The Elementals | Book 1. The Cliffs of Immensi

Chapter 16

It was a blue moon. Sephtis suddenly didn't feel well. He coughed. He felt as if he was being cut by multiple blades at once, though there was none in the room. He quickly stood up from his sitting position and ran to a corner of the cave he was staying in. He leaned against the cold stone wall and willed the strange pain he felt to go away. He coughed twice more, and his head started to spin. Am I sick? Dying? How did this happen?

But Sephtis was fine. The coughing stopped and the strange feeling went away. It's over?

Suddenly, it appeared again, briefly, but this time it was a sharp, burning pain that shot through him. He felt as if he was being stabbed by a thousand daggers. He coughed once more, but this time a strange, sandy, black liquid fell off of Sephtis, first covering him, then falling off. This process repeated multiple times, every time he coughed, and each time sending a wave of sharp pain through Sephtis. He dropped to his hands and knees. Am I dying?

Suddenly, it stopped. A wide black puddle, covered with what appeared to be mist, lay in the ground in front of Sephtis. Sephtis felt different. As if something was missing. He tried to stand, but only succeeded in rising a few inches, as he collapsed on the ground once more. He glared at the puddle. He was thirsty, but somehow he knew he couldn't drink the liquid in front of him.

As Sephtis watched, the strange, mysterious pool of water began to rise. It looked as if it was made of smoke, and yet it was in the form of something. Or rather, someone.

Sephtis watched in horror as the figure continued to grow and grow until it towered above him. Then the image sharpened.

It was definitely a person. A woman, it seemed. Thin, straight, long black hair went down to the ground. A thin, beak-like nose and thin lips formed under wide, dark eyebrows and eyes that looked like dark voids in the black smoke. She was beautiful, yet she wasn't.

Again, Sephtis attempted to rise, but the gravity in the room shifted, pushing him down once more. Sephtis was briefly distracted from his pain by his confusion. How is that possible? Only my powers can do that. It's not possible. Unless...

The dark eyes switched to Sephtis. A grim smile crept across her face, and long, razor sharp teeth could be seen, with two abnormally long canines protruding out of her mouth. Fangs.

"Ah, Sephtis." The figure's voice was eerie and sinister. The S's were all elongated, as if a snake had said it. Just the voice was enough to send shivers down Sephtis's spine. He could make his own voice plenty scary, but it couldn't compare to the figure's natural voice. He was quite sure he knew who the figure was. But he didn't want to believe it.

"How are you, my dear?" the woman asked, but it didn't sound like a question. More of a threat. She knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. Her hand was colder than ice. Her eyes looked into Sephtis' and he could sense the frozen, merciless heart that lay inside.

Sephtis was too afraid to answer. For he knew who it was. It was Vespara.

A frown crossed across Vespara's face, and her smile faded. Her tone lost any sense of friendliness that it had held before. She grabbed Sephtis' hair and yanked him upwards. Sephtis cried out, feeling as if his hair was getting yanked out of his head.

"Answer me when I talk to you, you insolent child!" Vespara roared, her voice echoing around the small cave, which only served in making her voice more menacing. "Why have you not been able to kill them yet!?"

"I'm trying-"

"No, I don't think you are! You're too afraid of those weak humans! I didn't pick you just so you could hide in a cave and defy me!"