Chapter 79: Chapter 79

Sharumez and Akirexer got off their carriage. Naian carried their bags and followed them behind as they walked to their train.

Emelinia was so frantic about Sharaina the other night that it got them so worried. When they read the newspaper the next morning, they were completely devastated to learn that Sharaina had been arrested for attacking and hibernating vice commander Holan.

Sharumez and Akirexer knew that the punishment for such a crime was being thrown into The Terror Hole. Their poor daughter was going to be thrown in there to face Death.

Sharumez decided that he and Akirexer were going to leave for Cherilisia so that they could see what they could do for Sharaina. They told Naian and Emelinia to stay back so that they could take care of their children and Alainara.

Naian placed their bags in the train and he said good bye to his parents. Deep in thought, he watched the train leave. He thought about how Emelinia couldn't sleep a wink at night.

He even caught her crying more than once. At times he would see her disappear into a portal and when she returned, she didn't tell him where she went. All this made him to think that there was more Emelinia wasn't telling them about Sharaina.

He wondered if she was hurting because it was her father who was attacked. He was going to find out what Emelinia was hiding even if it meant forcing it out of her.

****

"Sharumez, do you think Sharaina went berserk when she attacked vice commander Holan?" Akirexer asked Sharumez with worry in her swollen eyes.

"Yes, I actually fear so. She was probably stressed from what Light did and snapped at the vice commander for who knows what. This is all Light's fault. I will never ever forgive him for this." Sharumez responded, annoyed.

*****

Ouman and Sevilon felt defeated. They had spent years protecting Sharaina but now all their efforts were going to go in vain.

King Meelzib had sentenced Sharaina to The Terror Hole. He didn't even bother to show up at her court hearing. He just ordered the judge to sentence her to Hole. This was much expected considering that Holan was his uncle.

"Ouman, I have failed Raglan." Sevilon sadly said.

*****

Lalina stormed in the hallways of the dungeon. She lifted her dress as she furiously walked. The maidens holding her dress couldn't keep up with her.

Lalina stopped at Sharaina's cell. She saw her sitting on her bed in a black dress dungeon prisoners wore. Her hands and bare feet were bound by manite chains.

Sharaina turned to face Lalina. She expected Lalina to be furious with her so her scowl did not surprise her. Sharaina regretted everything she had done. Seeing Lalina's anger made her face away in shame.

"Look at me Sharaina!" Lalina screamed. "Do not bow your head in shame. I want you to see the pain you have caused me by attacking my father." Lalina said to Sharaina but Sharaina didn't lift her head to face her. She didn't even utter a word. "I thought you and I were friends. How could you do this to my mother and I l?" Lalina asked Sharaina but she didn't answer.

"Fine then! Remain silent! I hope you die in the hole Sharaina. You deserve everything that is happening to you! I was right about your kind. I can't believe that I was so foolish to believe that you were my friend. With a friend like you, who needs enemies? You better die at the hands of Death or I will come after you and kill you myself!" Lalina angrily stormed out.

****

Naian returned home instead of heading to the carpentry. He found Precious flying a kite outside. He ignored her and went straight into the house. This puzzled Precious a lot. She tied her kite to a tree and went into the house. She saw Naian go into his room and close the door. Precious went up the stairs and placed her ear on the door.

Emelinia was startled to see Naian looking at her so sternly. She stopped breastfeeding Nalvin and put him to sleep in his crib. Emelinia turned to face Naian and she could see that he wanted to know what was happening. She backed away from the crib and sat on the bed waiting for Naian to speak first.

"I know that there is something you aren't telling me." Naian began.

"No Naian, you are mistaken." Emelinia tried to refuse.

"It will be wise of you not to lie to me Emelinia. We have been married for close to eleven years. I know you. There's something you aren't telling me about Sharaina and I want to know what." Naian demanded.

Emelinia tucked her lips and fiddled with her fingers, tensed. "Naian please," She tried but Naian held his hand up to shut her up.

"You are a seer therefore you know what I want to know. I am your husband so you keeping things from me is unacceptable."

Emelinia put her hands together and knelt down. "Please forgive me for keeping everything from you." She cried and that made Precious gasp from behind the door.

Naian folded his hands. "I'm listening."

"Do you remember the dreams and visions I had of Sharaina being queen?" Emelinia asked Naian and he said nothing but stare at her. "Well they are true Naian. They were not in puzzle form but accurately direct."

"What, Emelinia what are you saying? How can Sharaina be possibly be queen. She isn't royalty." Naian argued.

"Sharaina is to defeat King Meelzib and take the throne by force. She is the one to be our supreme ruler Naian. Please I am telling you the truth." Emelinia wiped her tears. "Think about it, the missing girls were all blonde, tall and not of age years ago but now all blonde girls are being hunted down." Emelinia said to Naian and he scratched his head.

