Chapter Twelve

Muffled voices penetrate my consciousness. I open my eyes but I only see darkness. I’m confused; perhaps I did not really open my eyes so I close them tight and open them again. I still only see darkness. I touch my eyes to make sure they are working right. They open and close like normal, then why is it so dark? The voices are not so muffled now that I woke up. Kalix? Galen? It sounds like them.

“Where are we?”

Prince Galen runs over to me and helps me sit up slowly. I feel so fatigued, like I used every ounce of energy I have for the next month. I don’t want to do that again anytime soon.

“How is Declan and Rafe?”

“Ah, they had passed out before you and woke up a couple hours ago. They went with Kalila to secure our perimeter and find a trail to the top of the mountain.”

“How long was I out?”

“You were only out for about five hours, maybe less. Not too long.”

I nod. I am so drowsy. Who knew that kind of magic would take so much out of you? They must have decided this cave, at the base of the mountain, is a good place to set up camp for the night. I wait a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Why did they not start a fire? Are we not completely safe from the enemies? I saw the last one run away so perhaps we are not safe from them after all.

My eyes finally adjust and I can make out shapes in the dark cave. I see what looks like Kalix’s human form and when I look towards the back of the cave I expect to see more darkness but instead I see a red glow that seems to be down a tunnel on the edge of the cave. Maybe they did build a fire but just couldn’t move me near it yet?

“Why did you leave the fire unattended?”

“Hmm? What do you mean? There is no fire. Did you hit your head, Elysia?”

I look back to where the glowing is but it is gone. I blink a few more times trying to understand what I saw or if I had seen anything at all. I shake my head and disregard the glowing; it must be my imagination.

I look over at Galen again, whom is staring at me expectantly.

“Never mind, I am fine I was slightly disoriented for a moment. I’m okay now, really.”

Galen continues to stare at me with a quizzical look but decides not to pry and pats my head gently. He turns towards Kalix, who is leaning against the wall of the cave, seemingly meditative, like he is waiting expectantly for some kind of news from him. I too look at Kalix, waiting to see what I am missing. Not long after I am waiting he ends our wait.

“They are coming back to the camp for the night. They can’t find any paths that go to the top of the mountain.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can track their individual essences with my magic senses.”

“Really?!”

“No, we made a mental link before they left, incase anything were to happen while they are out.”

Kalix smirks at me with mischievous amusement playing in his eyes. I roll my eyes. I see the red glow out of my peripheral again. I look towards it but it isn’t there. I would like to see that glowing light head on.

Just then Declan, Rafe, and Kalila walk in through the cave entrance over to us.

“You are finally awake! I was so worried about you! How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Kalila, calm down; she is okay. She doesn’t have any injuries that we know of; although, she did see an invisible fire earlier.”

“Galen! I told you never mind! I am just fine!”

He laughs at my explosion. Kalila and I both punch both of his arms. Declan and Rafe walk over to me.

“So how did you know that would happen when we touched our hands together during the battle?”

I look solemnly at Rafe, trying to understand his question myself. I shrug before I answer.

“I…I didn’t really. I just had this strong feeling bubbling up inside me, telling me to connect with you guys. So I went with it and… and everything that happened with the lion, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that was going to happen.”

“It’s amazing the kind of power we have when we put our bond together like that. Does that have something to do with how we were matched, I wonder.” Rafe ponders out loud and makes us think for a second.

“It would seem we have much more power as matches than any matches ever before us, other than the founding mage, thief, and warrior. Perhaps that is why we will be able to wield the ancient relics.”

“Indeed, Maeron, there is much for all of us to think on. Perhaps there is a way that we can train you to use your powers, rather than when in sudden death matches.”

We respond to Galen with quiet consideration over the events of the day and the ones to follow. A rumbling noise erupts from my stomach. Yeesh, I haven’t eaten all day since breakfast. I need some food.

“I second Elysia’s stomach! Let’s eat!”

We laugh at Rafe and his desire for food all the time. He can eat a whole herd of elk or caribou as his wolf, shift back to human and still be ready for more. Rafe pulls out our food and distributes it to us. We all dig in realizing just how hungry we are. I can feel my energy begin to return and start to feel really rejuvenated. I feel like I can sleep for an eternity though.

