SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Twenty One: Dark Falls
The leaves below her feet made a crunching sound and nothing else was heard. An owl hooted from above a tree, somewhere in the distance, the sound echoed in the silence and then suddenly went quiet as Lilith approached. She lifted her head to find the owl resting on a high branch. It was a small one, terribly innocent looking which made Lilith smile, her teeth showing awkwardly. There was a tint of yellow in them with lines of blood in between. A moment later, the owl dropped dead beside her feet. Lifting a foot, she grazed her long toe-nails along the owl’s body. She pushed the hair that was falling over her eyes back, using the wrinkled fingers that also had a hint of blood on them. Her long grey nails scratched along her cheek.
The body of a twenty-year-old mortal had been possessed by the dead spirit of Lilith, which made her look utterly different from what she used to be. Lilith continued stumbling ahead, unaware of where she was going. She was on her journey to find the one that had summoned her and left her at a time when she had almost entered the human’s body. Lilith’s spirit wasn’t spiteful in nature. Her spirit was pure, yet the way she had died left some sort of darkness inside her that had a potential to take over. Troubled spirits had a tendency to become evil if their summoning was interrupted half-way through, or at the time when they had almost entered a body.
Unaware of the consequences, Nicholas had ended up summoning Lilith’s pure spirit and stopped the process just when it was about to enter the human’s body. The spirit went from its nature of benign to evil. The dark and vicious part of Lilith had taken over when the summoning was interrupted, making her spirit turn into an unpleasant and dangerous one. Instead of being of any help to Nicholas for whatever purpose he wanted to fulfil, the spirit was now out to end his life. Due to the fact that Phoenix Blood had rendered her mind futile, Lilith’s spirit had no knowledge of the world she was in, apart from finding her conjurer and killing him.
She was passing through the mountains of Dark Falls, unmindful of her location when she spotted two blurred figures striding at a distance. Amara and Azrael were travelling slowly back to the castle, their minds flooded with various thoughts that they could not think clearly. After leaving from the Sea of Cypress, they had started to take a different route to go back. Amara had told Azrael that the course that they had used – which passed through the woods of Rosean – contained traces of them that could be detected by sorcerers like Lord Mikhail. In order not to take any chances of getting attacked by him or other enemies, Amara and Azrael had taken a different path.
They had left false traces in a few areas by conjuring smoke that contained imprints of their fingers to confuse any threatening beings that would want to attack them. That way, they travelled one path but had traces in others so as not to get into any kind of trouble. It was necessary for them to reach back to the castle safely. As Azrael had suggested, they had taken the route that went through the mountains of Dark Falls. The area was known for its beautiful yet terrifying waterfalls that surrounded the mountains. It was also known for being the most haunted area in Acanthus. All kinds of spirits of Conjurers resided in the caves built deep in the mountains.
Azrael and Amara heard foggy whispers of the spirits moving around them, yet not harming them in any way. They decided to take a halt and rest for a while before continuing their journey. It was three hours past midnight and eight hours after they had left the Sea of Cypress. The knowledge of the treasures that Lady Calypsa protected – and that they were to be guarded by the two of them – had left them in a trance. Both of them had similar thoughts running through their minds. Amara felt as though she was given the hardest task ever and the prophecy was to be protected at any cost. If by plain chance, any of Lord Mikhail’s apprentices found out what the prophecy was; the world would be plunged into darkness.
Azrael, on the other hand, was thinking about how the two of them were going to be able to keep those treasures safe. Amara wasn’t the only intelligent being that could solve the confusing riddles of the prophecy in order to reach the treasures. Lord Mikhail was under no circumstances to be underestimated. There was a lot of scope for him to find out the true meaning and gain that which was not his to own. As Azrael sat on the ground, his back resting on the bark of a huge tree, his eyes watched Amara. She settled herself opposite him at the feet of another tree. Her eyes were scanning the surrounding as she sensed a few spirits moving around her.
