Chapter 156: The cursed land
Raphael's POV
We hadn't walked for long, but I could feel Caleb's unease. His heartbeat was fast, too fast, and the pump of his blood kept pumping too loudly. He looked pale, even with how fast his blood was pumping.
Isla was strewn over his shoulder recklessly. He had insisted on carrying her and not his wife. I knew it was the spell that was working; at least he had spoken to me earlier.
When I looked at him again, I saw his face swelling up, and he was scratching the back of his neck, which was very red.
I couldn’t tell if it was because of our journey into the unknown as we seek out Drogon or because she was still watching him. Still whispering in his mind.
I gaze around the land. All I saw were withering trees. It looked empty, like no one had ever inhabited it. The kind of emptiness in this land reminds me of the one eating at my soul presently.
With every step I took further into the darkness, I felt something beneath the ground. A dark energy, strong and almost familiar.
The energy was pushing through the earth like vines feeding on the earth and poisoning it. The land was quiet, but it wasn’t giving peace or comfort. It was the kind of quiet that brings unease and makes the hair on your nape to stand. Even with these details, we kept moving ahead.
Caleb stayed silent, but I could tell his thoughts were not his own. Alasia was still in his head. Still messing with him. I remembered the words he had spoken earlier.
“Would I really lose control again?” it was the first time time he had sounded like his old self.
That question had stuck with me. Caleb had always been the steady one. Calm, thoughtful. But I fear this experience might change him even gets his mind back.
I worried for him, but not as much as I worried for Drogon. I had to find him. Gwen's life depended on it. Gwen is Ava's most trusted friend.
If Drogon was lost, then so was she. And then, Ava would probably be lost as well. I needed to find him, get us out of here and return to my mate.
Once I return to Lystra, I would marry her regardless of what anyone say, I will marry her and make her queen. If they can't deal with it, I will end their lives.
An unusual sound from the withering trees draws my attention. I look up and then glance around, thinking the lizard like creatures were back.
I look deep into the trees and then, I spotted something. A black hooded figure. Human-shaped, but too still. Something about it didn’t feel right.
Then, in a blink, it vanished as quickly as it stood there. In it's place a small hut stood. I couldn't explain how or why nothing about this place made sense or why the rules of reality didn’t work here.
As if he read my thoughts, Caleb spoke. “The things we see aren’t always as they seem. We’re being played. Whatever is ahead, it’s worse than anything we’ve faced.” it was as though he was seeing something I wasn't seeing.
I turned to him. His face was still pale. His lips were slightly open, like he wanted to say more but couldn’t. He looked like someone who had already accepted the worst.
I didn’t reply. I had made up my mind. No matter what was ahead, I would face it. I had to return to my little one. The thought of her gave me strength. I closed my eyes for a second and pictured her smile. My heart calmed, and I smiled too.
Caleb pointed toward the hut. I looked again, but it was gone. A forest now stood in its place. Thick and green. Alive. I didn’t trust it. A forest like that didn’t belong in a place like this.
Still, I stepped forward. Caleb followed.
The moment he crossed the edge of the trees, he screamed. A sharp, painful cry. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head.
“She sees it all,” he shouted. “I can feel it. I can see him too!”
His eyes turned red. A beam of light shot from them, slicing into the sky. The glow faded, and he stilled, breathing hard. Then everything around us changed.
The forest roared. A deep, thunder-like sound filled the air, as if an old door had been opened after centuries. Birds screamed. The trees shook. The ground trembled.
I looked up. The sky darkened more. Obscuring the little ray of sunlight and it's place the appearance of the moon. Night fell in seconds. The air grew colder and suffocating.
This land was no longer pretending. It was revealing its true self. I prepare myself for the worse.
Once again, I started feeling that insane dark energy of before, as it grew stronger under the earth so did darkness in the sky.
We stood still, waiting for whatever was beyond. I sensed something coming. A presence. And it was coming the direction of the West. Heavy.
I raised my hands. Fire lit in my palms. It danced up my arms, but I was calm. I was ready for whatever was hiding between the trees.
Yet, as I looked into the forest , nothing prepared me for the sight before me.
And I froze. Still in disbelief because I knew it was impossible nevertheless, it didn't change how my heart raced and my trembled.
The fire in my hands goes out, spike of ice shooting out from my palm It couldn’t be. It's not possible right? No, it's not.
My breath caught. My chest tightened. The ice grew more and then flames mixed with it. Caleb rushed forward and snatched Gemma from me, staying far from me but I didn't register much of what's happening. All I saw was him.
The one I had buried. The one I thought I had destroyed. My cousin and brother.
He stepped out from between the trees. Slowly. Calmly. His face was the same. No older. No weaker. Just like I remembered.
Caleb backed farther away, hiding behind a fallen log with the two women in his arms. His eyes were wide with fear. He didn’t understand what was happening. But I did.
My brother stopped a few feet from me. His eyes locked on mine.
“Hello, brother,” he said softly. His voice was smooth, but cold. “Did you miss me?”
The forest went quiet as did my heart. Not a sound. Even the wind stopped moving. The fire in my hands grew, the ices gone. My teeth clenched.
“You should be dead,” I said.
He smiled. “I should be,” he replied. “But death isn’t what it used to be, Raphael.”
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