So this is what hell felt like.
All around Sephora there was screaming and wailing, unsure of where it was coming from; it took Sephora a few seconds to realise that it was all coming from herself. Her heartbeat was pounding like a drum in her ears, going faster than she thought was humanly possible. It was so loud, it was as though someone had ripped it from her rib-cage and shoved it inside her head.
She tried reaching out, to hold onto something - anything, but there was nothing. There was no ground below her, no sky above her, no life-line to cling onto, that could help her. She was free-falling through the earth, and she wouldn't stop until she reached the molten burning core.
Sephora screamed again, only this time no sound came out, she'd gone hoarse minutes ago. She felt like she was burning up, whilst being slowly cleaved apart from the inside. She couldn't see anything but red, black and orange, and she wouldn't have been surprised if she were drowning in her own blood. It was never ending, agony.
It felt as though her skin was melting off her bones, whilst those very bones were being broken in multiple places simultaneously - only to be suddenly healed again, and then the process would happen all over again. Sephora gave another silent scream. Just as she thought the pain couldn't get any worse, something white hot and glowing began to build in her chest, looking like it was about to tear her in half.
This was it, she thought. There was no way out of this, there was no way someone could survive this - the pain was too much. She cried out again, as the heat built again in her chest, melting her, destroying her. She was going to die after all, and it would be so peaceful after that, there would be no more pain or suffering, she could finally be at rest.
No. Something deep inside her wouldn't back down. In among all the pain and the suffering, something buried deep down inside her - was hope, a small hope that she could make it through. Despite the agony the heat carried on building, so much so that light now broke out from her chest, eliciting another scream. It became so bright, Sephora had to close her eyes to shield them from it, but even with her eyes closed the light shone through and all Sephora could see was white. A blinding white light, brighter than the sun, erupted from her.
And suddenly the pain stopped. Her heartbeat had returned to normal. Sephora collapsed onto her hands and knees, and was shocked when she hit solid ground. She was gasping for breath, not because she was tired or in pain, but because she was trying to process what had just happened. Her eyes were still closed, afraid of what she'd see if she opened them, and moved her hands along the ground, feeling what was beneath her.
Soil? Grass? Sephora slowly opened her eyes, and gave a gasp at the welcoming sight of fresh green grass and rich dark soil, beneath her finger tips. She looked at her hands, seeing they were intact and lifted them to her face in disbelief. Smooth, warm skin greeted her fingers, as she brushed them over her face and neck - not a burn or blemish to be found. She couldn't believe it.
She finally looked around her, taking in her surroundings and again was in shock at what she discovered. An endless blue sky stretched out above her, not a cloud to be seen, birds were singing in the trees without a care in the world. The gentle breeze, that smelt of wine and citrus, brushedagainstherface to cool her under the summer sun beating down on her. A large city was not too far ahead in the distance, overshadowed by a magnificent white palace that strangely glittered under the sun's rays. This was by far the most beautiful place Sephora had ever seen, better than any picture she'd been shown, any creation of her imagination could have conjured. It was perfect.
However, Sephora quickly lost all sense of awe and wonder, when she finally beheld who stood before her. She gave a jolt and shuffled back, her long dress getting in the way of her feet. A dozen guards in glowing silver armour, stood before her in a ring, spears in hand and every one of them were pointed at her. What she also found curious, was they looked just as every bit of shocked as she was to find herself standing there.
And standing a few paces before her, arms dropped at his sides and his face slack with amazement was a man not that much older than herself. No, not a man;
"An Ardanam!
A sword hung at his side and his armour, also silver, but much more elaborate and customized for his strong build, was engraved with a strange looking crest, of a three peaked mountain, with the middle peak reaching above the others. Sephora cocked her head, now noticing how handsome this stranger was - but not forgetting that this male was one of authority, as he hadn't even bothered to draw his sword. Sephora didn't move. He was tall, at least 5 inches taller than Sephora, and if that didn't intimidate her enough, his broad shoulders and muscle
"Who are you?" His voice was smooth, as though he would have been a kind male. But there was no kindness in his words, or in his brown eyes, as he questioned her again. "Can you speak?"
Sephora gave a jolt and cleared her throat to answer,
"I'm Sephora Beltane." Sephora was surprised at how steady her voice was. "I'm just a human."
The male gave a cruel smile that didn't reach his eyes,
"Not anymore, you're not." Sephora shuffled a bit, realising in horror, that it was true. His cold smile widened, as he added,
"Nuanam." He nodded toward one one the guards and they all lowered their spears. Sephora held back a shudder, at least she was right about the authority.
She knew it was the weakest, most pathetic question she could have asked, but she asked all the same, "Are you going to kill me?"
Sephora held back her irritation, as the male huffed a laugh and even some of the guards snickered. The male turned to her and said
, "That would be a bit redundant, don't you think?"