We finish eating and my thoughts go to tomorrow. Will we really be able to accomplish our mission? I feel like it won’t be as easy as we hope. What if the amulet isn’t there any longer? What if it is and it doesn’t work? What if Merikh and his men take it before we get there?

“Young Mage, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take care of itself. We will be fine. We will accomplish our mission. I have faith in you and in all of us.”

I nod at Kalix in understanding. I shouldn’t be questioning our mission. If I don’t trust in it and if I don’t have faith in us, in our triumph, how are we supposed to succeed?

We set up our beds for the night and I drift off to sleep rather quickly. I wake up often in my restlessness. After waking up for the tenth time I sit up and listen to the peaceful sounds of the others sleeping.

My mind begins to wander into some of my curiosities when I notice the back of the cave begin to glow. The glow is so bright I am surprised no one wakes up because of it. I decide to go check it out. I am drawn to the light and its purpose.

I walk down the passageway towards the light. As the light creeps away from me the more I follow it, the thought occurs to me that it is a trap, but I just ignore it.

The end of the passage opens up into a large cavern, the walls twinkle from reflections of a stream flowing through the middle of it. I walk over and look into the stream. I gasp and quickly back away from the water when I see the reflection in the stream. It does not look anything like me.

I creep slowly back towards the water to see if the reflection is still the same. I brace myself for something dreadful but all I see is me. Not a monster, no fangs, no glowing red eyes, no grey skin, no horns; Just normal me. What is it that I actually saw the first time though? Is it some weird reflection of me or is it something else entirely? I decide to avoid the water and continue to follow the glowing light down another pathway at the back of the cavern.

I reach the end of the pathway, when the light stops. I am engulfed in darkness. A moment of terror runs through my body as I realize that I can be eaten by something at any moment. The light glows bright right in front of me. It doesn’t look like fire, or any light I have ever seen.

I take a step closer. I hear something behind me. I turn around really fast but don’t see anything. I freeze staring into the darkness waiting for something to step into the light. Nothing comes into my vision area, and I hear no more sounds. I turn back towards the light that is down low like some strange fire.

I crouch down to look closer at it. It is pure white in the middle with orange and yellow swirling in and around it. I reach my hand out to touch it.

“Closer… come closer… just a little closer…”

I hear whispering in my ears. I look around me but there is no one there. Is it the light? Is it whispering to me? Why does it want me to come closer?

I stand up and take a step closer, suddenly it reaches out and wraps around my ankles. It climbs up my legs, absorbing my body into itself.

“Elysia! Wait!”

I hear my name being called just before the glowing flames crawl up my body. I look back once more to see Prince Galen running towards me when everything goes white.

My body has a burning tingling feeling. I feel like I am turning into millions of molecules and shot into space. It is beginning to feel like a strong part of me is tearing out. When I stop moving I find myself in a pure white room. There is nothing in it just bright white walls. The ground is grass I look up seeing dark clouds filling with lightning and thunder.

I hear strong rumbling and the clouds swirl down in front of me. The figure the clouds turn into is a familiar image I remember seeing. I gasp and begin to back away recognizing the figure as the reflection I saw earlier. It has horns, deep red eyes; smoke is coming out of its mouth. Its body scares me.

“If you can defeat me… then you will be recognized as the next lightning wielder. If you fail, you will die. Those are your options. I am the storm that you will wield. I must make sure you are strong enough and pure of heart in order to wield me properly.”

My jaw drops. Is this really happening?

“What about the others? What happened to them?”

“Huh… They are just where you left them. Even that delicious prince wondering why you disappeared before his very eyes.”

I stare trying to figure out what to do. A few moments of silence passes as we assess each other.

“Shall we begin?”

She asks with a fanged smile. A black smoky sword appears before her that cracks with lightning. I back away wondering what I am going to fight her with.

“Hold out your hand and feel the magic inside you.”

