Run

We turned around. Seiran's cry echoed ominously, a cry that presaged the worst horrors. Then we felt that blast, that gust of icy wind that made us shiver from head to foot. Black smoke was coming from all sides. We ran as we had done since the beginning, with all our strength. Ceilings collapsed, walls crumbled under the shock of unknown and considerable magic, while a black mist pursued us.

- Quickly this way!

Abi led us through countless corridors to an ostensibly special, incredibly large room. The young magician waited for everyone to cross the threshold, then stepped back, lit up, and quoted the formula for a spell in an awful, hoarse voice, then colossal doors closed, too slow in my opinion, the mist was coming dangerously close, turning everything it covered to ash.

- Hurry up... hurry up... we all prayed, our eyes terrorized, fixed on the rock doors that were closing.

Just as the ominous mist was about to cross the threshold, the stone wings finally came together as one.

We all breathed a long sigh of relief, but were aware that this shelter was only a brief respite. The door, on the other hand, was already beginning to crack. Terrible screams echoed from the other side.

- Abi, where are we? I asked with a grumble.

They were breathing hard, he must have lost a lot of strength when he closed the door of the room...

- We are in a special room.

He shook his head.

- I'm sorry.

- Why? How special?

- This is the room where a child was punished for being born.

We looked around, and it was thus that we noticed that black writings were engraved everywhere, nothing but black.

- Why was he punished... Abi? Seiran asked with an expression and a voice that I never saw nor heard from him, that I can't really interpret, but that tore my heart out.

Seiran looked at him, a glint of immense sorrow in his eyes.

- Why... Abi?" his voice was filled with despair.

- Because...he was born...of a forbidden union...

No sooner did he say this than shadowy shapes shaped by the scriptures emerged from everywhere, they surrounded us by the hundreds and stretched their vile hands towards us. We defended ourselves as best we could, becoming immediately aware of their malicious intentions. Each of us used our powers to try to survive.

- Don't let them take you into the depths of that black lake.

I turned around to see what the wizard had pointed to. Indeed, there was a lake in the middle of the room, and it was confusingly large.

Seiran created a formidable barrier around us that only let our attacks, but that was not to last long, the duchess fired explosive magic bubbles at our enemies while the master Archilouse tried to dissipate the black mists by an unknown, invisible magic that should have been of sufficient effectiveness, but alas not in front of these monsters.

When his shield finally gives way to the disproportionate power of the misty monsters, Seiran tried to protect me, placing me behind him, but icy hands grabbed me and pulled me toward the black lake that held the worst natures of this doomed world. The breath of Seiran's magic that enveloped me still managed to work as he lay in an excruciating posture. His magic seemed almost ineffective against this unspeakable scourge, so I did not dare to imagine even for a moment, the greatness, the depth, the complexity of the powers of those absolute monarchs bearing the proud name of Zeog, and probably by one of their countless, vain whims, had created an almost unconquerable curse and brought it down upon the magical world, plunging it into total desolation and despair.

I fought with all my strength, or rather all of Seiran's.

- Dania!

- Dania!

Yriane and Seiran shouted my name, which was the only source of light and encouragement in the total darkness of my pain. A pain so terrible that these shadows dragged me to the black lake and plunged me into it. I struggled with all my being, not yet suffocating from the cursed water thanks to Seiran's protective magic, but it was flying out of my body with abominable speed. I was now beginning to suffocate. So, with my last strength combined with the last magical borrowing, I concentrated and managed to emanate from my body a magical breath that pushed my shapeless black tormentors back and made them let go for a moment. Then, without waiting, I moved away, swimming as far away from them as I could. Unfortunately for me, the water was so dark that I couldn't see anything, I didn't know which way to go. I could feel their presence behind me, but I didn't have time to worry about it for long because I suddenly ran into a big obstacle. And that was an understatement, for I soon found that the obstacle was a colossal pillar anchoring itself to the bottom of the lake, but the awful thing was the black spell symbols carved into it. Letters, huge signs, but more atrocious and powerful than those that covered the singular room. The moment I touched it, all magic disappeared from me, as if it had never existed. It was painful and frightening. My invisibility disappeared completely. The shapeless monsters came rushing at me. Perhaps my last chance was to climb back up the pillar. Which I did. My relief was indescribable when I saw that on the surface, the pillar had a staircase that went up to a terrace in the middle of which ... stood a stone table, and on which was spread out a wide open book with a golden binding. I staggered over to the curious object, and discovered writing that was at first illegible, but which became strangely clear to me.