Azriel's hand's and legs were shaking as she hid behind a tree, with her back towards the lake shore. Her heart was thudding painfully. Never in her life had she felt more fear, not even in the mines of Andora, as they had encountered the damn Blight! No, not even in the moment when Ashmeer had grabbed her and tried to kidnap her and take her with him. The truth was, she had begun to relax in Irismus. The past few days of the carriage ride with Ashmeer, the wonders of Irismus and their time around the lake had made her let her guard down.
Suddenly, she remembered the Book, it was there, in the folds of her skirts, currently tied to her upper thigh with the help of a garter belt, thoughtfully provided by Eva.
"Book? are you there?", she asked into the void.
There was silence. Then suddenly, she heard a roar behind her and bloodcurdling screams.
"Book?", she asked again, "Are you there? Can you help?"
The Book's clear voice piped up, "We can't! Manage this yourself."
"Why?" she asked in surprise, "You always help."
"We are bound by oaths too. We can guide, but we cannot help."
"Bound by oaths?"
"Yes, we owe fealty to the protectors of the land, but our greater fealty is to the world of magic and craft. We cannot intervene in the protectors life too much."
"Wow, so you can transport me to my home in a matter of minutes, and also from the mines to the surface but you can't help when we really need it? What if something happens to Ashdeer?"
"We like the Great Dragon."
"Oh god," she groaned as another scream rent the air, "Must you always speak in riddles?"
"Go...help....you help!"
"Me? Didn't you hear Ashdeer shout at me to stay hidden? How can I help? I don't even know where to begin."
"Protectors will unleash...when Dragon blood is spilt."
"Oh wow.....amazing...you have gone mad Book....like truly mad...."
Then she heard Ashdeer crying out, "Azriel......runnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn"
She started and looked back to see a dark wraith charging at her. It was in the shape of a man, but it had no face. All she could see were a dark cloud moving around with sharp looking black teeth in the middle. It looked like a terrifying human made solely of dark mist, similar to what she had seen in the mines of Andora. A chill ran up her spine and she was frozen in terror. She felt her body freeze up and become immobile as the wraith's effect began on her. It had done something to her, her legs were stuck on the ground and she could not even lift her hand, no matter how hard she tried. Far off into the distance, she saw a terrifying creature kneeling on the ground. It was a dragon, and it was bleeding dark brown blood on the green grass. On the side, she saw Lara, the mer lady she had met earlier, flopping on the ground, gasping for breath, her mouth opening and closing like a gutted fish. Electric blue blood splattered her chest. There were unicorns limping and bleeding while one was engaged bravely in a fight with a wraith. This was a total disaster. The peaceful idyll of Irismus looked utterly disturbed.
She felt a deep anger rising in her, a heat she had never felt before and it reached slowly to every frozen extremity of her body. She screamed and the trees shook, she stomped her foot in frustration and the ground rippled. She was angry seeing the dying unicorns, and Lara. They looked utterly innocent and they didn't deserve this. She felt angry to know her mother had died alone and terrified hiding for people thirsty for her blood, she wanted to scream to think of the family she had lost, her father, her step-mother, Galvin, Malvin and Eva. She was hurt with the way Ashmeer had broken her heart. She looked at the wraith advancing towards her as it glided across the grass. It's pace was unhurried as if he knew his frozen target could not move and run.
She felt the heat in her body rising and rising, and she began to sweat. Her fingers suddenly moved and with a great deal of effort, she raised her arm. Her finger tips were now silver and moving ahead on her hand. With great effort, she raised her arm, and pointed at the wraith with all her anger and all her hurt. A tiny silver spark came from her fingers, and slowly grew and grew, till it became a stream, coming out of her. Tears were falling down her face as she pointed to the wraith and let the stream catch it. The wraith was much closer now. Sparks were all around her and she could barely see through her blurred eyes. As the silver stream hit the wraith, there was a sizzling sound and the silver slowly spread across the dark mist of it's body. It sizzled and burned silently and then just as it had come, it's dark cape fell to the ground, leaving nothing there.
Azriel looked at it incredulously.....and then moved forward, ignoring the crumpled cape in front of her. Instead, she focused her attention on the wraith creatures gliding around what she could now only describe as a battlefield and she let the silver stream keep flowing out of her. One by one, she targetted each wraith, whispering in her mind-"This is for Ashmeer, for my real mother, for Lara, for the unicorns, for the miners of Andora"
In a few minutes, it was over. She looked numbly at the battlefield. The dragon like beast was gone, and Ashdeer sat on the ground, nursing a dark wound in his side. His blood she realized was a dark brown.
He looked at her grimly and said, "What have you unleashed Azriel?"