Eternally Bound: Part 6
----- Revisitation -----
"I don't like it," Ember grumbled. The women had arrived to the previous location of the vault, after having used the teleportation crystal to the Dejarin lands in Elona. It was an arduous trek afterwards to arrive at their final destination, and Ember was already convinced they had traveled the entire way for no reason. While she didn't doubt Paige's sincerity and research on the topic, she questioned if returning to a place that almost cost each member of their party their very lives, was the correct course of action.
Paige breathed heavily, setting her satchel down. It was full of books and scrolls which may be needed, if the situation turned sour. The woman was nothing, if not prepared.
Demitra had been quite the entire way, only thanking Paige, Ember and Ari, for their dedication and assistance. While the woman longed to discuss her future with Ember, she also knew Ember's mind, as stubborn as it was, had arrived at the conclusion, and was steadfast on keeping that decision, until proof presented itself. Demitra could almost curse herself for planting the thought in her lover's head, but knew she had done the right thing by confessing.
"Here is where the vault was, when we last saw it. I know," she said, seeing Ember's frowning face, "It's gone now, but I believe that we can channel its location, or the very entrance itself, by using the torch and…" She looked to Demitra.
"And through me," Demitra said hesitantly. The thought of her exploding and taking each woman with her wouldn't find its way out of the Demitra's head. Uncharted territory, she knew her own magic was powerful; the Djinn magic which coursed through her, however, was on a level she still couldn't quite comprehend. It was this power that caused the fear she'd sensed in Ember, and perhaps the very same that caused her lover to withdraw. And, Demitra hated admitting to herself, perhaps it was warranted.
Ari and Paige seemed convinced the evidence of the infantile drake's death was from something other than her magic. Demitra wanted to believe this, but, given just how little she knew about her powers, she simply couldn't be sure. The Djinn of the floating sanctuary had turned the woman away, leaving her to search for answers on her own, and she discreetly worried the Djinn of the vault would still not provide answers.
"Demitra?" Paige had a sympathetic face at the woman's contemplation. In their time together, she had never seen the woman lost to her thoughts - she always seemed to be operating on many different levels. Perhaps her mind worked differently than normal human beings? It was one of many questions Paige desired to understand, but moreover, Demitra was her friend (Djinn or not), and the dark-skinned woman with poofy hair vowed to help her. She cleared her throat, trying again. "Demitra, are you ready?"
"Let's just get it over with," Ember blurted.
Ari also shifted awkwardly. "You sure the torch is the key, Lady Paige?"
"It is my hope since it has ties to the place, and Demitra's, 'Djinniness,'" Paige used Ember's nickname to try to lighten the mood. "Well, I think it has merit. But, I'm going to need total concentration. Demi, do what you must." Paige said to the worried woman with a reassuring smile.
At once, sand exploded from Demitra's gauntlets, began to interact with the torch-fire. A ring of fire and sand formed and swirled around Paige. Demitra tried to pull herself back, but couldn't. "I… I can't control…"
Ember pulled her sword of fire, ready to pounce on any adversary, when the flames shaping the sword began to reach toward the torch, just as Demitra's bracers had done. All three artifacts glowed a vibrant golden, pulsating with energies.
"Hey! My sword!" Ember tried pulling it back, almost losing her grip. She glanced to Demitra, whose arms were outstretched, a look of perplexity on her face as the bracers poured forth shards of glass, sand and smoke. All elements were focused into the torch which suddenly erupted, energies knocking all the women from their feet. In place of the torch was an orb of swirling sands, crystal shards, and fire. It dove down toward Paige, who narrowly rolled out of the way, impacted the area where she once stood, and sent up columns and waves of loose sand and dust.
A moment later, Ari was the first back to her feet. "Look!" she exclaimed pointing where Paige had been.
As the dust settle around the site, Paige saw a towering doorway looming over her. It had no joining wall, simply an arch with an old wooden door attached. One could stand on the other side of the arch and see the same, both leading magically into what lurked within.
