"There is this verse I remember, from an ancient scroll of knowledge."
Roe'nika stared at Nekea, sitting beside her. Her ears were tuned to Nekea's voice. It was a cold night, in their younger days. The starry sky looked down upon the two young women, filled with mesmerizing lights. Grass flowed with the wind, swishing gently.
"He who leans on the breath of man shall burn to ash," she quoted.
Roe'nika eyes scanned her Mistress' face. It hadn't been long since Nekea found her. Her little wheelchair creaked gently in the wind.
Nekea added, her composure twisting, "It scares me, honestly. There's no way out, no matter what you do. All the devils outside vie for my gold. But I know that with you..."
She turned, her crimson eyes gracing Roe'nika.
"...it's safe."
Red lights glitched the memory.
"Roe'nika!"
She turned sharply, her eyes blaring with uncertainty, her hands trembling with the talisman she held.
Patriarch had shouted her name.
There was no consolation, only cold order.
"Snap out of it! If you don't get us out of here everything will be for nothing!"
Confusion warped with fear within her. The expression on Patriarch's face was far from calm.
"I…"
The words faded into the wind.
Her mind was drawn to the Inquisitor himself.
A few moments ago, he had noticed something, telling her to hurry.
Her questions had sank into oblivion.
Adrel continued to stare at the forest down below.
He didn't know what to feel.
The ring on his index finger glittered underneath the dark cloud above.
Fourteen lights shone. His heart began to race as claps of thunder broke above.
Winds seared across the hilltop, Adrel's hair fluttering with its motion. The sun had become a mere highlight within a dark backdrop.
All his thoughts sank away. All the noise had gone.
Doubt and the pact, had disappeared.
"It cant be…" Adrel muttered.
Anger suddenly bellowed within him. It dragged his pain away, feeding on its entrails.
His realisation of it fueled his weakness.
Adrel looked down at the ring once more. Nhea watched him, perplexed.
It surely wasn't a dream.
Everything was very real. Six lights were out.
Adrel remembered a conversation he had with Ut'ia. It had been many months back.
"For the last time, Ut'ia," he began, sighing.
"The rings aren't anyone's attempt at a marriage proposal," he said, frustrated.
They stood within the grand hall of the Hel'natuk, the meeting place of the Seket.
Many other members of the Seket conversed, catching up with their comrades, especially those from other divisions.
Ut'ia gave an annoyed face.
"I realise that, Inquisitor. I just think there are much better options. Why rings? They're sacred. It goes against Calor's principles,"
She argued.
Adrel sighed once more.
"I'm not sure. Forget about what is sacred and what isn't. It gets the job done. Now I'll be able to know where you are, and how you are. I doubt the lights are ever going to go out though," he had said, inspecting the ring.
It glittered in the sunlight that poured into the Hel'natuk. Twenty little stones etched into a steel loop.
Ut'ia frowned.
"Fine. Whatever you say, Inquisitor."
He couldn't believe there was a time in the past, where he related with her that well.
Lately, they'd been more like enemies than allies.
Adrel reminisced how they had planned everything. It was supposed to be simple: capture Rahiel, deliver the royal blood, execute Rahiel afterwards.
They had never planned Rahiel's escape.
'We should have killed him on the spot.' Adrel pondered.
He clenched his fist, his hold on Nhea tightening.
He glared at Roe'nika.
He desired to make her pay for her lies.
"Rotzeshel? Bullshit," he muttered, almost amused.
But the royal blood had to be delivered safely. It was the highest priority.
He could kill Roe'nika, afterwards.
Ehud had been with Ut'ia, after all.
All of Adrel's thoughts sank away. Reality knocked gently.
'Ut'ia, Ehud, Sek'en, Ruhl, Tefdi and Hekar'in…'
'They are dead,' it said.
It dawned on him how inefficient he had been. It had never been his battle. He had been a joke.
"Stick the damn thing into the Hae'l!," he roared.
Roe'nika flinched at Adrel's sudden outburst. So did Nhea. The authority in his voice had returned.
Roe'nika turned back to the Hae'l. Its buzzing was a piecing noise in her ears.
She took it closer to the center.
Sparks of little lightning flew between the two. They grew stronger as it approached.
The low buzzing turned into deafening crackles as the pillars of the Hae'l shook madly. The earth rattled as the age old machine arose from its slumber. All watched the reawakening of an ancient beast.
As the dark clouds above churned angrily, reality warped with every pulse of the Hae'l.
Roe'nika's hands shook as a strong repulsion stood between the center and the talisman. Using both of her hands, she forced it closer.
The rattling intensified, like the tremors before an earthquate. The sky and land groaned.
Adrel watched in anticipation. His anger blazed hotter with every second Roe'nika spent. They didn't have time.
The monster was coming.
Roe'nika groaned, clenching her teeth as she forced the talisman into the center.
Cracks split across its surface as a blinding light spread out from the center of the Hae'l. The four crystals began to shatter, their integrity failing.
The wonderful symbol upon it began to break right through the middle.
Within her struggles, Roe'nika's fear inflated.
Her Mistress' trust was breaking within her very hands.
It would have been beautifully poetic, if it wasn't so real.
With the talisman a hairs breadth away from the Hae'l's center, Roe'nika was on the verge of success.
It would have worked, if her eyes hadn't wandered to her Mistress.
Nekea had awoken, watching her with more shock than horror. Upon the grass, she had raised herself. Her brows were furrowed. She didn't understand. Or rather, she didn't want to believe it.
