Seven Devils And A Rose - Chapter 87

Finally, the girls collapsed onto their knees. They looked exhausted, and I realized that they must have used a tremendous amount of their own qi just to create that barrier.

I asked, my voice urgent, “Please tell me what is happening. I don’t understand anything, and Lord Geoffrey didn’t explain.”

Aria raised her head then and looked at me as if she were seeing me for the first time.

She said, “I don’t fully comprehend what’s going on either, Alfie, but the fact that the lords’ dark qi is reacting and that the defense barrier is on, with the citizens in the palace and the city are being told to evacuate, means that some of the lords have gone berserk and that the disaster beasts in the mountain might have risen due a reaction to your pure qi.”

I was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

Leona nodded. “Since the dark qi feels so sinister, I believe it must be either Lord Felix or Caleb or, worse, both.”

Brenna said, looking at me, her eyes bright as if in awe, “We didn’t know you had such a powerful pure qi, Alfie. How come it hasn’t shown until now?”

“I didn’t know, either,” I said, glancing at the glistening white glowing dust particles that surrounded me, trapped within the white sage barrier. “I didn’t know I have so much of that. When Caleb took that necklace off me, it happened. My body felt like it was on fire, and…”

My head started hurting as my body shook in dread at the reminder of that episode. I still couldn’t comprehend what had happened back there.

Aria said, “Perhaps there was a spell put on you. And when it was lifted, your qi that had been suppressed was released.”

I said, “When Aaron came to get me this evening, he took me to the bathhouse. There, the lords told me that I might have this magic illusion protection on. That’s why they couldn’t see who I really was.”

The three women nodded in understanding.

Aria said, “That explains everything. Someone cast a magic illusion protection on you to not only suppress the high level of your pure qi, but to hide you as well.”

I asked, “But why would anyone want to do that?”

Aria said, “It’s very likely that whoever it was knows of your immensely strong qi and wanted it for himself.”

Brenna said, “Because pure qi, as we’ve told you before, is rare.”

Leona said, “What we’ve neglected to tell you is that pure qi has many uses. Apart from the fact that it attracts those with dark qi, it also has the ability to summon the souls and revive the dead, amongst others.”

I was astounded. I licked my lips, my mind overwhelmed at hearing the new information about pure qi. I asked, “Pure qi can summon the soul and revive the dead?”

Aria nodded. “As you know, white light can penetrate anything, including the darkness, which is why pure white qi can summon the soul and revive the dead, as that is where they reside, in the darkness of the cosmos.”

Leona said, “With your pure qi, it is possible to do that.”

Aria turned then, her attention now directed toward the window, her eyes gazing at the red barrier outside. She wore a worried expression on her beautiful face.

She said, “We’ll continue with this discussion another time. Right now, we need to make sure the city is safe first.”

Leona, Brenna, and I nodded in agreement.

I said, “How can I help?”

Aria turned to me, looked at me for a moment, and then shook her head. She said, “Unfortunately, Alfie, you can’t.”

Brenna patted me on the shoulder. She said, “The best thing for you to do is to sit tight right here. Once it’s certain that the lords are no longer in their berserk mode, you can certainly come out and help clean up.”

I brightened immediately. In my mind, I thought, Felix and Caleb, you two better return to your normal mode ASAP if you ever want to kiss me again.

It was some time after the alarm started that it finally stopped, and immediately, we received a message from Lord Geoffrey.

Aria said, after she had terminated the telepathy WIFI chat, “They’ve managed to detain Lord Felix and Caleb and have put them into very secure high-level barrier prison cells.”

I sighed in relief and dropped back against the pillows behind me. I rolled over the large bed, clutching another pillow against my ċhėst. “Thank God.” Then I asked, “So it’s safe for me to leave here, then?”

Aria shook her head. “No. Not yet. Not until Lord Geoffrey is sure both Lord Felix and Caleb are their normal selves again and the disaster beasts are fully investigated.”

“I see,” I said, wondering how long that’d take.

Leona, who was standing by the window and watching the commotion outside, said, “The special unit troops are ready to leave to investigate the disaster beasts. I pray that monster hasn’t risen.”

Leona agreed with a nod of her head.