I hold out my right hand and just breathe. I focus on the magic flowing through me down my arm out of my hand. When I open my eyes to see what is coming out of my hand I see a green emerald sword appear with dark purple crackling around and through it. My breath catches in my chest at the beauty of it. The designs on the sword itself make it seem like fine cut emeralds. The deep purple electricity crackling around it makes it a weapon to be reckoned with. I can’t believe the energy flowing freely through it.

I look up at my opponent wondering if I am really about to fight her. She seems like she is enjoying every moment of anticipation for our duel. You can see the thirst for blood in her cold red eyes. It makes a shiver run through me.

“Good, you conjured up a rather worthy sword. Now are you worthy of the sword?”

I hold it out in front of me preparing for defense. I try to channel my emotions into it hoping they will guide it. In the second I blinked she is in front of me, clashing with my sword. I give it my all and go at her with every fiber in me. Before I realize what has happened our swords clash over and over again with crackles of lighting, and booming thunder every time we hit. As this continues I realize I am keeping up with her speed, her power, and her level of swordsmanship.

I am amazed but don’t have time to focus on it. I keep up, but when I put more energy into defeating her. I feel my speed and accuracy increasing. The clashing is more frequent and gets more thunderous. We hit then bounce off each other’s force. I feel my energy start to wane I need to finish this now.

I run towards her at full speed with all the skill and magic I can muster. She runs with the same enthusiasm as me.

“Levina, Light her up!”

I hear the words leave my mouth when I notice I am commanding my sword. It boiled up inside me so strong that I let loose those words before I knew what had happened. My opponent froze in complete shock.

“How do you know my name? What kind of witch are you?”

“What? That is not your name it is my sword! I am no witch!”

“Oh no, no, no! This cannot be happening.”

I am confused as to why my opponent is freaking out. How can my sword have the same name as her? This makes no sense. I look at her expression as it begins to turn very dark and calculating. She rushes at me before I have time to react.

My life is over. I open my eyes, and I see her across the room like she has been thrown there. I have no idea what happened. I run over to her to see if she is okay. I kneel to her level then I realize I am crazy for asking how someone, who just tried to kill me, is doing.

Her eyes are closed and her breathing is shallow. I lean closer to see if I can find a head injury when there is a burning pain in my abdomen. I look down to see her sword sticking out of my stomach. It is in deep. I stand up and stagger away. The pain is almost unbearable. She hops up quickly with my sword in her hand ready to finish me off.

Blood is pouring from the injury. I have to make a risky decision that may kill me either way, but I have to try. I grab hold of the end of the sword and to pull it out slowly. The pain is agonizing; I suck in my breath hoping I won’t pass out. When I turn the sword toward her it magically morphs into my own sword and I look at her to see her sword morph into her own sword.

As she comes running at me with a battle yell, I counter her stab by slicing her thigh. She yelps in pain. I see anger burn furiously in her eyes. I don’t believe she has ever lost a battle before, has she ever been injured in one? Judging her reactions probably not; I am surprised I’m not dead. I have never taken sword fighting classes.

She comes at me again a little faster than before, which shocks me with the wound I inflicted in her leg. My strength starts to leave my body. I am not going to last much longer. I look down and see all the blood dripping down from my wound. It makes me nauseas knowing that it is my blood.

I side step her at the last second and she slices my arm. I flinch as the blade goes through my flesh. I understand I’m not going to make it at this rate; she is going to win. I need to figure out how to survive. I look at my sword studying the designs etched in the emerald and steel. I try to understand the feelings of my sword; try to hear its thoughts. I feel the textures of leather wrapped in a weave tightly around the hilt.

I decide to believe in my sword and the power it holds. I stagger towards my opponent and stab her quickly in the gut. She freezes and her eyes grow huge realizing what just happened. I pull my sword out and she grabs her wound as she drops to the ground.

“I guess it is fate that called you here. You have proven your worth and I am now your weapon. Use me as you will.”

“What? What does that even mean? How can you be my weapon?”

I ask with no response as she turns into dust and flies into my sword, like she is being sucked into a vortex. I drop the sword afraid of what will happen next. I drop to my knees realizing I am losing too much blood. I close my eyes trying to think of a way to stop the bleeding.

“Elysia! Are you okay?! I was so worried about you.”