"The vault!" Paige gasped. "I… I hadn't thought it was going to just… materialize like that… (I mean, sure I had my assumptions, but…)" The magical fires of her torch were extinguished, as it lay on the ground at the doorstep. She grasped the handle and it sparked back to life. "To quote a book I know, 'Curiouser and curiouser…'"
Ember stood, retrieved her sword which also ignited at her touch. "Well, I'll be damned. Never thought I'd see this place again, eh Demitra?" She glanced at her side where Demitra lay immobile, hair of white. "Demitra!" Ember ran to her companion's side, lifting her up. "Are you alright?"
Demitra blinked differential blue and green eyes, either stunned from Ember's reaction or from the blast. "I… I am, now, dear heart," she said with a weak smile. "W-What event has transpired?" With Ember's assistance she sat up, reveling in the sight. "It is… our vault, Ember!"
"And mine," Paige said before she realized she had. Her cheeks darkened. "A-all of ours, I mean to say."
Demitra raised an eyebrow, a thought occurring. "All of ours, indeed. Paige, your torch and Ember's sword… and my vessel as well. It seemed they all were the key."
"Vessel? You mean your bracers?" Paige was already scrutinizing the archway. It held runes which she couldn't decipher, writing that had bugged her since the first appearance of the vault's entrance.
"Aye," Demitra stood, held up her gloves. "These were gifted to me by my mentor, long ago. They… They were not from the vault. My mentor was a Djinn, to be certain, but he was the one who bestowed upon me these gauntlets which trapped me within, once my transformation began. I am inexplicably bound to them; this I have come to understand, yet… They were not from the Vault."
Ember tilted her head. "I mean, they were once in the vault when we went inside."
"True, love, but what I mean is that… Paige, your torch: it was in the room designated for you, correct? And Ember: yours was also in the room awaiting you. My chamber had a chest of sand. I do not understand it yet, but it had something to do with my…"
"Djinniness?" Ember grinned.
Paige rolled her eyes. "Ember, please. So why are my torch and Ember's sword so special? And all you got was sand, yet your bracers were somehow tapped when I performed the ritual to call forth this door?" The woman was already starting to pace. "And, there was a fourth door in the vault, too."
"The fourth door is our objective. I wish to consult with the Djinn inside, since those of the sanctuary refuse me. 'Not pure'," she said wrinkling her nose at the slight.
"What does that even mean? That you were once a human, and so now you're not pure?" Ember tried to align the pieces.
"I know not… I…."
Ari yelled, "The doorway! We gotta hurry!" The arch had begun to fluctuated, threatening to dissipate.
Demitra stood ran and leaped into the doorway so quickly, the other women had little time to debate. They followed her. Ari fell on her haunches as the doorway repelled her. Demitra, Ember and Paige stood within, looking outward.
"Ariadne? Are you alright?" Paige called out.
The woman sat up, shaking her head from the dizziness. "I am, Lady Paige, but I don't think I can come with you."
"Understood, Ari. Stay to guard the entranceway, if you would. See that nobod-" Paige's words faded from Ari's ears as the entranceway vanished.
"Well, that's that. We stuck in here now? Always knew I'd go out unceremoniously," Ember shrugged. She held up her sword for the light, looking around.
The room was in the same condition as when any of the women last saw it. Cobwebs decorated the walls and a few empty crates and large chests stood in the corner. The structural integrity of the room had given way long ago, creating a gigantic crack in both the foundation and the connecting wall. The roof was only slightly missing, which allowed falling snow into the room, a curiosity Paige had wondered about upon her first visit. She held up her own torch, combined it with Ember's light. The foreboding hallway lie ahead, which led directly to the vault with four doors.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Ember groaned.
"The only way now is to continue moving forward," Paige said, comforted in the logic, though she was uneasy, herself.
"It is as it should be, Lady Paige Dejarin," Demitra glided forward, between the women. "We summoned this place, together. You, Paige, performed the ritual, but could not do so without Ember's sword and (apparently) my bracers. I believe we were always meant to come here, together."
