Luines - Book 1

Chapter 27: The Cave In Our Minds

Professor Sagura once said that a person's mind could be as simple as peeling an onion or as complex as solving a rubix cube. The first layer of a person's mental defenses were the conscious walls they set up. What came next was how much you put yourself into that person's mind to break in. If you have reached the cave, you've gone so deep that you've unlocked the innermost areas of that person's underlying secrets and fears.

For sure, Hal stood inside a dark cave, where the harrowing sounds burrowed in her mind like earworms. She produced a tiny ember as she explored the mind of the shadow dragon. Cold chills crawled up her spine as the wailing resounded stronger.

Remember what Professor Sagura taught us. said Ryu. He was still connected to her mind.

Never lose your own consciousness or else you'll be gone forever. I've had enough blackouts to remind me of that. said Hal. She blinked as tiny orbs fluttered from the dark abyss. She blinked twice and the orbs vanished.

Yes, but this is different. You're in someone's mind, not your own. said Ryu.

He was right. Most of her blackouts happened in her own mental plane. This was unchartered territory, that could have a dragon expecting her every move. As she took another step, a flurry of light orbs spun around her and formed into a straight line leading into darkness. She gulped. If Dorothy had her golden brick road, she had dancing orbs that led her.

Her eyes widened as the orbs formed into spirits of the fallen Luines. One by one, she witnessed how they were killed as they played in a nonstop cycle. She held her breath, as she walked passed each Luine dying into an orb, and reliving their death. The first spirits screamed like maniacs as Bakunawa took their lives in their sleep.

Then, she heard a monstrous growl that shook her, that she hugged herself as her whole body shivered. She was seeing four orbs transform into the four Luines fight during the Elven Wars. Bakunawa in his Lion Form attacked the Celt Gnome first and swallowed her whole, pounced at the ifrit and tore his head from his body, and then headed towards the sun elf and the Atlantean. An outpour of water and came from the last standing Luines, but Bakunawa swung its gigantic paws, clawing their hearts. As the Luines were vanishing into an orb, the blue lion was sniffing the ground. Then, it stopped and raised its head. Their eyes met, and the lion produced a menacing smile of sharp teeth.

Run! Said Ryu.

Her feet had already sprung even before she heard those words. She was running for her life, as the same haunting eyes reminded her of the death of her dad, and her own future. Her tears were slashing through her temples and through her hair as she sped through the darkness.

She stopped when she heard someone call Florenz Silny. She raised her head, and met face to face with the founders of GEOS Academy. She didn't look far apart from her delicate features in the school painting; they just forgot to paint her elven ears. She looked like a goddess, bathed in the moonlight, but her eyes were sullen.

Her hands were pointed at two different directions, the same gesture Neon did for her dad. It meant paying respects to the losses. Florenz Silny's eyes were shut as if she was praying for a coming death, her own. Death through Bakunawa. Hal shook her head as she recalled one of her blackouts. Why didn't Florenz Silny attack if she knew what was coming? She was a great seer during her time but she still got killed.

Hal could barely move as their eyes locked. Florenz Silny mouthed the same words that haunted her. "Are you one of us, a Luine?"

Hal bit her lips, and nodded. Florenz Silny bowed in response. "We can't fight all wars with hate; else, we all remain blinded completely. Slow down and take a moment to look at where it began. Listen to connections in the universe and sometimes Fate plays in cycles. Maybe, the answer you seek lies there. Maybe, you could be the change."

She gasped as she saw Bakunawa in his half human half dragon form walking from the shadows. His eyes were exasperated as he stared at his claw like hands. Bakunawa held her shoulder. He said, "Flo! Azraff...he betrayed you! Milos and Shen were killed because of him! How could you..."

Florenz faced Bakunawa, but her hands were trembling. "Baku, we've known Azraff for a long time. He'll never turn against us. They must have a reason why..."

An explosion followed, tears jagged through the corners of Bakunawa's eyes. He growled, and uttered, "Flo, you're not safe! Please, escape with me!" Bakunawa gave his claw-like hand to Florenz Silny but she chose to see the good in Azraff and stood her ground.

In just a blink, Hal's blackout in the Hebab Stables flashed before her. Bakunawa seized Florenz Silny's neck, his claws digging deep in her skin. Florenz Silny pleaded. "Please spare me! I can help! Don't do this! Bakunawa!"

Hal watched painfully as Florenz Silny's essence slipped away from her. Hal was ready to throw a fireball at Bakunawa but he spoke, his words were muddled in short breaths and held tears, "That's the only way I can save you, Florenz. I can't be a -"

The cave around her collapsed. Florenz' words spun in her mind like the haunting wails, like the endless cycles of life and death. Her rhythmic blackouts from the past began to pop in her head, from Neon staring at her with her bloody eyes, Reeg and Lizard succumbing into Bakunawa's power, and Zee disappearing from Nocturne, but they were all in a different perspective, not hers.

Then, the visions slowed as she found herself running in familiar streets. The feet she ran stopped at the church where her dad got shot. She forced herself away, but she couldn't. This was the past, an unchangeable memory of someone she could have entered in the spinning cycles of flashbacks. Her dad came out of the church doors as he encountered the parade of the faes, heading towards him.

Her feet were running towards him. "Dad, run! Leave!" She yelled, "Dad, it's me, Hal! Run!" However, her legs brought her to the fae, and snatched the wand. She was still running as she held the wand in her hands. Her dad tackled her, but it was too late. The wand vibrated and shot from her hands, and went through her dad's heart. He fell to the ground, his eyes were as bloodshot as the moon that night. Hal cried out loud and wanted to crawl to her dad, but she couldn't. Instead, the snatcher was trembling as he caressed the wand. "I've finally got you again, Flo." He muttered, "I'm sorry...You shouldn't have died. You're an innocent." All she could do was watch. Officer Drake came in to attack and her vision popped like a bubble.

She was staring back into Ryu's eyes. Hal cried out. Her hands were already intertwined with Ryu's, but she clasped them like a stress ball.

Ryu pulled her to a tender embrace and whispered, "I thought we lost you. I was calling but you wouldn't answer. Then, your body went into an epileptic shock. Charmaine had to cast an incantation to pull you back."

Charmaine Halliwell was sitting next to her, as her hands weighed on a large crystal. Hal was sitting in a drawn circle and three more crystals were placed in each direction. Charmaine spoke, "If you got another crazy idea, can you warn us of the side effects? That bit I just saw, I could see your spirit fly out of your body! You were going beyond Astral Projection!"

"Sorry na! I met Florenz Silny and I think I know..." Hal swallowed and said, "I know where we're going. Quiapo Church! And I've got a plan!"