Prologue
“William…please…stops. I-I cannot run more.” Hilda dropped down on her knees, panting and exhausted. Her hands were grazed from digging and it pained. She couldn’t run further, though there were Scitels who wanted to kill her, her husband and any other living thing that knew a critical fact that they had tried to hide from the Illanayr world for centuries – chasing her. And she was not as young as she used to be. The Phecaron had somehow found out that she and William had found it. The sixty-third tablet. After all these years of fruitless searching… Her husband, William came over to her. He was tense and tired.
“Try to open a portal.” She suggested.
William turned and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, the faint silhouette of a portal door shimmered before them. Then it faded away.
“I…I can’t. It’s not working, I’m too drained.” William turned around to face her. His face was deathly pale and bleached. Never had Hilda seen him like this.
“Send an apparition to Ernest. Tell him we found it. You left the note, didn’t you? She will find it. Her legacy will find her. In case we…we don’t-”
“Enough Hilda. No one’s going to die. I already sent the apparition while you were examining the tablet. Let’s move now, quickly!” There was anger written on his face. Hilda knew that he was determined to succeed and keep their daughter out of the dangers of the legacy for as long as possible.
She stood up, a newfound strength and courage flowing through her veins. She had to do it, she had to make it. Even if they lost, she would die with the satisfaction of knowing that she tried her best. They had also sent an apparition to Olvera Clay, the Chief of the Avatris about their discovery. She had said that troops were already on the way to help William and her. Troops or no troops, they were halfway there already. If they made it beyond this forest and the Town, they were safe. They pushed past trees and prickly bushes with all might. The thorns scratched and hurt her skin. They had come across many animals and forest creatures. She caught glimpses of Glowing Niards, many Coppecarns and Xemorphi. They were all friendly to Avatris. After all, the Illanayrei’s very existence was to protect Earth.
The Illanayrei was a race of magical beings created by the Eldest Three to protect the Earth and to sustain life in it. Illanayrei would translate to Guardians in the human tongue. Hilda and William were Illanayrei of the land- called Avatris.
They kept running towards the end of the forest. William grabbed her hand to make them faster. She could hear the Scitels’ voices now. Her fine-tuned Illanayr ears could hear them from half a mile. They were closing in on them.
“There they are!” She heard a coarse, sharp, blade-like voice say.
Panic clutched her heart like a cold metal. She felt William’s grip on her hand tighten. She urged her limbs to move faster. She ached for rest. Suddenly, an arrow soared past her, missing her arm just by inches. Another one landed on the trunk of a tree just where William was a semi-second ago. That arrow had managed to tare his sleeve in two. Hilda turned her head back and saw the ghoulish, masked faces and lengthy dark purplish hoods flashing in between the trees. The negative energy they were spreading was already affecting her. She wanted to give up…to let go of her life and everything she cared about. She was battling with herself to get rid of the feeling. Hilda didn’t look where she was going that she stepped over a vine of Twirling Tanicle – a creeper vine that twisted itself around anyone who touched it. They were abundant near the realm’s borders, to keep other Illanayr species out and Avatris in.
William’s speed and the Tanicle’s grip in the other direction made her jerk back right on top of the vine. She cried out in pain – her ankle was sprained. William tried to undo the plant’s hold in vain. Hilda pulled away from it, but the grip just got harder. William turned to look for a sharp object that could cut through. A thorn maybe.
Then she heard it. Just seconds before it hit its mark, Hilda heard it. A long spear ricocheted towards William and pierced through him. Hilda was too numb with shock to cry out. She heard the faint sound of William cry out and fall to his knees before being hit with an arrow herself, just behind her neck, near to her left shoulder. It was a Scitel poisoned arrow. They would be dead in minutes. She struggled with the unbelievable pain spreading through her. Destructing her. Killing her. Killing William. She looked at him, his breath coming as a deep rattle, barely moving. Succumbing to the pain. To death. Her own pain just felt like a dull throb when she saw him.
“D…don’t, don’ remove the…arrow…you…will …lose blood.” William tried to speak. He was telling her to live - to survive. She was touched. Tears fought their way free. William coughed and spluttered. He raised his hand to touch hers. Then it went limp.
Another arrow hit Hilda. This time, she couldn’t stand it. She had done her best. She had tried. Her knees buckled. The pain was overwhelming, gradually killing her. Avatris have an uncanny ability to know when a person near them dies. Hilda felt a small tick in her sub-consciousness, like a string breaking. She knew William had died. Hilda closed her eyes, for the last time.
∞
