CALLIBRA: THE CURSED EYE OF ARAK

CHAPTER SEVEN

                     CAVES OF EFLIE

They all were outside, roaming in the midst of the cave - confused, and thinking about what had just happened.

They had just lost Amyas —A man who Dalmatius considered a friend; he was his only friend. Isaias, his son, was sitting in a cave grieving over him at the moment. 

“We need answers! How long are we going to wait for him to stop behaving like a child?” Dominick said furiously and his eyes glare green. He was becoming impatient. He needed answers. How and why were they still locked in their dragon forms when Isaias and his father had shifted back to their human forms?

“Yes! I think Dominick is right! We've all lost parents before. Some of us weren't even privileged to know our fathers. Why is he keeping us in the dark?” Catullus said, backing up Dominick's point.

“Shut up, both of you!” Dalmatius yelled at them as he threw himself into the air and maintained a balance with the continuous flapping of his wings. 

“Have some sympathy! Have you completely lost your humanity? The boy just lost his father a few minutes ago, and you expect him to stop grieving because you want to know how he transformed back into human?” Dalmatius cautioned them and they groan as they both tried to calm down. 

“We aren't monsters, we were humans, and we should be able to retain our feelings towards things like these. Please, let Isaias be for now. He'll explain to us whenever he feels like, and no one is going to talk to him about it until he decides to talk about it,” Dalmatius proposed and they listened.

“No! Dalmatius, there have the right to ask questions. I would do the same if I were in their shoes,” Isaias said to Dalmatius as he walked out of the cave. 

They all stopped roaming and looked at him.

“I lost my father, but like Catullus said; we all have lost parents, brothers, sisters, and friends. Inasmuch as it hurts, I can't forget the fact that we all need answers. I need answers, and that is why I'm here. I heard what you all were talking about, and I want an answer to every single one of those questions, too. Questions like; what is the Callibra?” Isaias said —standing at the rock which was beside the cave, so that everyone of them could see him clearly, as he no longer was a dragon, and was smaller than anyone of them. 

Isaias raised the Callibra in the air and asked at the top of my voice, “What is this thing, why did we find it, how was it able to kill Isidora, why did it turn us into these creatures, how do we reverse the curse, how did the witches get to know so much about it, and finally, how did I turn back to human? We can keep asking hows and whys, but we still won't get any answers within ourselves. What I do know is that the witches won't let us keep it. They will fight until they get their hands on it,” and everyone agreed with him.

“I don't know how I turned back into a human, but if it happened to me, then I'm sure it might happen to everyone one of you. Before then, we have to use it to our advantage, and save our people! If it should ever turn out that we all become human again, we should realise that it was Callibra who bought us our freedom, and for that I'm going to keep my father's last words. He asked me never to lose it, and that is exactly what I'm going to do, but I can't do it alone, especially because I'm human now. I need you, all of you, and we all will fight together until we get back our people!” Isaias shouted, and they all growled in agreement.

“We all have to stick together. We are in this together, and the fate of those who are still enslaved and entrapped in those cages are in our hand, and we are going to get them out!” He said and they show their compliance by growling.

He stepped down from the rock and Elvio walked towards him. 

“That was a good one,” he said to Isaias from behind and Isaias turned to him —Looking up to him as he loomed over him—his wings which were spread sideways were opaque, and therefore obstructing the light from the moon.

“We all need someone to lead us through this crisis. It is good that you stepped up to it,” Elvio said and Isaias grinned. 

“Thank you Elvio, but I'm not a leader,” Isaias said, and he chuckled. Even though it was quite difficult to differentiate between them since he was not one of them anymore, he found a way to mark them. 

Elvio’s claws were white. 

Dalmatius's claws were as brown as his scales, 

Dominick's claws were black, 

Others don't have much distinctive features from each other so it really confused him. 

“Where do you think would be safe enough to keep it?” Elvio asked, referring to the Callibra. 

“I think it'll be safe in my pocket,” Isaias replied and he laughed.

“Come with me. I have an idea of a place safe enough to keep it,” he said. The others chat while Elvio walked into the cave Isaias had just came out from, and he follow him behind.

They both walked into the cave and Elvio spread his wings. He throws himself into the air, and he pierced his largest claw into the topmost part of the wall of the cave —the wall opposite the entrance.

“Give it to me!” He shouted —still flapping his wings in the air to maintain balance. 

Isaias cast the gem into the air and he caught it with his hind claws. He inserted the Callibra into the hole he made with his claw, and it fitted perfectly, —glowing, and shining its unsurpassable light from the top of the cave, and spreading across the cave —like a moon which emitted green light. 

Few minutes later, Elvio was out of the cave and everyone was resting. Now, Isaias was lying on the cold floor of cave, and was beginning to recall how he lost his father. The memories came back to him but in fractions until he fade into his subconscious state.