The Immortal's Gamble

Chapter 26 Creature from the Valley

As soon as the gasp was out of my mouth, he turned in my direction. His hair was no longer the shaggy type I was used to seeing, it was a short crew cut. He was not dressed in jeans and his usual holey shirt. But in dark pants and a maroon coloured shirt paired with a long sweeping brown coat. His eyes darker than I was used to seeing. And piercingly so, as they narrowed in my direction. I kept as still as possible praying he did not see me. He took just one step and I was ready to bolt but the hooded figure appeared from the other side of the forest and their attention turned to the new appearance.

"You finally show your face, after all this time, I thought you wouldn't show up." The man sneered at the figure who merely nodded and stood aside, not a peep, not a movement.

"Dale, Creature from the Valley. Come forth." The female voice spoke again, this time I was sure that it wasn't from the hooded figure. Someone else was speaking, but who?

Dale moved forward and the ground in front of him started smoking, engulfing him until it formed a human shape, a womanly human shape. It blinked several times before a smirked settled on it's lips. "Hello." It spoke seductively. 

"We need to finish this pile and move on to the next. Annalise has prepared the ritual." Dale spoke and waved to the hooded figure. The hooded figure removed her hood and no matter how far away, I will always remember her. It was really Annalise, but she was younger than the first time I met her. She moved forward with grace and not a limp or hobble and bowed to the smoke before moving towards Dale.

"May I?" She spoke, even her voice was softer, like satin. Dale lifted his hands to her and gave her a lazy grin.

"So how are you sweet cheeks?" He purred but Annalise was having none of his flirtatious sweet talk and cleanly gave his finger a slice and grabbing it with so much strength he winced, swiftly getting a few drops of blood into the chalice. 

"Nothing that concerns you." She sneers and moves to the other man.

"May I?" And she repeats the process again. Thanking the man she moved over to the pile of body and pricks her own finger, adding a few drops of blood into the chalice. 

"My lady, could you come nearer," Annalise spoke again and the smoke drifts next to her. She places the cup of blood on the ground and starts speaking in another language, green lines form on her face, glowing eerily. The blood in the cup floats up and forms a smooth red ball, swirling and mixing. As she speaks, the ball pulsates and spikes form on the surface of the smooth ball. When Annalise finishes chanting, it explodes and rains all over the bodies. As though a spark was lit, the pile of bodies combusts. Red flames engulf the pile, the bodies don't melt but instead turn to ashes and smoke starts rising immediately. A scream echoes in the clearing, my hands immediately go up to cover my ears, my eyes darting around to find the source. 

The smoke that rose earlier on had moved towards the lady, engulfing her. The screams continue, and not only Annalise was glowing, Dale and the other man had green markings on their faces as well. As abrupt as the scream started, it stopped. The smoke that surrounded the lady dissipated and what was left was not a translucent smoke figure but a very bloody human body. 

Dark brown hair and piercing green eyes, she looked as though she had no skin with the way her body was covered in blood. Annalise stepped forward and placed a cape over the woman's body and helped her up. 

"With this, there will only be two more rituals left before I get my full body back. We have to go now. We-" She spoke but was stopped by a hacking cough, blood spilled from her mouth and Dale stepped in when Annalise staggered under the woman's weight.

"My lady, we have to get you to safety first." He urged her and the other man nodded, conjuring up a portal. 

I had to tell them. Dale was working with Annalise, there were another man and woman, they were killing people, they- My thoughts were in a mess, as my eyes remained train on them. The moment her head snapped up sniffing at the air, I knew she found me. I took a step back, preparing to run but the leaves crunched under my weight. My head snapped up the same time the woman's head snapped in my direction.