Silver Cathedral Saga (26 page)

The
Original merely gave up after several more attempts hitting
Selphira in the light before changing back to her former self. Her
and Oddius walked back to the others.

“Well that
was easy enough,” said Oddius.

“Easy,”
said Selphira as the two drew in closer to their group once more.
“It’s okay for the one who doesn’t get attacked, isn’t it.”

“They are
still like children, and after three thousand years. Crazy,” said
Adea. “May the gods help us with these ones,” she said
sarcastically.

They all
laughed at the two Warriors of Faith arguing over something not
important, at least not anymore.

“Can you
just leave him up there as long as you want,” said Christian.

“Oh, yes,”
replied Oddius in a cocky voice.

Yet a
sudden bang lured him out of his uncertainty.

“What was
that,” said Eleanor worried. It was dam heavy whatever it was.”

“As long as
you want,” said Selphira shaking her head.

“We don’t
know what that is yet,” said Oddius.

They shined
a light up, to see, only the light didn’t reach far enough.

“Let me
help,” said Lauretta the Fire-caster. She lifted his fists into the
air and focussed powerful beams afar, much farther than the
star-bracelet could anyway.

“Well what
else is gonna fall out of the sky,” replied Selphira.

And just as
she finished her sentence, the light from the Fire-caster shone on
the creature of rock, of sea, of lava, of earth; as roots were
embedded, almost like they were veins.

“Well so
much for as long as you want,” said Selphira, confirming his
arrogance to Oddius’s face.

“They go
from not talking at all,” said Ematay, “to not shutting up. Can’t
figure these two out.” They all smiled, including the Warriors of
Faith, as they then had to turn their attention to the
Original.

“What do we
do now,” asked the Fire-caster.

“We fight
the dam thing,” said Dak. “Luckily enough, that’s one thing I am
attuned and accustomed to showing off for.” He winked to the
Fire-caster, and she pulled a vulgar expression.

Selphira
and the Beast-caster stepped forward.

“The
Beast-casters stand a better chance of surviving this fight,” said
Selphira. She looked to the other of her kind, before she, Adea,
replied:

“She is
right. We can become as tough in skin and strength here, and with
two of us, we stand a better chance to survive this.”

“Is there
no room for reason with this thing?” asked Christian. “Not
everything should be about fighting. There is always a little hope
that exists.”

“I doubt
they can even understand us,” said Ematay. “Since their own
language is so far removed from our more evolved and simplified
version.”

“Maybe it
doesn’t require words to communicate what we need,” said Eleanor.
She stepped a little closer towards the Astorian, just about to
run, but Selphira grabbed her.

“It is not
so easy, child,” said Selphira. Eleanor found it strange this young
teenager also said child, only she was a child in sight, not mind;
though it was still a concept that their eyes deceived them
with.

“It has to
be done,” said Eleanor as the thing tried to scrape towards them.
“It is hurt, I can’t imagine it wants to even fight in its
condition anyway. It’s lost an entire leg.”

“Then I
will go with you,” said Oddius. “The force of gravity is a potent
one, one that could save time in this day of need.” The other
Warrior of Faith, Selphira, and the beast-caster from Ematay’s team
offered there help. “There isn’t a chance in this world it could
hurt you if all three of us protect you.”

“And I,”
said Ematay. “My power is for times like these.” The Astorian was
still crawling, and was still some time away, as the walkway and
path that led to down here was long, easily a mile, possibly more,
like the height of the place.

“We may as
well all go. We were obviously brought together for a reason, and
we might as well make good use of it,” said Eleanor.

“I don’t
know if Astorians are kindled to small spirits; to children,” said
Ematay.

“We’re
anything but small in spirit,” said Christian to them all.

“Yeah, I
think we all get that,” said Ematay again. They were all looking at
the crawling rock, the living Astora, Astorian, or what was left of
him.

