Chapter 5 - Seeking Refuge In The Future

“Come with me quickly!” Tiffaun kept her tight grasp around Silvia and Amich’s hands while she ran with them towards their area of interest.  “We have to get to the Cronus chamber before those wicked men catch us.”

Looking behind them as they dashed ahead, they noticed the menacing crusaders wreaking havoc on everything in their path as a thorough means of eradicating evil. One crusader, in particular, had his unwavering sight set on Tiffaun.

Commander Dreylude was forcing his way through the main infantry to get within proximity of his fleeing target where he could better sever her head. However, though he was toiling really hard, his advance was continually being impeded by the many traps and defence magical attributes set in place.

“Curse these bloody dark arts!” Commander Dreylude became veritably frustrated when he lost track of his hunted target. Seeing the number of casualties his troops were incurring due to the various amounts of traps that they were proudly rushing into, he told them to decrease the pace of their advance so they could better avoid getting caught in any surprising element.

“Commanding Knights! A message has arrived from below the mountain!” Someone shared a vital piece of information with all of the squad leaders who were still alive after invading the witches’ sanctuary.

“Could you repeat that?” When Commander Dreylude heard the message, his face adopted an ambivalent attitude of reverence and displeasure. “The Grand Inquisitor is on his way and he wants us to show these evil bastards mercy?” He wasn’t pleased with the idea of sparing the witches' lives.

“What will you do, Commander Dreylude?” Inquired a fellow Commanding Knight.

Thinking silently for a while, Commander Dreylude answered, “I can’t disregard a direct order from his holiness. We will carry out his wishes but…” His countenance became a sinister quality of hatred. “If any of those devil spawns tries to resist we will not hesitate to reciprocate their resistance with an equal amount of force!”

“March on crusaders! Scour this place until those scourges are all captured!”

Receiving the order from their Commanding Knights, the crusaders forced their way further into the witches’ sanctuary feeling as if they have already won the war against the forces of darkness.

“This way! Everyone get inside!”

Tiffaun, Silvia and Amich followed by a small group of witches barged into the Cronus chamber where they observed an ongoing ritual taking place with the support of the remaining members of the colony. Their numbers weren’t that high; roughly 16 of them. They bolted the huge doors shut to prevent any further interruption.

“Oh, there you guys are. We were beginning to worry that you wouldn’t make it.” Alicia came over and observe Tiffaun and the siblings for any major signs of injury.

“We’re fine. We escaped the crusaders' clutches in time. But now that the sanctuary has been breached it is only a matter of time before they reach us here.”

“Then we better hurry. The Supreme Magus is waiting for you two.” Alicia led Silvia and Amich to the centre of the chamber where the Supreme Magus was poised in front of the dark monolith. “Supreme Magus I’ve brought the Vaud siblings.”

“Good.” The Supreme Magus rested Amich and Silvia’s heads in her arms. A motherly appeal was about her which eased the troubled minds of the siblings. “Go get those ready.” She gestured to Alicia to fetch a leather bag of supplies. It was stored with grimoires and some magical trinkets.

The Supreme Magus helped strapped the bag around Silvia’s shoulder. “Take this child. You’ll need it for where you and your brother will be going.”

“Where are we going?” Silvia didn’t have a clue about the destination the Supreme Magus had in mind nor was she yet aware of how they were going to go there.

“Get inside and no matter what, don’t step outside.” The Supreme Magus directed Amich and Silvia into a magic circle where the dark monolith was poised.

“Sister I’m scared.” Amich grabbed onto her sister’s thighs for emotional support.

Silvia placed her hand on her brother’s back and shared, “I’m scared too, Amich. I don’t know what is about to happen but we should trust the Supreme Magus.”

“Ok.” Amich reluctantly agreed.

“Magicians! Lend me your strength!” The Supreme Magus called upon the support of all the witches who were present within the Cronus chamber to channel their powers through her as she commenced the final phase of the ongoing ritual.

The chamber’s atmosphere changed drastically to a darker ambience. All the flames from the lit candles stationed all around began flowing into the dim magical circle where the Vaud siblings were standing inside of. The circular spell diagram started producing a fiery glow which twisted into a vertical stream of inferno around the siblings that was gradually getting absorbed into the upper face of the dark monolith.

Amich and Silvia were shivering in fright as they observed the spectacular elements swerving around them. They heeded the Supreme Magus’s warning and remained in the magic circle no matter how frightened they become.

Visible cracks started appearing across the surface of the dark monolith. At first, they seem random, however, with keen observance, they were forming a symmetrical pattern on all 4 longest faces. From these cracked patterns an emerald radiance began to shine so brightly that it illuminated the dark corners of the chamber.

While this was happening, the crusaders were just outside beating down the large doors with their battering rams to gain entry.

