Nightblade (Darkest night)-Chapter 150: Quarrel

The blue light pulsated like a heartbeat, the blue lines of light flowing rhythmically into the two youths.

Lucian and the rest of the youths stared at Morgan with similar expressions of disbelief.

"This is what he meant by he knew what to do! Crap!"

" This is what I warned you about," Cassius growled, regaining his wits first.

"Now Morgan’s stuck in whatever this is as well, and I’m definitely not going to see any of us get stuck to that weird altar, not on my watch!!! "

Talia’s face paled visibly at the sight.

" What do we do? "

Just then, a thunderous pulse surged through the temple, staggering everyone.

The strange runes shimmered brilliantly, winking in and out of existence.

" What’s happening, Lucian?"Talia whispered furiously.

Lucian glared at her, scoffing derisively.

" How am I supposed to know?"

He unsheathed his blades, ready to step forward if any of the two reacted violently.

The runes flowed up off the rock, rushing into Emily and Morgan’s skin, then harmlessly dissolved, disappearing.

A split second later, they both staggered away from the altar, breathing heavily.

Emily took several deep breaths, then warily glanced at Morgan.

The scion’s face was pale, small beads of sweat rolling down his forehead in small rivulets.

The altar shimmered, then cracked, dissolving into a mound of dust.

The deep tremors subsided, and the glow in the statues’ eyes slowly faded.

Samantha pushed past Cassius and ran towards Emily.

She frantically grabbed, turning her around, her eyes full of worry.

" Em! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Emily slowly shook her head, taking in slow, deep breaths.

Lucian and Talia quietly observed her, their gazes shifting between Morgan.

" You know that was very reckless of you, Morgan..." Lucian said quietly.

Talia nodded, folding her arms across her chest.

" And what was that about knowing what to do?"

Morgan shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

" It was instinctive, you know, I just didn’t like that’s what I had to do. And the altar, I heard, sort of...call to me," he said, lying through his teeth.

" You heard it?"Lucian asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Morgan nodded, gesturing towards Emily.

" I think the same thing happened to her. I mean, how can you explain it..."

The rest of the group stared at him as one.

"You all saw it," he said, speaking with conviction," her body moved on her own...strange, right?"

Emily nodded curtly.

" I don’t understand what happened to me myself, but suddenly I felt an inexplicable urge to move, to touch the altar. And then my body moved on its own. Next thing I knew, I was standing right in front of the altar, and then my hand gripped and then..."

In the next moment, her hand trembled slightly.

Lucian frowned slightly at the strange movement.

" And then, what happened next?" he asked calmly.

" Give her time!" Samantha snarled, turning around and glaring at Lucian.

Lucian’s gaze shifted to her for one long moment, then he turned back to Emily.

"Listen, Emily, we need to know if you’re in the right state of mind right now, if we can trust you..."

Closing her eyes, Emily inhaled and exhaled slowly.

" When I touched it, it was like my mind...it’s like I was transported to a different place."

" And what did you see in this place?" Talia asked, stepping forward.

" Bretnar, thousands of them, more than the ones that we found down here. And there was more than one Bretnar king."

Emily sighed, returning to her usual stoic self.

" That’s what I saw them, suddenly Morgan was there with me, and the ’vision’ came to an end."

"My grandmother used to see strange visions too, but still, that’s one strange vision," Cassius said, nodding his head.

" After a while, we had to place her in an elderly home run by the Talented, though she didn’t like that very much. The doctors said she was schizophrenic."

When he finally looked up, the rest of them were glaring at him.

His eyes widened in surprise.

" What’s the matter?!"

"Well, apart from the fact that you’re being an insensitive jerk right now, I don’t think you’ve missed much," Amanda muttered.

Cassius rolled his eyes.

" Well, you’ve got to admit that there’s a bit of truth to what I’m saying."

" I saw it as well," Morgan said.

" It was strange, really, it was like I was here, but I was also there, kind of like being in two different places at the same time.

" A split consciousness?" Lucian suggested, his eyes narrowing in thought.

Morgan nodded, offering him a smile.

" You could say that..."

Amanda sighed loudly, shaking her head.

