I awake in shock. My heart is accelerating and all I feel is pain and suffering. I cannot form any words and I cannot bring myself to open my eyes. "Drink." I hear a fierce command and then as I open my mouth lukewarm water flows down my throat. I take in the water greedily before coughing it back up in pain.
"Rest."
I don't have any fight in me to argue.
I awaken again and I'm blinded by the bright light and groaning at the pain in my back. I slowly lift up and notice I am on a grass pallet and resting in a cave.
"Good." Someone speaks. "You're finally awake."
I finally look to my left and Sasha is sitting and poking at the fire crackling nearby. "Where are we?"
"Cave." She replies. "It attacks from above and shields itself in the trees. It cannot locate us here."
"The snake?" I ask. I try to lift up but I could feel nauseous building in the back of my throat. I settle back on the horrible pallet. "How did I get here?" I ask.
"You fell from the tree." Sasha explains dully. "You're lucky the branches broke your fall."
I shift again slowly. I now understand why I'm in so much pain. Sasha pokes at the fire again and I notice the small pot above it. She pours the dark liquid into a cup and hands it to me. "Here." She practically shoves it in my face. "Drink. We need to move once nightfall hits."
I sip slowly and gag at the taste. Sasha must notice my expression because she explains, "It's not supposed to taste good. It is to help you heal."
"Light magic?" I ask.
Sasha arches her eyebrow. "What do you know about witchcraft."
I swallow the disgusting drink and then answer, "Not enough apparently."
Sasha again cocks her head to the side in a curious manner. "Why are you here, Hal Ashes?"
I place the cup down because everything is becoming dizzy. "My stupid dad sent me here." I pause because I didn't want to discuss my father. "Tell me about witchcraft."
Sasha begins to add more wood and poke it with the long stick in her hand. It dies a little but after some time it finds its confidence and grows until the heat warms my face, orange flames celebrate with their wild flickering dance. It projects long shadows in the surrounding area as Sasha begins to speak about the subject that has been dancing on my mind for days.
"There was a time when Witchcraft was simple. It was agreed to keep our abilities away from humans. The Coven of the Eclipse created Kalahari. A place away from human society where witchcraft can be practiced freely. Humans are afraid of things they do not understand. There was peace for centuries but The Coven of the Eclipse split and that is when the war started."
"War?" I question in confusion.
"Yes." Sasha confirms. "The Rein on Demonics."
"Why?" I push.
"Demonics are sorcerers who practice dark spells which are forbidden and illegal. If you were caught for the crime your sentence is death. The darkness wraps around your soul which gives you abilities. Some more powerful than others. The Coven of the Eclipse didn't believe anyone should possess that much power. However, one of the sisters became curious and began to practice in secret. She betrayed her sisters and murdered all of them before fleeing Kalahari." Sasha explains.
"Who was the woman?" I question my words slurring.
"The most powerful sorcerer in the history of witchcraft." Sasha answers.
My eyes blink uncontrollably and my heart rate begins to slow. I try to lift but my body is trapped against the ground, "Did you drug me?"
"Rest." Sasha orders throwing sand into the fire. "We have a long night ahead of us."
I don't argue. My eyes shut on its own accord.
Again, I'm stuck in the same library. However, this time it is burned down. The woman is silent and her cheekbones accentuated the skeletal look and in her gaze, my mind is robbed of emotion. Instead of speaking, or questioning I stand more frozen than the battered and burned bookcases surrounding us. She turns away from me and begins to walk down the hall. I cannot stop myself from following behind her. There is another door and we walk through it. I glance around and there is numerous shouting. My eyes take in Elijah first as he is bent over crying over his parents' burned corpses. Someone, in the distant rushes off.
I sprint after them. The figure is fast but not fast enough. I grab their shoulders and force them to turn around. Their leg comes up and almost hits me in the face but I step back and dodge the blow. "Who are you?" I question. They do not answer me but continue to assault me with deadly blows. Somehow, I am able to dodge every punch and kick. I notice their battered hands. "You started the fire." I conclude. Sakiya is right. The library wasn't an accident. The attacker mutters something underneath their breath and a powerful force slams into my chest.
Find the key!
