Chapter 16: Chapter 15

The Outer rim of the Macrian sea 30 km from the ruin of Necropolita

Evgenia's vague anxiety grew the further away they traveled from the city, her stomach twisting with fear of their destination. They stopped by a deserted beach where the waves crashed against the sandy shore.

She looked down at the dark brown ocean, it was almost pitch black due to the lack of moonlight shining over the surface of the water but a faint sliver of light reflected across it creating an eerie reflection,

Evgenia shivered as she thought about how the night was filled with countless ghosts dancing upon the waves waiting for the day when they can finally enter the world they came from and roam free. But as the days went by, the spirits seemed to decrease.

The waves slowly faded as the sun rose higher in the sky revealing a grey cloudless horizon that made the area appear even darker as if it was never truly illuminated.

The sea seemed to be restless however as it moved restlessly from side to side as if it were breathing, Evgenia wondered why until she felt herself being pulled backward. 

Suddenly the voices came back asking her to kill to run to slaughter.

"No, I don't want to!" Evgenia screamed

"What, What's the matter?" The sudden scream scared the entire camp as they stirred and became alter with their staffs and rings pointed in every direction ready to face whatever threat.

 was present

Evgenia's fear instantly evaporated as she saw the faces of the magic masters and their companions

Her eyes scanned around her as the rest also saw their comrades' concerned faces, they quickly calmed themselves, however, the expressions on theirs changed from confusion to worry.

"What happened?" One asked, his eyes fixed on Evgenia.

She sighed and shook her head.

"Nothing."

The magic master frowned at her reply but said nothing as she motioned for her to continue talking.

"Well... I saw something strange,"

The magical masters all stood still.

"You mean in the water?" The blonde mage asked.

"Yeah..."

"It's been a while since anyone came across something new so... What was there?" Another magician questioned.

"Its... It's huge! It was like this..." she paused.

"like this?" the second magician asked in confusion.

"Like this... As if... It was... There is so much water, there was even some fish and..." before she could find the proper words someone shouted.

"Oh shit! Someone is coming!"

Everyone in camp went on full alert once again as they saw half a dozen people appear in the clear night sky

, the lights from their torches lighting up the sea, which made the place glow as if lit up by the stars

"Stay down" the mage commanded.

"No... We need to fight" Evgenia insisted.

"There is no point in fighting they are Vladym and her daughters" another woman responded.

the group instantly relaxed

They were right, Evgenia realized as the women descents from the sky and landed right in front of her she recognized their leader and mentor Vladym, she was tall and slender like a woman of ancient time; her long white hair fell from her shoulders in soft wispy curls. her body was slim, and her skin was pale white, the same color as the moonlight that was glistening upon her, her mystical cape floating around her slender figure giving her a mysterious aura.

Vladym looked around the circle of women, her blue eyes flashing dangerously, the spell slingers looked afraid and fearful.

"How is the city? how were my parents?" Evgenia questioned.

Vladym's stern eyes softened as she gently shook her head

"All dead the entire city was razed by the council dogs" she replied in a soft sad voice

"all dead.." Evgenia muttered she felt

 tears welling up in her eyes. she didn't believe it, she wasn't allowed to believe it because they promised to protect the city

"I am going to burn them alive!" she yelled.

Her friends immediately looked at her and nodded their heads urging her not to anger the powerful sorceress,

"I am goin......" before she could finish her next words she fainted

**************

Vladym looked with a heavy heart at the unconscious woman, her red lips slightly parted with breath coming out in thin puffs and her eyes shut tightly. Vladym sighed deeply and then looked up.

her sisters and daughters were standing right beside her.

She gave her eldest a cold smile "it seems my decisions were wrong just like you told me" she whispered under her breath.

"You must listen to me mother the eldest, Masha, said softly as she held Vladyms arms, tears filling her eyes, "you mustn't do this, we are all here for you. you have us.."

Vladym stared back in a trance before nodding her head slowly  "I have lost so many of my children, all of them and they cannot come to me.. I have lost so many innocent men and women, and for what" she continued as tears ran down her cheeks "such death destruction and pain...I am ashamed!"

A tear dropped onto the floor between the pair as Vladym looked back at the young woman with sorrow-filled greenish blue eyes

the eldest sister wiped her tears away with a soft cloth made out of air.

"I know mother I know but we need to keep moving otherwise their sacrifice would be for naught" Kseniya another one of her daughters said in a stern voice causing Vladym to sober up as she bottled up her feelings of grief and sorrow

"What do we do now?" Svetlana her second in command asked concerned for her mentor.

Vladym looked out at the ocean as a lone tear rolled down her cheek

"...we move on"

*******************************

As soon as the winter began to recede, and the snow and ice freed the land, Leonid headed to the Sleeping Marsh, which had already become familiar to him. In the spring it was dangerous there - the overflowing swamps took most of the paths into their possession, and the rest became limp and spread, drawing into their depths everything that lingered on the vicious magic.

 

But Leonid had no choice either. It was in the spring that the Marsh parted, opening a passage to one of the lands that were untouched by the magics, One of the few places where it would be safe.

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He walked through the marsh slowly, feeling the mud squishing beneath his boots

when the ground leveled off he walked on top of the mud until he reached the middle of the field, there stood a stone castle of dark stone.

 Signposts and amulets after the winter were lopsided and flew around from their places,

"you will have to return here later, fix them," he thought - these were the only true landmarks and protection for travelers exploring these places.

