Chapter 277 Old Mask of Elara

The noise from the western side of the village had become impossible to pretend away now.

It pressed against the thin walls of the Veyne house in uneven waves, shouts that rose and broke apart, the heavy crash of something striking wood or stone, the thin, animal cries that did not belong to any livestock. Every few moments these sounds swelled, then dipped, then swelled again, like a living thing testing the distance between itself and the kitchen of this house, where two women sat wondering what they should do now.

Helga sat at the table with a shawl pulled tight around her shoulders even though the room was not cold. Her hands were locked together in her lap, fingers pressed so hard the knuckles had gone pale. The oil lamp flickered whenever the night air pushed against the poorly sealed window. Across from her, Elara paced the short length of floor between the stove and the table, arms wrapped around herself.

“They’re not coming back,” Elara said. Her voice had gone thin from worry.

“Helga, they’re not coming back. If it was nothing, they would have returned already, right? Lys left to fetch them. He would have brought them home by now if nothing was wrong. Something must be really wrong at that gate. From the sounds coming toward that side, it feels like what people were saying earlier about the gate being broken might be true.”

Helga kept her eyes on the surface of the table. The wood grain swam slightly under her gaze. “I know, Elara. So, stop walking and sit down. We have to be calm about this.” Even though she said it, she herself looked like she was far from being calm.

“Then what do we do?” Elara stopped pacing and turned to her. “We can’t just be sitting here listening to that, right? Mira is out there. Selene is out there. And Lys has also gone back out there. Don’t you feel scared knowing those sounds are from our children fighting monsters or something worse? How can we just be sitting here in the kitchen while our kids are putting themselves in danger out there?”

“I am thinking, Elara,” Helga said. The words came out steadier than she felt. She forced her hands to loosen slightly. Even though Selene wasn’t exactly her own child, she practically raised her by herself after Selene’s mother died.

“I also know they must be in trouble, but us running into that dark street without a plan will certainly not help them, Elara. What’s more, someone might have to save us then. We are not fighters. So, without doing anything drastic, we now need to decide what is actually possible.”

Hearing the words “we are not fighters,” Elara backed away a bit.

But before long, she let out a short, broken sound that was almost a laugh. “If we can’t go out, then what exactly can we even do? No matter what we do, I don’t see any other way to find a solution to this, Helga.” She resumed pacing, shorter steps now.

“How about we send word to the guild and tell them the western gate is compromised?” Helga suggested.

“I don’t think the guild is at the moment capable of sending adventurers to help on this side. They must have their hands full already, from the way the horn was blaring earlier,” Elara answered. She had been turning the same idea over for the last several minutes and discarding it for the same reason each time.

“You saw people talking outside, right?” She added, “It seems the western gate also has way too many monsters attacking their side. They even took every weapon they could find from every household around us. And suppose even if we send them a message, and it reaches them, I don’t think they will be able to pull people away from a collapsing line to check a secondary breach on this side. Even I know that’s not how fighters work.”

“What about your neighbors? I saw the street had able-bodied people when we got out earlier. If we go door to door….”

“No, that won’t work. This part of the neighborhood is not friendly to us.” Elara’s voice stayed quiet, but something harder moved underneath it, remembering their real status in this wealthy neighborhood. “You have lived here long enough. Didn’t you see? Most of our neighbors still consider us outsiders here. Like we do not quite belong in this village. If I knock on their doors and ask them to risk themselves for Mira and Selene, they will just close the doors on our faces. Or they will pretend they did not hear me. Either way, we will just waste our time with them. It’s not our old neighborhood. Even if slum, people were nice back there.”

Helga was a little frustrated now. “Then what? We have no other option other than them. If we can’t do something, what can we even do other than pray to god for them and hope they come back safe?”

“No. We can’t just leave them in danger, hoping things turn out well on their own.”

“Then give me another option, Elara. Because I am running out of them. And your pacing around the house doesn’t help, either.”

Elara drew a slow breath. The distant noise swelled again, another crash, followed by overlapping voices that were too sharp to be ordinary panic. She could feel her own pulse in her throat. Every path she examined in her head ended in the same place: too slow, too uncertain, or simply closed. The children were out there. From the sounds of clashing it was obvious monsters must’ve come inside; possibly they were the ones who were fighting them. That must’ve been the sounds of clashing.

And here they were, trapped in a warm room, failing to think of ways to save them without risking themselves first.

‘If only I could go out by myself.’ Elara thought to herself, frustration building up to its peak.

K-KR-rrrrr

Suddenly, behind them, a floorboard creaked at the bottom of the stairs.

“How long are you going to hide behind that mask, Elara?” Someone asked.

Startled, both women turned to see who asked that.

Tresta was standing at the foot of the stairs. She had come down without announcing herself. One hand rested on the railing; the other hung at her side. Her eyes were fixed on Elara with a steady, unblinking focus.

Elara’s face went carefully composed. “Tresta? Shouldn’t you be resting now? Why are you out…”

“Don’t change the subject, Elara. I know you better than that.”

“Heeh, what are you talking about?” Elara fidgeted, as if being caught by surprise with Tresta’s sudden change of tone.

“What you really want is to go outside and get them back by yourself, right?” Tresta stepped fully into the kitchen light. The lamp caught the lines of her face and made them deeper.

Helga and Elara both stared at Tresta now.

