Chapter 43: Strange Being

Azura’s POV

​The sun was high in the sky, turning the riverbank into a bright, warm paradise. For once, the air didn’t feel heavy with fear. The stream bubbled cheerfully over smooth stones, and looking around, I felt a spark of true happiness. It was a rare, beautiful moment in my life, one that I desperately wanted to hold onto.

​The children were everywhere, running barefoot through the wet sand, their feet making tiny slapping sounds against the ground. Their laughter sounded like music, echoing off the nearby trees as they played tag and splashed water at each other.

The guards were watching from a distance, looking bored, which was exactly how I wanted them. I had insisted they stay far away so the children could feel like they were just playing, not being watched like prisoners.

​Liona was sitting on a large, flat rock beside me, snacking on some fruit. She looked relaxed, her usual frantic energy calmed by the sunshine. The river breeze stirred her dark hair, and for a moment I noticed her beauty.

​"You know," Liona said, wiping juice from her chin with the back of her hand. "I didn’t think you could do it, but taking them out here is actually... nice. They are having real fun, and finally making noise that isn’t terrified screaming."

​I smiled, watching Amanda tug on a blue butterfly’s wing, laughing when it flew away without being harmed. "It’s a start, Liona. I want to build a place where they’ll never be afraid again. A place where they can just be children."

​Liona looked at me, her expression softening from her usual cynical mask. "You already have, Azura. Look at them. They love you for this."

​I shook my head, feeling a deep need to do more, to make it safer. "No. Not yet. Not while the Alpha still has the power to take them back, to use them as pawns. This is just a temporary escape."

​Amanda suddenly ran over with a flower in her tiny hand, her face smudged with dirt but glowing with joy. She grabbed my hand with her free hand, pulling me toward the water with surprising strength.

"Azura! Come see the shiny rocks! They look like stars!"

​I laughed, letting her pull me up from the rock. "Okay, okay, I’m coming! Don’t push me in!" I followed her to the edge of the stream, enjoying the feeling of the cool water on my feet.

​That was when I felt a weird feeling.

​It didn’t happen with a roar or a blast of magic. It happened with a deafening silence.

​The wind stopped instantly. The rustling of the leaves ceased, as if the forest had held its breath. The water in the stream, which had been splashing against the rocks, froze mid-ripple, hanging in the air like a glass sculpture. A small boy was mid-leap, trying to jump across the water, but he was frozen in the air, a drop of water suspended on his knee. Amanda was still, her face fixed in a joyful smile, looking at the butterfly that was no longer moving.

​My heart gave a painful thud against my ribs. I tried to move toward Amanda, and to my relief, I could. But I felt a strange resistance, as if I were pushing through thick air. It felt like walking through water, a heavy pressure pulling at my legs.

​"Amanda?" I called out. My voice sounded flat, muffled, like I was shouting underwater. She didn’t respond. Nobody moved.

​Panic, cold and sharp, crawled up my spine.

​"Liona?" I turned to my friend. She was frozen mid-expression, holding a grape near her mouth, her eyes open but not seeing. She wasn’t breathing.

​I ran around, checking on everyone. The guards were solid as statues, their hands on their swords but unable to draw them. The children were caught in time, frozen in their happiest moments. My breathing became uneven, fast, and shallow.

​"What... is happening?" I whispered to the empty, quiet riverbank. The silence was loud, filled with the feeling of intense dread.

​Then, the air in the center of the clearing began to twist. It looked like someone was stirring thick smoke, making the air swirl in a violent vortex. A dark, swirling black portal ripped open in the air, pouring out a freezing cold wind that smelled of rotting earth and dead things.

​Two beings stepped out slowly, their movements unnatural and jerky, like they were being controlled by unskilled hands.

​They were tall, far too tall, with a posture that looked wrong, unnatural, as if their bones didn’t quite fit their bodies. They wore heavy, dark robes that seemed to swallow the light around them, but it was their faces that made my breath catch.

Their eyes were solid, glassy black orbs, no whites, no iris, just endless darkness that seemed to look right through me. Their skin was ashen gray, looking like dead flesh, tight against their skulls.

​They moved toward the frozen children, and every cell in my body screamed danger. They weren’t looking for a fight; they were looking to take.

​The creatures froze when they noticed me. They tilted their heads in unison, looking at me with those dead eyes. I felt a cold, oily sensation in my head, like a voice speaking without words, a parasite crawling inside my mind.

​She can move.

