The borders of the 'Dark Valley' were now receding, but the black sword in Elena's hand still emitted a faint black light, as if it could feel the residual poison that she had drawn from the Seraph running through Elena's veins. The atmosphere was changing now. Instead of dust and ash, the air was now filled with a sweet but suffocating smell—this was the hallmark of the 'Valley of Poison'.
The Seraph, now conscious but still very weak, was leaning on his horse, looking at Elena. His eyes repeatedly rose to the sword strapped to Elena's back. He knew the history of this sword; it was the same 'obsidian blade' that his father had crafted through an ancient ritual to cut through Arya's royal magic.
"Elena…" the Seraph called out with dry lips. There was still a tremor in his voice. "Leave that sword. It is not just a weapon; it is a thirsty being. The closer it is to you, the more it will drain the love and mercy from your heart, turning it into a fire of vengeance."
Elena stopped her horse and turned to look into the seraph's eyes. Those eyes no longer held the devotion they once held, but a coldness. "Mercy has given my family nothing, seraph. If my father had shown the same hardness as this sword instead of mercy, I would be sitting on the throne today instead of wandering in these ruins. This sword will give me the power your clan has taken from me."
Kavian, who had been examining the map, interrupted. "Queen, look ahead! The first barrier of the Poison Valley has arrived."
Ahead of them was a vast green mist that stood like a wall from earth to sky. This was no ordinary fog, but a poisonous gas produced by the breathing of millions of poisonous insects and snakes, known as 'The Serpent's Breath'.
"Stepping into this fog means lung failure in seconds," Kavian warned. "We must find a way."
The seraph tried to move forward, but his wounds held him back. "My... my blood. The blood of my clan is immune to this poison. If I enter this fog first, perhaps I can make a way for you."
Elena looked at him with a mocking look. "You've already done so much, seraph. Now it's my turn."
Elena drew her new black sword. As she drew the sword from its sheath, the grass on the surrounding ground turned black and burned. Elena waved the sword in the air and transferred her golden magic into it, which had now mixed with the black poison and turned into a strange purple fire.
"The glory of Arya, with the power of darkness!" Elena shouted.
She made a powerful slash into the air, and the sword released a terrifying wave that tore the green mist in two. The path was open, but in return, Elena had to pay a price she had never imagined. The black marks on the skin of her hand deepened, and she felt as if the sword had squeezed a little energy from her soul.
"Come in! Before this path closes again!" Kavian shouted.
As they entered the mist, they encountered the first guard of the valley—a giant 'Emerald Scorpion', its tail dripping venom, piercing the ground as it hit the ground. Human faces were carved on the scorpion's back, writhing in pain.
"These are the people who dared to step foot in this valley," a resounding voice said. "Queen Elena, you have invited your own death by taking up that sword."
The scorpion attacked Elena with its tail. The seraph created his magical shield as he fell, but Elena pushed him back. "Seraph, stay away! Today I want to see what this sword can do!"
Elena jumped up and slashed the scorpion's hard shell with her sword. Where a normal sword would have broken, this black sword tore the scorpion's steel shell like paper. A green substance emerged from the scorpion's body, and the human faces on its back suddenly fell silent and turned to ash.
Elena was panting, her eyes no longer completely golden, dark shadows hovering in them. She turned to see the seraph, who was looking at her with fearful eyes. Elena was proud of her strength, but somewhere inside her, the human was sobbing.
"The first guard is over," Elena said, cleaning her sword. "Now we will move towards the heart of the valley, where the Venomous Scorpion General awaits us." When the scorpion's giant body fell to the ground, the ground in the valley began to burn with its green blood. Elena was still standing there, the 'Obsidian Blade' in her hand still trembling, as if it was asking for more blood. Elena's breathing was unusually fast, and the dark circles under her eyes were now spreading to her temples.
Seraph, who had been standing with difficulty, moved towards Elena. He saw that Elena's hands were connected to the hilt of the sword as if it were his own body. "Elena! Let go of it! Look what's happening to you!" Seraph shouted.
Elena turned around and looked at Seraph. There was no longer the gentleness in his eyes, but a ferocious glare. "Are you afraid, Seraph? Are you afraid of the power your clan created? Or are you afraid that I no longer need you?"
