The Prophesy of S

Chapter 24

I arrived at the outskirts of Feldcroft as fast as I could with my wand lit up. The sun had long since gone to rest. The whole time since I read the letter Ominis sent me, I was in a state of panic. I should have known Sebastian would immediately jump to plan B after learning that Isidora's knowledge of pain removal was lost to us. He was running out of time to cure Anne before she and their uncle would move away, and he was desperate. I just didn't think he would go and investigate more of the relic as soon as he woke up. Who knows but him what was required to activate that relic. My gut instinct was telling me it had to be something horrible, but of course, with Sebastian's state of mind, he wouldn't think, or even care of the risks involved. He just wants to cure his sister, no matter the cost.

As I neared the catacomb, I heard the voices of Anne and Ominis.

"Sebastian had gone mad, Ominis," Anne stressed. "You saw what he did in there. I'm sorry, but I can't stay here and condone this."

"Anne, please," begged Ominis. He must have heard me coming because he "looked" in my direction. "Selene, thank merlin you've come."

"What's going on? Where's Sebastian?" I asked worryingly.

"He's in the catacomb. Though I am surprised you're not with him."

"I haven't seen him since last night. Why are we out here, then?"

"He's lost his mind," said Anne in distress. "He is risking the safety of the hamlet and himself on the chance he could cure me with this relic you two found. No, I can't go through with this. Please make sure he's alright for me and that you can somehow convince him to stop this." Anne quickly walked away, following the path home.

"Ominis, I'm so sorry about all of this. I didn't think he'd rush into this by himself. I should have just agreed with you to make him see reason and leave the relic alone."

He raised a hand to stop me. "Selene, I don't need your apology. You did what you thought was the best course of action. I'm the one who agreed to it. It did end up salvaging our friendship at that moment."

"Nonetheless, I still feel really bad, and Sebastian is doing who knows what to use that relic."

"It's worse than I feared. He's in real trouble now. What he's done will put the hamlet in great danger. He has summoned an army of inferi. Anne and I had to move the boulder in front of the entrance so they wouldn't escape."

My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What? Inferi? What are you talking about?"

"There's no time to explain. It would be best if you saw it for yourself." He turned away from me and he pointed his wand at the boulder to levitate it out of the way.

Being inside the catacomb once again was giving me the creeps. Last time, I had to fight off so many giant spiders. And now I'm hearing that I might have to fight off an army of inferi to find Sebastian. Oh merlin, help us.

"Where was Sebastian when you and Anne found him?" I questioned as we ran through the catacomb.

"In the Great Room where you two found the relic."

As we entered a room, I began hearing disturbing sounds and saw rotting limbs emerging from the ground below us. I ran away to the edge of the room before a boney hand got a chance to grab my leg. About ten live corpses sprouted from the ground and started attacking us.

Remembering what Lodgok said about defeating inferi, I began casting every fire spell I knew. It was disgusting how inferi were already rotting, giving the stench of death, but on top of slowly burning away whatever flesh was left, the smell got even more revolting. For most of the fight, I had to do it while holding my breath.