King Logan, the ruler of Thule sat relaxed in his extravagant golden chair as he faced the wizard Zul, he looked disturbed and angry, if indeed she is that witch's curse then he was lucky. That woman had caused so much disturbance in the land and thus resulted in him hiding Thule in a portal, she had died he was sure of what he had never thought of was the zeal to live again, that sorceress still couldn't defeat death after all and now she is relying on a curse to come back to life, to continue her evil deeds.
"It's her, your majesty..." Zul spoke after consulting whatever he had to. The wizard who looked too young for his age, replied the perfect man before him. Logan hated many things, but most of them were physics he found unpleasant, something he calls 'blemish' and some were just imperfections in things he took interest in as such he became too picky in everything that it became a crime to him, but he was a generous king who loved his people dearly, he opens his doors to anyone who dares to enter and welcomes anyone who dares to seek his face. He made the rule that anyone who came through a portal or invaded Thule present his or herself because he only wants to know who has come into his abode.
Lilith, that woman he hated with every fiber of his being, he loathed her existence and still loathe her even death, he knew of the havoc the witch was causing all over the lands with that wand in her hand, her greed for power made her destroy many and innocent lives were lost, innocent people remained destroyed till this day, an entire clan was cursed because they refused to do her bidding, finding Lilith as the biggest blemish that could ever exist, Logan sought for help from a very powerful enchantress who lived then and asked her for a way to save his city from the destruction of the witch and she replied the only way to do that is to build a portal that will send the whole kingdom into a different entity, a space that only existed if you sought for it. With all her power gathered she sent the city of Thule through a portal to a safe place they lived now. This savior he so wanted to meet again couldn't protect her people at that time and she lost everything, facing a powerful dark sorceress was not an easy battle and even though she had succeeded in inflicting serious injuries on her at that time, causing the early demise of Lilith, she had never recovered her people, and with her injured hands it was impossible to undo what she had done.
Logan could only live and protect his people and hope that one day he will get to meet her if she has not yet met her Maker. The king looked at the young and energetic wizard before him, and he saw how his ruffled hair looked ridiculous on him, he stood up in annoyance, this was not important at least not now, he can perfect his imperfections later but he needs to find that cursed bride and do what is necessary for no product of Lilith will be left to roam free on his land, over his dead body and even in death his spirit will still chase her out of his city. He left the wizard in confusion.
***
Sarah knew what she was going to ask of the knight was difficult and quite an impossible thing to do, sharing his essence with her is risky but as of now that was the only to help her heal faster so she could open another portal before the king finds them and kills them all.
At supper the middle-aged lady picked on her food, it was childish of her but she didn't know how to begin with her story. She took a deep breath and began to speak and she only hopes they will believe her.
"I once lived as an enchantress"... the moment she spoke, Hagar spoke with displeasure but the woman raised her hand to silence her.
"An enchantress?"
"Yes Batya, I lived with my people in Virgin's Willow, there anything you could ever imagine existed there, fairies, goblins, shifters just any species that existed I ruled over them, and Oh happy we were, at peace with were and in harmony, we lived..."
"But..."
"Lilith was born"
"You know Lilith?" Caden asked with shock, this was news, who knows how long she had lived in this place to talk of knowing Lilith and she spoke as if she lived before the demoness was born.
"She was just a young girl under training, her mistress was a very good friend of mine. Lilith grew up to be one of the finest witches that was trained out of the convent and her fellow sisters supported and backed her in everything, so much that at one point she saw herself to be of equal stand with her mistress because of her power and the respect she commanded. She rebelled, just like the fallen disciple, she wanted more power to rule over the convent and even the world at large, her crazy acts for might could not be stopped by her mistress for a seed of greed had already germinated in her heart and therefore she practiced and used forbidden magic. She concluded that taking the essence of her sisters could increase her powers so she turned on her own and fed on them like plaques, she became too powerful that even my friend could not fight, knowing very well she might come after her, my friend gave me her essence that resulted in her death, I could stop Lilith for a while but most of the effect on her was too minor she recovered.
I feared the worst was yet to happen, my fears manifested, and ancient dark powers found their way to Lilith and consumed her, she got her hands on the 'fallen wand', the darkest wand that could ever exist and she used it to her satisfaction. She began an expedition and gathered people who could follow her and build her army, an army she could one day use to defeat all the kingdoms and become the great ruler that she yearned to be, some fought with her and won and others just became victims, one of such people were my people and one of such places was my willow, I was out helping a friend when the willow attacked, I returned to find my people and forest under the curse of eternal damnation, a curse that even I could not break..." the woman stopped and took a breather, she was filled was again with the same anger she felt centuries ago.
"I searched for her and I fought her, with every power I could gather I cause her serious injuries, wounds she could never heal from, but I should have just killed her because years later she cursed your ancestor, till now I do not know the reason for her actions but she did that anyway and now you have become her only gateway to this world again, her gateway to life. She will live through you and when she has become strong enough your soul will be hers to play with and your body will only become a vessel. I should have killed her, perhaps your fate could have been avoided, but I thought by letting her leave she could undo what she had done, but no she couldn't, she can only destroy and not repair and my hands were too damaged for me to cast the reversal spell. I decided to open a portal and enter Thule with the last of my strength and recover my strength, however, Thule had turned into a hellhole for the unprivileged and thus made my quest difficult, and after centuries of gathering herbs and concocting tonics I still need a vital ingredient to help me heal enough to open a portal and send you out"
"What is the last ingredient you seek?"...asked Caden and Hagar looked at her mother and sighed.
"It is your blood"...
"What!"
"Your blood contains the essence, a holy essence the one that flows through your sword when you meet a powerful opponent, the essence that makes you a vanquisher, the 'fire fire'..."
"No...if that is the only way then no..." Batya grabbed her knight's hand and stood up with him, he was the last person she could trust outside her home, and losing him is not part of her plan, what if Sarah is wrong, not anyone will believe the nice fairy tale she just foretold.
"I do not lie Batya, you think she will not find you here, even if your curse is not broken, do you think you can hide here? Your essence has already been sensed, you reek of Lilith and my child sooner or later, those who opened that portal will open it again and let her in, then you will be nothing but the perfect vessel she had invested centuries of her patience"
"And you want me to believe, I will be safe by killing Caden...that is the last thing on my mind"
"Batya..."
"No, Caden it is a no!"
"I understand your anger but no, Caden will not die, I only need a drop of his blood"...
There was silence, slowly the knight sat his princess back down on the stone seat and calmed her.
"Virgin's Willow, where is it?" she asked after a while as if showing her sudden interest in the 'fairy tale' she had foretold as she thought earlier.
"I believe it is now called 'The Dark Forest"
"What!" both knight and princess exclaimed.