The Pure Ones

Chapter Twenty-One

ALISTAIR'S POV

We were all still shaken from the encounter with Zina and so we sat in silence on the cave floor. I had helped to patch Gappy up with ray dust, new skin had miraculously grown over the gaping hole in his thigh, although some pain still remained. Penelope had no flesh wounds that I could heal, so she only needed to regain her strength.

In typical fashion, Gappy was the first to break the silence.

"So, Alistair, when did you think was a good time to tell us that some evil magic lady was after you?"

I swiftly got on my feet to defend myself, "I have never seen this woman in my life!" I pointed to her corpse. "And I don't know who sent her or why, but I promise you that I know nothing." I tried to convince them but Gappy in particular did not look like he was buying it.

"All I know is, you are definitely a part of something way bigger, and it looks we're all in it now."

I still tried to prove that I was just as clueless as they were, the existence of other like me still left me muddled. I was told by my parents before they died that we were what remained of our race, but yet there was another one who also made mentions of a queen, so that meant there were possibly more than I could have imagined. I could not deny my excitement despite the circumstances, but I was just so curious as to how many of us were left and if there were any who did not wish to kill me.

Gappy soon got on his feet and limped towards Zina's lifeless body, I questioned what he was doing before he bent down and began to search through the crevices of her armor. He picked out small blades and weapons he could find and kept them for himself, he invited me to have a look, and although I was more than satisfied with the impressive sword I had stolen from her, I still greedily searched her body.

I was slightly disturbed by how easy it was for us to rummage through a dead body, the stench bothered me the most but Gappy looked like he had done it a million times. I carefully lifted her body and turned it around so I could search her back, my heart pounded as I took notice of a familiar symbol etched on a small corner of her neck. I could not recall where I had seen the symbol before or why it made me so uneasy, but I could not go on without getting to the bottom of it.

"What is it?" Gappy asked.

"This symbol, I've seen it before but I can't remember where." I replied as I ran my fingers across where it was on her back. It was not a tattoo or inking; it was a part of her skin and it looked like it had begun to fade. Gappy suggested that I look back at my childhood, I did as he said and within a minute, a clear memory appeared in my head. I remembered seeing the symbol on my grandmother's back, it was much bigger and it shone a blue light, an indication of the seal that she carried.

A chill ran down my spine as I comprehended the implications. My grandmother had been the sole keeper of the seal for ages, the seal was supposed to be passed to me before her death to keep it intact, but that never happened and my grandmother had been dead for twelve years. My breath hitched as the final piece of the puzzle finally fell in place; with no seal, it meant that the demon had been free for years, and somehow, I had completely forgotten about that. I did however remember that the demon was not sealed alone, so whatever the reason was for my attack, it was a calculated move from someone even stronger and not a random act.

The weight of the unintended burden of unleashing a demon on the world immediately weighed on me, my foolish actions were the only reason why the seal had been broken in the first place. I would have preferred to stay hidden forever, but now I knew that even I was not safe, so doing nothing was not an option.

I had gone as pale as a ghost, Gappy asked what the matter was and I truly wanted to explain to him but I had gone completely mute. I locked eyes with Penelope who looked at me with concern, I did not know how to tell her that what she had endured was only the beginning if she stayed with me, I had to go on pretending as if I did not harbor such a heavy secret.