Noami And The Ten Chosen - Part One : The Dark Reign

I Hate Gowns

Elli pov

The palace was so beautiful. The towers surrounding the chasm, the decorated hallways and rooms, the gardens and the golden bridges, connecting each and every tower. We followed Calev across the golden arch, looking around in awe. Jake walked next to me, grasping my hand. His eyes darted left and right, looking at everything around him, clearly fascinated. 

"Amazing..." he whispered over and over again. I chuckled.

I dared look over the edge of the bridge and immediately retreated, tightening my grip on Jake's hand. "You okay?" whispered Jake.

I nodded. "Just... still not so used to the heights." I muttered nervously. He squeezed my hand reassuringly. 

Reaching the other side of golden bridge, we stopped in front of another set of glass double doors, designed with colorful mosaic patterns of birds. Calev's grin widened. 

Slowly the double doors opened, revealing another huge room. 

A gasp escaped my lips as we stepped through the double doors, into the massive room. I gaped up, where there normally would have been a ceiling, supported with tall golden columns like we saw in the other rooms, there was an inky black sky. Just like the night sky of the spirit world, aurora lights streaked across the inky black, dazzling and shiny, glimmering in sync with the stars dotting the sky. The walls of the enormous room portrayed realistic scenes of mountains and forests, making it impossible to tell where the walls ended and the illusions started, making the already gigantic room look even bigger. It was as if we were outside the palace and back out in the wild, exploring the wonders of the spirit world. Servants, all wearing cream-colored tunics with either golden or blue cuffs, rushed here and there, placing platters of steaming food on tables, arranging different colored flowers in vases, and polishing the marble floors.  

I suddenly noticed Inji in the middle of the room, giving orders to servants. Despite her bitchy attitude, I had to admit, she looked like a real queen, with her gown, diadem resting on her auburn hair, looping around her head and her perfect posture, she looked beautiful. She turned her head noticing us and gave us a bored look. Then she turned back and continued to give orders as if we were never there. Never mind, I take it back. She's ugly.

"Excuse me." muttered Calev, walking to one of the tables. We followed him, unsure on what we should do. Calev placed the two platters of steaming food on the table and turned to us. "Impressive, no?" 

"Very." agreed Chloe. "Is that why it's called the ballroom of Mirages? Because of the illusions?" Calev nodded. 

"Oh you're all here." drawled a bored voice. I turned to my right to see Inji walking towards us. Calev stiffened. "Took you long enough. From foolishness to incompetence, I can now add 'slow' to categorize you humans. Nonetheless, you're here." 

Raven was on the point of yelling at her again. I let go of Jake's hand and quickly walked up to her. Noah was already digging her fingernails her forearm to prevent her from making a scene in front of everyone. I gave her a warning look. She clenched her teeth but didn't say anything.

"So-" she said tightly, straining her voice. "This is nice." Inji scoffed at Raven's words. 

"This is nothing. If anything, I'm disappointed." she glared around the room, looking for someone. "You!" she barked at a servant. The spirit made his way towards her, head bent. He had long hair, tied neatly in a man bun. I noticed different shades of color mixed in his hair, a strand of black here, a bit of blue there, it looked like he had dyed his hair with every shade of color possible. Then I noticed a tattoo next to his right eye, interlocking loops of lines, forming sort of a semi-circle, staring from his eyebrow and ending under his eye.