Chapter 11 is here!!!! In the next two chapters I will be finishing up the first part of my Three Sisters of Hope story. I've developed the story to become three parts, a trilogy. Yay for the summer and more time for writing!
Well on with the story! -
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! Except the three sisters
Chapter 11: The Shadow Horizon pt 1.
"Commander Ike! Commander IKE!!" A solider ran down the castle's hall as fast as he could in armor.
Ike turned to face him and the solider saluted him.
"At…ease?" Ike said hesitantly.
"Commander we…"
"Hey you!" a young female voice interrupted the solider.
Ike turned to see Mia sitting on a nearby ledge. She swung her legs and jumped off landing perfectly.
"Didn't you know that Ike is no longer a 'commander'? He's now a Lord appointed by the empress herself so be respectful." Mia exclaimed and crossed her arms.
"Really Mia, I'm just getting used to it myself so give him a breather already." Ike said with a heavy sigh.
"I beg your pardon m'lord Ike but we have a situation in the village." The soldier blurted out.
"What kind of a situation?" Ike asked keeping his face serious.
"We don't know how but enemy soldiers have invaded and are running ramped through the streets. We have some soldiers trying to protect the village but their leader has incredible powers. We can't hold them off m'lord." He explained.
"Mia, recruit everyone that can help and protect the village." Ike synched up his belt and tightened his gloves while giving orders.
"Sir!" Mia saluted and then ran off without another word.
"Find the empress and Elincia and protect them with your best troops. Send everyone you can spare to help secure the villagers." Ike told the solider.
"Yes sir!" the solider saluted him once more and ran off towards the throne room.
"Ike!!" Ike turned around to see Elincia running towards him.
"Princess Elincia, it isn't safe. I must ask you to return to your quarters immediately." Ike said and started to leave.
"No Ike, listen!" Elinica said and desperately grabbed Ike's arm. "The girls…the sisters are gone. We can't find them anywhere." Ike's eyes grew wide at the news and he started to pace. "Also Kieran, Boyd, and Ranulf are also missing."
"They must be with the girls. We'll have to worry about them later. Right now we have to help the villagers."
Ike took off at a run down the hallway unsheathing his sword. He turned the corner to the entrance and stared as he saw four young soldiers trying to keep the door shut. Ike quickly mustered up some courage and began giving orders.
"Come on men! You're doing great!" Ike yelled encouragement as he joined them. "You there," Ike pointed to one of the soldiers. "Search the castle for something to brace the door, send it this way and then find any men that can fight. Get them ready for battle."
"Yes sir!" the soldier saluted and ran off at a dash.
Ike could only hope that he got back in time as he braced himself for a long drawn out battle for life.
Boyd stood next to Ranulf helpless as he watched the red marks brighten. Staci yelped and hugged her arms to her side in pain. Boyd wrenched himself from Ranulf and knelt by her side. I glanced at Ranulf and caught him staring at Surcana with longing. When he glanced back at me I diverted my eyes to the ground, feeling my face turn beet red with embarrassment.
"What do we do?" Jess asked referring to Staci. "Hey, I'm speaking aloud!"
"Yes, we released the permanent connection but you are still linked through your minds. The only problem with the connection is whether or not you can control it. It will take a while to control completely but right now you might switch back and forth between telepathy and speaking aloud. So I advise you to not let your mind wander if you don't want it to be known." Surcana stated.
"So what can we do for Staci?" I asked trying to divert the topic back to Jess' question. Shella approached Staci once more and placed her palm on Staci's head.
"Conceal." Shella whispered and the red marks faded into Staci's skin.
Staci's face suddenly looked relaxed and she started to lean forward. Boyd caught her and leaned her up against him, holding on tight. Staci slowly looked up at Boyd's smiling face and returned the warm smile.
"AWWWWW!" Jess squealed and jumped up and down.
"Jess, when I get my strength back, you're so dead." Staci said and glared at Jess. Jess instinctively ran behind Kieran and poked her head around him to speak.
"Oh come on, you know you love me." Jess teased.
I giggled to myself and smiled at them. 'They are so cute.' I thought to myself.
'We're still connected telepathically dork. Oh and I'll kill you too.' Staci looked at me.
I jumped in surprise and gave a nervous laugh. 'Oops I forgot.'
"Hey, don't talk telepathically when you know very well I can't control it." Jess said and pouted. 'Jerks…… oh hey I did it.'
I rolled my eyes and was about to talk back when Shella's eyes grew wide and her mind became a swirled mess of thoughts. Shella frantically looked at Surcana and they began to talk through blocked thoughts. I looked between Staci and Jess but neither one of them knew what was going on. Suddenly Shella disappeared and Surcana ran over to Staci.
"Quick, young ones come here." She said.
Kieran glared at the phrase 'young ones' but Jess urged him on. Ranulf hesitantly moved closer to me and I felt uncomfortable. I quickly moved to Staci's side but glanced in his direction to see his reaction; none. I felt stupid for the way I acted but for that moment my feelings took over. Surcana placed her hand on Staci and we all connected to her in some way so we wouldn't be left behind. I felt wind start to gather around us and breathed in the fresh warmth of the breeze. I closed my eyes as the wind took us to our destination.
"Where are my reinforcements?!!" Ike yelled over the battle cries.
"Sir, we can't spare anymore. Troops are scattered throughout the village trying to protect the people." A solider replied as he cut down a spearman.
Ike spun around, catching an ax man off guard and planted his blade in his chest. Ike released his weapon and ran through the fighting trying to find Ranulf, Kieran and Boyd. 'They have to be with the girls but where in the world are they?'