There was a
feeling inside Eleanor that made her feel alive. A feeling that
seemed to be digging, growing deeper by the second. Then she looked
around her, and saw all these people, these Spell-casters and these
Warriors of Faith, her friend, Christian. It was as if this was a
painting to behold, a memory she would never forget. A time of
need, a time that formed allies that became indispensable, but also
unlikely. She felt this bubbling rise of hope stirring inside now.
She could feel what it truly meant to be a part of a team.

“Charge,”
yelled Oddius.

“Charge?”
said Selphira, confused, “Are you serious. We don’t want to taunt
the beast. We are trying to reason with it. That’s the entire
point.”

“Oh, yeah.
Don’t… charge,” he yelled on the last sentence, then it stooped
into a low whimper.

“Let’s walk
slowly behind Eleanor,” said Christian.

“Yes,”
replied Ematay, “but stand ready. There is no telling what the
beast will do.”

“You talk
as if he, or she, sees no reason. Originals may have been made with
no emotions, but they have brains. They can see what makes sense to
them.”

“That is
true,” said Ematay, “let’s just hope they work on the level you
hope.”

They all
walked slowly, staying in perfect formation. They were still a
little way away, it seemed as if the distance made the
confrontations harder for Eleanor, and the others; it made their
minds bewildered at weary with what was to happen when the Original
would stand tall, if it could ever do so again.

About
two minutes into walking they were all prepared and right next to
the Original. It was time to act, hopefully in a more friendly way
than they all thought in these moments prior.

The
Original blocked the bright rays from the Fire-caster’s hands; what
resembled the sun’s natural beautiful rays, retaining a magick
glow. It radiated with an energy that wavered like waves stirring
with great depth and power beneath. The Fire-caster then put her
hands down, and the light went down with it. It seemed the farther
down it went the dimmer it grew; as if it responded to the height
of her hand in some sense.

The
Astorians could clearly see in the dark somehow; maybe they had
evolved like the humanoids did from dying because of the cold
amidst the clogs.

The
Original saw the group, and roared, as if to back them off.

“Stay back,
but ready,” said Eleanor. She moved forward whilst the others done
as she said. They were terrified of this Astorian’s next move.

The beast
seemed to have quietened the closer the girl came to it, as if it
saw there was nothing to fear up close, like a lot in reality of
what we believe is the case. The blue light from her star-bracelet
didn’t seem to affect its eyes like the power of the Fire-caster’s
light did. A darker light it was, which made sense to everyone in
the back of their heads without thinking too much on it.

Eleanor
grew closer, closer, and it stopped moving. She was now within a
strokes distance, and showed her hand in a gesture, only it shook,
and the closer it tried to get to the being the harder and faster
her right hand responded to it.

The beast looked at the little girl in a sorrowful
look, as if it sensed the fear that quelled in her heart. The roots
and vines that made up its eyebrows was raised ever so slightly,
yet it looked serious and also afraid.

Then, as
she looked at it it, there came some kind of unspoken understanding
between the two beings. An understanding of fear and
misunderstanding. One which they both realised had come at the
right time.

Upon the
blue light was another sorrowed face. Sorrowed faces, as Eleanor’s
grew upon it also; and made all the more clear with the dim light
her bracelet was giving off. And it just so happened that the
beast, or what looked like one, which must have been about twenty
foot high and a few feet wide, fell limp, its eyes not closing,
just gazing into the eyes of the female ten year old child.

Eleanor put
her head down in respect to the beast’s passing.

“Well I
guess there is no need for all the fuss after all,” said Christian.
Eleanor knew it would be him. It was a him thing to say.

“We should
press on,” Eleanor said, the Star-caster touching her shoulder in
sympathy. The linked bundle of rocks seemed to just look as If it
was never alive, only a mass of mess. Silence growing strong as she
and the others went back to where they just walked from.

Dark
Steps

The
eight of them. Four Spell-casters, two Edeolon Warriors of Faith
and Eleanor and Christian, were now back at where they were before
moving towards the Original Astorian.

The silence
was never broken, and it seemed as if their own mothers had just
been taken, not a ruthless being that housed no emotions.

