Unwanted Allies

Salazar was a towering monstrosity of crimson red and yellow, coiled around the entire mountain. Each of his fangs was tens of times bigger than the crow, and his mere glare could instill fear in the strongest of hearts.

But somehow today, he fell short in front of the mention of the Queen.

The crow turned around and walked back with resolute confidence in every step; his consciousness was fading away, but not until he finished here. He still had another stop to make before going back to Earth, perhaps the most important one.

"Golden should give up on this childish dream of hers," Salazar spoke; he looked extremely ominous and forbidding.

"Queen Golden did not st—" The crow spoke but was interrupted.

"It does not matter who started what, crow. It is not a war you will win. Have you seen the powers that the sovereigns possess? They each hold enough within themselves to obliterate entire societies, and believe me, they are cruel enough to do so," King Salazar said furiously.

The crow stood silent and looked down. After a moment, he said,

"I don't recall your ancestors being cowards, King Salazar. Yes, they mostly stood on the wrong side of history and against the hero, but they were not cowards," he spoke brashly but composed.

At this, the red death hissed at the crow, opening its maw wide. The crow stood unfazed.

"Help us, help us, and extract your long overdue revenge against the sovereigns who promised and later betrayed your forefathers, help us revive the will of the hero." he continued, his voice calm.

"Hero for you scums!" King Salazar said bitterly.

He took a pause and then looked to his left.

"Hero for all beings," the crow corrected.

King Salazar looked at him.

"You really do have a death wish, don't you!" he said.

"King Salazar, death and I have a centuries-old understanding, unfortunately," the crow was defiant but respectful, carefully maneuvering the conversation and not overstepping too much.

The crimson king laughed at this.

"You're well informed crow, i always like the company of a scholar, I see why Golden chose you" King salazaar said, some of the tension in the air dissipating with his words.

"I know a thing or two about a thing or two my lord, I'm no scholar though" The crow replied casually.

"Hah! Modest aswell! Alright crow, You charmed me."

King Salazaar took a pause and then said.

"I want this to be acknowledged and abided by Kaairvan Accords so that there is no confusion about our dealings. We will help you, crow, but for our own benefits. We are not your allies. We will not aid you where our interests don't match."

"You will not stand against us either, then," the crow said.

"Agreed, consider it a mutual temporary partnership."

"Agreed, the Kaairvan Accords will be drawn up for this. Rest assured," the crow nodded.

"We have a deal. Now, if you may excuse me, I have to go and declare the war officially," the crow spoke with a hint of humor in his tone.

King Salazar laughed.

"You're one brazen fellow, aren't you? But what's the hurry?" King Salazar looked again to his left and said,

"Come out Naga."

the darkness that surrounded them shifted, and a part of it tore itself away and slithered to them, it was a small serpentine with sickly yellow scales that turned a bit green at the edges, and had three brutal looking horns on its head.

The snake, naga, slithered to the crow and climbed ontop.

"You will not declare war right now; instead, you will take him with you to the Queen as a gift. Naga possesses the gift of prophesying. Present him to the mold of your vine. If luck is with us all, he will reveal its current exact location. Perhaps Golden will adopt a more covert approach after this, avoiding plunging us all into a maddening war."

King Salazaar then placed his head on the mountain and closed his eyes. 

The crow stood waiting for the next words but they never came. King Salazaar had decided to sleep in middle of the conversation. 

The crow turned around with the small, thorny snake still latched to his neck. And was just about to fly away. When King Salazaar spoke from behind again. 

The crow stopped and turned around. 

'He loves to do that,' he thought to himself.

"What?" the crimson king said. 

"You... called me" The crow replied.

"Oh i must've talked in my sleep, dont mind me" 

"No problem." The crow spread his wings and just before he propelled.

King Salazaar again spoke. Getting on the crow's nerves a bit.

"Bye crow" 

The crow nodded again. And before anything else, flew away. 

************

Isra found her spirit formless, shapeless, and shifting through an entire space of nothingness. It convulsed, attempting to take on some shape, but remained invisible, adding nothing to her surroundings. She found herself on the verge of nonexistence.

Feeling like a tiny spark of consciousness lingering in a never-ending abyss, her consciousness focused and traveled outward, hoping to find something or someone. Even the smallest part of her still hoped to see Qatan somewhere, zapping through to rescue her. After hours of traveling through space, she sensed another presence.

She drifted closer to it and recoiled when she realized it wasn't anyone familiar. Instead, the presence permeated an aura of pure corruption, feeling extremely sinister and malicious. The ominous presence encircled her and started pushing onto her spirit, attempting to enter and occupy, but Isra somehow resisted. It felt vast and unbounded.

The entity then changed its tactics, giving itself a physical form that resembled Isra. Only the eyes were completely black. As a result, Isra's spirit shook, lingering around to latch onto the body and almost giving in. The moment halted when a beam of pure white thunder, followed by a deep resounding echo, struck the dark apparition and caused it to dissipate.

Then, a voice, so heavy it felt like thunder itself, spoke to Isra, echoing through the entire space.

"Imagine yourself standing," the voice said.

Isra tried to imagine herself standing on nothingness, but nothing happened.

"Clear your head. Imagine yourself to the most ultimate detail," the voice continued.

She pushed every thought aside and tried to imagine her physical body standing. Still, nothing changed. Then a small speck of pure white light appeared in the darkness and faded.

"So naive, so inexperienced. You have a lot to learn, demon child," the voice then disappeared, and she was pushed out of the space.

Isra woke up, panting and disoriented. She threw up.

"Madam, here," Gimpi stood beside her with a jar filled with water.

She weakly looked at Gimpi, then Khadija, and then Aatish as her consciousness slipped away again, and she fell to the ground.