Scroll Of Wrath [BETA] COMPLETE

|Chapter 4| The Scroll of Dominion

Inside, the castle was even more impressive. Dust motes floated in the air, illuminated by beams of sunlight streaming through broken windows. The furniture and rugs were decayed but still held a hint of their former grandeur. She wandered through the halls, admiring at the intricate carvings and faded murals that adorned the walls.

The human civilisation had been this impressive; she had to wonder how they fell in the span of a year. From the domineering species to near-extinction. She walked the empty halls, the odd sounds of bats and crawlers shaking her. She heard the faint sound of something crawling in the distance but brushed it off. It was an abandoned castle, and she expected to see more bugs than she was seeing right now.

In one room, she found a grand library filled with rows of ancient books. Many were too fragile to touch, but she carefully selected a few that seemed in better condition and placed them in her basket. As she explored further, she came across a hidden door behind a tapestry.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Hadassah pushed the door open and found a narrow staircase leading downward. She descended the steps, which creaked ominously under her weight. At the bottom, she discovered a hidden chamber filled with more relics and artefacts surrounding a large pool. Overgrown plants crawled along the walls and floor, their tendrils weaving through the cracks and crevices of the ancient stone. Sunlight streamed through a large hole in the roof, casting a golden glow over the chamber. The light illuminated a variety of artefacts, each meticulously propped up on ornate podiums that stood like silent sentinels amidst the encroaching greenery.

'What are all of these?' she asked herself, looking at the grand collection.

Her eyes were drawn to a podium with what looked like a wooden box. Opening it, she discovered a set of scrolls that were oddly well preserved. The scrolls were housed in intricately designed cylindrical containers, adorned with ornate carvings and symbols that glowed faintly in the dim light. The parchment inside was inscribed with detailed, flowing script and elaborate diagrams, still legible despite their age.

'Scroll of Dominion .. Queen...H.'

'This.. I can read this!'

The words were in her mother tongue, and though some words were missing and the name on the scroll was smudged, she was still quite happy. She excitedly took up the scrolls and put them away to take home.

She was already happy to have found this place. She hummed to herself before something else caught her eye. Leaning against the back wall, almost discarded, was a staff, beautifully crafted, made of a twisted wood-like material that seemed to shimmer with a life of its own. At its top, a delicate carving of intertwined figures held a glowing crystal orb, giving off a soft, pink light.

Hadassah carefully approached the staff, her curiosity piqued. She reached out and picked it up, feeling a strange warmth emanating from it. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and she could sense a faint, lingering power within the staff. It felt like a connection to a long-lost past, a link to the human civilisation that had once thrived here.

'Ah! I need to finish collecting the herbs!' She realised the time and quickly dropped the large staff back, as she was about to rush out she reconsidered taking the scrolls and decided to just come back later to read them. As she rushed out, she failed to notice the faint ripping of the pool, as a head emerged slowly from the water and looked at the girl running away.

By the time she got back to the tribe, it was high noon and everyone was out and about again. She rushed to the Life Tree, hoping Neveah wouldn't be mad that she was so late. Running up the stairs as best she could with the weight of the basket on her back, she panted as she pushed open the wooden doors into the foyer, nearly falling over with the momentum she had gathered.