Eudial grabbed Silver's hand and shivered.
The man turned towards her and put his arm around the witch's shoulders.
"What's up, Eudial?"
"This wood seems endless...I don't like it..."
Silver looked at the high oaks which were surrounding them and gently caressed Eudial's cheek.
"I'm sure we'll be out of here soon...Look over there! There is a meadow and some stones!"
They ran out of the wood and stared at the big circle of megaliths which was in front of them.
"It looks like Stonehenge" Eudial said "It must be a sort of temple..."
Silver nodded "Probably you are right. Now come, let's sit on one of those stones for a while, then we'll continue our search."
They sat on the central stone, the one which looked like an altar, and looked at the sunset.
"Silver..." Eudial clasped Silver's arm "Make me a promise..."
"Eudial..."
The witch began to weep: "Please, Silver, tell me that you will never leave me alone!"
Silver wiped away her tears and hugged the witch. "Why are you asking that to me? You know that I love you and I will always be at your side..."
Eudial sobbed. "I don't know... This place gives me a bad feeling...I see that you are going far from me...Silver! Please kiss me now! I don't want to lose you!"
She threw her arms around Silver's neck and began to kiss him almost frantically, then she held him tightly.
Silver looked at her in surprise. "Eudial, I love you... Don't worry, we'll find all our friends and then we can live in peace."
Eudial sighed: "I hope you are right..."
"Of course I'm right! Look! There is a village over there! Tomorrow morning we'll go there and see if we can find our friends. Let's sleep now."
They lay down on the meadow and fell asleep almost immediately.
Eudial clasped Silver's arm. She was having bad dreams: the stones which were around them looked like evil monsters and were coming nearer to her, as to trap Eudial.
Silver was outside of the circle of stones and was looking at her, then he turned and went away laughing at the witch.
Eudial woke up in fear.
She looked at Silver who was still sleeping and sighed.
"Why I have the feeling I'm going to lose him?" she thought "He loves me and I love him...Why should he leave me alone?"
She walked away from the circle of stone and sit on the ground.
Eudial took her necklace and grabbed the Blue Quartz's Crystal in her hands.
"Quartz! Are you there? I need to talk to you..."
The crystal enlightened and a voice spoke.
"Eudial! Honey, I'm happy to hear you again. Why are you calling me? Are you in some trouble?"
Eudial sighed. She was happy to hear again King Quartz's voice. She remembered that when he was alive they had been married for a very short time. At that time Eudial was forced to marry him, but she found out that she could love him.
"No, not exactly...I feel as if something terrible is going to happen..."
She stopped and noticed that five knights were surrounding her.
They were holding torches and brandished swords.
"She's a witch!" one of the knights said "She was talking to a stone in the middle of the night...and the stone was glowing!!"
"Let's capture her! We have to trial and condemn to the stake all the witches of this reign!"
"She must be a friend of that other witch we captured yesterday..."
Eudial looked at them nervously.
"Maybe I should try to teleport away" she thought.
She used her powers to teleport but nothing happened.
Eudial screamed and tried to run away from the knights but one of them chased her and struck her with the flat of his sword and the witch fell to the ground unconscious.
The knights lifted her on one of their horses and they took her to the village.
Silver woke up because of Eudial's scream and run to help her, but he could only see the horses who were galloping.
He noticed Eudial's necklace on the ground and he grabbed it.
"Quartz!" he called in a very upset voice "You are Quartz, aren't you? Tell me what's happened!"
The crystal enlightened: "Yes, I am Quartz and you must be Silver...Eudial loves you a lot, she was saying me that she was worried for you, when those men came and kidnapped her..."
Silver shook the crystal: "But who were those men? And why did they take Eudial?"
Quartz's voice sounded worried: "I'm afraid they were men of Inquisition...Eudial is in danger, we have to go to that village and find a way to save her!"
Silver glared at the crystal: "No! I'll go there and save her! It's your fault if they caught her! She went away from me to talk to you! And she's my girlfriend, you don't have rights on her, she loves me!"
Quartz's voice was very cold when he answered: "She called me because she was worried for you! And remember that she was my wife and she loved me too!"
Silver threw the crystal against a tree: "She married you because you forced her! Don't make me to waste time, now! I have to save Eudial"
Silver began to run towards the village.
"Silver! Wait! That's not the time to be jealous!" Quartz shouted, but Silver was already far.
Eudial opened her eyes and she found out that she was in a horrible and dark dungeon. Near her there was another girl, who was sitting on the ground and staring in the air.
Eudial looked better at her and gasped: "Tellu! That's you?!"
The girl turned and looked at her: "My name is not Tellu, sorry. I am Telurun, high priestess of the sacred oak."
Eudial slightly smiled. "She lost her memories, but she always loves plants..."
Tellu looked at her: "Why are you smiling? Don't you know that we are going to die as witches?"
"So they want to burn us?" Eudial asked "Don't worry, we'll go away using my time key..."
She touched her neck to take the key, but she panicked when she noticed that her necklace wasn't there anymore.
"I lost it! We have to find a way to go away from here!"