They quietly made their way through the corridor, lighting unused torches along the wall as they passed. A few times, they paused to melt the thick cobwebs, and a few times, they carefully traversed collapsed ceiling. The air was stale and humid, the smell akin to an old book. Paige actually relished in this, but kept it to herself, lest the atmosphere and darkness be disturbed.
The women suddenly halted their advance, hearing noises up ahead. Ember readied herself. "I told ya I had a bad feeling about this…"
Paige raised an eyebrow at the woman. "That's… That's what Arya said when we were last here."
Another sound came from the vault ahead.
"Did you hear that?" Demitra asked, hoping it wasn't another voice in her head like the previous time.
"I did; what do you think it is?" Paige asked.
Ember frowned. "Something bad."
Paige placed her hand on Demitra's shoulders, forgetting about the tingling sensation it caused. Her face flushed as her body slightly vibrated. She removed her hand with a quick gasp. "Uh…"
"Yes Lady Paige Dejarin?" Demitra cast a knowing smile at the woman's excitement.
"Yeah… Um… Okay, hold up. You have Valandra's magic in you right now right?"
"I… I am showing similar signs of the magic she possesses."
Ember looked at Demitra's hair of white and one blue eye. "I would say it's a little more than that."
Paige tapped her chin. "Okay, think about it. What if, in the absence of Valandra, her essence bound to one strong enough to wield it?"
Demitra sighed a frosty breath. "It was chosen poorly, then, for I cannot contain this."
"You're doing fine. You haven't kidnapped me yet," Ember laughed at her own joke.
"What if we're here to help you learn to control it or something? Or what if those powers can help us open the fourth door?" Paige was absolutely delighted at the myriad possibilities in the mystery.
"I… I am uncertain Lady Pai-"
Paige interrupted Demitra. "Now don't you start discounting possibilities because they are unlikely. You must keep an open mind!"
Demitra giggled, despite the current setting. Paige was insatiably curious, always trying to solve the puzzle. "Now who is teaching whom? Very well, La- Paige. I shall not dismiss such possibilities." She winked at Paige, either purposefully or inadvertently, causing the woman to blush.
Another noise - this time unmistakably a moan came from ahead.
"Okay, I definitely have a really bad feeling about this," Ember muttered as the three women ventured forward.
The vault was a large octagonal room, each faucet of the wall opposite the hallway contained an arch where a door once stood, leading to rooms beyond. Everything was dimly lit, the only illumination from the hallway and their respective weapons. And, while they couldn't see it, each woman stared into the darkness where their fateful door had been. At once their eyes drifted in unison to where the last door would be.
Ember and Paige both lit torches at the mouth of the room, further adding to the brightness. The fourth doorway was clearly visible now, as was a thin figure floating beneath the arch - the source of the moaning.
"I swear to the gods… if that's an Awakened…"
"No Ember. I don't think so. How many arms does that creature have… I think it's the Djinn! But, why is the door opened…" Paige's curiosity muted the danger. She held out her torch, began her approach.
The Djinn's cold glowing blue eyes looked up at the group.
"Wait, Lady Paige Dejarin," Demitra halted her friend, stepped toward the Djinn. She had learned a bit of diplomacy from the noble, and decided on just such an approach. "Ahai! I am called Demitra Naja Nyimah; we wish to inquire…"
The Djinn's raspy voice pierced their ears, "IMPURE!" it yelled. At once, it flew forward, knocking Demitra to the ground, barreling toward the other two.
"Fuc- Ember now!" Paige called out.
Ember launched a powerful fireball directly at the Djinn, who seemed to extinguish it upon impact in a billowing steam. Its four arms outstretched, each drawing from the water particles in the air, forming glowing blue orbs around each hand.
Paige jumped in front of Ember, calling forth a protective sand wall, to block whatever attack the Djinn was about to unleash. A few shards of ice penetrated the sand-wall, one grazing Paige's forearm. She cradled the wound, began to work her magic on it to coagulate the blood. Doing so dropped half the sand-wall. The Djinn floated closer, passing into the sands.