When he got close enough, he removed his cloak and draped it over his shoulder to stop his cloak from getting soaked by the constant mist. He entered through the gate at the entrance, a large metal door made entirely of iron. The doors handle was carved with the likeness of the great beast that guarded the gates and on each corner were runes that lit the way.

his legs were buried in the champing liquid, the magician had long removed his cloak and wrapped it around his waist, regretting three times that he had not left it at all the swamp's stuffiness still did not let him freeze even in the still frosty air that froze his balls, as his trousers seemed to be completely stiff from the drying mud. The curls fluffed up in the humid air and the stinky miasma climbed out from under his clothes, sticking to his sweaty forehead, cheeks, and neck.

“ Well, traveling to the Slough has never been easy, but this is ridiculous. - The magician muttered under his breath, trying to pacify his raging hair, casting household spells on them, learned from the girls back in their school years. Those, however, quickly flew off, crushed by the atmosphere of a magicless place.

His mystic sapphire ruby ring was warm on his finger was ever ready with enough mana to burn the entire marsh, and his body was tense like a stretched string, taking even more strength to worry, spiraling the already difficult breathing.

His magic felt the hostile energy of the Marsh and tried to protect their owner, seething through the veins, ready to break at any moment.

“ Whoever thought to live here to stay was bloody mad” the magician spat to himself before walking into the dark, wet fortress.

Talking to myself was distracting and soothing.

Questions, although rhetorical, helped to occupy his mind, and caused him not to think about the fact that he still had almost two-thirds of the way more to go, and his limbs ached like anything as protested every time he moved by shooting tremendous pain down his spine.

not to mention the swamps today were deadly quiet - you couldn't hear anything, not the undead creatures, nor the magical plants you can’t even hear the wind or the swaying of the leaves.

- I should have brought larka with me. At least something would chirp, anything better than this oppressive silence.

Leonid quickly drove the thought away, as soon as she appeared.

Although the young druid was here, in the middle of the windbreaks, she was

 not a part of this world. She was an outsider, she was the first Druid Leonid had met in a while that was actually outside of the realm of spirits. Her presence always brought a sense of comfort and safety.

The young druid's bright green eyes sparkled every time she saw him. They seemed to dance with life; a deep sadness filled those beautiful eyes whenever Leonid saw her.

"Hey hey look, the monster is still here!" she cried excitedly and pointed at him happily jumping up and down excited to see him again.

Leonid smiled fondly at her as he waved back before walking over to her and kneeling next to her

He put his arm around her shoulder

"Hello again dear" he murmured lovingly looking at her sweet face

the druid grinned as she leaned against him.

"I knew it was you! I saw you when you came in through the gates" she replied enthusiastically as if she remembered that day

Leonid chuckled lightly at her childlike enthusiasm,

“Why were you looking so sad? I hope I'm not scaring you” he joked

the girl laughed happily and shook her head as she tilted it to the side with her small delicate hands on her hips,

“No! You are not scaring me at all! I am just happy to finally see you again!" the young girl giggled and threw herself into his arms as she hugged him tight

he chuckled and rubbed her head lovingly

"I missed seeing you too" he replied affectionately as he looked back to the forest nervousness evident in his eyes  "but now isn't exactly the best of times, I am running out of time can you take to the slough again dear..." He  added nervously

the young girl frowned "Why? What happened?" she questioned worriedly

"Don't worry I'll be fine" he reassured her

"but I want to stay with you" the girl stated stubbornly

Leonid gave her a warm smile "I'm glad you're so brave" he murmured kissing her forehead "but please take me to your father please, otherwise I would get into trouble".

"No" the young girl pouted stubbornly and tightened her hold on him "you're a friend, you won't get in trouble"

she then released him, but her expression turned serious as she looked him in the eyes

"you have my word though, you can trust me!" she said in a determined voice

"I believe you" the young man sighed with a small smile as he ruffled her brown curls  "Alright I believe you" he answered, chuckling softly and putting a hand over her head before placing his other one under the crook of her elbow

they both stood up and turned towards the lake.

“Let's go!” the girl exclaimed and started running.

Leonid followed along as fast as his tired body could carry, but the faster they went, the more fatigue overtook him but he took out a vile from a pouch hanging at his waist and drank it in one gulp, and pushed through following her footsteps, he soon caught up with her, running beside the little girl until they arrived in front of an ancient ruined temple made out of black stones.

The temple was tall and imposing, a tower reaching high above its walls and the windows were made out of solid black marble, but the structure was crumbling, with many cracks running all across the building.

The roof caved in and what remained was a pile of rubble.

The ground was littered with broken bones, dried blood, and bits of the flesh of various animals scattered among the debris. But what attracted Leonid’s attention was the huge gaping hole between the two towers where the floor had collapsed in

"You know we shouldn’t be here…" the druid said quietly

"We're not here because we don’t belong here" he corrected her and pulled out the crystal from his pocket "I've found some answers to my problems in here,” he told her, pointing at the crystal

the young woman looked at him confused

“What do they tell you?” she asked

"My destiny lies inside that crystal..." Leonid started speaking

"So... what are we doing here? I don't understand" she asked looking around confused as she grabbed her staff

"he is here to steal my foolish daughter" un natural voice sounded like two rocks crunching called out as a figure emerged from the swamp. A hooded figure, dressed in a black robe covered his entire body. From below his robe, a pair of glowing yellow eyes showed through a slit.

"Father" the young druid called out

Leonid's skin prickled when his gaze met this strange person.

"so human you have finally shown your true colors," the strange person said with a sinister voice that sounded as if multiple were trying to speak at once.

"You will come with us willingly now" hissed another voice behind him, making Leonid spin around to find himself face to face with a very tall man with sharp teeth, the teeth gleaming menacingly, his hair shaded in a blueish white color.

Leonid prepared his mind as he knew a battle was about to ensue.

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