The Seer - Part 4

The next quarter moon arrived and we are on high alert. Me most of all. It’s my job to find the dhaceen on the other side of the barrier before it crossed over. We need to be ready to attack and get back the missing pieces of the artifact before the hole in the barrier is sealed back up.

I spent the whole day on edge, closing one eye to catch glimpses of Vaarn. Liam watched my back, ready to pull my focus back to this world at the first sign of danger. There is still one creature left in our world that could strike.

Alora and Tamniirt chat nearby, and a thought occurred to me.

“Alora, do you have the third piece of the artifact with you?”

Alora hesitated. “No, it’s in a safe place though,” she said awkwardly.

I can tell she’s holding something back. Liam figures it out first.

“You don’t trust us enough to share the location.”

The accusation hung in the air.

Alora shifted her feet. “It’s just after what happened with the others… I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“We’ll worry about it when it’s time to seal the portal,” Tamniirt says to smooth things over.

I nodded in agreement, understanding her worries, and glad we had addressed the subject. I figured if we trusted Alora, she would begin to trust us.

I noticed a blur of movement in my peripheral vision instantly. I straightened. The hairs were standing up on my neck and arms. Liam was the first to notice my change in stature.

“What is it, Jess?”

“I saw movement in Vaarn, possibly a dhaceen.”

He quickly grabbed my hand, knowing I would need to use only my brown eye. I squeezed his hand gently in gratitude and closed my green eye. The veil disintegrated and I saw the creature prowling in the distance, the dhaceen must have decided to wait nearby, learning from the last encounter with Tamniirt. I couldn’t help the knot in my stomach that began to form, soon we would have to battle this creature to death.

“The remaining dhaceen on our side must be close, or already nearby watching us.” Liam interrupted my fear-infested thoughts.

I knew he was right, now that they knew of our presence they would be on high alert, and that filled me with more fear. I pushed it down so as to not show my emotions, we had Alora on our side now, and we had seen what she is capable of.

“Alright now, be prepared for the veil to open. Jess, once you see it start to shimmer everyone must move at once. The Tri Celestials can all enter through the portal if you go together,” Tamniirt says. “You will need to beat the dhaceen to it, and prevent it from crossing over if you want to be able to use the artifact to return.”

He didn’t say what we knew was true; if we aren’t quick enough we could be stuck in Vaarn for a week. If we failed to get the artifact pieces, we could never return. I nodded my head and kept one eye closed, focusing on the barrier separating our world from Vaarn, and everything inside of it. I gulp.

Liam took my hand first. Then, Alora grasped the other. I gave both their hands a squeeze in return. We wait for what seems like an eternity and no time at all.

The veil begins to shimmer, first in a small circle, and then it grows.

“It’s happening,” I tell the others.

I guide them forward toward the space where the portal is forming. I watch the dhaceen turn to face the barrier, but I knew it couldn’t see us on the other side.

“NOW!” I yell.

Hands joined, we run at the shimmering mist before us. I flinched as we are about to make an impact, but the others don’t react, at first. When we hit the veil a coldness settled over my skin, and I felt a resistance tugging us back. We kept pushing forward, and the barrier suddenly gave way.

We stumbled forward and plowed right into the dhaceen.

...

In the chaos of crossing into Vaarn, my hands slipped from Liam and Alora’s grasp as I was plunged forward right into the dhaceen, my palms made contact with flesh that felt slippery and hard. Jagged black feathers protruded from the dhaceen’s flesh erratically. Its head rolled back to face me and those disturbing red eyes made contact with my own. Its black lips peeled back from impossibly long pointed teeth, followed by a low growl. In a flash of movement, the dhaceen clenched its jaw onto the flesh between my thumb and pointer fingers. I cried out in agony as warm crimson blood poured from my wound and filled the dhaceen’s hideous mouth.

