Chapter 75
“The smell of death.” Part 6.
The entire city had been destroyed.
Kalysto felt as if her blood had frozen in her veins when she saw the hundreds of houses and small buildings that had been reduced to rubble while gigantic black crystal spikes, as tall as half a skyscraper, protruded from the ground, splitting and destroying everything around them.
Her hands began to shake and the home stone she had been holding fell to the ground, completely forgotten.
“What...the hell?” But she couldn’t even finish the sentence as she saw that nothing, absolutely nothing, as far as her sight could see, had managed to save itself from such massive destruction. Her knees trembled, no longer able to support her weight as her eyes filled with tears and she knelt on the ground. “I am a monster..." she whispered, but only the wind heard her.
Kalysto looked at the remains of the wall in front of her unable to believe what she had seen, her heart clenching as she remembered the mutilated bodies of the people in the streets or those who had been left, as if frozen, inside the crystal.
No one had been spared.
Only her.
Bile rose in her throat as she struggled to silence her pitiful sobs that escaped her lips, but in vain.
She felt as if hours had passed as she writhed in horror and guilt at what she had done.
Of what she had allowed to happen.
“I should never have let her out," she whispered through her tears. But then she remembered that hand on her face. While the other had begun to brush against her thigh and then tried to lift her skirt. And she simply panicked at the thought of what might happen to her, so she gave in and let Persephone take control. “And that’s why all those people died.”
It was several minutes before she could finish crying and think a little. Then she immediately rushed out of the room. Running through the corridors and searching like mad for a staircase that could take her to the highest point of the building she was in. And when she finally found it, she ran up the stairs, almost running out of air, for four flights, until she reached a rooftop that looked more like a small garden for tea under a pretty green canopy.
Kalysto ignored the expensive decorations. As well as the beautiful sculpture of a scantily clad sensual elf carved in stone that decorated the place. On her shoulders rested two small birds from whose mouths spouted a thin stream of water.
Who the hell would even think of putting a fountain on a rooftop? The thought escaped her mind before she realized it, but she ignored it and walked to a corner. Silently praying to whatever god it was that would listen to her, that only a small piece had been damaged.
Then she ran desperately from corner to corner, trying to deny what her eyes were seeing. But her hopes died when she saw that to the north, south, east and west of the building, everything her eyes could see was exactly the same chaos. Spikes of black crystal piercing the streets. Shattered buildings and people trapped inside the thick crystals, or pierced by them.
“No... no, no, no, no, it couldn’t be.”
The city had been completely devastated... and it had only taken Persephone a couple of hours to do it.
“I can’t let this happen again," she said quietly to herself.
Or even worse for the boss to find out. She thought, and as soon as she was aware of that thought, terror filled her insides. Her stomach churned, and she threw up what little she had eaten so far. It will kill me, she thought. Feeling her hands cold and sweaty, watching them shake as she lay kneeling on the floor finishing emptying her stomach.
She’ll kill me when she finds out!
And as if a switch had flipped inside her, she immediately got up, ran to the fountain where the beautiful carved elf lay, and washed her hands, then her mouth.
She won’t let someone so dangerous near her precious fairies! I need to get out of here and get Tsuki!
“Map!” she shouted, as an afterthought. Rushing to zoom in on it, just as she had wanted to do since she had the conversation with Artemis. And as she looked at it, she noticed that it was quite far from the forest where she had been before.
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How far away can these people teleport...? Because surely it would do me a lot of good to learn how to do it.
There was only one other point besides hers, hundreds of miles around her. Or at least she hoped it was miles, after she discovered that all she needed to do to zoom in was to do it the same way she did it on her cell phone. The problem was that, whoever it was, it seemed to be running at a surprising speed as it approached where she was.
Kalysto immediately ran down the stairs, cursing herself for not picking up the home stone before she went up to the roof and left it lying there.
Good thing I have my sneakers on! She tried to console herself as she ran down the stairs and through the long corridor, or what was left of it, and hurried to the study, where she immediately crouched by the window and desperately searched for the fallen stone, while out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the approaching red dot was not the only one.
Another one had joined the search, and it seemed to be moving at a much faster speed than the other dot.
