Cedar

Chapter 8- Sarr

Carter sprung up, holding the vial over his head. While Risa and Mona were mourning, Carter had smelled the vial.

"Wait! Sarr! You murderer!"

Everything became dead silent.

"This isn't healing potion, this is cyanide! You poisoned Pax!"

Sarr looked up at Carter, eyes shooting daggers at him.

"Young man, I did no such thing."

Cedar sniffed the vial as well. Her eyes immediately widened with shock and fear. "You- you did! This is cyanide!"

Sarr didn't move for about thirty seconds. Then, without warning, he lunged towards them. Cedar and Carter sprinted out of the tent, running to the center of town.

Everything was dead silent; no one was in town at all. It was just the three of them. Sarr stood directly in front of the stone block. Carter saw the basket of weapons sitting there, and he grabbed a sword, ready to stab Sarr at any given time.

"I hate to do this, but you give me no choice," Sarr said, moving his hands around. Light shot out from his hands and swirled around. He was clearly using magic.

Sarr disappeared.

Cedar and Carter looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Cedar's necklace glowed a bit, and without another second, she began to run.

"Come on!"

They both ran into the stone manor, ducking through the dining hall and racing into another room. This room was filled with keys of all shapes and sizes. Sarr stood in the middle, hands raised.

"You found me. I knew that necklace of yours did something."

"Why? Why would you kill Pax? You could've saved him!" Cedar clenched her fists, biting back tears.

"Simple. Power. Riches. For every soul I kill, I gain more power. All I need to complete my power is to find a mirror of stone, look into it, and ask for all the power in the world. That mirror lies somewhere in Tarsis. And I intend to find it. I will no longer wait until I am defeated. I will become the true essence of power!"

"How could you?" Cedar couldn't stop the flow of tears now. Her hair was still damp, and in the cold room, she began to shiver. Suddenly the air in the room became freezing. Cedar dropped to her knees, shaking.

"I have power beyond any of your wildest dreams. If I kill just one more soul, I will become unstoppable. Immortal. Now, hmm. Which of you should I kill?"

Carter raised his sword as Sarr approached Cedar. He tried to stab Sarr, but was frozen in place.

"Should I kill this beautiful maiden? So weak and powerless- she will be easy to kill." Sarr stepped towards Carter. "Or should I keep her as my wife and kill this man? So many options... I suppose I could just kill you both... but where's the fun in that?"

Cedar seemed to come to life. "No!" She shouted, standing up. "Just let us go and give us the key we need!"

"Ah, yes, a key. I'm sure you'll be able to choose quite easily..."

Sarr waved his hands and the room of keys expanded. It became wide and long, with keys of every color, metal, and size. "I'm sure you can find it..."

Carter unfroze, looking around quickly. "There are too many! We can't find it!"

Cedar shook her head. "No, it's all an illusion! Break the spell! It's not real!"