Chapter 55

Cirilla's Point of View

The magic around me caught my attention, and a blurry light covered my vision. As soon as the light died, silence filled the air. I was still in the temple, but there was no Kali, and I was staring at what seemed like a thousand years ago.

There were several women around, all dressed in strange clothes and chanting in a language I couldn't understand. A woman with a small, strange mark on her wrist was performing some kind of spell on the woman in labor. But the magic that bled in the air was powerful. As I moved around, they couldn't see me. It was an ancient memory of how it all started.

The cries of babies startled me as they filled the cave. Twins. A baby boy and a girl. And then the surroundings changed. I didn't know where I found myself, but I was in the middle of a meadow where several dead bodies of children lay on the ground with the pyramid symbol etched on their foreheads in blood. Like in my dreams.

Before I could move a muscle, my surroundings changed faster this time, and I was now amidst some elders. I recognized the older woman among the women in the cave with the mark on her wrist. She was addressed as Asula. And beside her were the twins, who looked around the age of twelve. The elders were arguing about something, but I couldn't understand anything as everything changed so fast again. And I witnessed the young girl being bound and locked up.

My surroundings changed, and I was in the middle of a meadow again with dead bodies, but they weren't children. There were some elders and a woman who had twins. They were all dead, with that symbol etched deep in their foreheads. And there were more and more deaths in a similar style.

Soon, the elders realized they had locked up the wrong twin. The surroundings changed, and I was back in the cave, witnessing a ritual anchored by the woman with the mark on her wrist on the boy. They were binding him. Everything moved so fast after that, and the last thing I saw was a portal being opened, and my eyes snapped back to the present.

Kali broke away from me as she leaned against the wall, panting hard and looking completely drained.

I held onto the nearest pillar I could find for support; it was right opposite her.

“That was…”

“The truth and nothing else,” she bit out breathlessly, one of her hands on her bleeding stomach.

“You look—”

“Exhausted,” She finished my words again, pushing off the wall. “But that isn't what's important. Idalak has to be stopped. You have no idea what darkness he's capable of. He's beyond evil. He'll unleash hell and turn this world into ash. That's what he wants."

My eyes coasted from her neck, where I had held her, to the injuries in her body. I still didn't understand why she hadn't healed yet if she was just like Mason.

“Why aren't you healing?” My question seemed to have startled her.

“I will, eventually. And with the amount of magic I have exhausted in the last few minutes, it'll be slowly."

“Why? If you are exactly like Mason, then why?"I paused, pulling away from the pillar. “What happened to your powers, Kali? What did Mason do to you?” If everything Mason had told me was the truth, but in a twisted version, I was beyond curious about what had happened in that prison—the void.

Her face lifted a little, something painful stalking her gaze for more than a half second. “He fed off my powers and tried to kill me. Idalak wants to reclaim every ounce of his powers that have been stowed in me, and he can only get his wish once I'm dead,” Kali tore from her dress, using the piece to cover the injury on her arm.

“But he can't,” The words escaped in a rush as my gaze coasted over the injuries on her body. “Right?”

She breathed in, casting her eyes on me. “I don't plan on dying now, at least not until I drag him to hell along with me." The tone of her voice hardened.

“How?” I asked. “From what I know, you both are—”

“Everything has a weakness, Cirilla. Even Idalak,”

“He said I was the source. I awakened you both. I am the reason he's here."

“And his weakness. Our weakness. You are exactly what we desperately need. I can feel it. Others may not understand the prophecy, but I do. And you are the only one that can stop Idalak." A bitter smile nestled on her lips. “Asula had been right. It's like she knew a day like this would come, and I would find the one last piece that we needed to end Idalak."

“Me?” A breathless exhale left my lips, and there was a tight squeeze in my chest.

"You." She nodded. “Idalak had begun the rites of darkness once again. His darkness is feeding off the powers of elders and ranking leaders. He has grown an army here, and once he gets his powers, he'll tear down the void, unleashing a disaster not even this realm has ever encountered. Everyone and everything you love will burn."

