The Chronicles of Onyx: Book 2

Chapter Fifteen - Twenty years ago

Raven laid lifelessly upon a bed of grasses, shielded from the harsh rain by the cover of an old oak. Her once vibrant spark of life extinguished, leaving Dezenym consumed by grief, desperation, but overall rage and guilt as he clutched at Raven's lifeless hand. Scalding tears fell from his golden gaze, his eyes fuming with irises of molten gold. His mind, tortured by the loss of his beloved, sought solace in the forbidden darkness necromancy beheld. Yet the luring whispers of his power only echoed through the depths of his mind, tempting him with the promise of reunion.

The raindrops seemed to dance with an unnatural rhythm as he chanted an ancient tongue. As he did so, the air thickened with an otherworldly energy, as if the universe itself recoiled from the breach of the natural order.

The lush forest surrounding him withered under the necromancer's dark magic. Trees, once vibrant with life, twisted into gnarled skeletons, their leaves turned to ash. Grasses wilted and crumbled into dust beneath his feet, while the lively symphony of the woods fell silent, swallowed by the dark void of magik.

For a fleeting moment he held its breath. Then, with a shudder, Raven's eyes flickered open, her pale skin regained a semblance of warmth, and her chest rose with the return of an ethereal breath. Dezenym's heart quickened with a flicker of hope, but when she looked at Dezenym, her gaze was distant. Her once piercing blue eyes, now fogged over with a deathly haze. The spark of recognition was absent, replaced by an eerie emptiness.

She sat up, her movements mechanical and devoid of the life they once held. The rain continued to pour, but it slid off Raven's revived form like water off a statue. She turned to Dezenym, her gaze distant, and whispered words that sent shivers down his spine.

"This is your fault," she repeated, each utterance sending a chill through the air.

The words were not spoken with anger but instead with an emptiness that hinted at something far more sinister. Fear coiled in Dezenym's chest as Raven's eyes, once full of warmth, now reflected the desolation of a soul untethered.

Fear gripped Dezenym's heart as he tried to approach her, to bring back the Raven he had loved, to tell her he loved her, that he was sorry for not being there. But as he extended his hand, she recoiled.

In the grip of an otherworldly dread, Raven's demeanor shifted. Her hand, once delicate, struck out at Dezenym with an unnatural strength. The blow caught him off guard, and he stumbled backward. Raven, seemingly unaware of her own actions, retreated into the distance of the stormy haze the settled upon the woods.

"Raven, wait!" Dezenym cried out, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

His beloved vanished into the night, leaving behind the echoes of her haunting awakening.

The oak's skeletal-like branches, rustling in the wind as if whispering a warning that Dezenym was on the precipice of forces he could not control. As Raven's distant figure disappeared into the shadows, the woods swallowed her. The air hung heavy with the weight of choices that could never be undone.

"I'm sorry, Raven," Dezenym whispered, his heart breaking as she ran deeper into the dead forest.