Welcome everyone to chapter 11!
It's time for Amira to meet the modern world of New York!
Also, try saying Déjà vu and Zambies XD
I hope you enjoy and let's get right into this!
Very important note:
I haven't actually finished the Inheritance Cycle series or read it completely as I tend to skip all over the place when reading so I'm really and honestly sorry if I have or will get anything wrong. I honestly just know enough to understand the main storyline. Most of what I know comes from what I read in other stories on this site. I read like, half the first book, skipped around the second, then sorta played with the others... *embarrassed blush*
To be honest, I probably shouldn't be writing with so little knowledge buuut... *shrug* why not? Just please let me know if anything is wrong or mixed up or anything like that.
Thanks :)
Amira couldn't help but smile when she felt the familiar rush of wind on her skin.
How she loved flying. At first, she had been wary, not having flown in almost five days and never on a dragon made of metal, but she soon relented. A grin made its way across her face as the wind blew her hair. However, soon, the tall skyscrapers of Manhattan came into view and Amira's grin quickly changed into utter shock and surprise. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
"Those... those are the most enormous buildings I have ever seen!" She stuttered.
"What, you've never seen a skyscraper?" Leo asked with a grin. "Or been to cities like the Big Apple before?"
"Um, no." Amira said numbly, eyes locked on the buildings, not wanting to tell him there were no 'Big Apple cities' in Alagaesia.
"Country girl, eh?
"What?"
"Never mind. Welcome to New York!" He exclaimed, Amira's eyes still locked on the buildings.
"The name 'skyscraper' is understandable…" She murmured. As Festus flew over 5th Avenue, Amira gaped at the number of people milling about. They were really high up but her eyes could see the ground clearly. "So many people… and all in one place…"
Amira looked at the passing buildings, marveling at their sleek yet somewhat dirty appearance and wondered how such buildings had been made. Her thoughts were interrupted when Festus suddenly jerked to the side as if they had rammed into an invisible wall. She gasped in panic as she felt herself slipping.
"AMIRA!" Leo yelled. Amira tried to grab onto his outstretched hands but it was already too late and she slipped and fell off the bronze dragon.
'This feels familiar.' She thought sourly.
She saw was the ground moving toward her and heard Leo and the others screaming her name as she tumbled through the air. Seeing how far up they were, she guessed she had about eight seconds before impact and desperately tried to think of any spell that could help her. The panic that gripped her as she fell caused her mind to go blank.
Five, four, three… Amira squeezed her eyes closed.
She felt something slam into her and her eyes snapped open. It didn't feel like the ground but more like… arms. Amira looked behind her to see Jason holding his arms around her waist. Then the rushing air around them stopped. Looking down she saw they had stopped mid-air, inches above the ground. Gently, Jason lowered them down and Amira's feet touched the hard cement. Her heart was racing a million miles-per-hour.
"Are you okay?" Jason quickly asked her, worry filling his voice. Amira nodded shakily.
"Y- yes. T- th- thank you." She told him, adrenaline pulsing through her veins.
"Yeah, no problem." He told her, worry still shown in his blue eyes. "I saw you fall and I knew that Leo wouldn't be able to catch you in time. I was right below you guys so I flew down after you."
Amira nodded. She tried to take a step forward but stumbled so Jason caught her. He helped her over to a nearby bench and she sat down, taking several shaky breaths. She heard a sound and looked to her right to see Hazel and Piper on Arion stopping a bit away. The two girls jumped off the horse and ran over to Amira and Jason.
"Are you alright?!' They exclaimed. Amira nodded but her hands were shaking terribly.
"Y-yes. Yes, I am fine." She assured. "Just… quite... shaken."
"Oh thank goodness!" Hazel said in relief, throwing her arms around Amira. "We saw you fall but we couldn't get to you fast enough."
"I am fine." The Rider said, returning Hazel's hug. Amira couldn't help but like the daughter of Pluto. Hazel stepped back, a relieved smile on her face. She saw Festus and Blackjack landing a ways away from pedestrians' sight. Leo and Annabeth jumped off and also ran over to them.
"Are you okay?" Leo asked when they reached them. Amira nodded slowly. Her heart rate was slowly starting to return to normal. Only twice before had she come so close to dying. She took a shaky breath.
"I am fine." She told him, repeating what she told Piper and Hazel. Leo breathed out slowly.
"You came really close. Are you sure?" Annabeth said worriedly.
"Yes. I am a little shaky but I will be okay." Amira assured.
"Holy Hades..." Leo muttered, running his hands through his curly hair. "I'm so sorry, Amira. I- I have no idea what happened! I feel horrible."
"It is okay, Leo, I am fine. It is not your fault, I let my guard down and was not being careful."
