The Witch Within The Blood Of Grashalo Arc Part Four

 Hadistutt

When she had finally reached the exit of the labyrinth her eyes met a bizarre sight. She looked at the twisted silver trees with a curve at the mace like a chair where there was a single spike reaching up waiting to prick anyone who would dare to sit in the dip. The sharp holly shaped leaves were coal black with deep purple vanes and long purple thorns pulsed like a flat heart. The sky was a darker shade of purple with bright illuminous green misty clouds and scarlet stars. The ground looked as if it was made of white mud.

The air was moist and warm but the silence was cold and chilling. She could feel an eerie presence and pressure building in her ears like a strange silent drum like her ears were about to painfully pop. Her breathing had become difficult but not as difficult enough to slow her down. Almost like she was at the top of some high mountain. 

Despite this she could not help but feel a strange sense of nostalgia for some reason. She could not place why but he was feeling it nevertheless. Probably because of the fact that she was part of Grasharlo and that she came here, yet even still, her gut told her that this was not the case. She had to shake herself out of it.

Anyway, I have a mission to go on. She had to remind herself. She took her first step on the ground. She frowned as she suddenly felt like she had stepped on flour. She looked down to see that as she pulled her foot back and the place had just stepped on left a bright glowing green print behind. Then to her confusion the ground rose up like her foot had never been there!

She looked at it mildly shocked and became intrigued by this. She was about to put her hand on this but she shook her head and walked on, letting her instinct guide her. She walked on knowing that any ordinary person could easily get lost in this forest. She, after a while, saw the trees part to her left. She walked to the parting and her eyes met a long white path in between maroon grass that looked as each blade reflected like a mirror.

She kept going even though the air was getting thinner and thinner. This soon caused her to feel nauseous which became worse and worse. This also tools her that something bad was going to happen. Like her soul was remembering slithering that her mind was not ready to. She then heard the strange sound that sounded like a cross between a cry of a crow and a vulcher. She turned around to see a flock of strange birds with bright blue feathers and a slim majestic body and silver tallens and a bronze hooked beak and bright pink eyes. Sensing that she was the one that they would be after she started to walk quicker, hoping that they would not notice. It was not until she heard the beat of the wings getting dangerously close to her that she broke out into a run. She knew that they were far more dangerous than any ordinary birds of prey, for she knew who their creator was.

She looked back quickly, already knowing what to expect. She already found herself looking into their big circular eyes as they had locked onto her with a deadly determination that drowned out any and all distractions. She felt her foot fall and she fell onto the white path that felt like rubbery flesh. They farmed to her and drew their tallens in which she gripped. She then used them to pull herself up and off the strange ground. She threw some of them off her which landed on the grass and to her horror they dug into the birds like a blade! Yet this told her what to do. She whacked each of the birds into the grass. She then felt one of the birds dig into her shoulder with it's sharp talents. As she screamed she felt more scratches come again and again. She then felt the burning and her vision became blurry.

These birds are venomous!

She forced herself to focus as she hit bird after bird into the grass. However soon her vision became darker and darker when she hit the last bird all became black and she fell. Loc woke covered in sweat and with the sensation of sinking, yet she instantly found herself suffocating too. her eyes flung open with her vision filled with illuminous green. She tried to pull herself up but whatever she was sinking into was like putting pressure on doe. Doe that she was sinking into and unless she was able to do something very she would, no, she would not die, but she would have a worse fate than that. She could feel that it was encasing itself around her and it was already at her back! Her lungs cried out for air as she struggled to get free. She shook and shook as she tried to get it off her. She could feel that her heartbeat increasing and would have coughed if she could. Yet there was a great pressure in the bridge of her nose as her lips and jaws became pressed together. 

