IASIAS' POVI rush out of the falling castle with my hands tied to Nika’s. We pass the back door as Nika suggested and we arrive at the compound. Varia runs to us and hugs Nika. “I need to get my friends out of the dungeon,” I say to Nika, placing my hand on her cheek and she nods. Just before I take a step, she calls to me, “be careful!” And I nod with a grin. I reach the dungeon and I break through the metal door of the dungeon. The building is already falling apart, as crumbles of sands fall off the cracks on the wall. They are startled as they can't see who it is. I punch a hole into the ceiling and light floods the entire room. I'm half transformed, but they all recognize me.“How are you—” “How is this possible?” “How—”All three of them asks, shocked to see that I'm still a dragon, not even the type we last were, but a different species.“I will answers all your questions, I promise. First, we have to get out of here before it collapse,” I say to them and they completely
C I R E N A Somewhere in the wild outskirt of Eflie, an isolated cave that rested far off the caves of Eflie was basking underneath the moonlight. A quiet night in an indeed lonely region. A place where humans dreaded to be. No one in his or her right senses would ever settle in a place beyond the grassland. It was an outrageous idea, and only one with a supernatural ability can think of such a space as a home.The witches. . .Only a witch, or one who have had an equivalent power in the past would have had such authority and guts to step into a region as deadly as this one. * * * *“Lydia!” “Sister, the time has come. The moon has taken the last turn. The very one we have been waiting for,” Dria shouted as her hand swept the piece of rag that was hanging over the entrance of the cave. It was thick enough to serve it's purpose, keeping out the intense cold that persisted. The voice of Dria shook Lydia from her sleep back to consciousness. She had been sleeping through
Those who possessed such great powers given to them by nature itself, the witches of Ivádia.Ivádia was one of the four regions of the world where humans could survive. The other three regions were Landiá, Vocí and Piliá.Only about a hundred women from Ivádia were blessed with these powers. This tribe of witches is mainly called "the daughters of nature", because since the beginning of time they could only give birth to female, so no man ever emerged from this gender.Originally, these powers were used to heal others.Over time, they realized how deeply ingrained their powers were. They realized that they could do more with their powers than save lives. They saw how much people without powers depended on them, and they thought highly of themselves.The rule of the witches crept out of Ivádia and spread across all four regions, dominating and enslaving others.People without this gift were called Mandrins, a name given to them by the witches, meaning powerless. Mandrins were generally
The sun shone over their weary heads, bringing beads of sweat to their foreheads as they crossed the bridge of Ivádia. Not even the smallest young man is spared, neither women nor children. Everyone had his share of the work so long they were Mandrins. The hot, coarse grains of sand that had basked in the intense light of the sun were like hot coals from a furnace to their bare feet. Only the wind from the west gave them hope that the moon would soon defeat the sun and reclaim the sky. Isaias looked up at the sky, and the fading sunlight consumed his face and left him with no sight. He took a deep breath, and before he could think to pause, he heard a strong female voice behind him shout, "Go on, you fool!" He was startled by the trembling voice of the old witch who watched over all the mandrins crossing the bridge.He glanced at her face, and the grim expression on it made him move on against his will. His knee was almost to the point of collapsing. He had travelled such a long dis
"Where. . . Where did you get that?" She stammered, visibly confused by what she was seeing."My father found it," Isaias said, and she became even more curious."You should not be in possession of such a thing. Take whatever you find to the castle and maybe you'll be rewarded. I'll take care of it," she said as she moved toward Isaias, trying to get to the gem as quickly as possible."No! Do not... Do not touch it? He found it," Isaias said, and she giggled. "Look around, you are not in a position to tell me what to do. I'll take it to my sisters and we will decide what to do with it," she said.She moved forward. Somehow she was careful with her movements. It was more like she could not just walk up, take it and go. Her facial expression revealed that she was not aware of the consequences of touching it. "So it exists, our sisters will be proud of us for finding it," she said to the younger girl."You did not find it, my father did," Isaias shouted, and she ignored him."Take it!"
The young woman in the maroon robe strode through the dimly lit corridor on the second floor of the castle. "Nika, sister," Amaia called to her from the doorway, just before she could take the turn that would lead her to her room. "Yes! Amaia, do you have news about my mother yet?" she asked, turning to speak to Amaia."I am afraid not, sister, your mother has asked for the cloak to be cast. The creatures, I hate to say it... but one of them is still out there and so we can not look for her," she said to Nika and she remained silent. She had last seen her mother at noon and since Lucia had come with a report about the Callibra and the Mandrins that had found it, she had not seen her again. She knew she was out there, somewhere, but she could not tell if she was all right."Where are the rest of them?" asked Nika, breaking the silence. She wanted to know where the other dragons had gone, because Amaia had confirmed to her that there was only one dragon out there. "I think they are
TOWER OF IVÁDIANika immediately got up from the chair when she saw her mother's reflection and tried to embrace her, but she backed away."Mother, you scared me. Where have you been all this time? We were all waiting for you," she said to her and she did not say a word. She looked down at Isidora's face and her eyes met the blood stains on her chest from the puncture in her neck. She covered her mouth with both hands and tears rolled down her eyes."Mother, what happened to you?" She could only speak through her tears. She tried to reach for her hand and she moved backward again. "No, no, mother, you are dead, you died out there!" she screamed loudly and Amaia ran into the room after hearing her scream. "Sister Isidora!" said Amaia. Stunned, she does not let herself say another word. "Mother, talk to me!" She shouted and Isidora smiled."I will not be here too much longer, I am hanging on so I can pass my spirit on to you. Find me!" She said as she walked towards them and disappe
It was indeed a long night, but they were no longer humans. They no longer needed to light torches to go to a place as dark as this. Even though the moon was no longer visible in the sky, their eyes were now like natural torches that never burn out. They emitted green light, just like the gem Isaias held between his hind claws. The gem that the witches called "CALLIBRA". They could see the caves ahead of them. They were close and knew they would soon reach it. The closer they got to the cave, the more echoes they created with their wing beats. In the middle of the caves they descended and the sand under their wings pulled apart as the winds caught under their descending wings pushed them away. "Behold, the caves of Eflie," Dalmatius said, and silence flooded their midst as they tried to explore the caves and see if they were indeed safe. "We should go see them! We can not swear they have been empty all these years, because no one's been here in decades," Atticus suggested. There