Curse of Tolken | ONC 2022 | co-writer @sassy-weirdo

(2.2) Elise

Part II

I tried to flinch away from the dagger, but I was too late. It grazed my shoulder and landed right in front of the dark surface. The blow was deep, but probably not fatal. I would live. But that thought didn't stop my frustration and anger from heating.

I narrowed my eyes and thrust my hand out, grabbing at her wrist. Confusion filled the lady's wide eyes. She opened her mouth slowly like she was going to say something, but I closed my fist around her before she could. A strangled scream ripped out of her throat. Oh, how I wished I could see her expression, then, but, alas, all but her eyes were covered by the government-issued robes that every Veilensor possessed. The pain and desperation in her eyes was enough to fuel my core into growing stronger, deadlier.

I could feel her heart slowing down. I could feel the ice creeping up her veins and entering her blood. The woman made another noise but, this time, it was meek. A low chirp of a person breathing their last breath. I loosened my fingers when I sensed her death.

I sighed. I had killed an innocent commoner. One who was not part of the government or helped make the laws. I leaned over the woman who had fallen as soon as I had let go of her hand. I settled down beside her, looking into her unmoving, lifeless eyes and sucked in a deep breath. The corpse had not frozen as I had thought, but I suppose that was a good sign. At least the girl's family would be able to burn her properly.

I shut her eyes. Then, I collected a few leafed branches from the bushes surrounding the area and tucked it under her head. Hopefully, the person taking the next shift would signal the others and her body would be given to her family and they could proceed with performing the necessary rituals. I stood up—from above, she seemed to be peacefully sleeping. But I knew she would never wake up.

I mumbled an inaudible prayer that she could find the correct path on her way to the afterlife. I didn't even know her name, I realised. But, what was done was done.

With a last look at the peaceful, very dead face, I closed my eyes and stepped into the Veil.

It felt cold one moment, but I was distracted from the feeling with a high pitched yell. I opened my eyes only to come face-to-face with the fair headed girl I had seen before and a newcomer—a man who looked eighty. He was like a giant who had lived since the beginning of time. His receding hairline and saggy eyes gave away his age. He might have had a curious expression on his face but his bushy beard covered it all.

The man seemed to come to his senses then, since he blinked wearily as if just waking up. His dark eyes held a distant look in them as if remembering something. He seemed to be looking right behind me. I dared not turn to see if someone was following. It could be a trap, could it not?

'Who are you?' the blonde girl asked. Her voice was filled with shock and so were her eyes. Her upturned nose flared as if angered by my presence. Maybe she was, but I couldn't care less—I had lives to save, a whole world to save.

'You do not need to know that. Tell me where the exit is and I shall leave you in peace without a scratch,' I said, mustering as much authority as I could with my fourteen year-old voice.

'Listen, kid, I don't know how you got here but you need to go back to your home,' the old man said slowly. He sounded as if he was trying not to frighten an animal. Perhaps that is how I looked—dusty clothes, the hem of my toga ripped and the blood of the strange man that I had encountered coating my face.

At that moment, the door opened, revealing a fair-skinned girl. She had short white hair—clearly not natural—and her small eyes gave the impression that she would fall asleep any moment. She looked around at each of us and a feeling of unease creeped up on me.

'Who is this?' I asked sceptically. Unwillingly, I looked at the giant man. His aura oozed kindness and I felt as if I could trust him.

But my trust was in vain. He said, 'El, you need to leave.' I shifted in unease. Why did he say it as if I would hurt her? Did he somehow know what I had done to the Veilensor? No, he couldn't have, I decided. This time, I looked the girl in the eye.

'Who are you?' I asked once more.

Before she could answer, the giant grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away, but the girl stayed where she was. 'I think I should be the one asking that,' she deadpanned.

I opened my mouth to reply, but I gasped. I tripped over my feet in an attempt to be as far away from the three Netherworlders as possible. My breath was turning solid and the ice was taking control again.

No, no, no. This cannot be happening. The old man was right to fear. But why did it affect me so much? I had already killed a person, possibly another person too. I looked at the young woman standing beside the chair. She must have understood what I wanted to say because she attacked the white-haired girl.

'Get out, witch! Get out! I don't want you here! Tolken isn't safe!' she screamed, jumping onto her and scratching at her face.

The name of my home coming out of a stranger's mouth sounded, well... strange. However, I could not ask about it because I was transfixed by the bluish tinge that covered the fair-headed girl's skin. The water from the sink in the bathroom spurted, heading straight for the other girl. But, before it could meet its mark, it fell to the floor, rapidly turning to ice. I breathed in sharply. The blonde was an Idithry—and a fellow Glacis at that. The Glacis screamed at the black-haired female and sunk into the floor.

And I followed suit because I wanted to know more about this girl. Maybe she was the Lost Sorceress? I willed my icey core to cooperate and followed the delirious woman, descending towards the wooden floor, overwhelmed from the power flying through me.

'Time to go to London, El. Hilda's waiting,' I faintly heard the man say. But I was not concentrating on him. I touched the other Glacis' shoulder, trying to show compassion for her, but flinched away. She was crying and her pain-filled screams increased even more as the ice crawled up her pale skin.

'Go away!' she yelled, almost incoherently. Hurt and afraid of freezing and inevitably killing the woman who had done me no harm and may just be the person to save my world, I turned away. I closed my eyes, ordering my cursed core to take me somewhere safe and walked right into another confinement, but, this time, a Netherworld one.

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• written by sassy-weirdo
• word count: 1213
• comment and constructively criticise!
• this chapter is part two of the previous one!
• And the worlds collide! Turns out Elise really is violent and deadly... How do you think this will affect her?