begged the silver itself, like a prayer:
Waaa!
"Yoous maaade...
"Meeeh...
Hsss...
"Noooh...
"Uunmaaake...
"Meeeh!
Hsss...
Then, silence.
The silver around him flared, and his body began to change again. It was melting, reforming, until nothing of the man remained, only the hunger.
Eris fell to his knees, clutching his head as the visions faded. His breath came in ragged bursts; tears streaked the dust on his face.
Kaylah's voice was tight. "Eris. Your eyes."
He touched his face. His fingers came away wet; not with blood, but with silver tears.
Kaylah knelt beside him, hands trembling. "Eris, what did you see?"
He swallowed hard, shaking his head. His voice cracked. "A man," he said. "He was once a human. He took the silver to survive. It hollowed him out until there was nothing left but hunger."
Kaylah's eyes softened. "You saw his memory."
He nodded weakly. "It's more than memory," he whispered. "It's a warning. The River doesn't just give; it takes. Piece by piece."
Eris's hands trembled, his silver veins flickering with the stolen power. The memories were a weight in his chest, a reminder of what he could become if he lost control.
Kaylah's voice cut through the haze. "Eris?"
He blinked, his vision clearing.
Eris's voice was low and resolute, his words a solemn vow. "I won't let that happen to me," he said, though his voice trembled slightly, betraying the depth of his determination.
Kaylah's eyes locked onto his, her gaze burning with a fierce protectiveness. In that moment, she silently promised herself: "I won't let that happen to you."
Eris stared at his hands; they were faintly glowing, trembling with power and fear. The silver light along his veins flickered, fading to a quiet pulse. For now, it obeyed.
The shard-seeker's memories were both a curse and a catalyst. They would serve as a cautionary reminder, illustrating the destructive consequences of unchecked power and the moral cost of wielding the silver without control.
By confronting these memories, Eris had gained insight into the nature of his power, the responsibility, and the fragility of life. The silver power is not merely a source of strength but a demanding and dangerous force that exacts a moral and psychological toll.
The Silver Maiden's warning, "Lift you beyond men, or drag you into the abyss", resonates as Eris grapples with the dual nature of his gift. The silver's hunger is a metaphorical and literal threat, representing the seductive and destructive potential of unchecked power.
Ruvio's eyes narrowed as he saw Eris's body tense, his muscles locking into a rigid pose. The faint glimmer in his veins swelled, transforming into a steady stream of silver that pulsed with the rhythmic intensity of a swollen river. The light coursed through his body, casting an ethereal glow beneath his skin. Not flicker, but flow. Not a boy fumbling in the dark, but a conduit the Core has recognized.
Ruvio muttered, half in awe, half in dread: "The River has found him."
***