The tunnel was silent. Everybody was on edge, clearly expecting another horde of hybrids to rush at them but it didn’t happen. Even so, they didn’t let down their guard, especially because they were making their way into the enemy’s lair. The witches did what they were good at and buffed the elite vampires, getting them ready for whatever they were going to face. They also cast a few spells of protection on Abigail.
Alex led them deeper and deeper into the Ziggurat until they saw light up ahead, signifying the end of the tunnel. They kept going and once they reached the open space at the end of the tunnel, everyone stared in awe at what was before them, except for Alex and Abigail.
Alex had already lived so long that nothing really surprised him in this life anymore except for his wife and as for Abigail, it was because this was the place she had seen in her latest dream, the one with the woman in black.
Alex stood before the group, as if to shield them for a surprise attack that didn’t come. When his gaze roamed the large area down below, he found the witch queen. She was shackled between them and the throne, encased in what looked like an ice crystal. It looked like the witch queen had cocooned herself.
When Alicia saw her, she gasped and her hand went to cover her mouth. She trembled slightly as the sight of her queen like that. Alicia knew that this was the state that queens put themselves in if they didn’t want their enemies to torture or extract information from them. That was a spell they used to protect their power and knowledge when they were held captive. It was a first tier spell and it was only to be used as a last resort because the price of that spell was death. Once she broke out of that cocoon, she would die. So she was right after all. Her queen was dying. This was the reason why she had been getting the queen’s powers slowly over time.
But even with the truth before her, Alicia still found it hard to believe that her queen was in this state! How? Why? Their queen was the most powerful witch in the land so how did it come to this? Just who was this creature that managed to firstly, capture her and secondly, to drive her to do this?
Alicia looked around but the place was empty, except for her queen. She then pushed her way to the front and was about to jump down to go to her queen but an arm held her back.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Riev questioned.
“I’m going to my queen,” Alicia replied with tears in her eyes. “I want to take her away from here. I want to take her back to where she belongs so she can… she can die with her people…” Alicia trailed off, her voice a mere whisper as she said those last words.
Riev didn’t know what to do because Alicia started to break down. Thankfully, Abigail moved towards Alicia and gave her a hug, freeing Riev from his predicament.
“It’s okay, Alicia. We will get her. I promise. We will take her back so don’t worry. I promise we won’t leave her,” Abi comforted.
Abi looked around the cave again as she held Alicia. Something felt off. She tried to recall the details from her dream to see if she could find why something felt odd. She remembered that the woman wearing the black veil had sat on that throne. Where was she? And where was the legion of hybrid vampires that she had seen in her dream?
Abi was starting to feel apprehensive because she couldn’t shake this feeling of dread that she felt in her bones. Her eyes were focused on Alex and her heart was beating so wild that she couldn’t speak anymore.
“Abi, what’s wrong?” Alicia said when she felt Abigail’s heartbeat accelerate, pulling away from Abigail’s embrace.
“Something isn’t right…” Abigail trailed off as she looked up at the vast, pitch dark ceiling. Wait a minute! This room was fully lit up in dream. The light should’ve reached the ceiling but it looked like a pitch dark sky. Why? Why was this different?
Abigail closed her eyes and she concentrated. The moment she heard their heartbeats, she called out to Alex. “Alex, they are up there!”
However, it was too late because by the time her words came out, Alexander was already standing by the witch queen, ready to take her from this place.
As the last word came out of her lips, the hybrids jumped down from the ceiling like falling spiders from above.
They fell on Alex like a dark, heavy net, covering him and the witch queen with their bodies. Many of the hybrids went for them as well and the battle ensued.
Abigail felt scared and she berated herself.
She could only look on in horror as the scene in her dream became reality. The horde of hybrids was here.
Abi gripped the sword in her hand but what should she do? There were too many of them. She looked down at Alex who was fighting the mob that surrounded him with his bare hands.
“Why is Alex not using his power to control the wind?” Abi exclaimed.
“He can’t. I think this is one of the reasons why the enemy chose this place. There is very little draft in this enclosed space and even if it were possible, if Alex uses too much strength, he could very well destroy the entire structure and bury us along with it. Plus, my queen is down there too. He would break her cocoon and kill her if he did that,” Alicia explained.
Everything that Alicia said made sense but it didn’t make her feel any better. Because she was here, Alex was forced to control his strength so that he didn’t destroy the building. They were at a disadvantage but that didn’t mean that Alex would be defeated, right?
