Chapter 12 

Age of Solstice, 16:71

Tulasquss, Drazul's Plane

Drazul dragged the traitor to the audience room and threw her across the floor. Whisper came up from behind a few moments after, staying near the entrance. Drazul was seething,

"You will tell me all you know."

The girl was coughing from nearly being strangled. As soon as she breathed in, she began to hiss through her teeth,

"I will not!"

Drazul briskly paced towards the girl, pulling her up by the hair as she made her way to sit on the throne. She laughed, mocking her until she sat down. She pulled the girl's head by her hair to force her to peer up at her,

"From the moment you were discovered, you had no choice."

As she finished her words, Drazul closed her eyes. Pink lightning emerged from her fingers of her free hand. She raised her free hand and placed her palm on the girl's forehead. After a moment, pink lightning began to engulf the girl, as Drazul scourged through her mind as she peered within. However, her screams began to fade as the memories drowned her out. Drazul could see a crowd of folk gathering and a priest speaking. The girl saw him summon an ethereal creature, a humanoid that looked androgynous with hair that glowed and feathered wings of white. This creature emanated a golden light from it, and cheers could be heard from the crowd. The priest referred to these creatures as 'true angels,' insulting the Tuldararians. From there, the girl approached the priest and began her initiation into the cult of Jakosh. Drazul scowled in disgust at how easily she was fooled to abandon her Goddess.

Afterward, Drazul saw the priest taking his newly found followers with him to a hidden villa. It appeared to be somewhere within Calcette, or perhaps Kadess. The girl couldn't see how they arrived there; only that she blinked, and they were suddenly there. Drazul scrunched her face in thought,

'Teleportation magic? No. There's no way it could be so fast. Unless the caster is a master. Let alone one that knows Green magic.'

Drazul knows there shouldn't be any master's left within the Dark Fellowship. After all, she murdered them. Masters were the 'Mothers' of the Dark Fellows simply because they were powerful, nothing more. Of course, they were mostly consisting of men who were hungry for more power. She shook her head and continued through the girl's mind, finding that she had been visiting the cult for the last three months before divulging who she was and her coven. The priest escorted her to a man whose back was facing her. After exchanging words with the priest, the priest turned to face the girl, introducing her to the famed Jakosh. The man turned around, flashing a devilish smile across his face as he approached her--

--Drazul's eyes opened, feeling an old familiar fear come over her as she recognized the man before her.

Whisper was still standing at the throne room's entrance, watching them from afar. Whisper watched as Drazul's face shifted as she was going through the girl's mind, contorting into many different expressions as the seconds went by. The girl's screams were still loud, making Whisper absently cover her ears. She closed her eyes as the girl's eyes were rolling back into her skull and blood began to fall over her face from her eyes and ears. After minutes had passed, Mother Xiāo returned to Whisper's side, her makeup newly applied and her dress tidied. Mother Xiāo's face was pained but she knew she had to abandon her daughter for she knew not to meddle with death. Mother Xiāo entered the room, Whisper in tow as Drazul's power continued, unwavering.

Until Drazul's eyes opened, there was an audible gasp that echoed in the room. Drazul let go and dropped the girl, the girl landing in a loud thump as she hit the floor. Mother Xiāo contained herself from attending to her daughter because Drazul's face was shadowed by her hair but she could hear her take a heavy breath before standing.

Drazul felt an overwhelming sense of fear, fear she had once known and forgotten. She was going over the memory over and over as she saw the man who she loathed with all her being.

The land within the grove began to quake violently as pink lightning began to strike the floor of the room randomly in swift intervals from her core. Whisper tripped and fell on her bum; Mother Xiāo turned to assist her and make a run for the exit. The girl was limp on the floor, but she felt the room quake and thought, for a moment, she could run and escape. However, when she tried to stand, an excessive amount of force fell on her, keeping her tethered to the ground. Drazul was now hovering above the throne, trying to understand what transpired and attempting to control her emotions as the room was nearly becoming rubble. Her eyes were wide and full of panic as she was going over her own memories of what transpired during her ascension.

She clearly remembers burning that man, but her memories are blurred, and she cannot recall much of what happened that night besides the core memory of her dancing among the flames. The idea of him somehow living for the past nine hundred centuries put Drazul over the edge. She felt her anger reach a level of venom she hadn't felt in centuries,

"NOOOO!"

Mother Xiāo took Whisper and began to bark orders at her coven to remain outside and away from the palace. Drazul's power began to lash out around her; sparks of lightning and fire began to line the palace. After a time, Drazul slowly landed on solid ground, dropping to her knees feeling nothing but anguish as she cried angrily. She bent her chest over her knees, crying out in pain. Pain she never wanted to revisit. She slammed a fist on the floor in front of her, denting it from the sheer force of her telekinetic powers. The ground gradually stopped quaking as she calmed down. Her breathing was haggard as she tried to maintain composure.

