The chants from witches were intensifying as the ceremony proceeded and it lasted longer than the previous two, yet it showed no signs of stopping.
Keith's anxiety shoot through the roof when he saw Damon standing in front of a half-sphere of light; the light was cut off abruptly before it reached Damon like an invisible shield that didn't allow Damon to be affected by Talia's brilliance.
The scene reminded Keith of a transparent ball with a divider halfway; one half was filled with a shiny substance, while the other one was left empty.
What made this more unusual was that the light from Talia didn't spill on Damon at all, and it actually stopped in thin air, like there is an obstacle between them. Damon's golden markings were now completely black, a stark contrast to Talia who became the light.
Keith panicked. Was Talia alright? The silvery light was so much stronger than what Keith saw during the previous two ceremonies. What if Talia was suffering in there? Why was no one helping!?
Witches stirred with amazement as Talia's light output increased. It was blinding.
Witches spent a lot of time communicating with nature and researching spells, and they never saw anything like it!
How could Talia channel the energies of the fountain to such a degree? Wasn't she a she-wolf? Even if Talia was from the Midnight Guardians pack, what was happening right there transcended what was possible no matter how much in tune with nature Talia was.
Since the fountain regained its flames, the witches performed numerous rituals there, and Evanora led most of them, but the high-priestess couldn't stimulate forces of nature to perform such a magnificent display of might. Witches were confident that they were witnessing something monumental. Was Talia secretly a witch and their next high-priestess?
And what was going on with Damon? All creatures would embrace the energies of nature, and even if he couldn't use the excess, it would go through him, yet Damon stood there, untouched by the visible energy that was stirring around him. It made witches curious and wary because that was not normal.
The scene was strange and captivating, but Keith couldn't immerse himself in the view because he worried about how this will end.
With no one explaining what was going on, Keith's mind started producing various scenarios, one worse than the other.
This was beyond just Damon being hurt. What if Talia gets hurt also? What will happen to Keith if Talia gets harmed (again!) on his watch? What if both Damon and Talia end up harmed beyond fixing? How was Keith supposed to return to the Dark Howlers pack? And what will happen to the pack without its Alphas?
Keith saw Cassandra looking at the fountain with excitement and reality hit him.
For the last two days, Keith spent most of the time with Cassandra, Calla, and other healers from the Midnight Guardians pack. He was comfortable with them because they didn't look like they were thinking of eating him up, and Keith forgot that Cassandra was the one who nearly killed Damon. Also, because of Cassandra Damon couldn't feel his mate bond and Talia suffered humiliation. Did Cassandra do something again?
The more Keith thought about this, the more he realized that Cassandra's crimes were grave.
"This is because of you!", Keith shouted at the Oracle. "Your dark magic affected my Alpha and who knows what will happen next?"
Cassandra shook her head fervently. "No, no. The dark magic from his body is gone.", she was speaking desperately in front of Keith's fury, but even she was not convinced in her words. The truth was that the ritual which dispelled the dark magic was way beyond Cassandra's level, but she heard witches saying how Cornelia reported that the ritual was successful and that Damon's energies were clean.
Talia was high on the energy that poured into her like it had no intention to stop.
She could feel every cell of her body and see every crack on the stones that formed the edge of the fountain, and then there were people, animals, heartbeats, and the tiniest movements… it was all like under a magnifying glass for her to see. The gentle sensation was calming, soothing, welcoming... like the whole world was hers and she could end it with a thought, and mortal creatures would gladly accept any fate she chose for them.
The omnipotence was intoxicating and it stirred Talia to get lost in that power, but Talia had no intention of looking further than the man in front of her.
She focused on Damon, and she would think that he was gone if she was not holding onto his hands.
No matter how much she focused on the space in front of her, there was nothing. Like he was not there.
'Damon?', she called through their private mind link. 'Damon!?', this call came with more urgency when he didn't respond.
Talia wanted to move but her body refused to obey her command. It was like her consciousness spilled outside the confinement of her fleshy vessel, and it gave her the ability to be aware of everything in the universe, everything except for the one man she wanted to see.
Why was only a blob of impenetrable darkness where Damon was supposed to be?
'He is there', Liseli spoke in Talia's mind. 'I can feel the bond. Mate didn't leave.'
That didn't pacify Talia because she wanted to see him and confirm that things were fine. The fear of losing him, or him forgetting about her was real and… This was supposed to be a blessing ceremony, where did it go wrong?
Talia cursed internally. This was about Damon and her and she should have known that something will go wrong.
Talia groaned as she fought mightily to regain her senses. She was confident that she was holding his hands, so he was definitely there, but what if he was suffering? A horrid image flashed in her mind, what if only his hands were there!?
'Liseli, help me!', Talia shouted in her mind.
'First, you need to calm down', Liseli responded. Talia was a mess and it affected Liseli as well.
'OK. OK. I am calm.', Talia said.
'You are not. Take a moment or two. When you are ready, you need to push.'
Talia was confused. What the heck was that supposed to mean? 'What should I push?'
'The energy that seeped into you from the fountain. Keep what you need and push the rest away. Your current state is because of extra energy. Get rid of it and you will be back to normal.'
'How do I do that?', Talia asked, her voice much calmer now.
'Feel the energies around you, pull them inwardly, in the pit of your stomach, and then blast it away.', Liseli explained, and then she started guiding Talia, 'That's it. You are doing good. A bit more… more… almost…'
The atmosphere around the fountain was tense.
Axel and Keith were close to snapping as their eyes darted from the chanting witches to the oddly half-glowing couple in the fountain.
Evanora was pale as a sheet of paper, and the five witches behind her were sweating as well. The only one looking fine was Yasmin, but her facial features were arranged in a frown of concern.