A shiver ghosted through me. “Then he mustn't get his powers back. You just have to stay alive while we find a way to end him and ensure he doesn't find us again."

“He won't find us. At least not with the spell I have on us. No one will be able to find you, much less him.

I gave her a confounded look. “You spelled me?”

“I had to. Everything was a work of magic. The attack was at the children's home. And the one at the house. I had to bring you here, and I couldn't risk anyone locating us or you making contact with anyone yet, including your friends. But I didn't entirely lie to you when I told you these witches could get the Alpha King here."

I stiffened.

“To fight against Idalak, we would need more than what's left of Ardgal. Idalak is a master of deception. And right now, the Alpha King and Queen are the only people I'm willing to risk my trust in. You have no idea how much danger you are in. A lot of people want you dead."

“All because of a stupid prophecy,”

“Because they are scared. They are scared of what they don't understand. They're scared of what they can't control. They are scared because you are the source, and you may just be like Idalak."

“And you don't think so?”

“I may have held that same fear before we met. But with the few days I've spent with you, I know without a doubt that you are not Idalak. You are—”

A low rumble interrupted us, vibrating through the cave and shaking the ground beneath us. It carried an unusual wave of magic.

I cast a quick gaze at Kali, whose eyes were wide, filled with fear and an unknown emotion.

“Is that normal?”

She was still for an impossible second before the emotion in her eyes morphed into fear.

“No! No!” She started moving further to the entrance of the cave.

“What's happening?” I was hot on her heels until we reached outside, walking into the darkness that had descended.

Kali's eyes lifted to the full moon hanging in the blue sky. Her fear was even more obvious when distant screams rose in the darkness. And I felt the brutal coldness of death lingering around, and the smell of blood was hard to dismiss.

“Kali, what's happening?”

“This shouldn't be happening yet,” Her attention finally came to me. “We need to get out of here now,”

She hastened into the cave, and I followed her immediately.

“What? Those witches… They are in danger; we can't just leave."

“Idalak’s here. The spell I placed over us must have weakened when I exhausted my magic. We need to leave now. He mustn't get either of us."She rushed to the stone table in the cave, using the edge of a stone to tear her palm open. As her blood dripped on one of the runic symbols on the stone table, a creaking noise sounded from a corner of the cave, and an oaken blade fell to the ground.

I picked it up quickly, and the round stone on the hilt of the blade glowed white, sucking me in, and quick flashes invaded my mind of that woman, Asula.

“Is that…” I muttered as Kali retrieved the blade from me.

“What did you see?”

“What is this?”

“Asula made this. The power from the Phoenix stone is the only weapon that could weaken Idalak in the past, but unfortunately, it is not powerful enough to stop him."She wrapped a cloth around it, headed to the entrance of the cave, and stepped into the cold darkness. “You, I, and this blade are the only things that make Idalak tremble." She was saying when a familiar coldness formed an army of goosebumps on my skin. It felt darker and more brutal than ever.

He was here. So Close.

“Kali stop!” As my eyes lifted to where Kali was a few steps away, I could feel the deathly presence that lurked behind her.

But it was too late.

It was like time had frozen, but the brutality played in quick motion, and in a second I felt outbursts of emotions as well as the coldness of her blood splattered against my face and Kali's body falling almost a thousand times to the ground.

The brutal scene replayed over and over in my mind. One second, Kali was talking to me, and in the next, Mason appeared from the darkness itself right before I could warn her. In seconds, the phoenix blade had switched from her hand to his, and with a dark, satisfying thrill, he slit her throat before driving the blade into her heart.

I was completely frozen.

“Goodbye sister,” The words rang slowly in my ears, with Mason's arms still holding her to him. “Now I'll take what belongs to me." His sick smile ran deeper as he sent his gaze to me briefly before returning them to Kali.

There was a faint glow in his eyes for only a second before his smile flocked like a switch and he died.

The thrill that had run through him buzzed into a rage as he jerked her body closer, growling. “What did you do with them? Where did you stow them, Thalia?”