The Seraph's heart sank. "This is not power, Elena, this is a disease. This sword is squeezing your soul. Look at your hands!"
Elena looked down at her hands. Her veins were now black, and instead of blood, the same black substance that was the sword's speciality flowed through them. But she didn't care. She sheathed the sword again, making a strange hissing sound.
"We have to move forward," Elena said coldly. "The centre of the Poison Valley is still far away."
As they entered the interior of the valley, the vegetation turned a deep purple and black. The trees here had no leaves, but rather carnivorous vines that sprang to life at the sight of anything alive. The air was now so heavy with the smell that Kaviyan had to prepare magical masks for himself and Seraf.
"Queen, there is a lake ahead," Kaviyan pointed out in the light of the map. "According to the map, the next path passes under this lake. It is called 'Serpent's Tear'. But the water in this lake is no ordinary water; it is a mixture of pure acid and poison."
As soon as they reached the shore of the lake, the sight made their hair stand on end. Clouds of green smoke were rising from the lake water, and thousands of human skeletons were floating underwater. These were people who had lost their lives trying to become queens or obtain treasure.
"There is no way across it," Seraf said, inspecting the lake. "Unless the guardian of this lake allows us to pass."
Suddenly, the water in the lake began to boil. A huge whirlpool formed in the centre, and a creature emerged from it that made Kaviyan drop his spear. It was a 'Nine-Headed Hydra', each head spewing a different type of poison.
The largest of the nine heads of the serpent looked at Elena. Its voice was like the silence of an old cemetery. "Last heir of Arya... you have taken up the sword that brought ruin to your family. If you wish to cross this lake, you must make a sacrifice."
"What kind of sacrifice?" Elena asked, placing her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"You must surrender one of your comrades to this lake," the nine-headed serpent hissed. "Either that serpent prince, or that loyal soldier. The death of one will open the way for the other."
The seraph took a step forward. "Take me. My blood is already poisonous; this lake will accept me. Elena, you go ahead!"
"No!" Elena grabbed the seraph's hand. Her grip was so tight that the seraph's hand was scarred. Elena looked at the serpent and gave a smile that was like a demon queen. "I will sacrifice, but not by your will, by my own will!"
Elena waved her black sword in the air and made a deep cut on her own palm. Her blackened blood fell into the lake water. As Elena's blood mixed with the acid, an explosion occurred throughout the entire lake and the water split in two, creating a dry path below.
"Come on!" Elena ordered. "Before my blood loses its effectiveness!"
As they walked onto the lake floor, the walls of water around them stood like glass. Elena's face was now completely white and tears of blood were flowing from her eyes. Seraph tried to support her, but Elena pushed him away.
"Stay away from me, Seraph. I am no longer the Elena you knew." Elena's steps were heavy as she walked along the lake floor, but her determination was as firm as stone. The walls of water that stood still on either side of her, the souls trapped within them, blinking their innocent eyes at Elena. With every step, Elena could feel that black sword still whispering in her mind, even though it was tied to her waist.
"Look at these cowards... They were buried here in the name of love and loyalty," the cold voice of the sword echoed in her mind. "You are different, Elena... You have given blood, you have given yourself. Don't look back now."
The seraph was following Elena, his heart beating like a wounded bird. He saw that Elena's hair, which had once shone like golden sunshine, was now streaked with silvery white. This was a sign that the black magic was rapidly draining Elena's Life Force.
"Elena, listen to me!" The seraph ran up to block her path. He grabbed both of Elena's shoulders and shook her. "Your blood is turning black, your soul is shattering. Is this throne more precious than all these? Even if you become queen, you yourself will not be left to sit on this throne!"
Elena looked into the seraph's eyes. There was no longer the love in those eyes that had once been seen in the streets of the 'dead city'. She shook the seraph's hand off her shoulder. "What do you know, seraph? You are a serpent; your only job is to bite or save. I am an heir; I owe the millions of souls who were killed because of my family. If I have to surrender myself to hell to pay off this debt, I will not back down!"
Kaviyan saw from afar that a huge cave had appeared on the other side of the lake, from which green light was emanating. "Queen! Prince! Stop arguing, the walls of the lake are shaking. Elena's magic is fading!"
