The next morning, an eerie silence settled over the mountain of Woodland. The extensive howling sound of the unnatural wind ceased in unison. Birds of prey and land predators stalking their next meal froze in place as though aware of the great unknown power, appearing from above the mountains. The sounds, the movement, all the signs of life that filled the dawn light just halted. The wildlife knew what was happening.
The mountain on the right side of the cottage stood above the valley of the northernmost tip of the Icy Cave Mountain. It was the tallest peak in the area. Crowned with snow most of the quarter of the year and was known for its heavy dew and its evergreen trees that peppered the region.
Lady Kristy gestured towards Catherine to the garden shed, then she took Catherine's hand and pointed into the little stool. They sat and talked about their next plan. "Catherine I think you should know by now about your healing ability."
"What hea
Maybe it was them showing respect, or maybe they were too eager to look at what was coming. Lady Kristy believed that Dave's soul left his body like a gust of air, and the most important thing was to bring his body to the underworld as fast as possible, so his soul could get there safely. His body was anointed in oil and wrapped in a shroud, a coin was placed under his tongue to be given to the ferryman of the underworld river, the boundary between their world and the underworld. Together with the other fallen, they buried them under the heat of the afternoon sun.Jerome's men were wearing a fresh cream wool sweater. The silence settled as they entered the little shed in the center of the garden one by one, paying their respect.Sean held Catherine's shaky hand the whole time. She wiped her tears onto her sleeve and lounged on his shoulder. All the memories came flooding back like a tidal wave. Dave's face seemed so alive and happy, and she couldn't
Lady Kristy stared out over the slaughter and for the initial moment in her life, after her father King Anjo, animosity towards her and her bother Andrie, she felt the loss of human life. She simply desired to help the Mark that kept her still, silent and sane. She saw war before, and she knew the death of many, but this was beyond the measure of war, beyond destruction, scorn, and waste. It was a bloodbath, a message, and an unmistakable declaration of war. Less than a month before, she sent someone to warn the nearby village to move. She advises them to prepare to evacuate their homes. She tried to make them understand that the village and the castle were too sprawling and too open to be defensible. Not only that, but she was even allowed to accept those who would come to security. None listened, and they would not believe her.However, during the earlier battle, all the safety that a structure provided evaporated, and it started the mass destruction of the opposition. It wa
Catherine wakes suddenly, every thought in sharp definition. Her eyes draw in every glimmer of tiny light from the luminous lamp and she realized she would have slept too long. When she recognized, she wasn't in Sean's guess room. She searched for her surroundings. Catherine lay there, keeping her eyes closed, matching her breaths to the beeping of the machines that hemmed in the bed, the mere reminders of her pulse, her existence. Her limbs were dull.Curiosity pried open her drowsy eyes to see a dismal view of a magnolia gold-painted room."Sean?. Oh my god, why are we back? No no!" Though Catherine's eyes were clear she couldn't determine why; her heart was pounding, her mind was empty. It's as if a hypodermic of adrenaline has been drained into her carotid. Her dream ended as it disturbed her back into reality. Her eyes opened, her eyelashes batting against her lids when she squinted. "Sean?" She whisper
The next few hours would either pass as a blip during her grief, or they would be the final trauma that broke Catherine. Sean held her hands while he was retailing everything to Nathan.“What? Dave was dead?” Nathan shouted.“Yes,” Sean answered.“I'm sorry, Catherine,” Nathan replied. The heaviness was in his limbs as much as his mind. Things he used to find funny now only caused a deepening of the pain. Nathan
"What...? Your father?" Catherine asked."Yes!" he answered back with a rage-filled voice, he was seething with hatred. Sean was angry with his father, he knew, but the latter doesn't care about it. Sometimes he'd envision doing some unpleasant things to him. Yet, he didn't, after all, he was still his father yet, his body tightens up, and he has to purposely keep his jaw open to avoid clenching and grating his teeth."How?" Catherine trailed off. "-You're Walton." She can feel the revulsion in his tone and Catherine wondered what made him feel that way towards his father. Dr. Miller was her only friend when she was a teenager, the only one who gave her enough trust and confidence. Yet, Sean's hatred towards him overwhelmed her even further.His contempt was such an abomination, destruction of what should be appropriate. Catherine had never experienced strong hatred before, except where love was betrayed or damaged in some manner.
“How about we leave now?" Sean trailed off. Oblivious to the fact that Catherine was struggling to make him feel better. “We can try again, maybe we won't end up in Cold Mountain?”Catherine knew he was working on distracting her by suggesting to travel back to the Land of Nod. If he needs time to open up his heart further, then she will give him enough chances to contemplate his feelings. She realized it had hurt him so and she doesn't want him to feel even more obliged to confiding her everything.“That's a good idea, should we sleep here or in the Nodders device?”“No, let's try here, Nasir is the nodders device fix yet?” Asked Sean.“Not yet Mr. Walton, maybe a couple of an hour or more, for now, we should seek the conventional way.” Nasir trailed off, glancing at Catherine, “are you sure about this?”.“Yes, Mr. Nasir.”“Okay then, let's start. You two on hurry up.”“So let me get th
There was a stake being jabbed into Catherine's lower back, the assaults radiating pain in a way that shatters her brain — or at least that's what it feels like. She lay so still, breathing shallow. Her entire body was throbbing, and it was unbearable wherever anything touched her skin, and her vision was low contrast and “gray.” Difficult to concentrate on everything. Catherine attempted to pull herself up off from the frigid floor, but her body didn't want to hold her weight. They strumbled and dropped around as she had never used them before.“Sean, dammit.! Everything hurts.” She trailed off, glancing towards Sean. "Hey. Are you okay? Sean? Are you awake?” Catherine lightly nudged him awake.“I'm in pain, oh shit I'm in so much pain,” Sean murmured. He gave her a shushed gesture warning and stepped up slowly. They heard the wind in sync with the dropping water on the wall.“What the fuck happened? Dammit… Where are we?” He
Smashing into a shrub with enough force that black dots danced in front of Catherine's vision, her collarbone and shoulder bringing shooting pain through her body, as she could hear her shoulder making a sickening crack on impact. Her head and shoulder jerking at a weird angle into the shrub roots. Her eyesight began blurring, grains and sands were more extensive, the wind has a sandy type than dirt, when, besides fine particles obscuring her visibility, a considerable amount of larger sand particles were driven closer to the surface enveloping them.It blew the dust storm finer particles from a long distance, the sand storm affects the entire desert land. The air forced downward was pushed forward by the front of a thunderstorm, dragging sand and debris with it, as it travels across the terrain."Everyone, do not panic," shouts Queenie.She knew it was very dangerous to navigate through a sandstorm since their ability to see ahead can be obs