"I still feel terrible about it." He muttered. Amira smiled a little. She leaned forward and pecked his cheek and Leo's stiffened a little as his face turned bright red.
"There is no need to blame yourself. You tried to help me and that is what matters. Thank you." From the corners of her eyes, Amira saw everyone else trying to hide smiles. Their failed attempts just served to make the son of Hephaestus even redder. Amira grinned before a giant eagle landed next to them, changing to regular Frank.
"Hey, guys? I was scouting, I know you're still a little shaken up Amira, but we really should get going again." He said, panting a little.
"What's wrong?" Jason and Annabeth asked. Frank just shook his head.
"I saw some kind of monsters coming but I have no idea what they are. They're a bit away but they'll catch up soon."
"What are they?" Amira wondered.
"Um... They look kinda like zombies. They're all gross and bloody and some look like they're missing limbs. Thankfully they're avoiding the mortals." He reported.
"So we are about to be attacked by zombies?" Piper asked. Frank nodded. "I never thought I'd be part of a real zombie apocalypse."
"Was there anything else?" Amira asked Frank, looking confused but also like she had an idea of what they were. "Did you hear anything?"
"Um... They were making this weird like they were laughing."
"The Laughing Dead," Amira muttered to herself, running a hand through her purple hair. "B- but tha- that should not be possible! Th- they should have been destroyed after the war..."
"What war? The war against the Giants ended months ago." Hazel asked. Amira looked up a little startled like she hadn't realized she had spoken aloud.
"What? Oh, um, never mind. I was simply thinking aloud. Frank is right, however, and we really should go."
The girls and Leo quickly went back over to where Blackjack, Arion, and Festus were. Jason took back off into the sky and Frank changed back into an eagle. Hazel, Annabeth, and Leo climbed onto their respective mounts. Piper saw Amira hesitate, a little wary to go back into the sky and walked back over to the purple-haired Rider.
"If you want, you could go with Hazel and I'll ride with Leo?" She offered. Amira smiled gratefully.
"Thank you."
She saw Leo's face fall the smallest bit from the corner of her eye.
"No problem." Piper jogged over to where Festus was and climbed on. Amira mounted Arion behind Hazel and Hazel spurred her horse forward. She yelped and grabbed onto Hazel when she felt the speed the horse ran. She heard her friend laugh a little.
"Sorry, I probably should have warned you. Arion's really fast." She told Amira, having to shout over the wind.
"It is fine. I was just surprised." The Rider shouted back. Looking up, she saw Piper and Leo flying high above them. She had pretty good eyesight and she could see they were talking about something. They were too far to read their lips well but Amira faintly saw her name mentioned. She was curious about what they were talking as the topic apparently included her but managed to push the thought from her head.
Amira leaned forwards, her head on Hazel's shoulder, and closed her eyes.
"So Amira? You looked like you knew what Frank was talking about earlier?"
The group of demigods and Rider had all stopped for a lunch break at about 12:30. They had found a restaurant to eat at and were currently enjoying burgers except for Amira who, like Piper, didn't eat meat. They were eating salads. Blackjack, Arion, and Jason (who had quickly eaten 3 burgers and was now asleep on their table) were tired from flying for so long and since the demigods were hungry they decided to stop for a bit. Amira bit her lip in response to Annabeth's question.
"The Laughing Dead. Um... I do not think you will understand much if I were to explain..." Amira said, trailing off she hadn't told anyone of Alagaesia besides Annabeth so they would be pretty confused if she tried to explain.
"Can you at least give a summary? In case we have to fight." Frank asked.
"Pray to your gods you will not have to," Amira muttered. Louder she said, "The Laughing dead are... beings, who have been cursed to feel no pain. You can sever limbs and cut their body but they will feel pain as though you did nothing. It is very hard to kill one of the Laughing Dead though as they are very fast."
"Cursed not to feel pain?" Piper asked. "How is that possible?"
"It is as I have said many times: magic." Amira was beginning to get tired of repeating that explanation so many times. She really didn't want to explain everything to them but it would be hard not to now. "What worries me, is how the Laughing Dead are here."
"What do you mean? Are they not supposed to be here? How come we've never heard of them before?" Hazel asked. Amira bit her lip.
"Because like me, they are not from this world." Eyes widened. "I wonder worriedly how they arrived here. I was brought here to your world through a portal but if they can be summoned to... Earth?" Annabeth, who was the only one who knew about Amira, nodded. "Then that means that whoever summoned them might also be able to bring other creatures from my world here and unlike your monsters, those creatures will attack anyone and anything."
"Wait, so those zombies could attack the morals too?" Leo clarified. "Not just demigods?"
"Possibly. I cannot say for sure as I do not know. I do not think so as they are following us but there is a chance." Amira responded with a frown, rubbing her cheek.