She started to see those black stas again as she felt the pressure build. She felt a great power build up within her like it did when she released the elemental shadow. She then released it and let it give way and she heard a bang. Soon she was in a pool of a glowing green liquid. She, to her shock felt the burning yet she knew that it was coming from the strange liquid that she was in. She quickly started to swim, she did that too as quickly as she could. Despite the pain that was going through her she forced her to go on, she will be able to regenerate anything that gets burnt away. She then gripped the edge and pulled herself up.

She, not not wasting any time, got to her feet and ran on the path, even though her chest was wheezy and needed for her to take a break so that they could recover, but she knew that she had no time for her to give into this. She could feel the liquid still burning her and the itching of her healing. She forced herself on and it took all her will to do so.

She soon came to a large castle and knew that this was the place to be. She focused on running to the castle but not on its look. When she reached the doors that looked like bat wings. She closed her eyes and felt that she was commanding them to open and when she opened her eyes she seemed to be already in! 

Her breath was rapid and she felt her legs give way underneath her and her lungs felt like they were about to throw up blood. So seeing that the best thing for her to do is to take a moment for her to calm down and regain her lost strength. Her body could still feel the burning, but she could feel that the strange liquid that had dried had stopped burning. 

She then looked up to see a set of glowing red eyes and silver teeth. She moved aside to where the neck was.

Get on the back. her thought told her. She lazily swung her arm on the back and climbed on. 

Now say…

"Fly me to the truth!" 

With that the dragon rose and outstretched its purple wings and flapped. It rose higher and higher until they rose above the castle. She looked down and saw twisted towns that stuck out of the ground at odd angles. They soon landed on the roof of another castle. Beside her was a staircase without any bannister, that descended like a small pit. 

She slid herself off the back of the dragon. She then walked calmly to them and started to climb down them. She summoned her flame and found that the stairs led to the middle of a large room. This meant that one wrong move would have her fall off the edge. Her head raised to see a scroll made of gold. Knowing that was where she should go, she walked down to the bottom. She stepped out, she could see a mirror image herself under her feet. She looked down and noticed that it was made from water. She could also spotted that, by the dark colour that the water was deep, very deep. Her gut sank as she spotted that there was a shadow moving in the deep depths.

Oh, hold on, that isn’t what I think that it is!

Yes it is.

How?

Trust me. Say a rhyme to get to the stepping stones. Then walk across like you own the place. 

Knowing that the advice was sound she sat there on the stairs and thinking. Looking at the sea serpent as it circled her. She saw that as it did it was getting closer and closer. She closed her eyes to try not to focus too much on that. Yet she could not help but open her eyes and she could see a few details now, like its crimson eyes and its body like that of a gigantic snake and to her horror it was looking directly at her. She knew what it wanted and how to put a stop to that. She forced herself to push that out of her mind, she had to focus. She had to come up with that life saving rhyme!

Stone, bone, cone, drone, no that won’t work. She thought as she went over to other words. Then she got it!

"By my blood and by my bones, 

Get me to my stepping stones!" She shouted.

Suddenly reflective circular slabs of black glass rose up. On the surface of each was a Celtic knot that was engaged into it. She knew that she had no time to dwell on the beauty of the rocks. She looked down to see that the sea serpent was so close to her that she felt chill just looking at it. She then looked up and skipped to the first stone she continued as she put on a bravado to signal that she belonged there. She was glad though, had she been a moment too late and she would have known what it would be like to be food going through the digestive system!

She, nor taking any chances, ran along the stepping stones and she noticed that she was getting higher and higher and she was getting closer and closer to the golden scroll. She reached out and took it. She looked back to see that the stairs were gone!

Now what?

Run along the Searent! Call him and run along his back to the top and then reward him by calling the debir flock!

She did not know who Searent was but she knew that she had nothing to lose so she knew what to do.

"Searent!" She shouted.

The sea serpent looked up at her with a look of recognition as he circled her and then waited for the stepping stones to sink. She also felt the stone that she was on also sink. She soon felt the ice cold water fill her shoes. She, despite this, felt strangely calm. She sank further and further until it came to her calf. That was when she felt whip the stepping stone under her feet and push her up. She looked down to see that she was standing on the head of the sea serpent.