I open my eyes to find Galen holding me in his arms. I sit up and feel where my wound was but all I find is a scar. I also realize my outfit has changed. I know it changes colors but I didn’t know it changes structure.

The bottom half is soft leather but I feel the magic in it making it impenetrable to any physical attack. The body has been turned into gold net like patterns with a purple and gold accented leather piece in the center of both the front and back leading up to cover my chest and shoulders. Attached to it is a cloak that glides down to my ankles showing my mud brown boots; my whole outfit is filled with gold designs.

My new scar is only slightly visible. I also find a sash to go around my waist that holds my new sword lying beside me. I guess my sword’s name is Levina. I wonder if we will really be able to coordinate with each other. I am not sure that beginning a friendship on a battle is very healthy.

Kalix walks over and picks up my sword. He began to analyze it with close observation. He inspected every detail with his knowledgeable eyes.

“The sword you came back with appears to be a Katana. However, I don’t believe it’s what it seems. There is something else to it; a very ancient magic.”

“What were you doing? Where did you go, Elysia?”

“Well, Prince, I was taken to some weird magical arena and was thrown into a battle with…. Well… my sword, Levina. I think it was to see if I was worthy of wielding lightning magic.”

They looked at each other then back at me. They were silent for a few moments. They studied the sword together some more.

“So, am I correct in assuming that you won the battle with this very sword?”

“Yes Galen, I fought Levina herself. I really do not know how to explain what happened or how I won as I have no formal swordsmanship training or otherwise.”

They both got a smile on their face like they both had the same idea. I wasn’t sure I liked the looks in their eyes, but whatever their plans it would have to wait until after we retrieve the Amulet of Asami. I feel it calling to my life force. Like it is synced up with my very heart pumping life through me.

My bond with Declan begins to throb. I look down at it and it is glowing in a pulsating fashion. I look up at Galen and Kalix, they gave me my sword back and they followed me back to our base camp. We got to the hollow cavern with the stream going through the middle of it and find Declan hunched over looking into the water so stiff, he was like a statue. It scared me.

“Maeron, what are you doing? Why are you not asleep?”

Silence… He didn’t look at Galen, didn’t acknowledge our existence. I walked over to him and laid my hand on his shoulder. Suddenly I had a visual connection to his mind. I stood up then began to look around. I saw a forest mostly brown with some green and the occasional flower here and there. I took some steps forward into a clearing in the middle of the forest.

I look around until I see Declan; he is bent down staring into a pool of water at the end of a small brook. I walk over to him I bend down beside him and look into the water. I saw his reflection, and was shocked to see all the tears flowing freely down his face. I saw eyes that have self-hate burning in them. I reach out to comfort him but my hand went through him like I wasn’t really there. He stared into the water silently.

I stood up then looked around to find myself back in the cavern. I decide to push him into the water to snap him out of it. I put both hands on him and push with all my might. He flew into the water a little harder than I would have preferred. Rafe came running in just as Declan landed in the water with a splash.

The tattoo on my wrist stopped pulsing and went back to normal. Declan hopped up in defensive mode then realized he wasn’t in danger. Rafe was laughing at Declan’s appearance pretty deeply. I don’t see what is so funny, so I don’t really understand why he is laughing so hard. Then again, this is Rafe I’m talking about so there really is no telling what is going through his head.

Kalila follows sleepily behind Rafe which somewhat shocks me. I figure once she wakes up she will be alert and in warrior mode. When she reaches us she opens her mouth to say something when our surroundings change. I look around and we are on top of the mountain. I can see the sun beginning to rise. It was a beautiful sight.

As I look out over the edge of the mountain I see we are above the majority of clouds, we are above the swamp which is much larger area than I had thought it was. I saw a couple other mountains out in the distance. The view was gorgeous. Kalix stood on one side of me like he belonged in the sky with sun to the front of him. Galen stood more behind me with a more graceful posture with Dylan at his side as a full wolf. His wolf form is almost as white as the clouds around us are.

I could feel the pull from behind me. I look behind us; I see a temple sitting there in the open. I was slightly confused as it should be in ruins as old as it is.

