Mystical Cascade

Chapter 13

It was time Agenos relived the worst memories of his life. He believed that this is what was needed of him so he could be freed of this hell that was left of his life.
And one of the worst memories of this life was losing his dear sister Ivy, again.

Agenos reminded himself that whatever they did, had to be done. That it didn't matter what bonds it broke or which people it hurt because it was for the greater cause. But deep down, he still couldn't bring himself to believe all this. That this purpose of the Mystiques was greater than his sister. But he was young and naive and bound to his duty. He was sorry for what he did. The guilt of his actions still weighed down on him.

The love that Ivy and Hector shared was celebrated by the Mystiques. They'd been in love as long as they'd known each other. They took care of each other. They were each other's strength, since their childhood. It was Hector's family who had found little Ivy living off on her own, completing her needs from nature. It was Hector's family who had taken in Ivy, trained and treated her like one of their own. And when Hector's family died in the great war, Ivy, Hector and Rutherford's bond strengthened tenfold. Rutherford was Hector's blood brother.

It had all started with that fire in the woods.

In the still of the night, the veil of darkness was shrouded by the sudden burst of flames deep in the heart of the woods. The crackle of the flames could be heard miles away with the cries and the screams of the wilderness. The continuously rising flames reached the stars, stealing away the darkness and blotching the sky in blood red. The Mystiques of the lower tower were stabbed in their sleep. Their crimson red blood trickling away from their body, pooling at the staircase and joining the fresh water stream at the foot of the tower. The dead Mystiques were being dragged by their hair from their chambers and thrown down the staircase of the lower level. Their clothes were torn off from their bodies, and they were sliced by knives.

Ryena and Agenos had been startled awoke from their slumber. Rising from their beds, they picked up their bows resting on the wall and ran to the battlements. Agenos set fire to his arrowheads, while Ryena dipped them in poison. Most of the Mystiques had descended down the towers and fought the enemies only they could see. The others were aligned on their battlements throwing spears and shooting arrows. Agenos raised his bow and shot three arrows straight towards the forests surrounding the Mystique encampment. In a matter of seconds the whole of the forest was set aflame, casting shades of yellow and orange on the sky like that of a sunset. Ryena closed her eyes and released three simultaneous arrows in the areas still hidden in darkness. Screams erupted from the dark. Ryena turned to the other side. She raised her bow for another shot. Setting the arrows, she pulled the string, closed one eye and aimed. Her eyes focused at a spot and then two blue orbs appeared. Ryena blinked rapidly to clear her eyes but she could still see the ice blue orbs. She growled and aimed right between them. But before she could release the string, there was a flash of blinding white light. Her bow clattered to the floor. She looked up. Thunderbolts. The Mystiques were now finding cover and trying to reach their towers. Ryena looked towards the dark, the icy blue orbs had vanished.

"Ryena step back!" Agenos shouted at her as the thunderbolts got closer and closer to her.

But she wasn't listening, she was looking out towards the darkness. Agenos threw his bow at the floor and sprinted towards her. He tightly clasped her arms with his hands.
Ryena couldn't look away. She suddenly realized she was being dragged away. Her eyes flicked upwards for a moment, Agenos. And then they turned back towards the terrifying darkness that held vicious secrets. Ryena wondered if she had really seen something or was it just her wandering imagination? But the lighting bolts couldn't just be a coincidence. She let Agenos take her away because she was too much in thought to contemplate any other thing.

"Milady!" Ivy rushed towards Ryena clutching a blanket to her chest which she gingerly wrapped around her.
Agenos nodded at Ivy and Ryena and went away to tend to the wounded Mystiques. Ivy slipped her hand inside the leather pouch at her belt and pulled out a jar of crushed herbs and a piece of clean linen cloth. Gently she dabbed the wounds with the cloth and applied the herbs on them keeping them in place with another piece of linen tied around them.
"No major injuries Milady, you'll be just fine." Ivy smiled. Ryena was stunned as to how Ivy could brighten up like a ray of sun even in such a dire situation. Her thirst was sated when she saw Hector making his way towards them carrying an identical leather pouch. The moment Ivy was in his reach, he pulled her in a for a hug.
With questioning eyes he searched his beloved's face. Then he pulled out the same jar of herbs and pieces of clean linen. Carefully he disinfected her wounds. And then slowly, after making sure he hadn't missed any of Ivy's wounds, Hector turned towards Ryena.

"Milady, are you okay?" His voice was full of genuine concern. Ryena nodded.

"Sire wants me to escort you to the Strategy Station." Hector said. 

"Hector I don't think I need to be escorted. Do you?" Ryena raised an eyebrow.

Hector looked taken aback.
"No--I mean, no my lady!" Hector replied. 

"I'm perfectly fine walking on my own Hector, I don't think someone would dare attack me in the middle of our encampment. And you don't have to refer to me as 'my lady'." Ryena smiled and started to walk away.

"Oh but they did, my lady. They did try to attack all of us in the middle of our encampment. At least let Ivy have your back right now, my lady." It was Rutherford who spoke up.

"Brother!" Hector clapped him on the back.

"Are you okay?" Hector asked him. 

"Yes I'm good Hec. Are you okay? Were you careful?" Rutherford checked his brother for injuries. Hector smiled at his brother's concern. Rutherford did not usually display his emotions.

"I'm okay brother." Hector assured him.

"And Ivy? Are you hurt?" Rutherford asked concerned, taking her hand in his. That is when Ryena noticed how tenderly Rutherford held Ivy's hand. Almost as lovingly as Agenos held hers...

Nobody else seemed to notice, not Hector and not Ivy. Because between the three of them, Rutherford was the brother to both, as he had protected them and cared for them since their family had died. Rutherford quickly pulled away as Ivy shook her head. 

"Sire has called all of us. We should go." Rutherford turned on his heel and marched away leaving the three of them behind. Taking his departure as their cue, the three Mystiques made their way towards the Strategy Station.

~*~

My dear Mystiques! I'm back :)
Oh how I missed you so!
A long chapter to make up to my dear unicorns for such a delay.
Writing is hard 😂
I hope you like this chapter because it took a lot of time and thought and some new parameters have been introduced too which makes the story more clear and interesting (I hope). And the minors will be given their space and time too because they're as important as the leads.
Were you expecting anything?
And what do you think of the freshly introduced love triangle?
I'll try to update as consistently as possible, till then stay amazing 💕
And do I have a surprise for you? 😉