“Suffering is coming for you child. The wrath contracted for you and your kin will be satisfied. The tribunal of soil is inevitable, do not abide this resistance any longer.” Another slam against the door from the other side.
“Give up you little Scridule, you’re stuck in there.”
Silence responded.
Tharissa waited a moment before releasing her weight from the door. Looking up at the weld she created and a nod to herself in confidence, she turned to the long corridor behind her. A few soft footsteps to keep an ear on the door, she had a good set of paces between them before she pushed into a full run. After a handful of paces, another howl of angered frustration filled hallway and then only her footsteps echoed around her as the array of doors whizzed past her.
The corridor was neatly lit with all the randomly placed doors; a secret leading to all portions of the castle. Looking back at the threatened door, she couldn’t help but shake scenarios of how the demonic child got into the area. A couple sets of short stairs dropped the flooring into a dirt covered tunnel like portion of the hallway, her footsteps faded from heel striking solid stone to the shuffling of dust and dirt.
It wasn’t long before she reached a broken portion of the wall with roots dangling down trying to hide it. Stepping through into the egg-shaped room, Tharissa reached out and touched with her index finger, pinky, ring and middle around the top of it with her palm pressed to the middle. Starting to glow from under her hand, the far wall shimmered with a magical barrier wall shifting against a weird jelly like liquid.
Peering over her shoulder through the broken section of wall, she couldn’t help but think how long she had or if the child could get through this watery exit to follow her. Shaking her head of the distracting thoughts, she stepped into the thick waters and disappeared into the darkness.
Chapter 19
“Be wary young one.” The voice in her head sounded a lot louder than she was expecting, like it had been yelling at her for a while.
Gemini flickered her eyes open, squinting against the random sources of light around the strangely lit space. Isolated cones of light funneled down from small flames bring mirrored from steel plates above them. From the angle of how she lay, she could see three other stone tables that were large enough to hold different sizes of people and each had thick leather straps or chains connected to them. One other light had a small apothecary table off to the side next to a wall of stone that confirmed that she was either in a mountain cave or a castle dungeon of some sort.
Rotating her head to the other side, another row of stone tables that made the space seem like it went on forever, each with their own light cone. Trying to shuffle around to get a better look, she couldn’t move, the same thick straps on the other tables kept her bound to her own. On the long side of the room, more side tables and shelving with the same isolated lighting carried odd assortments of jars and bins, broken up by the eerie blackness between. It was almost as if a spell were sucking the light out between the light stems so they could not reach each other.
Trying to get a better look at her own table, she couldn’t see much with how she was bound. Her wings were tight to her body and arms by her side, everything was held firmly in place. Her feet spaced hip distance a part with their own straps made it difficult to get any leverage to fight against them. Her armour spun around her body in its docile form, creeping around under the restraints with ease.
She could feel someone or something in the darkness close by. The pain in her head pulsed softly telling her that it had been at least a day or two since she was attacked. Every time that she moved her head, she could feel her hair bunching up in the back against a dried patch of blood.
“Needle, you said that this would only take a day.” Elder Yvane’s voice could be heard in the darkness.
A tall robed figure passed into one of the cones of light and disappeared back into the black on the other side, reappearing against one of the tables holding an array of alchemist vials.
“This magic is strong; you can’t rush, or things will go horribly wrong.” The man fiddled with a small rack of vials and picked one up to look at.
“We had an agreement; we bring you the Mother and you release the seals to open the valley.” Yvane stepped into one of the table lights to Gemini’s right and slammed her hands on the stone slab.
“There are other methods, but they have a lot less chance of success. This is old magic I am dealing with, the Narx know what they are doing.” Needle turned from his vial to look her way through the tops of his eyes.
“You have your samples from my own armour, what’s the issue?” Yvane’s voice was strict and angry.
“Hers is not the same as yours, the bind within is different. Although you have the original set the Narx fabricated, the magical properties of hers is like they knew something like this would happen and put in a failsafe. I am working as fast as the compounds will allow.” Needle lowered his eyes and gave her a sinister look. “Remember, it was you who came to me for this. I don’t need the seals released to get out of this ancient valley and we are doing you this favour. I could easily just wipe out your little village and be done with this farce.”
“We are not that easily broken, the Neightur have been hunting us since I grew these wings and we have become very skilled at fighting back. Your threats are hollow.” Yvane slammed her fist against the table.
Needle laughed, echoing his amusement through the space.
“Don’t mock me mage. Once the seals are broken and the ward is down, we can go back to the pointless campaign to wipe us out.” Her voice was full of hatred towards the man.
“We don’t want to wipe you out. There are greater goals in mind than the extinction of an already dying race. Stepping stones child, stepping stones.” Needle did not turn around to talk to her and kept his attention to what he was fiddling with on the table.
Yvane’s heavy breathing sounded like she wanted to keep berating the man but took a few deep breathes to calm herself down and finally looked down at Gemini who was watching her closely.
“Looks like our guest is awake.” Yvane’s frustration drew Needle’s attention slowly to Gemini.