“Pound it down, men! Those witches are hiding like rats behind these doors. They have nowhere else to escape! We’ve already conquered this cursed mountain!”

The crusaders received added stamina to increase the power of their bettering rams.

‘Ram! Ram! Ram!’

Within the chamber, the dark monolith started giving off an audible frequency that was causing a low-magnitude earthquake. This was a sign for something specific.

“The Cronus monolith is ready for transportation.” The Supreme Magus peered through the vertical stream of light oscillating the magic circle at Silvia and Amich. “Our kind’s survival depended on you. You’ll know what to do when the time is right.” Her voice sounded solemn but with a tinge of assurance.

Seconds later, the Cronus monolith shattered into numerous fragments that formed a cylindrical swerving vacuum transcending time and space. Amich and Silvia were getting sucked into the eye of the swerving void.

“No! I don’t like the feeling of this! I want to stay!” The Vaud siblings were putting up a resistance, however, futile it was. Moments flashed by and they were gone completely into the void, leaving behind the swerving fragments of the Cronus monolith which was still producing a quaking storm phenomenon.

“Supreme Magus, are you certain this was the right call?” Alicia and Tiffaun came along and whispered their worries into the elder’s ear. They were both staring at the shrinking void.

“Will they even survive the jump?” Inquired Tiffaun. She still didn’t understand how sending the Vaud siblings to another timeline would ensure that their kind wasn’t erased from history.

The Supreme Magus reassured them, “Those 2 will make it through the void safely. Though this is the first time using the Cronus monolith, I have fate that they will survive. After all, they both carry within them the cursed treasures of Immortalis.”

“You mean the Black Liver and Silver Fangs?” Before Tiffaun’s question could be properly answered, the doors to the chamber came crashing to the floor after a loud bang reverberated throughout the sanctuary.  At the same time, the remaining fragments of the Cronus monolith got absorbed into the void before it vanished out of sight.

“Go! Go!”

The crusaders started dashing into the chamber in droves with their threatening weapons aimed at their enemies.

“We surrender please don’t hurt us!” The witches had their arms raised in a surrendering gesture. The Supreme Magus had informed them beforehand to lay down their arms and relinquish the means of their escape for the time being.

“Detain those witches!”

Receiving the order from their respective Commanding Knights, the loyal crusaders sheathed their swords and swung forth their ropes to tie up their captives.

“Get down!” They handled the witches roughly by knocking a few of them to the ground; pressing their boots in their backs and even spitefully breaking their wrists before they tied them up.

“Well, well, I’ve finally caught up to you.” Commander Dreylude came into the chamber and quickly located Tiffaun kneeling on the ground while staring back at him with her gaze of vengeance.

“You don’t look like a witch who’s willing to surrender.” Commander Dreylude rested the tip of his blade on Tiffaun’s shoulder with the side pressing firmly against her neck. It slit her skin slightly. “Try something stupid and see what happens.”

“You…” Tiffaun wanted desperately to use that same sword and cut Commander Dreylude in half but she calmed herself after receiving multiple glances from Alicia and the others. 

“Fhm-ha-ha-ha! Not so tough now are you, little witch?” Commander Dreylude lowered his head to Tiffaun’s level and told her, “If the Grand Inquisitor wasn’t on his way here, your innards would have already been dancing on my sword, you disgusting wench.” He spat his stinking saliva in her face for added disrespect before he forced her face on the ground and bound her arms in ropes.

Looking around the chamber at the captured witches and their acolytes, Commander Dreylude posed a general question, “Is that all of them?”

“There is still one who hasn’t been lynched yet, sir!” One of the crusaders pointed out someone from the back who was giving off an eerie vibe that had everyone avoiding her. This person was the Supreme Magus who was standing slightly hunched with her staff keeping her balance.

“Why isn’t that old hag roped yet? Do I have to do everything myself?” Commander Dreylude got up from on top of Tiffaun and went over to where the Supreme Magus was situated. Unlike the foot soldiers, he wasn’t scared to approach the elder. He already had his rope equipped.

“Turn around, you skeleton witch!” Just as Commander Dreylude was about to tie the Supreme Magus’s arms, he heard a respectable voice of holy authority telling him,

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Huh…!” Looking over at the chamber’s entrance, he confirmed who issued the command. “Grand Inquisitor!”

Commander Dreylude accompanied by the other Commanding Knights and crusaders bowed respectfully when they identified the dignified presence of their holiness, Ezeus Teppesh.

Tiffaun bent her neck upwards until she laid eyes on the source of her misery. “So he is the Grand Inquisitor, the old man responsible for all this uproar across Astasia?” She was thinking to herself that if she got rid of him right there then all the atrocity against her people would end. But she didn’t get a chance to exploit that theory due to the Supreme Magus’s next step.