"This isn't good," Jason stated, now awake, his head still on his arms on the table.
"No, it is not."
"From what I saw it looked like they were avoiding the mortals. It didn't look like they were seen any different than a normal person." Frank remembered.
"That is good, at least." Amira sighed. "But they are still a danger."
"It's about 1:00 now," Leo announced as he stretched and pulled a miniature clock from his tool belt.
"Then we probably hurry and finish," Annabeth told everyone. They all finished their meals then again set off.
Several times they ran into a few Laughing Dead, small groups of a dozen or so, but Amira quickly explained how they could be killed by severing their head or stabbing their heart. The small battles were difficult but the half-bloods and Rider prevailed each time. It seemed as though there were only about four attack groups of the zombie-like creatures before they seemed to have all been killed.
The group flew until nightfall before camping out in a clearing in a forest they were flying over. There were enough people for double shifts so Annabeth and Amira volunteered for the first.
"How are you doing?" Annabeth asked once the rest of the demigods had fallen asleep,
"I… I do not know," Amira admitted after a minute. "This whole world is so strange to me. Only a few can see or use magic and now some of the evil from my world- evil that should've been destroyed hundreds of years ago- are coming here. It almost hurts my mind to think of so. Although the laughing dead are bad I guess it could have been worse."
"Worse than zombies who can't feel pain?"
"Yes."
"Like what?"
"The Ra'zac; they are immune to magic and inhumanely fast. As they grow old, they also grow smarter, faster, and deadlier." Amira explained while shaking her head.
"Sounds nasty." Annabeth grimaced.
"They are." Amira agreed. "Be glad they are long dead and gone and shall not be a threat to us."
She picked at the grass, the two of them sitting in silence, except for the occasional breeze through the trees. Suddenly, Amira heard a slight rustling in the bushes. There was a 'twang' and Amira shoved Annabeth out of the way of an arrow, which flew where her head had been moments before.
"You have to be joking?!" Amira exclaimed. Festus roared and the rest of the demigods started awake, somewhat groggy.
"Wha...?" Hazel fumbled for her Spatha. The Ra'zac fired an arrow at her but Amira sliced the arrow out of the air with her sword.
"WE NEED TO LEAVE, NOW!" Amira shouted, catching everyone's attention. The demigods jumped up and sprinted over to where Festus and the horses were waiting. Jason was about to take off but stopped when he saw Amira wasn't following.
"Amira, what are you doing?! C'mon, let's go!" He called. Amira kept her eyes and the three rapidly approaching creatures, sword ready in one hand and the other glowing.
"Jason, you need to leave! I will be fine!"
"But-"
"GO! NOW!" Amira shouted. Jason looked reluctant but took off into the air.
Amira took a deep breath when she saw the Ra'zac were only a dozen feet away and hefted her sword. She took a breath and swung a block as the first attacked. She dropped to her knees as the second swung its leaf-bladed sword, the blade passing inches above her head. She quickly jumped to her feet and blocked once more. She heard a whizzing sound and thrust her hand out.
"Skölir!" She shouted. The arrow aimed at her bounced harmlessly off the magic shield that now surrounded her. Amira's purple eyes widened as she realized that the three Ra'zac were soon going to overwhelm her. Then Leo jumped off of Festus, running in front of Amira. He thrust out his hands and flames billowed out from them. The Ra'zac shied away from the flames, dropping their bows.
(Shield)
"Amira, go! I'll hold these off. Go!" Leo demanded, intensifying the flames. Amira watched in shock, not knowing he could do that. Then Jason swooped down and grabbed the Rider launching them both back into the air. Amira protested, trying to tell Jason to put her back onto the ground but the son of Jupiter ignored her. He flew up to where Festus was flying and helped Amira onto his back. She could only watch as Leo continued to blow flames at the Ra'zac.
Keeping one hand lit, the son of Hephaestus reached into his tool belt and pulled out a hammer. Igniting it, he threw it at the nearest Ra'zac. It ducked but the black robes it wore caught fire. The creature fled, shedding its robe and shrieking. There was a blur behind the second Ra'zac and it fell over with a slash across its back. Leo ran over and vaulted onto Arion behind Hazel (he actually ran into the horse before being pulled up by Hazel) Amira sighed in relief as Arion ran ahead to meet with the rest of the group, seeing that Leo was safe now.
"I think we may be safe now," Amira said warily.
"Don't jinx us," Jason warned, floating in the air beside Festus. Sure enough, not three seconds later there was a loud screech that made Amira cover her sensitive ears.
"Are you kidding me?!" She cursed.
The Lethrblaka had arrived.
And that concludes the eleventh chapter of A Strange and Different Land!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you chose to continue the story. Please feel free to leave a review. Criticism, advise, complements or corrections are welcome.
Have a good one and I'll see you later!