The Dark Witch Chronicles Book One: The Curse of The Cymmerien Dragon

Nicholas stood next to the railing of the tower, staring off into space as his eagle flew over and settled itself beside him. He turned to look at it and stroked its head gently with a smile on his face. “Pelagi,” said Nicholas, acknowledging the great big tawny eagle. Pelagi bowed his head and accepted the gesture graciously before lifting himself upwards and settling onto Nicholas’s extended arm. Leaning close to his ear, Pelagi whispered something that only his master could understand and when it was done, shifted away. Nodding his head, Nicholas placed his arm back on the railing and the majestic eagle bowed his head before flying away. Amara stood behind him, just entering the tower and began walking towards him. She was aware of the fact that his eagle would arrive today after spying on Lord Mikhail. And she was hoping Nicholas would be at the tower at this time in the evening, before he left to travel that night.

“He’s gathering an army,” Nicholas said, noticing her presence behind him.

“He did announce a war.” Amara shrugged as she stood next to him alongside the railing. Leaning along the railing, she looked down at the lake beneath them, stretching to boundaries afar.

“He is also going to meet someone. Pelagi spotted him near the Sea of Cypress. Why do you think he would go there?” He asked, looking at the trees in front of him.

At the mere mention of the Sea of Cypress, Amara’s heart skipped a beat and she blinked a few times, stopping herself from telling Nicholas as to why Lord Mikhail would go to the Sea of Cypress. Apart from the Lord and herself, no one was aware of what Lady Calypsa was protecting. And no one needed to know either. She could not let Nicholas know even though he was trustworthy. She had sworn to keep it a secret. Her mind still recalled the day, almost eighty years ago when the Lord had come to talk to her about it. But she could not reveal anything to anyone even if her life depended on it. She had sacrificed her own blood to promise that she would guard the treasure with every part of her soul.

“I’m not sure about it but he wouldn’t go there to gather an army of course,” she said, pushing away the obvious thoughts of what Lord Mikhail had gone there for. Of course, he wanted to gain access to what Lady Calypsa was protecting. Why else would he want to go to the horrible sea that could terrify the living daylights out of a normal powerful witch?

“We need to be careful. I’ve sent Pelagi to get more information. I shall send you the messages when I receive them,” Nicholas replied, turning around to go back to the castle to prepare for his leave.

“Alright. I shall wait for your message,” she said and gave a small nod before following him down to the castle and going her own way.

She walked towards her chamber and shut the door behind her after entering inside. On the table in the corner was the book that had the piece of parchment kept inside it, which held the little part of the prophecy that Lady Calypsa and Amara were guarding. There were a few things that were inside the sea, one of which was a prophecy. Part of it was given to Amara by Lord Lucifer to understand what it meant. Once again, she pulled it out of the book and read it to herself.

To possess it, a loved one must be killed

It was only a piece of parchment on which Lady Calypsa had designed the words, but it held utmost importance. This part of the prophecy was extracted from the whole and given to Lord Lucifer to guard. His forefathers, in a bid to protect it, had performed the task so as to save it from being taken by the undeserving. It was about the treasure that was sealed in the Sea of Cypress. Amara didn’t know the complete prophecy, but she was well aware that the words she held in her hands were as important. To anyone who was unaware of the complete prophecy, this broken part would always be hidden and even if they acquired the other part from the sea, they would not be able to achieve what they wanted, since they could only fulfil the part that was known to them.

Amara observed the writing carefully. If a person had to possess the treasure, a loved one had to be slain. Maybe, she thought, the blood of a loved one is required. If this part of the prophecy wasn’t fulfilled, the one seeking the treasure would never achieve it. She remembered the time when the Lord had made her swear to protect the part that was given to her. The only reason Lord Mikhail had found out was because he had been a companion of Lord Lucifer when they were being trained together. By some means he became the worst enemy Lord Lucifer could ever have. Amara didn’t know what the reasons were.

Letting out a sigh, Amara replaced the parchment back into the book. She had to inform Lady Calypsa that the treasures were under threat. She knew now that Lord Mikhail was looking for a way to summon Lady Calypsa. His powers were well known, he was as strong and as trained as the Lord, and if he wished to, he could always summon her to get what he wanted. Although Lady Calypsa was assigned to protect the treasures and not let someone like Lord Mikhail acquire them, she surely was unaware of what he was capable. There were a lot of ways he could get what he wanted, which might involve destroying Lady Calypsa even though she was invincible. The only ones who had the power to end her were Lord Lucifer and Lord Mikhail, and he would not hesitate in destroying her if he wished to.

