Engraved In Fate

06. The Golden Presence

Never in my life had I wondered when or how would my life come to an end.

But today, it truly felt like my end was near. Thus, when the splitting pain abruptly came to a halt—it felt no less than a miracle. Gasping, I fought the darkness looming at the back of my eyes. Once my vision cleared out, I looked up, only to find everything frozen in time.

Uncle Philips too was frozen in time.

His tight fist was suspended in the air, right foot lifted slightly in my direction, and a terrifying look etched on his face. I brushed off the tears staining my cheeks, an anticipation of unknown dwelling inside my heart.

I hurriedly ran my gaze across the warehouse to know what happened, but to no avail.

I then gasped. White, glowing mist began materialising in front of me. Soon the whole warehouse was filled with it, making me squint hard to see what was happening. My head ached unbearably, eyes watering with exertion.

The mist then parted.

A lady, clad entirely in black attire, stepped in. The satin gown hugging her curvaceous figure matched the color of her hairs cascading down her waist. Her eyes were the shade of midnight, the silver flecks in them reminded me of starry night. And with her high cheekbones, distinctive soft features, and lips painted red—she looked beautiful.

But the thing that stood out the most about her was the golden aura surrounding her. It was powerful.

"On time, I believe," she murmured to herself, strutting closer to the chair I was bounded to.

I stared at her quizzically. Uncle Remington remained frozen, as did every other thing in the warehouse. "H-how did you..." I stammered incoherently, wincing as the pain in my head intensified.

Noticing my struggle, the lady placed her hand on my head. Her eyes fluttered close and her sleek eyebrows pinched into a look of concentration. I frowned in concern. She was probably chanting some spell in her mind. I was having trouble discerning her motives. Who was she? Why was she here? Foremost, I needed to quench my curiosity. How did she manage to pull off such a stunt on Uncle Remington? He was among the most of powerful lords, after all.

If there actually existed such trick, then I needed to learn it as soon as possible.

Suddenly, a mental image flashed at the back of my mind. My eyes shut close involuntarily as the zing of golden energy passed down from her hands to my head. The golden haze surrounded my body in a healing embrace. The excruciating pain I'd felt earlier slowly diminished from my body, the energy healing me from inside.

I cracked my eyes open, only to find the lady peering down at me. She took few steps back. "How do you feel now?"

That was a good question. How did I feel now?

It was like how I normally felt. It was such a refreshing change from the pain that I had been feeling from past two days. I never thought even in my wildest dreams that this normal feeling would ever feel like such a bliss.

"I feel good, normal and so good."

I smiled at her, relief coursing through my veins. My voice was back to normal, the dried blood on my forehead no longer inducing an itchy feeling, and most importantly: I felt free.

I then stood up, or rather tried to. Apparently, the ropes still had me confined in their firm grip. So much for feeling free.

Releasing a heavy sigh, the lady snapped her fingers. The ropes immediately loosened around my frame and I quickly got out of them. Heavens, standing on my own feet never felt so good.