*Chapter 25
765 Words
CHAPTER 25
JASE
I surged forward to shake the shoulders of the woman whose eyes had gone cloudy as she was muttering incomprehensible words in an ancient language.
“What do you mean, a dark crystal?” I shook her shoulders trying to break her trance but she just kept muttering her incantations, her prayer to the Creator. “Answer me!” I shook her harder before my father’s hands wrenched me away.
“Enough, son! Sit!” His illumine washed over me with a force I’d rarely encountered before and I resisted with every ounce of strength I had. Which bought me about 2.5 seconds before I relented and went to sit on the floor by the window, dropping my head into my hands, sending up my own silent prayer.
What was happening? WHY was this happening?
Why was Elliana the target of darkness? Why did this existence, this world that we lived in, always have to be vying for a balance of powers. A gift as incredible as Elliana walking into my life had to come with a cost. A fight. A struggle. A darkness….
Damn that balance of power. I was done with it.
A knowing settled over me as I inhaled deeply, searching within the depths of my mind for the image I needed. She was important in this war, I just had to figure out how. Why.
More silent prayers went up as I searched deep within the wells of my soul, trying to call up my Sight Illumine. I felt that invisible string that tied me to my Soulbound pull taught, and in my mind's eye, I could see a shimmery strand of golden light pulse across its fibers from Elliana to me, as if it were feeding my soul, my illumine.
Suddenly I was no longer sitting in the room on the floor by the window, but was now standing in a large, spacious room with blinding light pouring in from every window that encircled the large open space. I shielded my eyes, trying to see through the light, and then it dimmed slightly, enough to allow me to lower my arm and see more clearly.
Elliana was raised high in the air, as if she were floating in the center of the room. On one side of her were tendrils of metallic gold, shimmering brilliantly as they slowly flowed and ebbed toward her, as if reaching out across the air to connect with her. I noticed tendrils of her own iridescent golden light spreading out from within her heart, her soul, trying to make contact with the metallic energy.
But then a darkness fell over the sky outside, as ominous clouds rolled in from her right, blocking out all light from the windows on that side of the room. Inky black tendrils were now reaching for her other half, and her head snapped in that direction. Fear replaced the joyous gleam she’d had when focusing on the golden light.
I heard her whimper, as the ebony oil like substance drew closer to her, trying to connect with a similar substance that seeped from the back of her neck.
“ELLIANA!” I cried out, and her eyes snapped to me. There was a war raging within her eyes, her mind. She looked from me to the black inky limbs, then back to me, a plea in her eyes for me to help her.
Desperate for a way to reach her, I tried to move, but couldn’t. I noticed that the golden light was still there, though, still reaching.
“Focus on the light, baby. Call to the light.”
I didn’t care that she’d asked me to stop calling her that… I couldn’t find the strength to care in those moments when I was desperate for her to hear me.
“I can’t…” her eyes were filled with fear, tears brimming the rims as her sight was pulled toward the darkness again.
“You have to, baby. You have to look at the light. It’s stronger than the darkness, I promise.”
She looked at me once again, and shut her eyes as she took a deep breath, trying to find her strength and fight the fear.
Finally, she turned her head toward the golden light, finding her strength, her eyes just barely starting to c***k open.
Then the blinding white light from before returned, even stronger this time, and I had no choice but to shield my eyes again as it began to pulse throughout the entire space, magnifying, intensifying, growing brighter until…
Everything exploded.
- Writer