"Well, it kind of defeats the whole point of a sacrifice, if the sacrifice doesn't die." Sephora stated. Again, the male gave an empty smile before motioning towards one of the guards. Sephora tried not to flinch, as strong hands gripped her arms once again.
"What are you going to do with me?" Sephora asked, genuinely curious.
The male turned to her again, before walking ahead, the guards moving Sephora along a few steps behind.
"That is for our Lord to decide." He called behind him.
Sephora felt a jolt of fear. For the first time in this new world, she was going to meet an Ardanam Lord. The beings of nightmares and destruction, males that are ruled by fear and power, who get their way through force and bloodshed. She would rather be forced to go through the veil a second time, than die at the hand of an Ardanam Lord. She trembled under the grip of the guards, as they made their way toward that spectacular palace that towered ahead of them.
A thought suddenly popped up in Sephora's mind, she called out to the male ahead of her,
"How did you know I would be coming through the veil?"
The male didn't slow his walking, his cropped brown hair shining under the sun.
"We didn't." Sephora frowned in confusion.
He explained, "We wait there every year on Samhain in case one of you does make it through. More often than not, we return home empty handed. But on the rare occasion, one of you trembling little newborns comes stumbling out of the veil, and we bring you before our Lord."
They were silent for a while as they finally entered the heart of the city. The buildings were cream or sometimes a dark mustard brown probably designed for hot weather to keep the heat away.
The windows had no glass, again probably to let in as much cool air as possible, and all had beautiful wooden shutters that many had left wide open. The houses were tightly packed together to form countless roads and streets. They passed one street filled with market stalls, similar to the one Sephora had stopped in only a couple of days ago, to get some apples.
The memory of her mother stabbed Sephora in the heart, and she looked longingly at the various fruits and vegetables on display, and wondered what her mother was doing now. Probably sleeping, as Sephora had already noted the vast time difference between the Mortal world and Igritann. It had been midnight on the other side, but over here... it looked to be mid-day by the position of the sun.
Sephora let out a defeated sigh, she missed her brother and her mother - she even missed her father. No matter how apart they had become, he was still her father and it was her father that had believed in her. It was her promise to him that had kept her going, that had kept that small shred of hope burning inside her. And she had made it, despite thinking that she wouldn't. Sephora gave a shudder at the memory of that veil, the pain she'd gone through. Still, that would pale in comparison to what the Ardanam Lord would do to her, if he had no use for her.
Sephora suddenly dawned on the obvious, as they passed another street of shops and restaurants. This was her life now, she had a second chance to do something with her life, to make a difference. Excitement and anticipation lifted her mood considerably. This was a fresh start for her, she could get a job, she could make things, she could have tons of friends and not worry about losing them, she didn't have to live in fear.
Unless the Lord was anything like the horror stories she'd been told as a child. But now actually being here in Igritann, she almost found it hard to believe. There were children running and playing in the streets, laughing and shouting. Old couples walked hand-in-hand, smiling and completely at ease.
These weren't people living in fear, living under the boot of an oppressive ruler. These people were free and happy and... It almost angered Sephora how good their lives were, when her brother, who was only 5 years old - was already familiar with the stench of fear, of being alone and being torn from friends... and now family. Sephora squashed her anger deep down inside her, so much that she nearly choked on it. The male ahead of her, had slowed down to walk beside the guards holding Sephora, and seemed to n stice her expression and what she must be feeling.
His smooth voice was indeed gentle this time, as he said to her,
"It wasn't always like this." Sephora whipped her head round to face him, her face set like stone, not even caring about the bitterness in her voice,
"I don't care."
His eyebrows rose in genuine surprise at her anger, before continuing to walk toward the main entrance of the palace. Sephora silently growled, he had no idea what life was like in the Mortal lands, none of them did -and it was all because of them. Were they truly oblivious, or did they just not care? She hated them, she hated this world, she hated this people and worst of all, she hated their Lords.
Maybe this is what she was meant to do; To bring down the Ardanam race and liberate the human world. Sephora huffed in a bitter laugh. She'll have to survive her encounter with this Lord first.
Giant silver and gold gates glided open on their own, as Sephora and the guard around her stopped before them. They moved her inside the courtyard, the cobblestones proving difficult to walk on in heels, she almost tripped several times. Sephora huffed, now keenly aware just how hot the sun was, and in her thick navy dress, she tried not not to cringe at the beads of sweat she could feel sliding down her back. She imagined her hair was also in a state, and knew that her face was already a sweaty mess. She hoped the Lord wasn't shallow and kill her for looking like she'd been dragged through a bush backwards.
Now up close, Sephora could see that the palace was actually made up of paint blocks of white opal, with tiny rainbows and colours glistening as it caught the sunlight. The male caught Sephora gawking at her surroundings, just as they strode up before two massive obsidian stone doors, and gave a proud smile.
