Chapter Twelve

Gary ran through the dark, rough corridors in a desperate search for Kali. He had lost track of his three friends, but that fact was oblivious to him at the moment.  All he could concentrate on was one not-so-simple goal: saving Kali.

As he ran, he was blind. Not physically blind, but mentally blind.  He had no idea where he was going or why, he just knew the way.  There was no need for him to stop to fight, because early after he had heard Kali's hate-filled scream for hope, he had turned into a corridor full of already unconscious servant demons. Had he been in his right mind, he may have been able to put two and two together and realize he was following a trail left by Kali.  He didn't need that, though. He was following his heart.

He wasn't even thinking. It was like he was made for one specific reason, and he needed no help to accomplish his goal. He went on and on, never stopping for anything.  And then he reached an empty corridor.

Gary came to a dead halt when he reached it, and his senses came back. He looked down the hall with fear in his throat, but walked towards the dark end steadily and with confidence.  He ignored the pictures on the walls, not daring to look at them. But at the end, one caught his eye. The picture of Kali.

Taking a deep breath, he continued on, and opened the door. 

Inside, the walls were lined with iron cages with people inside. They were obviously starving and hadn't been fed for years, but magic had kept them alive. Such a fate was worse than death, he noted.  He ignored them just as he had ignored the pictures.  And just as the picture of Kali had caught his attention, the last cage caught his attention.  Eyes wide, he stepped back, away from the cage, pain clutching at his heart.

"Kali! I'll get you out of there, don't worry . . . " his voice faltered as he noticed she was transparent, like a ghost. "Kali?" he gulped.

"Don't worry.  We're not dead or anything. Kali won't come here until she fully agrees to join Nwon-Knu.  I won't leave until she is safe from any and all harm by Nwon-Knu."

Gary was still puzzled, but a wooden door caught his eye.

"Yup, Kali went through there. She hasn't come out, but Nwon-Knu hasn't come out either.  Unless there's some kind of back way out, they haven't left the room."

Gary nodded, and went to the door.

"Careful.  Even if she's not there, there's an overwhelming sense of evil dwelling there, and if you don't contain magical powers, it could really--wait, you must have magic powers to have come this far."

"Uh . . . " Gary hesitated.  "Wait, you don't know me?"

"Hey, I'm just here to represent that Kali's fate is in great danger and to advise passerby's like you." She put her hands behind her head. "I won't recognize anyone until Kali is full demon and her human soul is sent here. Basically, I'm just a body full of advice. You should hurry, Kali isn't getting any safer."

Gary opened the door hesitantly and crept into the room. The door shut behind him and when he turned, it was replaced stone wall.  The room was empty, but there was an opening at the other end.  A throne was right by it, and it looked as though it had been dragged away from its original spot to reveal the opening in the stone. A trail of blood trailed across the floor from the spot Gary stood in straight through the opening, and Gary followed it.

~

"Let. Me.  GO!" Kali demanded for what seemed like the billionth time.

"No, I'm afraid I can't do that," Nwon-Knu replied, setting up some sort of shrine.    They were at the highest point in the valley. The mountain peek seared into the clouds.  There was a thin stone table at one end of the peak, and under it was the shrine Nwon-Knu was preparing. She often stopped and whispered a chant before continuing.

Mayonaka and Ganralf had long since disappeared from Kali's field of vision. She supposed they had returned down inside the mountain.  She would have followed them down if it hadn't been for the ropes bounding her hands behind her back and the thick vine wrapped around her ankles.

"You've got the wrong idea!  Taking over the world isn't what it's cut out to be," Kali babbled. "I mean, so billions of people are bowing to you, they will really hate you, and what's the point of that?"

"First of all, I plan to destroy the Earth.  Secondly, before I do that, they'll fear me.  And I love fear."