At a distance, she could see the figure of a woman approaching them and then suddenly taking a stop before getting out of sight. Amara frowned and looked away. It wasn’t a surprise to find strange figures lurking around in the Dark Falls. She wondered whether it was safe for them to take rest in the mountains. There was a fair chance of them being attacked by evil spirits. Yet she knew that they were strong enough to battle the same. So with her eyes closed, she let her head rest on the bark of the tree while Azrael diverted his gaze. His eyes landed on the figure of a woman approaching; the same one that Amara had seen moments ago. He kept watching as the figure came closer and closer.
Without letting his eyes away from the woman, he stood up and crouched down next to the sleeping figure of Amara. He was unsure whether she really was asleep. It had only been a few moments that she had closed her eyes. The woman was now walking further in their direction. Sensing that it might be a threat, Azrael tapped on Amara’s shoulder lightly. She opened her eyes to look at him.
“There’s someone over there,” he mouthed, gesturing in the direction of the woman who had now begun to get even closer.
They could see her gait slowly towards them. Amara stood up along with Azrael as they watched the woman approach.
“Spirits here don’t take human forms,” she said to him, her eyes still on the woman.
“That is what I am wondering. Do you think any witches stay here?” He asked, taking a step closer to Amara.
His sudden protective instincts in order to save her surprised him. But Amara had not noticed that. They were now standing adjacent to each other, with Azrael just one step behind her back; there was nearly no space between them.
“No. But maybe she is a traveller, like us?” She replied.
It came out more as a question. She was unsure about it herself. There were rarely any travellers that went through the Dark Falls. Everyone believed that it was a place where Conjurers were deliberately killed by evil spirits to possess their bodies. Amara and Azrael refused to have faith in the same. They were strong enough to battle spirits, if not others.
“I’m not very sure of that,” he whispered back, wearing a worried look.
As they stood frozen in place, Lilith reached where they could clearly see her even in the darkness. The sound of water falling down through the mountains was heard distinctly enough in the otherwise silent area. Lilith stood there with her head tilted to the side. Her throat was dry; she felt thirsty. To quench that thirst, she needed the blood of any living thing. In front of her stood two figures that she failed to recognize; the only thing that she could think of was the smell of their blood that was surrounding her senses. Her thirst needed to be fulfilled.
Amara scrunched up her face in disgust. There was a very vile stench that had hit the air when the woman arrived. It smelt like that of a dead body decaying for years. Azrael cringed at the smell as well. His eyes were still on the woman. And then realization dawned on him as the woman took two more steps forward.
“What’s that smell?” asked Amara, her voice a mere whisper.
“It’s possessed. When a malign spirit enters a human, it carries around a smell that stenches like that of a dead body,” he answered.
“Do we run or do we fight?”
“We can’t fight a spirit that has possessed a body. It’s extremely powerful, evil and incomparable. One simply can’t compete,” he replied.
“Then we teleport,” suggested Amara.
Azrael considered it for a moment but their journey was long and they could not afford to use their strength in teleporting. If they did, they would only reach half-way to their destination. But they would also be able to get rid of the dead that was about to attack them. And if they did teleport, the false traces would be lost, making it more of a threat.
“That won’t help. Wait here,” he said to her and walked a little further while Amara stood there rooted in place.
The smell of fresh blood that was wafting through her senses made Lilith want to tear the two bodies apart and quench her thirst. Azrael stood a few feet away from her, his eyes focussed on the possessed body of the girl. He cleared his throat, taking a step forward, careful of not getting too close to her.
He opened his mouth to say something when Lilith proceeded ahead to silence him. She only sought blood. As her eyes turned a darker shade of red, she began walking ahead until she was standing right in front of Azrael who stood a bit taller than her. It made no difference to her. Amara watched what was happening before her as Lilith suddenly attacked Azrael, gripping his throat in her long fingers. She lifted him off the ground and held his body high up, gazing at him with a malicious grin on her lips. Amara widened her eyes before rushing in that direction to free Azrael.
