SHELTER
She did not run, her long travel made her legs feel like lead. Nor did she fly, her previous battle left her sapped of all strength, so now she couldn’t use magic. She simply walked, step by step, one foot in front of the other. Actually, she wasn’t in a hurry, that which she sought was very near.
Dressed in a red velvet dress the woman looked magnificent. Although she did not wear a corset, the tight woolen vest she had on served the same purpose. Its five big hemispherical buttons seemed to only hold by a thread under the pressure of her bosom. Walking in the thick grassland at the precipice of the forest in front of her, her body was perfectly wrapped by the heavy fabric, so every curve of her body was put in stark relief. Although from the neck down she was wholly clad in velvet, the thing the red dress truly hid were her legs. So no one but her herself could know her strength, they could be quivering in fear or trembling in exhaustion, and yet no one could tell. Covered by a silk shawl, her hair akin to liquid copper flowed down her shoulders. A single lock of copper fell on her face and partially hid the determination in her red-brown eyes.
Slowly she moved. With each contact of her feet with the ground she felt a heavy thud in her joints and bones, and a sharp pain in her muscles. Although no one could tell, her legs trembled under the red velvet. The girl kept trying to walk lightly as to avoid the pain, and yet it kept coming with each step. Her only consolation was the fact that she had almost reached her goal.
But something from within wouldn’t let her drop her guard. Something wasn’t right. No matter how much she sought and hoped for a logical explanation, she couldn’t fathom why the five shades from the day before were so deep in the territory of men and so far from Karvest. And yet she was sure that they were safe. Boderin, deep in Kordok, still clung firmly to the veil. The ancient cite that shielded the people who refused to go in to battle from the hungry gaze of the warring wizards, now, almost two millennia later, serves as a shelter for the most powerful wizard of this age, even though he is yet to be born. No, she had nothing to worry about, the oracle had told her of this place, so she could find it, Karvest lacked that benefit. Not even with his mightiest effort could he hope to breech the protection that lasted for seventeen centuries, not even now when its magic was fading.
The magic surrounding Kordok was fadin, and if it weren’t for the three descendants of the ancient coven, it would be utterly gone. But Boderin was in the middle of the forest, for it to be reached the magic had to cease fully. She knew all this and yet…
What happened the other day ate at her calm. Why, why were they there… A cold revelation drenched her like ice water. They were very close to Beacon… Veda was in Beacon. So that’s why they were so drained but happy, until that fight that day, she didn’t even know that shades were capable of happiness and laughter.
They weren’t with him because they were on a mission…- she thought to herself petrified.
“He’s trying to get to Regon…”- she whispered distressed when the revelation hit her anew.
Too tired for a battle that was sure to come, she groped in her pockets for a forgotten gem that she knew wasn’t there. All she found ere two empty rubies and a fistful of magic seeds. The moment she touched those tears dampened her face, and the face of Kaya flashed in her mind. Kaya’s green eyes, greener than the emerald in one of her buttons stared intensely at her, with no emotion or judgment in them, just a perfect beauty. Her long black hair floated around her face blown by an inexistent wind. She was just a little girl. The woman wept harder, and a cry that one would be hard pressed to believe came from a human escaped her throat, and she again felt the fury she held for Karvest, and were Regon not in trouble, she felt ready to turn back and continue her hunt for him. Even without a grain of power in her, she felt that she had will enough to kill him with a thought. But her reason told he No! What she should do is protect Regon and his family. She had to get to him, while the last of the descendant was still alive. Since Veda was no more, she was almost certain that Serma was not among the living either. That left Yon. With all her willpower she prayed to gods known and unknown for them to help him, to at least give her time to get there before it’s too late.
She tried to fly so she could hurry, but her feet only floated a foot off the ground before falling heavily on the grass again.
Without stopping for even a moment, she continued bravely battling her fatigue.
The black of night shrouded the world around her in darkness, the few stars and weak moon almost gave off no light. But even in that kind of myopia, she knew where to go. The huge blackness in front of her, deeper than all the darkness of the night was the place she had to reach.
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Suddenly something blinded her, and her heart jumped a beat. The dark wood in front of her, that huge blackness, was shining. It looked as if there was an enormous green sun rising before her. She no longer cared about her pain, she was now at a full run through the knee high grass.
I’m late.- she said to herself, I’m late!- she cursed herself, I’m late…- she cried on the inside, “I’m late…”- she whispered.
