The Avallon Chronicles (BOOK I)

51| The Inevitable

"What do they mean?" Cithara asked in a whisper.

"I..." said Aja.

"For her to be Hara, we did many things just to make that wish come true. And now, we should get what we are destined to have!" the demon asked. As he turned his back towards Cithara, memories began to flash out of her mind. It was the demon that she saw at the ceremony in Everdaile.

"What is it you want?" Cithara asked bravely.

"For the eternal night that your aunt's looking for to come true!" the demon replied with no hesitation.

"Well, we're not going to agree," she replied. "Whatever you do, we're not going to agree to that!"

Azarel gestured to one of his men, and for just a quick moment, there came the scene of the two missing Derillan, including her friend Clevor. Each one had their arms and legs tied up with a magical shadow rope. Each of them also had one guard that aimed something toward their necks.

"What if I tell you that I can end the life of your friends at this moment whenever I hear a disagreeing answer?" the demon spoke.

Cithara's gazes dropped toward the innocent creatures in front of her. With the hard decisions that would soon follow, she knew she had to think fast.

"Don't agree to them, Cithara! D-Don't ag-agree!" Clevor shouted. However, every time he let out words, the shadow rope tied around his neck grew tighter and tighter.

"Cithara, help! Help us... please," Izatha begged.

It was a tough situation, but she was left with only two choices – to let her friends die but save the majority of Enchantria or to save her friends but bring doom to their world.

"All I want for you to do is to create a machinery that will merge the magic of the Sacred Gem with this magical ring," Azarel asked as he let Cithara see a golden ring with a dark-colored gem attached to it. At the time her eyes caught a glimpse of the entity, a shiver was sent down her spine.

"How did you get a magical ring?" she asked.

"I'll explain to you later, lady!" replied Azarel. "Now hurry up and build whatever that machine is. Don't you ever escape from me! I'll give you everything you need for the machine, but if you try to use them to fight against us or escape, you'll know what will happen to your beloved friends!"

"Cithara, no!!!" Clevor shouted.

As she marched towards the builder's hall, her mind was still felt with chaos, making her question a reality.

Besides her working place came a pile of wood and other materials for the job. For them to monitor her every move, one of the demons plucked his eyeball and put it at the entrance of the hall so that they had sight of her.

A machine that will merge the power of the sacred gem and the ring? she thought. Are they kidding me? That is so way off my building skills!

Even though struggling from designing the machine that she was told to do, she knew that she still needed to save her friends. Thinking about them, she remembered the other five who were stranded in the cave.

"Areia Aja!" she shouted as she looked at the watching eye. She knew that her aunt might be just listening to her through Azazel's magic. "My friends are stuck in the cave! They need help! Please send assistance to them!"