The Chronicles of Chemmis: Awake : Chapter Seven

Hi Everyone, as it is Easter I have posted two Chapters of my novel this week. Please enjoy the adventure.

Chs 

Nivi

Chapter Seven

Lindy

Venzu Village – Monday 0530

Sweet smelling smoke wafted all around me warming my skin, but inside I felt as cold as ice. Quincy had completed the cleansing ritual half an hour ago, and now I was alone in Maxwell’s circular prayer room awaiting blessings from the ancestors. My final test in the Magic Cave began at dawn.

Rezna had won the vote after the meeting yesterday, and I had to pass the Witches Graduation Test before, taking my place on the Finder’s Task Force. Quincy, Maxwell’s wife was a Divination Mage. She received premonitions from the ancestors on numerous that had saved clan members lives in battle. When my visions began last year she took me under her wing, trying to coax them out. It was hoped I would progress quickly as she did, but that never happened. My powers waned, and eventually so did her interest.

Unfortunately, I was back in the spotlight and Quincy was again eager to help. I looked at the shiny pieces of foil she had stuck to the walls. They were suppose to be mirrors to the otherside. I had been staring at them for fifteen minutes now and nothing had changed. Exhausted I let my eyes droop. There wasn’t any difference if I was given a warning or not, I wasn’t surving the Magic Cave’s test today. I didn’t have the knowledge or the skills. And I didn’t want to do this anyway. Still I wasn’t ready to die. If only there was another way. I had tried leaving the village last night but all the fences were guarded, so I had to stay and except my fate.

A scratching sound made me look up at the shiny piece of foil in front of me. Runny grey eyes met mine and I felt the room tilt. The eyes glared at me for what seemed like forever, as I gazed back, completely shell-shocked. Baba Yaga smiled at my stunned expression. She was exactly like the image in my tattered textbook. She had a long hook nose and mop of long wild grey hair.

‘So, the time has come,’ she crackled.

Still too amazed to speak, I just nodded.

‘What’s wrong with you? You dumb?’ she shouted.

‘No,’ my voice cracked, and I coughed swallowing more sweet smoke.

‘Well, you don’t look like much…but your gods were never very smart’, she shrugged her shoulders.

‘Do you have guidance for me?’ I asked hopefully.

‘Guidance, ha!’she cackled again.

‘No guidance. That is what your ancestors are for. I’m here to warn you.’

Her eyes bulged and she truly looked like the creature that gave young girls nightmares.

‘What’s the warning? I asked.

‘Those near you lie. Do not trust them,’ she said.

The image of Rezna’s face came to mind.

‘Who’s lying to me? What are there names?’ I asked just to be certain.

‘I don’t know their names, but I see their faces in the mirror. See’, she pointed to the foil sheet to the left of me. An image of Quincy talking to my mother flashed through the foil.Taken aback, I shook my head.

‘No, you are wrong’, I whispered.

I trusted my mother with my life. Maybe Baba Yaga meant Quincy. But my mother was in the image too.She looked at me pitifully and shook her head.

‘Since you take my warning so bad. I feel sorry and give you some guidance,’ she said.

Hoping for something better this time, I nodded.

‘If you don’t go on the Task Force, everyone in your village will die,’ she said and faded from the foil.

Aghast I stared at the piece of foil. It was my visions. It had to be. They were a bad. I had to leave the village. I had to pass the test and go away for everyone to be safe.

 Quincy poked her head through the flap of cow hide, behind me.

‘It is time,’ she said.

 I wasn’t ready to go, but like Quincy said it was time. Getting up, I said one last prayer to the ancestors and left the room.

My mother stood in Maxwell’s hallway together with Rezna. He smirked at me. With me dead he could be on the Task Force. Rezna made my blood boil. I didn’t trust him. Picturing, the look on his face if I suddenly gave him an uppercut with my nasty right hook, I smiled back at him.I was going to to try and pass this test, every life in the village depended on it. Last night after my failed attempt to run away, I cried for an hour. Then, Zac came by and we crammed through all the year ten spell work. I perfected ten defense spells and a few, attacking spells too. If I was really luck today, I would make it through.

