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Chapter 9- Soul Tide
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Spire walked along a cold stone path. Images flashing into his mind from the previous visits he had made to the abandoned shed. Training with Storm was hard, but the more he began to visit the more their relationship developed. It's almost as if some strange force had brought them together purposely.
He began to walk up the hill that led into Shadoulious territory but was disappointed to find that Storm wasn't waiting for him. He looked nervously around the landscape and then he heard a rustling noise in the nearby brush. He smiled and went over to the bush.
"Are you hiding from me Storm?" he laughed but then he stopped abruptly when a strange creature stepped out of the bush.
He had never seen anything like it, it looked like a scorpion but its skin was rock hard and it was more the size of a dog. He slowly backed away from it but it was already too late. The Scorpion had realized what was going on and lunged for an attack. Spire slammed a slab of rock into it using his powers and the scorpion was crushed.
"Well that was easy enough…" Spire muttered but then another noise sounded from another bush. And another, and another, and another until he looked around and the clearing was full of giant scorpion-like creatures.
Spire cried in terror as they began to close in on him. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through him and he knew he had to fight. He jumped into the air and heavily pounded the ground causing nearby rock formations to fall on top of scorpions. Some were killed but many survived the attack. He ran into them for a second attack but then a huge black dragon swooped down and hit him violently with a huge paw. Then all was silent.
***
He woke up dazed, confused, and hungry. He couldn't see at first but then his vision came into focus. He was staring at a hard stone ceiling. He was in a room with no doors and no windows. The only opening was a small hole that could have been a window if it led to outside. Instead he could only see darkness through the peep hole. From the looks of it, he was in a jail cell.
He tried to recap the events of the last time he was conscious. He had obviously been attacked, had Storm led him into this when she agreed to meet him again? No…that wasn't possible…how could she betray him? After all they had been through? He shook his head and began pacing back in forth. He knew he had to get out of here some how.
Maybe he could force the earth in the cell apart! He tried but he couldn't, it was almost as if all of his energy had been drained. He had probably been drugged with some sort of strange herb that sapped his energy. What was he to do? The only thing he could think of was to sleep and maybe feel better when he woke up.
***
"Breakfast! And by the way, your having a visitor in a few minutes so get the hell up!" a voice yelled and a bowl of grinded oats came flinging at Spire who woke with a jolt.
He was still in the cell and he was hungrier than ever. He knew the food was drugged but his hunger overcame him and he ate it anyway.
"A visitor? Wonder who that could be…" he thought to himself.
Soon enough a part of the wall opened up to form a hidden doorway in which a dragon appeared.
"Follow me or die." it ordered and snorted. Some sparks flew from its mouth when it did so. Spire was intimidated and did as the dragon had ordered.
He followed it through a narrow passageway which contained a hard stone floor and a few torches that hanging on the walls. Spire heard noises coming from the walls. Spire heard Groans, shouts and wails of agony from inside the walls, which was probably were all the prisoners were kept. Eventually they arrived in another doorway and the dragon shoved him into it and the opening closed.
Spire took a look in his new surroundings. It looked the same as the chamber he had been in before except it had small holes in the floor and the walls seemed to be more withered. The ground felt wet and he looked down to see a small puddle were he was standing.
"That's odd, that wasn't there before." Spire thought right before he began to panic. Of course! The withered walls, the small holes in the floor, this was a drowning chamber! There must be water pumps of some sort underneath the floor! He began to panic, what should he do? The water was now up to his knees, and he didn't have any good ideas.
Soon enough water was swirling all around him being forced up from the ground. He looked for a place to surface but there was none he was running out of air. He couldn't think of anything to do and he could feel his consciousness sliding away. Out of instinct he took a gulp of water. He knew this was the end, yet strangely the end was coming slower then he though it would. He took another gulp of water, and he was fine. In fact he seemed to be breathing normally.
He could breathe underwater! Another one of his many unknown powers. Maybe he could control the water as well, just like he could control the earth. He focused on the water around him and soon enough it began to violently swirl around him. With all his strength he tried to force water back through the pours in the floor. Spire thought by doing this he could return the room to its normal state, but little did he know the pumps were only one way and they began to clog up.
A part of the floor exploded violently and water began rushing down it.
"Crap!" Spire yelled but the noise was drowned out by rushing water.
***
A dragon rushed into the meeting hall panting heavily.
"What is it Gorgoth?" Megmemeth said.
"The water vents sir! They've gone berserk!" Gorgoth stated.
"It must be that damn dragon, the so called chosen one…he's tougher than I thought." Megmemeth laughed.
"Sir you don't understand! We need to evacuate the castle immediately or…" Gorgoth gasped but a large spasm of quakes erupted and water spilled into the room.
Megmemeth yelled and flew out of the window while the messenger dragon was swept away by the violent tide.
The spasms of water stopped flowing into the room as it began to flood other parts of the castle. Spire lay on the moist carpet of the room and looked around dazed. Megmemeth burst back into the room nostrils flaring with rage. Spire looked up at the massive creature, the creature that had haunted his nightmares and clawed fear into his heart now stood before him angry as hell.
"You! You think you have the nerve to sabotage my castle do you? Well I'll show you to screw with your king!" Megmemeth yelled with rage and let out a well of purple flames. Spire controlled some of the water in the moist carpet and formed a protective wall of water against the flames which were quenched. He then countered the attack and forced a rock out of the castle wall and straight at Megmemeth. He hit the rock aside as if it were a small plaything and it dispersed into ruble.
"You are well trained chosen one; you were trained by the best." It laughed.
"What do you mean?" Spire yelled.
"Storm is my daughter, she taught you well. It's a shame all her training will have gone to waste." He exclaimed. Spire stared in shock, why hadn't she told him this!
"Now it's time for you to die!" he cried and the ground began to shake as a large ball of energy began to form.
Spire felt hopeless and he stood there not doing anything.
"DIE!!!" Megmemeth yelled and began to unleash his ultimate attack. It was just then when a small figure jumped in the middle of the two dragons and cried out.
"Stop!" the figure cried and Megmemeth abruptly stopped his attack. It was Storm.
"Storm! How dare you interfere! Step out of the way at once so I can kill this foolish excuse dragon!" Megmemeth blurted.
"No you can't!" Storm said and began to cry. "I love him!"
"You disappoint me Storm, I guess I have no choice but to kill you both!" Megmemeth stated and began to attack.