Chapter 395 - Corruption scare
After leaving the castle, Erik and his allies encountered a large mob, consisting of hundreds of first rankers from the village of Bamburgh itself. They were gathering on the road towards the castle, clearly trying to find out what was happening at the castle.
Unfortunately for them, they were stopped by a barrier, blocking their assent to the castle. Now, they were clamouring outside it as they looked up at concern.
This was the method Elora had implemented to ensure these villagers wouldn't disturb them. It was a sigil barrier that she'd created before they even stormed the castle.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
It only covered the road, making it far smaller than the barrier that covered the castle, but it was also much stronger. It was perfectly capable of holding back hundreds of first rankers for at least an hour or two.
Of course, that also meant they could go around, but that would have meant scaling rocks, and none of them had decided to go that far to test the barrier's width.
When Erik and the others came out, these people naturally made a path for them. There were a few that had more concern and outrage than sense, occasionally yelling curses at the trespassers, but they were quickly pulled back by their more sensible neighbours and family members, allowing the powerful group to leave unmolested.
Looking around, Erik noticed a strong sense of community among these people. He realized that the villagers of Bamburgh had survived for six years together in France under Alexandre's leadership, before moving to the UK with him, and those eight years of hardship had forged them into what they were today.
Seeing such a community actually brought back some feelings of nostalgia to Erik, as he thought back to Frostvik. He sighed softly but felt no guilt of what they'd done here. Conflict and death were a part of life, and there wouldn't always be a clearly defined good and bad side.
Sometimes, it was just two sides who were both fighting to secure better lives for those they cared about.
Regardless, after Erik was gone, the villagers were finally able to ascend the road and check on the castle. Today of all days, they needed to stand together.
* * *
The group quickly entered the forest, where they aimed for the clearing, they waited in earlier. Erik didn't immediately toss everyone into his dimension and start sprinting, because he first needed to talk to Emily about something and ensure Dimitri's silence about anything he might see.
So, while they walked, Erik opened a communication channel between himself and all his wives at the same time. While it mostly concerned Emily and Elora, he didn't want any secrets to exist within the family. Besides, Emma especially deserved to know.
The Ashcroft sisters were lost in thought, when Erik's voice suddenly echoed through their heads, causing them to startle a little. Astrid, however, was calmer.
"I didn't ask about this earlier, because we had other things to deal with, and Emily seemed fine," Erik began, with a serious mental frown. "But what happened back there?"
He didn't need to elaborate, because they all knew what he was talking about. In fact, it was the thing that was on Emma and Emily's minds just now: the strange, corrupted sphere of power that Emily expelled to push away Seraphina and Dimitri.
"I'm… not sure…?" Emily muttered, a little hesitant, while her right hand played with the iron ring hanging from her collar.
Her voice was concerned, but not particularly afraid. Her fear of the corruption had lessened significantly with her own victories over it, and her trust in Erik. "When that intolerable stain came so close to me, I just acted on instinct," she continued.
"You're fine, though, right?" Emma interjected with a hint of worry. Although she firmly believed it was impossible for Emily to truly slip back into her old state, it was natural for her to worry about her big sister.
"I think so," Emily nodded, still a little hesitant, but also sounding confident. "I don't feel any different, anyway. When it happened, it felt like a wellspring of negative emotions welled up inside me, but then it all instantly exploded into that sphere of power, and the emotions disappeared."
Despite her own self-assuredness, she continued frowning, and playing with the iron ring hanging from her neck. To her, that collar was not only the symbol of her submission to Erik, but also the symbol of her freedom from corruption.
Finally, however, she sighed, shrugged, and relaxed her brow, "It felt unpleasant for a moment, but then it was over... I don't think we need to worry about me becoming fully corrupted again," she assured them at the end, sounding confident.
Relieved emotions spilled from Emma, while both she and Astrid also send her comforting stream of emotional support through the bond. They wanted Emily to know, that they'd be there for her if anything went wrong.
The three sister wives shared a relatively close bond. Although they'd only truly been bonded through Erik for the past two weeks, after Astrid finally got her marriage, they'd quickly been growing closer in that time.
Astrid was inherently very different from the two Ashcroft sisters in multiple ways, but she'd been accepted by the both of them with open arms.
Emma, in particular, loved to hear stories about the old Erik from his childhood friend, which Astrid loved to tell, while Emily bonded with Astrid over their similar age, no-nonsense attitudes, and love for excitement.
Initially, Astrid and Emily both had trouble opening up, but Emma was the connecting factor between them. In the end, it was hard to resist Emma's innocent charm, despite the pervert hiding beneath.
Erik nodded slowly, sending his own feelings of support, but remaining practical. "That's a relief, little shadow, but we still need to find out what happened. Elora? Any idea?"
Although Elora didn't have the same kind of close-knit-bond with the other wives as they had with each other, there was no doubt that she was the matriarch of the family.
Emma had always shown the fairy due respect, while Astrid had already given up her suspicions regarding Elora and was quickly coming to respect her for the seemingly infinite knowledge crammed into that doll-sized head.
Even Emily was slowly coming around. In fact, Emily had always felt some awe and respect for the fairy, it had simply been overshadowed by anger and frustration at the fairy's manipulative games. Fortunately, Elora's gift with her parent's ashes had begun to mend those fences.
Besides, they all knew that Elora was an inviolable existence in Erik's life, and while they were relatively sure he loved them more or less equally, they weren't ready to put that to the test when it came to the domineering fairy.
Thus, they all fell silent when Erik addressed his first wife. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
Elora was thoughtful for a moment, but then finally spoke up, "I think I know what might be happening… but it's exceedingly rare, so I might be wrong."