Rise of Tempest Merlin

Chapter 11

Lilith’s POV

“You need to turn this patch of land and garden green once again. This is the price you have to pay in order to pass through the land,” said the woman as Lilith gasped at her.

Now how in the seven heavens was she supposed to do that??

That was impossible. She was doomed.

“What do you mean that I have to turn a patched piece of land green again? I am not a frigging gardener, neither do I know what is wrong here, what kind of test is this?” she asked as she reacted at the woman.

“That is exactly what this is. It is a test. It is a trial which has been made just for you so that it can be tested if you are even worthy of going ahead in your trials, the rule is that you have to be tested for you mettle here itself before you are allowed to proceed any further,” said the Keeper.

Her eyes were the hue of the new spring growth, bright and soft all at once. There were flecks of strength, of the kind of green that comes only as summer advances. And they were never more beautiful than when she cried, when her gentleness flowed over her cheeks, nor when she became the wise woman we came to depend on, decorated with laughter lines. Yet the soul and the eyes are ageless, and to me, so was she.

But right at this moment I could see her for exactly what she was. She was a colossal b***h. I could not help the fact that the words tumbled out of my mouth and I could not stop them whatever the reason might be.

“You know, Keeper, I had heard stories of a woman so beautiful that even the Goddesses were jealous but she never stopped to think about anyone else other than herself. She was so selfish that she only broke the hearts of men and trampled on them in her wake. I never thought that I would actually come to see her face to face one day. Then I also had heard that the fates had punished her for her selfishness after the death of a young hero. She was exiled to such an island that she would never see the face of another human,” said Lilith and then she taunted,” Does that sound familiar?”

The Keeper said,” Should it sound familiar? Because Lilzrockzzz789 the main motive of your coming here is to come to know your powers and rather not look at me and try and make me feel guilty because honestly that is not going to work. You do forget that I am a Non playing character with a livid conscience and this is orchard is my area.”

“That same maiden was cursed by the Fates to be alone for an eternity and in order to t*****e her they used to send a new hero for you to see, to speak with, to enjoy but as soon as the quest was complete he would go away and you would never be able to see him again. I get why you are behaving this way. But you have to also remember, this time the one who is standing in your orchard is not a typical hero from the Greek mythology. So you can rest assured that I am not going to fail like all the others before me,” I said and she gave me a sad smile.

“It is not a very usual thing, getting female heroes but I assure you, Lilith until now none of the newer heroes who have arrived have left or have been able to spend the night here alive. And I hope you do know that dying here means that your body will lose life in reality as well? This is not just a game Lilith, so do not tell things before you can even understand what you are going to do about it,” said the Keeper and then she started walking away from me.

I did not feel the need of calling her back. The stats of the lives of the previous players who had been given this door did not sound so good and suddenly my own future in this game started seeming absolutely bleak. I opened the boots that my Avatar was wearing beside the dead land and then stepped on the dark black charred soil. I had a feeling that I would get something from the land, some vibrations, some calling, anything at all…but maybe not..

I was being an i***t and I did not even know it. I knew this that there should be a seed somewhere which I needed to find out, which I needed to plant here which would reverse the curse that was put here. But where would I find that?

Suddenly the light of the sun changed colour and I looked at the horizon over the trees. As the light drains away there is barely enough even for shadows. Whether I like it or not the darkness comes and under it everything in this forest is hidden. Even the stars and moon cower behind a dense layer of cloud, giving the air that tincture I associate with the world before a storm. My ears become sharper and my mind paranoid, every snap of a twig is a predator, even if it is a fawn. For each aroma my brain jumps to the most fearsome thing it could be and my body prepares for flight, fright or freeze. For the most part I just freeze, running will give my position away and I'm not much of a fighter. All I can do is wait while the blackness comes and pray that the dawn is not far behind. So I sit on the damp ground, feeling the frigid water seep into my jeans. My heart can beat all it wants, but this body won't move until daylight breaks through the canopy above. With hands resting in the soil and my back to an oak, I remain, waiting, breathing...

The Keeper had said that no one could actually spend the night alive in this place, in this Orchard. There must be some reason for that….

If there was then what was it?

A movement in the shadows has me frozen; it's no more than a rustle but in this failing light my heart is on a hair-trigger. More noise comes. I take a step back and pat my pocket for my flick knife, but every one is flat. I crouch low, my lungs rapidly inflating and deflating with sweet rain-scented air. Minutes pass and what was evening is rapidly becoming the night. Without warning a young rabbit darts from the bushes, it's white under-tail bobbing furiously as it kicks a the springy ground. The rest of his earthen coat just blends into the gloom and in only seconds he is gone, likely already in the warren. I almost laugh, all that for some bunny. I stand, feeling the ache in my legs, stillness and cold are never a good combination.

But the sudden snarl had me immobilized. What in the name of seven heavens was that awful noise???

I did not have to wait long in order to see what was making that God awful noise. Soon there was a huge figure which was coming at me, not me but in my direction to be more specific. It was f*****g huge and I knew that if I made sound then it was not going to take me a long time to become monster chew toy. And I did not want that to happen under any circumstances. I only had one pocket knife and it was not going to be able to help me against this beast.

It was a strange hybrid between a komodo and a salamander. The skin was mottled and gnarly and in the light of the moon, I would not have to describe the way it looked. There were thorn like things on its back and I was strangely certain that they would poisonous. It flicked out its tongue out from the jaws and the mouth was not very big but if I fell in them then I was going to be crushed. Of that I had no doubt at all.

So this was the monster which was in the Orchard and that is the reason none of the players who were in this level could cross it. But this time, it was going to be different. I was the Brujeria heiress of the Mexican witches with pure spirits on my side. I was not alone, and I would never be alone. Even though it was a difficult thing to conceive that the knife I had was going to come to use, still it had my father’s initials etched on the handle and the weight of weapon in my hand gave me slight comfort.

Now only I had to find out a shelter for the night and devise a plan on how I was going to be safe…but as I had said earlier…the fates were bitches. The monster looked straight at me and then it charged….