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“Her role in prophecy is unclear. She is the subject of a forked thread. Either she is the key to saving the realm or destroying it.”
Immediately, I gritted my teeth. There wasn’t time for me to canvas the realm and search for her. I could focus on picking up her scent and use the pull of the magical connection between us, but I didn’t know if that would be enough. Further still, my curse could ravage me again, and by the time I found her, it might be too late for Terraheim and its people.
The Dark King was hellbent on taking my realm as his. I needed Sophia by my side to defeat him.
“Gather your mages. We will go to the only one with answers,” I growled. Isolde didn’t know it, but she was lucky I was in control, or I would have torn her head from her shoulders in a fit of fury. No one touched my Sophia.
No one aside from me.
“You mean to speak with the seer?”
At that moment, a knife pierced through my heart, and I jolted forward, magic humming through my body with agonizing pain. Something was terribly wrong.
Sophia was no longer in this world.
I didn’t know if she was alive or dead.
* * *
In less than an hour, every mage had been gathered deep in the caves beneath Ironpeak. There was a long dormant sacred cavern, carved right out of the rock. The central vein of the magic world was strongest beneath the bedrock here. There was only one other cavern in the realm stronger in the abandoned wizard’s keep of Sorrenthiel to the north, but the power here would be enough for what I needed to do.
The swirling flashes of green mystical light swam through the steaming pool. The water was a hazy milky white.
Lady Seraphina was already waiting for me at the peak of the curved rock incline. A mage of elvish descent, she was graced with long life. When I was still king, she served me faithfully, and she dipped her head in reverence to me as I approached her. Her lavender irises sparkled with power. Her ethereal beauty masked a powerful being underneath. I knew that if the need should arise, she could lay waste to her enemy in the blink of an eye.
“It is good to see you, your grace,” she said softly. She flicked her wrists and a line of hooded mages filed through the entryway, walking in both directions until the cavern was surrounded.
“Lady Seraphina,” I greeted her.
“I understand you wish to visit with the seer,” she replied, her tone trembling and revealing just the slightest trepidation.
“Time is short, Lady Seraphina,” I implored, and she nodded quickly. She started to chant, and the mages all around us lowered their hoods, joining in along with her. As she called on her power, the veins in her arms started to glow a pale emerald. She pushed her palms out, and the mystical energy crackling all around her burst outward. With a fearful glance, she reached out for me and pressed her hand against my shoulder. A second, more powerful jolt of magic slammed into me, and I closed my eyes.
Please let Sophia be alright.
Magical power billowed through my veins, supercharging every cell in my body with enough energy to offset a surgical storm. I tensed every muscle in my body as I withstood such powerful magic, and all at once, it all went dark. The only thing still visible was the flash of green mystical energy in the pool beneath us.
The mages continued to chant more quietly now as a soft, billowy glow speared above me. I looked up to see a shimmering staircase of light, and with no hesitation, I climbed onto the first step. I practically raced to the top when a portal glimmered to life right in front of me.
I wasted no time. I immediately stepped through into the unknown.
In an instant, the air was forced out of my lungs. Everything turned pitch black, as if my body had hurtled into the heavens and was falling amongst the stars. Savage gusts of wind whipped all around me, and I gritted my teeth, unused to the feeling of portal magic. It had been a very long time since I’d stepped through one, and when my feet finally slammed into the ground, I sighed with relief.
I opened my eyes to see a rushing river to my right. It cut through a secluded meadow nestled amidst ancient woodland, its lush greenery painted with vibrant hues of emerald and jade. The air was ripe with the delicate fragrance of wildflowers. Sunlight filtered through the canopy above, casting speckled patterns on the soft, mossy ground.
It was beautiful.
The seer’s realm was one of mystery. Legend said that her world was fluid in landscape, and that the magic took its own form depending on what creature was walking upon its hallowed ground.
The seer was a being to be respected and feared, an all-knowing goddess that ruled over all the realms, including my own. To call on her was to put myself in danger. There were stories of visitors disappearing after they stepped through her doors, the price of entry too high for them to ever be seen or heard from again.
As I ventured further into the mysterious realm, a solitary glowing light beckoned me, casting a soft glow that pierced through dappled sunlight. Intrigued, I cautiously treaded the path, drawn irresistibly towards the radiant beacon, instinctually knowing that it would take me straight to the seer. I strode along the path, descending down the slope of a hill. Hidden amongst the rolling planes and the wooded pines, the seer’s home came into view.
The walls of the little cottage were composed of interwoven branches, the roof was adorned with a tapestry of leaves. Poised upon sturdy stilts, the cottage stood elevated above the ground. With trepidation and curiosity intermingling within me, I climbed each rung of the rope ladder that brought me closer to the seer’s sanctuary. Finally, I reached for the beaded fabric door and entered.
It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but lying there on the bed was my Sophia. Her eyes were closed, and she was deathly pale. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing, and my panic swelled deep. I rushed over to her, lost in my fear that she was terribly hurt, or at worst, dead. Immediately, I pressed my fingers to her throat, finding her warm to the touch. Her veins pumped fiercely under my fingertips, letting me know that she was still blessedlyalive.
Who had done this?
