Underneath the Silhouette-Chapter 82: A Tiny Problem

Panic surged through Eirin. If the bounty hunters realized who Shade was, and saw him in this state, helpless and shrunken... she didn’t dare imagine. Eirin ran, not knowing where she was going, just away.

Her lungs burned, her knees threatened to buckle, but Eirin pushed on. Every ragged breath was a testament to her desperate flight. There was no one else; she was their only protection against whatever dangers lurked in this treacherous landscape.

’But where do I go?’

Just as her legs threatened to give out, Eirin spotted a small cabin, a dark shape against the driving rain, not far from where she stood.

"I swear! I saw someone!"

The voices pushed Eirin forward. She ran towards the tattered and shabby cabin in the middle of the woods. The door looked ready to crumble with a single touch, but miraculously, it held, offering Eirin and Shade a desperate sanctuary.

Eirin gently settled Shade on the dusty ground, then scanned the cabin’s interior. It was as dilapidated inside as it looked from outside. Peeling wood, cobweb-draped corners, and the faint scent of damp rot. Eirin began nervously biting her fingernails. Her mind spun, utterly lost. As a ballerina, her skills lay in grace and precision, not wilderness survival or conjuring fire.

"There’s a fireplace," she mumbled to herself, her voice thin. "But how am I going to create fire?" She started collecting the sparse firewood near the hearth. A faint crackle, then a hesitant flicker of orange light, drew Eirin’s gaze. She whirled around to see Shade, propped against the cold stone, his eyes half-lidded, chest heaving. A tiny, struggling flame danced in the hearth, clearly his doing – a final act of will to bring warmth to their cold shelter.

A bitter wave of self-recrimination engulfed Eirin. ’I realized how useless I am right now. He was right about me all along,’ she thought, her lower lip trembling. She dropped her bag with a thud, rummaging frantically for her towel. "Let me dry you up," she said, her voice soft, as she carefully removed Shade’s cloak.

Shade’s clothes, now much too big for him, hung awkwardly.

"We need to remove your clothes," Eirin said, but before her fingers could even brush the fabric, Shade’s small, flushed face twisted into a fierce glare. He huffed and puffed, a tiny, furious defiance. The teenage girl pressed her lips together, fighting a giggle. He looked adorable.

"Okay, fine. Let’s get closer to the hearth," Eirin said, carefully scooping Shade into her arms. He struggled weakly against her, but his shrunken form held no real strength.

Eirin carefully draped Shade’s sodden cloak near the growing warmth of the hearth, then wrapped him securely in her towel, pulling him closer to the flames. Outside, the rain continued its relentless pour, but inside, Eirin could clearly hear Shade’s strained, heavy breathing.

’Turning back into a child was even possible?’ the thought spun in her head. ’Is there anything impossible in this world?’ she wondered, her gaze darting to her backpack. Eirin rummaged through it desperately, searching for anything that could provide more warmth for Shade, but found nothing.

A shiver ran down Eirin’s spine, but it wasn’t from the cold. ’What else could I do?’ she thought. With a resolute breath, she stripped off her outer clothes until she was only wearing her camisole.

Eirin sighed, settling beside the young man. "Don’t make a big deal of what I’m about to do, okay?" Shade’s eyes were unfocused, his head lolling from dizziness; he couldn’t even meet her gaze. She sighed again, a soft, weary sound, before gently pulling him into her arms.

Shade woke up, his small face flushing an even deeper crimson. "Y-You shouldn’t do this if you want to be able to leave this place in peace," he rasped, his voice weak. But Eirin’s didn’t release him. She held him closer, the warmth of his feverish body seeping into her, a defiant act against his sputtering protests.

The warmth and comfort seemed to slowly draw the fight from Shade, pulling him towards sleep. Watching him, so small and vulnerable in her arms, Eirin felt her own eyelids grow heavy, and soon, she too succumbed to the quiet comfort.

.....

When Eirin opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling, causing her brows to furrow. But the heaviness on her chest was what truly made her groan. She soon realized what was causing the weight: Shade Cromwell, lying unconscious on her chest.