“The Elara I knew was not a woman who sat in a kitchen inventing polite excuses while her family was in danger. She was fearless, and even ruthless when it was needed. Her bold decision-making nature was one of her signature traits, as far as I knew. So I will ask you again. How long do you plan to keep wearing that mask? Have you gotten too comfortable living here on the outskirts, out of danger?”

Helga stared between them, confusion sharpening. “What mask? Tresta, what the hell are you talking about? Don’t you think you are mixing up Elara with someone else? How would Elara be…”

Tresta did not glance at her. She kept her gaze locked on Elara.

“You were a strong woman.” Her voice stayed level, almost tired. “I understood the choice you made to hide yourself in this outskirts village with your family back then. Hiding was the better solution, even I admit it, given the way the whole kingdom had become back in those dark times.”

“But tonight those reasons shouldn’t be your shackles, Elara. Tonight your children are out there, possibly fighting and risking their lives for the village they grew up in. I’m sure you also understand that this is not the time to wait around for others to save them.”

The words settled over the room with the weight of something that had been waiting years to be spoken.

Helga’s mouth opened to say something. She looked at Elara as if the woman at the table had become a stranger suddenly in just a few sentences coming from Tresta.

Elara did not move. Outside, the noise of the western gate pressed against the walls. In her mind the pictures kept moving: Mira getting eaten by monsters, Selene and Lys trying to save her but failing to do so. Imagining all of these weird scenarios a mother might do in this sort of time, all the careful years rose up at once: the decision to live small, the deliberate hiding, the refusal to ever let others know about their origin, everything came up in her mind all of a sudden.

She had told herself it was for protection. She had told herself it was love. She had told herself that as long as she remained ordinary, the past would not find the children. They would be safe in this village.

But tonight shattered all of her futile plans, as if they were nothing but a fantasy on her side.

She knew the moment the news of a dungeon being spotted reached her ears that they wouldn’t be able to live here longer. That they would have to relocate someplace else, again. But how that thought would not get to see reality in just a span of days was beyond her expectations. Dungeon break and everything happened too fast before she could think of something. Before she could tell her children about everything.

Tonight the noise outside made every one of those old plans of hers feel thin.

There was no other path left that did not require her to stop hiding.

And as if Tresta’s recognizing her past self might’ve been the final dam-breaking moment, Elara finally placed her hands flat on the table and stood up.

The chair scraped softly against the floor. She reached up and pulled the shawl from her shoulders, folding it once with deliberate care before setting it down. Underneath, she already wore the close-fitting tunic and practical pants she usually reserved for the heaviest work days, which conveniently happened to be today.

Then she rolled her shoulders; the movement carried an old, familiar readiness that had no business in a village kitchen.

Helga took a half-step back without thinking. “Elara…wh-what are you doing…”

“Forgive me, Helga. I didn’t have another choice other than to hide myself,” Elara said. Her voice was quiet, but it no longer sounded like the voice of a woman who only knew how to wait. “Sorry I didn’t share it with you. My past had to stay hidden for me to ensure my children were safe.”

Helga thought about saying something, but her words caught in her throat.

“But it seems I can’t do that anymore. Not when they are out there, in danger.” Elara said, as she looked at Tresta. The faintest edge of something wry touched her mouth.

“You always did have inconvenient timing, Tresta, the deadeye.”

Even though Elara called the woman by the nickname which she was known by back in the day, Tresta’s expression did not change, but something like acknowledgment moved behind her eyes. “Don’t blame me; I kept quiet as long as I could. I even pretended not to know you, too, all this time. But now that I saw you struggling to find the strength to step up once again, I felt like someone had to say it out loud, to break your shell.”

Elara gave a smile toward her. “And I’m glad you did. I thought nobody would recognize me here, but it seems I couldn’t trick the eyes of the famous “deadeye”.”

Both women shared a knowing smile, which further confused Helga, not having a clue what the fuck was going on in this room.

And from the hallway near the stairs, Mitsu’s soft voice reached them. She had been listening the entire time, standing just beyond the full reach of the lamp light.

“I am coming with you.”

Elara and Tresta both turned, a little shocked that someone else listened, too. But when they saw it was Mitsu, they relaxed.

Mitsu stood with a spear and manabulb already in her hands, face pale.

“No way. I can’t let you come with me, Mitsu. Don’t you hear the sounds? Monsters are likely roaming around the village right now. Going outside is dangerous for those who can’t fight,” Elara said firmly, not in her usual endearing voice.

“I know.” Mitsu stepped closer. Her fingers tightened on the fabric. “But I don’t want to stay at home when Lys is outside, in danger. He was the one who gave me this new life.”

Elara looked at the girl’s eyes carefully. They had determination in them.

“Plus, you should not go alone. I can run to get help if it is needed for you. Or carry things. Or simply be there.” She hesitated, trying to find reasons to tag along with the woman. Then she added, more quietly, “Please, let me go with you.”

Elara studied her for a long breath. Seeing the girl just trying to be useful to Lys, the savior of hers, in any way she could, Elara couldn’t refuse her anymore. She nodded once.

She walked to the door and opened it. Night air moved in, carrying the sharper sounds of fighting and the low, wrong smell of monsters from far away. The scent was not a familiar scent for her, even though she had experience diving into some reserved dungeon for noble families back in her prime days.

For a moment she stood on the threshold, taking the scent in.

Then she grabbed the spear from Mitsu’s hand and stepped out into the dark with Mitsu close behind her, leaving the warm kitchen, the cold tea, and the last pieces of the ordinary life she had built to keep her children safe.

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