It was
something Eleanor knew well, but was also something everybody felt.
Regardless, they continued on.

The group
all faced what looked like a shadow of all of themselves, only it
was contained in an area that was very open and easy to recognise,
as if these shadows were meant to be seen. Because there was no
excuse for them at the direction they landed with their blue
light.

“How
incredibly odd,” said Oddius.

“How,
indeed,” agreed Eleanor. The others seemed to halt, as if they
waited for the children to go through first.

“We merely
need to step through our own shadows shapes to get to the other
side,” said Ematay. He showed them how it all worked. Even when
Ematay went nearer, the shadows position never changed, as if the
shadows were a reflection of where they were meant to go, sizing up
the portal for each individual.

Eleanor and
Christian looked at each other as Ematay went through, sounding as
if he was sucked by something other worldly; it sounded unpleasant,
but Eleanor and Christian went next. They both walked towards their
own shadow, and as they did, it didn’t move, fixing into position,
as they both only poked a limb through to begin with. Christian was
then suddenly pulled in by somebody else, but Eleanor chose to go
through willingly.

The two
children saw Ematay, but not as they hoped. Several figures stood
tall beside him, another right next to the children. They were
immensely shocked, as if they had just tried to be drowned, then
another came along to dunk them in a pool of greater chaos, a one
they knew they couldn’t escape.

“Looks like
things have fell into place nicely,” said the woman, also known as
the Dark Queen. There was several women there Eleanor and Christian
had never seen before.

“What have
you done with the Spirit Stone,” said Ematay. “He expected the
others to come through any time now, but they didn’t, at least not
as quick as he would have thought. He wondered if something was
going on on the other side.

“The spirit
stone has fallen,” said the Dark Queen.

Ematay’s
face turned sour and uncomfortable to look at.

“You were
meant to do this all along, weren’t you?” said Ematay to this other
woman near the children.

“Yes, it
was a part of some scheme in the larger tank of sea. Our sea.”

“What has
happened,” said Eleanor, confused, not understanding what this
Spirit Stone done.

“It has the
magick to restore balance to the prisoners of the sea,” he replied
worryingly to them both.

He was soon
restrained with some dark ropes that had no end, it seemed to wrap
around him like a serpent of blackness. The only part the rope
didn’t cover, was his head. It was wrapped like a coiled living
thing.

“What does
that mean?” said Christian.

“It means
that the Anchor Men are free once more, and are about to reap their
revenge upon the Silver Cathedral as I speak.”

Eleanor,
Christian and Ematay cringed as they heard the news come from this
woman’s mouth.

“The magick
that keeps the prisoners under the eternal spell of an ancient
magick, which comes from the Spirit Stone, once it is removed from
its rightful position, all lawful magick will be broken,” said the
Dark Queen next to the children.

“Captain
Mileena, I think it is time you joined the Anchor Men, to claim
your new home.” The captain nodded as a reply.

“Captain
Mileena,” said Ematay. “The leader of the Water Spirits.” There was
a several second pause, as if he didn’t know what to say first.
“Some leader you turned out to be.”

“Like you
would know anything about leading, Star-caster. You are the lowest
of all in the order of magick users to exist.”

“Well this
lowest magick user got us to you in one piece,” said Eleanor. The
captain had a tight hold of the children, only opposing a low
threat at best to the Dark Queen she cast aside using space magick
on them this time.

Eleanor was
quickly trying to concoct a plan, but it seemed her friend had
beaten her to it now. He gestured her to move aside, as she was
near a wall. He shrugged of the hands placed upon his upper right
arm, in a time she, the Water Spirit, seemed to think too little of
their strength.

Christian
summed up enough focus quicker than he thought he could in this
time of crisis, and as captain Mileena was about to grab him, he
thrust first, upon her back directing her to the wall about two
feet away. The Water Spirit flew through the air and shot into the
rock, under the water, far beneath, becoming unconscious. Christian
was forever more grateful she was not a Battle-caster like the last
one he used it on.