The strength that Lilith had in her was tremendous. Azrael struggled to loosen the grip on his throat as he began to choke under it. Blood trickled down the back of his neck as Lilith’s sharp nails pierced his skin. Before he could attempt to save himself, his eyes shut on their own as Lilith dropped him to the ground, slamming his head forcefully. It created tremors in the earth as Amara stared in complete silence. She was unaware of who the spirit was, yet she realized that it had the strength of at least four powerful witches combined. Lilith began to lean close to Azrael while raising her free hand in order to separate his head from his body, when Amara shut her eyes and grabbed his arm before using all her strength to teleport the both of them away from there.
A few moments later, they landed inside a cave. It was completely dark. Amara pushed herself up so she was now sitting, her breathing ragged as she tried to get her vision steady. She blinked a few times before looking around to find Azrael who lay unconscious at a distance from her. In an attempt to save their lives, Amara had teleported them to the mountains of Carvelli. Since it wasn’t very far from the castle, it had taken all her energy to get them there and now she was completely drained out. If at all she had to conjure anything, she would need to meditate and get her powers in working condition again. Yet she began to wonder why she felt so exhausted. She had teleported the same way before and it had not drained out her powers so easily. But at that moment, she felt as though there was nothing that she could do using her powers.
It was strange. Amara thought that maybe it was because she had not been able to meditate in a while and that the visit to the Sea of Cypress was mentally as well as physically exhausting. Yet she could not help but wonder why she suddenly felt weaker than she ever had. With a shake of her head, she got up and staggered towards Azrael. There were prints of Lilith’s fingers on his throat; his face looked paler than ever. Amara held his stone cold hand. She closed her eyes in order to use the remaining of her powers to heal him but nothing worked. All her strength seemed to have vanished and she didn’t know what she could do.
“Wake up, Azrael,” she whispered, looking at his face and holding it in her hands gently.
He was unconscious, with eyes shut and movements void. Nothing other than his chest moved up and down, nearly invisible as he breathed. Amara tried to get him back into consciousness but she could not. When there was nothing else that she thought would help, she shut her eyes for a moment and connected her mind to that of Iris’s. She sent a message of help to her which travelled slowly due to the lack of her powers. Amara sat on the floor beside Azrael’s unconscious body. She waited for the message to reach Iris while searching for a Healing Potion in her bag and pulled out the bottle. Unscrewing the cap, she began to pour some drops into his mouth when her eyes went blind and she collapsed on the floor beside him.
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The castle was quiet. Everyone was either asleep or meditating inside their chambers. Leandra, Erasmus, Nicholas and Iris were seated inside Iris’s chamber, discussing about Amara and Azrael’s whereabouts. Iris sat there with her eyes stuck on the wall before her. She missed Amara, and hearing the news about Lord Mikhail on a hunt for something that Amara was guarding made it no better. Nicholas had gotten a message from his eagle that Lord Mikhail was trying to find out something that Amara was responsible for protecting. That made Iris more worried than ever. She didn’t want anything to happen to Amara, even Azrael for that matter.
In the week that she had spent with Lea, she had come to realize that Azrael wasn’t a threat to Amara and that she could trust him. Lea had told her a lot of things about him and she had begun to have faith in him. Yet her worry for Amara had not subsided. She wanted to talk to her about how Nicholas had helped her handle elements with perfection in a short time after he returned. There was so much she had to convey and it was all inside her head. She could not be open enough to anyone else apart from Amara. Even though Lea was now a good friend, she didn’t feel the connection that she felt with Amara. It was like a sisterly bond, Amara was more of an elder sibling to her while Lea was the immature friend.
As they all talked about preparations for the war, Iris shuddered in her seat as something crashed into her mind. She blinked, registering the message that she had just received and stood up with a jerk, her chair toppling over. The other three observed her questioningly. Iris looked so startled that it caught all of them off guard.
“Amara needs help,” she said, breaking the silence.
“You received a message?” asked Erasmus, standing up as well.
Iris nodded wordlessly.
“Where are they?” Nicholas said.
“In the mountains of Carvelli; a cave, I think,” Iris replied, her eyes staring into nothingness.
