The sounds of calling birds filled the tent in which Adrel dwelt. The light of the morning sun coloured the tent golden. He had arisen late, for he had done much the days before. Sending messengers, meeting the councils of various cities in the region around the Akar Forest and gathering soldiers and priests.
He strapped on his attire, skillfully handling each buckle and robe. He had been raised as nobility, within and without. As such, he knew he had to handle certain things with a given elegance.
His white cloak flowing behind him, he stepped out of the tent.
He squinted as his eyes accustomed to the sunlight streaking in from the forest canopy, covering the forest floor with shaking patches of light. Adrel passed the two guards in front of his tent, and they greeted him respectfully.
His boots crunched leaves and earth as he walked, his head held high.
The forest shuddered with activity.
There were many tents set up in spaces between trees. Dying flames from fires set up the night before, gave off their last smoke. Horses neighed and grunted as they were fed, their handlers inspecting them. Stashes of swords, weapons and armor lay next to trees in every direction. Soldiers spoke amongst themselves, as they sharpened their swords and checked their armor.
Adrel's presence filled the forest air as he walked. It was quite distinct. The graceful steps of a noble, combined with determined steps of a hardened warrior. The cloak he wore swayed gently with each step, the crest of the Erref in red linen upon it. His sharp silver eyes and piercing gaze set him up as a man of legend
The Erref joined him as he walked, one by one. Their steps rang with a calculated rhythm. Even in the face of the force they were about to face, their calm and silence was deafening. They were a great sight indeed. A sight that filled wrongdoers of the empire with fear, and warmed the hearts of the righteous.
Adrel came to a stop, his boots trudging through the earth with the last step.
The giant Legt stood on his right side.
The beautiful Ut'ia at his left.
Priests and priestesses, their red robes long, their tassels longer, were lined up in front of the barrier, patiently waiting.
Preparations for the ceremony were almost complete.
A few days ago, during Adrel's experiment, Ut'ia had drawn back in fear. Her breaths were hoarse and her heart pounded like a rabbit in flight. It shocked Adrel and Legt who watched as she clutched her chest, and glared at the barrier. Before them a strange crimson dot had formed, a red aura around it, spreading into the space. Like a crack in a mirror.
"By what power…", Legt exclaimed, staring at the discovery.
Adrel turned to Ut'ia. Her calm and composure had been broken, leaving a clear expression of unease and terror. Her hands shook with an accursed force.
"Ut'ia, what did you see?", Adrel inquired.
Ut'ia took her time, relaxing herself and answered.
"There were…eyes. Eyes on the face of a woman. She was pale. Very pale. So much like death. Everything just, shot out towards me. My body reacted on its own. I've never seen such a woman before…"
It was clear it had left a scar in her composure.
A dark smile drew on Adrel's face. He clenched his fists as his heart began to pound faster. He had begun to fear his intuition. It had never wronged him. Even in the face of something that went against all what he knew. Something that defied natural order and logic.
"Forget everything you've known.". Adrel's voice rasped in the air. His voice, the voice of a man who had delved into the unknown.
Headfirst.
Ut'ia and Legt turned to him.
"We're about to see the Blood Witch."
"Blood Witch?", Ut'ia gasped.
"Yes. The Blood Witch.", Adrel said.
A cold, silent breeze blew through the forest, making their cloaks billow slightly. It seemed the forest itself was listening. It was a historic discovery. Adrel had done something no man had done in the entire history of Karakh.
Confiming the existence of a myth.
His intuition was from the gods.
In the beginning, even he doubted himself. Again and again. However, it persisted like a gnawing pain in his side.
Adrel turned to the dot that shone ominously.
"We've knocked on the door…", he whispered.
"Ut'ia, can you break this barrier?"
He turned to the woman.
Ut'ia glared at the red dot frozen in space, shimmering with accursed energy.
"No.", she said.
Adrel asked, "Then is there someone who can break it?"
Ut'ia approached the ominous light.
Turning to Adrel she responed, "Priests of Calor, I believe. Devout ones, may be able to open it. However, we will require many of them. Very many. The accursed power within…is the greatest I've ever seen. And the most detestable. Just like they say about the Blood Witch…"
Her voice rang with a deep-seated urgency.
Adrel approached the crack and peered in the tiny hole within it.
Unfortunately, it was too small for him to see anything.
Adrel sighed.
Legt crossed his arms, still struggling to believe what he had seen. No blessing of Calor could create such a thing. No such ability existed. Adrel was right. It was an accursed art.
And a powerful one at that.
"If it is priests we need, then so shall it be. We will bring them from every temple in the region. Then we will see…"
A gale rushed through the forest, as leaves flew through the air, and branches swayed frantically. The forest shuddered as Adrel spoke.
"…who really has power, Blood Witch."
It had been four days since then. Adrel had sent messages to the councils of various cities, and they had sent their most devout priests and priestesses.
The ceremony would begin as soon as, the last supplies arrived. The soldiers would enter formation, and the Erref would lead them through. Their hunt for the emperor's daughter had led them to many monsters in a very short time.
First Rahiel.
Now the Blood Witch.
