Voices in the Dark

---Indigo---

In one day, we had lost two members of our group—Jason and Katherine. One was an elemental master; the other, a brilliant warrior. Not to mention we lost all of our horses and had to now advance on foot, which slowed our progress significantly. We had searched the surrounding area before leaving Desederium Forest for any signs of Katherine, and found nothing. I refused to believe that she was dead, or that an Evil had torn her to shreds. The Evils landed from above and carried her off. Why? If they had wanted to kill her, they would have done it then and there. Why carry her away?

One of the Evils had said Lord Victor wanted one of the Destined Three. Aaron retorted that they didn't know. It then replied that they would take the one of their choosing. Could the Evils have brought Katherine back to Lord Victor? And wouldn't that mean Katherine was at Devil's Peak?

I voiced this thought to Aaron. He considered it a plausible idea. "I hope she's alright," he said worriedly. "They better not have laid a single finger on her. We already lost Jason; we can't lose Kath too."

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Katherine's fine. She's the best fighter we have, and she knows how to protect herself. We'll rescue her when we arrive at Devil's Peak."

We set up three tents. Aaron and Lucian shared one, Rachel and I another, and Ashley had one all to herself because she said she wanted to be alone. Which was understandable, given her loss, but I couldn't help but be a bit worried.

I fell into a fitful sleep. In my dreams, I saw Katherine, her body covered with bloodied scars. 'Hello Indigo,' she whispered. 'Sleeping well?'

'What do you want?' I asked fearfully. 'I'm sorry I stabbed you. I'm sorry I said all those horrible things. I didn't mean them. I'm really, truly, sorry!'

'Sorry? You're sorry?' Katherine drifted closer, her body turning transparent. A ghost. 'Indigo, you held Aaron back. If you weren't all frail and needy, Aaron could've reached the clearing in time. He could've saved Jason. He could've saved me.'

'I…' Somehow, I felt that Katherine was right. I did hold Aaron back. When Katherine screamed, Aaron turned back around to save me first. 'I'm sorry, Katherine.'

' 'Sorry' isn't going to bring back the dead, Indigo,' the ghost of Katherine whispered in my ear. I shrank away. ' 'Sorry' isn't going to change the fact that this group isn't going to succeed in their mission.'

'What do you mean?' I asked.

Katherine's ghost let out an evil laugh. Then before my eyes, she transformed into a dark hooded figure with a pale, pale face, barely visible underneath the shadows. 'Indigo, the mastermind,' the person mused. 'How ironic that you failed to see through my master plan.'

'L-Lord Victor?' I stumbled back. What was he doing here? What happened to Katherine?

'It is me, child.' Lord Victor said softly. 'I have your little friend in my clutches. Soon, the six of you will no longer be a threat to me.'

'What have you done to Katherine?' I asked with dread pooling in my heart. He merely looked back at me from underneath his hood, calm and calculating.

'Nothing…yet. Tempt me, and I shall do the most unimaginable horrors to her already weak body. Look.'

The scene changed. I saw Katherine sprawled out on the floor, her face stained with tears, her body strained and pulled taut with pain. The bloody scars were still on her, evident claw marks from the Evils.

'That's a warning to all who dares to stand in my way,' Lord Victor hissed. 'But those who join me in my cause shall be rewarded. Think about my offer to you, Indigo.'

Then he dissolved into a murky ball of smoke and rushed at me, filling me with coldness and a suffocating darkness.

I sat up, drenched in cold sweat. Was that all just imagination? Or was it actually Lord Victor reaching into my mind? Even now, I could hear his voice burrowing into the corners of my mind, whispering dark thoughts to me. 'Think about my offer to you.' He wants me to join him. I shivered and wrapped my blanket around me. No. Never in a million years will I betray my friends and join a murderer.

My heart was still pounding in my ears. I took several deep breaths to calm down. After a few minutes, I lied back down and tried to sleep. But I kept hearing voices, with one of them being same raspy cold voice I heard in my dream. Am I going crazy, or is Lord Victor really in my mind?

Then I realized the voices were coming from outside. My breath hitched in my throat. Lord Victor wouldn't be here, would he? Have his minions surrounded us already?

I looked over at Rachel on the other side of the tent. Her chest moved up and down with the rhythmic breathing of sleep. I'm the only one who's awake. Deciding to investigate, I gathered up my courage and picked up my sword from the ground before crawling over to the tent flap. Lifting it up slightly, I peeked at the world outside.

It was still dark outside. The road was clear and devoid of any monster. All I could hear were crickets making their racket somewhere within the trees. A breeze ruffled the leaves on the nearby trees, and with it came the voices I heard before.

Hesitantly, I crept out of the tent and peered around, trying to pinpoint where the voices were coming from. Following the whispers that floated to me on the breeze, I traced it to the edge of the trees. Beyond that was the funeral pyre—or what's left of it. Hiding behind a tree, I peeked around the sturdy trunk.

There was a person standing next to the pyre, with his or her back towards me. The person was wearing a dark cloak, the hood raised. I didn't see a second person, but I swear I heard two voices before. Now there was just one, talking in a low voice. I tried to make sense of the soft mutterings.

"…bring…to you? …I can't…"

I strained to listen to the conversation better, but my foot stepped on a twig. Crack. The person whipped around, looking around wildly. "Who's there?"