My head was in a daze, I could barely grasp what had just happened and I was rigid with fear. Suddenly I heard a roar, so filled with rage and hatred I couldn’t distinguish where it had come from. I scanned my surroundings and my eyes landed on Alora. Her silvery lavender hair was raised as if the wind was blowing just around her. Her eyes glowed a piercing white as she lifted her arms towards the dhaceen. Her fingers popped and stretched, her veins seemed to pulsate and glow white as her powers flowed forth from her and exploded out of her fingertips in a blinding display of power. Once it struck the dhaceen, it began to bloat and contort just like the last time Alora saved us. Soon Alora’s light had obliterated the dhaceen and all that was left were scattered splashes of blood and the lingering evil aura.

Alora slumped down and began to sob, Liam and I ran to her side. I got low and pulled her into my chest.

“Thank you for your strength,” I whispered. “We could not do this without you.”

She glanced up at me with a weak smile as Liam patted her shoulder in agreement. We would be dead without her, and I think she knew that.

“I’ll check the remains for the missing artifact pieces,” Liam stated gently as he got up, and gave me a small nod.

We didn’t have much time. The other dhaceen in our world would show up soon. I had no doubts about that but I wanted Alora to have a moment’s peace. She’d been through so much.

Suddenly Alora’s eyes grew wide, she was looking over my shoulder so I turned my head to see as chills ran down my spine. The veil was shimmering and shifting again and as a figure emerged Alora began to shake uncontrollably. The man who emerged was clapping slowly, his aura was intensely pulsating, so dark red it seemed black.

“Well done.” His voice dripped with poison. “I see you have found the Redeemer, or did she find you?” His mouth twisted into a vile grin.

Alora’s voice trembled as we quickly scrambled up and into a defensive stance. “You… you killed them?” Her voice wandered off, she already knew the answer to her question.

“Oh, your friends?” he replied, and his wicked grin spread even further along his face. “Oh yes, they were quite delicious. Their bodies have served me well in your world.”

He laughed maniacally as his aura began to shift. His human form twitching and contorting. His face twisted in pain, but his eyes were fixated on Alora, glowing deep red with satisfaction.

Soon he was replaced with a she. Alora let out a wail of horror as tears streamed down her face. I knew then these were the faces of the previous Seer and Revealer.

Liam crept closer to Alora and I grabbed Alora’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

“You must be the Seer.” The dhaceen cocked its head and casually motioned towards me.

I clenched my jaw in response; I wouldn’t feed into it.

“No? Let’s find out.” The dhaceen, now in female form, let out a high-pitched cackle and flicked its wrist in my direction.

I noticed a small object glimmer in its hand but before I could let the others know a dhaceen in its original form came bounding in my direction, teeth showing. I pulled Alora’s hand to move her out of the way, dodging its first lunge. It landed on all fours and quickly turned to face us again.

“Jess? What do you see?” Liam asked, I could hear a slight tremble in his voice, but he was ready to defend us regardless of his fears.

“A dhaceen, straight ahead of us!” I tried to get the warning out quickly.

“I don’t see it, Jess!” Liam responded as he moved quickly in front of Alora and me.

The female form tossed its head back and began to laugh even louder, causing goosebumps to spread all over my body.

“So you are the Seer.”

It made eye contact with me and its aura seemed to darken even further.

Now that we were close together and I knew the dhaceen was toying with us and our abilities, I took the chance to whisper to Alora and Liam.

“It has something in its hand. I saw it glimmer when it fabricated that dhaceen.”

Liam nodded. His eyes were filled with concern, as he looked into mine and down at the bleeding wound on my hand.

He then glanced towards Alora and said, “Alora if you can create a diversion, just long enough for me to knock the artifact pieces free, we can do this.”

Alora’s eyes were puffy from crying, she clearly still seemed distraught. “I…I’m not sure I can hurt her…” She trailed off.

“Where is the other piece, Redeemer? I know you have it somewhere,” the dhaceen interrupted, its voice clearly filled with irritation.

“I will NEVER let you have it!” Alora roared, as tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

“I guess I’ll have to kill you and your new friends.” The dhaceen shrugged and let another cackle wave over us.

It waved its hand about with the glistening artifact piece and Alora yelped in pain. Her eyes glowed white like when she used her abilities, but this time with a tinge of crimson.

“I can’t see!” Alora exclaimed.

