Chapter Nine: The Nightmare

"What place is this? It's like a─ like a dark realm," Elizabeth whispers.

Elizabeth disturbingly terrifies upon envisioning horrid ambience. A dark realm shaded by a reddish light from burning waters surrounding and scorching her immature skin. On her left side, eight o'clock from her direction. Her sight entangles a giant pile of bones and skeletons along with a gigantic cauldron heating by fire from the rocks surrounding to it.

A fearsome creature painted by its grotesque facial features displaying herself. She's an old ugly ─lady, perhaps a witch of the age. Her head nods continuously from second to second like a fool with waving small strands of her long white hair. Normally, an average person has curvature facial contour, but this one hasn't, she’s just a blind─ with a plain blanked face except her exposing sharp dirty teeth like a rusty backsaw. Ironically, her blindness is unnoticeable, she bearing her eyes under her left palm and hiding it in avoidance from snitching.

Enormous cliffs surrounded the red rocky-mountains. Terrains filled with overflowing lava and the falling rocks from erosion always echoing from a distant. Flying creatures like a shape of a gargoyle, gliding towards a giant ancient dead tree one o'clock from her direction. Each of them screeches loudly that it might agitate you once you hear it.

Elizabeth sights in a far distance twelve o'clock from her direction a lewdly─ enchanting woman sitting in a mountain of skulls. She's almost naked with a shade of her wings like a bat and her wiggling tail like a joyful dog who encounters her owner. The one next sitting to her is vile, ─ creature that can be described as a king despite of his horrendous appearance. He’s a burly bloated monstrous creature that has long widespread horns. His scaly tail wiggles, with a pair of extending wings like a bat. His face seems like giant beardy Orc, filled with fury and vengeance along by his salivating mouth that always ajar because of the presence of his sabre-tooth. He rouses up from his seat and grasping his long metallic trident and cascading it into the ground to make loud sound waves in calling his servants.

Elizabeth shudders extremely when a giant three-headed beast hopping above her and quickly jogging towards the two creatures’ direction in the mountain of skulls. It halting at the foot edge of the mountain and growling like a wolf. Momentarily, each of the creatures she envisions, turning their glistening sights into her, and whooshing into her very vision like a sound of wind, smothering her under their terrifying gaze that entangling and fossilizing her by their dazzling reddish light like a flame of the burning furnace.

"Stop... stop… stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Elizabeth screams fearfully. She jolts from her terrifying nightmare. Hence, she views someone clutching her left hand. He hunching and leaning his arms against the wooden bed covering by his resting head on top of it. She realises it’s Enrico who also disturbs from his deep slumber upon hearing her scream permeating in the entire room. "Hey… hey… calm down please─ calm down. You have a nightmare, haven't you?" Enrico rushes his sight unto her.

Elizabeth seems speechless. She quickly snakes her arms to Enrico and burst into tears along with her overflowing scenting sweat. Enrico consoles and assuring her that everything’s all right. In a few more seconds, the old lady reveals herself behind the door of the room, handing a glass of water over to Elizabeth. In a split of a second, Elizabeth feels relief from her fear and anxiety.

"Hey, young lady─ are you still not fine?" the old lady asks.

"Wow! Thanks, ma'am ─ it's good. I feel better now." Elizabeth smiled after she drank.

"You know what young lady. He’s watching you all night." The old lady smirks towards Enrico’s direction

"Nope─ I mean… ah like─" Enrico stutters as she focusing his sight to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth yanks and snaking her outstretching arms to him at once. The old lady teases them up, trying to match them like a good lovebird. And the sizzling laughter conquers the small room. Thenceforth, the conversation awakens once more. She introduces herself as Rebecca, a last descendant of the sorcerers from the Greenock two decades ago according to her narration. Elizabeth intrigues about her tale, awakening her curiosity, visiting her imagination when she was child as she hearing some of these tales, and their conversation last longer.

Meantime, Elizabeth and Rebecca conversation grows deeper. Enrico wanders around the room. His curiosity arouses once more. He perceives some bizarre or shall we say strange things like supernatural phenomenon. The room consumes by darkness, but well illuminating by a green light from the ancient lamp at the right upper corner of the room two o'clock from their direction. The odd boing kettle startles you since no fire beneath on that, however it's boiling by the aid of five floating candles in the air surrounding in it. Enrico attests the steaming kettle to prove if he’s hallucinating, yet, he cries out for sting since his pointing finger skin searing and swelling distinctly.

Another second past, he entangles his sight with a harp that playing continuously with no player’s presence. He wonders about spooky ghost playing it, but her curiosity overpowering his fear. So, he plucks sluggishly the string and he shocks as the other strings lashing his left hand that eventually make him farting with a small sound like a careless whisper.

"It’s enchanted here I think, quite creepy but lovely." Elizabeth roams around her sight as she spotting unbelievable things. She also feels the blending feelings of amazement and frightfulness like a child witnessing the real scene in fairytales but this pleasant thing cut off as she smells something odd. Elizabeth defeats by diffusing odour, stopping her from talking in responding Rebecca. Enrico consumes by total embarrassment as both of them twisting tunneling their sights unto him.

"Hmm… smells awful! What sort of air this place had?" Elizabeth disfigures her face as she waving her hand, inching closer to her face.

"Oh, dear… I'm… so sorry… please forgive me." Enrico scratches his head and lowering his sight on the floor. Rebecca chuckles whilst Elizabeth smirks.

"Ma'am, can I ask what sort of water you handed to me? It really feels good─ definitely good." Elizabeth interrogates.

"It's just some sort of medicinal water─ with a little potion, sweetheart." Rebecca smiles as she transporting her sight back and forth to both of them.

Momentarily, as Enrico grabbing his chair, the short conversation disturbs by a ding-dong of an old pendulum clock striking at exactly one in the early dawn. Rebecca warns them to avoid attempting to travel in the early hours. However, the two are curios but she reasons out, insisting that it’s scary and horrible mustn’t need to know.

"You two must stay here and don’t attempt to travel in these early hours. It's dangerous!" Rebecca whispers as she enlarging her eyes unto them.

"But… why? What's going on?" Elizabeth gasps.

"I must check something outside─ very urgent," Rebecca mutters.

"Would you like some company ma'am? I'll be more… glad to─" Enrico halts.

"You must follow what I've said… or else you're in grave danger…" Rebecca warns them once more.