​Suddenly, one of the creatures lunged at me with inhuman speed, its long, thin arms reaching out.

​I didn’t think; I just ran. My heart pounded against my ribs so hard it hurt. My breath burned in my throat, and my feet barely touched the ground. I had to get away from them and had to find a weapon. I ran toward the treeline, hoping for cover, but I was slow, so slow in this thick air.

​I glanced back over my shoulder, searching for it. Nothing was there. The clearing was empty of the beings.

I turned forward, and my blood turned to ice. It was standing directly in front of me, as if it had always been there, its inhuman face inches from mine.

​I held myself from crashing into it, and fell backward onto the sand, scrambling away in absolute terror. The creature raised its hand. Its fingers elongated, stretching out into long, sharp black claws that seemed to vibrate with dark energy. Shadows began to swirl around its arm like living smoke, reaching toward me.

​It raised its claw to strike.

​I knew I was going to die. I closed my eyes, covering my face with my arms, waiting for the searing pain of the claws to tear through me, prepared to die fighting for these children.

​CRACK.

​Instead of pain, a sound like shattering glass filled the air. Golden chains of blinding light shot out from behind me, wrapping around the creature’s arm with a loud hiss, smoking where the light touched the dark skin.

​The creature roared, a sound that made my teeth ache, a sound of pure agony.

​I opened my eyes, stunned. Genevieve was standing there, her usual calm demeanor replaced by an aura of absolute power. Her blue eyes were glowing with a bright, terrifying golden light now, a light that seemed to burn with heat. Power radiated off her in waves, pushing back the cold wind from the portal. Golden symbols were glowing faintly along her bare arms, dancing on her skin like living tattoos.

​"Move. Behind me," Genevieve ordered. Her voice was calm, controlled, but incredibly dangerous, like the calm before a hurricane.

​I obeyed instantly, scrambling behind her, my hands shaking violently. I watched in awe as she began to chant in a language I didn’t understand, a harsh, ancient sound that seemed to make the air vibrate. Energy clashed in the air, the cold, dark shadows of the creatures against Genevieve’s brilliant golden magic, creating sparks that sizzled in the air.

​She slammed her hands together, and a golden portal opened behind the creature. It roared, trying to fight back, but the chains dragged it toward the light.

​Then, a stunning thing happened. The golden chain that was connected to Genevieve’s hand suddenly detached from her, acting on its own. It dragged the creature along with it toward the portal. And then I felt a surge of strength wash over me, a feeling of desperation and rage, and I threw my own weight into it, pushing with all my might to help drag the creature into the light, my hands passing through a barrier of energy.

​With one final, screaming wail, it disappeared. The golden portal sealed up, and silence crashed back down over the riverbank.

​I gasped, looking at Genevieve, trying to understand what I had just seen. Her power was overwhelming, yet the creature had almost been a match for her. She was breathing heavily, the golden glow fading from her eyes, but then I remembered something.

​"The children! We have to check them!" I shouted, turning back toward the stream, my legs weak.

​I sprinted toward the spot where I had left Amanda. Everything was still frozen, but something felt terribly wrong. The dread in my stomach was heavy, suffocating, a feeling that I was too late.

​I spun around, looking for Amanda, my eyes frantic.

Then ​I saw a second dark portal, not far from where the children were frozen, almost hidden in the shadows of a large oak tree. And through it, I saw the second creature dragging Amanda inside.

​Amanda was still frozen in time, her hand holding a small flower, a joyful smile on her face, completely unaware that she was being stolen. She was looking at me, or rather, at where I had been.

​"AMANDA!"

​I screamed, running faster than I ever had in my life. Adrenaline tore through my muscles, pushing me past the barrier of the thick air. I was reaching, stretching, my fingers almost touching Amanda’s hand. I was so close. I could almost feel her warmth.

​But I was too slow.

​The creature pulled her in, and the portal collapsed instantly, turning into a tiny speck of darkness before vanishing completely.

​Amanda was gone. The air sealed up, smooth and empty, as if she had never been there. Silence crashed down again, heavier than before, a silence that felt like a scream.

​I stood frozen in the middle of the riverbank, my hand still stretched toward the empty air. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. My knees buckled, and I sank to the ground, but I didn’t fall. I just stared at the empty space where she had been.

​I felt more dead than alive. At that moment, I felt like I had lost everything.

Empty. Completely empty. The girl I had sworn to protect was gone, taken by creatures I didn’t understand, and the guilt was a heavy stone in my chest. I had been seconds away from saving her, and I still failed.