Amara decided to go to the woods when there was a knock on the door. She walked over and opened it to find Iris standing there with an unrecognizable look. Amara frowned, stepping outside and shutting the door behind her. Iris was silent, biting her lip in nervousness before shutting her eyes for a while and then letting out a long sigh. Amara stared at her with her eyebrows raised in question. She couldn’t understand what Iris was here for.

“I’m ready,” she mumbled.

Amara was taken aback and widened her eyes. How could she be ready so soon? Wasn’t it just yesterday that she had not been sure about her being ready? It had actually been two weeks.

“Are you sure?” She asked, confirming if this was actually the time she wanted to do this.

Iris nodded, “I’m sure. I have to do this or else my head would explode with all the visions that I’ve been having of your past. It is getting into my mind every now and then and I’m unable to avoid it. I want to know what happened to him and I want to reveal it to you.”

“Do not get into this if you’re not completely confident about yourself, Iris. This is not an easy task,” said Amara.

She didn’t want this to end badly. Besides Iris was still a new witch. Even though she was a fast learner, it had only been six months. However, her confidence made Amara want to beam in pride. She was beginning to admire Iris and her abilities to grasp things so easily. Iris did remind Amara of herself, in different ways of course.

“I know. I’ve thought about it and I don’t think I can stop this any longer. I’m sure that I’ll be able to do it, and you’ll help me, right?” She asked, hopefully

“Of course I will.” Amara nodded.

“Can we do it now?” Iris said, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. She could not contain her mind any longer. It would go out of control and she could not let that happen. Iris had come to realize how easily her mind was used to getting distracted and she was afraid that it would get distracted again if this topic wasn’t over once and for all.

“Now?” Amara stared at her in disbelief.

“Amara, before I let my mind wander away into the Lord’s at this point – because I know it will even though he might be miles away – I want to end this. To be frank, you’ve had enough. You waited a hundred years. You should not have to wait any longer. You deserve the truth.” Iris argued.

“I’ve waited a hundred years, I can wait some more but I want you to be completely confident. You know the rules, one little loss of control and everything; I mean literally everything gets destroyed. Not only will the Lord find out, you might go insane and I will never be able to forgive myself.”

Amara gave a worried look as she began walking out of the castle and Iris followed. She knew where Amara was going. The woods were the only place they could peacefully do this.

“I know. I’ve considered everything and I am confident. I know I can do this. You made me realize what I am meant to do. I will do it,” Iris said, as they entered the woods and proceeded towards the lake. But Amara took a different turn when they were nearing the lake. Iris decided to follow without question.

“If we are doing this right now, I need the safest place possible,” she said and led Iris to the miniature caves that were conjured by Lord Lucifer for important and confidential meetings that only consisted of a few people. It was created for emergency purposes, and this was, as Amara thought, an emergency since there was no other place they would be able to complete this. Nobody was supposed to know about it, absolutely no one.

They walked deep into the woods, deeper than Iris had ever been to, striding on the lake-side path and reached the caves after a while. Iris observed that they were in the innermost part of the woods where it would take time for anyone to find them. She hadn’t noticed when they reached the caves as she walked on observing everything around, while her heart thumped inside her chest loudly. She could hear herself getting extremely nervous inside. The task was obviously not an easy one and she was nervous, she was scared that if something went wrong she would go insane.

The only thing keeping her breathing right now was that she was assured Amara would help her and wouldn’t let anything happen if it were under her control. But once she entered the time where she lost consciousness, there wasn’t a chance that she would be able to help Iris, for she would be lost inside the world, forgetting that Amara was in fact conscious enough at that point of time. She only passed out hundred years ago. That didn’t mean she would be unconscious at present.

But Iris metaphorically would, since she would be in another time and another place. As they stopped at the foot of the caves, Iris became more and more frightened as to what might happen even though she had enough confidence in herself. She kept repeating inside her head that she was going to be able to save herself and keep control of her mind while entering Lord Lucifer’s through Amara’s mind.

As impossible as the task sounded, she knew it could be done. Her powers were that strong, she was aware of that. Amara herself was nervous thinking about the fact that Iris was about to do something extremely complex. She wasn’t sure if this would happen easily enough. There couldn’t be a day when she was this nervous and scared for someone else. She wanted Iris to be safe. She was the closest Amara had ever gotten to anyone in the hundred years that she had been a witch.