Adrel knew it would be a difficult battle. They knew very little about Rahiel's abilities or weaknesses, and even less about the Blood Witch. The barrier proved that the Blood Witch had knowledge that the Erref simply couldn't predict. It would take their very best to make it out.
As he stood in front of the barrier, his armor shining in the sunlight, one thing rang in his mind.
Rahiel would die by his hand.
He would hunt them down, and return the royal blood to the Empire. His name would be mentioned throughout the Empire. And his greatness-the Erref's greatness, would finally be on par with the Gaeren.
He would meet her at the pinnacle on which she stood.
Far away, within the sanctum of a dreaded Witch's abode, horror was drawn on Nhea's face.
Standing at the door, she had been met with a horrifying sight.
"Mistress!", she screamed as she run towards the Workstone.
Nekea, the Blood Witch, lay on the floor, her mouth frothing.
Motionless.
Nhea arrived and knelt by Nekea, frantically wondering what to do. Why did it have to happen the moment Roe'nika wasn't home?, she wondered. Roe'nika had left not too long ago, to hunt game. Nhea had entered expecting to see the Mistress at work on Quantum, like every other day. Much progress had taken place. Nhea's heart was filled with greater and greater happiness everyday she saw Quantum. She had never imagined such a thing could happen in the first place.
The Blood Witch was an unshakeable woman. She spoke through her actions and wasn't fazed by anything. Her determination was harder than the steel on Roe'nika's arrows.
The Mistress had always watched herself. She was well aware of the things she handled, and what they could do to her. As immune as she was to many poisons, she still handled them with care. Nhea could trust her on that.
Yet here she lay. Possibly on the verge of death. With the little experience she had earned, Nhea placed her ear on the Blood Witch's chest, listening for a heartbeat.
She heard a low, muffled thump.
There was a pause.
There was another thump.
Nhea sighed with relief. The Blood Witch was alive, but barely.
Roe'nika had drilled into Nhea the handling of injuries and the workings off the human body.
By her intuition, she believed the best thing to do would be to wipe the froth from the Mistress mouth. She looked around, and got her hands on a small napkin on an adjacent table.
Carefully, she wiped Nekea's mouth clean with the cloth. Nekea's eyes had rolled back, her pupils still, and her irises dim.
Nhea wondered what had happened to Nekea.
She turned, and her mind was drawn to Quantum, drenched in moss, on the Workstone.
Standing up, she took a look at him.
The sanctum lay in a deep, dreary silence as she peered at what lay on the Workstone. The sky was clear once more, the sun's rays breaking into the sanctum.
Nhea looked within what seemed to be his heart.
There lay a crystal, and around it were little fibre like tendrils, 'little arms' to her. The little arms slithered within the cavity, coiling like little snakes.
There was a slight excitement that shot up within Nhea, as she looked down at Quantum. She was looking within him, seeing how he worked. However, she knew not to do anything stupid.
After spending so much time in the Blood Witch's abode, she knew well not to touch anything without permission.
It was common sense.
The crystal pulsed ominously with a pale blue light, cold, yet warm, like Quantum's eyes.
Nhea pulled away.
She dropped down and knelt again, beside the Blood Witch.
Frustration began to fill her mind, as she watched Nekea's near lifeless face.
She had do something.
But she didn't know what to do.
She clenched her fists and grit her teeth. There had to be something that would wake Nekea up. Or did she have to wait? Would she cause further damage by forcing her to wake up?
The thoughts run through her mind, clashing with one another. She held the Blood Witch's hands.
They was little warmth in them.
Nhea's heart raced as she knelt next to the Blood Witch, her skirt brushing against her Mistress' black robes.
A scalpel lay on the ground next to her.
A sharp pain gnawed at her heart. A pain that made her remember when Quantum had fallen, and her mother had died.
Usually, she'd break into tears as it clawed at her.
Now however, she was different.
Nhea clutched her chest as she grit her teeth, a wild determination within her, as she battled against the pain.
She wouldn't abandon the growth she had gained. She would forge on. Quantum, Roe'nika, the Mistress and herself, would enjoy peace and growth together. She didn't want any one of them to die. Any one of them to be lost. In her little heart, a fire burned wildly, as she squeezed Nekea's pale hand.
With a flurry of movements, a single eyed woman suddenly burst in. She landed at Nhea's side, having observed everything, her boots silent as they whizzed across the grass.
Roe'nika had sensed the danger through her talisman and had rushed back.
Nhea watched in awe as she handled the Mistress. Within her eyes there was a desperation, but she worked with a cold composure and deep strength.
She turned Nekea over on her side, and kept her steady.
"Hang on Mistress, just hang on…", Roe'nika said.
She voice sounded with deep distress. Nhea could relate to a great extent. The Blood Witch was more of a foster mother.
Inasmuch as their interactions were few, Nhea could see the deep empathy and trust between Nekea and Roe'nika. Nekea came off as cold at times, but it was all to Nhea's upbringing. She trusted Roe'nika first, and later came to trust Nhea.
Nhea wondered what was going on. She only hoped that peace would return.
Deep within a certain realm, however, peace was the last thing Nekea was feeling.