The hallway eventually led me outside into a courtyard of sorts. In the centre was a large tree, a decaying tree, which I assumed was Va Bor. There were many elves the other side of the tree, in a large cluster. They seemed to be holding white candles from what I saw. Elaria noticed me, and motioned for me to follow her. Alys and Hycis appeared soon after.
"Where's Zath?" I asked after looking around for him.
"He's been kicked out," Elaria replied. "He isn't allowed in. I don't know why he came along if he was just going to get kicked out again,"
"I see," I nodded, feeling a little empty without him.
"Let's just get this over with," she shook her head, beginning to walk through the crowd. We of course followed, making our way to the front of the crowd. I heard lots of elves whispering about us, and a wave of uncomfort overcame me. I wanted to run away, to return back home, but I couldn't. I was stuck. There was no way for me to return just yet. We reached the end and stood at the front of the crowd. An elf passed me a white candle.
"What is this?" I asked, slightly confused.
"These candles are made of Spero, we light then each year in hopes that our Altum will return," Elaria replied. "I light one every week,"
"I see," I nodded. "So everyone's gathered here to light a candle?"
"Every elf that supports the Altiorem, yes," she replied. "Do you want to take part?"
"Sure," I nodded, giving her a smile. "You can never have too much hope,"
She smiled back at me. I saw behind her that Hycis was staring at Alys with a thoughtful expression, but I brushed it off.
"I declare that we do something different this year," Hycis walked in front of us, so he could talk to everyone. "Simply lighting a candle hasn't done much for the past seven years, so I propose a sacrifice, one good deed for another,"
I saw Elaria tense up beside me. She knew what he meant.
"I declare we sacrifice the darkened," he pointed at Alys. "If we take care of the darkness, surely the gods and goddesses will recognise that and return our Altum,"
"You can't!" Elaria yelled. "What about the witch?"
"We can handle her," Hycis nodded. "And anyway, if my thought works then the gods and goddesses will help,"
A tear rolled down Elaria's cheek. She knew she was powerless and couldn't object. The woman walked over and hugged her, and I could hear her crying.
"Maybe a sacrifice is a little too much?" The woman asked.
"We have waited seven years for him to return, I'm desperate," Hycis began, looking somber. "I wish to step down soon, but to do so I need him back. I just wish for my filius to return,"
"Please don't," Elaria let go of the woman, and her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were wet.
"Elaria, it's fine," Alys walked over to her, giving her a soft smile. "If it will bring the Altum back, then fine,"
"No!" She yelled, more tears falling. "We can find him! If we just search, we can find him! I don't want anyone else to leave!"
"It's fine," he held her wrists, bending down to reach her level. He wiped away a tear that fell. "There will be a time when we will see each other again, don't worry,"
She pulled her wrists from his grasp, sobbing and crying as she hugged him tightly. He hugged her back. I could see she was shaking. After a while, Hycis coughed, and she let go, looking at him one last time. Alys turned to me.
"Give Zath my apologies," he told me.
"I will," I nodded, biting down on my lip to stop myself from crying.
"I promise we will meet again," he smiled softly at Elaria, running a hand through her hair and along her cheek. "I promise,"
"Set up a stake," Hycis ordered. "We shall burn the darkened,"
I moved next to Elaria, and she immediately hugged me and began to cry once more. I couldn't help myself. I let a tear slip, and attempted to stop the waterfall from running. I could feel her shaking, it was the most heartbreaking thing to experience.
I watched as they set up the stake, as they dragged Alys along to the stake and bound him to it. I never saw him shed a tear. He gave us both reassuring smiles, and I couldn't help but let more tears fall. The one to save me, the one to save my life twice was about to die before my very eyes, my friend was heartbroken, and I felt empty without Zath. The woman came over, handing us the two candles we had before.
"Everything will be okay," she mumbled to Elaria. "Just think, Shyael might be back,"
"He could be back without a sacrifice," she choked, barely pushing out the words.
"But he'll be here quicker," she said.
"I suppose so," Elaria nodded, turning away.
I looked back to the stake. Hycis was walking over, holding a flaming torch high and proud. The crowd cheered and whistled, and Elaria hunched over. I wrapped an arm around her to comfort her.
Just as he was about to light the stake, there was a puff of dark smoke. Then there was another, and another, until the whole place was filled with puffs of dark smoke. From one materialised the witch. She smiled at us, a sadistic smile. From another appeared Saera, and another came Zath.
"Zath!" I went to run to him, a bright smile on my face and happiness flowing through my veins, but Elaria grabbed me. She looked at the witch. I then remembered she was there and sunk back. Two dwarves appeared and grabbed him. He smiled at me, most likely happy that I was alright.
The witch turned to Alys. "What's this? A sacrifice?"
"A sacrifice to the gods and goddesses for out Altum to return," Hycis replied. "If you don't mind, hold off your attack until the end, would you?"
"I have a deal to strike with you," she completely ignored Hycis. "I free you, and your friend dies in your place,"
"I agree!" Zath yelled. Saera elbowed him in the chest roughly, so rough that he almost fell over.
"No thanks," Alys turned away.
"What?" Zath stared at him in disbelief. "What about seeing the world? You wanted to, didn't you? Well now's your chance for that to happen!"
"So did you," he replied. "I'm sorry, but it's for the best,"
"How are we supposed to fight?" He yelled. "None of us are as strong as you!"
"Zath, I'm going to die tomorrow anyway, what's the harm of a day earlier?" His personality changed again, taking us off guard by the sudden fierceness in his voice.
