Academt Of Five Peaks

Chapter 29

I'm so sorry I took so long to upload. I had no idea I hadn't uploaded the story even though I'd actually finished writing it!! Please don't hate me.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

She was doing well, better then she’d expected.

She’d emptied her mind, concentrating on the spell alone. The surroundings had melted away, background noise falling silent, becoming her mind that was vacant of all senses.

It took her awhile but finally Elle’s arms began to raise, her lips moving as the strange words slipped from her tongue. She kept her eyes closed for as long as she could but soon the temptation grew too great and Elle had to sneak a look.

The patterns her hands making were complex and full of color. Something strange came up her body, a feeling of emptiness that numbed her skin and bones. The spell was draining her energy, something it had never done before, and the panic of it nearly made Elle loose control. Her mind was fogging over, the instructions for the spell fading into the mist. She kept a mental grip, dragging the information back with an invisible fist, thrusting it through her body as she continued.

Elle was scared; she was so scared. Not only for her own safety but also for the outcome of the spell. If done correctly it would cause an amazing shift in the fate of the world but was as dangerous cast right as cast wrong, which would cause catastrophic damage. She feared even when she knew she could not back down.

Her final breath was hard to take and as she completed the spell, her arms falling down to her sides, a tidal wave rippled through her. Elle’s vision became blotchy and she fainted, the hazy morning sun bighting up the landscape around her as the world exploded.

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Elle woke to the sound of silence.

She sat up quickly, grass tickling her bare skin as she squinted and looked around with a hand on her head.

‘Did it work?’ She asked herself. Her senses cleared and she crawled to the edge of the rock ledge, peering over the side.

The gate that had once stood grand against its background was now no more then a pile of smoking rubble.

Elle cried out, jumping into the air in victory as she looked smugly down at the damage that she’d caused. It had worked! She’d done it. She’d saved the world.

Her attention snapped to the village, the place no longer swarming with demons. She jumped to her feet, wobbling slightly at the rush of blood, and began to run.

She fell many times, picking herself up after each, and continuing to sprint towards the village. The forest hadn’t grown back, it was still grey and dead, but as she got to the river of blood she was relieved to see that clear water now swelled in its banks. Cassidy was not there and though it worried Elle she did not stop, choosing to believe that she’d gone back down to the village with the absence of the demons.

Elle broke free of the forest, her feet landing on the solid street as she continued into the heart of the village.

What caught Elle’s attention first wasn’t the silence, neither the fact that no one was out of hiding; but the smell. It smelt like burnt meat, an animal that had been on the spit for too long, and the tangible scent of drifting ash.

Elle took a breath, trying to pin point where the smell was coming from. It was all around her, brushing against her skin, swirling through the wind, weaving its way through the cracks in the village.

‘Hello. HELLO!’ Elle’s mouth went dry as she cried out, turning in a circle for some sign of life.

Without thinking she began to run again, her legs leading her through the streets out of town.

She was standing at the front of the village, looking down a sheer cliff at the planes beyond. There was nothing out there, just the never-ending orange desert that stretched far past the horizon.

The world was empty.

‘No,’ the word barely made it past Elle’s lips as she felt her head grow light.

Goosebumps appeared on her skin as a shiver ran through her, her body feeling faint and exhausted. With a sigh she sat down, stretching her legs and arms out as her gaze followed the slope of the earth. The sun was in the sky; burning a heat so strong Elle could see the hot waves float up across the surface of the desert.

Elle could barely contain herself. It was all too much and all she wanted was it to end. She didn’t care if she died, she didn’t care what happened to her, and there was no one to care for her.

Elle cried silent tears, the water slipping down her face as she lay down on her back and stared up at the unbroken sky. Her face was crusted in dirt and blood, her body felt bruised and tired, and her mind began to slow, her heart trying to keep pumping.

Her body was exhausted; her mind turning it’s last few turns. She felt empty, a need pulling her in different directions to fill that space.

As Elle died she began a spell.

It was impossible. Unbelievable. And inconceivable. But somehow Elle cast a spell so strong and so powerful that she saved the world.