The Obsidian Princess

Chapter 13

She did not know what she was supposed to do after she heard the entire truth from her mother. Nia had been understanding and caring like she was always and gave her the space to deal with it.

All the party goers went away on their own merry way to deal with their mirth and happiness which seemed so sick to Eloa. She felt like she had been dunked a number of times in a tub full of ice water and then someone had electrocuted that water itself.

“I think I am going to go to bed a bit early today,” she said after she had finished the plate that her Mom had prepared for her with her favourite foods. She had just moved bits and pieces with her knife and fork and Hans and Sonia had noticed it but that also did not matter.

They did not know what the proper thing to say was or what would be the proper behavior in a situation like this. They did not want her to hurt any more than they already had.

They both nodded at her and then kissed her good night. Eloa slept on her bed on the one she had been sleeping since childhood and then she looked at the ceiling and she did not even know when she had fallen asleep.

Eloa kept on dreaming about the castle where she had just come in today morning. The castle was bold on the blue beyond. It stood there as if conjured from the storybook of a child. It was perfect. Eloa imagined unicorns in the courtyard, because if those towers could exist, why not? Every stone was even and square, as if those who built were set on perfection, as if they really loved what they made. They were walls made to protect a community, to echo with laughter and be the shelter they needed for the millennia to come. But was that the truth. She could see something flying above the castle looming over the turrets as the darkness descended on the land suddenly. It was nothing like she had seen earlier or even known earlier. It was all so far away and distant, hazy until suddenly she could see a swath of black on it. Someone was looking at her.

The demon was more silent than the grave it arose from, staring with heavy lidded eyes and a slack mouth. His cheekbones accentuated the skeletal look and in his gaze my mind was robbed of emotion. Instead of running, or screaming she stood more still than the mossy statue in the heart of the graveyard and just as cold. He beckoned with fingers that rapidly faded to only a suggestion of form. I passed each stone without taking account of the path until I stood in a place that was unrecognizable. He became more solid again, but this time his skin bore many silver scars, thick and jagged. She began to think new things, "I want to stay here with him, forever." The thought became a desire and her insides lit with an intensity to make it possible. My body crumpled to the dirt, leaves and mud met the side of my face and my knees curled up like an unborn. It was then I heard Mama shout my name, over and over. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing would come. She was frantic, yelling, scared.

And she woke up screaming.

But this time what her eyes confronted was nothing different from her nightmares. The only thing that changed was that she was not in a graveyard any more but rather in her own bed in her room and the demon was standing right beside her bed. His fangs were bared and it gave the semblance of a smile. She shrieked out once again but no sound came out of her throat. The demon had horns protruding from his forehead and his eyes were yellow and irises slit just like that of a snake. She was up against the wall and she had no way of running away.

Eloa looked at the creature in front of her eyes and then she blinked once more to look at it again but she found nothing at all…there was no one standing at the bottom of her bed. There was no demon with skeletal face and eyes which would scare the largest snake.

But what was happening to her? What were the dreams that she had been having from the past few days….she had a feeling that all of these were trying to tell her something but she was not being able to connect the dots at all. After all that was her specialty then what was she doing here in her own room…she was supposed to be someplace else…she was supposed to tell someone that their end was near…and one they were gone she had to do something more as well.

Death was considered to be something very dark and malicious by the magician, sorceresses and everyone all throughout their lives because they had been taught to believe that death took away people who were closer to them which could only mean that it was a bad thing which kept the loved ones away from them. Eloa thought that no one had ever believed or thought this that if death was not their then there would be no further life born on this earth, death was the only thing that kept balance in nature. Sure, there were a few untimely ones but on an overall without death nothing would be possible and that was the only thing that mattered. But why was she thinking these sort of things at all?

She rose up from her bed and looked outside her window and climbed down on the snow without any difficulty and then started walking towards the place where she knew that her Uncle Howard would be taking shelter for the night. She had absolutely no clue why she knew this or even why was she going but she knew that this was something that had to be done without any respite.

She found the place where he was lying in the room and she stood outside of the place and a voice came out of her throat. She had no idea what she was speaking but it was ethereal. She was singing. Probably the second time in her life. She kept on singing and walking all about the broken abandoned house where Uncle Howard had taken shelter. She had seen that his end was near and in precisely nine days she was going to see him die. He would be dying alone and lonely and he would have no one to comfort him in his last hour.

His was a life which was nothing but an utter and entire waste and Eloa wept for the fact that he could have made things different and could have brought change but his soul was too dark and gloomy to rise against the forces of dark and evil which had kept him under their grips since his entire life. But not any longer. His time on earth was limited and she was going to be the only one who would be trying to give him the last chance to make some changes to this sorry life he had led but he was still asleep.

As the song and her wailing reached its end she could see that he had roused from is sleep and the fear was etched in his broken and bruised face. He could feel it in the very barest of his bones that this was nothing normal that was happening but he could do nothing about it. He was paralyzed from the fear that had gripped him like a vice which made him unable to rise and check out the source of his voice.

It was the dead of the night and so very cold but Eloa was singing dressed in a pale white frock which was tattered in places and she was so sad. The depth of her sorrows could not be even begun to be comprehended but she knew that he was drowning in despair and he would be drowning even more in the days which were about to come.

When the rest of the world would be celebrating the coming of a new year her Uncle Howard would be fighting and gasping for his last breath. And she could only wail about it.

She kept on singing for hours and she did not feel a shred of tiredness and she knew that this song would be ringing in the ears of the man who was going to die in just eight more days. And she would be the uninterested aloof witness of the incident.