The witch smiled. "Continue," she waved her hand in the air. "And withhold the attack, would you? I'd quite like to see this,"
Saera nodded, repeating something to the dwarves.
"And you can let him go, he's of no use to us," she waved her hand at Zath. The dwarves promptly let go of him and he scrambled over to me.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?" He grabbed my cheeks, looking me over like Elaria once did.
"I'm fine," I replied, placing my hands on his. "What about you? You were caught by her,"
"I'm fine, I was under a sleeping spell for most of it," he replied. "What about you Elaria?"
She simply nodded, turning away and drying her eyes. I saw Zath's face fall. He pulled her over, pulling us both into a group hug.
"It's gonna be okay, we'll see him again," he mumbled comfortingly. "Just think of Spriitum,"
"I suppose so," Elaria nodded, hugging us both. "But still, we can't stay there forever,"
"But we can still see him," he let go of us. "Think of the positives,"
She nodded, giving us a faint smile.
I turned back to the stake. Alys had his eyes closed, and a small flame was at the bottom of the pile of sticks. Hycis, most likely disappointed with the flame, walked around the stake, lighting more and more sticks on fire until the whole of the rim was covered in flames. Elaria burst out crying again, and the woman comforted her once more. Zath grabbed my hand, and I held it tightly. The woman came past, lighting the candle. Zath grabbed it too, and I saw his lip twitch. I knew he wanted to cry, but he had to stay strong. I have him the most reassuring smile I could. He gave me one back. I turned back to the stake, and the fire grew drastically. The smoke and fumes had almost covered his legs. I saw his eyes and lips begin to twitch, and wondered what was wrong. My question was soon answered when his eyes snapped open and he yelled a few words in another language. I saw every elf snap to look at him. He yelled a few more, the words rolling off his tongue like a waterslide, sounding mystical. A tear rolled down his face, he choked on his sobs, staring directly at Hycis before speaking in the language again, this time a lot softer and with more tears and choking. I heard Elaria's cries beside me. I turned to Zath to see what he was saying.
"No… it can't be," he shook his head.
"What is it?" I mumbled.
"Only royals are taught that language," he replied, slowly turning to look at me. He dropped the candle, letting me hold it on my own, and ran to the edge of the fire. "Shyael?"
Alys nodded solemnly. I heard the while crowd gasp, and Lydan ran over with a bucket of water. He threw it, and ran to get another. Zath followed, and later returned with a bucket. A few more guards began to help, and I turned to Elaria. She was shaking, tears running down her face like a rushing river, except she looked almost happy. As soon as most of the fire was put out, Zath jumped up the stake, avoiding the burnt branches and picking at the knot binding him. I saw that Hycis looked annoyed at what happened. Eventually, the knot was untied, and Zath dragged Alys from the stake, visibly shaking. Lydan also helped, pulling him to the bottom and staring in disbelief at him, at who he was. Just as Elaria was about to run over to him, spears encased her in a twisted tipi of darkness, throwing the other two back. I saw his visible shock as she had to duck to avoid being hit by them. Regardless, Elaria still grabbed his hands, holding them tightly. Lydan hit the spears a few times with his sword, attempting to break them, but it was to no use. He eventually stopped, and the three of them stared in disbelief at each other.
"Well, thank you for the distraction," the witch moved past. "I must say that was a very good idea, Hycis,"
I saw Hycis look around, and only then noticed that we were closed off from the other elves by bars of the same kind holding Alys. I watched as he frantically looked for an escape route.
"What do you want?" Hycis stood tall as she approached.
"To get back at you for what happened twenty-six years ago," she smiled. "Stealing your poor filius did nothing, did it?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he folded his arms.
"Don't you remember? Or was I just one of lots," she spat. "Well, I don't really care. I suppose I'll do what we all want to do,"
More spears appeared. They hovered around the witch like flies. She turned to Elaria, the spears moving with her. I saw them all tense up, even Zath. I ran to him, seeking protection just in case one was directed at me. He pulled me close as soon as I was within range.
"It's time to destroy what your fratrem loved most," she smiled at Elaria.
The spears headed her way, with no sign of stopping.
There was a loud shriek…
Followed by silence.
I was too afraid to look. Zath pulled me closer, hiding me from what happened. He hugged me tightly, and I felt myself hug him tighter.
There was a snicker. The snicker escalated, turning into a chuckle. The chuckle escalated, turning into a laugh. The laugh escalated, becoming frantic and manic. Curiosity got the best of me, and I had to look. I couldn't just look away. I felt Zath loosen up and look too.
Stood in front of the twisted tipi of horror was Alys. He was the one laughing. It was strange, Elaria seemed fine. In fact, the spears were lying all over the floor, shattered into millions of tiny specks. Some brushed over to us in the wind. Alys' laughter grew more frantic with each passing second, and he grabbed the top of his head. I saw tears rolling down his cheeks, and the laughter soon descended into pain. At this point, Zath held me closer. I felt him shaking.
A pool of darkness, perfectly wispy, formed on the floor around Alys' feet. It rose up, becoming a cocoon of sorts. His frantic laughter was now reduced to cries of agony. Lydan grabbed Elaria, pulling her through a large space in the tipi and pulling her over to us and away from the darkness. It was a horrifying thing to watch.
The darkness faded. I felt my heart beating faster and faster as my curiosity wanted to see what had happened. The laughter returned, did a full loop back to what it began as, and Alys grew silent. We all waited, bathed in our terror, frozen by the magician of fear, until the silence became no more. I couldn't believe what I saw. Zath grabbed me tighter, and I heard a stifled sob escape his lips.
Stood where the darkness once was… was Alys.
But he was the Alys we knew no more.