"Ike, duck!!"
Ike ducked his head as Mia jumped over him, bringing a mage to an early death.
"Whew, thanks." Ike stood up and wiped his brow.
"No pro…"
"Lord Ike!!!" a solider interrupted and ran over to Ike. "Sir, the enemy's leader has breached the throne room and the Empress and Princess Elincia are trapped."
Ike's heart skipped a beat and he frantically searched for the fastest way back but everywhere he looked the way was blocked by the enemy. Mia saw the stress in Ike's eyes and knew what to do. She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly. Before they knew it Jill came over the housing on her wyvern and landed next to Ike.
"You called?" She asked letting sarcasm escape her mouth.
"Yes, can you get us to the throne room?" Ike asked while he jumped up onto the wyvern's back.
"Well yeah." She answered.
Mia joined Ike on the wyvern's back and Jill took off.
As Jill navigated to the throne room Ike scanned the battle field and bit his lip. 'We aren't going to last much longer.'
"I've found it!" Jill said and hovered over the top of the throne room.
"I hope the Empress doesn't mind a little remodeling." Mia said as the wyvern circled and dove at the roof.
"Hold on!" Jill yelled and they burst through the roof and into the throne room. As Jill swooped up to avoid the ground Mia and Ike jumped off. Ike froze as he saw the Empress and Elincia trapped in a cage of fire and a woman in a flaming red, floor length dress sitting on the throne.
"Took you long enough little mercenary. I was afraid that I would be bored." The woman stood and faced Ike, her eyes filled with a fiery blaze of hatred. "My name is Pyra and from this moment on you will address me as Empress of Bengian!"
I felt gravity grab a hold of my feet as we landed in the castle. I took a quick glance around a gasped. There were dead soldiers of the enemy and of our own lying everywhere. Jess quickly hid her face in Kieran's chest and he held her close. I heard a war cry and turned to see a lone soldier in red charging me with a spear. I reached for my arrows but felt nothing and realized that I dropped my weapon in the forest. I panicked and froze as the enemy drew closer but he suddenly stopped and fell to the floor in pain. Ranulf loomed above him with his fingers newly red.
"Are you alright?" He asked me and approached.
I found myself backing up a bit in fear of his actions but he stopped and I managed to reply. "Ye…Yes. I'm alright." Ranulf's finally gave me a small smile in return.
"Good, now we better find out what's…"
Ranulf's words were cut short and his eyes grew wide in pain. He slumped to the floor revealing the half living soldier with a bloody spear.
"Glory to Lady Pyra!!" He shouted with his last breath.
"Ranulf?" I was in shock. I knelt by his side and checked his back. The wound ran deep and Rhys and Mist were nowhere in sight.
"Brenna, it's ok. I'll be fine." He said softly and looked up into my eyes. "You have to leave me and help protect your sister from Arson's grasp."
"No, NO! I won't leave you. Not when you're in serious condition." I felt Staci grip my shoulder in comfort. "Just give me some time and I'll find Rhys or Mist to help you."
Ranulf just shook his head and bent his head down, breathing heavily.
"We have to find a healer quick!" Kieran shouted in frustration.
"You idiot, keep your voice down." Boyd said sternly. "Yelling for anyone to hear will just make it harder for Ranulf."
Kieran fell silent and glanced at Shella and Surcana. They were hastily chanting to each other and in a split second Shella nodded to her sister and disappeared. 'What are they up to?' He thought.
Ranulf leaned forward, placed his hand behind my head gently and started to whisper in my ear. "Don't you dare die, ya hear?" He said and pulled back and stare me in the eyes.
I nodded and smiled at him but his eyes closed and fell to the floor not moving.
"Ranulf? Ranulf!!" I screamed as I felt tears well up in my eyes.
I sat there crying, hearing Jess and Staci trying to calm me down but my mind was shut off from everything else except Pyra and avenging Ranulf. I stood and faced the castle corridor with a new goal.
"Staci, stay here and hide from Pyra. She'll be looking for you and Boyd, protect her." I said.
"Where do you think you're going?" Surcana suddenly asked and blocked my path.
I shoved my way through and yelled back, "To kill Pyra and Arson along with her!!"
Jess and Staci tried to run after me but Surcana stopped them.
"She's not in her right mind right now and I need you two to help me with Ranulf."
"Help you?" Staci said. "He's dead!"
"On the contrary, it would take a lot more to kill Ranulf. He's simply unconscious." She knelt down and started to heal him. "I need your powers to help me heal him, I'm a little rusty."
"Why didn't Brenna realize?" Jess said and kneeled down.
"She's probably in shock." Surcana grabbed Jess' hand and explained to her how to focus her energy. "Staci I think you and Boyd should go find Ike and his companions. I feel they're in great danger also."
"What about Brenna?" Staci demanded.
"I personally will go after her after Ranulf is healed. Now get going!"
Staci nodded but was frustrated with Surcana's orders. Staci and Boyd ran down the corridor in the opposite direction in search of Ike. Jess closed her and eyes and tried to focus on Ranulf but kept worrying about me. As for me I kept running and searching for Pyra. I wasn't going to give up until she was dead.
AHHH! Intense chapter. I haven't really written one of these so please give me tips or if you loved it let me know I'll try to have the next one up soon so keep watching for it. The next one will be fun because it's a major battle scene. Something fun and full of fun twists and turns that will leave you going in circles. Thanks for sticking with me and my slow posts. Please R&R and tell me what you think. -
