The smoke pulsated and circled, the water-like surface in the middle wavered, and a metallic voice rang in the air.
" Seven suns have passed. Come!" Ettrick said from the other side of the portal.
Iris flinched, her breath hitched. She looked pale, and kept staring at the gate.
Ian turned to Iris " Go! Now!" he ordered hoarsely and turned his attention towards the gate, walking through.
Iris turned on her heels and left the room without looking back, and he hoped she would put a considerable distance between her and the room.
Darkness settled around Ian quickly, and two flickering flames stood in front of him, unmoving, emitting a faint blue light.
" Light!" Ian curtly requested
A loud bang rang in the darkness. The black stone, held by the dead hand, glowed in a purplish hue. He could finally distinguish Ettricks features in the dim light. He was wearing a black robe. The hood covered his head, his greyish rotting hand tightly gripped his wooden staff, and his flaming eyes were the only thing he could see from the under cover of the hood.
" I'll keep it short! What is your answer? You had seven days to think it over. Will you accept my offer? Ian began his speech attentively, looking at Ettrick.
" As you wish. My answer is no. Why bargain when I can have both . I see you have sent her away, before I have a chance to snatch her from your arms. Smart, I have to say." Ettrick impassive tone echoed in the quiet space.
" I see. Very well! If you want her that bad, come out to play " Ian smirked and turned around, stepped through the gate and back into their chamber. His eyes searched for the sword, which was still on the box seat. With the corner of his eye, caught someone in the room, glued to the door. A terrified young girl, her eyes wide and stared at him as if he was the death himself.
She lifted her hand and pointed at him, and he realised that Ettrick had followed him and stood behind him.
Ian turned on his heels. In the brightly lit room, he could see Ettrick. Ettrick looked ghastly, he had no eyes, and he could see insects of all kinds crawling inside his skull. His skin wasn't greyish like he thought, but a brown-reddish goo dripped, sinews visible on his face.
" I'll take the blade and be on my way," Ettrick said and stepped closer to the box seat.
The girl shrilly screamed and burst into white flames that quickly spread out throughout the room, covering the floors, ceiling, and bed, including himself and Ettrick, who had his hand stretched to take the sword, faded into nothingness like a ghost as if he had never been there.
She crashed on the floor, the seemed to have lost her senses and with her the flames quickly faded, leaving no trace of their existence. Everything was intact, as if nothing had happened, except for Ettrick, who seemed to be the only one affected by the flames.
Ian patted himself, checking to see if he was intact and if everything was in the right place. If he had learned anything till that point, magic was no joke, and one shouldn't toy with it.
Ian approached the girl, standing on his heels. He observed her closely with a scrutinising gaze. His eyes fell on the pendant, with a cracked blue stone in the middle. One small fragment was missing.
A loud bang on the door echoed through the room, and the girl opened her eyes slowly, sluggishly " Ian!" Iris's voice boomed from behind the door.
" It's alright, just give me a moment!" he said and pulled the girl slumped on the floor to the bed and rested her against it.
Iris burst through the door like a storm but quickly froze in her spot when she looked around the room, and her eyes fell on Edýia.
" Edýia? Are you alright?" she jumped from where she was to her, she clearly concerned about Edýia.
Edýia nodded, grimacing and looked around the room with fearful eyes.
" He is gone!" Ian said coldly, opening the case to the sword. " And so is the sword!" raising his head and looking at Iris with a ribald smile.
" Has he agreed to your offer?" she worriedly asked, standing up.
" No! But we don't need him to agree any longer," he said as his eyes shifted to Edýia, who looked somewhat puzzled.
Iris's eyebrows raised. " I don't understand."
Ian's lips pulled up in a crooked smile " She can help, he ran away from her, and I can only assume that she is something he is afraid of." he enigmatically explained, throwing the two women deeper into confusion.
They both frowned and looked at him as if he was insane, but he knew if the girl was powerful enough to scare Ettrick and what he saw was just a fraction of it. They only needed to keep Ettrick at bay while they dealt with the witch and after that Ettrick would no longer be able to enter the realm. There was one thing that bothered him. Why was Ettrick so adamant in getting the sword back?
Haren and Dak burst through the door, looking at them with questioning eyes.
" What happened?" Dakran was the first to ask a question while Haren picked Edýia off the floor and sat her on the bed.
" We just had a little meet and greet with the guardian of the Hollow ." Ian smugly said as he looked around the room.
" How did she end up here?" Haren rasped, scowling.
" I don't know. I found her when I came back from the Hollow. She was glued to the door, looking rather terrible." he omitted some details.
The girl didn't seem to recall the events, and he thought there was no need to make the brothers jump out of their boots and blame him for something he was the only witnessed.
" Your nose looks better." Haren remarked, a little dumbstruck. His eyes quickly searched for the necklace and saw the little cracks in the stone.
" Let's get you back to your chamber!" he calmly said as he pulled her along with him, followed by Dak, who nodded on his way out.
The moment the door shut, Iris jumped and hugged Ian" I'm glad that you're alright? How are you feeling? Did he try to hurt you?" she worriedly asked, like a mother hen.
" Which question should I answer first?" he sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him.
" Ettrick has no interest in me. He is only interested in you. The girl screamed and burst into flames, the moment she saw him, I don't blame her." Ian grimaced in disgust "Ettrick fled with the sword. She burned with white flames and they didn't burn anything. This room was engulfed in white cold flames and remained intact." he excitedly described what happened to Iris.
" Interesting. Maybe Edýia reacts to forbidden magic. She must have sensed the portal, and she didn't even know that she had come here!" Iris murmured, a little taken aback
A knock on the door came, and Iris turned to the door " Come in!" she beckoned
Edýia stepped through the door and attentively looked around the room again, clutching her hands to her chest.
Ian snorted, seeing that she was afraid and thought everyone else should run away and be frightened, not her.
" Edýia, is everything alright?" Iris asked, standing up and grabbing the girl's shoulders to gain attention.
Edýia hummed and nodded " I -I need to tell you something!" she stammered, looking at Ian, who had a crooked smile on his lips.
" What is it? It's alright, you can speak freely. Your brothers aren't here, and the creature that you saw earlier. Well, I'm convinced that he is not willing to share the same breathing space as you," Ian hastily said as he stood up from the bed and waved towards the table in the room.
Edýia nodded, walked to the table and sat down, followed by the other two. She looked at them and took a deep breath " On the way here, we met a man named Bastos." she began the story looking at Iris. Her face flashed several colours at the mention of the name.