WORLD OF EYES

chapter 10 [Final]

Sal's hand tightened around the crystal, the pulse of Lilith's soul beating like a trapped bird within its confines. His eyes burned with rage and desperation, his mind racing with the dark incantation that could end the one light that had pierced the shadows of his existence. "Kill her," he roared, his voice echoing through the ancient halls of the manor.

Lilith felt the cold grip of fear squeeze her heart as she stared into the eyes sockets of Sal, now a twisted skeletal creature consumed by power. The room around them grew dim, the very air thick with malice as Sal's command took root in her mind, threatening to overwhelm her will. But she had come too far, fought too hard, to let him win now.

With a scream that seemed to shake the very foundations of the manor, Lilith tapped into the river's power, the same power that had been her mother's gift and her own salvation. A surge of emerald-blue light shot from her eyes, a beacon that pierced the darkness like a sword. The skeletal Sal stumbled back, the severe eye in his hand trembling as the incantation faltered on his lips. The eye in his grasp cracked, the light within flickering like a candle in a gale. Lilith knew this was her only chance. With a desperate strength she didn't know she had, she tore free from the spell's grip, her body a blur as she lunged at Sal. The room was a whirlwind of color and motion, the air alive with the crackling of magic as the two of them grappled, their very souls at war.

Aurelia watched, her emerald eye wide with horror, as Lilith's body was wrenched and contorted by the power of Sal. Her mother's magic, once a gentle whisper, had become a roar that filled the air, a force of nature that neither she nor Lilith had ever fully understood. But in that moment, as Lilith fought for her very essence, Aurelia knew that she had to act.

Summoning the strength of her mother's love and the wisdom of the earth beneath her feet, Aurelia stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "Lilith," she called, her voice a soft yet firm beacon in the storm of darkness. "Look at me."

Lilith's gaze flickered to Aurelia, the emerald blue eye in Sal's hand pulsing in time with her own. For a moment, she saw not her lover but a monster, a creature of the shadows that mirrored the one before her. But as Aurelia's calming presence washed over her, the veil lifted. The love and trust in Aurelia's gaze pierced through the haze of manipulation. Sal's skeletal form sneered, his power waning as Lilith's will reassert itself. He jabbed the crystal at Aurelia, the malicious intent in his gesture unmistakable. "Attack her," he hissed, his voice a serpent's hiss that coiled around Lilith's mind. "Prove your loyalty to me!"

Lilith felt the dark energy of the blue eye tugging at her, urging her to turn on the one person who had offered her solace and friendship amidst the chaos. Her hand trembled, the arc of power she had summoned from the river faltering. For a heart-wrenching moment, she was torn between the love for her sister and the hatred that had fueled her for so long.
But Aurelia's voice, soothing as a lullaby, reached through the fog of anger and confusion. "You are not his weapon, Lilith," she said calmly, her emerald gaze never leaving Lilith's. "You are the daughter of the river, the keeper of the light. Do not let him control you."

Suddenly, Sal's magic changed, the inky blackness retreating before a soft, verdant light. His skeletal form trembled, the crystal in his hand shaking as if trying to escape his grasp. His eyes searched Lilith's, and she saw a flicker of doubt, a glimmer of the boy he had been before the darkness consumed him.

For a moment, the room stilled, the only sound the ragged breaths of the two sisters and the mournful whisper of the river in the distance. Lilith felt the tide of power shift, the dark incantation faltering as Sal's grip on the crystal grew weaker. It was as if the very essence of the manor itself was holding its breath, waiting for the boy it had once known to make his choice.