Tellu looked at her with sympathy: "We can't go away...It's as if we are already dead. They will condemn us to the stake."
"No! It's impossible! Silver will save us!"
"No one can save us. We have no hopes. And if you want a suggestion, confess immediately that you are a witch or they will torture you."
Silver arrived into the village at dawn and he noticed that a great crowd was in the streets.
"What's happening?" he asked to a man.
"They are going to burn the witches!"
Silver grew very pale.
He followed the crowd and arrived in front of the stake.
Silver looked at it in shock: Eudial and Tellu were tied to it and a man was going to throw a torch on the pyre. Tellu was staring at the people, while Eudial was unconscious and she looked wounded.
A woman with a black cloak was in front of the stake and was looking at the two witches with greed. Her face was in shadow and the other people kept a distance from her.
Silver ran towards the stake, but the dark woman grabbed his wrist and forced him to stop.
"It's silly" she whispered "to give your life for two witches..."
Silver tried to free himself, but the mysterious woman was grabbing his wrist very tightly.
"Why are you stopping me? I have to save them!"
She looked at him: her face was always in shadows, but Silver could see her blonde, long hair.
She whispered again: "You can't save them. The crowd would kill you if you try to free them. And it would be useless, the red-haired one is already deadly wounded. I can feel her life who is leaving her body..."
Silver shivered. "No! It's impossible! Eudial! Don't worry, I'll save you!"
The dark woman touched his cheek with her very pale hand.
"She is going to die. Stay with me and drain their energies when their lives will leave their bodies..."
Silver looked at her in horror: "What are you?!"
She smiled: "Someone call me enchantress, but most of people call me Lady Death. I live thanks to the powers of death and love. I'm immortal. Drain those witches' energies and I'll allow you to be immortal too..."
Silver tried hard to free himself: "No! Let me go! You...you are the horror! You can't eat Eudial's energy!"
Meanwhile the man near the stake threw the torch on it and the pyre began to burn. Tellu began to scream in terror and a wall of flames hid the two witches to Silver's sight.
Silver screamed too.
Lady Death looked at him and smiled: "You shouldn't call me 'horror'... No human being can save your witches, but I can..."
Silver looked at her in desperation: "What?! Can you really do it?"
"Of course. But if I renounce to the powers of death, you will have to give me the powers of love. I will save your friends, but, after that, you will have to look in my eyes and you will forget your love and you will be only mine..."
Silver looked at the pyre and sighed "I will lose Eudial, but at least she will be alive..." he thought.
He turned towards Lady Death. "I accept. Save them, now."
She nodded and raised her arms. Immediately, the darkness fell around them and the stake.
When it lifted, Silver, Lady Death and the two witches where in the middle of the circle of stones.
Eudial and Tellu were laying on the altar and all their wounds seemed to be healed.
Lady Death looked at Silver: "I kept my promise. Now it's your turn, look into my eyes..."
She raised her head. Her face was always shadowed, even if the sun was enlightening her blonde hair, but her eyes were like a window on the universe, Silver could see everything and nothing in them. His last thought before being charmed was that her eyes were like black holes.
Eudial opened her eyes and was surprised to see the sky above her head. The last thing she remembered was the terrible pain of the tortures and she was sure she was dead. But the sky was over her and she could feel the warm sun on her skin.
She sat on the stone and noticed that Tellu was sleeping near her. She saw Silver who was talking with a woman and she ran towards them.
"Silver! I knew that you would have saved me! I..." she stopped: Silver was kissing the other woman.
Eudial stared at them.
"Silver!" she said with trembling voice "Why...what are you doing? You said you loved me!"
Silver looked at her: "Who? Me? I could never love a miserable mortal girl like you. I love Lady Death now...Go away!"
Silver and Lady Death disappeared.
Eudial dropped herself to the ground. She stared at the point where they disappeared.
"Silver...Why?"
"He has been enchanted..." A voice behind her said.
Eudial turned and saw a blonde and handsome man.
"Quartz! It's really you? Your soul was trapped in the crystal!"
Quartz smiled at her. "It's really me, honey. The power that Lady Death used to heal your wounds allowed me to have my body back."
Eudial burst up in tears and threw herself in Quartz's arms: "Quartz! What's happened? Why Silver went away with that woman?!"
Quartz hugged her gently: "Don't be mad at Silver, honey. He traded his love for you with your and Tellu's lives. That evil enchantress charmed him..."
Eudial sobbed: "Oh, Quartz, what can I do now? He left me alone!"
"You could try to follow them and try to free Silver or you could decide to continue your mission." He give her back the Time Key "Only you can choose what to do, but remember that you're not alone. I will always be at your side."
Eudial looked at him and at Tellu, who was still unconscious.
Then she walked towards the altar, followed by Quartz, and put a hand on Tellu.
Eudial rose the key, silently weeping: "I have no choice, Quartz. Earth is in danger and I am the only one who can save this planet. When all will be finished, I'll come back and I'll search for Silver, but now I can't, I have to find my friends..."
Eudial, Quartz and Tellu disappeared.
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