"You… what did you do?"
Hana trembeled at this question. "I...don't know?" she said hesitently. 'Yeah, what the hell happened? Am I using...magic?' she looked at her now normal hands. 'Was the lantern...following my hand movements?'
"Sigh..." Eryndor stopped Hana from her flow of thoughts. "Well, important is that the Corrupted Soul is now gone." He said as he put away his bow. The elf looked at Hana, measuring her.
"It's getting late, we should camp out the night." He said, going into the outgrown shrine.
"Here? Aren't there those...things?" Hana asked him and started following him into the half fallen shrine. They went behind a bush, where there seemed to be a smaller entry point leading into a small room filled with rendom stuff like food, books and hide as a makeshift bed.
"There shouldn't be anymore. It's really rare for Corrupted Souls to 'share' space." Eryndor sat on one of the hides in the room, putting away his backpack and other stuff he had on him.
"But just now there were two-" Hana asked, but the elf cut her off.
"Yeah, I said it was rare, not impossible." he crossed his arms as he sit upright. "Normally they either fight and one of them 'moves away', or they destroy each other completly." Then he paused for a minute and put his pointing finger on his chin, as if thinking really hard.
"Maybe because one of the Corrupted was under water, the other one didn't know about him? Or didn't care?" He paused again for a second, then looked at Hana. "We don't know about them that much. One day they just....appeared. Only thing we know is how to contain their core stones."
"You mean the stone you put in the glowing pouch?" Hana asked.
"So you're not totally stupid, huh?" he smirked, making fun of her not knowing anything. "These stones contain some sort of a 'dark energy'." Eryndor closed his eyes, like telling his life story. "Basically if you get in contact with it for too long, it starts to contaminate you. That's why we are putting then into those pouches, then we give it to authorities and they destroy it or they study it." he opened his right eye to look at Hana again. "You get money for it, obviously." He smiled.
Hana smirked, but then her head flooded with questions again.
"So… this world is really full of these things?"
Eryndor nodded slowly. "Used to be rare. Now they show up even in daylight."
He took out a small crystal out of his belt bag and placed it on the ground. It glowed faintly green, projecting a weak barrier over the entrance.
"You can rest. The corruption won't reach us through this."
Hana hesitated, but when she looked at him, she felt calmer.
"Do elves even sleep?"
He smirked again. "Only when we are forced to babysit humans."
She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Rude."
The shrine fell quiet. The glow of the lantern pulsed faintly beside her in mid air.
For a while, Hana simply stared at it. She still didn't understand what it was, or why it listened to her.
When she finally looked up, Eryndor was watching her, not unkindly, but with curiosity.
"That... lantern of yours," he said, pointed at the flowing lantern. "What is it? It looked like it's feedind on the corrupted soul."
"Feeding on it?" Hana tilted her head.
"Purifying. Whatever makes you sleep better."
Hana frowned, turning the lantern in her hands. "I am not sure, but it doesn't feel evil."
"Neither did most artifacts when they first appeared."
"Artifacts?" Hana tilted her head.
Eryndor frowned faintly. "You really don't know anything, huh? Artifacts are old relics, made by gods themselves. Most of them were lost after the War of Gods, but some people believe they are still somewhere in this world." He paused, looking at his bag. "Those people often go mad looking for them, hoping they would get powers and stuff like that."
Hana listened closely, but her eyes slowly grew heavier.
"What you have looks similar to those artifacts, tho I never heard of a lantern." He looked at Hana again. "Where did you find it?"
Hana looked at the lantern and at her hands.
"I didn't, I just woke up with it?"
"Woke up with it?" He doubted her. "I guess you cannot remember, huh? Well nevermind, just make sure you use it properly."
Hana nodded, then yawned softly, exhaustion catching up to her. The adrenaline from the fight had already faded.
Eryndor sat by the entrance, bow across his knees, eyes fixed on the flickering light of the lantern resting between them.
"Sleep if you want," he said quietly. "I'll keep watch."
"Are you sure? What if something hapoens to you?" Hana asked.
Eryndor tilted his head, then slightly laughed. "I'm in these woods for a long time. I think one more night won't do me any harm." Then he pointed at his green eyes that looked like they were glowing more the night got darker. "Plus, I can see pretty well at night." He winked at her, then jumped outside."
'Elves have nightvision?' Hana thought, then she laid down on the ground. 'Whatever, I should just go to sleep.' And with every passing minute, she drifted into deeper sleep.
....
The night was quiet. Only the soft hum of the lantern filled the room. Its light flickered faintly across the cracked walls, fading in and out like it was breathing.
Eryndor sat by the entrance, bow across his knees. His eyes stayed on Hana, that was fast asleep, curled up beside the lantern that pulsed in soft silver light. It almost looked like it was protecting her.
He tilted his head slightly.
'Strange… for a human, she looks... different.'
The glow reflected in his green eyes. He could feel a faint energy from her, not like the corruption that rooted in this forest, but something… cleaner. Calmer.
'I don't know any human that has their energy that bright...' he thought, watching her chest rise and fall slowly. 'And still… she looks like she's never held a weapon in her life.'
He leaned back, exhaling quietly.
'I don't know if I can trust her. But… she doesn't feel like a threat. At leaat not yet...'
For a moment, he just sat there in silence, listening to the faint rustle of leaves outside. The forest seemed peaceful for once.
The elf's eyes softened as he glanced back at her one last time.
"Sleep till you can," he muttered under his breath. "Tomorrow won't be this quiet."