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

Chapter Thirty-Five

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POSSESSED

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There was an ocean of visions that Amara saw when she entered Azrael’s mind. She saw a million things all at once. There was a jumbled version of his childhood but she was unable to understand a single thing, for it came and went too fast. Then she saw a flicker of his training by Lord Lucifer, a glimpse of Nicholas, and then suddenly he was in the castle with her. Amara could not contemplate a single thing. She was then rushed into another vision where Azrael was with Lord Lucifer, getting trained. This time it was clear and slow. She could see the devotion in his eyes. She could see his powers coming into force, how he easily acquired the strength of handling the same elements as she did. It was incredible. But she did not see a single vision where he was in any way associated with Lord Mikhail. And it all but confirmed her trust on him. She knew it wasn’t him. It could never be him.

A moment later, as she tried to pull herself out of his mind, she involuntarily stopped at his conscious and subconscious thoughts. The majority of his thoughts were clouded by just one person: Amara. And it filled her with this strange but wonderful feeling. It made her smile. Unwilling to look any further, she closed the doors of her own mind to conceal her approach ahead. Then Azrael’s mind shut itself for her. Both of their eyes opened. They were standing at the shore, away from the rest of the group, staring at each other as though there was nothing else they could do. Amara watched Azrael in awe. She wasn’t expecting herself to be in his thoughts. And to contain most of them, it was something overwhelming for her.

When a wave crashed upon their feet, they blinked and looked away. Amara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and suddenly noticed that her heart was racing. A smile found its way on her face and she glanced at Azrael once. He was looking at the Sea.

“I haven’t trusted anyone apart from the Lord, and now Iris,” she said quietly. “It has always been difficult for me to develop any sort of trust on someone. I don’t know you. I don’t know you at all.”

She kept her eyes on her feet as she said that. The water cascaded down from under her toes slowly.

“I gathered that. But I don’t need you to know me. I want you to trust me by knowing what I am now, not by knowing what I was in the past; because revealing the past is a choice, not a rule. I want to be a part of your future. I want your trust to be there with me until the day I die,” he said to her, now gazing at her with what seemed like utmost content and adoration.

Amara looked at him. His words had reached the deepest parts of her soul and she smiled back at him.

“I don’t know if I trust you with everything in me. Maybe that will take time. But I trust you enough to know that you are not a traitor. And this trust may develop into something bigger and more beautiful further in our future,” she told him truthfully.

For a moment, there was silence, and then Azrael turned to look at her again.

“Are you suggesting that something is going to happen between us in future?” He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Amara was taken aback. Her embarrassment was about to show up when she looked at his face and realized that he wasn’t being serious. But despite of the joke he intended it as; she knew there was a seriousness hidden in those words. They just did not want to accept it at the moment, suspecting that it would all shatter.

“Maybe that is just something in your head, sorcerer,” she told him before turning around to walk in the opposite direction.

“I never said the walk was over,” he called out and she looked at him again.

“Don’t we have more important things to do?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Not until midnight.”

And with that they were walking together again. As they treaded, a silence followed. It wasn’t an uncomfortable one. They listened to the sound of birds chirping, the view of the sun shining upon the water, and the wind rushing around them in circles. They walked further and further along the shore of the Sea and they failed to notice the wall that was in between – stopping them from accepting what they felt for each other – was now gone. It had ceased to exist and both of them knew what they actually meant to each other. The only difference was that none of them were ready to reveal the same.

For a long time, they walked along the shore and then returned to where the others were. Sienna was still in an isolated area giving the spirits some rest, while Lea and Iris were fast asleep on the rock that they had been seated on. It was nearing noon when Amara and Azrael settled themselves back to where they were before. They spent the rest of the day in a bit of meditation among other things. Lea and Iris got busy chatting about one thing or another and exploring the shore while Amara and Azrael discussed war strategies and how much practice was needed.

When midnight came, Lea and Iris were sent away since an audience with Lady Calypsa was only meant for Amara and Azrael. Sienna was asked to be there, for the spirits were to be taken care of while they spoke. They stood there with the sound of the waves crashing into their ears. The sky was darker than before, the moon invisible amidst the grey clouds that had surrounded. Amara and Azrael raised their right legs before resting their toes on the water. It suddenly went calm. The waves diminished and the wind seemed to slow down. Sienna watched as black coloured smoke rose at a distance from the middle of the sea. It reached high above before contorting into the figure of a woman. As she approached further, Sienna observed that there was no face to be seen. It became an even foggy and a smoky appearance instead of being clearer.

