Witch of the Gate (Part I): Empyrean Crystal Soul

This is an awkward situation, as I am sitting at the hall of our house next to grandma and Adrian while opposite of us are sitting the two strange warriors.

After that deadly battle, my grandmother invited them to her house while Adrian brought her in his arms as she was injured. I followed them back and after Adrian took care of her leg, we all sat in the living room.

The two of them are just looking at us with some scanning gazes.

-“Thank you for your help, brave warriors. I own you my life but tell me how did the Gate open?” Grandmother takes the initiative. Their gazes focus on her.

-“Are you the Witch of the Gate?” The blond man asks.

-“Yes, I am. Well, I was. Who might you be?” She answers and I see their confused stares.

The next moment, the woman jumps with an amazing speed and grabs my grandmother’s neck. Adrian points a blade at the woman’s throat, quickly enough.

-“Why did you abandon us? Why did you let our world to decay? Why? Why?” She is repeating herself with tightened teeth. Her expression is painted with anger and despair.

-“Gina, calm down!!!” I hear the man with the pointed ears saying.

-“This is all because of her. She is responsible for the disaster.” The woman named Gina says and I think that her golden eyes are ready to tear up.

-“Calm down. If you kill her, what is the purpose of us coming here?”

Only then, she releases grandma’s neck and I can breathe again. Grandmother coughs a little after touching her neck. Then, without hostility she looks at them.

-“Seventeen years ago, I fought with a Demonkin. They used a vile poison and they broke my Ethereal Soul. I lost my powers and the ability to open and close the Gate.” She explains.

I saw the surprise in their eyes.

-“My angel partner and me, we stuck at my world, as I couldn’t open the Gate. I am so sorry.”

-“Then, did we come here in vain?” Gina shouts and now tears are running from her eyes.

-“Please, tell me what happened.” Grandma asks.

-“Firstly, I am Tarragon from the tribe of Elves of the Green Valley. This is Gina a Beast woman from the tribe of Felines of the Black Forest. We are sorry for our disrespect. However, after your last appearance in our world, suddenly everything started changing.” The man with the blonde hair and pointed ears takes the initiative.

-“ At the beginning, the humans tried to conquer all the other lands occupied by the tribes. A continuous series of wars broke out between humans and elves, then between human and fairies. From all this chaos, the Demonkin was strengthening from the negative energy and they decided to fight the angels for the dominance of the stronger. After some serious crimes of the humans, the elves ask the help of the dragons. They ravaged the human territories and it was easy for the other tribes to win over them. However, the war didn’t stop. Everyone had found a cause to fight and at the same time, the mystique of our world was running out. The lands started to wither. The magical powers were weakening and the tribes tried other inhuman and unethical methods to keep them. However, they worsen the situation. Right now, our world is ruined with every meaning of the word.” He continues to explain.

A suffocating silence takes place and I can see the tighten fists of Adrian and the guilty look in grandma’s eyes, which are ready to tear up.

-“What are these monsters?” Adrian asks now.

-“They are creatures born from darkness and negative energy. They are creations of the Demonkin to suppress the other tribes. The ones you fought are the weaker ones. They followed us as we tried to force open the Gate.” Gina answers. Silence drops once again.

-“The situation is quite dire. The elders of my tribe decided that we must do something. Then, a small team of warriors was sent to the Void Mountains so they can get some oracle or advice from the dragons again. However, the dragons didn’t want to talk to us. They blamed us for instigating the fall of the humans and so breaking the balance of the natural laws.” The man explains now.

-“What do you mean the fall of the Humans?” grandma asks.

-“The humans were terminated from our world. They were buried together with their kingdoms during the dragons attack. The few that survived were taken as slaves from the other tribes. Even now, there are only a few hundreds of them scattered between the different tribes.” Gina answers this time.

-“Unbelievable.” Adrian murmurs.

-“Let me continue. After the unwillingness of dragons to help, the elders forced an oracle by using dark magic. They sacrificed a hundred of our kin to succeed. The oracle was this:

“The chaos and darkness prevails at the absence of the Witch of the Gate. The world will be ashes and dirt. The life will extinct. The one who will prevent the end of the world is the one who was born with the grace of the stars and the Empyrean Crystal Soul.”

My grandmother opened widely her eyes and then she lowered her gaze. I feel strange as I think that there is nothing good coming out of this conversation.

-“Do you have an idea of what it means? The elders of the tribes didn’t know and they concluded that only the Witch of the Gate has the answer. If the Gate can’t open, we will force it. So some warriors from all the tribes were selected for this mission of opening the Gate and finding the witch. From them, only Gina and I survived.”

The atmosphere is heavy again. Grandma doesn’t speak. The other two are looking at us with flaming eyes.

-“We know.” Adrian says suddenly.

-“Adrian!!!” Grandma shouts strictly but the angel has an apologetic look on his eyes as he looks at her and me, too.

-“The oracle is talking about a very special Witch of the Gate. When the stars align at the winter solstice, the conceived soul will be the most powerful Ethereal Soul, the Empyrean Crystal Soul. The witch born in that occurrence will be a very powerful existence able to save Etheria.” Adrian says and I just remembered grandma’s words and the book she gave me.

Their savior is supposed to be me. That’s why grandma was hesitant to speak.

-“Then, is that witch born?” Gina asks with expectation and hope in her eyes. Adrian nods. Gina jumps up from her seat.

-“Who is she? Where is she?” She asks. Then, I notice the man’s gaze on me. Adrian turns his gaze on me too. Gina follows it and they all focus on me.

-“You are the Witch of the Gate with the Empyrean Crystal Soul?” She asks me but I don’t answer.

-“Speak!!!” She shouts and I startle. Her tone reminded me my angry mother and my body starts to tremble.

-“Gina! Did you get used to behave like a superior in front of humans? You are at the presence of a Witch of the Gate!!!” Adrian shouts strictly.

-“Is there an issue?” The cool man of an elf asks.

-“My granddaughter was not trained for the role because we didn’t know of her rare situation. As I told you, I lost my powers so I couldn’t feel the magic in her.” Grandma explains to them.

-“What are you saying?” Gina shouts irritated.

-“She is not ready to face your world and more so a ruined world.” Grandma says.

-“Nonsense! If she needs training, then train her. My world is dying with every minute that passes!!!” Gina shouts again.

-“I don’t want.” I burble out.

-“What did you say?”

-“I don’t want to take this role. I don’t care how I was born but it is my choice to not be a witch.” I say with every ounce of courage I have. Her eyes are full of anger.

-“Do you want to die?” She yells. I am not afraid of her threat. After all, I tried to kill myself. I ignore her and I stand up to leave.

-“You…” She shouts angrily and tries to grab my neck as she did with my grandma.

-“Don’t touch me!!!” I yell and I see her body freezing on the spot. I furrow my eyebrows but I don’t pay attention. I just leave.

I am late meeting my new friends. I wanted them to have a good impression of me and I just stood them up.