“You’re insane.” Zulema spoke incredulously. She marched over and looked deep into his eyes in a sort of disgusted disbelief. “Insane to think I would ever betray my guiding Matron.”

“Your ‘Matron’ is a blight. Your mad god’s machinations deal in blood and corruption. None of Macha’s chosen ever enter into her dark designs so willingly. Especially one so young. Her Scarlet priestesses are indoctrinated utterly, linked to her through deranged rituals. Surely, in your time at the Church you must have had your misgivings. Moreso once you had attained the rank of Scarlet Sister, where you become indirectly connected."

It’s true that there had been times when Zulema had had her doubts. But sacrifices were necessary when it came to faith. Weren’t they? She shook her head.

"This is utter nonsense." The priestess scoffed and grabbed the man by his arm. She focused her untethered rage toward the grip of her palm, trying to keep her doubts from bubbling to the surface. Zulema concentrated her thaumaturgy to try and disable the eldritch fool in front of her once and for all, but to her dismay, found the usual tingle of power missing. Her mind was blank.

He watched silently as she pulled away with a horrified expression. She stared deep at the palm of her hand.

"I can't feel it! What did you do to me? Where is my power?! Why do I not feel cold? What's wrong with my body? What did you do?!" The panicked priestess fell to her knees. "Macha… why can't I feel you?"

"I severed her connection to you, Orphan of Macha. It had been slowly eating away at your psyche and would have eventually broken you completely to her will. Eventually you would have been consumed with madness without her constant voice in your head."

"And I would have been happy for the blessing. I was fully prepared for that fate." Zulema glared at him with a pitiful look in her eye. "That wasn't your decision to make."

"Would you have preferred I had taken one of your Sisters instead?"

"... No. If it has to be anyone, I'll be the one to bear this sin." The priestess remained in a kneeling position on the ground, staring at the snow below her. "How… How exactly did you 'sever' my connection? Is that why my thaumaturgy no longer works?"

"That is correct. The Old One bestowed her othering onto you and it took the form of what you know as your thaumaturgy. The same as your other Scarlet Sisters. It seems these abilities always manifest as a method of control of the human mind." Derleth took a moment before continuing. "As for how I severed her mental link to you, I directed the flow of connection into a segment of your body. Such a method is a usually a traumatic process, but luckily for you the segment I concentrated it into had become obsolete and that made for a simple removal of the extraneous organ.”

A small gasp escaped Zulema’s mouth. She struggled to get the next words out, her breath hitched in her throat. “What—What did you remove from me?”

“When I collected you, there had been extensive damage to your right ocular nerve caused by the crushing of your helm. I did you a favor by removing it, for that useless eye would have caused you nothing but constant pain.”

Derleth’s words etched a curse on the priestess’s heart that finally caused her to collapse. Zulema had never been in more pitiful a state, her now lone eye welling up with the bitter tears she had held in for so long. It was only now that she realized how easily she could break. It was one thing to fight for your Goddess and your Sisters—but to have your sole purpose in life ripped away from you was too much for her to bear.

“I believed now that her influence on you had weakened, you would be more receptive to hearing me out. It seems I require more time with you before you agree to assist me,” he stated as she sobbed quietly in front of him. He reached for the cross that held the animal that had been thawing beside them and stood it in front of her. “Were you not complaining of hunger not too long ago? You should eat to put your mind at ease.”

Zulema choked out one last sob before slowly looking up at him. There was a dead, faraway look in her eye. “How the fuck do you expect me to eat this?” she growled. “I don’t even have the tools to skin it since you didn't even bother to grab my scythe when you snatched me away.”

He looked back at her strangely, as if there was something she should have already been aware of.

"What is it?" she spat. "Are you so barbaric you don't even have tools for cutting? Do I even want to know how you removed my eye?"

"In order to help you survive, I bestowed you with my othering. Such a thing was not possible while you still carried Macha's with you, so once I removed it, I replaced it with my own. While it is true you no longer carry your old ability given to you by Macha, you now have something new. Sharing my power with you protects you from the freezing cold and gives you a limited control over ice. In time, it might even still manifest in a new form yet unknown.”