Demitra looked at her hands a moment, then angrily at the Djinn. "I am NOT impure!" Her body was suddenly lifted upon its own volition, her additional arms reappearing along with the nebulae which was her skin. She held out all four arms, beginning to channel her power at the Djinn. She would compress the sands around the being, solidify it to hold him. All hands were brought together to point at her target. What came, however, was a flurry of snow and thousands of small ice shards. Had the sand-wall not been partially erected, the results of the mishap would have been disastrous.
The Djinn cast angry glowing eyes to Demitra, flew to her and wrapped his long fingers around the woman's neck. She was immediately transformed back to her previous self, began gasping for air. "You… are an impostor! Impure!"
Paige bent the stands around the Djinn, told Ember to super-heat the sand, in an attempt to encase the being in a glass coffin. "You're wrong! She is not an impostor! She is Demitra Naja Nyimah, and she is one of you! And… She is mine; not yours! You won't take her from me… us!"
No time to think, Ember did as commanded, channeling her magic into the flame sword, held it reverse, and launched forward, to impale the creature and super-heat the sands, all at once. "Let go of my Demitra!" she screamed, her head catching fire as she soared.
A guttural ghastly wail came scream came from the Djinn as Ember's fire sword plunged into his topmost shoulder. He immediately dropped Demitra, who landed bodily on the hard dusty stone floor. The Djinn flailed about, as Ember hung on. Finally grasping onto her, he flung her like a rag-doll across the room and into a stone wall. "You are all unworthy of the gifts! We were fools! He was right!" The Djinn's voice boomed. He pulled the sword from his side, tossing it to the floor. The wound the sword caused was more than superficial. The Djinn held his shoulder, with a somewhat surprised expression at the damage the weapon had caused.
Demitra stood, clutching her throat, surveyed the scene. The Djinn was weakened. Ember was passed out on the floor, Paige was attempting blood magic to ensure the woman's stability, and Ember's sword lay extinguished on the floor. Then Demitra's eyes lit up at an epiphany. "Paige. The torch! Use your torch on him!"
Without hesitation, Paige charged at the Djinn. She held her torch in front of her face and screamed into it, raising a torrent of sand that burst and forced the flames onto the enemy. The Djinn was immediately lit with magical flames, crying out in agony as its wraps and bandages burned away, leaving a skeletal decrepit head, devoid of lips or eyes.
Demitra looked at her bracers, considering. "I suppose…" She took a step forward, pulled up her sleeves, then clanked the bracers together, hard. A torrent of sand and snow suddenly manifested, the wave crashing onto the Djinn, pinning him down, as if the wave was a giant bolder upon his chest. He writhed in pain, squirming beneath the pressure.
She walked to the Djinn, peered down at him as he coughed up sand, looking at the burnt flesh of his arms. "We know how to defeat you. Give us answers so that you may live the rest of your immortal life knowing of this defeat!" She held up a fist, began to channel magical energies to it.
Paige approached, after helping Ember to her feet. "That's… Demitra, I know you're angry, but we need information." She had never seen Demitra as livid as she appeared. The carefully strolled up to the woman, placed her hand upon her bare shoulder and squeezed.
"Tell him to talk fast or I kill him anyway," Ember grumbled.
"Ember, you're not helping the situation." Paige knelt down, held out a palm to the Djinn. Hollowed suspicious eyes gazed back at her. "Please. We came seeking answers, not blood. The Djinn gave us all gifts from this very vault. And Demitra's condition is a constant question. For knowledge's sake, if nothing else. Teach us," she tried to appeal to his good nature, his vanity, or his perceived superiority; Paige didn't care which landed - they needed answers!
The Djinn reluctantly accepted her hand, was helped to sit up, still holding his shoulder. "Demitra?"
"Yes?" Demitra let the magic she was channeling dissipate.
The Djinn turned his hollowed eyes to stare up at Demitra. "No… Not 'Demitra'… You are Okht Thaljia."
[To Be Continued...]
