(Part One)

I take a step forward, the air heavy and stale. Darkness is the only thing my eyes register, as-if there really isn't anything there to see at all. Just emptiness.

Something cracks underneath my foot. The unexpected sound like knives through my chest.

Where am I?

I lift my foot in another hesitant step forward. Wincing as I once again step on something else.

The area suddenly grows lighter, the blanket of darkness swirling away into a gloomy mist that reveals some sort of tunnel I'm in. The floor still dark.

I take in the cracked cement walls that surround both my sides, worn with age. Cobwebs hang from every crevice, water dripping from the ceiling with a slow - drip, drip, drip.

What....?

My heart jumps as there's a sudden CRACK in the air nearby, a quick shout of pain followed closely after.

I swallow, my heart thudding in my ears as I walk a littler farther ahead. Each step accompanied by the sound of something shattering beneath my foot.

I stop as I come to a corner, another CRACK followed by a wet smacking noise ringing out from a now short distance away.

I lean against the side of the cool cement wall, twisting my upper body to peak around the corner.

I hold in a breath as my eyes take in the horrid room.

It's like something out of an old medieval movie - some type of dungeon. Rusty chains hang from the walls, cages suspended from the ceiling, barred walls - like cells, spread along the side.

And what's worse, is there's dozens of different...torturing equipment and tools.

All sorts of different knives hang from a wooden board against the wall, other odd tools I've never seen before hanging beside them. All just as horrendous as the next.

One corner has a large wooden table. Blotches of dark red stained into the wood. A large barrel of cloudy water in another corner.

I snap my head over to the right as there's another CRACK, the wet slapping sound following closely behind it. A quick shout ringing out.

My eyes widen as they land on two figures.

About fifty feet away, there's a person chained up to the wall. His bloodied and torn back faces another person who's standing over him, his back facing me. A long, wicked looking whip in his right hand.

The one with the whip suddenly swings down. The whip striking the limp and bloodied figure against the wall.

His back arches as it connects, a feeble cry of pain coming from him as blood sprays the grey walls at each of his sides.

I stand there frozen, my limbs suddenly unable to move. My eyes stay glued to the two figures, stuck watching.

CRACK.

CRACK.

Goosebumps raise on my arms as soft laughter comes out of nowhere, echoing around me. The sound eery and whispery.

CRACK.

CRACK.

I wince at each breathless cry, fear tightening in my chest as I find myself completely unable to move.

CRACK.

CRACK.

This has to be dream. That's it, I'm sleeping and all this is just some sick nightmare I'm having.

It's not real. It's not real!

The hand with the whip suddenly stops its relentless beating, the figure pausing in place.

I stare wide eyed over at the black clad figure, my eyes stuck on the back of his head.

I'm suddenly torn from my frozen state as his head swings back towards me, my body falling backwards in surprise.

I grunt as I roughly land on my back, my elbows helping to ease my fall. Only instead of falling onto a stone floor like I'd expected. I land on uneven pieces of something, the objects slippery and hard.

My eyes widen with fresh horror as I realize what exactly this something is.

Bones. Piles and piles of human bones.

My stomach turns, and I swing my gaze back over to the cloaked figure. I jump as I find him now only a couple feet away from me, the whip in his hand dripping fresh blood down onto the floor beside his feet.

I slowly look up. My gaze traveling from his boot clad feet, all the way up his tall robed frame, ending at his hooded face.

I gaze into the dark hood, not even a hint of his face showing inside. Just a deep chasm of twisting darkness.

He steps forward raising the whip up above his head.

I shuffle backwards through the river of bones, holding my right hand up to protect my face.

That whispery voice comes back out of nowhere. Two simple words making my blood run cold.

