Silence settled in as they made it to Alaric's chamber. The sharp screech he heard earlier taunting his mind. Something wasn't right. Sorcery was being performed, he could sense it. Tyrion gently lay Isolde's unconscious body flat on Alaric's bed. The dimly lit room shimmered a faint glow on Isolde's beautiful face. Selena disturbed look was evident as she paced around the room restlessly. She was wondering what state their mother would be in judging from the earlier outburst and the fact that they were not home by now.
"Will she be alright?" Alaric asked Tyrion who was busy examining her wrist's pulse, his eyes lingering on a chain tattoo resting on her pulse.
"Yes she will" Selena answered instead, earning both Tyrion's and Alaric's curious gaze
"She could be like that atimes, she was triggered from a past occurrence" She added. Tyrion's curiosity grew as he pondered on asking questions
"What experience is that if I may ask" He asked, his attention now on Isolde's frame. Selena seemed to be contemplating on something before she spoke
"Our… our sister was killed in a outburst like the one out there" She trailed off with her voice quivering, her teary eyes that threatened to spill if she speaks further reflecting the fainted glow from the lamp. She ambled to Isolde's side, and sat on the gold stool at the side of the bed she was placed on, caressing her hair back in an affectionate manner.
The room tensed up as the accumulation of their discussions sinked in the air that surrounds them. Alaric was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry about your bad experience"
"No, it's fine." Tyrion was about to speak up when Isolde's sleeping frame wiggled softly on the bed, drawing all the attention in the room to her
"She's waking" Tyrion said as Isolde's eyes popped open before setting them on the faces in the room, she jolted up without warning.
"Where are we, this isn't home" She shrieked, as she paced backward to the wall.
"Listen, we mean no harm, we only helped you" Tyrion assured in a calm tone as he stood up along with her, Alaric nodded along.
"They helped us Isolde, you have nothing to worry about" Selena added, moving close to her, her heaving chest now running slower as she took in the faces properly. She could recognize Tyrion as the traveler from the Emberfall festival. But then, all that happened before her unconscious state came unraveling in her head causing her heartbeat rate to spike up again
"W… what happened out there? What was that? how did we escape the attacker that wanted to kill us" She asked, fears permeating through her
"Alaric saved you" Tyrion answered, pointing at Alaric, his false response gaining a surprised stare from Alaric who knew he did nothing but only helped in hosting the ladies
"Thank you" Isolde appreciated, her expression giving away the depth of her appreciation as she gestured at Alaric
"If you may permit me, I will like to be outside for a minute" Tyrion said before moving out. Outside, he rested on the arrain, deep in thoughts and confused for a moment before deciding to summon Alan. He closed his eyes and meditated for few seconds and In no time, his voice rang before him
"Son of Xander" Alan acknowledged
"What's her next move?"
"Nobody knows the witch's next move, you have to be alerted at all time, you must end her" Alan said
"Where is she? Is she here?"
"No she is not, she's far from here. You could see what happened earlier, it's just the beginning. Chaos would set in and she would destroy the world if you don't stop her" Alan informed. His voice of ages drawing the words as he joined them into sentences.
"I will never let her do that" Tyrion claimed through gritted teeth
"Do not let her steal the artifact, she won't stop untill she gets what she want. She's Seraphina, she never retreats"
"I saw you" Selena's voice interrupted Tyrion's session with Alan, Tyrion dismissed Alan with his mind as he quickly recomposed himself.
"Selena, what are you talking about?" He asked, hoping she didn't hear her talking into the air.
"You were the swordman" she bursted, but Tyrion reacted indifferently, not wanting her to suspect him further. He scoffed
"That's nonsense, I couldn't even win a sword fight, and you think I was the hero that saved you people?"
Selena stomped forward to his side bringing up his wrist forcefully which caused him to let out a small sound of discomfort
"I don't think, I know. How do you explain this? I saw it when he cut you and I suspected you were drawing back during the competition at the festival" she stated, in a voice that induced fact, Tyrion's deceiving expression faltered, knowing she caught him already. He held her two shoulders in place before he spoke up
"Please don't tell Isolde"
***
Loud footsteps rumbled through the thick and twisted forest, their heartbeats pounding loud against their chests as they strived to reach their destination. They approached the mansion's imposing height in no time, hesitating before the gate, they were stopped by two hefty guards clad in dark armor, a crimson eye mark crested on their chestplates.
"It's Denvir and Martin" One of the two men informed.
With a nod, the guards opened the creaking gates,
allowing the two men to enter the ominous domain.
The atmosphere grew thick around them as they stepped inside, fearing what was in store for them. Thick, suffocating mist clung to the ground, obscuring their view of the path ahead, they motioned through anyways. On finally making it deep within the mansion bowels, they exchanged uneasy glances, one of them trembling.
The path they walked was dimly lit by eerie, flickering lights that cast unsettling shadows on the grotesque
statues that lined the way.
Finally, they reached the long awaited abode, a grand chamber shrouded in darkness. Camilla, the female guarding the last part of the mansion made faces with them before going in then came back to permit their entrance.
"She says to come in" she permitted. Inside, the walls were adorned with sinister artifacts, the aura of ancient magic setting in. At the center of the room, on a
menacingly ornate throne, sat, a woman. Her face covered in a hooded white long robe. The men fell on their knees, waiting for her command.
"Speak" Her tone sent shivers down their spine and they struggled to find their words. Denvir decided to go on to avoid angering her.
"T…the rest are dead my Lord"
"And the treasure?" She asked, silence followed
"Where is the treasure?" She asked again in an unbelievably calm tone that assured Martin to speak this time around.
"We were stopped from fulfilling the mission b..by a strange man in mask" Seraphina stood up and motioned towards them, her face still hooded in her big white robe that contradicted every other color in the room. She extended both her hands to lift their jaws up from their bowing state. They trembled at her touch.
"You two, have failed me" She pronounced slowly.
"N…no my l..ord. We can never fail you, he overpowered us, he was unbelievably skillful" Seraphina let out a dark chuckle
"Who is he?"
"We don't know anything ab.." Denvir was cut short as Seraphina slit their throats in the blink of an eye with a small knife they didn't see coming. Their lifeless body fell to the ground after a short painful groan.
"Useless to me" She muttered
The loud thud of her door opening ajar caught her attention, Camilla's frame emerged from the door.
"We are in trouble" Camilla informed.