Zac and Jacob stood at the back doorway. Zac handed me my bag, filled with potions and crystals. Jacob gave me his best knife. A dagger four inches long with an intricately carved bone handle. Strapping it to my belt, I hoped I won’t have to use it. I never killed anything before and did not know if I could.

The Magic cave was just behind the Head Witch’s house. The cave was surrounded by forest foliage, which camouflaged it well. Lianas covered the entrance which was shut by a large boulder. The village elders were already there, standing in a semicircle around the cave’s entrance. They moved aside as I walked towards them.Mum was just behind me. She touched my shoulder and I turned into her warm embrace. Tears filled her eyes, I knew she loved me. Still Baba Yaga’s warning made me wonder if I had it wrong.

‘Did you get some guidance?’ she asked.

Wanting to lie, I tried to think up a response. None came to me, so I simply nodded. She smiled at this.

‘You will be fine, then. You have the power even if you don’t believe it yet,’ she said.

Glancing back at Zac and my brother, I hoped to see them again. Rezna stood nearby and my head grew hot with anger. This was all his fault. If it wasn’t for him, I could have just left with the other delegates at noon and not be going into the unknown. Turning back around, Maxwell was drawing back the curtain of lianas. He waved me forward. I walked to the boulder.

‘May the ancestors be with you,’ Maxwell said as I placed my hand on the boulder.

The ground shivered underneath my feet as the boulder slide aside. Without looking back I entered the Magic Cave. All around me the walls glowed with speckles of blue and green. Bleu-jaune illuminated the cave in a turquoise haze. I shivered as the boulder slide back in place and the temperature dropped. Moving quietly past the stalagmite salt pillars that grew out of the cave floor, I saw a pathway. The uneven paving stones took a turn to the left, and I could discern a brighter glow from around the corner. Mesmerized I moved towards it.

The sight before me so amazing beautiful, I felt all my fears receded. Water pooled in a mini lagoon, and the shimmer from it lit up the whole cavern. Stalactites dropped from the roof like crystal chandeliers, and pinkish stalagmites rose in a row around the pool, forming a circular fence around the water. I dipped my hand into the aqua liquid. It was surprisingly warm. The ripples made by my hand made ever widening circles towards the middle of the lagoon.

Suddenly the water churned like milk in a cheese maker, and something rose out of the pool. A women. An Undine. She had a crown of golden hair which fell heavily into the water, and hung far below her knees. Her dress was a spring-green gown of lily leaves. A necklace of fish bones adorned her neck, shining brighter than diamonds. Sharp yellow eyes, measured me and seemed to find me wanting.

‘Who are you?’ she asked.

‘Lindy,’ I replied.

She frowned and moved closer to the edge. Instinctively, I moved back and drew out my knife from my belt. Her eyes watched my action, like a predator playing with its prey.

‘Why are you here?’ she asked sharply.

Her eyes never leaving my knife. Good thing Jacob had given me this. It seemed to scare her.

‘I am a student. This is my final test,’ I replied.

She hissed at me and I held the knife in front of me assuming a fighting stance.

‘Liar!’ she said.

Stunned. I didn’t know what to do. I was telling the truth, well a part of it anyway. I was a student and this was the final test, but I was not at graduation level. She was almost at the edge of the pool, when I remembered a defensive spell from last night.Pulling out the pouch of salt from my pocket, I formed a circle around myself and held up my palm to the Undine.

RKHP AeNaA 

I shouted and a shield rose up around me. The Undine arched back and shrieked.

‘Witch tricks will not save you in this cave, Liar!’

Maybe not I thought, but it sure kept you back. Trying another tactic I decided to tell her the truth.

‘I was not lying. I am a student. But you are right I am not ready for the final test.’

The Undine smiled and moved close to the edge.

‘Now that’s better. The cave will eat deceivers,’ she crooned.

My shield began to fade. Unfortunately, the spell was designed to only last a few seconds. I had to get away from this creature.

‘How do I pass the final test?’ I asked.

‘You don’t,’ she said and lay back on the water floating on her backwards around the pool.