Both walked over to her table, disappearing and appearing between the lighting. Needle held up a small vial filled with a dark green liquid, looked at it and then lowered it towards Gemini’s forehead. As it got closer the liquid swirled slowly and started to become clear.
“It is starting to work; we just need her to do her part.” Needle looked up at Yvane to be responded by a nod.
The Elder looked down at her and smiled with her calm and warming face.
“We have a way out of this valley child. You have the chance to get us back into the world, to continue with our protection of its people.” Her voice was sincere and friendly.
Gemini lay silent.
“As we told you before, the only way to pass on the Mothers armour is to have it gifted. I need to you to will your armour to me so that Needle here can break the wards on this valley.” Yvane’s gentle voice calmed Gemini a little bit.
Gemini couldn’t answer, she only closed her eyes in thought.
“Be wary young one.”
“You will need to entrust your armour to me so I can help support my people.” Yvane continued.
“She can’t be trusted, and this Needle character has something about him; he is not just trying to get out of the valley. How can I get free?” Gemini internally spoke to the voice in her head.
“Patience.” The voice trailed off and Gemini opened her eyes.
“She won’t just give it up woman, we will have to go through with the other option.” Needle quickly turned and walked back to his vial filled table.
“This will help us all Gemini, please.” Yvane’s face was beautiful and warming but there was something hidden behind her smile.
“Why would you need to kidnap me and strap me to a table then?” Gemini spoke directly.
“For your safety.” Yvane
looked over her should into the darkness.
Gemini swiveled her head on the slab to look in the direction that Yvane did. Three yellow eyes sat still in the darkness, the same eyes that pierced her soul the night she came into the valley. These Skkooh watched her intently without attempting to get close.
“You are safe as long as you are in the light. Needle has control over them and would need you to remain calm. I am sorry for the bump on the head, it was necessary to get you here.”
“Could have just asked.” Gemini rolled her eyes back up to look at the one-winged woman standing beside her.
“Would you have come willingly?” Yvane smirked through her retort. “There is no need to resist, just give me the armour and this whole scene can end.”
“There is no way that will happen.” Gemini’s own anger began to boil inside.
“The other way you will not like.” Yvane’s glare stole any comfort.
“You have failed your people Elder, there is no way they will trust you or respect you after this. Making a deal with the enemy.” Gemini kept her tone serious.
“The ones that know the deal, understand the need. The others will recognize me as the Mother, and I can be rid of the contract chains bound to my own. I need your armour to be rid of this valley, be rid of my timeless torment. Give it to me.” Yvane was becoming frustrated.
“There is no way I can willfully give you something to betray your people, your oath to the Dragons and any other shred of honor you may still have left.” Gemini’s stern respond boiled inside the Elders face.
“Neightur have agreed to halt their hostilities towards the Spiri for the relic and for the assistance in transferring your armour. Give me your armour woman or I will be forced to take it.” Her tone grew desperate.
Gemini rolled her head to the side in the only resistance she could show.
“Give it to me!” Yvane’s frustration exploded into a rage. The Skkooh in the black behind her shuffled, eager for blood.
Gemini’s head snapped back to the woman above her and glared back.
Needle could be heard knocking vials together during the conversation and murmuring to himself. A few back and forth words to himself about something in the liquids and he spun around with a larger clay cup in hand.
“Did you bring said relic?” Needle asked Yvane as he came back to Gemini’s table pulling a small cart filled with herbs and bowls of unknown paste and liquids behind him.
“Yes.” Yvane exposed the small black urn from under her cloak, the Skkooh in the back of the space shifted, uneasy about seeing the item.
“Good. Good.” Needle smiled at the urn but did not try to take it from her.
“Why do you need it?”
“We need to use the power from the Dragons to open the passage between the Realms. It allows us to summon from Low Realm and Mid Realm. Necrolin’s Cup has power from the Elder Dragons, which will sustain our needs for a long time.” Needle looked at the relic like it was going to hurt him.
Yvane gave him a sideways look. “How can you use it if you can’t touch it?”
“Trivial. Place it over there and we can begin with the matter at hand.” Needle grabbed a small box from his cart.
“Will the process hurt?” Yvane questioned him.
“Immensely. We will be essentially tearing magic from her soul.” Needle chuckled a little to himself.
Yvane glared down at Gemini. “Good.”
From out of the shadow behind Needle, another Skkooh faded in from the darkness and stepped close to him, as if it were speaking to him. Needle leaned in closer to it like he was listening and after what would have been a few pieces of a conversation, he nodded. The one-eyed beast melted back into the shadows and from sight and its footsteps could be heard echoing away.
Pulling the small cart closer to the stone slab table, Needle placed the clay cup and small box in an empty space next to Gemini and grabbed one of the thistle type herbs. Crunching it up in a small stone bowl with a small pestle, he slowly dripped in one of the small vials, sending small pops of smoke into the air. Another round of mixing with the small pestle made a crackling noise within the bowl before he poured flakes of something from the box with the liquid into the clay cup. Placing the cup onto Gemini’s stomach, the mixture began to boil as if she were a stove heating a pot of water.