I lift up and scream. My heart is accelerating again but this time I don't feel any pain in my bones. The fire to my left is low and Sasha is nowhere to be found. I hurry and grab my weapon and strap it to my thigh before heading toward the end of the cave.
"Sasha." I whisper as I approach the edge. "Sasha?."
My heart instantly stops as someone wraps their hand around my mouth. "Quiet." I hear in my ear. I instantly calm down. She let go and then release me. I turn around and she is standing with her sword strapped to her back. "Let's go." She command.
I follow her quietly through the forest. "Where are we going?" I question. She moves silently and squat down and point up. I follow her movements and glance towards the night sky. I swallow noticing all the cocoons hanging from the trees. "We're in the middle of her nest." I say.
"Shush." She tells me. She then stands and grabs the first branch and begin to climb. I groan to myself. I wasn't too happy to go for a climb. However, I follow. We continue up and I remind myself to not look down. The first cocoon we reach she takes out her dagger and begin to cut.
I follow her lead and go for the next cocoon. I begin to cut and pulse run down my fingers making my fingers sticky. I smile brightly when I make eye contact with Zaria. She smiles and I put my finger on her lips and whispers, "Be quiet."
She nods her head and I tell her to climb down. I go for the other cocoons and shortly everyone is set free. Sasha and the others begin to climb down but I notice Dimitri is missing. "We're missing one." I hiss. Sasha shake her head and ignore me. I roll my eyes and look around the trees and my eyes make eye contact with the remaining cocoon. I pull myself up a few more branches and take my knife and cut through the cocoon.
Dimitri inhales and I try to shush him but he screams, "Hal watch out!"
Before I could react the snake tail is slamming into my body. I fly through the air and connect with the other branches. "You again." I hear the snake hiss. I ignore the pain in my back and quickly dodge the lethal tail. I fall a few branches down but catch myself.
"Hurry down!" I hear Sakiya screaming from the ground level.
Arrows begin to fly past me and hit the snake. I take advantage of the distraction and hurry down. I finally touch ground level and I scan the trees for Dimitri. He wasn't far behind me. He finally drops ground level and we all sprint away from the creature.
The snake charges towards us and I pull out my daggers as it uses its tail as a weapon. Sasha leaps over the massive creature and stabs her weapon in its skin. The Phonexies form a circle and the archers take advantage and shoot arrows into its skin. The creature wails in pain but it isn't going down easy.
The deadly sharp-like tail swings around and it stabs itself into one of the Phoenixes. She spats out blood and everyone stand there in shock. "It doesn't suppose to kill." Iris mutter behind me. The snake pulls its tail around and quickly detaches the girl head from her body. The others around her scream in fear and they all scatter in different directions.
Sasha's eyes widen and she dives for the bow and arrow near her. She mutters something underneath her breath and the arrow catches fire. "Witchcraft." I mutter to myself. She shoots the arrow and the snake hiss in pain.
"We have to help." I say.
"It's suicide." Sakiya screams.
I ignore her and rush into battle. Sasha's face is determined as she leaps over the tail and shoots more arrows. Atlas rushes in and he takes his daggers and begins to stab at the snake. I duck over the tail and move in closer.
I finally get close enough and Sasha arches her eyebrow at me before the tail connects with her body. She flies across the air and hit the tree before falling unconscious. Atlas screams her name and he becomes distracted. The snake takes advantage and buries its lethal tail into his body.
I hurry and duck over its body before burying my dagger in its skin. The daggers glow again and I push it in as deep as possible. The snake tosses Atlas body across the forest and its focus is now on me. I pull out the dagger and its hiss and shake before tumbling over. I move out of the way quickly and rush over to Atlas body. I put pressure on his wound and push down. He spat out blood and his eyes begin to flicker. I pull off his jacket and replace it with my hand.
I hurry to Sasha and shake her awake. "Get up." I snarl. "Atlas is dying."
She blinks open her eyes and roll over in pain. She then crawls over to Atlas. She collapse on top of his body, "Don't you dare die on me." Her hand hovers over his wound and she mutters something in a language I do not understand and the wound closes up.
"You're a healer?" I ask in confusion. She ignores me and pulls his body and I help her and we carry him out of the forest. When we finally reach the main lines people rush towards us. I collapse onto the ground and Sasha stand over me. "You fought well." She say and walk away from me.
I fall back and collapse in exhaustion.