So this is Chapter 11 of the Gates of Helheim. Finally, after 11 chapters, the first gate has been closed. But we've dtillgot 8 more to go, so this story's far from over.
Chapter 11: The Gate is Closed
"Do you think someone died yet?" Nexa spoke up.
Ea glared at her, "Nexa!" She threw a bit of cheese at the necromancer.
"Way to make the mood," Barry muttered, taking a bite of his sandwich. "And besides, can't you tell if someone's dead?"
"Sometimes," Nexa shrugged. "I don't know those criminals at all, so I can't tell if they're dead. But as far as I'm aware, Acheron, Aroconus, and Miri are still alive. And so are Professors Dworgyn and Cassandra."
Ea nodded, relaxing, "Good to know."
Suddenly, they heard a rustle. The three tensed, and Nexa whispered, "Someone's there. Get ready."
Barry nodded and clenched a fist.
Ea nodded and tensed as the figure emerged from the trees. She had been expecting a monster, but instead, he was a half elf; she could tell by his pointed ears. He had messy blonde hair that had small sticks and leaves stuck in it. He had golden eyes and a scratched up face. His blue and gold suit were tattered and there was a large rip and a bloodstain on one of his pants, implying an attack where his leg got bitten. He was carrying a wand a suitcase.
He waved, "Hi, I'm Zoro Blackfire."
A wave of shock hit Ea unexpectedly. Looking back at Nexa and Barry, she knew they were just as shocked. Blackfire?
"Please help me." Zoro said. Then his legs buckled and he collapsed into a heap.
Ea yelped before jumping to her feet. Barry did the same, but Nexa scowled and crossed her arms, "You believe him? He could be working for the other camp."
Barry frowned, "I don't think so, Nexa. Acheron and Aroconus did mention having a brother, and he was doing other work for the Camp of Magic. Not Witchcraft."
Nexa was about to speak up, but Ea spoke first, "We have to help him, Nexa!"
Nexa scoffed, "Fine."
Ea and Barry went over to Zoro. They turned him over so that he lay on his back, then they hoisted him over their shoulders, bring them back over to the blanket they were sitting on.
"Alright," Barry said between pants. "Does anyone know first aid?"
There was a few moments of silence, before Nexa said, "Looks like we'll just have to do our best to improvise."
Aroconus looked around. Irene, Krista, and the criminals were doing an excellent job of keeping the zombies at bay. All he had to do was teach the closing spell to Acheron, Miri, and… Harleia.
This should be fun, Aroconus sarcastically thought to himself.
"Here is the spell," Aroconus opened his spellbook to the page where he'd written down the words:
Prope, quiescat, reseal, prope
Acheron looked surprised, "The spell is that short?"
Aroconus nodded as Miri leaned forward and knit her eyebrows. "What language is this in? What language is this?"
"It's a magic language of the old. Roughly translated, the spell is 'close, cease, reseal, close.'"
"Neat," Harleia said. "So we just say the words at the same time and the gate will close?"
"Unfortunately, this won't be that easy," Aroconus scowled. "Yes, we have to say the spell together, but every one of us needs to put in a lot of magic energy, and we need to keep the spell holding until the gate actually closes."
"Alright, let's get to it then," Harleia said, grabbing Aroconus's hand.
"Uhhh," Aroconus glanced down at their interlocked hands. "What are you doing?"
"Look, I'm not happy to hold your hand either," Harleia said, and Aroconus's scowl deepened. "But of we're channeling a lot of magic energy but have to be careful about it, we've got to hold. Keeps us from putting too much magic energy into the spell."
"Wow, I hadn't thought of that," Aroconus admitted before he grabbed Acheron's hand. "Let's do this."
Acheron used his free hand to take Miri's, and Miri and Harleia completed the circle.
Aroconus could already feel their magic energies pulsing with each other. Harleia's was the strongest, which made sense as she was the most experiences of them there, but hers was also chaotic. Wild. Untamed. Just like Acheron's.
Already, Aroconus could feel Harleia straining to hold back her power so she could be evenly matched with him, Acheron, and Miri.
"Say the spell!" Aroconus yelled to be heard above the roar of the portal.
"Prope, quiescat, reseal, prope!"
The portal was as open as ever.
"LOUDER! AND SLOWER! AND MORE POWER!" Aroconus shouted.