Having Iris go insane or losing control of herself wasn’t something that she wanted. The both of them stood outside the caves with nearly the same things going through their minds when Amara let out a sigh and heaved open the door of the cave. Iris stared vacantly at the space in front of her as Amara began walking inside. She stopped mid-way, turning around.

“Promise me that you are sure about this,” she said to Iris who almost felt like Amara had become a part of her life, a very important part.

She felt like family and she was, in some way, deep inside aware of the fact that Amara was beginning to feel the same in spite of the lack of emotions that she showed. She’s still human, Iris thought. How long was she going to hide her emotions? There was going to be some way for them to come out.

“I promise, Amara, I won’t lose control and I am sure about this,” she replied, her voice a throaty whisper which she tried so hard to hide but couldn’t. It was a suicide mission she was going on and wanted to get out of it soon to tell Amara what she deserved to know. There was a little part of her that wanted to hug Iris. Amara had now a fraction of her dedicated to this childish sixteen-year-old girl whom she had begun to get mildly attached to. She stopped her emotions from coming in between and nodded, her heart going wild inside her chest. She was unsure whether or not Iris could hear it. Amara didn’t want her to know how scared she was.

Amara turned around and proceeded to walk into the chamber. She lit the torches with a click of her fingers and the cave was now illuminated with a little amount of light. Iris stood at the entrance of the opening with her eyes closed as she focussed her mind to one point entirely. She then opened her eyes with a different amount of confidence that reduced all the stress that she had been experiencing until now. An unusual feeling filled her whole being and she walked over to sit on the stone chairs that were in a circle around the table in between.

Amara held her breath for a moment before turning around and settling herself opposite to Iris who showed an aura of confidence and strength around her as she sat there with a clear expression of self-assurance. She was ready. Amara regarded her with hope that it would all be okay and that she wouldn’t lose control of herself. Taking a deep breath, she instructed Iris to close her eyes. Iris obeyed silently, shutting her eyes. She kept her ears alert to listen to what Amara was going to tell her.

“Take your mind back to where we stopped the last time. I am now about to open my mind to yours,” she said, her voice soft and deep.

Amara closed her eyes and concentrated on the last vision that she had had. When her mind was steady on the point where they left off, she let her mind free for Iris to enter. Iris focussed her attention on the last memory she had and realized that Amara had let her mind free of the chains. Immediately, she entered through the doors and Amara, subtly enough, trapped Iris inside her mind. The doors were shut.

Amara led Iris back to the point where she lost consciousness. The part where Lord Lucifer had rescued her and now was heading to the entrance of the dungeons, ready to free the others. Iris felt as though she had entered a different realm, as though she was now in the very place that Amara was, a hundred years ago. Her mind had now travelled back in time, leaving her to the point where Lord Lucifer was lifting Amara from the floor where she had fallen, half-conscious. Iris decided that that was the point where she had to enter into Lord Lucifer’s mind. Focussing her attention to the hooded figure of the Lord, she fixed her eyes metaphorically onto his being. She blocked out everything else and kept her mind solely onto Lord Lucifer. It all went in slow motion as he began lifting Amara in his arms. She was half-way into unconsciousness and a second later; Iris realized she was looking at the whole scene from another point of view entirely.

***

Lord Lucifer walked out of the dreaded chamber from where he had rescued Amara after slaying Zeidan. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, anticipating the fact that what his ancestors had said was about to come true. He had found the guardian of the treasures that his forefathers had given Lady Calypsa to guard. As he held her in his arms he felt a sense of pride on getting to meet the one that was going to be the greatest witch of all time. He pictured himself training her as he began proceeding to the entrance of the dungeons.

When he reached the place where the other prisoners were, he shot a glance at all the doors and they opened by themselves, setting all of the witches free. The prisoners rejoiced and rushed out of the chambers, thanking Lord Lucifer profusely and beginning to follow him. They all felt happier knowing that he had rescued Amara – the innocent girl – who had been tortured the most.

They had all seen how she had suffered every minute of everyday more than any one of them combined. The witch-hunters, as soon as they heard the commotion, left their own chambers and rushed outside to find that all the prisoners had been set free. Panicked, they pulled out their weapons and attacked everyone present. Lord Lucifer was aware that all of them would be able to save themselves and started to push through the crowd to get out of the dungeons. His priority was to save Amara and take her to a safe place. He could not afford to rescue the other prisoners. They were all capable enough and those who weren’t, had a chance of losing, but on the path of saving this one important witch, he had to sacrifice the others.

