CROWNS I: Of Desolate Hope | ✔

27. Venaessa's Hope

Venaessa lay on the table in the middle of the huge but dingy room, a brown cloth draped over her body. Nothing dared stir whilst the strange woman was pacing around it. Anyx wandered silently toward her and nudged his head on her arm.

"I'm thinking, little one," she said, frantically rummaging for something. "I'm thinking."

Anyx turned to Venaessa's hidden body at sat beside the table. The woman had noticed the dragon doing it every day at the exact same time. He curled up and groaned. The pain of losing a friend had not abandoned her yet. The woman stopped her searching in a moment of sudden realisation and pain.

"I've made my mind up!" she declared, grimly.

Anyx looked at the woman with an expression that could only be described as disbelief. The woman nodded with some uncertainty.

"Yes, yes," she added. "I must at least try... I must. I feel as though her journey has just begun. The future is unclear and full of many possibilities but I sense hers is definite. Her part in this story is not yet at its end." The woman disappeared down one of the many tunnels and holes in her home, whispering strange words to herself in hushed tones. Soon, she emerged with a jar in each hand which she then placed on the cold ground.

Anyx lifted her great head and looked up at her with expectation. The woman slowly approached the table where Venaessa's body lay. The stench of the rotting corpse exploded in the room as the brown, scented cloth was removed from over her. There, the girl lay. Her eyes were still open, still full of shock and fear. Her mouth was still slightly open. The woman recoiled as if she could hear Venaessa's last screams.

"I will begin now," she said, opening the grey jar and pulling out a strangely-shaped, glowing green leaf. "They don't grow here any more, dragon. The last one of its kind." The woman then swivelled to grab a very dusty mortar and pestle from a low shelf.

Anyx watched in curiosity as she then opened the black jar and used a small ladle to scoop up a dark brown liquid and pour it into the mortar. The leaf was then hastily added and ground with frightening ferocity by the woman, who was still mumbling things under her breath, as little splashes hit the ground prompting a loud hiss. After a few moments of intense crushing, she snatched at a small cloth and dabbed the mixture with it.

"Move dragon!" she shouted, darting to Venaessa's head. "You won't want to be anywhere near this!"

Anyx scampered to the opposite end of the room.

The woman gently pressed the damp cloth onto her bloodied neck and began speaking in a tongue that Anyx didn't recognise. It was harsh sounding and filled the atmosphere with dread. The neck of her friend hissed vehemently like an angered serpent. The dragon growled as the hissing became louder and louder but the entranced woman seemed took no notice. Suddenly, she turned around, her eyes empty. "Hush dragon!" she snapped. The chanting grew more vigorous and frightened Anyx, who began to back away in trepidation.

The words that came out of the woman's mouth became like dust. They echoed around them like wind and made the room hazy until barely anything could be seen. The pots and boxes that lay around began to shake and crack, creating a terrible noise that only added to the chaos. The walls of the tunnels and the ground itself began to shake and tremble. Anyx lay flat hoping that whatever vile force was at play would not make its way to her. The dragon anxiously surveyed the room. There was only darkness and the faint outline of the woman which soon vanished in the cloud of uncertainty. Yet, in the midst of it all, there was something that saved the dragon from hysteria. A faint light flickering on the table. Hope in a sea of darkness.

The dragon didn't waste another second. Eagerly, she fought the pounding wind and stood up defiantly. With every step toward the table, the haze cleared a little and Anyx began to see what had happened. The figure of the woman became visible through the dissipating dust and the destruction of the room stopped. When Anyx had finally clawed her way back to the table, the chaos had died down.