“Give it a minute, I need to set the incantation.” Needle talked like he was talking to himself.
A few words muttered under his breath as he held his hands over the steaming cup. Needles eyes flickered as he spoke and then snapped open once.
“What will happen?” Yvane curiously asked.
“I will draw the armour out into its Dragoon Spirit form, which is where you will need to perform your ritual to take it over.” Needle looked at her dead in the face.
Looking back down at Gemini and then to the cup on her stomach, Needle raised his hands again and began chanting in a strange language. The boiling inside the cup intensified as he spoke which sent heat waves over the brim and into her body. Gemini quickly became uncomfortable with the heat filling her body and tried to squirm against her constraints. Trying to writhe around to get away, it seem to make it worse, but she couldn’t help but move. Something inside was being forced to come out.
The pain pierced her abdomen first, right below where the clay cup was and flooded into the rest of her body. Screaming out in a pain she had never felt before, the cave shuttered with an impact from a magic being release, shocking the air around everything with a pulsing energy.
Yvane looked down at Gemini with a small sinister smile, yet still looked like she was feeling a similar pain. Gemini’s howling did not last long as her body began to steam up and a black crystalized smoke vapored from her. Something was coming alive from within as it congealed above her body into a crystalized mist. The shifting rings of metal circling her body slowly faded into the steam and added itself to the shadowed form taking shape above her.
“Be ready.” Needle called out over Gemini’s screaming.
The crystalized shadow hovering over Gemini’s naked body dripped the same shadow aura that the Skkooh had around them had, bleeding down like it was overflowing with the essence. The shadow thickened to be no longer translucent and features formed where its face was. The look of an androgynous characteristics started to take shape.
Just as its feature filled in, Needle opened his mouth again to call out but was interrupted but a massive shockwave of shadow emanating from the form. Both Needle and Yvane were sent into the air and back into the darkness. The sound of a heavy grunt left their lungs as they collided with the cave walling. Screams from the surrounding Koad’s filled in the orchestra of pain coming from Gemini’s lungs as they too were struck by the wave.
The form floated off from above her and stood beside Gemini’s table, snapping its attention around the room until it sensed Yvane in the back. Gemini’s screaming faded off slowly, but her pain was evident in the groans she made, her body too weak to continue. The crystalized shadow extended its arm out towards where Yvane knelt in the dark and with another air pulse, pulled her towards it. Yvane came from the far wall, floating with her feet barely touching the ground, like she was being gripped at the throat, she clawed at the invisible force choking her.
“Traitor!” The voice from the shadow pulsed the air around it with each syllable.
Sounds of crushing bone collided with death as another pulse rushed through the cave from its voice. Blood filled Yvane’s mouth and dripped down the side of her chin, falling to the ground. Dropping the Elder Spiri’s corpse to the ground in a heap, the crystalized shadow turned its attention to Needle’s position in the darkness.
“This isn’t right, she was supposed to take control.” Needle called out.
Another pulse wave of erupted from Yvane’s corpse, breaking any glass container that did not burst from the first wave and pushed Needle back to the ground. From the center of the explosion, over Yvane’s lifeless body, was a se
cond crystalized shadow form. This one had a similar look to the first, with more feminine features to it but rotated its head to scan the room. Settling its attention on Gemini and then to the first shadow.
In a flash, the second shadow flicked its hand up and a sword like mass formed in its hand. Lunging toward the first shadow, the attack was easily noticed and the first flicked up its own shadow blade to block the meager assault. As soon as the weapons touched, another air impact shocked through the cave that would easily remove the air from your lungs.
“Relinquish!” Gemini’s shadow voiced urgently to Yvane’s. Strike after strike, the second shadow haphazardly assaulted in efforts to gain advantage.
Sounds of Needle struggling to keep his footing with all the air waves could be heard as he scrambled to get clear of the combat. The two spirits circled around Gemini’s table, weaving in and out of the breaks in light as they battled. The Skkooh in the back were also having troubles focusing on what was happening, their glowing eye faltered to the ground and they tried in vain to get back up.
Needle pushed the bottom half of a glass beaker like item off a nearby shelf as he tried to stand with its aid. The glass breaking on the ground stopped the onslaught and drew their attention to him. Looking at both spirits with wide eyes, he chuckled nervously.
Yvane’s shadow spirit’s features squinted in a glare towards the Neightur mage and sprang towards him with shadow blade ready. From light to dark to light, the speed in which the form moved across the space was blindingly fast. Right before it connected with the man, a Skkooh shot into the light and collided with it.
The spirit could almost sense it coming and positioned its blade so that the Skkooh got impaled as it advanced. Another air impact filled around them, sending Needle back to the floor and all other objects on the shelf beside him along with him. The body of the Skkooh filled with an energy, bubbling up as if it were filling with water until it burst in a fleshy mess of blood and gore. The dark blood pooled around in the cone of light, making a mirror of death.
Age of Souls Page 31