A miracle.
That's what they called her. A miracle for being born, a miracle for surviving as long as she did, and a miracle is what she'd need to make it through when all that she's been preparing for comes hurdling towards her all at once.
Solaur...
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|Chapter Twenty-Three|
The darkness was all-consuming.
There was no direction; no up or down, no left or right, just inky blackness surrounding me in a sea of shadows, and as I walked, I realized that I wasn't afraid. Not of the dark, or of the things that resided in it. Not anymore.
The monsters didn't try to reach out for me like they usually did, but stood at the sidelines, watching as I strode through the dark, knowing exactly where to go even though I couldn't see my own feet ahead of me. I reached out with steady hands, turning a knob I formed in my mind, and opened a door.
Achar sat at the head of a small table, moving a chess piece along the board. He paid me no mind as I approached, or as I pulled the seat before him and sat, but shifted his black knight and waited for me to make my move.
I studied the board before I played, taking note of all the vulnerable pieces. He had two of my pieces captured; a pawn and my knight. My king was in check and my queen was close to being captured, but I had captured his queen and most of his pawns. Knowing Achar and his love of mind games, I could only assume that the pieces off the board were the persons who died; I had his queen, Lilauae, and almost all of his pawns, her Djuen, while he had my Knight and a pawn, Aunt-Drea and Rae. However, my king was still in the game. My mother was alive.
I ate another of his pawns. "This isn't a dream, is it?"
"No, it is not. I just poked into your subconscious for a bit." Achar sat back. "Do you know that you are practically dead? Your body is at war with itself, fighting for control over your power and vice versa. Here I am in your mind and I feel it failing you. And to think your death could have been avoided if you had just come with me. I would have taught you how to feed off of your power instead of the other way around, but no."
"We've already established all of that." I said, matching his posture. "Where is my mother, Achar?"
His eyes flickered to the chess board, then to me, a grin breaking out on his face. " It's good to see that you still have a little intelligence. I was really beginning to doubt it when you refused my offer. She's with me."
"That's not-"
"Possible?" He finished, beaming wildly. "Oh, but it is. Do you honestly think that I would not have a plan in place in case things didn't go how I wanted? You insult my very being, Solaure!"
His smile dropped. "Lilauae knew that you were closing in on her location so we risked a few setbacks to get Alessia out. The portal wasn't big enough to get both me and my army to Alterra, but it was able to bring one woman to Ilairk. It still took tremendous energy unfortunately."
"The blackout," I murmured, realization hitting me with a brutal force.
"Yes." His grin returned. "So Alessia is with me. I just wanted you to know that you fought in vain before you died. I wouldn't want you resting in peace."
