Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

Akhyls & A Crack

Third POV

"What do you mean by that?" Baghra asked.

Percy just gazed blankly across the red wasteland. Alina and Baghra took that as the hint to follow her line of sight. They turned around and froze when they were met with two figures knelt over in pain in front of someone much taller than anyone Alina or Baghra had ever seen.

A grey, almost skeleton-like woman that had bloody claw marks across her face. Her grey hair hung limp in front of her eyes and she looked like she was reveling in the pain of the two figures in front of her. She was shrouded in a grey mist that seemed to cling to her. That same mist surrounded the two people in front of her and looked like it was a creature itself.

It sunk down and turned an inky black color and the two figures, now identifiable as two teenage girls as the image brought the scene closer to where Baghra, Alina, and Percy were standing.

"Who is that?" Baghra asked, trying to regain control of this so-called training session.

Percy's answer was so quiet that her two companions in this vision almost didn't catch it, "Akhlys, the embodiment of misery and poison."

"And where are you? Why have you brought us here?"

Baghra's question was left unanswered as a yelp of pain cut through the eerie silence of the red land.

One of the girls kneeling collapsed and curled in on herself, her blonde hair splayed across the floor. The other slowly rose to her knees and started to raise her trembling hands.

The smug woman became concerned but tried to mask it in arrogance as the dark haired girl started to ball her hands into fists. The monstrous lady turned her focus to solely target the one who still stayed up. The mist curled around the knelt adolescent's body and tightened like a snake trying to squeeze its prey to death.

The hue of the mist grew darker and darker as it tried to suffocate her but the young woman stayed in her knelt position. And this time, she lifted her head to stare at the horrendous grey woman.

This is when Baghra and Alina were now actually able to identify who this person was.

It was Percy.

The glowing sea-green eyes were unmistakable. They radiated power, defiance, and unbridled anger. The mist clad woman took a step back at the sight of the power-filled orbs at the same time as Baghra and Alina.

Even though Alina knew that this was her friend and there was nothing that could happen to her because it was just an illusion of a memory. But the look in her friend's eyes set her nerves on edge.

Baghra was conflicted. She knew this child was young but had faced struggles like her son. Maybe even more. And the look in her eyes was something she never wanted her son to be able to have close to him.

The young Percy slowly rose to her feet and kept her fists tight. The mist around her started to unravel from her body and this is when the grey lady started to frantically send more of the unnatural black substance towards her.

It didn't faze her except add more sweat to her already damp brow that was furrowed in concentration. The vein on the side of Percy's neck was prominent and the mist started to go back to its controller, or its previous controller.

The black tendrils rapidly slid from Percy and the other girl on the ground to the grey woman who started to shriek when the dark mass came into contact with her. Percy twisted her wrists and brought her hands together in tandem with the movement of the toxic mist. It moved like a slow fog rolling in and wrapping around her. It coiled itself around her neck and crept into her open mouth and eyes.