“This ancient temple is not as it seems. There is ancient powerful magic infused into it. That should keep the temple stable while we are in it. However, we could have a problem if the amulet is what is holding it together. The moment we take it we could be at risk of being crushed if we don’t leave quickly.”

I agree with Kalix realizing we may not even make it back out of this temple after retrieving the Amulet assuming we can. I’m sure we cannot just walk in and walk out with it. What else could be there making sure we don’t get it?

We all began to walk towards the temple alert but also calm. We didn’t want to work ourselves up with fear and anticipation when we could be wrong. We finally got to the entrance of the temple. Rafe decides to take the first step into the entryway but is blocked. It is like there is an invisible barrier preventing him from entering. Kalix tries opening the barrier with his magic but nothing happens. Prince Galen tries his magic and nothing happens with it either.

My sword, Levina, pulses to life. I pull her out of her sheath and point her straight into the barrier. Suddenly we can see the barrier and it parts like it is a curtain waiting for us to enter through it.

“How’d you do that, Elysia? Did you know that would happen?”

“Rafe, this is all new to me too. I just go with what I feel the magic flow telling me to do. That may not always be smart but I just go with my instincts.”

He nodded his understanding. Kalila pulled out both of her elvish Katana and went in first. I felt inspired by her bravery and followed closely behind ready for what may come. There was only enough room for one at a time. Dylan walked behind me followed by Rafe then Declan, Kalix, and Galen.

“Does anyone know where we are going?”

I looked back at Rafe and shrugged.

“Right now there is only one path so it isn’t like we can choose another one.”

“I do not like this. Elysia you should be back here with us.”

“Declan, I think I will be alright. I have my sword and if we got enough space for someone to attack us then we would also be able to fan out.”

“Do not worry Maeron, my sister, Kalila, will protect her should anything try to ambush us.”

I’m not sure that comforts Declan but he at least does not say any more about it. I felt uneasy with anticipation. My heart let out a silent prayer that we would all make it through this alive and with all of our limbs. A breeze rushes over me like a breath of renewal. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly Kalila stops with her fist in the air signaling the rest of us to halt. Dylan began to growl ready to attack if he needed to. Kalila stepped out looked around very cautiously but nothing happened. She took a few more steps into what looked like a room. It was eerily silent nothing happened.

She waved us in. We each walked into the wide area cautiously waiting for something to attack us, yet nothing happened. We gathered in a circle to discuss our next step of action. Each of us took steadying breaths to stabilize our emotions. Rafe tells us his analysis.

“Well, from what I can see and sense in the room is that we only have 2 options. Go back the way we came or to continue through the entrance straight ahead.”

“Kalix, can you sense anything besides what Rafe can smell?”

“No, unfortunately it seems that we can only continue up to the top of this temple and hope we find what we are searching for.”

I feel the frustration from each person because of no plan of action, other than to roll with the punches. That made each of us very uncomfortable. I’m not sure how I should feel or if I should just focus on staying alert. It was very odd for a temple like this to not be guarded. Yet, if no one has ever been worthy enough to get into the temple to begin with, may be it never needed an extra guardian.

We reassemble in a strategic line this time, Dylan lead the way with Kalila, Maeron, me, Kalix, Rafe, and Galen following up the end. We continued to follow the path that just kept going up into the temple. It wound around in squares; we never found any other options so we just kept walking. We got to what seemed to be the top of one side of the path when it began to shift. I felt the path drop out from under me like it was a slide and I began to fall.

“Everyone grab hold of something or someone! Hurry!”

Declan grabs my hand as I slide past him. He has a knife stuck into the wall. I grab onto him with my other hand hoping that holding to him with both hands would prevent me from falling.

Dylan turned fast enough to bite onto Kalila, which she doesn’t seem phased by. It had to hurt right? She didn’t even flinch.

“Is everyone okay?”

We all respond with a total yes. Which I thought was a miracle in itself. What are we supposed to do now? Just hang here? Just then the path shifted again but it rose up even higher and into stairs. It seemed to be taking us directly into the inner room where amulet is.

We stand up; dust ourselves off and double check to make sure we each had no injuries. We all seem to be okay for now. We continued up the stairs and when we got to the end a piece of the wall slid up into the ceiling.