Chapter 20.1 Trapped
They stood at a partly collapsed staircase which was the highest point in the ruined palace, providing them with a vantage point to see the surrounding area.
'It does not look good,' Myrica said, her golden eyes scanning the mass of coiling shadows filling most of the once empty plains. It was hard to distinguish singular creatures there. The air was filled with wild growls and howls competing with the fierce gusts of wind. They all moved together frantically and impatiently.
'Why are they just standing there? Why not attack?' Arlo asked, gesturing for the space encircling the ruins.
'Thisss place is protected,' Alaife said. 'Not only from realmfarersss, but alssso from local hossstile intrusssionsss.'
'How long will this barrier last?' Marcus asked, his face grim.
'Not long if the Brath is coming here,' Sam replied. 'And looking at this horde down here, you can be sure he's coming.'
'Let'sss get back inssside,' the Shadow suggested, prompting them gently to turn back.
They return to the audience hall, where Jayden and Kara waited with Iris, who sat on the floor, her face unnaturally pale, sweat pearling on her brows.
'How bad does it look?' Kara asked when they approached.
'We are all going to die bad,' Sam said, gritting his teeth, his hands clenched in fists. 'To think I was so close to escaping this dreadful realm finally!' He kicked some loose stone that sailed through the hall, sending echoes as it crashed to the wall.
'I am very sssory, Massster,' Alaife said, his voice empty of any emotion comped to the man's overflowing with anger.
'There must be a way out of here,' Marcus said. 'Alaife, how can we undo this ancient spell preventing crossing from here?'
'I do not know, Wissse Massster.'
'How could you not know?' the man growled, annoyed. 'You are the Keeper of Knowledge! It's your job to know it!'
'I apologissse, but the defence of the palace wasss never part of my dutiesss.'
'Is there someone here who may know this?' Jayden asked. He was pale too, but his voice was calm.
'Unfortunately, no. They were lossst to their hunger a long time ago.'
'Well, I'll say we just pick up our weapons and make a run for it,' Arlo said.
'That will be suicide,' Myrica said, cold and collected as usual, as if a vision of impending death wasn't enough to rattle her. 'There's too many of them. There is no way for us to pull it off.'
'I'd rather die fighting than wait for them to break through and slaughter me like a coward!' Arlo roared.
'Then you'll die like a fool,' the huntress hissed, looking at the man with evident annoyance. 'This place is a shelter, no matter how weak. We can make a fortified position and stand our ground for a while.'
The silence fell. Everyone knew they could not fend off the horde of Shadows forever. If there was no way out of here, the only choice they had was how to die. It was not a cheerful thought.
Iris wiped the sweat from her forehead. She felt a little bit better. The throbbing pain was still there, but her body seemed to accept it as a constant discomfort she had to endure. She looked at the Shadow, who stood quietly a little away from her companions.
'Alaife?'
'Yesss, Lady Realmfarer?'
'There must be a way to break the spell, right? To bring down the barrier.'
'There isss alwaysss a way.'
'You have thousands of books here. Do you think there is information about this kind of spell?'
The Shadow were quiet for a moment. Their red eyes pulsed brightly, as they were considering. 'Yesss, that isss posssible.'
'Why are we still standing here, then?' Marcus growled, tapping the floor with his wooden staff impatiently. 'Alaife, we are going to your library, and we're going to find the way to break this blasted barrier. Myr, Kara, Arlo prepare the perimeter for the defence. Ideally, protecting the library. I expect it would take us some time to dig through all those dusty tomes.'
'How much time do we have?' Jayden asked, already moving towards the door.
'I have no idea, but probably not enough.' Marcus sighed, following him.
***
'It's useless!' Sam growled, prowling between high shelves. 'Most of those books are in a language none of us understands!'
'Let's focus on those from our realm then,' Marcus said. He sat on the floor with Jayden and Iris, piles of thick ancient tomes surrounding them. He swiftly went through the book in his hand, deep lines visible between his bushy brows.
'For what itsss worth,' Alaife said, coming towards them with another stack of books in their clawed hands. 'I do think thisss barrier wasss created together with a Realmfarer from your world.'
'How do you know that?' Iris asked, flicking through dusty pages. 'You said it was in ancient times. Have you been around this long?'
'No, not in thisss form at leassst,' the Shadow replied, putting down the tomes with surprising gentleness. 'But we alwaysss had the closssest tiesss with the Light Realm. Consssidering that your magic isss an amplifier to oursss, it would be logical to ussse it to create sssuch powerful protection.'
'Make sense,' murmured Jayden closing another book and putting it aside. 'But so far, we didn't find any mention of it.'
'Less talking, more reading.' Marcus grunted.
The main sound in the library was the rustling of pages. They all tried their best to browse through each book as quickly as possible and at the same time did not miss any vital information. Occasionally the silence was pierced by distant howls and shrieks of wild Shadows coiling around the palace. Iris felt all the hair on her body standing on ends each time she heard it. Her hands were not shaking anymore, but her stomach was a tight knot, and her head was still pounding with constant pain. But she believed there must be a way out of here.
As her eyes scanned the pages, her mind drifted to the last time when she was trapped, deep in the Inquisition's dungeons and then in the cage. She was so desperate then, so helpless and devastated she was ready to give up. To admit that she was an abomination that didn't deserve to live. Iris gritted her teeth. She didn't know if back then she was already under the influence of the Shadow Magic, which was dampening all hope wherever it touched, or if she was just that weak. But she refused to be reduced to that pitiful sobbing mess again.
Those past few weeks, her whole life changed completely, and her eyes have finally opened. The world was not lost yet. Hope to restore it to its former glory was still burning bright in the hearts of those around her. They refused to accept the reality, where some people were stigmatized because of who they were. They refused to succumb to absolute rule, where a tyrant decided what was good and evil. And they were right. Iris no longer saw herself as a helpless victim. As long as she breathed, she would stand against this oppressive force.
Iris' thoughts drifted to her little brother, so innocent and faultless, to his mischievous smile and bright eyes. Her heart throbbed painfully with longing. She would do anything to see him again, to hug him tight and inhale the soapy scent of his hair right after the bath. To make sure he was safe. But while the Inquisition ruled, it was impossible. He would probably manifest his talent sooner or later. If anyone found out about it...
Iris gritted her teeth and forced her mind to focus on the book again. She would not die here. She would not let Inquisition eradicate all those innocent Mages even if it's the last thing she'd ever do. She would bring the Inquisition down, so Cody wouldn't have to live in fear for all his life, as she once did.
She was startled when she heard an excited shout from Jayden.
'I think I have something!'
Everyone hurried over to look over his shoulders at the book he was holding for them to see.
'The wall between the worlds,' Marcus read, his eyes darting through the page.
'It doesss look like the ssspell we are looking for,' Alaife hissed.
'But I don't understand.' Jayden frowned. 'It is written that to break the spell, you need to combine enough Light and Shadow Magic to pierce through the wall. But how can this be if there is no light here? You can't use Light Magic here.'
There was a brief silence, and then Marcus grunted. 'No, you can't use Light Magic here. At least not in a form it has in our world.'
'What do you mean?' Iris asked, confused. 'What other form is there?'
'He means our internal source of Light,' Sam said, his face glum. 'The Light inside our soul.'
'But we can't possibly use it!' Jayden protested. 'If someone attempts something like that, he will....'
'Die?' Marcus finished. 'Yes. But do we have any other choice here?'
Picture by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay
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