Gilded Serpents

Chapter Thirty-Two: Doris

Every nerve in my body seemed to tremble, vibrating in anticipation. Our small party sat low, hiding in the thick cover of the vined woods, watching in wait. Before us, the seven knights took slow, deliberate steps through the thick mud and ankle deep water of the swamp. Their bright red capes floated behind them, trailing afloat the water, stark and ominous against the green of their surroundings.

The knights flanked a short, old woman, whose moss-ridden green and brown clothes better suited the environment. She was blindfolded, but held out a slender, many-ringed hand in front of her face. Every few steps, she would bend over, placing her fingers in the water below, trailing it back and forth. She was extremely focused, listening intently to words that only she seemed to hear. She must be the seer.

I looked over to the void mage, "Aixel", and Milea. He was staring intensely at her, eager to make the first move, but she kept shaking her head, silently telling him to wait. His jaw tightened, frustrated, as tiny Doris twitched on his shoulder.

We kept watching until suddenly, before Milea urged us with a gesture, to move. In almost a crawl, we made our way through the thick foliage, careful not to break any branches or make any noise. We slowly made our way until we found ourselves directly behind the red-caped party of glittering gold soldiers.

Milea turned to Aixel.

Now! She mouthed.

The void mage smiled, before suddenly turning into his familiarly unnerving magicked form. I watched as his skin started to vibrate, shaking before splitting into slivers, revealing the tiny horde of black insects below. In cloud form he began to rise, twirling with ease between the thick branches, making his way towards the soldiers.

The soldiers stopped their steady march upon hearing the hum of thousands of tiny wings billowing towards them. Their armored hands quickly reached for their weapons in alert as they surrounded the seer as protection.

It was then that the old woman began to scream in terror, piercing the peaceful silence of the forest, and causing several of the soldiers to turn to her. The knights urged her in hushed whispers to remain calm and quiet, but this did nothing to settle her.

As Aixel flew towards them, swirling above their helmets ominously, the old woman spotted the approaching mass of insects.

She stopped screaming for a moment, only to suddenly shout.

"Trees, I surrender all of me to thee. Take thee in thy embrace!"

With these words, thick branches suddenly shot out of the ground around the woman, twisting and contorting around her small body. One of the knights shouted in protest, but it was too late. The branches curved around the woman, cradling around her like a cocoon before pulling her into the ground, returning her into the earth with a small splash.

It was then that Aixel finally materialized, perched on top of one of the knight's shoulders, his hands on either side of his helmet. I watched as he pulled off the golden armor with ease, throwing it to the ground before the now helmetless knight had a chance to realize what was happening.

"Now!" Milea shouted.

The party then jumped up, myself included, and began to rush towards the seven Selphene knights. As I made my way forward, carefully watching my steps, I glanced upwards towards Aixel, who was still perched upon the knight's shoulders. His eyes were wild as he held his hands to both sides of the soldier's bare face. The man was screaming, shrieking, in pain as he fell to his knees with a splash. Thick black veins began to burst from the knight's eyes as the void magic seemed to boil him from the inside.

I then watched, now frozen, as Aixel channeled the blackened magic from the fallen soldier's corpse, taking it in his palm then directing it to something on the ground.