Lady Calypsa now stood in front of Amara and Azrael who bent in respect and Sienna followed suit. She stood adjacent to Amara while Azrael stood on the other side of the latter.

“Great Lady, we come to offer you guardians,” said Amara.

“Guardians?” asked the lady with a hint of curiosity in her tone mixed with annoyance.

Why would someone as powerful as Lady Calypsa need guardians?

“Yes, Great Lady. Since the war is about to begin, we need to ensure proper protection for you. The prophecy is under your watch but we bring guardians to offer you protection so your attention remains solely on the prophecy. Lord Lucifer has sent orders for your guard,” Azrael spoke.

Lady Calypsa seemed to think for a while before she circled Amara and Azrael, stopping at Sienna in the end.

“And who would you be?” She hissed in Sienna’s ear.

Sienna shut her eyes at the sound echoing in her ears. Lady Calypsa was intimidating enough to her since it was the first time that she had been in her acquaintance.

“She is the carrier of your guardians,” answered Amara.

“Where are the guardians?” asked the Lady.

“These are invisible spirits, Great Lady. Ten spirits will be your guardians and protect the sea from any harm,” Amara said.

“Lord Lucifer trusts these spirits?”

“Essentially so,” said Azrael, nodding.

“It is Lord Lucifer because of whom I choose to believe you. I did receive a message from him saying that his apprentices would be visiting. The assurance was needed to be careful of imposters,” replied

Lady Calypsa, now going back in position on top of the water as her robes slithered into the water behind her.

“Of course, Great Lady. It is most necessary,” Amara said.

“Leave the guardians here. I shall not require your assistance further than this. The spirits and I need to communicate in privacy to ensure that every sort of protection is covered. You are free to leave.”

With that, the Lady vanished. From around Sienna, the spirits rushed away and in the direction of the Sea like a wild gush of wind. She realized that they retreated into the sea along with Lady Calypsa.

The waves began to crash upon the shore again and the wind started to rush around them.

“We can leave now,” Amara said and turned to Azrael and Sienna who nodded in response.

The three of them then left to find Iris and Leandra before leaving the Sea of Cypress. As instructed, the two witches were supposed to be in the woods adjoining the sea, from where they were to leave to go back to the castle. Amara had strictly asked the two to be seated under the giant oak tree, which was easy to spot. But the spot under the oak tree was empty. Neither were there any trails of footsteps for them to be there. Amara and Azrael cast a glance in each other’s direction while Sienna followed behind them.

“Are they here?” Sienna asked.

Amara turned to look at her worriedly.

“No. They’re not,” she replied.

Sienna hurried to where Amara and Azrael were.

“They might be somewhere around here. Let’s look for them,” he said, giving Amara a reassuring smile.

She nodded in reply silently. They headed in different directions calling out Iris and Lea’s names in a bid to locate them but nothing worked. Azrael stopped at a point, returning to where they were when he found no source of his sister and Iris. Amara stood under the oak, looking around to find where Iris was. The feeling of sheer panic refused to go away. Iris was way too important to her and if a single harm occurred, Amara did not know what she would do.

“Amara,” Azrael said quietly when he reached her.

She turned to him hopefully but upon finding that there was nobody accompanying him, she looked away.

“Amara,” he said again, holding her shoulders and turning her to his side. “We’ll find them. Don’t worry.”

He tried his best to give her enough assurance but nothing worked.

“Listen to me,” he told her when she looked away again.

“Connect your mind to Iris’s. Maybe then you can find her location,” he said.

“Right! We could do that,” she replied and shut her eyes immediately.

With her concentration focussed on Iris completely, Amara established a link between both of their minds. It took a few long moments to locate Iris’s mind, but when she did, Amara found that Iris was alone. Leandra was nowhere around her. Blindly, she followed where Iris’s mind led her to. Amara could not understand as to where Iris exactly was and what condition she was in or what she was doing. All she could sense was fear that came through Iris’s mind into hers. So she followed the vision silently. As he saw her walk away from him, Azrael began to follow her in a bid to ask where she was going. But one look at her vacant and uncomprehending eyes, and he decided to walk with her without a question.