"The Lord built it all himself." His voice snapped Sephora out of her trance, she even forgot to be angry, as she processed the male's words.
"He built all this?" Sephora gestured to the whole palace, her eyes giving away her amazement. The male nodded proudly. Sephora couldn't believe it.
"How?" She demanded.
Amusement danced in his eyes, as the male pushed open one of the great doors, stretching out an arm for the guards to take her in. As Sephora stepped inside, and gaped at all the marble floors and towering pillars that lined a grand hallway, the male answered her.
"He has the power over rocks and stones and minerals from the earth. He has great power, and uses it to defend his people."
Sephora frowned. "Defend his people from what?"
The male gave her a bleak look. "From other Lords."
Sephora gave a shiver. Two Lords against each other, would result in the chaos and destruction of anything within range. Ardanam Lords weren't just powerful, they were power, and if those powers collided…..
Sephora suddenly realised what the male meant when he said it hadn't always been this perfect. She instantly reproached some of her anger toward the Ardanam people, but that didn't excuse the Lords. they were still to blame for all that suffering and devastation.
They reached the end of the hallway, to be greeted with another set of obsidian doors. This time the male didn't open it, this time he stopped before it, adj o sting his armour and running a hand through his dark hair. Sephora had a suspicion that she knew what and who was on the other side of those doors.
"What is his name?" Sephora quickly asked, trying to distract herself from what was about to happen.
One the other side of the door, Sephora heard footsteps. She panicked, realising she didn't know the male's name, either.
"And your name?" She burst out. The male looked to her with an amused smile, just as the handles of the door turned from the other side.
"General Hunter." He said, just as the doors opened to reveal a great throne room. The guards moved her forward, and Sephora let them as she could only stare, in awe and fear.
The room was massive, with tall columns of marble stretching high above Sephora's head, where the ceiling reached about 20 meters high, clad in gold and silver. The floors were red carnelian stone that was polished so much, Sephora could see just how sweaty and disheveled she really was, as they continued down the length of the room.
Sephora was still admiring the grand scale and beauty of the room, when the General and his guards came to a stop before a grand set of stairs leading up to the throne. Sephora, knowing who sat on that throne, knew that his gaze had been on her since the doors had opened, she bent trying to avoid his gaze by looking everywhere else.
But now there was no escaping it, now she would really be meeting her fate. As she stood before one of the most powerful Lords in Igritann. Sephora kept her gaze down, if only because she didn't know the etiquette or proper greeting when meeting an Ardanam Lord. So she kept her gaze down, until she was told otherwise.
The General spoke, "My Lord, this is Sephora Beltane, tribute from the Mortal la y ds and newly born Nuanam." Sephora became nervous, when the Lord made no reply.
The General continued, "Sephora Beltane, this is your Lord, Ambrose Stone."
Sephora knew enough about respect, to drop into a deep curtsy, grateful for her heavy skirts as they plumed around her. She still kept her gaze on the steps in front of her, not daring to look up yet, until the Lord addressed her. That moment came all too soon.
"Sephora Beltane."
His voice was the rumble of thunder across the sky, as if it came from the depths of the earth. This male was built with the power of mountains, and knew what true authority was. And it was because of the authority, that Sephora found herself slowly looking up to where the Lord sat. And her breath was knocked from her lungs.
His face was lightly tanned and lined with stubble across his strong jaw, that made Sephora forget how to blink. His cheek bones were defined and his face was ridiculously symmetrical, like his own power had the brightest, most vivid green she had ever seen, with small flecks of brown. And his very presence was solid, unflinching, unmovable.
She could tell he was tall from the size of his throne, which resembled his crest, a mountain with three peaks and a seat had been molded within, as the rock towered behind him. But as far as Sephora was concerned, he held the biggest presence in the room. His shoulders looked like he could carry the weight of the world and his arms and legs told Sephora that he was a warrior born and bred, a warrior that would sacrifice his life for his people, and destroy any threat.
He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, she wasn't even ashamed of staring at him straight in the eye, as long as he was the last thing she ever saw, she would be fine with that. But the question the Lord would have to ask himself was if Sephora was a threat. That was what would ultimately decide her fate.
The Lord's face was unreadable, a mask of solid stone, as he stared at her. Sephora shuffled on the spot and relaxed her gaze a bit, as she had only just realised how intently she'd been staring at him. The Lord took a breath, and Sephora held her breath as he spoke,
"I accept you, Sephora, as a citizen of my court." Sephora let out her breath in relief, glancing toward the General at the Lord's side, who gave her an encouraging nod. But the Lord wasn't finished, his face showing no emotion whatsoever.
"And I declare you as my mate..."