Indeed, those great walls of water were now shaking. The nine-headed serpent (Hydra) above let out a terrifying roar, as if celebrating the weakening of Elena's magic. Drops of water began to fall on Elena, and where the drops fell, her clothes burned to ashes.
"Run!" Elena ordered.
They ran madly towards the cave. As they approached, the walls of water began to fall like a mountain from behind. The torrent of floodwaters was right behind them, and its waves were touching their feet. At the last moment, the seraph gave Elena a powerful push and they both fell into the mouth of the cave, while Kaviyan erected a makeshift rock at the mouth of the cave with his spear.
There was a loud sound of water crashing outside, but they were safe inside. The environment inside the cave was completely different from the outside. The walls here were made of emerald stones, and inside each stone was a living scorpion imprisoned, constantly moving.
"This is the laboratory of the 'Venomous Scorpion'," Kavian gasped. "Here, he develops new types of poisons to make the army of the black serpent invincible."
Elena sat down, leaning against the wall. Her entire hand was now blac,k and the black veins were reaching her throat. The seraph quietly approached her and placed his hand on Elena's hand without saying anything. This time, he did not argue, but began to transfer the serpentine coolness inside him to Elena's burning body.
Elena closed her eyes and let out a cold sigh. For that moment, the black sword fell silent.
"Why don't you hate me as much as you should?" the seraph asked in a low voice.
Elena answered without opening her eyes. "Because poison bites poison, seraph. Your poison is the only thing that can save me from the madness of this sword."
The emerald stones on the cave walls were now making a strange throb, as if the cave itself were the chest of some giant beast. Elena was panting, and the black lines on her body were now changing the contours of her face, starting at her neck. Her eyes, once a sea of compassion, now had a cold, golden glint in them—just like a serpent that stills before pouncing on its prey.
"Elena, look at me!" The seraph held her face in both hands. The scales on his own hands were touching Elena's darkening cheeks. "You must not fight the power of this sword; you must fight the desire that compels you to use it. This is not your revenge, this is a trap laid by the black serpent!"
Elena let out a savage laugh, a sound that seemed to come not from her own throat but from that black sword. "A trap? Seraph, this is not a trap; this is the truth you wanted to keep me from. You are afraid that if I gain this power, I will wipe out your tribe. You are still trying to save your people, not my kingdom!"
The seraph's grip loosened. The wound to his heart was deeper than any sword wound. "If you really think so, Elena... then I will rip open my chest right now and lay my heart at your feet. Perhaps then you will believe that the seraph's blood is not that of your enemies, but of your lover."
Suddenly, a green, lace-like substance began to drip from the ceiling of the cave. Kaviyan looked up quickly and backed away. "Queen! Princes! Be careful! These emerald stones are not just for light, they are scorpion eggs!"
As Kavian said this, the stones in the walls began to crack and millions of small, transparent scorpions began to emerge from them, their tails dripping with black venom. The sound of these scorpions crawling was like millions of needles being rubbed together on the floor.
"Don't touch them!" the seraph cried. He cast aside his human form for a moment, and his lower body once again transformed into the tail of a majestic black serpent. He formed a fence around Elena with his tail and spread his tail, and let out a terrifying roar at the scorpions. The heat from his roar burned the approaching scorpions to ashes, but there were so many of them that they began to crawl onto the seraph's skin.
When Elena saw the seraph in pain, the 'Elena' inside her raised her head one last time. She pulled her black sword from its sheath and plunged it into the ground. "You want blood? Then take it!"
She used her power to create a crack in the ground, releasing a wave of dark magic that consumed all those scorpions in an instant. But the attack completely stunned Elena. She fell to her knees, her body turning cold as ice.
The seraph returned to human form and took her into his embrace. "Enough, Elena... that's enough. We have to leave this valley now and this very moment."
"No..." Elena stammered. "We can't go back. Look... the other end of the cave has opened."
At the end of the cave was a huge court where there was a throne made of bones, and on this throne sat 'The Venomous Scorpion', waiting for them. In his hand was Arya's second magical map, which he was waving in the air with his tail.
"Welcome, Queen Elena," the general's voice was like a metal crack. "I heard that you killed the 'Bloody Eagle,' but I didn't know that you would come to me as a demon yourself."
