Page 40 of Whispers of the Elderoak

Maybe she could jump back through. Maybe she could go back. Though she had no one left, she’d be safe on the farm. Away from the daemons.

As she was starting to rise, Deidamia and Andras emerged, walking through gracefully. After they arrived, the portal began to close, the black swirling abyss shrinking.

No.

She couldn’t jump through now, especially with the two of them standing in between her and the doorway, and she watched her chance to escape slip away.

Just before the portal sealed shut, Luna emerged from the black abyss and dashed in the opposite direction into a group of trees before the daemons noticed her. Momentary relief poured over Ava. Luna was alive. Perhaps she could help in some way.

Andras and Deidamia beamed with triumph, gazing around them and taking it in. So elated they almost forgot about Ava. She looked around, searching for an escape route before they remembered her existence.

They had landed in a scenic meadow, peppered with trees of white bark and rounded golden leaves, quivering in the breeze. The trees were more brilliant than those back home, brightly colored and teeming with energy. The emerald grass was interspersed with patches of flowers. Orange, blue and purple blooms reached for the sun. Unlike any flowers she had ever seen, they glimmered in the light.

The weather was pleasant, and the sun peeked over the trees, radiating an orange glow as it rose overhead. It wasn’t fall here, but spring? Did they even have the same seasons?

She couldn’t see much beyond the groups of trees surrounding her, unsure which direction would be safest.About to head where Luna had gone, she was interrupted when Andras lifted her roughly by her arm.

He looked different. As if the magic residing within him was now unleashed and his true form took over. His short blonde locks had grown and were now long and black, his skin porcelain but his eyes were the same bright blue.

Taller, wider and stronger, he was utterly terrifying as he looked down at her. “Welcome home, Ava.”

His voice. It wasn’t the same smooth timbre but more powerful, filled with deep seductive tones, echoing with a strange presence.

Trembling, she turned to look toward Deidamia who had also changed. If Andras was sensual maleficence, then she was brute terror. Slightly shorter than him, her waist length hair had changed to a ghostly white.

Her pale blue eyes bored into Ava as she smiled, revealing fangs. Holding out her hand, a fireball started to form in her palm. Not a fire of reds and oranges, but something far viler. Deep purple flames danced around themselves, whirling and writhing, ready to destroy. It was as if the fire had a mind of its own and longed to incinerate that which was around it.

“My magic.” She beheld her fire.

Her voice was different too, melodic yet laced with echoes of death and destruction. She shot the fire toward a tree, and it immediately caught flame.

Nodding, as if confirming her magic still worked, she looked at Andras. “Go ahead.”

Andras’ eyes darkened and shadows emerged from him. Coming from nowhere and everywhere, swirling around him.

Ava started to pull away, but the shadows surrounded them and tendrils climbed their way around her body. Andras let go of her but when she tried to move, tried to run, the shadows held her in place. Black tendrils wrapped around her wrists and raised her arms above her head as Andras stood over her.Another wisp of smoke twisted around her throat, cutting off her air.

Ava tried to get free, struggling against the darkness but the swirling smoke and shadow held her still. She couldn’t breathe and panic threatened to engulf her. Andras released her, shadows disappearing as he pulled them back and she fell to the ground, coughing and clutching at her neck.

“Don’t try to escape,” he said. “You won’t get far.”

Something rustled as it emerged into the meadow through the white-bark trees, announcing the arrival of half a dozen soldiers. Large and tall, their eyes promised torture and death. Dressed in spiked armor so dark it seemed to suck the light from around them, they marched forward. The spikes were strategically placed on their knees, elbows and forearms, making them deadly in hand-to-hand combat. All they had to do was place a carefully aimed kick, or throw their elbow to gut their enemies.

The right breast displayed an insignia of horns surrounded by flames.

This was the army of Deidamia.

One soldier had a gold bar under his insignia. The leader, then. The group approached, Ava still on the ground trying to catch her breath and develop a plan to escape, though she knew it was futile. What could a human do against powerful daemons and warriors with magic?

As the leader advanced, he knelt and removed his horned helmet.

Bowing with reverence, he spoke with a deep gruff voice. “My queen. We’ve been waiting almost one hundred years for your return.”

His cadre followed suit and knelt behind him.

“General Or’thir. Your loyalty will be rewarded,” Deidamia replied in a powerful voice. “Rise and give your report.”

Or’thir rose but glanced hesitantly at Ava, seemingly reluctantto reveal potentially secret information in front of a stranger.

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