The expression ‘bouncing off the walls’ hasn’t really made sense for Accashia just until that night. She felt it on her skin, on her soul and on her entire body. Her heart was racing and as she ran with Calleb — she did not feel fatigue or tired. She was exhilarated, the thought of releasing her mother’s soul was enough to give her the energy of the world. The three of them were still pretty far from the castle. The thistles of the forest prickling the soles of her feet. As she ran, she kept her eyes on the castle, staring at it intently. “We’re close.” Luntian said as she was running behind them. “Keep your eyes open. The Castle of Shaldan is near.” As Calleb’s eyes looked up, he stared at the moon. The insistent pressure of the battle streaming into his insides. Unlike Accashia, he wasn’t excited nor was he nervous. But he felt like something heavy and raw was about to dawn on him — the only thing is he doesn’t know what or why. It took him the better part of half an hour before
Inside the thriving Village within the deadly forest of the East. Men and women from all over the Village participated in a duel. Something that they usually do to keep themselves strong, a play-pretend, gladiator-like set-up that the village head thought of. To maintain a strong community of hunters and huntresses just in case someone or rather, something would make the mistake of taking over their humble home. “You’re rather distracted today.” Xaphar told him Keith conversationally. Other than being a bit hard and slightly cool to the touch, it was actually rather comfortable and Keith had to breathe out a sigh of relief as he sank into the chair. He was wounded from the spar he had with Tyrone — the strongest hunter in their nameless village. Last round before the festival of the Lobo begins. The festival where they celebrate the life given to them by the great Lobo. When the great god breathed life to their people, their ancestors. He winced slightly as the burn along his arm
“Wh-who is attacking us?” Keith asked breathlessly. He knew he should be frightened — and he was … somewhere deep inside his heart — but for some reason. He felt more ill rather than scared, more nauseated rather than terrified. Something felt wrong. Something evil was coming towards them. Something dark and unknown. He could feel it – he didn’t know and he didn’t care to guess but it was almost like waves of evil were emanating from somewhere ahead of them. The forest — the trees and the bushes before him seemed to gape open, and the sound of trees crashing against the ground made him take a step back. A sound so loud resounded and it hurt his ears, making his ears ring and he gritted his teeth. The sound was so loud that it resembled a cannon being fired. And when he saw the creatures — the monsters that were responsible for all the commotion, Tyrone had to blink a few times to make sure that he wasn’t having a nightmare. The light from the stars and the moon were obscured by a w
He had imagined that he would have felt remorseful or even the slightest bit shocked but it surprised him, and scared him — that he felt a sense of defeat and a great sense of loss. It almost felt as if seeing and hearing that he wasn’t the only beast around left him completely mortified and yet he was not. He saw an illusion of another beast. It appeared then it was gone in a snap of a finger. Calleb thought what could be or what could have been the best thing that he could have done. For he was left motionless, and almost felt number when the Shadows fists landed on his jaw and stomach. He heard another sniff and then another one of the Shadows moved into the light. And then another and another … and another. Within moments, six more of those creatures appeared, twining their bodies against one another, coating each other with more blood and more human remains. Rotten flesh, absolutely putride and gut wrenching. The stench was unbearable and Calleb had to hold on to his breath fo
Calleb growled, there's an unexplainable ache in his heart and he wonders why he is remembering his mother’s face right now. "Don’t play with me..." “And why would I play games with you, hm, Calleb Shaldan?” The Wicked Witch raised one eyebrow in mock surprise. “I’d never play around with royal blood. After all… I was one of the anointed ones to serve you.” Ursula let out a loud cackle and it made Calleb grit his teeth in sheer frustration, obviously the witch was playing with them. And he did not like it one bit. She flicked a quick glance at Luntian, which surprised the Shaman after seeing how much Ursula had changed. “And you… my dear sister, Luntian. I’ve heard that you’ve been taking care of the young Prince ever since the day his parents died. Then… Why didn’t you tell him about me? About why his parents died. How many years have passed since that day? Hm? 600 years or more, perhaps?” “What is that twisted woman talking about, huh, Luntian.” Calleb growled through gritted teet
“Calleb, Accashia… run.” Luntian cracked, her throat being crushed by the powerful shaman’s power. It feels as if everything is a dream. The battle under the moon. The blood. The Shadows, the beast. And now… Luntian was dying. “Luntian!” Calleb screamed as he caught a glimpse of the ragged edge to the wound on the old Shaman’s neck. He could feel the bile rising from his stomach to his mouth when he saw the Wicked Witch’s long sharp nails piercing Luntian’s throat and slashing it until blood gushed out. His eyes widened when he saw the woman who raised him losing her life. No time to be scared, no time to be freaked out. He had to rescue the Old Shaman. “We have to help her. We have to help Luntian.” Calleb said with much conviction that his lips trembled. The young man was immense and focused on fighting and killing off the Shadows that he did not notice he was wounded as well. “We have to get to her, now!” “But how?!” Accashia asked as she raised her hand. Brandishing the sw
“Are you prepared to see your mother, hm, Calleb Shaldan.” Ursula told Calleb quietly, greeting the young prince with a cordial smile. Both Calleb and Accashia stood some distance away from the door of the castle where the Wicked Witch stood. Calleb’s eyes were burning with anger, and he was staring at Ursula with such killing intent that Accashia felt it on his soul. Calleb’s soul, which was a beautiful kaleidoscope color changed, and was laced with something dark. His anger was taking over him slowly. Accashia could hear from the distance how loud Calleb’s growl was. The young man cracked his knuckles and the sounds were loud and soft and shocking at the same time. “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done!” Calleb screamed aloud. And his voice reverberated around the center of the forest. Tears fell from his eyes, and in a swift motion he wiped off the tears away and his face contorted to something dark. Almost menacing. “I’m going to kill you!” “Yes,yes,yes… I’ve killed the poo
“You tricked me into it, you fooled me!” Accashia screamed like a deranged woman. Not because of anger, but because of guilt. Because whatever the Witch had thrown at her were all true. “You’re the one who tricked me and you’re the one who killed Luntian! You're the one who is guilty!” Calleb watched and witnessed first hand how the young lady ran towards the Wicked Witch’s direction. Everything happened in slow motion, like fire burning slowly and embers were dancing on the bonfire. Accashia’s eyes burnt with anger, and yet — the Wicked witch had a cold smile on her face. “Oh, Accashia… you’re as guilty as a rat. And I see it in your eyes. For that — you die, along with your mate!” There was a loud chiming sound and then the Wicked Witch flexed. With a resounding crack, she slammed her staff against the ground and fire began to combust on the dry, withered grass. The Wicked Witch vanishes from the gate as she lets out a loud cackle and only embers of the fire remain. Flicking, disa