Syzygy Aces

Chapter 12

Darkness engulfed as we came nearer to the opening of the cave. Jaxmi produced ball of fires out of his hands and gathered some dried branches on the ground. He lighted it up and gave each one of us. These lighted branches served as a torch and our surrounding became visible again. Ahead, we saw lights coming from the opening of the cave. Maybe the other teams were already there and we were just far behind.

“What are those?” Reyn asked me as she leaned closer and pointed something in the air.

“I can’t see it clearly.” I tried to focus my vision to see vividly but the fire of my torch was moving wildly. As we came closer, the objects became clear and we were shaken of what we were actually seeing.

“Floating coffins!” Maximus cried.

It was really petrifying. We didn’t know if the coffins had dead bodies inside. Or maybe it contained something else. We couldn’t ignore those caskets because our trail leads directly to it and we couldn’t avoid it anyhow. The cave was quite near from where we are now. We became watchful as we came closer to the hanging cemetery. We were not even sure of what kind of challenge this would be.

Maximus and Eriz moved ahead. They were assassins and could move really fast if something odd would happen. They could easily get away with it and came back. Maximus drew his two daggers and prepared himself as well as Eriz. They ran towards the hanging coffins and waited for something to fall or move but nothing happened. The coffins were still suspended up in the air, motionless. They waived at us, signalling that the area was clear.

We moved along since the path was now safe but as we reached them both, the coffin turned upside down. Black creatures began looting around us.

Whooshhhhhhhhhhhh..

The cold wind from nowhere blew our torches and only Jaxmi was blazing, his flaming body illuminated the whole area. I wondered what kind of materials his clothes were made of, it was still intact. Black shadows covered each members of both team. They tried to fight it but nothing happens. I summoned Glenieze and she saw the black shadows engulfing everyone. She was not in her usual self which was  highly and too proud.

“That’s the Black Shadow of the North. The Queen can only give orders to them. I just don’t know why there were here. It’s not typical for them to be fused in this tournament. I couldn’t do anything about it but I'll try.” Glenieze roamed around looking for the others. She tried to use her magic but nothing happened. The black shadows just ignored her.

As the shadow engulfed my mate one after the other, they were immobilized and it seemed their own life left them. Their eyes became dull and their skin paled. Others ran in different direction trying to escape the bad fate that will swallow them alive but nowhere to go the shadows moved swiftly carried by the strong wind.

“Glenieze, what’s happening to them?” I panicked. “This is really bad. What should we do?”

“You can’t run from it, Krish. I’m sorry. Our power has limitations especially those creatures were taking orders from the Queen. Let me go back to the spirit world for now. I don’t want to be stocked here with you.” She smirked.

“What?! Even in this kind of situation we are in, you can’t still hold your tongue? You really got the talent of annoying me. I’ll try to figure this out myself. You’re totally useless!” I let her go before another word came out from her twisted tongue and I saw her peculiar expression on her face before she disappeared into the mist.

In a split second, I was covered by darkness. I ran to get away from it until I hit something with my head and I fell down on my knees. I realized that I was still moving. I should be paralyzed by now if the shadow passes through me. I looked around but I saw nothing even a single spark of light. I held my head when I felt an agonizing pain. I managed to tear a part of the clothing to tie up the bleeding part of my head that was wounded by a branched of the tree that hanged low in my path and I could taste my own blood that flowed from it.

“Is anyone out there?!” Someone was calling from afar. It sounded like Prince Marve! I saw a flicker of light too.

“Over here!” I shouted at him and tried to compose myself. Since I tore a large piece of my clothes; a part of my thigh was exposed. I felt uncomfortable in it even the dimness of the surroundings was evident. My face was covered with blood though I already wiped it out, the smells still lingered in it.

Eventually, Prince Marve found me. “I think we are the ones who survived the shadow. I checked the rest, they were still alive. They were still breathing. We should move on. The Shadow cave of Sumagung is quite near.’’ He looked at me from head to toe. “What happened to you? Are you okay? Is that blood on your face?”

“I’m totally okay, it’s just a small scratch. I bumped my head in a branch of the tree that hangs low in my path.” I felt so embarrassed. I just simply turned my back to hide myself from his gaze. “I hope we could find a way to release my team and yours from whatever spell they were in.”

We continued our quest with heavy heart. We couldn’t do anything for our team but I knew there would be way to save them because of the fact that we were still alive. The only thing that lighted our way was something that sparks from Prince Marve’s hand. I was curious enough to ask about it. “Are you an elemental my Highness?”

“No need to address me in such manner Krish especially when we’re alone. I wanted to be treated fairly especially in this tournament and to be acknowledged by my own strength, not only by my title. I am not an elemental but I could turn you to ash with my lightning volts.” He timidly replied and winked at me. I couldn’t get easily away from looking at his green eyes. He has some kind of a charm that magnets me towards him and he definitely smelled good.

I looked away as I realized that I stare at him long enough. He grabbed my hand so that I could walk with him in his pace. Sparks of lightning came out from his fingertips; it served as a torched to light our path. I kept my distance beside him; his nearness gave me butterflies in my stomach but the creepy shadows of the plants gave shivers to my skin and images of my mates flashed before my eyes. So, I held closer to him instead. He gave me a faint smile knowing that I was now a foot away from him.

Finally, we reached the cave. The façade looked ordinary but as we stepped inside, the area of ground where our feet stepped on began to glow. I noticed that the ground was full of crystals. The cave was enchanted; I had the feeling that this place was also sacred.

“This is so fascinating!” I exclaimed. My voice echoed like music in the air, it created a melody.

This place was really awesome!

“It’s wise that we’ll keep quiet for a while. We don’t know if there’s a dragon or guardian that watches over the gem besides the nymphs.” He warned me.

As we moved deeper into the cave, shadows were formed along the walls from the intricate carvings of glittering stones. From afar, we saw bright lights and we hurried up to where it was. Instinct told me that the gem we were about to find was there. I drew my sword as preparation for whatever might happen. The lights danced as we came nearer and the calming droplets of water were like a rhythm synchronizing the beating of my heart. I was dying of anticipation and Prince Marve glanced at me giving me sign that he would go ahead and check the place. I understood right away what he meant and watched his back. Sometimes, things didn’t appear the way it does. The atmosphere was so unnaturally calm and something may not be right. I scanned the whole place; still shadows of different figures were pasted on the walls. An almost discreet movement from one of the shadow caught my eye. They were alive and they tried to camouflage with the surroundings.

“The shadows were alive and they were watching us.” I whispered to Prince Marve behind my back. He was now aware of the shadows that were lurking around were not ordinary.

“I believe those shadows were the same with the ones we encountered before we entered this cave. They were the inhabitants of this place. I learned that they were dangerous and they only answered to the queen but they mean no harm to me because of my noble blood that’s why I am here and not with our mates. I was curious why these creatures spare you as well. Are you a noble by birth Krish?