No one protested. They just concentrated harder. Aroconus did as well until he felt their power double.
"PROPE!" They all screamed.
This time, a wave of magic power emanated from them. The Midgard Gate rumbled and started to slowly grow smaller. It was only a little bit, but Aroconus noticed. However, he didn't dare celebrate. They were only on the first word of the spell.
"QUIESCAT!"
Another magic wave pulsed through the air, pushing both zombies and questers alike back. They cried out in surprise, but Aroconus filtered out their shouts. They had a spell to finish.
"RESEAL!"
This was when things went wrong. The portal started rumbling and closing more, but now, arcs of blue energy traveled up and down Miri's body. She grit her teeth, but then she let out a scream of pain.
Aroconus gasped and Acheron screamed, "MIRI!"
The spell would have failed if Harleia hadn't tightened her grip on Aroconus's hand and shouted, "FINISH THE SPELL!"
"PROPE!"
They shouted the last word of the spell (even Miri with great difficulty), and an earthquake initiated. Everyone was knocked to the ground except the four of them.
The portal started closing at a steady and faster rate. Miri fell to her knees, screaming in pain, but she didn't break the circle.
The portal kept rumbling and closing. There was a lot of screaming. Some zombies still tried to go through the portal, but a magic force held them back, preventing them doing anything but pound on the invisible wall.
Finally, after was seemed like forever, the Midgard Portal snapped shut, leaving only the slab of rock that was it's sealed form.
Aroconus let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. A sudden pain shot up his body and he gripped his abdomen, groaning.
Miri collapsed on the ground, crying in pain, and Acheron went to her side. He grit his teeth, showing that he was in pain as well, but not as much as her.
"Aroconus! Help!" He cried.
Aroconus nodded numbly and went next to them.
Harleia also looked to be in pain, but she was still standing, observing the surrounding area. "We still need to kill the other zombies that came through the portal."
"I… I can't. I have work here." Aroconus said.
"I didn't ask you," Harleia said with a shrug. "I'm going to do it myself." she waved her wand and a silvery whip exploded from the tip, flying out and decapitating the nearest zombie.
Aroconus breathed a small sigh of relief, but the danger was not over yet.
He turned back. Acheron was on his knees, gently cradling Miri's limp, unconscious body. "What wrong with her?!" He sounded on the verge of panic.
"Stay calm, Acheron," Aroconus ordered.
"HOW CAN I STAY CALM?!" Acheron shouted. He breathed heavily before he whispered, "I'm scared, Aroconus. I'm scared she'll die…"
"Don't be," Aroconus said firmly. "She's going to live. I'll make sure of it."
He kneeled by Miri's side and spread his hands above her. They glowed green, and he began to heal her.
"What do you think caused this?" Acheron asked.
"We must have put in too much magic energy," Aroconus replied, watching the arcs of blue energy become smaller. "The strain is causing us pain… all of us."
"But Miri put in too much?" Acheron asked.
"Way too much," Aroconus agreed. "Not properly treated, this could be fatal, but she's being properly treated," he added, seeing Acheron's panicked expression return.
After a few minutes, Aroconus said, "Done. When she'll wake up, she'll be as good as new."
"Thank the gods." Acheron breathed.
Suddenly, a zombie appeared in front of them. Acheron and Aroconus tensed, and Aroconus heard the crackling of a fireball.
The zombie lunged, but it was suddenly hit in the gut with a circular object. The zombie broke into several parts, and the object nestled at Aroconus's feet. With a jolt of horror, he noticed that it was a severed head.
"HOLY FRICKING AGGGGHHHH!" Aroconus shouted, kicking it away. Acheron grabbed him protectively by the shoulders and pulled him back towards him.
Levi came ambling over, cleaning blood off his swords. He noticed their expressions, then the head. "Oh, I threw that after I decapitated the death knight." He tilted his head. "You've never seen a severed head before?"
"Not-Not in real life," Aroconus replied.
Levi arched an eyebrow, but said nothing more.
All around them, the rest of the questing party were finishing off the zombies. There weren't that many left to kill, and after a mere two minutes, Irene raised her bloody axe to the sky and yelled, "THEY'RE ALL DEAD!"
"PERFECT!" Acheron shouted back at her, and the dwarf gave him a thumbs up.
Aroconus sighed before saying, "Alright, anyone who needs healing, come over here."