So that's Searent.

They rose higher and higher and she was soon out of the room.

"Debir! Reward Searent!" She called as another flock of those birds rose up and raced to them.

Quickly get on Draganna!

Draganna?

The dragon!

Right. She soon was on her back as the swarm came closer and closer. Loc felt her heartbeat increased as they did. She,  for a moment tensed up as she wondered what to do next.

Say…

"Draganna get me to the castle!" She shouted.

Draganna looked back and nodded and ran and rose and flew as fast as she could away from the swarm but they were too slow. Part of the flock broke off from the group and were flying right behind! She saw that Searent snapped his jaws at the ones that stayed behind, but the ones that were chasing them were closing in faster than they expected.

"Come on! Go faster!" she shouted.

Draganna looked back and looked shocked and threw a few fireballs at the flock as she flew faster, which caused her hair to be dragged back by the wind. She got chills as the wind brushed against the back of her neck. She then took the inspiration from the dragon and threw her own fireballs at the flock. She, seeing that they were now a safe distance she turned back forward. Yet when she looked around she saw that there was a section of the debir had divided off and were closing in. Knowing that she had to do something before they got too close. She summoned more of her fire and shot fireball after fireball at them, but she was only able to kill three. She did this again and again and now four were dead. 

She saw the light ahead. She smiled as she felt her heart lighten as she knew that she was going to leave this freaky pocket world behind her. She then saw that there was the window where Morgan and Ringer were ahead. Draganna flew and broke the mirror that kept the world and the pocket world broke. She then pointed at them.

"There! Get them!" She shouted.

Nodding Draganna looked at them and dived down and plucked them off the ground like a vegetable and they flew to the air yot just in time. However one of them got in as Draganna flew off. She then flew a fireball at it.

"Loc, what was that?" Ringer demanded.

"Are you alright?" Morgan asked. "What is this?"

She was about to touch the green stuff that was on her. Loc caught her wrist.

"Don't, it'll hurt you." 

Morgan nodded as she pulled away meanwhile Loc gave it to Ringer.

"What? You didn't want to look first?"

"I didn't want to."

Ringer nodded as he broke the red seal. He opened the scroll. His eyes looked at the silver writing and then he dropped the golden page. He looked at her with rage and anger. Loc felt her heart sink as her fears had been confirmed as he looked at her as if she was dirt.

"What does it say Sir?" She asked, her voice hollow. She suddenly felt like she did not want to know, yet her curiosity was too strong. She bit her lip as she felt the tears come.

"Have a look for yourself!" He said as he kicked the page to her.

She read the scroll and her eyes widened as the years came. She dropped it and felt cold and dirty.

"Sir!"

"N-no, he-he's right to."

"Why, what does it say?" 

She tried to control herself as she picked it up.

"I-I'm, Grasharlo, is the daughter of Dark Master Lord Gajellidor Darcrogh! I'm a monster!" She wept as she gave her the page. She looked at her in the eyes.

"No, no. You listen to me Loc, you are not her! You are Loc! Daughter of Megan,  my twin and Joseph!" She snapped.

"But I-"

"I don't care! That is not you!" She then turned to Ringer. "Tell her!"

"No, she is right. Oh I have been such a fool! Emotion of Grasharlo from now on,  you will be my prisoner and you will never leave my headquarters. Do you understand?" He ordered.

She nodded.

"Tell me at least this at least,  will this help defeat my sisters and avenge their deaths?" She asked, not even feeling worthy of calling her parents, her parents.

"That is none of your concern any longer." He said as they flew off.

WW

The flock of debir flew and explored the new world that they had found themselves in. Some found a murder of crows, others a conspiracy of ravens, others found a Parliament of magpies and bread with them. They were called the decroth, derraeth and the depieth and they were worse that their parents...