“See you in hell, brother." Her words were almost inaudible, but they reached me nonetheless, brushing into my ears and sending the worst kind of pain straight to my chest. Her last helpless glance was pinned on me before I watched the fluttering life in her eyes, covered by darkness.

Another growl resonated from Mason as he dumped her body on the ground, taking out the phoenix blade. The white phoenix stone turned completely black, and he crashed the blade with his hand, turning it into nothing but a pile of ash.

The darkness in his eyes lifted and narrowed on me. There was an unspoken silence; it lingered and lasted, along with the staking emptiness within it.

“Where did she stow them?” The question was directed at me. Obviously. But all I could think of was sending him straight to hell. “We don't have time for this, Cirilla. Where did Thalia stow my powers?”

It was then that realization hit me, and my eyes fell back on Kali's body. She didn't have it. He didn't get what he wanted. His powers.

“Talk to me!”

“Go to hell, Mason." My nails sharpened long as I lunged at him, barreling my magic and everything I've got at him. He dodged a few of my attacks and healed up instantly wherever I managed to get him. His attacks were brutal, and I didn't stop until his hands were firmly locked around my neck.

“You can't kill me. You couldn't even if you wanted to,” I bit out with every venom of hatred in my bones.

“My powers, Ciri, where did she stow them?” His hold became tighter and more brutal. “You can't fight me, love; you'll never win. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

“And you have no fucking idea what I'm truly capable of, Mason; I will end you." I felt my bones vibrating. My body was a mixture of hot and cold.

The sickest curl of smile sliced through his lips. “Just try it, love, and everything and everyone you care about will just end up being another pile of ash in my hand. And I have an idea just who I'll be starting with."

That was another arrow to my chest; it ran deeper and hurt a lot, like the hell I'll make him feel.

In a flash, I crushed the hand around my throat, ripping it off me. I blasted him with magic as my claws kept sinking in and out of him. I wasn't in control anymore, and I didn't fight it. In one swift motion, my claws dove deep into his chest, and even if it was a fleeting second, I felt the life within him before he released a force of energy that ripped me off him, and I crashed against one of the destructions of the cave.

I couldn't shut down the rage drilling through me, and everything around me was trembling with every vibration, and I didn't know how to stop it. The cave kept falling into ruins, tearing the ground apart and bridging more distance between Mason and me.

His eyes were filled with something I couldn't believe was confusion as he staggered to his feet, his hand on his chest, before he disappeared.

I tried to go after him, but the pain coursing through me brought me to my knees, writhing. The disaster was becoming worse with every scream.

I felt like I was dying until a voice managed to infiltrate the storm within me. Her voice was calm and in control, and the cold touch of her hands against my face was strangely comforting. They carried an enormous amount of magic. One I had never felt; it was warm and soothing.

It forced my eyes open, and without warning, they fell into a pair of glowing blue eyes. Pale skin and shoulder-length blonde hair that was an exact shade of mine. Her glowing blue eyes were pinned on mine, and beneath the power they carried, I could see the pain in them. Her lips started moving, and I could hear the echo of each word in my head like I was in some kind of trance, relieving me of every pain and quieting the maddening storm within.

Each whisper of her voice was like a soothing caress to my soul, strange yet familiar. I knew her. She was the woman in my dreams. Staring at her felt like I was staring right into a mirror of my own. There was a tight squeeze in my chest as soon as the glow in her eyes died off, and the disaster ceased. I was a witness to the unfiltered pain in her soul. Her eyes were full of deep longing. Of sadness and happiness. And as the tears rolled down from the corner of her eyes, I died a thousand times.

Her pain killed me. The longing in her eyes was hurtful. And that rooted sadness in her depth was like a chain around my neck, suffocating me and making me unable to breathe. The glint of relief in her eyes was like she had found something she'd been desperately searching for a lifetime. Her treasure.

And as tears of my own rolled down my eyes, I knew exactly who I was to her. Something that should have never been stolen.