Whisper felt the ground gradually stop and ran towards the palace, hoping Drazul was alright. When she ran down the corridors, she got closer to the throne room, seeing it within sight. It was destroyed; half of the walls barely stood and the floor partially collapsed. Debris was everywhere, and the dust of it all made it hard to look into the room as the flames surrounding them did not falter. Whisper closed her eyes, and again, strained herself,

'Drazul! Where are you! Are you okay?'

Whisper suddenly felt tired but tried her hardest to remain awake. As the dust was mingling in the air, Drazul was standing at the center of the room, the girl behind her anchored to the floor,

'I...am fine.'

Drazul's voice was tired; she could hear the somber tone in her voice. Whisper exhaled feeling relieved, unknowingly holding in her breath. Whisper found herself severely fatigued, falling to one knee as she struggled to stay standing,

'I can't...'

Whisper fainted before she could finish her sentence, falling on her side. Drazul turned and found Whisper's body appear as the dust settled. Immediately, her powers cleared the dust as she quickly ran to Whisper, her fear and panic still lingering. She took Whisper in her arms, fearing she had harmed her.

After a few moments of scanning her for injuries, she sighed in relief that she did not hurt Whisper with her power. Whisper had merely fallen asleep. Steps could be heard in the distance. slowly getting louder as they approached. It was Mother Xiāo. She turned her head to peek into the entrance and found Whisper in Drazul's arms. She briskly made her way to them both,

"Dreamwalker!"

Drazul took Whisper up into her arms as she stood and handed her to Mother Xiāo,

"Take her. I shall be out shortly."

Before Mother Xiāo could speak further, Drazul turned and headed towards the girl. Mother Xiāo's expression twisted before she turned to leave.

The girl watched as Drazul slowly approached her. She felt fear overcome her as she struggled feebly under the weight of Drazul's power. Drazul raised her hand, a claw to the sky, forcing the girl to rise into the air and struggle. Drazul forced the girl over the flames near the throne, making her dress catch fire. The girl began to scream as she felt the searing heat crawl up her body, her desperation useless as she violently whipped her body to come loose. Drazul watched her burn for a long time, watching her body burn to a crisp before her arm fell to her side. The girl has now been dealt with.

Drazul felt extremely overwhelmed with anger. However, she felt most angry at herself, believing for so long that her buried pain was dealt with centuries past. To think she'd be forced to see this man's face once more. It left her feeling worse and bitter. She felt the ache in her chest, her pained memories surfacing against her will. Again, she feels death beckoning her as it once used to, but even if she tried, it'd be in vain.

Feeling severely emotionally drained, she turned to leave what was left of the throne room, finding Mother Xiāo in one of the residing buildings nearby that was least affected by her powers.

Whisper was laid on a bed as Mother Xiāo sat on the floor upon a seat cushion, her arms leaning against the table beside. Drazul approached them, taking her seat at the foot of the bed beside Whisper. Mother Xiāo watched Drazul closely before breaking the silence,

"Dreamwalker, I must ask, what did you see?"

Drazul's disgust and anger could not be hidden as she thought of the memories,

"I saw Jakosh."

Mother Xiāo, perplexed, pressed her for more information,

"Who was this Jakosh? Is he of the Dark Fellowship?"

Drazul felt the breeze come in from the open door as she sighed,

"It seems a Master still lives among the Dark Fellows."

Drazul's voice faltered from the incredulity of it. The man she saw go by the name of Jakosh was once known as Master Cyrin. He was the trigger that spiraled her world, her life, into what it has become now. Hate was all she had for him, and now herself. To think he survived her ascension. Drazul cannot fathom how it is to be possible. She's going over every possibility in her mind, going over her centuries of knowledge for an inkling of a clue but to no avail. She remembers targeting him first with her powers that night, but...how on earth could he have survived?

Her mind is racing from the adrenaline. There is no way he could survive, and even if he had, he could not have lived as long as she has, unless...

Drazul paused and ran her hand over her face, her hand hanging over her mouth as her mind goes over it all repeatedly.

'A God? No. If he were a God, he would have made himself known sooner among the Circles centuries ago. Perhaps he found a way to cheat death? Immortality, even?'

Drazul could only speculate. Not only could she not learn the ways of their new magic but instead learned of the existence of an old enemy. She was livid. Her leg was restless as she pondered the situation. She turned to Mother Xiāo,

"Summon the White Ring and the rest of your Circle. Tell them to report here urgently. We must all meet at once. There is much to discuss and prepare."

Mother Xiāo nodded,

"Yes, Dreamwalker."

As she left the room, Drazul took her seat on the floor, feeling the weight of the day on her mind and shoulders. Her whole body felt heavy, and she felt the stress ring in her head. While nothing is making sense and her confusion is worse than when she had arrived, she knows one thing she must do.