“I need to go,” she said before any of them could utter a word and started to walk towards the door of the chamber when Nicholas grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“You won’t go alone,” he said and turned to look at Erasmus and Lea who stood there in panic.
“Erasmus, stay here until we return and Lea, go to the potions chamber and get me the bag of emergency supplies,” he said and walked out of the chamber along with Iris.
Lea rushed to the potions chamber and searched for the bag of potions and weapons before grabbing one and going back to where Nicholas and Iris were. She handed them the bag and Nicholas took it before looking at Erasmus.
“I will return soon,” he said.
“Be careful,” Erasmus replied.
A moment later, Iris and Nicholas were out of the castle, making their way to the mountains of Carvelli. Without uttering even slight a sound, Iris followed Nicholas to where he was taking her. He led her to where his horse was standing, behind the castle. Mounting himself on top of it, he handed the bag of supplies to Iris before pulling her onto the horse behind him. Soon, they were on their way to the mountains of Carvelli.
“Don’t worry, Iris. Nothing is going to happen to Amara,” he said; sensing the panic on Iris’s face.
She nodded and let out a sigh. Maybe I am over reacting, she thought. Of course Amara was powerful enough to help herself but there might be some reason that she sent Iris a message. She advised herself to relax and not panic as much as she was. It was not going to help.
As they travelled ahead, Iris wondered why Azrael and Amara had not used any means of transport to get them to their destination. If Nicholas could use a horse, why did they have to travel on foot and take such a long time?
“Are you the only one who has a horse?” She asked.
“No. All of us have some means of travelling. We can conjure up carriages, use horses; dragons too at times. But they’re for war purposes, or emergencies,” he responded.
“Why did Amara not use anything?”
“There are some places where no wagons can be used. Going on foot is the only way to reach there. Maybe Amara and Azrael went somewhere they couldn’t use a wagon.” Nicholas shrugged.
The horse galloped ahead in greater speed when Nicholas silently ordered it to. The mountains of Carvelli were only a few hours journey from the castle and Nicholas had no time to waste. The wind blew past Iris as she shut her eyes and clutched Nicholas’s shoulder tightly so as not to fall. The pace at which they were travelling frightened her. It got worse when rain started to drench them.
For the next few hours the rain kept falling hard and stopping in between. Nicholas halted at no place and the speed either augmented or stayed the same. Iris wondered how he was going to stop the horse that was travelling at lightning speed according to her. When they reached the mountains of Carvelli, Nicholas finally lessened the pace and they came to a halt upon entering the valleys. Iris wondered where Amara would be. There was no mention of where in the mountains the two of them were stranded.
“Where do you think they are?” Nicholas asked, looking around.
“She didn’t give me the proper location,” she replied, as confused as him.
“Well, connect your mind to hers. Maybe you’ll find out,” he told her and Iris nodded before closing her eyes and trying to reach Amara.
She had to strain her mind a lot more than necessary because she could not locate where Amara was. Iris was unable to join their minds. It seemed as though Amara was somewhere unreachable to her. After trying hard for a long time, Iris opened her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh.
“I can’t. . .I can’t do it.” She ran a hand through her hair in frustration.
Nicholas paused for a moment before trying to connect his mind to Amara’s or even to Azrael’s for that matter. But nothing worked. Since Amara had lost consciousness, reaching her mind wasn’t an easy task. But neither of them was aware of that.
“You said they were in a cave, right?” He asked after a while of trying and failing.
“Yes,” Iris replied.
“There are five caves in these mountains. We’ll have to search all of them,” he said and they continued forward in search of Amara and Azrael.
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There was a sound of footsteps heard inside the cave that Amara and Azrael were. The faint sound of someone walking towards them echoed in the head of the semi-conscious being of Azrael who lay there immovable. His eyes opened slightly to reveal the blurred figure of a hooded man leaning over beside his body. The man bent a little and grazed his fingers over the book that had fallen out of Amara’s bag when she had looked for the Healing Potion. He watched with weak eyes threatening to close as the man picked up the book. A moment later, Azrael went unconscious again.