The AbyssFantastical: A YA Horror Fantasy Web serial

Chapter 9: Out of the Fog and Into the Storm!

Chapter 9: Out of the Fog and Into the Storm!

When Charity woke up the next morning, she was standing in a pink and blue fog. It was so thick that you could cut it like a knife. It was hard to see in it. Charity inhaled it and coughed. The fog smelled of a dead skunk. She walked aimlessly through the fog for several minutes. It covered everything up like a smoky blanket.

The fog lifted a moment later. A shiver went down her spine. Charity was now standing in NightShade's torture chamber. She turned around and gasped. All that was behind her was a brick wall. There was no door there. The only thing she could do was go forward. She hoped that the way out was near. Charity did not want to become the wizard's next victim. If she did not leave the land by the next full moon tomorrow night, she would be doomed.

She looked to see operating tables and other torture devices. They intrigued and scared her. Charity stopped to see a book the size of an encyclopedia lying open on a table close to an iron cauldron. It piqued her curiosity. She tried to read it, but couldn't. The book was written in another language that Charity did not understand. It was gibberish.

The only thing Charity was able to read was the title on the book's spine. The book was entitled: A Complex and Master Manual of the Dark Arts. When Charity saw who the author was, she looked in disbelief. The book was written by Morgan Le Fey. "Merlin's arch-nemesis wrote this? That's crazy. Is NightShade from the dark ages then?" Charity asked herself curiously. Charity then swept her hand across the pages of the book. When she did, an electric shock went through her entire body. Charity was thrown across the room. She fell into a wooden barrel with a thud. Within seconds she was out like a light.

Several moments passed. A blood curdling scream of terror woke Charity up. She slowly rose up out of the barrel to see what was going on. Charity was in the same torture chamber, but it was entirely lit by candlelight. It gave the room an eerie glow. Some of the candles that were lit were inside human skulls in the room. The room had a macabre feel to it. She then heard NightShade's maniacal laughter and hid. The Wizard was dragging a beautiful woman in a green silk dress into the room.

She glared at him coldly. Her ice blue eyes were full of malice. Her long auburn curls were being blown by a cold draft of air that arrived from the open window. "Unhand me at once, Knave! Thou should return to me my book of incantations as well." The woman snapped.

NightShade gripped the woman's throat tighter. She cried out in pain. A perverse smile was on his face. "If I let you go, you'll be doomed. The whole Kingdom knows of your dark and dangerous deed, Morgan Le Fey. You poisoned the young Queen Genevieve. A crime that heinous will result in death by beheading. I have something much worse in store for you, mistress of the dark. It'll require your book of the dark arts." He replied.

Morgan Le Fey fell onto a wooden table. Before she could get up, the wizard strapped her arms and legs tightly to the table with metal cords. The sorceress tried to break free of her bonds. They remained taut. She then felt salt on her skin. She screamed in pain. It burned her.

"You think torturing me will satisfy you?" She asked him sarcastically.

The wizard laughed at that. He then towered over her with her book in his hand. "No. What you are experiencing now is your body being paralyzed by pure table salt. You will be unable to move when I absorb your powers into my body. Your book states that true power comes from taking the life essence and powers of others. It has helped me hone my dark magical abilities. To achieve my true goal will require all of your dark magic. It's a pity that your revenge on Merlin is going to end in vain. I'm so going to enjoy watching you suffer!" He exclaimed with glee.

"Traveling between realms can not be done. It is impossible. You're a fool to even try it!" Morgan Le Fey spat.

NightShade struck her across the face hard with his open palm. She cried out in pain. Blood fell down her nose into her mouth. His eyes were dark and menacing.

"I may be a fool, but death has arrived for you. Impudent wench, there will be no quarter from me!" He shouted.

NightShade placed his palm onto the sorceress's chest. His right hand attached to her chest, palm forward. Holding the book of the dark arts in his other hand, NightShade began to chant in gibberish the absorption spell. Morgan Le Fey had let out a scream of agony. She started to shake uncontrollably. Her powers and life essence were being pulled out of her body as smoke. It was slowly entering NightShade's body. He laughed at her suffering. It was like music to his ears.

When all of her powers and life were absorbed into the wizard, Morgan Le Fey had laid motionless on the table. Her body was now shriveled and old. NightShade flicked the corpse with his finger. In seconds the dead body of Morgan Le Fey had turned ice. Unshackling the ice sculpture, NightShade watched the corpse collapse to the stone floor. It shattered into a million pieces. He rubbed his hands with satisfaction. A dark smile crossed his face.

He stood in front of a wall of the room. He held his hands out in front of him. Black smoke began to come out of them. He threw the smoke at the wall. The black smoke expanded and began to grow bigger. It then began to spin. The black smoke became a portal that led to another realm. NightShade grabbed Morgan Le Fey's book of the dark arts and jumped through the portal of black smoke. He didn't know where it would lead him, but hoped it was somewhere in which darkness thrived.

Before the portal closed behind him, NightShade called out "May my flesh-eating plague destroy the Kingdom and all that dwells in it! Darkness will reign forever."

When the portal disappeared, Charity saw a door appear in front of her. A bright light was flowing out of it. She jumped out of the barrel and ran through the door of light. When she reached the other side of it, Charity fell into a snow bank. She jumped out of it with a shiver. It was freezing where she stood. She took a step forward only to be buffeted by a violent snowstorm. Though it was freezing and hail stones started to attack her, Charity trudged on.

"I'm not going to give up!" She cried out through clenched teeth.

The wintry onslaught continued for several more minutes. When it cleared, Charity sat down on a rock to rest. She then saw a sign that read: End of the Line...Straight Ahead.

Relieved, she got up and followed the dirt road ahead of her. When the road ended, Charity was standing in front of a cement wall. There were no doors or ladders. Charity cursed under her breath. She then started to cry. "Well, I've reached the end of the AbyssFantastical and that maniacal madman was right! There is no way out. Now I'll never go home!" Charity cried out in anger. Tears slowly fell down her face.

"Did you ever find the love that you lost, Senora? That's the only way you can leave, you know." The Owl said to her from above.

Charity wiped her tears away. She stared at the owl sadly. "You mean Flick? It's too late to save him now, Mr. Owl. I fought my way through many trials to reach the end of this land, but there is no way out. The full moon is tomorrow night. NightShade will be coming to collect me, body and soul. My vision is about to come true and you can't change destiny!" Charity sobbed.

The owl embraced her into a hug. It wiped her tears away with its wings. "Believe in yourself, find the love that you lost, and you will be able to leave here. If you fight for love, you'll be able to find it." The owl replied flying away.

Charity thanked the creature and went to rest underneath a metal tree. A loud buzzing noise woke her up. She looked down to see many black and red butterflies attached to her body. They were draining the blood out of her body. Charity cried in pain and tried to bat away the bloodsuckers. The insects fluttered away for a moment before they continued to feed on her. Charity's skin began to turn a snowy white. She then saw the owl return. It began to attack and eat the butterflies. Charity thanked her hero then succumbed to the darkness.