Kali growled and looked out into the valley. A mist was settling over the forest, but she could still see the ledge she stood from every day.  She shifted her gaze up a little and saw a higher ledge: the ledge Gary had imprisoned her on.  Sniffing the air, she could already feel the cold humidity settling down. In the distance black clouds roared and lightning flashed over the city.

"Isn't it kind of high for lightning?"

"Nonsense! The higher the better."

Kali gave up and went back to searching the surrounding area for her friends.  She winced as her eyes fell on the trail of blood leading up to the peak.  Ganralf had clawed her with his sharp claws and cut her wrists when she had tried to break free from his grasp.  She never even dreamed that the trail might lead Gary to her . . .

~

Gary trudged up a spiraling stone corridor.  He was getting sick of stone and couldn't wait until he reached the end of the tunnel.  He couldn't even imagine what it had been like for Kali, waking up every day to the gray stone.

But just what had gone on while he had been journeying back to the valley he and Kali had grown up in? Eclipse was fast; she probably made it back to the valley in a night.  What happened to Kali during that time?

He reached the end of the tunnel, though he hadn't realized it because no light came through the small opening. He peered through and noticed the storm approaching. Lightning flashed over the city and he knew what Nwon-Knu was planning.

The blood trail climbed up a steep, rocky drop straight down to the opening he rested in.  The misty air was wonderful on his bruised face, and he breathed in the air with pleasure. He glanced up the drop and saw two figures sliding slowly down. He recognized them as Mayonaka and Ganralf, and hid in the shadows of the tunnel opening. 

When they were level with the opening, the stopped sliding and caught something. They inched over to the opening, and without too much difficulty managed to get back inside.  They never noticed Gary when they walked past him and back down into the Castle Mountain.  He glared after them, then went back to the opening and peered out. With no demons in site, he started to climb out.

It wasn't as easy as he thought, and he slid down a few feet before he managed to dig his hands into the rocky soil. Using this as handholds and footholds, he climbed up passed the opening.

~

"Hurry, he won't be able to last much longer," Brigitte gasped, out of breath. They were trying desperately to follow Gary's footsteps, but the couldn't keep up with him and collapsed against the stone wall.  They heard his footsteps continue on around the corner and in the distance they heard an iron door grating against the stone floor.

"Is there any way we can heal ourselves, or at least gain our energy back?" Sophia asked breathlessly.

Zale hesitated, then replied, "There's one way, but I've never seen it done before. Gabrielle told me that you simply do what you would do to power up before using your power.  For you, you would just have to get angry, since that's the way fire works."

Sophia nodded. She then closed her eyes and drifted into thoughts of jealousy and anger . . . like when her mom had remarried. Her father had left her mother with her, taking with him her brother. She remembered her anger and sadness at him, and then her anger at her mother for remarrying so quickly. She hated her younger siblings, her brother and twin sisters, because they were offspring of her mother and step-dad, whom she hated with all her guts.  Yes, angry thoughts, these are helping . . . continue to think about him . . . she told herself.

Zale was surprised when Sophia's bruises started to disappear. It seemed to be working. Maybe he should try it.  He closed his eyes and thought of the calm, drifting ocean. It always helped him regain energy to think of the ocean. It was his favorite part of life.  He had only been to the ocean once. He had gone with his father, who was journeying to the king's court, back in the 1400's.  Sighing, he remembered what also happened that day. That was the day Nwon-Knu had killed his father and kidnapped him to transform him into a monster.

Brigitte could not heal herself by using an energy boost.  As a demon, she would have to use special herbs or go to a demon healer, which was probably far from these mountains.  She would just let them go on without her; she could fend for herself.

After resting for an hour or so, the group heard the grating sound once more.  Sophia immediately stood, ready to fight if need be.  Zale stood hesitantly up while Brigitte stayed sitting.

"Go on," she said. "I can't heal myself or anything, but I'll be able to defend myself if anything bad comes along." She looked around her, at the unconscious servant demons.  "I don't think that will happen any time soon, though."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Sophia asked, worried.