Rage boiled up inside me; this dhaceen was playing with us. It was obviously not threatened. I had to think fast, or soon we would lose ourselves and our world.

“Liam, give me your shirt.” He responded immediately ripping it off in one swift movement.

His shirt in my hands, I tore a large portion of it and wrapped it around Alora’s eyes.

“I know you can’t see but focus on his aura,” I whispered to Alora while gently squeezing her hand.

She nodded in agreement. The dhaceen’s aura was so full of malice, it didn’t take much focus to hone in on it.

“Liam, I need you to try and reveal it. Alora, once it begins to transform, direct all of your energy at it.”

I grabbed both of their hands and felt the gentle squeezes of understanding. This is what we had been training for.

The dhaceen surely noticed our change. Its dark aura grew, creating a dense crimson cloud all around itself. Its laughter seemed to echo all around us.

“Jess… It’s about to attack full force. I can sense its intention.”

“Now is the time to strike then, if we get hit by all of its power we’re done for. Alora, let’s focus on Liam.”

As if in response to what I said, I felt Alora’s energy flow through me like gentle kisses from pins and needles. I glanced at Liam and could tell he felt it as well. He gave me one last crooked smile before glaring at the dhaceen. Even in our dire situation, I felt my cheeks filled with warmth.

Prickles of incandescent light flickered up Liam's arms. His brows furrowed in concentration and with his left hand that I wasn’t holding - he unleashed his energy towards the dhaceen. It pierced through its malicious smog which was shortly followed by a wail in pain. The dhaceen toppled forward, gripping its chest where Liam must have struck it. Its face rapidly shifted between the male and female faces of the previous Seer and Revealer, each expression more horrifying than the last. I was grateful Alora was blindfolded and could not see her friends’ last agonizing faces.

“Alora, now!” I urged her.

I felt her chest fill with air and on her exhale she began to lift off; off the ground. Her magnificent aura surrounded her and us in comforting protection. I embraced her aura and imbued it with my own. The light from her eyes pierced the blindfold I hastily made and from her entire body, the light blasted forward. It felt as though my energy was being sucked from me. I stabilized myself and let it flow with Alora’s.

The blast surged towards the dhaceen, and in its crippling state, the light obliterated it almost instantly. The deep crimson aura that was only moments ago a massive surge of evil, dissipated into nothing. The artifact piece lost its glimmer and gently fell into the grass alongside its twin, where the cruelest dhaceen had been.

Liam picked up the two pieces and placed them gently in Alora’s hand. We both knew that she should be the one to close the portal.

A rustle behind us caused us all to flinch, and Liam to grab my hand once more. We turned to face a sight we never expected.

A handful of beautiful creatures stood behind us in the luscious green grass. They were like the glistening winged horses I saw before, only this time they were in an array of pastel colors. Slowly, they began to kneel before us. From the sky, flaming phoenixes dove down and bowed their heads. I turned at the sound of splashing coming from our left. Mermaids with brightly-colored hair waved their jewel-encrusted fins at us, splashing them merrily in the lake.

I glanced at Liam and then Alora, and for the first time, we all smiled in pure joy.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder and turned to see Tamniirt clutching something small in his hand. He held it out to Alora.

“This belongs to you,” he said.

She took the last piece of the artifact from his hand.

“As the protector, I knew I could trust him,” she said by way of explanation.

“You need to get back now,” Tamniirt reminded us.

I wrapped my furry little friend in a warm embrace, tears pricked at my eyes. I knew he didn’t belong in our world and he had a job to do here, but it still hurt to say goodbye. After everyone said their goodbyes, we clasped hands once more and stepped through the portal.

Alora looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. She slid the three pieces of the artifact into place and held it up into the air. The artifact began to glow and the shimmering portal faded into the usual misty veil.

I closed one eye and looked beyond the veil. Tamniirt stood waving at me still, and I knew then I would always find my friend when I needed him.

...

We had an incredible experience writing this collaborative story together! What did you think? Would you want to be a Celestial? Which one? Let us know in the comments below.

Thanks so much for reading!

-Clever & WTF