The Grimoire

Chapter 25: Third Orb

Uzma who seems to be surprised to see me, smirked at me slowly. Uzma, who's the Prince of Terrax is betraying his own country. Uzma, who's mission was to locate the cult hideout and here he is, possibly leading the cult. A black orb caught my attention right at the small lake inside the cave. The waters were mixed with poisons that I don't think has any cure for now. Not even the herbs that we brought from the Hanging Gardens. You see, when you mix multiple poisons, it enhances its effectivity. I then glanced at Sheena and her team and realized that they have been dipped in that body of water which means that they are poisoned.

I glanced back at Uzma at sumandal siya sa ding-ding ng kweba.

"No wonder he chose you to be in the team. Apart from being the Princess of the Fallen Babylon, you're indeed smart, Vermillion," he mumbled.

He extended his hand and a pair of shadow grabbed both Gluttony and Greed towards the lake. The poison went to their bodies, and it miraculously healed them which caught me off guard. I pointed my spear towards him, and he started to laugh.

"Oh, that's scarrrrryyy." he teasingly said with a sarcastic smile.

I swung my spear and the chains that held Sheena and her team got cut. They fell on the ground, and it hurts to see her team laying on the ground, without signs of life, including Deanna, Leo's childhood friend that seemed to be his girlfriend out of marriage contract. Her skin was pale among them all and it led me to a conclusion that she died first.

"You can't save them, alam mo yan," Uzma said with a smirk and I can't help but moved towards him and locked him by my spears by forming them into X as I pinned my spears to the wall that he was at.

"Give me the antidote you-"

"There is none," he replied. "A great healer can also be a dangerous killer, right?" he asked as he described Heka. Wala akong nagawa kung hindi higpitan ang hawak ng spear ko habang pinagmamasdan siya. I was hoping that he was controlled by Heka's magic, but no. His body was clean as day. His magic didn't have any traces of Heka's magic. That means he is not the vessel. He is doing this treason with consciousness and that what makes it scary. Whoever is the vessel must be someone he knows, and he admires knowing that he followed that vessel without hesitation.

"Acting so tough when you yourself know that you are not more than a puppet," I said with a sarcastic smile. "Pare-pareho lang kayo," I added, and I glanced at Gluttony and Greed who was just behind me and was about to attack me. I took one of my spears from the wall and I blocked their attacks. "These sins and you," I paused and glanced back at him as my vision turned blue. My armlet started to shine at ramdam ko ang kapangyarihan na dumaloy sa katawan ko.

Uzma noticed that and he decided to grab my arm and I twisted my body before I jumped away from them at napalapit ako nina Sheena. She was having a hard time breathing at napatingin ako sa labas ng cave in the hopes that the others have followed me. Before I could even react, I saw Cairo beside me, and his eyes were locked at Uzma. 

"I'll handle this," he said. "Take her to the lake," he ordered, and I saw how Uzma reacted as if he wanted to stop me from doing that, but Cairo stepped forward. "We may not be able to save them all but at least we could save one," he added with a shaky voice.

May narinig rin akong mga footsteps na papasok and there I saw the others. Kel was so surprised to see all of this and the corpses.

"The black poison," he whispered, and Uzma's eyes widened. "Let's take her to the lake! Ishara's orb is right there, she can heal anything!" he added. Uzma gritted his teeth and was about to grab him using his shadow, but Leo and Evie stopped him. I've known them as the calmest compared to Cairo but at this point, they were furious.