(Book 6) Hayden Mackay and The Third-Eye of the Pancharatna

22.2 Nature's Mandates

What is this, a fortress of solitude? Celina thought. However, before coming to that conclusion, before the love for nature carried her away, Celina had her senses awakened. This place did not look naturally formed whatsoever. Obviously, dark magic was at play.

Celina took a step, glassy stones scrunched beneath her feet. She was inside a fantastical chamber where jagged shards of brilliant orange-colored crystals jut from all directions-from the walls, floor, and ceiling- towering around like gigantic teeth of a monster. They were long and ovoid, like eggs, and placed too close to one another. There were thousands and thousands of them, as orange as rays of the early morning sun, or otherwise as...the creatures besieging the country. Her insides pendulumed from awe to resentment.

Some of the towers were visibly giving off white plumes of condensation. Why was that? Why not all? What was the difference? What was happening here? There was so much confusion. Celina did not feel easy in her mind.

"Tyrell," she mind-connected. No response. "Tyrell? Can you hear me?" 

Nothing.

She gritted her teeth. So much for asking her to stay connected. She knew that it was a terrible idea to come here all by herself. If dark magic was indeed at work, then what could she even do without knowing its distinctive quality? What was she supposed to do? Should she collect samples and head back to Tyrell through that very passage? No matter how much she loved the idea of hiking and caving, the thirty minutes journey through that enclosed space had been painful. The thought spurred a foreboding sensation and Celina needed to feel ready before she headed back.

She stood peering into the depths, the existence of the place rendering her a stuttering mess. Do something! She scolded herself. The need to do something more strident than just hand-wringing surged in her. She took a step towards one of the crystal towers and looked. Really looked. Examined. There was no smell, no clear indication of what these fumes were, but this swirling white smoke covered the tower's outline. Celina lifted her hand and reached for the significant solid portion of the tower. And she did only to find it bitterly cold. The contact gave her a nasty burn to her fingers and she immediately retracted. Then she checked the tower bereft of fumes. It wasn't as cold, just as she'd suspected. It almost seemed as though these towers going through a process. But how was she going to prove it? She took every question raging in her mind with more skepticism.

Boom!

Somewhere inside the chamber, something was broken, followed by the terrifying, unexpected screeching sound that slowly drifted away. The sound belonged to a creature flying off into the sky. Columns of freezing plumes streaked past her. Celina hissed with fright. What if this place was filled with creatures?

A thought occurred to her. The thought that could have sounded a bit farfetched a few days ago now seemed closer to ground reality. There was only one way to fact-check, no matter what level of destruction it may cause, she willed to proceed. She began concentrating hard on her stone. The cool, stale air that surrounded her came to life forming a pair of sharp airy spikes the length of a sword. She commanded her stone and with a single thrust, the tower impaled into two, the slice visible and the orange light put off. A strong current of smoke rushed out and then came a loud inhumane cry of pain and death, reaching impossibly high to earsplitting levels. And the smell was like rotten food and stinking bodies.

Celina stumbled back, fixing her stance. Her hands pressed tight against her ears and felt a pang of nostalgia. Quickly making up her mind, she repeated the same act. She sliced the towers and more towers. The brilliance of orange light slowly got diminished, shadows disappearing and darkness pervading. The loud cry filled in the chamber, the smell getting too strong. Apart from this, there were beating and screeching sounds. The amalgamation of sounds was an assault on her ears.