"I subconsciously chose her as the suitor and i can't remove it from her, the symbioses will remain open until I'm alive. She can either Inherit the slither core, or kill me somehow." Amawas replied with a slight tremble at the last word.
Khadija tried to speak but was instantly glared down by the Queen.
"Give her the core then" She said, as the grove lit up further diminishing the effect of the night.
Amawas sighed and said nothing, keeping her eyes fixated on the ground.
Queen Golden then looked at everyone and said something unexpected.
"Amawas is a crucial part of your team, she is trusted by Hira, and hence is given the permission to reside here, she is trusted by Aatish. You will put aside any differences you have and be a singular unit. I wont hear about anyone mistreating her or her mistreating anyone else. Remember, as long as there aren't any hidden feelings or agendas, the team will remain invulnerable"
Amawas looked up surprised, her yellow eyes glimmering.
Queen Golden looked at her and then said
"Tell us everything you know about the vine, and who keeps it."
Amawas nodded
"The vine along with few of the other stolen artefacts are kept with the sovereign called Shigaaf, she holds the dominion over undergrounds, Almost every society that dwells in depths of sehrayeshomaal obeys her."
Amawas looked up, locking her eyes with the Queen.
"They're trying to bless a champion of their choosing with your artefact, since the bees and some of the others have never given in to their sovereignty, they've decided to steal and corrupt the artefacts then bless a creature of their own choosing who will obey them unconditionally and once that is done. They will come after you openly."
"Let them come" The Queen said,
"So, how are you planning to lead the team there?" she continued.
"Last i saw the artefacts, they were in Pataal, to get there we will have to descend through Khandaq" Amawas answered.
"Thats a death trap" #212 spoke
"Uhm, what is Khandaq?" Haniya asked.
Aatish replied
"Think of it like an underground passage that coils around the entire sehra, like a thick vein. Sehrayeshomaal has exact of one hundred societies, and ninetyfive of them are corrupted and ruled by the sovereigns, and the whole underground is where majority of these are established, it's a completely lawless place, crawling with unimaginable horrors." She stopped and Amawas continued
"Exactly, but taking the route of khandaq in our current state would mean suicide, there is another way though." Amawas said, her voice dimming at the end.
"What other way,?" Said the dark Queen.
"Burrow-worm" replied Amawas, settling an uncanny silence over the group.
"I can summon a dark burrow-worm, it can help us descend faster than going through the entire Khandaq but it will drain quite a bit of my stamina for a while after that, and we dont know what will be waiting for us below"
"Will you be able to hold on your own after that?" Queen golden asked.
"Yes." Replied Amawas.
Then she looked at everyone, and asked "Any questions so far?"
Haniya spoke
"How will you neutralize the sovereign?"
"We wont, a direct combat will exterminate us all at the spot, lucky for us the sovereign is not in pataal currently, she has gone to Sehray-e-jonub leaving a pet of hers as caretaker, Aatish and I will take care of him and by the time she hears of the news hopefully we'll be above the ground, back in the grove."
"The girls are not ready yet, they've barely had any time to train" Haniya said.
At this Amawas shot a small projectile made of darkness towards Isra and subconsciously she grabbed it between her fingers. Her eyes were wide open in surprise as her ethereal white hair swayed along the wind.
"Dont worry about that, the girl is more ready than she can ever be."
She took a small pause and then felt like she owes an explanation so she continued.
"The core transfers a tiny portion of combat experience from its previous wielder and knowing Qatan, just a fraction would be more than enough for your sister, and as for Khadija, she is in a state of symbioses with me. By nature i will never allow her to be hurt or worse."
Amawas spoke with sincerity, answering further questions from the entire group as detailed as she could. Such sudden twist of character left a dark impression on many minds but they pushed it back for another time.
***********
After some two days of preparations and further polishing the plan of action, it was finally the day for departure, the squad gathered at the edge of the grove.
Aatish remained as calm as she could while tending to the preparations, all the while Amawas helped her, giving her timely suggestions like a good elder sister. They were a unique pair, getting along extremely well with each other. So well that Amawas would shower Aatish with love and care, telling her tales of her travels, she wasn't the same with anyone else though, she would feel reluctant to even talk to the girls.
The bees had made custom saddle for Isra and Khadija so they could mount on #212 easily.
Instead of having a fright and second guesses, both the girls looked confident and excited, deep down this was their dream. These past few weeks had really made the girls more mature and responsible in their own ways.
Haniya was currently tightening the vambrace on Khadija, the bees had made them custom armor and it provided the girls with warmth and fair bit of protection.
Queen Golden and the Dark Queen walked to them, as #212 bowed his head down.
The Queen touched Isra's arm and said.
"I cannot assist you personally, but let this be a reminder that wherever you are, we will be with you" Queen Golden tore a feather off her wing and it flew lightly to Isra, it started wrapping itself around her, like molten gold, it reached and poured over every small crevice of her previous armor, changing its shape and organization.
Then, as electricity crackled around it, the golden essence reached her neck and covered her entire head in a hood of pristine white. At the edge of the hood was an adorable visor in the shape of a bird made of weightless gold. The hood then transformed into a cape, gracefully draping down to her legs.
Isra screamed in excitement and then jumped down to hug Queen Golden. Then she regained her composure and apologized instantly, the queen didn't mind though
Next the Dark Queen walked to Khadija, and she did the same, tearing off a feather as it flew forward to Khadija, and her entire armor transformed, where there was an ordinary black armor just a moment before, now was a menacing looking onyx armor crafted for extreme mobility, its visor much like Isra's transformed into a black hood that draped down to her legs, instead of a golden bird, there was a menacing looking dragon ontop.
Khadija was almost at point of crying but held it, she did not want to ruin the moment.
The girls had their weapons tucked inside a sheathe that was wrapped around #212 in a wide belt. Both the weapons were of the highest grades of Ishaar's weapons, but sharpened and made ready to use.
Haniya hugged them both and said
"Remember, this is your story. No one will write it for you except yourselves, so show mercy and kindness whenever you can. You both are a part of my heart. "
she kept her head joined with theirs for another moment, and then they departed, leaving the familiar grove behind. It felt like leaving their home. Both the Queens kept looking at them.
*****************
Aatish and Amawas flew side by side, one leaving a trail of liquid darkness and the other, dense fire. Qatan had an extremely complicated family, just more than a week ago, one of them had tried to kill him and the other had saved him, their family drama took the stage.
The team flew through the barren land of Sehra at an amazing pace, quickly covering hundreds of kilometres, Isra and Khadija felt well prepared contrary to the last time where they had almost died. Khadija had her bow drawn, it was a simple bow made of black but sturdy wood.
She was practicing to keep it still in midair, trying to resist the wind.
And thanks to her days of practice of the same thing over and over again, her muscles felt stronger, she could more or less hold it still for thirty seconds or so, Isra had her scythe in the sheath, she knew nothing about using it. But after last night's revelation, she had decided to give her new self a chance.
Soon the team descended on the ground, few critters that looked like walking skeletons of tiny little dragons hissed at them and dispersed. Amawas landed in a pool of darkness and then she looked at Khadija, she nodded at her.
Then she summoned the burrow-worm.