The RavenStark Quest: Awakening

CHAPTER 18:THE RITUAL

"We just wanted to save the city, save our heritage and we were ready to do whatever is necessary. The needed materials were all set. Surrounded by the whole city of Ezra the time had ultimately come. We were edgy; we did not want to let our people down. Not again. Powerful witches and wizards were on the watch. Robert and I knew that we have to make this work. There was no other way. With all the curious eyes on us, we made our way to the center of the great hall. On my left lay the empty throne, after Wynston Kramborg no one was worthy enough to fill up the void. In front of us lay an empty hollow cauldron. I started the spell and soon every witch and wizard along with Robert joined me. After a few minutes the cauldron started filling up with blue liquid. Suddenly forceful wind came crashing over, the weather changed, thunder and lightning struck. The force of nature wasn't favorable of the creation that we were doing. But we couldn't stop. I looked at Robert and nodded, we unleashed all our powers, every single drop of our magic and strength onto the cauldron.

A large light reflected from it, taking out everyone within 10 metres from the cauldron.I managed to get up barely and instantaneously rushed over. It was filled with water and a baby boy floating on top of it wrapped in a golden blanket. I gently took up the baby in my arms and looked at Robert, but his face did not show any signs of happiness except for fear. Before I could take a step closer to him, insurgence struck. Emerging from within the spectators, men dressed in black started creating a rumpus. It explained Robert's fear, somehow they got a whiff about this ritual and we were being attacked. I handed the baby boy over to Robert and told them to hide somewhere safe. The rest of the witches and wizards fought flanking with me; few cemented the way for the people to exit harmlessly. The clash was equal, both sides fighting their extent. Robert exited the great hall and took the boy away from this ruckus. Now all we had to do is to get the people present there back to safety. But there was something weird, the men were neither following Robert to get to the boy nor were they ambushing the citizens. They were eyeing something else. What could it be? I had no thought about it because all that mattered to me was to save the people from this peril. The fight continued for a while, no one was ready to take the bait. We were so immersed in the safety of the people and fighting back that we completely forgot to safeguard the cauldron.

Just when I remembered it, it was already too late. One of the men let out a spell that struck the cauldron.'No' I yelled but it was of no use. The cauldron lit up in fire and finally succumbed to ashes just like our one last chance. The men started falling back and ebbed into thin air. They did not come here to harm the child or to kill anyone; they were here to make sure that one survives and the other never makes it. Typical Cyana SnakeLord, first you give hope and then destroy you so much that you fear having hope ever. I fell on my knees, I failed again. I failed to make things right. Disappointment filled around me and the thought of failing everyone made me weak. She won. Again. No matter how hard I tried, anyone tried, she always wins with a great loss on our side.There was nothing I could do for Ezra, neither giving them hope as I myself was terribly in need of it.  I left the great hall and never looked back at it again. I sealed it shut with the ash remaining as it was. Once again the city of Ezra was filled with despair. The fear that one day she would return reminded us each and every second. Happiness and joy were ripped away. Fear ruled every soul of the city. I felt helpless. Katherine, Drake and Ethan, the baby from the cauldron were given paramount protection wizardly possible. Though Ethan was supposed to show traces of powerful magic from RavenStark himself but he had no magic in him. That situated even more horror in our minds. It was two years after Ethan was born; I had no intention of going back to the great hall, but something in me wanted to look at it. For two years we tried engineering something that could reverse the cauldron back to its true only to end in vain. Never ending pain and disenchantment was faced with no hope for betterment. So one day I unlocked the seal and went inside the great hall. I had to look for myself; the dreaded future that I failed to dodge. At the center lay the ashes of the destructed cauldron. I looked at it and realized what a dissatisfaction I was to everyone who believed in me. I knelt down in front of it, and a drop of tear fell on the ashes. It hurt.It hurt to be hopeless and powerless. It hurt to look at the pile of ash and realize the danger that was on its way.  Come what may I pulled myself back together and turned back to leave just when I heard a small spark. I halted and looked back closely at the ashes. There were small sparks going in and out. I didn't have hope but I had to figure out this unusual occurrence. Without anyone knowing about it I quietly went down to the east office where Noah and Michelle were present. Quickly I filled them with my unusual sighting and said I needed to do the spell again one last time just in case. Robert was out of the city and I needed a hand so Michelle and Noah agreed to help me. Just us three went back to the great hall and locked the doors behind us. I began

'Lifae recarntae phillius Lifae recarntae yusophillius...'

The ashes rose up like a storm it was difficult to see with all the dust circling around. But we kept chanting. After a few minutes the ash storm calmed down, the vision was still unclear. I managed to move past the dust and reached the eye of the storm. Something was lying down on the floor; I wasn't able to clearly identify it until I heard a cry. I was dumbstruck when I reached it. It was a baby. A baby girl; Lying in a serene manner in the center of the storm. I picked her up and immediately the storm subsided. Michelle and Noah looked with the same expression along with a sense of relief and hope. I looked at the baby girl and said 'Elizabeth Ezra RavenStark' and smiled fondly at the savior of Ezra." Olisen finished.