Roe'nika's focus flew out the window. She stared back, her crimson eye pulsing with fear. It was then she realized she had made a grave mistake.
There were no words spoken between the two.
Both didn't want to understand.
The storm raged above as sheet lightning tore across the firmament, bathing the hilltop with flashes of light.
Death's feet rushed towards the hill, his footsteps shaking the forest. His sword cut against the motion of the wind, searing past tree bark.
Roe'nika was frozen.
Her hands shook as the repulsion pushed the talisman back.
'What am I doing?' she asked herself.
Before she could answer her own question, Adrel's arm emerged from her shoulder.
It grabbed the talisman, and with force from the heavens, shoved it into the Hae'l's center.
Everything ceased.
A deep silence settled on the hill, only being disturbed by the rumbling of the heavens and the ghostly billow of the wind.
The Hae'l had stopped.
The talisman was stuck in space, defying gravity. Not a sound, not the littlest movement, came from it.
All stared at the Hae'l, confusion draped over their faces.
"What," Adrel said.
Silence.
Patriarch reached out towards it, Nekea still reeling from what she had seen.
He touched the talisman. It was frozen in place. His mouth hung open as he pondered.
Before he could say anything, a bright light washed over him.
A sound like the chorus of many angels filled the air as the Hae'l awakened at last. The talisman crumbled away, its pieces devoured by the light.
The force from the blast pushed Patriach back as he shielded his sight from the blinding light.
Their plan had finally worked.
Adrel looked away, one eye half open.
The gargantuan cloud above rumbled like a giant monster.
"Finally," Adrel said, a tired smile breaking out of the corner of his lip.
Nhea watched with horror. They were going to take her away. She had spent only a day with Quantum. She couldn't let that happen.
Her screams took charge as she desperately tried to wring herself out of Adrel's grasp.
One hand of his covered both of her wrists. They were like tight shackles. She couldn't break free.
Nekea raised herself. Roe'nika rushed to help her, but Nekea pushed her back.
"What is this?" Nekea demanded, gesturing to the Hae'l.
Roe'nika stared at her Mistress with eyes of plea.
"A way out!" Roe'nika retorted.
"Out of what, Roe'nika! Exactly what are you getting out of?!" Nekea yelled. Her voice was filled with a painful frustration, as she dealt with an irredeemable sinner.
Roe'nika couldn't speak.
"Men, the Hae'l lives. We head for Melos!" Adrel declared.
The pain of the six men he had lost cracked his voice.
Roe'nika would definitely pay with her life.
"Roe'nika!" Nekea screamed, annoyed at her silence.
Adrel took the first step forwards. Tears filled Nhea's eyes. Time listened to the moment. Adrel took another step.
The soldiers followed behind him. Legt's eyes, narrowed into slits, scanned the light of the Hae'l. He followed his friend.
Roe'nika seethed. Partly against herself. Partly at her Mistress, for being so difficult.
"You should thank me. You really should. I'm saving you from that thing. I'm bringing you back to your senses,"
Anger burned in Roe'nika's voice.
A clap of distant lightning sounded.
Nekea began stepping back slowly. Shaking her head in dismay.
"Protect the royal blood!" the Erref shouted.
They surrounded Adrel, as he sped up, about to carry the girl in his arms.
"You are mine and you are coming with me!" Roe'nika barked, lurching forwards.
She grabbed Nekea's arm, pulling her towards the Hae'l. The intensity of the white light increased as she turned her head away.
Nekea's strength had been sapped.Roe'nika was using something against her.
She desperately fought back.
Adrel's pace increased as he raised Nhea, holding her in his arms.
Patriarch gave him way. With powerful steps he raced into the Hae'l.
It consumed him in a flash of light.
For a single moment, Adrel saw space fold before him, as he ran through a sea of white, the royal blood in his arms.
His heart pounded as the temple pillars slowly materialized before him. The altar formed, along with the arching ceilings that arranged above, replacing the stormy cloud.
With the flight of his steps, he felt something wriggle out of his arms.
Adrel tripped and fell into Melos.
Without the royal blood.
Patriarch had seen Adrel enter with the royal blood in his hands.
So, it was a great surprise to see the little girl bursting back from the plane of white, running like the wind.
The surprise froze him as she zipped past.
Back in Melos, Adrel raised himself off the marble floors. A searing pain shot in his head. He had fallen far from the Hae'l.
Realising the weight of the blunder, he ran back, his boots clanging sharply against the marble.
Nhea's little frame burst past the soldiers' sides, meandering thorugh them. They didn't notice her until it was too late.
Legt's eyes, however, locked on to her as she passed him. He was at the very tail of the group. For such a little body, her speed was unreal. But nothing to Legt.
Swinging her arms ahead of her, tear drops flying off behind her, her sandals pushed her forwards. Legt followed close behind, his arm stretched.
Roe'nika took one leg into the Hae'l, pulling Nekea hard. Nekea yelled as she struggled with her, the white slowly enveloping her.
Legt's hand brushed against Nhea's arm. His eyes had locked onto it.
He grabbed it.
Nhea yelled.
Darkness suddenly bathed the earth.
It was unnatural.
It wasn't one of the clouds that stretched their arms unto the horizons.
It was a man.
Rahiel.
Legt raised his head, as he saw the figure mid-air, blocking the already dampened sun.
Rahiel's knee was headed right for his face.
The air wound around him, a yellow energy crackling upon a tattered cloak.
Blue eyes that burned like a perfect flame looked him right in the eyes.
In the next second, Legt was no more.