A Queen Among Darkness: Chapter Sixty-Six - Isolde

A Queen Among Darkness: Chapter Sixty-Six - Isolde
Standing in the entrance hall of the Kartheca, I watch as Valeria continues to pace back and forth as the creases on her forehead begin to permanently set in. I can feel the agitation rising inside her the longer we wait. I know being here is unpleasant for her. I did tell her she didn’t have to come, but she made it clear that wasn’t an option.

As she begins her umpteenth trip from one side of the room to the other, I pull on my magic and fan my fingers out causing her feet to get stuck to the marble floor of the hallway.

“¡No mames!” She exclaims nearly toppling forward and assessing her feet. She looks up at me and narrows her eyes then proceeds to throw some very colourful Mexican swear words at me, some I can’t even translate. Something about a donkey? I’ll have to get a translation on that later.

I walk over and cup her face in my hands feeling the zing of our bond through my fingertips, “Stop and take a breath. I know you’re agitated, but we won’t be here long. I promise,” I try to soothe her, kissing her lips softly. I do my best to project my calmness through our bond to put her at ease, but that seems to annoy her more.

“Stop using your magic on me,” she snaps.

“I’m not. I’m just sharing how I feel with you so you can feel a little better, but I’ll stop if you want me to.”

“Oh.” She thinks it over for a second. “You can keep going, I guess,” she tries to say nonchalantly.

I smile and pull her close, releasing her feet from my spell. “You really could have–”

“If you say ‘stay home’ I’ll kick you. I’d be going out of my mind worrying about you,” she reminds me.

“You’re going out of your mind with worry right now,” I point out.

“Far less than if I’d been at home not knowing what was happening,” she argues.

“As long as we are bonded, you will always know what’s going on with me. You’ll get the hang of it,” I assure her and rub her back soothingly.

A wave of serenity comes over the room and I hear the sound of approaching footsteps. I look over to see Aiyla descending the stairs, her long platinum hair shining almost as brightly as the glitter embedded in her peachy skin.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, we’re ready for you now. If you’ll follow me,” she says with a smile.

I give Valeria a tug as we begin following Aiyla through the Kartheca. Valeria discreetly checks to make sure her gun is in the back of her pants. Naturally, she brought the one I gifted her. As we walk through the castle, Valeria takes in everything around her; the architecture, the décor; I even note her surprise at seeing an impressive plasma screen TV. I think she assumed they don’t watch television. She’s starting to relax a little as she admires the beauty of the place and that gives me a little relief.

Soon we reach a stone staircase and begin descending down a dark passageway that is soon lit by bright torches. We descend a good distance before opening to a wide underground tunnel. Stone is carved around and above us, while dark sand lays beneath our feet. We walk through the dimly lit tunnel and with each step I take, an intense wave of power that brings with it a sense of weightlessness, comes over me, getting stronger as we go. I can feel how close we are, and Valeria must sense it too because she gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Many of us are glad the Orraikam is leaving,” Aiyla says, breaking the silence.

“Why’s that?” Valeria asks.

“Because this is where Nuray died. We’re hoping to turn this into a memorial for her,” she says solemnly.

My heart breaks for the loss of their sister. Nuray was such a genuine free spirit who had this remarkable ability to fill you with strength and confidence just by her words. The world won’t be the same without her.

“I think that’s a beautiful idea,” I say compassionately.

We continue our walk and take a turn coming face to face with a large stone archway carved into the rock formation. The stone arch is gigantic in size, but the carvings are so detailed and intricate and yet look freshly made. Carved into the stone are depictions of all the Gods as they raise their hands to the glyphs carved over the top of the arch. It’s the language of the Gods. I can’t take my eyes off the structure as we walk closer, feeling as though I have just stepped into some forbidden chamber no mortal was ever meant to see. Though I suppose there’s a lot of truth to that.

“What does it say?” Valeria asks.

“It says, ‘May Light bless all who enter here’,” I tell her.

A glowing source of light radiates through the arch, and as we step inside, the source of this light is effortlessly found. We enter a vast cavern built deep under the Kartheca, and right at its heart, floating in the air defying all laws of gravity is the Orraikam. I’ve never seen it with my own two eyes, only in passing visions that have not done it justice. It must be at least twenty feet tall and just placing my eyes upon it I know I could never paint an accurate picture of it. It looks both like a solid and like a gas. It’s certainly shaped like a giant crystal, but the light inside it moves like a gas made up of a kaleidoscope of colours I have never seen on this Earth.

The moment it fully hits me that I am standing in front of the lifeforce of my maker, I drop to my knees and lay my hands and head upon the ground, whispering an ancient prayer passed down from Priest to Priestess. So many emotions are swimming inside me, and I can feel tears brimming in my eyes. I spent years thinking I wasn’t worthy of a moment like this, but here I am, face to face with something so sacred to my people, and yet one that no Priest or Priestess has seen in thousands of years.

I feel Valeria kneel beside me and gently stroke my hair, which helps me gain some composure as I lift my body and stare up at the structure. I’ve never known a material object to bring so much warmth and comfort as if its very presence can heal the most broken parts of your soul. It feels healing; like basking in its light is drowning out the darkness within.

“It’s remarkable,” Valeria whispers in complete awe. I look over to see her eyes transfixed on the Orraikam, and tears, too, brimming in her eyes. I smile, warmed to know that it affects her the same way it affects me.

It’s only now that I notice every irshiust in the cavern surrounding the Orraikam. Valeria gets to her feet and helps me up as I dust myself off.

“We understand this can be overwhelming. Every makkari who has come to stay with us has had the same experience,” Defne says kindly.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to move it?” Ekin asks.

I nod confidently, “Fretez may be gone but her magic is as sentient as she was. It’ll know I have no intention to harm it. It won’t fight me,” I say as I smile at the monolith.

“We trust you to carry it safely to its new home,” Makbule smiles at me.

“King Sebastian is already waiting for our arrival,” announces Aiyla.

Valeria pats my back, “You got this,” she smiles at me.

I step forward taking a deep breath as I once again pull on my magic. I feel my eyes change and watch my body become aglow as I push my magic forward and open a portal much larger in size than normal. With that done I step towards the Orraikam, send out a silent prayer, and wrap the Orraikam in a net of my magic. I will the net to move and with little effort the Orraikam begins to follow the direction of my hands.

“Now don’t drop it,” Aiyla teases as she steps through the portal.

“If she drops it, it’s because you jinxed her,” Valeria huffs.

“Val,” I sigh.

“What? That wasn’t even funny,” she says in annoyance.

I shake my head and with Valeria at my side, we step through the portal as I pull the Orraikam behind me.