There was no way he could rescue all of them. He had helped them by setting them free and that was all he could do. As he neared the entrance, the doors opened and allowed him to go out but he was stopped by a witch-hunter that began to attack him. Lord Lucifer lost grip on Amara and she fell to the floor, hitting her head on a wall and he pulled his sword out to slash the witch-hunter’s neck. After doing so, he quickly picked up Amara and sprinted out of the dungeons, avoiding the cries of the war that had begun inside the chambers.

Lord Lucifer ran as fast as his feet could carry him. His powers being weak due to the long amount of strenuous travelling he had done to find Amara and rescue her, he could not teleport himself to the mountains and had to reach there by foot. When suddenly he heard hasty footsteps at his heels, Lord Lucifer turned around to find out who it was and when his eyes finally rested on the person who had captured Amara, he stopped in his tracks. He looked at the man standing behind him a few paces away, fuming.

Lord Lucifer stared at the man silently, now realizing who he was and his heart skipped a beat as he began to breathe heavily. Never in his existence had he felt this amount of helplessness as he observed the man standing before him. But he had to save Amara. He could not believe that this man would torment an innocent witch so mercilessly. With a new will to save the only hope he had, Lord Lucifer shot a disarming spell at the man and turned around to run back to the safest place he could think of. Behind him, Leo fell to the ground and groaned as pain hit his chest. Struggling, he stood up and limped behind Lord Lucifer who was now far away. He failed to notice that Lord Lucifer was a great sorcerer and could be extremely fast if he wished to.

Tightening his grip on Amara, Lord Lucifer ran along the mountain valleys struggling to reach the place faster. Once again he could hear Leo getting nearer and increased his pace, swishing past the trees and as he realized he was about to reach the mountains of Carvelli, his foot tripped and he fell heavily to the ground. The past few hours of strain had sapped his ability to teleport. Leo was getting closer and Lord Lucifer groaned, pushing his body up to standing and holding up Amara again. She had now lost complete consciousness.

He proceeded to run faster but his ankle had been twisted, which hindered his progress and his pace became slower and slower until he was gasping for air. His hold on Amara tightened, he moved towards his destination and upon reaching, dropped to the ground, exhausted. He groaned in pain, settling Amara on the grass beside a tree. They were now in the valley between the circled mountains of Carvelli.

Hearing the sound of someone groaning, Nicholas left the place where he was busy preparing a potion and rushed to where Lord Lucifer was. He sat down beside Lord Lucifer and pulled him up so he was now sitting with his back resting on the bark of a tree.

“Is she alive?” He asked, glancing at Amara once. Lord Lucifer nodded, panting. He lifted his hand to point towards something and Nicholas turned to look in that direction where Leo stood at a distance with his fingers clenched on his palm.

“Ask him to leave,” Lord Lucifer whispered, shutting his eyes. Nicholas looked at him once before turning back to Leo who was now starting to walk in their direction.

“He followed you here? Why didn’t you kill him?” Nicholas said, perplexed as to why Lord Lucifer hadn’t gotten rid of him by now.

Of course he had that much sense as to kill a normal witch-hunter, no matter whom he had captured and how he had tortured them. Lord Lucifer simply shook his head, shutting his eyes. He was growing weaker. Frowning, Nicholas stood up and proceeded to walk towards Leo. He was about to pull out his sword and slash it across Leo’s throat to kill him when Lord Lucifer screamed Nicholas’s name.

He turned his face to look at Lord Lucifer, confused.

“Take him somewhere else,” he said and Nicholas grew even more confused.

“Scared that I’m here, old man?” Leo snarled, taking a step forward.

He was now standing in level to Nicholas, fuming as he was well aware that someday he would have to fight this man. Lord Lucifer merely stared with bloodshot eyes at the man that stood before him.

“Scared of a petty witch-hunter?” Nicholas said, his voice as menacing as Leo’s.

“Can’t fight me? Too afraid that I might be more powerful than you?” said Leo, ignoring Nicholas.

Leo began to chant the hymns for the destruction of Conjurers. Nicholas shut his eyes as anger began to boil inside of him while Lord Lucifer tried not to get any weaker inside. He could not get weak, not now. Not before him.

“Silence!” bellowed Lord Lucifer, unable to hear the words that were coming out of Leo’s mouth.

He knew that Leo had the power to destroy him but he was way stronger. Lord Lucifer had just lost his will to fight, seeing who it was that he was supposed to battle.

“I will destroy you. I will take my revenge, father.” Leo snarled.