Chapter 37 - 37 Lost Into the Abyss
"Olivia, hold on. I can fix this." Eritrea reached for her, but Olivia was already fading from her sea of consciousness, her soul unstable. Meanwhile in the real world, Eritrea barely had time to react.
A violent backlash erupted from Olivia's body, hurling Eritrea backward. She crashed into the molten rock, her white hair slightly ruffled, her body shook from the impact.
The Sacred Flame had chosen Olivia... but why did it suddenly become hostile? Why is it destroying her?.
Eritrea staggered to her feet, rage boiling inside her. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She turned to the dragon, fire burning in her gaze. "Fix her." she pleaded, but it sounded more like a command.
The dragon exhaled slowly, his molten eyes filled with something close to pity. " Fate does not grant second chances freely," the dragon said, his molten eyes gleaming. "The price has already been paid. And soon... you will understand just how steep it was."
Eritrea clenched her jaw. No. She refused to accept this. She turned back to Olivia, who was barely breathing, her body trembling as if fighting to stay alive. The sacred flames that once felt like victory now felt like chains.
Eritrea fists clenched in helplessness, she thought she had won. She had taken the power. But for the first time in her life... She wasn't sure if she had done the right thing. And far away, in the deepest part of Olivia's mind... something else stirred. A crack in the void. A whisper in the dark, waiting.
Darkness crawled like a blanket over Olivia's consciousness, it was like she was having a deep sleep, but it wasn't the kind that came with sleep, or even death. This was something deeper, heavier—an abyss that clung to her very soul, swallowing her whole.
She drifted in nothingness, weightless, formless. Her thoughts felt slow, muffled, like she was trapped underwater. She couldn't feel her body. Was she even breathing?
'Where... am I?' She asked inwardly. Her heavy eyelids fluttered open. A flicker of gold sparked in the distance. Faint, but pulsing like a heartbeat. It was warm, a little familiar but something else was lingering in the cover of the darkness.
A whisper curled through the darkness, soft and eerie, like a voice that had been waiting for her. "You're late... and weaker than I expected." A sound of disappointment laced its voice.
Olivia stiffened. The voice wasn't Eritrea's. It wasn't even human. It slithered through her thoughts like smoke, creeping into the empty spaces she didn't know existed.
"You were supposed to come sooner." Its voice was coaxing, but under its tone lies an eerie sound.
Her heart pounded. She tried to move, to find solid ground, but there was nothing. Just the vast, endless void. "Who are you?" Olivia whispered. Confusion smeared on her face, she looked around her but she saw nothing but utter darkness, except from the sacred flame, which flicker like a lone star in the darkness.
A pause. Then a chuckle, low, dry, ancient, echoed through the abyss. "You already know."
Her brows furrowed, she didn't, why does it assume that she does.
The whisper grew louder, circling her like a predator in the dark.
"You felt it, didn't you? The power. The hunger. The moment you touched the flame, it tried to consume you. And yet..."
The darkness rippled, shifting. "It recognized you."
Her breath hitched. Her mind flashed back to that moment—the golden fire, the surge of energy, the raw, untamed force that had nearly torn her apart. She hadn't been strong enough to control it. She still wasn't.
The flicker of light in the distance pulsed again, as if waiting.
"You were never meant to take it now," the voice murmured, softer this time. "Not yet. The fire would have burned you to nothing."
A shiver ran down her spine. Then Eritrea had been wrong. If she had taken the flame, she wouldn't have survived.
This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.
"So what now?" Olivia asked, her breath catching in her throat. "You're saying I was never meant to have it? That I nearly died for nothing?" The whisper remained silent, coiling around her like a patient predator. Her hands clenched into fists. Rage flickered inside her, but it was weak, fragile. She was too drained to fight, too lost to resist.
Then the whisper coiled around her ear, gentle and knowing. Encircling her, coaxing her to sleep.
" Sleep now, you need to rest."Olivia curled up, her knees raising up to her chest, her hands joined together like a sleeping baby. The darkness swirled around her like a cocoon, gently caressing her body.
Back in the Wasteland
A gasp tore from Eritrea's throat as her body jolted upright. Her lungs burned as she sucked in the dry, scorching air. Her fingers dug into the cracked earth beneath her, her entire body shaking.
The flames were gone. The wasteland was silent.
She turned her head sharply toward Little White. He was still there, lying motionless, his chest rising and falling weakly. His wounds had been healed, but he looked... worse. The fire had been burned out of him, but whatever damage it had done was still lingering inside.
Eritrea held her head, she swallowed hard, panic surging within her chest. She hadn't been able to find Olivia in her sea of consciousness, but she couldn't find her.
'Where are you Olivia?' a tinge of worried smeared her face
She would search for Olivia later. Right now, she needed to get Little White to safety. A growl rumbled through the air. She lifted her head, her gaze fell on the Bloodfang monsters who were still roaming around the borders, waiting for them.
A look of irritation crossed through her face. " These pests." She scowled at the sight of them. She gently raised Little White up, placing one of his arms over her shoulder.
She gently carried him, heading towards the border. A river of fire roared up from the ground, threatening to block their path. Eritrea narrowed her golden eyes. With a flick of her wrist, the flames twisted violently before shattering apart, parting before her like a bowing servant. 'Annoying,' she muttered.
Soon, they got to the border, she gently placed Little White on the ground, placing a protective barrier around him.
She took a step forward, cracking her head and her knuckles. " Let's get this over with." Her eyes blaze with fiery gold.