Reviewing is certainly progressing, although I personally would like to see more. You know the drill: I own none of the original.
Kalona
Damn key… The words stuck in the immortal's mind. He had thought he was through trafficking with Darkness. But this is for Starr, he reminded himself. The memory of finding her in his new Dark refuge centuries ago was forever seared into his brain. Before she could get hurt again, they had to "rescue" her. He had to.
Erik's face was set with determination, his Marks fading into the night. Judging from his expression, Stark was sharing his misgivings. Both were equipped with weapons – Erik surprisingly with the Guardian Claymore and Stark with his bow, a quiver of arrows on his back. One was not even a Warrior, but they looked like a deadly pair. Kalona hoped it would be enough to retrieve the key and leave. They did not have to fight Darkness in its territory… right?
"What's the plan once we get there?" the young Guardian asked.
Leading them down the all-too-familiar path into the Dark camp, Kalona glanced sideways. "Get the key and get out."
Stark's eyes flashed. The broken arrows and red crescent on his face only added to the shadows, further blocking his grim expression. "If we're challenged, that's the only time we can fight?" he guessed, sounding impatient. The immortal nodded once, feeling Darkness begin to creep around them. Stark shivered. "I hate this."
"Be quiet," Erik whispered. For the first time he could see the Dark tendrils.
Throwing knives were looped through their belts, adding to their weaponry. The new Sword Master exchanged his blade for a spear. Darkness might still think he was on their side, working as a spy. He had to hope that it was true, and that the minions would leave them alone long enough to do what they had to.
"Kalona?" a shadow inquired softly, in disbelief. "Have you brought prisoners? Do you want me to–?"
The wraith did not get to finish. Kalona pulled his spearhead from its center, ignoring the odd blood as he had trained himself to do. Stark and Erik stayed at his side, and if any Dark minions noticed them, they did not show up. The three's path was unwavering toward the cave where the key was hidden. The bull doesn't know we're here, but if he does… Kalona mentally shook himself. Even the bull refuses to come to the center of the outskirts. Both the cave and the key are safe. I am not leading them into a trap. Foreboding clenched his stomach, something he was unused to after so long of being trapped. Another ruse would drive him insane.
A scream ripped into his thoughts. He had forgotten – selectively – that this was where prisoners were held. The cry froze his heart once more. Grunts and sounds of battle ensued as the new captive put up a fight. The three so-called Warriors glanced at each other before taking off toward the voice. All of them knew who it was.
"Bring me back!"
With a flash of metal, Kalona, Erik, and Stark cut through the gathered outlanders. Four of the prison guards circled their captive, their eyes hungry with the lust for battle. Panting in the center of the ragged throng was Starr.
"No!" Erik exclaimed when the four guards lunged for her as one. She took down three of them, no doubt exhausting herself more by using magick. Erik parried the fourth for her. "Jeez, you couldn't have stayed in the Otherworld?"
"Apparently," she muttered in response. "Duck!"
Without any more hesitation, Stark and Kalona jumped into the fray. Back-to-back, the four Light fighters glared at their opponents, who continued to circle them, hissing. Erik and Stark were closest to Starr, the three of them working together as if they had for years. Kalona was just as fatal on his own.
"Distraction Rune," Kalona murmured to Starr.
She looked at him sharply. "What?"
More battlers were closing in. "Use the Distraction Rune to erase their memories and stun them while we escape," he ordered quietly, urgency weighing his voice.
When he saw another of the guards had his key, rage turned his eyesight red. In a haze, the immortal killed as flawlessly as any member of the Dark ranks. It scared him to fight like that, but the prize was the key and Starr herself. He would never give in to evil again if he could help it.
Starr glanced around at the battle. With Stark and Erik fighting two-to-thirty, Kalona was in charge of keeping most of the fight from her. She touched his arm gently. "I have to let you go… and you have to let me," she whispered, fondness of an apprentice radiating off her.
Her mentor's amber eyes widened. "What?" he choked when he realized what she was about to do.
The camp dissolved around him. The last thing he saw was Starr collapsing to the ground. On Skye once more, Stark shot an arrow toward an outcropping of rocks, his last one of the quiver. Angrily, Erik swiped at the bolt when it passed him.
"We could have saved her!" the Tracker yelled.
Darkness still had some hold on Stark, because the boy was growling like a caged animal. "She's stuck there and we can't help her when she blocks us out!"
All of the immortal's anger overflowed. He threw his spear without aiming; it split through the other projectile, hitting the boulder hard. "One moment of good fortune – is that too much to ask?" he raged at the sky, knowing the deities were looking down on the rescue party.
None of them moved, but the rest of the old battle party joined them eventually. Stark wrapped his arms around Zoey, burying his face in her hair. Kalona felt a tug of longing when he sensed her sorrow, her guilt from thinking it was her fault. They were a perfect match, he realized. Damien and Shaunee comforted Erik, who appeared stone-faced and distant. Kalona refocused his blurry gaze on Thanatos and Erin, wondering briefly where his son and the Red High Priestess were. Rephaim should be the one I confide in, he thought bitterly, although he took what he could get. Thanatos and Erin were extremely close to Nyx, and he still trusted the Goddess' judgment.
That was when his soul slipped from his body.
What do you think happened? I have an idea in mind, but I would love your input for the next chapter. However long it takes for me to update depends entirely on you, so good luck… You're going to need it.
