Dark Memories #2
“Hmm,” I respond before turning and leading the way. “The weather is worse the closer you get to the dome; be steady on your feet!”
“If you need any support, Senorita, I’m here,” Vasquez offers Sienna. I resist the urge to scoff.
I didn’t mind him up until now.
“Thank you,” Sienna replies in that annoying fucking voice of hers. He’ll get the wrong fucking idea.
“This shall be fun, do you not agree, Deimos King?” Mikhail asks, as if we’re talking about the fucking weather.
“I don’t see anything fun in it, Crown Prince. Do share,” I drawl.
I can feel her eyes on me, and I pull up my hood as we begin trudging through the snow. The worst part is we’re moving against the wind, which only makes it harder.
We arrive there in about ten minutes or so; it would usually only take us five minutes, but the weather is getting worse by the minute.
The hum of the dome is intense from here.
It seems to vibrate inside my head. Frowning up at it, I watch as not even a drop of snow touches it, as if it deflects it entirely.
It makes me wonder what the land within the dome looks like.
We’re standing several metres away from the dome, but it seems to be a little more alive today. But there is no sound from within. I need to see one of them, but I’d rather it not be when she’s here.
I turn away from the dome. “Scout the area and stay alert,” I bark, making sure they can hear me over the howling wind and the vibration.
“Yes, Captain!” They break up as Mikhail stands a few feet away, facing the dome, but it’s his hand at his waist, ready, that makes me wonder if he can hear something I can’t.
And he’s left me to deal with Sienna, although she doesn’t seem to need any guidance as she’s already focused on the area around us, and I can see the faint glow of her power around her gloved hand.
It’s remarkable how in control she is now.
It shows she’s reverted back to how she once was before she lost her father.
More proof that losing someone can cripple you.
You’re staring. Her voice enters my mind, and I frown, refusing to acknowledge that I heard her. I forgot that she can mind-link me… She’s only used it twice before, and I didn’t entertain it then either.
She glances in my direction, and I remain impassive as I watch, nothing betraying what I’m thinking. She returns to what she’s doing, stepping back and spreading her hand as she turns anticlockwise and begins drawing something in the earth with a smoky black line.
The magic even feels different. I see her face shift slightly, her chin becoming pointier, her eyes becoming darker, and her pouty lips becoming a deeper cherry red as her glamour is dropped, and she stands there in her dangerously beautiful demon form.
I glance towards my men, but they aren’t looking in her direction.
She twists her hand, and a dark wall that shimmers ever so slightly begins to rise. The process is slow, and she is clearly concentrating more than she usually would for such a spell.
The dome pulses sinisterly behind me, and my skin prickles as if someone, or something, is watching me, and my attention snaps towards it before I can stop myself.
I scan the black wall of the dome, frowning before I turn in time to catch Sienna watching me, though she looks away almost instantly, forcing her focus back onto the barrier forming beneath her hands.
Her magic expands steadily, rising up until it’s slightly taller than me, the air around it shimmering with a familiar energy as she tosses something inside and seals it shut, the surface darkening into a black, shimmering shell that ripples once before going still.
I find myself staring, my eyes drifting between the smaller dome-shaped barrier she’s made and the vast dome looming behind us, and something tightens in my chest, unease creeping in where logic should be.
They look… alike.
No, they’re not.
Her barrier carries the faintest red undertone, while the dome is pitch-black, devouring light entirely, but the effect is identical.
I watch as the snow veers away from Sienna’s barrier, never quite landing, and the realisation settles heavily as I notice the same untouched ground around the dome, the storm refusing to claim either.
I walk over and, removing my glove, press my hand against Sienna’s barrier, the surface alive beneath my palm, buzzing faintly, in a way that feels the very same as the one behind me. Maybe not anywhere as near as powerful, but…
I turn sharply back towards the dome, my pulse quickening.
No.
This can’t be right.
“What is it?” Sienna asks, worry laced in her voice.
I shake my head slowly. “Nothing,” I say, though the word feels like a lie even as it leaves my mouth, and when Mikhail turns, I wonder whether he senses it, too, or whether I am the only one standing here thinking they seem somewhat the same.
I refuse to voice the thought forming in my mind, telling myself it is just a coincidence, or maybe simply the nature of the power born of a realm not meant for this one. Yet the discomfort in the pit of my stomach refuses to let up.
“Excellent work,” Mikhail says, his attention fixed on the barrier. “Do you think it will hold?”
“I’ve placed something inside of it,” Sienna replies. “Tomorrow we can see whether the snow manages to penetrate it at all.”
“We shall see.” Mikhail nods, his eyes glinting. “Shall we return?”
“Yes, I’m all done.” Sienna nods.
Mikhail nods as he whistles, signalling the men to return. Those closest pass on the message as they all begin making their way back to me. I glance back once more, my gaze flicking between the towering black dome and the smaller barrier. I don’t like this…
“How strong are your barriers when formed with chaos magic?” I ask, breaking the silence, and she looks at me, genuine surprise flashing across her features.
“I think they’re strong,” she begins hesitantly. “But we’ve never truly tested them. I don’t usually use my demon magic for things like this, as it’s harder to channel and shape. I only learned for this trip.”
I nod slowly, my jaw tightening. So there’s a chance no one else who has seen the dome has seen the similarity, because she’s never done it before.
“Then we will test it,” I say. “As soon as we return to the outpost.”
“Well then, let’s move out,” Mikhail says. Boots crunch in the snow as the men begin making their way back to the outpost. I bring up the rear, pausing one final time to look over my shoulder. Through the thick fog, I see the two force fields behind me.
If they are made from the same kind of power, then the question is, what exactly created a dome of that calibre?