What? Can they fly too? She panicked. Come on Kalysto, concentrate! I’ve got to find that stone before those guys find me!
Immediately, the familiar coolness that heralded her skill descended upon her, making all anxiety and fear disappear in that instant. Allowing her to think clearly.
[The passive ability Mental Defense has been activated].
And as if by magic, she stood up. Suddenly remembering that she had been a little further to the right when she dropped the stone. Once in the right place, she crouched down again and five seconds later she was able to find the home stone.
As soon as she activated it, she reappeared in her room.
Tsuki started barking at her, running into her arms while licking her still tear-stained face.
“Champion? By all the old gods, what in the world happened to you?” Alynn asked with her round face full of genuine concern.
“I... “ her voice cracked and tears flooded her face as she remembered all those people who were slaughtered, just because she lost control of herself and it took her too long to regain it. “I...” she tried again, and had to clear her throat several times before she could continue. “…An elf kidnapped me," she deflected the subject.
“Oh! Those savages, tree worshippers! How dare they torture our champion? You’ll see what’s waiting for you! Just wait until I tell the queen!” She then tried to reach out to her and caress her face, but immediately Kalysto recoiled back, frightened at her touch.
Alynn lowered her hand, her gaze filled with sadness at her rejection, causing Kalysto to get a knot in her chest as she noticed it. But other than Tsuki, she didn’t think she could stand contact with anyone else right now.
“Did they torture you?” She asked in a low whisper, as if she feared her words might hurt her.
“...” Kalysto looked at her in silence for a few minutes, not knowing what to answer to that. She didn’t want to stay here too long and give the boss time to find out what she had done. Fear seemed to show on her face, because Alynn immediately changed her question.
“Is there anything I can do to help you? Run you a hot bath? Maybe a cup of a nice soothing tea to help you sleep?” She spoke in a soft, motherly voice.
“I... I haven’t eaten anything but breakfast all day. I was really hungry, but then I threw up and... “ her eyes traveled from one side of the room to the other. Noticing the hot food on the night table next to the delicious bread Alynn was preparing, next to another plate full of theles, cheese and more fruit. And in Alynn’s hands was a bowl that Kalysto assumed was for Tsuki’s food. Which she was holding like a baby, while he whimpered softly as if he could feel all the chaos inside her and was trying to comfort her, as he rubbed his head against her neck and cheeks. I think a bath would be nice.
“I’ll take care of that. I also brought you your clothes. They were already properly washed, and I sewed one of the holes in them myself," Alynn informed her, pointing to her black sweatpants and Hella’s favorite t-shirt. Kalysto wanted to cry at the obvious care with which the older woman took care of her.
“Thank you, Alynn. I really appreciate it.”
“I’m here to serve you, champion. Take off those dirty, bloody clothes. I’ll take care of burning them personally," she assured her. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with something hot for you to drink.”
As soon as Alynn left the room, Tsuki started licking her face and whimpering.
“I’m glad to see you too, but stop licking my face. You’re going to stick your tongue in my eye again!” She scolded him as she hugged him. Enjoying the softness of his fur for a few seconds as she tried to calm down.
And as soon as she did, she realized that no matter where she ran, her boss would find her.
I’ll need an excuse to get away from here. But I have to be convincing.
She frowned, as she pondered what was the best way to go while continuing to pet Tsuki, whose tail was now wagging back and forth.
Happy to have her back.
Come on Kalysto think! Focus! She scolded herself. And immediately a pair of windows appeared before her.
[The passive skill Mental Defense has been activated.]
But along with them, there was another one she hadn’t expected. And that if she hadn’t activated her skill beforehand, she was sure she would have been scared out of her wits.
[I have been informed of what has happened.]
[Touch the screen and show me.]
“What?” she whispered, the cold terror running through her veins again, deactivating her skill. “Show you? How?”
[Touch the screen. Now!]
Tsuki immediately jumped out of her arms, her hair standing on end and began to growl as she looked towards the door. Kalysto turned, wanting to know what was happening.
Less than a second later, Galatea entered her room without knocking, with her armor on and one hand on her sword.