The light died down and all was as it was before. The light died down and nothing was as it was before. Now she could feel them. A tear rolled down her cheek, now anyone could find them.
After that moment of weakness, a new determination awoke in her eye. I will save him!!!- she ordered herself.
Still in a race against time, the girl closed her eyes, just like her mother taught her. She hated herself for what she was about to do, she cursed her mother for what she taught her. She opened her mind and made a mental connection with the life that surrounded her. In the darkness of the night it couldn’t be seen, but as she expected, she was surrounded by animals. From the field mice in the ground to eagles in the sky and from the hares in the meadow to the foxes in the woods in that moment she was one with them all. At that moment she hated herself the most. And as she spoke the words of death, just like her mother taught her, for a moment, just a moment, she hated her as well. And then her eyes widened. What little energy she had left, left her too. The girl had almost forgotten the way this spell always sapped her strength at this juncture, almost… she again cursed her mother for teaching this curse to her. Although ten years ago, she remembered like it was yesterday the last time she used this magic, the first time she succeeded in it, the last day she saw her mother. Since then she had never used it. Actually she had never had a true need for it, but now when she did, when Regon was in danger, she reached for it without hesitation. The moment of enfeeblement quickly passed when a wave of death began to sharply sever her connection to all those animals. The girl died again and again, and with each new death, her body vivified. With each new death, she felt the last feelings of her prey. She felt the determination of the eagle who spotted the field mouse; the security that mouse futilely sought under a few blades of grass; the worry of a mother fox for her young; their hunger; the fear of the hare that deftly ran from her; the simple sence of existence that came from the numerous insects; the sense of peace of a herd of deer that finally found a safe place to spend the night and worst of all the final feeling of understanding that this is the end, a feeling that would flair up for a moment before it too ceased in the tide of death that to her brought power. Even though all of that was brief, lasting only a fraction of the eternity of a moment, for her it was akin to a decade long torture. She knew that she could not stop the dying, even if she cut short the spell, she knew that death would inevitably find any creature unlucky enough to be touched by her mind, the only thing that would change was that she would remain weary and powerless to help her friend. So she buckled up and bore the mental pain while she accumulated all the power her prey could give. Before that single moment was over, she cursed herself hundred times over, and when it was over, she for the first time felt a change in her power. For the first time after the battle she had the day before she felt whole again, confident and able to do anything. Finaly, with a sad smile on her face she thanked her mother for the knowledge she had bestowed upon her and the power it brought with it.
“Thank you.” She thanked her prey.
Unable to contain herself she reached for her power. In her mind she was right in front of the vast forest. The girl only blinked and found herself at that exact place. She was only vaguely aware of the flames that briefly surrounded her before she reached her destination. Even though her muscles still ached and she felt stiff, now full of energy she was confident and almost calm before the big battle that would sure to follow. She knew what she had to do and only prayed she had the time to do it. For a moment she closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Yes, she had been waiting for this day since she left home, but now everything was turned on its head. Up until now she was the hunter, up until now he was running from her, but now, when Regon was in danger, she couldn’t let it come to a fight. The taught alone that she would have to let him leave… alive, after all this time spent in a fruitless chase, hit her like a physical blow. She clenched her fists tighter, and her nails dug in to her flesh. She opened her eyes and calmed herself, after all this time she would have to let him live and just cross paths. Yes, that was something she couldn’t easily accept, but she knew it had to be done. Because she didn’t trust herself, she didn’t believe that if it came to a battle in which she had to chose to kill Karvest or to save Regon she would be able to make the right choise… her hatred was just too much, her pain insufferable.
She loosened her palms, and stepped through the narrow gap between two tree trunks. A few drops of blood, black in the darkness of the night fell from them and left dark stains on the last blades of grass of the meadow.
As she got ever deeper in Kordok, so did the trees become ever older and ticker, but the gap between them grew ever wider. After about fifty meters, she could already walk straight, and after a hundred steps or so, the canopy rose high enough for her to take flight a foot off the ground and pick up speed.
The clearing she found herself in when she exited trough the trees of Kordok, was a meadow of not too high grassland with dark blades and silvery drops of dew everywhere.
When she looked up at the sky there were just a couple of stars now futilely doing battle against the light creeping from the east horizon. Before her stood a field as large as a bid village or a small town. She finally reached the center of Kordok.