48. Chapter 48 #2
A sharp laugh filled the chamber, our attention quickly turning to Ariadne.
Her laugh turned cold and cruel as it filled all the crevices of the catacomb.
Steadily her laughter grew louder and louder.
Her face turned manic, as if she were in some sort of hysteria.
Her eyes grew wider with each breath she took and glowed red.
Something rocked through Ora’s eyes but I couldn’t tell for certain.
My words were cut off by the sound of a faint and distant humming.
A steady pattern of something hitting the cave floor crept closer and closer.
I positioned myself in a defensive stance, just like Peiro had taught me, and readied for an attack.
My magic rolled through me like stone, slowly rising, as I called it to form my usual blades, which took longer to form. The weighted surge trembled and sputtered. My magic was fighting some invisible wall to rise. My Wielding tried to recoil back into my veins but I held fast to my moondaggers.
Through the tunnels on the opposite side of the cavern, soldiers clad in black and red suddenly appeared.
Some held large torches to illuminate them by the dozens.
At the base of the wall, soldiers held large spears and swords, all standing battle-ready.
Up the wall, where holes opened and overlooked the cavern floor, were soldiers who had bows in their hand stretched with flaming arrows, ready to fire. Dokvalon Raiders.
I scanned our surroundings to find a way for us to escape with no luck. Domesis had clearly left his blessings elsewhere. There were too many to take on by ourselves, even if Ora and I used our Wielding to its fullest.
We were trapped.
“Oh, how the mighty fall. Here is the end of the Endromeon line,” the dreadful woman sardonically said.
I wanted to scream. We had been betrayed again, and by the same damn woman.
I silently cursed myself for trusting Ariadne.
I turned back to the incoming soldiers, roughly counting them, calculating our failing odds.
Weariness coated my bones. I was so tired—not just from the constant turmoil.
My body now threatened to cave in on itself.
A metallic shriek filled the air, causing me to shift my stance. As I waited for the advance of soldiers I witnessed Ariadne’s head fall from her shoulders.
I watched in horror. The priestess’s neck oozed black blood from the gaping wound before slumping over.
The chains clanked noisily against the cavern floor as her body fell to the ground with a sickening thump.
Ora panted loudly as she still clutched Sury’s sword, now covered in the same black ooze, that had ended the woman’s laughter in one strike.
“What the hell?” Sury looked to Ora with shock.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the soldiers who held spears and swords slowly stalk forward. We would have to take our stand here.
Ora opened both of her hands, where two large yellow ribbons floated in the air. She smiled wildly at her magic right before her face fell. Her bright golden power began to flicker and lose its brilliance before disappearing altogether. “NO!”
I called forth more of my Wielding into my glowing blade, but the act felt like I was grabbing wind between my fingers.
The magic that I’d grown to understand and that felt stronger every time I called on it now felt weak and brittle.
I tried again, only to be met with a well that had been sealed shut.
Peiro stepped in front of me, readying his sword against the onslaught.
The tension that rolled off of him before had oddly faded as he blinked rapidly.
“Remember everything I taught you. Everything I told you. Every promise,” he said over his shoulder in a low growl.
I nodded as I unsheathed the dagger I kept at my thigh.
A signal in the distance sounded, springing the soldiers on the bottom floor into action. Instead of launching into an attack, they each took measured steps forward. I could see from the vague firelight that the soldiers’ eyes were all void and milky white.
I tightened my grip on my dagger as I stepped carefully closer to Ora. The archers above us continued to point their arrows at their targets.
“We’re surrounded,” Ora whispered.
“We might be dead anyway, if these Dokvalon soldiers take us,” Sury hissed next to us.
The soldiers continued to march unnaturally, but were still faster than any soldier we had ever seen. I was just about to call for Peiro to watch out when I saw the wave of soldiers move around him, like a river that makes way for a boulder.
Peiro slowly straightened his spine as he put his sword down, his back still facing us.
What was he doing? “Peiro!”
I twirled out of reach of the first Raider, catching their sword in its downward strike with my dagger, halting it from finding its target.
The Raider’s movements were rugged, just like the ones in Fernwick, allowing me to thrust my blade deep into its chest. I gasped in horror as it looked at me with vacant eyes.
Quickly I withdrew the dagger and became terrified when no blood poured from the open wound.
The Raider cackled at me from underneath its helmet.
From the dim light of the fire, I noticed this Raider already suffered many wounds, all of which looked old and fatal.
Its eyes and teeth were half gone, and it smelled rotten.
It didn’t stop me from stabbing again in hopes that I would find my mark.
Ora screamed in fury as she hacked away at the Raiders with one of Sury’s swords.
Some bled red while others looked the same as the one I faced.
Sury bellowed for Ora to watch behind her as another one advanced.
I watched more soldiers funnel into the cavern and attack the ones I love, but now I was ready to claim and no longer hold back.
Time to unleash, yes? Even the ink sounded groggy, like it fought against some mysterious hold, but I listened to the voice and gave in. With every ounce of effort I had, I pushed against the seal on my power’s well and called my illicitus.
I saw the tainted glow of the warped lifesources in front of us.
With a battle cry, my fury boiled and I threw my hands forward, demanding each and every force be pulled toward me.
My shadows rose like mountain asps, ready to strike.
The soldiers that led the initial attack all fell to the ground, bending and breaking at odd angles.
Their power invigorated me. I wanted to take again but was suddenly hit with the seal slamming closed.
I called my illicitus again. Faint wisps of shadows curled around my fingers before dissipating like smoke.
I tried a third and a fourth time, but my magic refused to work.
My heart beat out of my chest as I panicked, strangely desperate to even hear the ink whisper anything to let me know my power was still there. What was happening?
More soldiers advanced but I lunged with a dagger into their neck. With every ounce of force I could muster, I twisted the blade to make a deep gash in the tissue. They fell to the ground, twitching, before slowly rising again.
I turned to Ora as I heard her scream again. Sury lunged in front of her, defending her from the attacker, but was soon overcome by soldiers who held spears aimed at their chests, holding them in place.
“Peiro!” I screamed. “Help us!” Another soldier pushed me into the body of another, caging me in with their blades.
One nicked my side, tearing through my tunic and skin. Warm blood ran down my skin, but the true pain happened before my eyes. Something sputtered deep and cracked inside as I felt foreign hands grab my arms and wrists to force me to my knees.
Something cool clasped around my wrists and suddenly the feeling of my magic, all of it, was gone. My soul felt naked and exposed with not an ounce of Wielding answering my call.
The soldiers stilled as the sound of steady footsteps walked forward. “Well, well, looks like you can listen. This will do nicely,” a deep voice echoed in the distance, but it became louder the closer they got.