They reached a clearing. He sent a message to Sienna telling her where they were. Sienna appeared soon enough. Amara stopped at a distance. Below her was a pit. There were iron bars covering the pit. It was dark, nothing could be seen. But Amara heard a sound; a wailing sound – someone asking for help, someone crying. Amara suddenly snapped out of her connection to Iris’s mind. She looked down. Another wailing sound was heard, this one louder than before. Letting out a breath Amara bent to her knees and gazed into the pit. Azrael and Sienna imitated her, looking down in the pit through the iron bars.

“Iris,” Amara whispered, recognizing the sound.

The pit was deep. Iris would have been somewhere below out of eyesight.

“She’s in there,” she said again, when Azrael merely stared down into the pit.

“How did-”

“Get her out of there!” Amara cut him off with a screech.

There was a pounding in her head. She knew, she just knew that Iris was being tortured. Who it was; how it happened and why it was being done, she was unaware. She cared not. All she cared about was Iris. Iris in pain. . .Iris being trapped under the pit . . .Iris in danger. There was nothing else on her mind.

“Amara,” Azrael began.

He wanted to calm her down but Amara refused to listen. She shook her head.

“Rescue her! Do something!” she told him, panicked.

Her eyes were moist, a pained look she held as she looked back and forth between Azrael and the pit from where Iris’s wails were still echoing. But before Azrael could do a single thing, Sienna had already weakened the iron bars by conjuring a sharp metal blade. She started to scrape the blade over the bars using all her strength and soon enough, they began to crack. Immediately Azrael conjured another one before starting to cut through the bars himself. But Amara was blank. She could not think of a single thing to do. Sitting there she stared at the pit. She tried to locate Iris to get her out somehow, in any possible way. The worry of losing Iris was seeping inside of her slowly and steadily burning all her insides. If anything were to happen to Iris, Amara did not know what she would do.

Her attention wavered when she heard a thud. Blinking, she lifted her head to find Eridanus on the ground at a distance. She stood up, frowning. Azrael and Sienna looked up in confusion while cutting through the bars.

“What are you doing here?” Amara asked Eridanus who pushed himself off of the ground and sprinted to where they were.

“Iris,” he panted. “She sent me a message,” he said between breaths.

“She sent a message to you?” Amara questioned.

It surprised her as to why Iris would send Eridanus a message. He was far away in the castle. Instead of doing the same to Amara, Azrael or Sienna who were close enough to her, she sent a message to him. Amara found it strange.

“Where is she? What is happening?” He asked worriedly.

He looked at Azrael, then at Amara, at the pit and then at Sienna in panic.

“Amara, conjure a rope. I’m going into the pit,” Azrael said.

Instantly there was a long rope right before them. Azrael grabbed it, pulled off his hooded cloak, tied the rope around his waist and jumped into the pit while Sienna held the rope in her hands. Azrael descended down the mud walls around him and they began to get wider as he approached the bottom. Iris’s voice became clearer, louder as he descended below. He wondered where Leandra was. Maybe she was with Iris, or maybe she was somewhere else in trouble. Who did whatever they did and why, Azrael didn’t know. He had no time to think over it. He had to save Iris.

There was a foul smell that surrounded him when he reached the bottom. It was a passage ahead of him. Letting go of the rope, he conjured up a torch of fire before following Iris’s cries. The passage opened to reveal a larger clearing where he spotted two figures. One was Iris, on the floor, wailing in pain. Her eyes were rolled upwards, her limbs twisted in a very strange way. Her body was shivering.

Opposite to her sat a horrific sight. Noctia Stella. Azrael recognized the Mortuis upon looking at the hideous appearance. He cursed under his breath before rushing towards Iris. Noctia Stella’s eyes did not waver from her victim. Her blazing red gaze was on Iris, yet she knew that there was someone else in the pit trying to rescue the prey. Azrael wondered how Noctia had left the village of Heletes and come far to the path leading to the Sea of Cypress. It was impossible for a Mortuis to leave their residence and go somewhere else, unless they had help from an immortal. He wondered who it was that had helped Noctia Stella.