"Don't worry 'bout me. I'm sure I'll be okay. Go on."

"Okay . . . if that's what you want."

"Yes.  Now go!" Brigitte demanded. The two hurried off around the corner.

They met Mayonaka and Ganralf, who were surprised by seeing them. 

"They're not supposed to be here," Mayonaka hissed to Ganralf.

"Duh, Mayo.  We have to get rid of them before Gaiaku finds out!"

"Right."

The four jumped into battle stances at the same time.  Mayonaka was the first to strike, and he immediately charged at Zale.  Zale was quicker than the demon, though, and dodged easily.  Mayonaka careened into the stone floor and Zale didn't give him any time to get back up.  He blasted him with a spray of foamy water, aimed straight for the demon's head.

Mayonaka was easily drowned in the spray of water. His face was looking right at Zale, so when he was sprayed with a beam of water coming at him full force, his lungs filled with water and he fell into unconsciousness.

For Sophia it wasn't as easy.  Ganralf and her both possessed firepowers, so it was quite a match. Ganralf, who didn't know Sophia had any magic in her, shot a beam of fire straight at her. When she dodged, the beam hit Mayonaka's unconscious body. On the other side of the door a voice screamed in pain.

Ganralf was surprised, and he stared at his own hands in horror. Many thoughts raced through his head at that moment. He had hit his comrade, his only friend. Before this moment we would have denied they were friends, and said they were just allies, fighting under one queen. But when he heard the human scream on the other side of the iron door he was hit with a reality.  It felt as if he had ran into a brick wall at ninety miles an hour. He fell to his knees, hands clutching his head in pain.

Sophia stood a step back, staring in wonder at the demon. 

Ganralf's world was spinning, and his motives were changing. Gaiaku would not care of Mayonaka's death the same way he cared.  His heart was melting, and he looked up, glaring at the wall. Sophia and Zale followed his gaze and gasped when they saw what he was looking at.

It was the picture of him becoming a demon.  But his human form was no longer just half of his body.  The left side of the picture, which was separated from the right by a jagged black line, depicted a nobleman standing defiantly on a walkway between two towers of a castle.  On the right side of the line stood a demon. Fire rained from the sky, which was lit up orange and evil glared from his left eye. But slowly, the line was moving over to the right, showing more room on the human side. Glancing back at the torn demon, Sophia noticed he was losing his demonic features.

He was slowly changing, and it looked exactly like Brigitte had transformed. Ganralf crouched in a fetal position as a human a few minutes later. The picture showed a nobleman standing defiantly on the walkway, crystal night sky winking behind him. And then the picture slowly disappeared.

Zale gasped, and Sophia glanced down the hallway.  While Zale continued to stare unbelieving at the demon-transformed-back-to-human, a white figure emerged from the darkness at the end of the hall.

"Uh, Zale. I think we have more important problems!" she whispered, gesturing towards the figure.

They watched it come forward.  It was slinking towards them in a cat-like prowl. Her sky blue eyes glinted hungrily and she licked her lips when she saw them.

"Why, if it isn't mister bowling ball himself," she purred, reaching the two confused fighters.  "Oh, don't you remember? You knocked us over like bowling pins back when you came to rescue Kali."

They just stared at her, making no remark at what she said.  She continued to talk, as if she hadn't expected them to answer, either.

"Speaking of which, she's about to be transformed into a full demon."

"Like yourself," Sophia gritted through clenched teeth.

"Well, yes, I am a full demon, but not in that way." She grinned a grin full of sparkling white teeth and said, "You see, I was never human. I was a born demon."

"Surely . . . you must be mistaken.  No demon would ever join Nwon-Knu like that," Zale replied.

"Nope. I'm the real thing, definitely.  And that makes me so much more powerful than any fake demon out there!" She cackled, her evil laugh echoing through the corridors.

