Retribution - Chapter 15 (Dark Paranormal Fantasy Story)

This is the second story of the BP series. If you haven't read the first story yet, you can find it here :)

Find previous chapters of Retribution on my Steemit Blog.

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About Retribution
The journey continues as Beatrix and Arthur set out to find the portal to the world of shadows. Beatrix discovers new unsettling revelations, shattering the past and narrowing the possibility of a happily ever after. Filled with uneasy uncertainty, this second book in the series will have you on the edge of your seat!

Full of romance, excitement, drama, passion, triumph, and tragedy, this is a wonderful continuation of the story!

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CHAPTER 15

They reached the shore, and Beatrix sat down on a large rock. Atticus walked over to a nearby tree, and a button appeared. He pressed it, and the mysterious elevator appeared. The doors flew open.

“Come along,” said Atticus, as he walked into the elevator. Beatrix and Arthur followed. Once inside, the doors closed and they began to move. Beatrix and Arthur exchanged a glance. They spoke no words, but relayed a message of emotion to one another. She smiled slightly as she felt his hand grasp hers. The elevator came to a halt, and the doors opened to reveal the room full of mysterious items. Atticus walked out and mumbled a short phrase, and with a gust of swirling wind, they were all dry again.

“Sorry,” he said, “forgot to do that earlier.” Atticus was consumed with the task at hand. He set the terilantitope sprigs onto the table in the center of the room, along with the other ingredients and potion instructions.

“Now,” he said, “let’s beg—”

Atticus cut his sentence short. He gazed out at a little glowing dot of light that floated hastily toward him. It was a firefly. The bug slowed when it neared Atticus and then started flying around in a blur. The light it emitted formed a symbol in the air.

Beatrix watched Atticus as his eyes grew large.

“I must be going,” he said abruptly.

Beatrix looked at him, confused. “But—”

“Follow the potion instructions, and make the potion to spell the compass,” he said. “I wish I could stay and help, but there are more pressing matters I must attend to.”

“But, Atticus—” said Beatrix.

With a snap of his fingers, Atticus and the firefly disappeared with a flash of light.

Beatrix looked over at Arthur, who looked just as puzzled as she did. Arthur walked over to her. “We can do this,” he said confidently. Beatrix looked down at the table and lifted the book to read the instructions for the destination potion.

1. Using a mortar and pestle, grind a sprig of terilantitope.
2. Bring your suspension liquid to a boil (we recommend using bottled dew) over the flame of a dakatuvi candle.
3. Add the terilantitope to the boiling suspension liquid, and stir until the color brightens.
4. Drop in the talenbee feathers—one at a time, making sure to stir in between.
5. Drop in organic material from the destination you desire.
6. Stir until half the liquid evaporates to reach the proper potency.
7. Submerge the item you wish to enchant into the potion; let rest until the color fades from the liquid.

Beatrix walked over to a shelf full of bottles of strange liquids. “Dewdrops!” she exclaimed loudly. She looked at Arthur shyly, embarrassed of her overexcitement. He smiled back at her. Beatrix set the bottle on the table and then walked over to another shelf that was lined with small cauldrons. She reached up to the top shelf and grabbed one of the strange-looking candles that rested there. The candles were black and had no wicks. Confused, Beatrix brought the supplies back to the little table and said, “I have no idea how to light this.”

Arthur picked up the curious candle and looked around it for a wick, but none was there. “We must have to light it with magic somehow,” he said, as he turned the candle over and over again.

Beatrix remembered a spell she had learned from her grandma’s spell book. She reached out, and Arthur placed the peculiar candle in her hand. “I want to try something,” she said.

She set the candle on the tabletop, gazed at the top of it, and said, “Igniglarous.”

A violet flame burst atop the little candle. Beatrix smiled and looked at Arthur, who seemed impressed with this accomplishment. “Great work!” he said.

Beatrix gazed at the cauldron and imagined it hovering over the small candle. The cauldron lifted up off the table and hovered in place. Arthur poured the dew liquid into the cauldron. Beatrix ground the sprig of terilantitope as they waited for the dew to come to a boil. She dumped the terilantitope into the boiling liquid, and it began to change hue to a red color.

“Can you hand me one of those wooden spoons?” she asked. Arthur ran over and grabbed a spoon and brought it over to her. She stirred the potion until the color brightened. She lifted up one of the soft talenbee feathers and dropped it into the potion as she stirred. It sparked slightly when it hit the liquid. The cauldron steamed as she stirred. She dropped in the second feather and continued stirring. She then picked up the letter and scraped off some of the organic material into the potion. She stirred and stirred, waiting for half of the potion to evaporate. Her wrist was getting tired; it reminded her of the times she had spent helping her mother make English toffee for Christmas.

“Here,” Arthur said. “Let me stir for a while.”

Beatrix stood aside and let Arthur stir.

“I really hope this works,” said Beatrix. She thought about all the trouble they had gone through just to get the single ingredient for the potion.

Half of the potion had finally evaporated. Beatrix picked up the compass and held it over the cauldron. She paused for a moment. This moment meant everything to her—she needed it to work. With hope, she gently dropped the compass into the potion. Smoke leaped up into the air, and sparks flashed and snapped over the cauldron. Beatrix and Arthur stood back. The sparks and smoke slowly subsided. Beatrix and Arthur walked back over to the cauldron and looked down at the potion, which now had turned to a dull gray color. Beatrix imagined the compass floating, and it rose up out of the liquid and rested on the tabletop. The compass needle spun around in circles madly. Beatrix looked at it, afraid it hadn’t worked. The needle slowed and then stopped completely. A bright-red light illuminated it from within, and dark-red flames emanated from the face of the compass.

“I think it’s ready,” said Arthur. He picked up the compass that pointed in front of him and turned around. The dial pointed behind him.

“Well,” he said, “our journey begins.”

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More Chapters will be published soon!

Thanks for reading! :)

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