I began to tremble. So, this was how I was to end. Remain in the magic cave until I starved to death or this creature ate me. No, there had to be another way.

‘What do I do then?’ I asked.

She moved around the pool like she was enjoying a morning swim with no cares in the world.

‘Nothing, you find a place in this prison like the rest of us, and wait for students to eat’, she smiled.

‘You are a captive?’ I asked frowning.

‘Yes,’ she said.

I didn’t know whether she was playing with me or not. My clan was not brutal, we did not believe in keeping slaves like some of the other provinces in Chemmis. Still here she was, an Undine in the Magic Cave.

‘Why?’ I asked.

‘Don’t you know?’ she asked.

‘No,’ I replied.

‘Then they have deceived you twice,’ she said.

I shook my head. This was the second time today, I was being warned of being deceived.

‘What are you talking about? Deceived? How?’ I asked.

She stopped swimming and cocked her head at me.

‘You are not the one. You are wrong.’ She said.

I groaned. Enough with these riddles. I just wanted a straight answer.

‘Can’t you creatures just say something straight out,’ I yelled.

She stopped swimming and moved to the edge of the pool. Lifting herself up, I could see her tail. The scales glittered like a mosaic of glass pieces. I held onto my knife tightly, prepared for a fight.

‘Give me the knife, and I will tell you how to get out,’ she said.

Shaking my head, I knew this was a bad idea. Without the knife I was defenseless against her.

‘No,’ I said.

‘Well then you can stay in the cave, she replied’

I was running out of options. Do, I believe her or do I kill her. Still unable to think of murder as a way out, I tried the alternative. Negotiation.

‘If I give you the knife? Will you tell me how to get out?’ I asked.

‘That’s what I said,’ she replied, dangling her tail in the water.

I looked around the cave, there seemed to be no other way out of here except the way I had come. There was no other choice.

‘Okay, but how do I know you won’t eat me if I give you the knife,’I asked.

She laughed.

‘You don’t,’ she said.

I was done if I didn’t and done if I did. Making up my mind I stepped backwards and threw the knife to the edge of the pool.

‘Thanks,’ she said and picked up the blade.

She dropped the knife into the depths of the aqua water and climbed out of the lagoon. Her tail glittered and turned into a legs as she moved towards me. I ran back the way I came, but she said something that sounded like a snake hissing and I was frozen to the spot. Approaching me she sniffed the air.

‘You smell of my captor, ‘she hissed.

Fear filled me, as she reached out for my neck. Her hands were soft and cold.

‘She is your captor too, so I will offer you this boon,’ she said.

 I simply gaze at her. Her voice was enchanting and I was at risk of believing all she said. Releasing my throat, she touched the wall behind me. Hissing something again, she freed me from her spell. The stone wall behind me was fading away to reveal a doorway.

‘Go down this way and speak the truth,’ she said.

‘That’s it? No test?’ I asked.

She smiled and walked back to the pool, her dress swaying from side to side like a bride walking down the isle.

‘You passed my test,’ she said.

Slinking into the pool, the Undine was submerged in seconds. The surface magically stilled. Sighing, I turned away from the pool and walked through the doorway down the darkened stone passage.

The passageway drew out to about a yard long, and grew darker and narrower the further I walked. The moon stone I took from my bag, gave me some light. I could make out that the passage continued to narrow. Stepping,sideways  I cramped through the space, sweating as the walls became hotter. 

Suddenly the passageway widen and I felt sand under my feet. The walls changed. No longer stone they were grainy. Grains of sand fell from the walls as I touched the sides.Now, I could see a glow in the distance. Squinting as the light grew brighter, it appeared an opening was just a few feet away.

Stepping out of the passageway, in relief I walked into another amazing sight. Dunes of sand rolled over each other in an enormous desert. 

The Sun’s rays bore down on me, like flames near a fire, making me want to step back into the cooler passage. Wondering which way to go next, I scanned the dunes just as a loud roar filled the air. I didn’t even have a second to reach for my bag before I was thrown to the ground. Shielding my eyes, I looked into the jaws of a large beast, with the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle.