Christel feared that if we were not careful he would fall senselessly into the unknown, and yet he hadn’t even reached the gate. He passed silently through the dark passages of the inner sanctum searching for light. Eventually he found the stairs leading to Ludovic’s shrine but stood in awe of the spectacle cast upon him by the summoning stones. The pale white light floated gently above the broken pentagram. Without thinking Christel reached out and touched it; it pulled at him so strongly that he couldn’t force his arm away and in a fit of panic he screamed as the white light consumed him like a ravenous flame.
It was like waking up from a dream. Christel sat up took a deep breath, but choked on the foul air that surrounded him. A cold wind lashed at his face and lightning crackled in the distance. The sky was a green haze blotted with thick clouds that rolled over him, and at his feet was sand. He was sitting in a desert, nothing living was in sight, only the scattered bones of fallen creatures. Christel jumped in fright when he accidentally placed his hand on a fiendish skull. He stood up and ran towards a high slope, hoping to get his bearings and find out where Hazel was taken.
At the top of the ridge stood Merida, wearing a black robe over an ocean-blue dress that danced in the wind. She was staring at something in the distance; a ruined building where only the foundation remained. It was peculiar for a beautiful creature to stand in such a desolate place. “This is the Valley of Skulls,” she said quietly. “This world was once beautiful and rich with life, but after thousands of years of imprisonment Ludovic’s power has polluted the air and the earth, she scorched the sky and corrupted the people. They were perfect.”
Christel knew that if Ludovic were to leave this world then his own would end up just like it. “But how much more could she corrupt my kind if she were set free?” he wondered aloud.
Merida laughed. “You’re so naïve. I was not made like a human however I have watched them with much interest for a long time. You are all guilty for some reason, as if you have all accepted the fact that you are monsters, that your actions are unnatural and that you are a blight on the world.” She continued to chuckle. “You think highly of yourselves for such little creatures. Let me tell you that you have a poor understanding of what is natural. When your kind was born you did not behave in the way the creator intended, but he did nothing about it because the irregularity of your species was interesting to him. Here you fail to recognise the gift of your humanity; suffering is a part of life, death enables you to feel joy, you have an illogical aspect in you that allows you to feel love and pain, and yet you curse these things. Part of me envies you and your mortality, just as you envy us.”
“Is that why you try so hard to be human?”
“The universe is a large and frightening place and I have seen much of it, while you are nothing more than a speck of dust who is in way over his head. I recommend you cherish the smaller things in life. Be happy and ignorant but never close your mind completely.”
Christel took a step forward and then stopped. “Does it end here? If I save Hazel and go home will the nightmare be over?”
“The journey ends whenever you want it to end, the tricky part is deciding what you want and knowing how to get it.” She began to fade away into the murky sky. “Good luck, thief.”
Hazel and Josiah were among the ruins, though they did not see Christel’s approach as he scrambled down the rocky slope in pursuit of them. Hazel, having realised this was the end of their journey, fought against Josiah with renewed might. The masked man had lost all civility and manners. He struck her. “Quiet wench. You’ve been cooperative enough so far and in just a few more moments it will all be over.” He slashed Hazel’s hand and she winced as the blood was drawn into a cup. Josiah used it to paint a symbol on the ground and it immediately began to glow. Strange whispers were heard in the air and Josiah answered them in a language that Hazel did not know. He then switched to the common tongue. “Take this – the blood of your children – as my sacrifice to you. There are others, and when they arrive you will be awakened and whole; in this state you will at last be powerful enough to leave this godforsaken cage!”
Josiah raised his knife to Hazel but was struck in the face by the pommel of Christel’s sword, so hard that his mask shattered. His face was so badly scarred that he hardly seemed human. His yellow teeth were bared beneath mangled lips, his cheeks were hollow and sinewy, and his beard grew in patches upon his chin. Josiah stood up, wiped the blood from his nose and drew his sword. “This is the face of a man who was forsaken by humanity!”
Before he could charge and strike Christel down a heavy bolt of lightning struck the symbol Josiah had painted and the ground rumbled and cracked. I large fissure separated the earth between them and Christel had to wave his arms to maintain balance. He ran to Hazel. “Are you okay?” When she nodded he took her arm and they watched Josiah drift away. The ground continued to tremble and split all around them.
The whisper had returned with a savage bite in its tone. Whatever it had said drove Josiah to dismay; he fell to his knees like a withered corpse, tears fell like diamonds down his cheeks. “I don’t understand!” he whimpered, and raised Christel’s watch in his hand. “I was promised if I used this to save you then my suffering would end!” Suddenly the ground gave way beneath his feet and he fell screaming into a dark abyss. As it happened a terrible green shadow erupted violently from the crevice in which Josiah fell. The whispers grew louder and turned into heat-stopping screams.
They knew that it was Ludovic. Christel held Hazel close and looked back towards the open gateway. The Valley of Skull was collapsing in on itself and soon they would be swallowed by it just as Josiah was, otherwise some worse fate would be set upon them. “It’s time to go!” he told Hazel.
She hesitated. “What about the key?”
He took her hand. “Forget the key. We have to close the portal from the other side before Ludovic gets out. Run!” It was a perilous race to the portal as the ground shifted and parted around them. They fell over several times and were forced to jump over dark caverns that opened up in front of them. “There’s the gateway. Just a little further!”
Suddenly a chuck of rock next to Christel gave out and Hazel tripped onto a steep slope. She cried to him as she slid towards the abyss. Christel abandoned the portal and jumped after her, reaching out, ignoring the pain of the rocks scraping away his skin. You’re not going to fall! Christel caught her hand and then found a handhold in the rock. There was a heavy jolt as she stopped just short of the edge. “Got you!” he yelled. He pulled her back up and they scrambled onward towards the portal. They were meters away from the portal and Christel looked back to see Ludovic’s shadow soaring after them. They dived through into the real world and fell suddenly upon the floor near Ludovic’s shrine. Hazel snatched up the Spirit Stone and broke the spell. The lights faded. They were safe, and they sat in silence for a long time, trembling hand-in-hand, and then they started to laugh.
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