The Suicide Squad plus Rowan and the dwarfs came and formed a messy clump. Aroconus called, "Form a line! Orderly fashion, people!" Once they did so, he began the healing.
He healed Harleia's stabbing jolts of pain from closing the gate, a large gash in Levi's leg from the fight against the death knight, a dislocated shoulder from Ara, and countless others. Dusk and Jackolopieous walked by, completely covered in blood.
"Erm, guys?" Aroconus motioned to the blood covering them.
Jackolopieous said, "Not our blood." And they moved.
"Okay then," Aroconus said as he finished healing Irene's arm, the last injury. He then sat up, "I think I'm about to pass out." He announced.
And then he passed out.
Zoro felt a stab of pain in his head as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was sunlight… and a face in his face.
Zoro sat up and screamed. The figure screamed as well before punching him in the face. "Ow!" he cried, rubbing his nose and shooting a short glare at the girl who'd punched him.
"Sorry!" the girl said with a wince.
A boy with dirty blonde hair facepalmed, saying, "Ea! Why would you do that?"
"I'm sorry! I panicked," said the girl, Ea. Studying her, Zoro saw that she was clearly a tiefling, with her pale pink skin and small horns. She also had gold eyes and strange hair: crimson rimmed with purple, shaped almost like flames.
"Hey, you're not dead," said a deathly pale girl with black hair and eyes. It took a few seconds for Zoro to realize she was talking to him. He quickly said, "Yeah, yeah. I'm alive."
"Zoro Blackfire, was it?" the girl continued.
"Yes," Zoro replied.
"I'm Nexa Surge," she said. "This is Barry Starsplitter and Ea Art."
Zoro nodded as Ea waved, "Thanks… Thanks for helping me." He said.
"It's no problem," Barry said. "But if you don't mind me asking, what were you running from?"
"Oh yeah," Zoro said, memories flooding back to him. Escaping the Camp of Witchcraft, running through a forest pursued by helhounds, taming one helhound he'd felt had a spark of rebellion against, fighting with it against the other one… Oh gods, the helhound.
Zoro scrambled towards his suitcase, ignoring the pain in his head and Ea's noise of surprise. He opened the top of his suitcase and reached inside until he felt thick fur and the vague form of a dog.
"Here, boy!" Zoro called, and immediately the helhound sprung out of the suitcase.
Immediately, Ea made another noise of surprise and Nexa began shouting a spell.
"NO! No spell-shooting!" Zoro shouted.
Nexa froze out of sheer surprise. "What? Zoro, that's a helhound!"
"I know, but he's with me! He's good," Zoro explained, petting the helhound's thick black fur.
"Erm…" Barry said.
"This is Mutant," Zoro said. "I tamed him!"
"And you kept him in a suitcase?" Ea arched an eyebrow.
"Technically yes," Zoro admitted. "But the suitcase is magic. It's basically a pocket dimension where I keep all my creatures."
"All your creatures?" Nexa replied. "You have more?"
"Of course!" Zoro said. "I'm a magizoologist."
The three stared at him in disbelief, and he quickly explained, "I know I'm young, but before he disappeared, the old magizoologist trusted me with his creatures and research. I'd just been on an errand to get food for them when the Camp of Witchcraft nabbed us all. I just escaped."
"I'd heard the magizoologist and his apprentice went missing," Barry said. "But i never expected it to be you, Acheron and Aroconus's little brother."
Zoro brightened at the mention of his brother, "Oh, you know Acheron?" Then it dawned on to him, "Ohh, you must be his other classmates!"
"We are," Nexa said with a nod. She then added, "How old are you?"
"I'm sixteen," Zoro replied. "It's young to be a magizoologist, but I expected to be an apprentice for at least five more years." He shrugged. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back to the Camp of Magic." Then he froze, "Wait, why are you all not at the Camp of Magic."
"We're… actually playing back up for a quest," Barry said. "Acheron, Aroconus, and our last classmate Miri La'arnie are one a quest to close the Gates of Helheim."
Zoro's eyes widened, and mentally he cursed his brothers. Ach, Aro, what the hell did you get yourselves into this time?! Out loud, however, he said, "Well then, fire up your tracking spells. We're going to find them."
I'm back to writing long chapters again! Hopefully y'all liked this one. Bye for now!