"Are you saying that it isn't Diavinx who is responsible for the kidnappings but King Meelzib?" Naian asked Emelinia.

"Yes Diavinx is innocent." Emelinia nodded her head frantically.

"Emelinia, if what you are saying is true, then why didn't King Meelzib kill Sharaina during the time she trained with him?" Naian asked her and remembered that Sharaina's hair was dyed black at the time. "Is this the reason Sharaina dyed her hair black?"

"No I am the one who dyed it. Sharaina knows nothing of this. Commander Sevilon and Ouman told me not to tell anyone of this and that included Sharaina. Now do you see how devastating her arrest is? She was our only hope." Emelinia cried.

"No have faith in her Emelinia. Sharaina will get through this. She will return to us you'll see." Naian picked Emelinia off the floor. "The prophecy will come true. Our Sharaina will pull through this I promise you." Naian said to Emelinia and she hugged him.

****

Light rushed to the Cherilisia dungeon. He had gone to Sharaina's house last night but she wasn't in. He waited for her to return but she never did.

When morning came; he went straight to her office but he was told that she was arrested for attacking Holan. When he heard that she had been sentenced to The Terror Hole, he was completely devastated.

"I wish to see Sharaina Sharumez." Light asked the Warden.

"I'm sorry sir but no one is allowed to see prisoners condemned to the Terror Hole. You should know this." The Warden declined.

"Please," Light tried again.

"I can't help you. My hands are tied."

Light left the dungeon feeling so defeated. He opened a portal back to Gemhules.

"Where's mama?" He angrily asked Lara when he entered the mansion.

"She is reading on the terrace." Lara answered him and Light stormed up there with Lara following him behind.

Nami was eating a cookie as she flipped a page of the newspaper. Sharaina's arrest was the headline. She couldn't wipe the smile off her face when she read that she was sentenced to The Terror Hole.

Her smile disgusted Light beyond rationality. If she hadn't been his mother, he would have strangled her. Light stood away from her and cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Light, I am so happy to see you child." Nami smiled at him and folded the paper.

"I wish I could say the same to you mama." Light coldly answered her. "I never imagined that you were this evil." He shook his head.

Nami smirked. "What haven't I done that any mother would do?" She asked him and crossed her legs.

"Love your son by respecting his happiness." Light quickly answered. "Because of you, I am on the verge of losing the only woman I have ever loved. What has she ever done to you for you to hate her like this?"

"Oh son, you will one day appreciate what I have done." Nami confidently told him.

"Never!" Light raised his voice and Nami got up.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me." She furiously pointed at him and Lara got tensed.

"You are by far the worst mother anyone could ever have. I feel cursed to have come from a woman like you. How was I unable to see your wicked nature all my life? Not once have you ever cared about my happiness. You are here drinking tea and eating cookies while Sharaina is probably being starved in the dungeon!"

"That's enough Light!" Nami raised her voice.

"Or else what mama? What could you possibly do right now that would worsen what you have already done?" Light spread his hands apart. "Maybe you want to slap me. You better knock me out because it will be much better to hibernate than witness the love of my life die at the claws of Death."

"Brother please calm down." Lara held his hand in despair.

"You will one day regret your words Light and when you do, you will come and apologize to me." Nami sternly told him.

"I will die the day before that day." Light answered and dashed out leaving Nami irked.

****

Three days elapsed. People from different parts of Dark Star flocked to The Terror Hole. In their hands were tickets.

Excited chatter could be heard amongst the people. All of them wanted to see Diavinx die. They also wanted to see Sharaina get punished for her crimes.

Sharumez and Akirexer were feeling so depressed to see and hear people talk down on Sharaina. It hurt them so much that they were excited to see her fall.

Sharumez gave the people at the gate their tickets and they got in. They found their way and sat in the middle row. Nelex, Gerebe, Liss and Mayla got in and sat a hundred seats away from Sharumez and Akirexer. They were feeling tensed at the whole thing. Light arrived late so and he and Jayniss sat at the back.

As soon as the arena was full, King Meelzib appeared with Lavila and Lalina walking behind him. They all sat down in their respective seats. Naraygeous stood behind King Meelzib.

He and Lalina locked eyes but he quickly turned away leaving Lalina feeling dejected. King Meelzib held his hand up and the sound of trumpets were heard. This made the people even more excited. Their deafening cheers pleased King Meelzib.

"Place your bets here! Place your bets here! Will Sharaina come out victorious against Death or will she fall? Place your bets here!" A man sounded.

He stood two people away from Sharumez and Akirexer. His words made their hearts sink. The people came rushing to him handing him and his assistant their money.

