Hidden

Chapter 74

"I need Mr. Mist to take all the capable water dragon's and mages to make a thick wall, one so smooth and hard that no claw will be able to climb it. Make that wall is taller too, and add some sentry posts to keep an eye ou for any reborns." The headmaster began.

"I need all the earth mages to start collecting supplies and making large gardens. We might need more resources if this ends in a war. As for the electric mages, get them to send messages all throughout the land to the villages. They need to build defensive walls to widthstand the reborns, and gather supplies to hold themselves out. This is a force we haven't dealt with before, and we need to take every precaution."

The teachers scrambled to make announcements with the magical P.A system, collecting many students and fufilling their tasks.

"Emma, I need you to check on Ashley with me. I've been informed she would like to see you." The headmaster said, scribbling some other things on a paper and handing them to Mr.Draco, his beard longer than last time they saw him. The headmaster shot out of his chair with a squeal from the floor. Emma winced, but followed the headmaster out the door at a haste pace.

The man took a key out from his pocket, a small bronze stick that didn't look like much. He shoved the key in a heavy metal door, the heavy metal heaving open as it revealed its secret below. A staircase was present, and judging by the echo, it went a far way down.

Emma was about to go down, but stopped when her friends didn't follow. David was being held back by Peter, his blue eyes glowing with curiosity.

"Only Emma's presence is requested, keep an eye up here kids." The headmaster said quickly, not looking to waste any more time. The girl with grey nodded, looking back at her friends to give them a reassuring smile.

"Make sure Peter doesn't do anything stupid while I'm gone David." Emma chuckled.

"What do you mean me? I'm the sane one here!" Peter joked back, crossing his arms as he watched David wearily. The group chuckled, and Emma turned to the stairs, giving them one more look before running down the stairs. The sounds of footsteps were strange to listen to, and the girl suddenly dreaded the thought of climbing back up them.

The stone walls were moist and had moss growing out of the cracks, age written all over them with scratches from scrambling prisoners nails, desprate to flee what lied below. The echoes became shorter, and the bottom of the stairs were finally in sight. When Emma jumped over the last two stairs to the bottom, she was shocked to feel the floor under her move, swallowing her until she was shoulder deep in dirt and concrete.

"That's enough." The headmaster said, pressing on a rune etched into the wall. The rock glowed green, and Emma was spat out of the ground like water. The girl got up, giving the headmaster a glare when he began chuckling. With a sigh, Emma continued to follow the headmaster, staying behind him just in case there we're more tricks up his sleve.

After many rune touching and weaving through halls, the two finally made it to a cell that was heavily occupied by runes all over the walls. Looking into the cell, hovering over a pool of water, was Ashley, her once clean and beautiful strands of hair lost and clumped together, her hair now black.

Her eyes were dark too, one eye the normal purple and pink, while her right eye was an oily black, the seeming area around the eye cracking and splitting to reveal dark veins. Emma stepped closer to the cell, noticing that Ashleys hands and feet we're suspended in the air by glowing cuffs, the runes floating around them reading an ancient language that had gone extinct.

The headmaster snapped his fingers, and the bars of the cell slid open, a small thud coming from them as they clicked open. Ashley's head shot up, and her one eye looked at Emma with desperation. She let out a snarl, one that belonged to a wild animal.

"Ashley." Emma said, watching as the girl was lowered to the ground. Her limbs relaxed as she felt the ground, a breath of relief coming from her as she collapsed.

"Emma." She said back, standing by the grey eyed girls feet ok her hands and knees. She seemed so weak, she couldn't even lift her head to talk properly. "It wants to talk to you."

"What? What does?" Emma asked, confusion lacing in her voice.

"Don't play stupid, you've been trying to ignore it for your whole life, that fucking voice, how did you do it? How did you not end up like me?" Ashley begged to know, her body shivering in a tug of pain.

"I-I can't tell you, I don't know how either." Emma said, looking down at Ashley with sorrow.

"LIES," Ashley shouted, a small growl supporting her voice. The brunette stepped back, and she heard the headmaster shuffle nervously. "I just want it to stop, it's deals, ts taunting. I know if I song agree to it soon, it will consume my sanity."

A cry from another room spooked all of them, and that's when Ashley broke into tears.

"And my dragon, Cynder, she's in so much pain. I was injecting small doses of magic into me, it was just for a small rush of power, but then I tried to use some earth magic concentration, and Cynder couldn't keep the voice in her head anymore. It was my fault! If I had just stopped, I could have prevented her pain!" Ashley cried with real pain, a sorrow burying in her heart.

"Yet, you can resist, it's so interested in you Emma, it's done so much to see what makes you diffrent. Its been telling all its minions, no, it's warriors to keep you alive. It wants to tear you apart with its own hands and see what's stopping it from taking you." Ashley wouldn't stop, and her talking turned into gibberish as the dark cracks around her eyes began growing again.

"It's coming for you."