The general raised his hand, and the snakes and scorpions spread throughout the court moved together. This was the point in Chapter 45 where the way back was now closed forever. As the general stepped into the court of the 'Poisonous Scorpion', the air pressure increased so much that Kaviyan felt as if a heavy rock had been placed on his chest. This court was not made of ordinary stone, but rather the bones of thousands of warriors who had tried to conquer this valley over the past several centuries. Green candles were burning inside the human skulls hanging from the walls, filling the entire hall with a foul and terrifying light.
The general, sitting on the throne now, slowly stood up. He was much taller than ordinary humans, and the armour on his body was made of the black shell of a scorpion, from which the poisonous substance was constantly dripping. A long mechanical tail coming out of his back was waving in the air, the dagger-like stinger at the end of which was eager to aim for Elena's neck.
"Princess of Arya..." The general took a step forward, the sound of his heavy shoes echoing in the hall. "You took up that sword, but do you know how to quench its thirst? That obsidian blade craves not only the blood of its enemy, but the blood of the one closest to its wielder."
Elena tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword, but her hands were still trembling. "Your words are more useless than your poison, General! Give me the map, and perhaps I will give you a death that is not painful."
The general let out a laugh that was as terrifying as the cracking of metal. "The map? The map is before you, but to get it, you must cross this 'Pit of Venoms'!"
Suddenly, the ground in front of the throne split open, and a huge pit appeared, inside which millions of black snakes and poisonous scorpions writhed. It was a sea that left no trace of those who fell into it. The map was shining on a tall pillar on the other side of the pit.
"Elena, stop!" Seraph shouted, but the dark power within Elena was now controlling her.
Elena turned back and looked at Seraph. The light of humanity had completely disappeared from her eyes; there was only a thirst for revenge. "Kavian, take care of Seraph. I will walk this path alone."
As Elena stepped onto the top of the pit, her black sword made a terrifying sound. Elena did not hang in the air, but she began to walk on these snakes and scorpions! Wherever her steps fell, the living beings there would burn to ashes, but in exchange for this power, Elena's own complexion was now turning white like a dead human.
"Look, Seraph!" The general sneered, "Your queen has become a complete beast now. She is no longer yours; she has become a slave to this sword."
Tears welled up in the seraph's eyes. He saw that Elena had reached the map, but she was no longer the Elena he had loved. He gathered all his strength and began to transform into his serpent form one last time. This time, the transformation was painful because he had decided to stop the beating of his human heart and become a full-fledged 'royal serpent'.
"Elena! Come back!" A scream came from the seraph's serpentine throat that shook the walls of the court.
Elena had barely touched the map when the general's poisonous tail darted towards Elena with lightning speed. Elena slashed with her sword, but the tail was so flexible that it dodged the sword and became embedded in Elena's shoulder.
Elena let out a scream and fell into the middle of the pit. Millions of snakes surrounded her.
"No!" Kavian threw his spear, but the general caught it in mid-air and broke it.
The seraph, who had now become a giant black serpent, jumped into the pit. He pulled Elena out of the midst of the millions of snakes with his tail and placed her on his great head. The seraph's venom became a death sentence for all the smaller snakes, but in the process, the seraph's own body was being bitten by the general's sting.
The battle was now at its peak. On one side, Elena was cutting through the general's shell with her black sword, and on the other side, the seraph, in his serpent form, was clutching the general's tail. Waves of magic and splashes of blood were flying throughout the court.
The final blow was Elena's. She imbued her sword with her own soul and brought it down right in the middle of the general's head. The general's body fell silent for a moment, then turned into a green smoke and dissipated into the air.
The map was now in Elena's hands. But as she descended from the seraph's head, the seraph's serpentine body began to tremble, and he returned to human form—but this time he was completely still. His eyes were open, but there was no glimmer of life in them.
Elena threw the map aside and rested her head on the seraph's chest. "Seraph! Look, I won! I took the map! Now we will go to Arya!"
But the seraph did not answer. Kavian placed a hand on Elena's shoulder, his own eyes also moist. "Queen... she has crossed the limit of her life. She has sacrificed her human existence to save you."
Elena's heart stopped beating for a moment. She looked at her black sword, still in her hand, and then at the map that had cost the seraph her life. A scream escaped Elena's throat, silencing all the scorpions in the 'Valley of Poison' forever.
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