|
Chapter Thirteen Sophia glared at the demon in front of her. Giving no warning, she rushed at her full speed, gathering fire in her fists. Though she was new to her powers, she was learning quickly. She hit the demon and they flew to the floor. They rolled a few feet, punching and kicking and clawing at each other, but Sophia landed on top. She pummeled Eclipse with fire hands. Eclipse pushed Sophia off her easily and the burns on her skin disappeared. Sophia jumped up just as quickly as Eclipse, not fazed by the healing powers Eclipse must possess. She went over a strategy in her head, but before she could do anything Eclipse lunged at her, slashing furiously. Once again, the two went flying to the cold stone floor, hitting it with a louder thud this time. Sophia had lost her sword somewhere along the line, and when she saw the glinting blade she reached out to grab it. Eclipse was faster though, and she grabbed if first. She jumped up and pointed the tip of the blade at Sophia's neck. Sophia was trapped. "Ha! I've got you now-" she was cut off at the end of her word by a loud battle cry. Zale ran at the demon and knocked her over. The sword flew into the air and Zale caught the hilt. "You said this wouldn't do any good. So no one will use it." He threw the sword at the end of the corridor, into the darkness. "No!" Sophia and Eclipse gasped. Sophia jumped up to go after it, but Eclipse held her back. "Fine, you want to fight without it, we will! It was in the way anyway!" Sophia claimed, ducking out of Eclipse's grasp and jumping back towards the corner. "Ha, ya fell for it!" Eclipse beamed and flew towards the sword. She bent to pick it up. What happened next went in slow motion for Sophia. Dizzy, she suddenly remembered her father. He had been trying to teach her how to use some sort of power. He had been teaching her archery the previous day. With a startling jolt, she realized that her father had known about her firepowers and was helping her use them. She remembered the archery and got a magnificent idea. She drew her arm back as if she was holding an invisible bow and arrow. She called upon her firepowers and a bow and arrow made of fire appeared. Eclipse didn't notice this and stood up holding the arrow. As soon as she saw the arrow, she gasped in surprise, also dropping the sword. Sophia let the fire arrow fly straight for Eclipse's heart. The arrow flew slowly, and slowly Eclipse's mouth dropped open and a low scream came out. The arrow hit the target and everything sped up again. Sophia dropped the fire bow, which disappeared before hitting the floor. A wooden arrow stuck out of Eclipse's body, and for a sickening moment she stood there, before toppling to the ground. She was dead. Sophia suddenly felt all the energy inside her drain out and she collapsed to the floor. She finally got the full rest she needed. She slept. ~ The moment Brigitte heard a piercing scream she stood and hurried to the corner. Worried about Sophia, she rounded the corner to find Sophia collapsed on the ground. Zale stood next to a nobleman from the 1400's. At the far end of the corridor lay Eclipse. Dead. Brigitte rushed to Sophia's side. "Is she okay?" she asked, checking Sophia's pulse. "I think," Zale said, kneeling next to her, "that she is just getting the sleep that her body has been longing for for the past week." In a whisper, he added, "And she killed Eclipse." Brigitte nodded and gulped. Then she looked towards the dark end of the hallway. "What about Gary and Kali?" she asked. "No sign of either of them." "I wonder what might be happening wherever they are." ~ "Gary!" Kali jumped down the ledge and knelt beside him. "Gary!" she cried once more. He groaned, but didn't move any more. "Oh, Gary. It's my fault." She stroked his hair out of his face. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have been so careless as to let Eclipse kidnap me like that." She sniffed, and tears welled up her eyes. "I'm so sorry!" She covered his body with hers, crying for him, and feeling more hopeless than ever. There was no way to bring him down from the ledge without endangering them both. As if to agree, rocks tumbled precariously down the side of the rocky ledge. Kali cradled Gary's head in her arms, trying to wish away everything she had done. She didn't notice the cold mist that blew by. Clouds loomed over head, but they weren't the angry clouds that had hung over the city. A gentle rain fell over the valley, intensifying the blue mist that hung over the treetops. Kali closed her eyes and relaxed slightly. Below them, near the hole in the cliff, a magnificent white beast stood, watching the couple lay resting on the small ledge. She climbed up the steep rock effortlessly, and reached them. Come, children, a voice in their heads said. Kali, being the only one conscious, looked up and recognized the familiar white horse. Come, children. It is time to return home. ~ Zale lifted Sophia off the ground and carried her to the door at the end of the hall. The pictures that had lined the halls had vanished with a great whooshing sound. Brigitte followed after them. Since Zale had his arms full, Brigitte opened the great iron door and once again the grating of iron over stone echoed throughout the vast halls. It was louder this time because of the enveloping silence in the mountain. It almost seemed that they were the only living and moving things in existence. They walked through the door, which shut behind them, and continued through a room full of iron cages - all of which were empty. Their footsteps echoed throughout the chamber, adding the mystery of the place. After traveling the distance of the room, they reached a wooden door. It was at this time that Sophia started to stir. She opened her eyes and yawned, still in need of a long rest. Blinking, she looked around and realized Zale was carrying her. "Zale," she yawned, "you can put me down now." He shook his head. "You're too weak." Sophia mumbled something and fell back asleep. Sighing, Brigitte opened the door and