"No escape."

~~~*~~~
(West Sídphen River)

My eyes snap open, only to immediately be met with the sight of Old Grims' bearded face a few inches from mine. His eyes concerned.

My heart thumps in my ears, a burning sensation running all over my aching body.

Grim looks me in the eye. "Callon." He gets my attention. "I need you to stay completely calm. No need to work yourself up about this." He says, face straight.

......What?

"Huh?" I get out, hoping he gets what I'm trying to imply since it seems I'm tongue tied right now.

I'm still lying down on my...blankets from when I went to sleep last night. Grim's head bending down over mine, completely obscuring my vision.

He glances to his right, then looks back at me. "Well you see...." He seems to suddenly make his mind up about something, his voice trailing off.

And instead of trying to explain why he's currently hanging above my head like any sane person would do. He simply shrugs to himself, slowly backing away from me.

What's his problem...

My mind also trails off as I suddenly catch sight of something off to my left, all thoughts leaving me.

I use my hands and feet to frantically scoot myself backwards a couple feet. Only stopping when my back runs into a boulder.

I stare wide eyed over at what's caught my attention.

Tendrils of what looks like a smoky substance, floats in the air about four feet away. Like a cloud of smoke. Just hovering in the air.

My eyes catch more movement to my right, shock freezing me.

More tendrils float around in the air, sparks shooting off of them - almost like they're...irritated.

And one more little detail that makes this situation just a tad more interesting.

They're a electric blue-ish-red. Like a mixture of electric blue and red.

I swallow, pushing myself further against the rock as they seem to glide through the air closer to me - like they're reacting to my fear....

"Callon," My head swing over to my left again, landing on a apprehensive Grim. "You need to calm down. Don't make it worse."

What's he mean by, 'make it worse?'

How could I....

I slowly look down at my arms, my lungs immediately squeezing.

No.

Those odd veins that run over my arms are now glowing - just like on that cliff the other day. Only this time, this time it's not a red glow they're emitting.

It's a blue-ish-red. Just like those odd tendrils that are still floating through the air.

I stare down at my arms in stark horror, my hands starting to shake.

No, no. This can't be happening!

"Callon." Grim snaps, bringing my attention back over to him.

I stare at him, my chest heaving.

He glances over at the tendrils as they start to rapidly twist around each other, more sparks igniting off them.

"W-What's happening?" I stutter out, my eyes landing on Roxie who's over next to the fire that's now completely dead. She's huddled next to a tree, watching with wide eyes.

"It seems you've released some of your energy." Grim simply states, not making any sense to me.

"Listen, Callon." Grim scoots closer. "You need to control it. Reel it back in." Urgency leaks into his voice.

I can't. I don't even know what I'm doing!

I lick my parched lips, my eyes back on the floating tendrils.

"I-I can't." I stutter, wiping at my sweaty forehead.

"Yes you can, Callon." I look back over at Grim.

He stares at me with only seriousness, his eyes steady. "Just reel it in. Pretend you're fishing, it's as easy as that." He assures.

I highly doubt it.

But I close my eyes anyway. Imagining there's a string attached to all the tendrils, I mentally start pulling on them.

A sharp headache pounds right behind my eyes, my skin feeling like there's trails of fire going over it.

Nothing happens.

I open my eyes, looking back over at Grim as I notice they're still out there. "I-I can't do it." I repeat, desperation clear in my voice.

He glances over at tendrils as they suddenly start to flicker, the blue in them starting to dissolve into all red.

I wince as there's a sharp stab in my head, nausea along with more heat boiling up from inside me - like something's getting ready to explode. There's a sudden gust of air that blows my hair into my face, the trees around us dancing in a wild fight against the wind that's picked up out of nowhere.

My mind flashes back to the other day on the cliff. How I felt similar to this right before those wolves were reduced to piles of charred flesh.

My chest tightens, fear wrapping around my throat, my mind clouding.

"Callon," I hesitantly look back over at Grim. He stares at me, his eyes hard but soft. "You're wrong. Because the only one who can do it," He motions to me.

"Is you."

I take a shuddering breath, closing my eyes again as I revision the rope attached to them.

Focus.

The breath escapes my lungs in one big whoosh as there's a sudden harsh tug in my brain, my eyes squeezing tighter.

There's an odd sensation in my head I've never felt before. Quickly disappearing before I can think more on it.

I squint my eyes open, looking down at my arms.

I almost jerk backwards when I notice the tendrils are now all around me, their color now a dark electric blue. Only a small trace of the red left inside them.

There's a tingling on my skin as they wrap around both my arms, my mind still pulling on the invisible string.

I watch in amazement as they dissolve, the veins on my arms glowing extra bright for a second before the tendrils completely disappear. Soaking into those odd veins.

I let a shaky breath out as my veins slowly turn back to their usual white color. The heat lessens inside me, the headache growing smaller.

I twist my arms around, further examining them in case I missed something.

It's gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N

Hey all! I'm finally back from not updating in like three months! (I apologize XD)

So anyway.....

Questions:

1.) What do you think that nightmare was all about? Any thoughts?

2.) Who wishes they had magical powers? (🖐🏻...😏)

Next update: Within the next couple days. (And hey, this is the second book I've updated this week! Be proud.)

Teaser: It starts off where it left off. (It's a part one and two type of thing if you didn't notice.)

Maggy