Amara found where the epicenter of the life force drain had originated from, inside the forest. However, she was shocked to discover just how much divine energy she was sensing that was still lingering in the air. This shook Amara to her core. "Why would you possibly need to draw on this amount of energy for, and still require a secondary energy source?"
She wafted her hand through the faint traces of energy that remained behind. She made a face of disgust at the notion that this pure energy had been tainted with his demonic energy. "Such vile creatures!"
The only hypothesis she could imagine was that her brother must be creating some type of massive weapon or spell to use against her. She bent down and dug her hand into the dried soil, lifting up a handful of the dirt to inspect. Examining the soil sample, she realized that even all the nutrients had been drained. It scared her to think just what he might be plotting against her. "You surprise me, brother. Looks like I might actually have to prepare myself against whatever you might be planning against me!"
Looking around her, she debated as to which direction he would have taken off in.
~*~*~*~*~
Trinity yawned and stretched before rolling over and snuggling into her pillow. "Comfy!" she mumbled aloud.
Alarm bells went off in her head. 'Wait a minute? Comfy?!'
Trinity jerked awake and sat up. She was startled to find that she was in her own room again. Her wooden staff leaned up against the wall on the far side of the room. 'Why on earth would he leave the staff all the way over there? Doesn't he realize I will need it even more than ever now?'
That's when she noticed all the pain she had felt previously, was now gone. She felt along her arms, and then down her legs, up her stomach and shoulders. Nothing was sore or painful to the touch. Hesitantly, she stood up to see how well she could stand without the staff to support her. A huge smile spread across her face as she realized that she could walk normal again, and she began jumping up and down, and squealing with excitement.
As her stomach started to growl, she finally started to calm down. She opened up her door and first went to knock on her father's bedroom door, calling out to see if he was home. When he didn't answer, she checked in the living room and then the kitchen. He was nowhere to be found. "Well, I'm sure he will be home soon!"
She grabbed a bowl from the kitchen pantry, pulled down a box of cereal from on top of the fridge, and then grabbed the gallon of milk and poured herself a bowl of cocoa pebbles. Sitting down at the table, she sat so that she'd be able to keep an eye on the front door.
As she took her first bite of the cereal, her body began relaxing as it savored the taste. So far, she had only been eating fruits or berries, with the occasional meat that Zyxel would kill. She couldn't deny that she'd missed the taste of less healthier food choices.
Suddenly, the lock on the front door turned, and as she looked up, she saw her father walk in looking defeated and tired. His face looked as if he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. Worry and despair marred his usually upbeat and joyous expression.
Setting his keys on the hook beside the door, he let out a sigh.
"Dad?" Trinity whispered.
Her father stood frozen for a moment and blinked in her direction, as if he couldn't believe if what his eyes were seeing, were real. "Trinity?" he whispered back.
Trinity jumped out of her chair at the table and raced to hug her father. "I've missed you so much!"
Feeling Trinity's touch registered with his mind that this was real, and he embraced his daughter in a tight hug. "I've missed you too! I never want to let you go! I won't lose you again!" Hesitantly, he pulled her back to take a look at her and make sure she was ok. "My god! What happened to you?"
Confused, Trinity looked down. From all the excitement from having been back home she hadn't noticed, but her dress was almost shredded as if someone had been clawing at the material. "I... don't know." Trinity replied back slowly.
"Did he do this to you?" Her father shouted.
Trinity stood stunned, but shook her head. "No, I don't think this was him." Inspecting the torn strands of the dress, she knew that if these rips and tears had been done by Zyxel, then they would be a much cleaner cut, and not so jagged and torn. His claws were sharp enough to be able to cut through solid stone. She knew without a doubt that there was no way that his claws had done this.
"The last thing I remember feeling was the sense of being burned alive, and then I blacked out. I woke up just a little bit ago back in my bed." She didn't know how to go about telling him that she had tried to kill herself.
Father Kiran was shaking with anger at the thought of his daughter having been tortured by a demon. "At least Amara found you in time, and returned you safely home to me! Put your faith in Amara, and she will protect you!"
Trinity stiffened at Amara's name. "Amara... saved me?"
Her father smiled down at her. "Of course she did, sweetie! Who else would it have been? When we saw on the News what had happened inside the forest, she knew it was the result of the demon down and raced off to find the both of you. She must have found you and returned you home, and is now out there hunting the demon."
Trinity's eyes widened and she gasped. 'No! Zyxel!' she screamed in her mind.
~*~*~*~*~
Knowing he was in no position to be able to protect Trinity, he returned Trinity back home. The longer she stayed with him, the more danger he would be placing her in. At least being back home, Amara wouldn't suspect anything, and Trinity would be safe.
Zyxel began pacing back and forth inside the cave. Thoughts swarming through his mind. His tail swishing back and forth in angst. "How did this happen? What can it mean?"
He tried focusing on what events had taken place to cause this to happen. "I had been using my energy to heal her for hours. It is entirely possible that the divine energy that she absorbed had sensed my energy inside her, and that's why she didn't die. Maybe, it thought that she was a divine entity that needed healing?"
He shook his head at the notion. "But that still doesn't explain how she managed to draw out so much energy in the first place. I couldn't even absorb it back out of her fast enough." Thoughts of her screams echoed inside of his head, and he gritted his teeth.
Still pacing, he looked at the sun and he froze. "It doesn't make any sense. I was weakened beyond the usual extent. I had no energy remaining when I turned to stone! I could barely even move enough to sit up. In all logic and reasoning, I should still be stone right now! I should still be recovering."
He closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. "I am still weakened. I can feel it! I wasn't allowed enough time to heal and recharge fully before the stone broke. But why did it break so early? Was it just because she touched the stone skin? Did it cause our link to break somehow?"
Finally, he shook his head. "No, if our link broke, I would be writhing in pain from being in this world. It has to be due to something else."
Sighing in frustration, he lifted up his hand and opened his palm. His talons gleamed in the sunlight, as if it were mocking him. "And then there is this issue!" His eyes glowed red in anger as he slashed his claws at the stone wall of the cave.
"Why can't I transform back?" Growling, he collapsed onto his knees on the cave floor as he dug his claws from both hands, deep into the stone. Extending his bat-shaped wings, he erupted into a roar with resentment and rage.
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(Questions in the Author's Comments below!)
Books I am currently writing:
- The Forbidden Luna
- Divine Banishment