" Rather than scare ourselves witless, I’d like to know if that was one of these so-called artifacts you’ve been telling us about, you know, the ones supposed to take us home..."

Lucian nodded, holding her gaze.

" Yeah, I think so... "

" And now it’s gone, just like that? "

Lucian nodded calmly.

" We all saw it vanish... downright turn into dust, I’m sure we’ve all got eyes, right? What’s the point you’re trying to make?"

Amanda shrugged, taking a seat on the ground away from the group.

" Just wandering if there’s any point to all this, if we’re actually going to get home..."

"And what do you suggest we do?" Talia asked, staring at her in amusement.

"Nothing...I’m not suggesting anything, just...sharing my thoughts with you all..."

Lucian scoffed, shaking his head.

"We can’t exactly give at this point, Amanda," Cassius said.

" I haven’t survived everything in this hellish dimension just to roll over and die. I’m getting home, no matter what."

An awkward silence settled in the Great Hall.

"While we may have hit a dead end here, we’ve still got that unexplored city beneath the ruins," Morgan said.

"And what if it’s another dead end?" Amanda asked quietly.

"Then we keep trying."

Amanda stared at him for a while, then turned away.

Lucian snarled, a vein popping on his face.

Talia threw him an amused glance, shaking her head slightly.

In the next instant, he smiled sweetly and then spoke in an unusually calm voice.

" Listen, Amanda, enough with this whole sobbing act. I would prefer not having to die beside you in this forsaken place because that’s what it seems like you’re suggesting."

" Guys, let’s not fight," Samantha chipped in.

Lucian turned to her with a sweet smile.

" But why of course, we’re all just trying to be reasonable, unlike some people..."

" Do you want to go right now?" Amanda asked coldly.

Lucian rolled his eyes, scoffing loudly.

" What a brute! I find it hard to believe you’re supposed to be a girl. Are you sure you’re not a brute? Must you solve everything with violence?!"

Amanda shot to her feet, firing a bolt of lightning through the air.

Cassius ducked, his eyes widened in surprise at the abrupt attack, his eyes blazing with fury.

" What the hell?! Are you trying to kill me?

With a cocky grin, Lucian dodged, rolling to the ground before springing up to his feet a split second later.

" Well, I wonder how you’ve survived this long with such a sloppy shot. I mean, seriously, is this the best you can do?"

Amanda snarled, dashing forward.

A heartbeat later, Morgan appeared in front of her, intercepting her.

" Calm yourself, Amanda," he said.

With a shout, twin bolts of lightning erupted from her hands, aimed at Morgan.

" Are you crazy?! " Cassius shouted, his eyes lighting up and his body half-transforming.

A split second later, Emily’s eyes burned with emerald light, and a wall of ice materialized on the ground in front of Amanda.

In the next second, Morgan appeared behind her.

In one fluid motion, he grabbed the startled Talented girl by the neck, lifting her into the air with one hand.

" Stop this, Amanda. I don’t want to hurt you. And you, Lucian, that’s enough out of you as well."

Amanda struggled furiously, then eventually relaxed.

" Put me down," she whispered.

Morgan obliged, setting her down.

A strangled, muffled sound escaped her lips.

Morgan’s eyes widened slightly.

" Oh shit!"

In the next moment, Amanda began to sob.

Morgan turned, glaring at Lucian.

" This is your fault, man," he mouthed.

Lucian raised his hands in surrender, mouthing an apology.

Morgan frowned, beckoning to him.

" Well, right now, you have a unique opportunity to fix it. Apologize..."

Lucian stared at him in horror.

"Listen, man, at the end of the day, despite Amanda having badass, Talented powers, you’ve got to realize that she’s still a thirteen-year-old kid. So she’s probably scared and frightened out of her wits."

Lucian let out a weary sigh, slowly shaking his head.

" Ah, shit..."

Morgan promptly took the decision out of his hands, shoving him forward.

Cassius smirked, shaking his head slightly.

Lucian took a deep breath, rolling his eyes.

" Listen, Amanda, I’m sorry. I guess we’re all stressed out."

He awkwardly patted her on the back.

Morgan nodded, chipping in slightly.

" Sorry for the rough handling. I couldn’t help it, you tried to taser me, so I only responded in kind."