they went through it to find a chamber with a throne at the end. When they closed the door, it disappeared behind them. They continued to the hole in the stone next to the pushed aside throne. Without a word, they headed up the spiraling passageway, following a trail of dark blood. ~ Kali gave a thankful look to the unicorn once more before climbing up on her back. Gary was already straddled across. Kali sat behind him, helping to balance him atop the unicorn's back. Once they were ready to go, the unicorn leaped down the steep cliff, which was not any problem to her. Slowly, she led them down the mountain, passing by the opening to Nwon-Knu's tunnel. Shortly after that, they reached a less rocky terrain. Grass started to grow, and the mountain curved to a less steep descent. Continuing on, they started to pass small trees that were growing. The further down they went, the taller and more frequent the trees grew. "Kali!" a familiar voice yelled. Kali shifted and looked over her shoulder, recognizing three figures standing farther up the mountainside behind her. "Could you please stop?" Kali asked the unicorn. She stopped and allowed Kali to dismount. "Brigitte, Zale," Kali called, turning to them, "how have you been . . .?" They reached her, and Zale, who was still carrying Sophia in his arms, set her down on a patch of moss growing near a tree. "We've just been doing the usual. You know, fighting demons, keeping others safe from harm…" Kali snorted. "What happened to Sophia?" "She defeated Eclipse. What happened to Gary?" Brigitte answered. Zale looked up and noticed Gary slumped against a tree next to Sophia. "Don't know. He was worn and beat when he came to me at the peak." "The peak?" Brigitte shifted her gaze upwards. "Yes. It's a long story, I won't go into it now." "We have a lot to catch up on," Brigitte said. Kali shook her head. "You don't want to hear what happened to me. Unless you like stories of pure hatred, terror, and pain." "The only thing we've been doing is looking for you. Tell her Gabrielle's prophecy," Brigitte nudged Zale. "We used it to find you. Well, sort of anyway. Apparently, it didn't help us along that way. But it helped us with other things. Did you know - Sophia possesses fire magic?" "Not surprising, with the way her personality is." Kali stirred at a patch of daises that was growing near the base of a tree. "Hey, wait a minute. What was that legend of the fire half-demon?" "Why?" "Ah, never mind. We should probably help Gary down from the unicorn." The two gave her confused looks. "What?" She turned to look for the unicorn, but only found Gary slumped against the tree. "That's odd . . . " "Well, unicorns are mysterious creatures. I didn't see one, but if you say you did, then I'll believe you." Kali looked at each of their faces. Gary and Sophia still lay unconscious at the base of two different trees, and she finally saw the familiarity between them that Brigitte had seen since they had met Sophia. "Hmm . . . Did you say there was a prophecy? What did it say?" Zale followed her gaze towards Gary and Sophia and said, "If you're wondering, they are brother and sister." Kali nodded. "We'd better get going, it's getting late," Brigitte said, looking up at the sky. The sun was setting, shining green through the trees. Kali said, "I don't know if we can get Gary to move, though." "Oh, if he doesn't wake up, then I can carry him," Brigitte suggested. The minute she said it, Gary woke silently and looked at his surroundings. Kali knelt by his side. "Do you think you'll be able to walk?" she asked gently. He groaned, but nodded. Brigitte came and knelt beside Kali. "He needs to see a doctor. He won't be able to heal this himself. There's a demon village near by we can go to." Kali looked down at the valley below. "Well, his family is near by. He lived across the valley from me." She looked at the cliff. "Though I don't know if they could still be there. It was dangerous--they could've been taken prisoner . . . " Gary groaned, but managed to utter, "No . . . they'd die before surrendering . . . " he coughed, but continued, "If they wanted to escape . . . they'd go to their home in the city." Kali glanced back at Sophia. Zale was whispering something to her; she was also awake. "Maybe we should settle for the demon village, then." She looked down at Gary in wonderment. What could he have possibly gone through, to have been beaten like this? Brigitte smiled at the two. "Okay. We should start now; I really wish we had a horse with us, but we'll just have to make do." She turned to Zale in a business-like manner and asked, "Will you be escorting Ms. Lemone?" Zale replied, "Yes. She is still too weak to walk by herself." "Okay then," she clapped her hands together and stood up, "let's get going. I don't think we'll meet any dangers on the way, but you never know." Zale stood with Sophia in his arms. "I think," he started, "that when Eclipse was defeated, the demons were sent free. I mean - Kali, what was in that prisoner chamber . . . if you went through it?" Kali helped Gary up, replying, "Yes. There were the souls of all the people who were part demon." Her eyes glazed. "I even saw myself." "I did, too." Everyone turned to look at Gary. Sophia broke the silence. "That scream we heard from behind that iron door--was that Mayonaka?" "I suppose it was," Zale answered. "What happened to them?" Kali asked, helping Gary walk through the trees. "Ganralf was battling Sophia. I already had Mayonaka on the ground; I had drowned him with a spray of water. Well, Ganralf threw a fire attack at Sophia, but she dodged it and it hit Mayonaka instead. Ganralf was horrified at what he had done and he--well, he became human. The picture of him on the wall changed to all human. And in front of us, it was like he was changing into human the way Brigitte does. Then the picture disappeared. I don't know what happened to Mayonaka." "They were close," Sophia mumbled. "Hmm." Kali looked at the valley below. "So, Brigitte, tell us about this demon village . . . " |