City of Ravens (24)

"The second part talks about mind, and in there are symbols that mean change, vessel, gift, bird, and a few more that don't make any sense. Only at the end of that part, there are a few disconcerting ones, empty and death."

"What about the last part?"

"This makes even less sense since it's focused on soul there is soul and energy, but there is also erased, rebirth, ashes, and bird."

"It does make the current predicament more alarming. If the symbols on his arm are a form of seal… it is possible that they are now controlling his actions. Maybe he became a vessel for someone's power, but to achieve it he needs to die and rise from the ashes."

"But that doesn't explain most of the symbols that are there. Either way, I think we have to stop whatever is happening, from happening. In a few days I will have the whole thing translated, and then a decision can be made. How far is he?"

"We are almost there, I can sense his energy a few hundred meters away. Look down, you will see him in a moment."

We moved with high speed, and the ground changed with every second that we did. Seconds later a crater came into my sights, and inside it, I saw Dominique! He was floating gently above the crater and gathering hundreds of feathers around him, and with a wave of his hand they all moved in unison and smashed into the bottom of the crater.

"Damn kid, calm down" From Devin's back, light spread and formed a giant hand! It grabbed Dominque brought him closer to us. He wailed like a beast, struggling to get out of the giant's hand.

The black feathers whirling around him stirred and attacked Davin and me, but all of them were stopped by the shield around us. "OK, kid. Let's get you out of here."

"Wait! Look at the crater!" the bottom of the crater collapsed and a temple that bared resemblance to Mayan and Eastern European buildings. "Dominque told me that there are symbols somewhere inside, maybe they can help fix him."

"Just take few quick pictures."

"That's the plan."

As we descended, Dominque became more restless and started to struggle more. I couldn't help but fear him a little, the current him wasn't at all like the usual calm and collected person he is. If I wanted to help him now, I needed to make sense of the symbols on his arm, and if there was anything in the temple that could help, find it.

When we landed the shield around us disappeared, and around Dominique, the hand changed the shape and formed a prison. Inside he kept struggling and smashing at the walls, with black feathers constantly crushing against every inch of the wall.

With the caged Dominque, we moved inside the temple, with my phone I took pictures of every inch of the temple, not missing any details. We quickly moved forward and arrived at the big room filled with bones and altar packed with writing in the middle.

I ran up to it and started taking pictures. I then noticed something wrong, the top of the alter had a small ring of light.

"HEY DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

I heard the scream from behind, but it was too late, my finger was pressing against the light and bound to my finger, electricity passed through my body, and all light disappeared. Only a single raven was left.

---

When I got a phone call from Dominque's friend, I was walking towards the Algonquin town. But hearing that something so major happened, I used my soul essence and flew to the town as fast as possible.

As I closed in on the town, I sensed a dense accumulation of elemental essence. Deep underneath it, I felt a small soul struggling to survive in a storm of elemental essence. After picking up Emily, we arrived at the site where the kid was. With black wings and hundreds of black feathers, each of them carrying strength that was hard to imagine in such a small form.

I restrained him and blocked all of the black feathers, I wanted to leave and take him to someone that will be able to help him. The symbols on his arm were burning from the dense energy gathered in them, the elemental essence coming out of them was moving around his body, forming tides of destructions assaulting his mind and soul.

He had only a few hours before it would destroy him. But Emily saw a temple underneath the crater that Kid created. It looked familiar, the underground city I found years ago was similar to it. And if my guess is correct, then underneath the temple there is a whole city.

But this was not my concern, that city is now gone and other then corpses and ruins there was nothing else. On the other hand, Emily was right, since this was the place everything started, and the symbols came from there can be some answers here.

Since kid told me about the ghost that he met, I was ready to contain it at any time, but there was no elemental essence or any type of energy present. That's what I thought. When the small speck of elemental essence appeared on the altar it too late.

"HEY DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

Before I could do anything the space around the altar was sealed and a shield formed around it. Manifesting, expanding, separating, transforming. I made dozens of spears of pure soul essence and sent them to attack the shield form all directions, but it was holding on.

Emily started convulsing on the floor, while I regretted letting her come here. I observed the movement of elemental essence inside the shield and saw that something was happening inside Emily's body.

Shit. I should've come here earlier! Now I began to understand the meaning of the symbols and their purpose!

Change the body to make a perfect vessel, change the mind so it can be easily destroyed, place the soul inside and rise form the death like a phoenix! It was that dammed ghost plant to resurrect.

More spears appeared in the air and attacked the shield around the altar. "You can stop now," Emily spoke up. But I knew it wasn't her. This was no longer her, it was the ghost.

"WHO ARE YOU?!"

"You damned mortal, you dare to raise your voice in front of the RAVEN QUEEN!? AGH!! YOU FILTHY HUMAN! ALL THE EFFORT I PUT TO CREATE THAT SEAL ON HIS ARM IS NOW GONE"

"I don't care if you are a queen or whatever if you don't release her I will burn your soul under a soul flame until you do!"

"AGHHHH!!! DAMN YOU! ITS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! MY CHANCE IS NOW GONE! AGHHH!"

The Raven Queen screamed in pain. Inside Emily's body, I saw elemental essence struggling to stay together, this had to be the Raven's Queen mind! is it because the body was not adjusted to house her mind? If that's the case, then…

"Again, let go of the GIRL!"

"YOU HUMANS AND YOUR DEMANDS! IT WAS YOUR GREED THAT KILLED ME AND NOW, WITH THE LAST BREATH I WILL SEND THIS WORLD INTO CHAOS!"

With her mad shouts, the altar lit up, and the entire temple shook. Everything moved as the temple rose to the surface and higher! The walls of the temple crumbled and beyond them, I could see the earth split and buildings rose up high into the sky.

This was not the time to hold back! From my hands, I manifested my soul image and expanded them with two hands big enough to envelop the entire shield! With all I had, I pushed against it until the shield started to crack.

"THIS WORLD WILL KNOW MY NAME AGAIN! KILL, DESTROY, CONQUER, SEND THESE HUMANS TO HELL!"

The shield broke, and the Raven Queen collapsed as her last words resonated through the city. I grabbed Emily and Dominque and flew out of the temple. Checking on Emily, I saw in her body shattered pieces of elemental essence, inactive and lifeless.

As I moved above the city, I heard the world tremble as hundreds of thousands of monsters poured out into the world. A flood of white stretched with every second making the world look like it was covered in snow.

It was a disaster of a size that the world has never seen before…