With his mind focussed on Noctia Stella, he used all his powers and created an invisible shield around Iris to keep her safe. Since most of his strength had been used due to the amount of powers Noctia possessed, he could not carry an unconscious Iris out of the pit all by himself. A faded message then rushed out of his mind and reached Amara. Due to the force by which the message hit her, she stumbled on her feet and took a step back. In moments, she started to rush down the pit. Without a question, Sienna immediately bound the rope around a tree behind them and gave the other half to Amara. She tied it around her waist and descended down the pit.

Breathing heavily she reached the passage where Azrael, Iris and Noctia Stella were. A rage boiled inside of her when she spotted the Mortuis seated there trying to break the shield that Azrael had created. Sprinting to where the two were, she grabbed Iris by the waist, held Azrael’s arm and led them back to where the ropes were. She pushed Azrael and Iris together, tied the rope around both of them and tugged on it to send a signal to Sienna, who started pulling on the rope along with the help of Eridanus.

Amara watched as Azrael and Iris ascended back up the pit. But along with Azrael, the shield that he created was gone. Noctia Stella’s attention was now focussed on Amara. It would take some amount of time until Azrael and Iris reached the top and she would be able to go. Until then, Amara was in the pit alone with Noctia who was now starting to create barriers that would weaken Amara so she would not be able to leave. There was a fury that built up inside her and she could destroy anything and everything that came in way, but not someone as strong as Noctia Stella. Amara could not do that alone.

She fought the unseen barriers with any strength that she could. But she had to save some power to go back to the top. It was difficult fighting the Mortuis all by herself. She needed help; any powerful Conjurer would need help since it was not easy to battle Mortuis. And witches that practiced dark witchcraft were always more powerful than others. Something started to blind Amara’s vision. She stumbled, ready to fall but she resisted it. Her hands were plastered on the walls around her, trying to keep her feet steady but Stella was stronger. Amara’s eyes began to view black and grey patches and she blinked to adjust her vision but nothing worked.

She felt the rope touch her shoulder as it fell down to let her up. But she could not bring herself to let go of the wall and grab the rope – or even so, tie it around herself to go back. She panted, her breath seemed to give way and it felt like there was no air in the pit. Suffocation began to enter her senses and she gasped for air while struggling to keep her eyes steady with vision. Just as she was about to give up and descend to the floor, an arm was wrapped around her waist and she felt herself being pulled towards someone. And then her feet left the ground. She was being lifted upwards and in moments, there was enough air to let her breathe. Her head fell backwards and she was laid to the ground when Azrael released his hold on her.

Sienna pulled out a bottle of Healing Potion before letting some drop into Amara’s mouth as she had done with Azrael and Iris. Eridanus was now embracing Iris with her head resting on his chest as they sat under a tree. He stroked her head softly and held her close to him as she breathed shallow breaths. She was weak, her eyes shut and her fingers clasped around his cloak in a tight grip.

“It’s alright. You’re alright,” he whispered softly into her ear.

Ever since he had confessed his feelings to her in the castle before she left for the Sea of Cypress, he felt even more protective of her than he had ever felt. She had not replied to him at that time, Lea had interrupted and she didn’t get a chance to tell him what he wanted to hear. Now with her resting in his arms, he felt content. There was absolutely nothing else that he seemed to care about at that point of time.

When Amara’s eyes fluttered open, she coughed and pushed herself up so she was sitting. Azrael sat in front of her apprehensively.

“Are you alright?” He asked her, raising his hand and pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Even in her weakness, Amara felt his touch send a strange sensation down her spine. And it rather disappointed her when he pulled his hand away suddenly, clearing his throat.

“I’m okay,” she croaked. “Where is Iris?” She asked, her eyes landing on Iris who was covered with Eridanus’s cloak that he had wrapped around her.

Despite herself, a smile etched across her face as she looked at the caring expression that Eridanus had when he held Iris. And then suddenly a thought struck her.

“Leandra,” she breathed, turning to look at Azrael.

Sienna’s head snapped towards her as realization struck her that Lea was nowhere to be seen.