The Darkside

Soul of Greed

"What do you mean bewitched?" Melissa asked, confused.

"The blade is bewitched; anyone who touches it is enchanted by its power," Aunt Cassie said."Is that bad?" Melissa asked.

"Oh yes, very bad," Aunt Cassie replied.

"So, is there a spell or something to get Octavia out of it?" Anastasia asked.

"Let's check," Aunt Cassie said before heading towards the grimoire. Melissa and Anastasia followed her, too.

"Can I help?" Arya asked.

"Yes, watch Octavia," Anastasia said.

Arya was annoyed; she felt as if she wasn't given anything useful to do. But Anastasia was too preoccupied to notice her reaction.

Oblivious to all the chatter around her, Octavia kept staring at the sword like a child who had discovered magic for the first time.

"Here it is: the information on the Breganzaz we should've read before you set out to get it. How could I have been so stupid? I should have known this would happen," Aunt Cassie said while holding her head.

"Let's just try to solve this issue without blaming ourselves, Aunt Cassie. There's plenty of it to go around," Anastasia said.

"Yes, she's right. Let's just check this out," Melissa said.

"Okay, according to the grimoire, the Breganzaz is possessed by the Soul of Greed, which feeds on magical powers. That's why it has attached itself to Octavia. The only way to release Octavia from its hold is to get it out of her hand using the Counter-Enchantment Spell," Aunt Cassie said."Well, let's do it, then," Melissa said.

"Can we involve Arya, too? She's my sister and I don't want her to feel left out. After all, she lost her parents, too; I'm all she has," Anastasia said.

"Yes, that's probably a good idea. After all, we don't want her going dark now, do we?" Aunt Cassie replied.

"Yes, we better keep her close or she might try to kill us again later," Melissa said, chuckling.

Anastasia wasn't happy with the remark, but Melissa ignored her frown.

"Okay, then, let's try it," Melissa said.

Melissa, Anastasia, and Aunt Cassie explained their plan to Arya, who was finally excited to be a part of the action.

They soon chanted the spell, which made Octavia scream in agony and release the sword from her grasp.

"No one touches the sword until we are sure it's safe to hold it," Aunt Cassie said.

I stared down at the sword, confused. "What happened?" I asked.

"What do you remember?" Aunt Cassie asked.

"I remember that sword talking to me and saying, 'Take me, I'm all yours,' and then I grabbed it," I replied.

"That's all you remember?" Aunt Cassie asked.

"Yes, why, what happened?" I replied.

"Well, you were bewitched by the Breganzaz and was going all dark," Arya said.

"Arya!" Anastasia said in a stern voice.

"I was going dark again? Why does this keep happening to me, what's wrong with me?" I asked, feeling overwhelmed.

"It's not your fault, Octavia; it could've happened to any of us," Anastasia replied."But it didn't happen to any of you. As usual, it happened to me. Maybe I just have too much darkness in me," I said.

"Stop talking nonsense. You got bewitched because you held the sword. If Anastasia or Melissa held the sword, the same would have happened to them. It's my fault for not checking all the details of the sword before you left; so, if you want to blame anyone, blame me," Aunt Cassie said.

"Okay, so if we can't hold the sword, how do we use it to kill the monsters from the other world?" I asked.

"There is a spell to ward us from the Soul of Greed. We just need to recite it before we hold it," Aunt Cassie said.

"Let's do it, then," I replied.

We recited the spell and could hear the soul scream out strange words from within the sword, after which it went silent.

"I think it's done," Aunt Cassie said.

We checked the words it uttered in the grimoire. It was a cry of defeat.

"Now, let's get rid of those monsters," I said, picking up the sword.

"Wait, Octavia, how do you feel?" Anastasia asked.

"What do you mean? I feel normal," I replied.

"Are you sure? Maybe I should hold on to the sword," Anastasia said.

"Sure, knock yourself out," I said, handing it over to her.

"Okay, you can hold on to the sword; I was just checking to make sure you're not bewitched by the sword anymore," Anastasia said.

"Alright, then," I replied.

I walked towards the cellar, accompanied by the four of them. But, as we reached it, the cellar door flung open and the monsters came right at us. They grabbed onto us and started swinging us around like rag-dolls.

'How did they get out of the asphyxiation spell?' I asked myself.

I knew I had to act fast or we'd all end up dead soon. I held on to the sword tightly and plunged it into the chest of the monster, sending it up in flames. It screamed and let go of Aunt Cassie, Arya, and me, dropping us on the floor.

I looked at Melissa and Anastasia who were being attacked by the other monster and rushed to their aid. But as I raised the Breganzaz and tried to cut it down, what happened next made me drop the sword onto the ground instead.