-Nightmare Awards First Place winner
"Have you only ever seen her in your dreams?" He says picking at a piece of grass. I wait a few moments to respond.
"Yes..No.. I don't know. I thought I saw her in the woods yesterday. It's what had spooked me...
I was following father to the room where he was to start training me in the dark ways. I followed him through a door that was hidden behind the throne. We descended down stairs that went on forever. When the floor finally flattened out we were deeper into the ground than we originally were.
The stairs led to a hallway that had doors on each side. I couldn't help but to wonder what was laying beyond each one. It had already taken us half the morning just to get down to this spot. I was worried that we weren't going to be far enough in time.
Father stopped at the last door and pulled out a ring full of keys. He grabbed the longest key and unlocked the door. We walked into a room where bookshelves lined all the walls. There was a desk in the middle of the room with two chairs. The desk was the cleanest thing I have seen in the Abysm besides my home. There was a large book on the center of the desk that took up most of the surface. I could feel the dark magic radiating from it's pages pulling me towards it.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It was calling to the part of me that was Daeth. The part of me that I have fought so long to ignore and just like that it was back. A strong force I've held back ready to burst at the seams any moment now. I looked away from the book in hopes it would stop calling for me. But, the pull just grew stronger. The more I fought it the stronger it grew.
"This book" He starts as he runs his hand along the cover of the book. "It's the original book of souls. The book of our people." The pull of the book kept growing stronger as he spoke each word.
"Every time one gives themselves over, their souls get sucked into this book. Where they will remain forever." He looks up at me. "Even after death consumes them." He opens the book and a raspy scream fills the room.
"Each page contains different souls." He continues to flip through the book. Different screams sound out from each page that turns. I found myself slowly walking toward the book. The pull from the book was too strong on me. I couldn't stop myself. As disturbing as the screams were, I found myself welcoming them.
"Your soul will also be in one of these pages." He says closing the book. " Along with the rest of us. The rest of your family." The screams resided, the room growing quiet. The pull of the book wasn't as strong now, but it was still there.
I slowly felt my eyes grow warm, knowing they were starting to change. The power from the book was overcoming my thoughts. Making it hard to think. I had to get out of here before it was too late. Any minute now the Lumaerins will be working their magic.
I watch father walk towards the shelf on the opposite side of the room. He grabs a thick book off the shelf and opens it up. The book inside was hollow. Inside the book was a black pendant. The pendant held a stone inside that swirled different shades of blacks and purples. He lifts the stone out and shows it to me.
"This stone is our advantage to over taking the Lumaerins. It holds a darker power than we contain ourselves. Just as much power of that girls that we have locked up, if not more."