"Then it will be so much more easier to kill you!" Sophia exclaimed. She noticed that Ganralf must have fainted and that he had a sword, so she picked it up gracefully.

"Ha! You won't get anywhere with a sword like that!"

"Didn't anyone tell you that I do have magic?" she asked, imitating Eclipse's purr.  "I do."

~

"I don't want to join your army and that makes all the difference!" Kali sneered, glaring at Nwon-Knu, who was still setting up the shrine.

"Not much of a difference," she replied dismisively.

Kali edged towards the side of the cliff, but stopped as soon as Nwon-Knu started to speak.

"That won't do any good. You'll simply fall off the side and tumble to a horrible death at the bottom of the mountain."

"It's better than being sacrificed by my mother!"

"Haven't you gotten it straight that I am not your mother? I kidnapped you from your home when you were five years old."

"But I put up a good fight, didn't I?  If a five year old can do that without knowing anything, then what can a fifteen year old do with the knowledge of what's going on?"

"She can't do anything all tied up like that, can she? I learned from my mistake, you little brat."

"But we both forgot something, didn't we?"

"And what might this be, Rakurai."

"My name is Kali!"

"No, from now on it is Rakurai.  That's 'bolt of lightning' in Japanese. Appropriate, no?"

"No! It's not appropriate.  Because my name is Kali, which means, 'energy'. So I'll use that energy--and destroy you!"

She received a wry laugh from her captor, but didn't take it to heart. Instead, she concentrated on her lightning energy.  It didn't work, something was wrong.

"That vine around your ankle is fake.  It's sixty-percent rubber.  The rope is only thirty-five percent rubber, but it works.  You can't call on your powers unless it's off."

As if on cue, the rope suddenly snapped and her hands were free. She didn't move though, just kept quiet. Nwon-Knu didn't seem to notice.  Kali decided it would be safe to look over her shoulder to see what happened. She gasped in surprise when she saw Gary balancing himself on a tiny ledge just below the peak. He stood with is dagger in hand, which he had obviously used to cut off the ropes that bound her hands together.

She inched closer to the edge and swung her feet over the side so Gary could cut off the fake-vine that bound her ankles. He cut it just as Nwon-Knu was repeating herself about falling to doom. At this time Nwon-Knu turned around and walked over to Kali, not noticing that the ropes were cut and Kali could call on her powers. Kali grinned in her mind as Nwon-Knu approached her. Gary pressed himself to the side of the wall, but he had dropped his dagger in Nwon-Knu's sight by accident.

She peered down at the shiny metal object in confusion, and looked down at Kali. Kali smiled back at her innocently, like a child caught sneaking a cookie before dinner.  Nwon-Knu didn't know what to do, she knew that she was no longer safe from Kali's electric power. She backed up against the shrine in fear.

"Let me show you what it's like," Kali started, "to live your life in wonder.  To never know what will happen next, always fearing that it will be something horrible.  To be locked up, not permitted to go anywhere unless you are advised to do so.  Let me show what it was like to be me before my kind friends here were nice enough to show me the right way.

"I'll lock you up in your own dungeon. No food will be sent to you, but you will live your life in a prison cell.  You'll live until the end of eternity with no food, no proper shelter, and no love.  That is for all the souls you have locked away.

"But first you'll get a glimpse of what kind of torment and chaos you have caused. And then you will be tortured once, for my family that had to lose me."

Nwon-Knu was speechless. She couldn't believe that this was Kali. Last time she had seen her, she was full of fear and paranoia.  She blinked, but none of this melted her heart. Kali wouldn't do this to her, Kali didn't have the heart. She stood up defiantly.

"Now is the time for that torture."  Kali pushed Nwon-Knu into the shrine under the stone table with such force that Nwon-Knu and the shrine and the table fell over the side of the peak together. She heard a thud behind her and rushed over to the end of the peak to check on Gary, who was slumped, unconscious, against the side of the cliff. 

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