Eirin touched the young boy’s forehead; he was still burning with fever. "Feya," she called her pixie.

"Yes, Master?" The pixie immediately appeared as Eirin slowly, carefully got up, trying not to disturb Shade.

"I need you to find a female human child named Hebe. She has ash-brown hair and gold eyes. I think she’s eight years old based on her appearance," Eirin said, gently patting Shade’s head. "She turned Shade Cromwell into a child."

The pixie’s expression twisted with utter confusion. "Master... if her name is Hebe and you saw her in the Slumbering Slopes, then she is neither human nor a child," Feya stated, her voice tinged with unexpected gravity.

"What are you saying?"

Feya glanced at the shrunken form of Shade before continuing. "According to the legends, she used to the Goddess of Youth, but she fell in love with a mortal and abandoned her role and angered the King of Gods," she said. "She is now a nymph of mountain, but she is still known for having the ability to turn other people younger or older."

’What a lore!’ she thought. "Is that for real?"

The pixie could not give a definitive answer. "I am not so sure myself, Master. But it is real that there was a mountain nymph named Hebe, and her ability is true—your friend is a proof of that."

Eirin blinked, her mind reeling. "Then, how are we going to reverse this? Will Shade Cromwell remain like this forever?" freёnovelkiss-com

"What I know is that she’s the only one that could reverse the spell..."

That answer did not help Eirin at all. A cold dread settled in her stomach. If Shade continued to stay as a child, there was no way for them to complete their mission on time—or at all.

Eirin checked her cloak, and it was dry, but she thought she’ll be needing it for Shade Cromwell again just in case his cloak gets wet if it starts raining again.

With a determined breath, Eirin carefully shifted Shade onto her back, securing him there. It must be afternoon already, but it wasn’t noticeable due to the thick clouds above. Her backpack heavy on her front, she began the difficult descent down the mountain, heading back towards the town in search of information about Hebe.

"I need your help, Feya. We have to meet Hebe again or else my friend will be like this forever."

Feya zipped silently, obeying her master’s urgent order. Despite the dangers, Eirin wore her uniform, hoping that the bounty hunters are long gone. The weather had calmed, the wind a gentle whisper, and Eirin continued walking down the path despite the slippery, muddy ground.

"Where is the weeping bindweed, anyway? We’ve been circling the mountain since yesterday."

Eirin glanced behind her, and her eyes widened in alarm. The bounty hunters were not far from them, their figures emerging from the mist. Her heart hammered. She tried to walk the path without making any sounds, her footsteps light despite her heavy burden, but one of the bounty hunters’ eyes met hers. She bolted, running as fast as her weary legs would carry her.

"Hey! Isn’t that a uniform of Senerra Academy?"

Hearing their shouts made Eirin’s panic surge. She sprinted, further down the mountain and into the dense woods, veering sharply from the main path onto a narrow trail engulfed by trees. A rough hand shot out, one of the bounty hunters getting a hold of Shade’s cloak.

Eirin reacted instinctively, wielding a sharp gust of wind, a blade of air that sliced through the fabric, cutting the cloak off Shade’s body and forcing the bounty hunter to recoil.

The rumbling sound from the cloudy gray sky intensified, and Eirin’s heart beat faster, as her legs continued moving, fueled by adrenaline. It was a life-or-death situation once again, and the shrill, taunting laughter of the bounty hunters did nothing to calm her raising pulse. Exhausted beyond measure, she fumbled in the middle of her descent and ended up stumbling, falling directly into the road and in front of a carriage.

The horse neighed, a terrified shriek, and Eirin shut her eyes, instinctively curling her body over Shade, protecting him from being crushed.

"Oh my, dear lord! Where did you young lads come from?" the coachman gasped, pulling the reins with all his might, stopping the horse just inches before it could trample on the students.

The rain started pouring once again, a sudden deluge. Eirin had used her cloak to cover the young man, terrified of making his fever worse if he got soaked.

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