Keeper of the Lost Cities - Unlocked (A Sokeefe Fanfiction)

Chapter 1-Sophie

"Stellarlune," Oralie whispered in a monotone voice.

Sophie's heart began to beat faster and faster with each second that where nothing happened, she began to lose hope of ever saving Keefe.

But then, suddenly, without a moment's notice, Sophie's head filled with a million different images of a place she had never seen, and people she was too disoriented to recognize.

 A horde of memories she knew weren't hers swarmed through her brain, and she felt as though the pressure of everything she was seeing would cause her forehead to burst.

However, a second later, she could see the memory clearly, not as though she was an outsider watching it, but living it, through the eyes of Oralie. And as soon as she did, she knew, the shock of what she had seen would never leave her.

Oralie stood on the edge of a cliff, with Councillor Bronte and Kenric by her side.

She struggled to stand, due to a large wound that 'adorned' her left leg. And in front of her, stood the woman whose cold voice taunted Sophie every time she closed her eyes.

A shrill laugh escaped Lady Gisela's lips. "I told you already that messing with me would bring pain to you, and only you. You have no idea what I'm capable off, and it isn't pretty."

"Sure," scoffed Bronte. "We are all very afraid of you Miss High and Mighty. What was it that made you so powerful again? Is it the fact that you're nothing more than a mere Polyglot? Or maybe it's the fact that you can't fight your own battles, and stand cowering behind other members of the Neverseen, hoping they'll save your behind. The only reason you managed to attack us today, was because of your fancy weapons. Without them, and your talent for lying, deceiving and betraying, you are nothing."

Bronte stood smirking as he saw Lady Gisela's stunned face turn pale.

But Lady Gisela recovered quickly, giving the group a sly smile as she said,

"The things you consider a weakness and so openly scorn upon, are actually our strengths. They've allowed us to operate in the shadows for years, and you never even found out about us. They've allowed us to defeat you time and again, with minimum casualties. And as for me being a mere Polyglot, how can you be so sure? Polyglots often have more than one ability, don't they? If I wanted to, I would show you. But that would spoil all the fun now, wouldn't it?"

The Councillors looked at each other, with obvious fear in their eyes.

Oralie knew the only way to get out of this, was to listen to what Gisela had to say. The information they had acquired was too valuable. They had to tell the Council about the Neverseen, before they became too powerful to stop. She took Kenric and Bronte's hand, their combined anxiety making the Empath twist her face in pain.

"What do we have to do?" Oralie asked, not a trace of fear in her confident voice.

"Ah," said Lady Gisela, the relief obvious in her tone. "Now you're finally asking the right question."

She handed Oralie and Kenric two vials each, one blacker than the shadows themselves, and the other giving of an eerie, whitish glow.

"What are we supposed to do with these?" Oralie asked, confused.

"Ingest them!" said Lady Gisela in a tone that made it seem as though it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Yah right, we're just supposed to ingest some random substance handed to us by the enemy. It could be poison for all we know!" said Oralie with a scorn, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You will if you want to leave alive. But to prove I'm not tricking you, I'll tell you what it is. The dark vial contains shadowflux, a substance that only the most talented Shades can learn to control. And the second contains Quintessence, the purest form of light, that can only be obtained from the unmapped stars." explained Gisela.

"We'll talk about how you know the location of the unmapped stars later," said Kenric. "But first, why should we even think about exposing our body to Quintessence, a highly explosive form of starlight that can cause unimaginable damage, and shadowflux, which can have a very harmful effect on the bodies of elves? If you think for even a second that I'm fine with Ora-, urr, us doing this to ourselves, you are sorely, sorely mistaken."

"My thoughts exactly! Also, you never explained to us why you want Kenric and Oralie to do this. How could the harm it may cause them benefit you? You say you are not tricking us, that this is not a ploy. But what if this was the plan all along? To feed two Councillors who know the truth about you potentially poisonous substances to get them out of the way?" asked Bronte sternly.

"Do you still think that if I wanted to kill you, I couldn't have found another way, an easier way, that would not require your consent? No. I am only doing what needs to be done. You both are merely pawns in a much more complex game. Whether you are alive or dead, after you complete my task, it doesn't matter to me. I need you both to give me something, something that I can obtain myself, without facing severe consequences. When you ingest both shadowflux and quintessence, it creates a new substance in your body, one that will change you in ways you could never imagine.", said Gisela, a hint of longing in her eyes.

"What substance?" asked Kenric, genuinely curious.

Lady Gisela smiled cynically. "A powerful but rare substance, which can be obtained by very few methods. But the method I am telling you about, is the least painful, both emotionally and physically. It allows the person exposed to it to reach their full potential. When you allow it to flow through your veins, you become powerful, in ways you can never imagine. A very fascinating substance, it is, stellarlune."