They all put their money on Death. The sight of this made Akirexer's tears fall. Sharumez held her close to him to comfort her.

A strange man walked up to the man selling bets. "I want to put my money on Sharaina." He confidently said.

"Are you out of your mind?" One man in the crowd asked him.

"No I am not." He laughed. "We are talking about a girl who took out a kremis at the age of 80, achieved the highest marks at the Great Academy despite being not of age, trained with King Meelzib, became captain due to her talent despite not having a dragon, defeated the lord of the Mid Night Crawlers and took down a high ranked vice commander. She did all this despite not having a dragon! I am definitely putting my money on her. In fact take all my money!" The man emptied his pockets.

"You know what, I'm putting my money on her too." Another one said.

"Me too!" Another one screamed.

The words of the strange man lifted the spirits of Sharumez and Akirexer. If a stranger could believe in her then why would they lose hope? They looked on and watched the first criminal get thrown into The Terror Hole.

It was a forty foot hole with only one gate that led to Death's chamber. The hole was sandy and filled with skulls bones. On top of it was a force field that prevented anyone from helping the condemned.

The criminal landed down on his back. He fearfully looked at the 15 foot gate before him. Giant blue eyes beamed from behind the gate. The man screamed upon seeing them and the crowd cheered.

He shivered in fear as he backed away only to trip on a skull. His eyes remained fixed on Death. Suddenly Death closed its eyes and there was nothing but darkness on the other side of the gate.

The people stretched their necks to see what was going to happen next. The man sighed in relief when the thought that Death was sleepy crossed his mid. He was about to get up when a giant grey tongue like that of a chameleon snatched him and pulled him into the chamber.

His screams were the last to be heard before his hand was violently thrown back into the arena. Death snatched it again with its tongue and the crowd went wild.

Diavinx calmly listened to the noise. He sat bound in chains with the rest of the prisoners scheduled to face Death that day. He saw Boo getting dragged into the waiting room. She ran to him and sat next to him. She and Diavinx watched other criminals get taken to their doom.

"I have served you diligently. My lord I will die today content of this." Boo said but Diavinx said nothing to her.

Diavinx had his eyes on Sharaina who sat away from them. He was shocked to see her in dungeon clothes and bound in chains like him. He wondered what she had done in order to deserve that. Not so long ago she was a heroine but now she was reduced to zero.

Sharaina kept her eyes down. Diavinx observed that she appeared to be in deep thought. Seeing her there made him smile. Boo caught him smiling at Sharaina.

"That the bitch is the reason you and I got caught." Boo angrily said. "Hey you! You got us thrown into this hole only to be thrown in yourself." Boo mocked her.

Sharaina said nothing to her. She didn't even turn to look at her. Soon guards came to her and led her away. Boo hurled insults at her. Diavinx smirked at her and bumped her shoulder.

"Calm down Bahima." He said to her. "The fact that she is here means that we are saved. In fact we are lucky that she has gone before us. She may have been the one who threw us in here but she will definitely be the one to get us out."

"My lord, do you honestly think that she will be able to defeat death?" Boo whispered to him with wide eyes.

"She is a beast herself. This will be a fight against beasts." Diavinx laughed.

****

When Sharumez and Akirexer set their eyes on Sharaina, they abruptly stood up. Mayla's heart skipped a beat and she pointed at Sharaina. Liss started to cry and Nelex held her.

Light clenched his fists when he saw Sharaina get thrown into the pit. Sharaina landed on her feet and stared at the gate. It was dripping with blood from the previous criminals.

The wind blew her hair in one direction. Her hands had shackles and her neck had a manite chain that was so heavy that it bruised it. King Meelzib was shocked to see her golden hair.

He put his goblet away and stared at her in disbelief. Is she the one who I have been looking for?

Sevilon and Ouman sat on a deck higher than the one were the Council of Elders sat. When the council set their eyes on Sharaina, they began murmuring amongst themselves. King Meelzib saw this and he gritted his teeth.

Sevilon and Ouman helplessly looked on. Emelinia and Naian sat away from them. They had left Gemhules hours ago after leaving Precious and Nalvin with Channy. Naian insisted that they be there for Sharaina. Sevilon arranged for their seats.

Sharaina glared back at the blue eyes glaring at her. Death shot its tongue at her and she grabbed it.

The crowd went silent.

They were completely shocked to see Sharaina's hand covered in natrifin saliva. Some of them faced away at the sight of it burning her hand like acid.

Sharaina pulled the tongue hard and Death hit its face on the gate with a bang. She let go the tongue and endured the burns on her hand. The clanging sound of chains been rubbed against each other was heard as the gate slowly opened. A razor sharp claw stepped into the light and the crowd roared.