- Ch 12

It had been two days since the demons had attacked the sect and, they had been forced to flee. And it wasn't until now that they had stopped to make camp.

Siri sat on a rock and, the campfire crackled in front of her. It was quiet and, nothing was heard except the wind in the canopy and the crackling sound from the fire.

Opposite Siri sat Elix and Chen or, rather Raven. Everyone looked tired and, Siri felt exhausted but spoke up.

"Elix, what's going on?" She sat leaning forward, trying to clean her scrapes.

She had asked the question several times but hadn't received an answer. Elix had just said that they needed to fix the camp before nightfall and, that infuriated her. That's how she felt when she didn't get any answers. She was impatient and annoyed.

And this Chen chap hadn't said a word, at all. And his mood was as dark as his outfit. Black trousers, linen sweater, and coat...

If his name was Raven, it was an appropriate name.

His trousers looked like they were made of leather or something similar. If you looked closely, you could see patterns of different runes on both his trousers and his coat.

"What's going on?" Siri's voice was tired but desperate. Elix focused on Siri.

"I don't know where to start, Siri. I don't know much and, some things are just guesses." Siri and Chen, or rather the Raven, waited for Elix to continue.

Elix sighed. "The demons are after you, Siri. They've been coming after you since you left our sect. First an attack by Zerzers from nowhere, and then a few days later, a massacre that wipes out the entire Phoenix sect that you joined. I think they're coming from something like a portal, like the mist. But the demons that attacked aren't smart, so someone or something else is hunting you. They want you dead... that's what I think."

Elix looked at Siri with sympathy but, he continued.

"There is a prophecy with the first strophes: 'Once again, the Darkness grows in a dying world, and Creatures from the dark will come. Then comes the fated one, who will transform the world...'

And, 'She will walk among us goddess-like. When seven stars fall, when the moon is red, the child of fate is born.' Eighteen years ago, seven stars fell and, the moon was red. You're eighteen. And you walk like a goddess in the world, Siri. You can't deny that."

"But above all, it is my intuition, a feeling I can't ignore."

"You are the goddess..." Elix said.

"I am what???" Siri yelled.

"The goddess of the last light." Sade Raven in a whisper.

'And now you open your mouth for the first time in two days,' thought Siri, and glanced at Raven.

"Stop messing with me." Siri looked angrily at both Raven and Elix.

'What the hell are they thinking. I'm not a goddess.' Siri thought, her feeling of distress reflected on her face.

"I am convinced that you are the goddess of prophecy," said Elix.

"What kind of prophecy?" Siri was suspicious and felt a deep unease. She didn't want to be part of a prophecy.

"What does it tell me to do? asked Siri.

"Destroy the world and save it. But it is not complete. We only have parts of it..." answered Elix

"Like all the other fucking prophecies then," Siri said in a hard voice.

"Maybe, but it looks like there are more people who want in on your story. So you need to take it seriously."

"Stop, it's not funny. I'm not some goddess who's going to destroy and save the world."

"Maybe you're not, but it looks like someone with power over demons and monsters thinks you're important... enough to attack and destroy a sect."

"It might as well be you they're after."

"I don't think so..." answered Elix.

He wasn't usually wrong when he went on hunches, but a hunch is a hunch, not truth.

"That remains to be seen," said Siri. She swallowed hard while she took a twig and threw it into the fire.

There was silence around the campfire. 'I have to take one thing at a time and, what I need to do now is to cultivate,' thought Siri.

Siri felt embarrassed as she said.

"I need to cultivate Yang-Qi."

He looked at her and then looked at Chen, whom he called Raven, and then back at Siri. He made a grimace.

"So you fucked Raven." It was only a brief statement but, there was a tone of jealousy in his voice. That she had had intercourse with Raven disturbed him and, Raven was not to be trusted. But it wasn't something he was going to bring up now.

"It's too bad you didn't have time to cultivate before the attack. If you use your Qi now, the demons can sense your aura... if they're around."

"I have to do it now... if I don't want to become a mother, Elix."

"I understand but prepare for us to escape without delay. We don't know how those demons are drawn to you."

"If it's me they're drawn to," Siri added quickly.

Siri stood up and walked over to a tree a few steps away from the rock she had just sat on. She sat down in the lotus position and closed her eyes. The process of transforming Yang-Qi into Soul-Qi was not difficult for her. Siri circulated her Qi and felt her wounds heal with tremendous speed. Euphoria took hold of her as usual, when she used her Qi. Yang Qi began to transform into soul Qi and strengthening her cultivation.

"We need horses or a wagon if we're going to move faster," Raven said. It was the longest sentence he had said since they left the sect.

Elix cleared his throat."Yes, it is a priority and, I think we should get to the main road which leads to the capital." It was clear that Elix didn't trust Raven. It showed both in his body language and in his voice.

Raven showed that he agreed with Elix's words by nodding slightly.

"When Siri's done, we need to get out of here fast. That the demons can come from nowhere is frightening." Elix said

"More than scary... You said something about portals...it should not be possible, " said Raven.

"Yes... but there must be portals. It can't be anything else. There are so many questions and, we must have answers. And I don't know where we can find them," Elix said.

Raven watched Elix thoughtfully.

"You know the world is troubled. There are more and more monsters in the forests and, the number of demons has increased in the Grey Lands. They have started to leave the Grey Lands in some places... "

"I've heard. But it's not something I've experienced even though I'm from the Wind Sky sect, as you know," answered Elix.

They fell silent and looked at Siri at the same time for no particular reason. But what they saw made them stare wide-eyed and gaping.

Siri's aura was pulsed with a luminous shine. An intense heat radiated from her that made her shiver. Smoke emanated from her and, the dry leaves she was sitting on catch fire, only to freeze and be covered in frost the next moment. Frost mixed with sparks of fire from the glowing leaves spread around her. The smell of winter mixed with the smoke of the embers even though it was summer.

Raven and Elix stared wide-eyed at Siri gaping.

"There are always new and strange things happening around Siri," stated Elix mostly to himself.

Elix looked around. If her normal aura didn't attract attention, this phenomenon would. Elix and Raven felt wave after wave of power pouring out of her. It felt like pressure waves of raw Qi.

And in the next second, her Qi built up inside her until she exploded. A blast of golden Qi flew out of her, causing everything around her to fly. Raven was thrown into the air and then slammed into a tree. Elix was sent spinning on the ground to hit a bush.

Elix and Raven stood up. They had escaped injury except for abrasions.

Siri looked at them worriedly. "I'm sorry guys, did I hurt you?" Her aura glowed with a new light.

"You had a breakthrough," Elix said.

Siri was about to reply when an icy scream was heard.

"Yrhaks demons!" Raven shouted.