Nella braced herself for whatever might be coming next. The Upir she saw here was quite different from the one that had threatened the very existence of vampires only a day ago.
She was shaken and her eyes, though still black orbs were wide with horror.
Suddenly, they heard a rumbling sound that seemed to shake the ground below them.
The Guardian smiled to himself, Upir would get her due soon.
Nella saw what looked like four huge birds flying towards them. On closer inspection, Nella noticed that they were not birds.
They had wings that were larger than a car. They had three legs each and strange black markings on their torso.
Their skin was red and glowed as if it was larva and their hands each had ten fingers.
Nella looked at their heads, they had three eyes which were simply pools of infinite darkness.
“Are these the judges?” Nella asked The Guardian, stunned.
“What? Of course not!” Came The Guardian’s reply, these are their heralds, the judges are … oh here they are.”
The judges stood before them as if they had appeared from nowhere. They had one body but four faces, one facing the east, one the west, the other the north and the last the south.
They had four arms and their eyes were not just black, but pools of darkness, the type that unsettles the mind.
The judges towered above them like skyscrapers, they spoke together with voices that seemed like the dry bark of thunder.
The judges spoke to The Guardian in a strange language.
He responded in the same language.
“What have you done Upir?!” Thundered one of the judges.
“You have bent the natural order of things!” Another yelled, incensed.
“Fool!” Screamed yet another, “you will pay for your stupidity.”
By that time Upir was completely terrified, she stood trembling.
Nella sank to her knees and covered her ears, unable to bear the sound of the judges’ voices. It was no use though, as whatever was heard in the abyssal realm was heard not by the ears but by the soul.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” The last judge said, calmer than his colleagues.
“I…I …” Upir stammered.
“Speak fool!” The judge facing the east roared.
Upir shook visibly. She was reliving the horror of the last two thousand years again. She could not afford to go through the other horrors she knew were waiting for her. She had to stand up for herself.
“I… did not break the rules of Nature.” She said to the judges.
“Liar!” The Guardian shouted, pointing his rod at her and making her feel all the pains of her previous ‘deaths’ as a vampire.
Upir screamed loudly.
Nella held her head, trying to block out the sounds around her.
“What do you mean she has been like that for one week?!” Theo shouted, shaking Evan’s shoulder.
They were in Kenneth’s sitting room. Theo had gotten worried since his sister had not picked his calls for several days. He had come to Darfalls and traced Kenneth’s house only to be told by Evan that Nella had been unconscious for a week.
“She’s not dead!” Evan said, trying to regain his balance, “she’s just unconscious.”
Kenneth had just come out of the bathroom after taking a shower. He heard the noise in the sitting room and rushed out to find out what the matter was.
“Theo!” Kenneth called, separating the two, “what’s wrong with you man?!”
“Where’s my sister Kenneth?” Theo seethed, “this fool here (he pointed at Evan who stood thoroughly annoyed but silent) says she has been unconscious for a week – where the hell is she?!”
“Pull yourself together Theo!” Kenneth shouted, “you can’t just come…”
“I can’t pull myself together!” Theo yelled,
“Nella is the only family I have left Kenneth!”
“Will you let me explain or are you going to continue raving like a mad man?” Kenneth asked cooly.
Theo stood back from Kenneth and quickly kept his anger in check.
“What happened to Nella?” Theo asked Kenneth, calmly this time.
“Follow me.” Kenneth instructed.
Theo and Evan followed wordlessly.
Evan was angry at Theo for shaking him like a rag doll but he understood that he was worried about his sister so he did not react.
Evan would have laughed at Kenneth who was wearing only a towel around his waist which looked like it was going to slip off at any moment. But laughing at that moment would probably cost him his head, so Evan iust smiled and followed Kenneth into a bedroom.
Immediately Theo saw his sister’s body lying on the bed he rushed over to her. She was cold and pale like a dead body but she was not decaying.
“Is this how vampires die?” Theo asked, his voice quivering.
“She’s not dead,” Kenneth replied, “she went with The Guardian to the abyssal realm a week ago.”
“They took Upir with them,” Evan chipped in.
“The Guardian’s body disappeared once they went to the abyssal realm, but Nella just collapsed.” Kenneth explained.
“She had been like this ever since.” Evan said .
“Is… is she coming back?” Theo asked.
Evan remembered that The Guardian had mentioned something about a sacrifice to him before. He was almost sure that Nella wasn’t going to return, but he held his tongue – they were not going to hear it from him.
“Is my sister coming back?” Theo asked again.
No one replied.
Lehi walked around Upir’s body. He had kept it on the ground and had drawn intricate patterns with his blood around the body. The language was not abyssal but it was a language that was created by his family. Lehi knew that his powers had some form of vague connection to the abyssal realm. He had noticed that if he tried hard enough, he could control abyssal magic but it would be very painful and tedious.
He had not told Upir because he knew she would not be happy about it, she wanted to be the only one in power.
Lehi was not too bothered about that though, he wanted Upir to come back and finish what she started. He knew that somewhere along the line he would learn a few things about abyssal magic. Once he was sure he had mastered it, he would not need Upir any longer.
But for now, he thought, he had to bring her back.
Lehi knelt by the body and read the words of an old spell from an ancient looking spell book.
“Ashi ety sewa,” he read solemnly, “sewa ety ashi.”
A light breeze blew through the room.
“Ashi ety sewa, sewa ety ashi.” He said again, a bit louder this time.
A breeze a little stronger than the one before it blew thought the room.
“Ashi ety sewa, sewa ety ashi.” Lehi said again, loudly.
A strong wind blew through the room.
Lehi shouted the spell again, he opened his eyes, they were glowing with a metallic grey hue.
“Ashi ety sewa, sewa ety ashi!” He shouted one last time.
The breeze had grown to a strong wind and was pulling down objects in the room. The strange wind however did not go outside the room.
Lehi stretched his hands and immediately, he saw what Upir was seeing. He saw Nella , he saw. The Guardian and the judges.
He was linked to Upir now, they would throw their entire weight against whatever those things he saw were and escape from them.
“Something is wrong.” One of the judges said.
They had all felt something off in the air. Nella had stood to her feet, noticing a new aura, a new presence.
Lehi, Upir whispered in her mind. She used all the power she had to shut her thoughts from the judges and The Guardian.
Upir she heard Lehi’s voice in her head.
Upir wondered how she could escape the mess she was in. She was sure that the confusion Lehi had caused would only last for a short while so she had to act quickly.
“It’s one of those accursed people!” One of the judges shouted, “it’s Lehi!”
Upir knew she had to act – immediately.