Chapter Nineteen: Last Words
Thanks for staying with the story so far, I appreciate it, despite the massive OOC going on here.
***
Ari blinked, reaching out cautiously to touch the specter. His hand passed right through. "Rosalyn?" He repeated. "What's happened? How-"
"I'll be darned if I know," she snapped. "This is Stanley's fault. I don't even know how I'm here."
"The Shiro Ryu." Stan said smugly. "Hah! I knew I wasn't insane!"
"Yes you are." Rosalyn glared at him. "And I still don't forgive you!"
"So?" Stan looked entirely unbothered by that statement.
"Incredible, I'd be thoroughly interested in-"Kisling began, only to be interrupted by Epros.
"Even though it is great to see the Heroine," the magician flashed Rosalyn a pleased smile. "Think of the trouble the world is in!"
"Epros is right; we still have to find Infernose." Ari took charge again, leading the way down the path. "We've got to get to Pospos."
***
The snow tossed dancing swirls across the barren landscape, and despite the massive change in environment, the weather stubbornly persisted. Standing beside the worn Triste Stone Circle, Ari looked around.
"We can't just do a spell, can we, Coracinus?"
The raven had changed into an owl to better suit the weather. He fluffed up his black feathers. "I could try to track him," he admitted. "But there's no way of knowing if he's even around here, he could have wandered away like Tawnvele did. He was really far from the Addashi Circle. Infernose doesn't need to hide like the others, since he works for Melas."
"How are we going to find him?" Big Bull groaned.
Kisling looked down. "Gentlemen?"
"Pick it up, we don't have all day!" Stan roared, drowning out Kisling's voice.
"Guys?" The professor tried again, only to get ignored.
"Oh shut up Stanley, you've been useless this entire trip." Rosalyn stuck her tongue out at the King, and he bristled.
"HEY!"
Everyone froze, looking at Kisling. He cleared his throat.
"These tracks seem to be decent evidence of a large specimen passing this way."
In the snow there were large prints that split slightly down the middle. Big Bull gave an excited snort, stomping his feet.
"Look, those are…Er…deer tracks I think!"
"A rather large sample, judging by the distance between them." Kisling agreed.
"This way then." Ari took off, with Marlene after him, and the others fell after the boy in pursuit. Not far into the snowy landscape the friends found the tracks were getting easier to follow. They found some scrubby forest around the edges of a great ridge that billowed white fog, and they soon realized they were looking down on a hot spring.
"The deer ain't in there, probably." Big Bull peered down into the murky depths.
"How do we know this isn't a regular deer?" Marlene questioned.
"I doubt any deer is that large." Rosalyn replied.
Coracinus transformed into a wolf, padding along near the tracks, looking for any sign of the deer. They continued their long journey into the snow, sometimes struggling through deeper snow drifts and at other times basically walking on snow dusted rock. Occasionally they found they had to drop down into small valleys after Coracinus tracked the deer into them, and the friends feared losing their grip the more they traveled.
Light flowed weakly from a gap in the clouds, offering sparse warmth to the friends. It appeared the prints were lost in a snowless expanse of stone at first, but it was Epros that found them again, along with an imprint in the snow with long, thin marks that signaled the deer had also lied down to rest.
"We're not far behind," Coracinus barked excitedly, racing ahead. The tired friends followed, hating the snow more and more now.
Twisting ridges formed by the earthquakes served as paths to the acquaintances, and they all looked uneasily down into the frozen abyss below them. Once they left the warmth of the hot springs, it all only seemed worse for it.
Night began to fall, but the friends refused to rest. There were moments when they seemed only moments behind the deer, only to lose it again in a patch of snowless dirt.
Marlene broke the silence, her voice so unexpected that Kisling jumped. "Why don't the Shapeshifters assume many different forms during our fights?"
"It's considered dishonorable." Coracinus answered from up ahead. "Shapeshifters get honored for their mastery of a single form, not being able to turn into several forms that you're mediocre at."
"Ah, I see. Interesting. I assume the evil Shapeshifters will not follow this rule?"
The wolf looked over his shoulder at Marlene, pausing briefly. "They might, or maybe not. Tawnvele didn't shift, but Infernose is older and may have mastery over more than one form." Suddenly, his ears flicked forward and he waved his tail for them to follow. "There it is!"
Framed against the moon, head lifted proudly, was a gigantic stag.
The deer had long antlers with so many points it was like looking at a tree. They blossomed everywhere, and at their ends electricity danced between many points. Snorting and bellowing, the deer faced them, dark brown and white fur shining with more electric power as it called up the energy.
The friends were grateful that they were on a rocky expanse, the snow thin here, and thus they wouldn't be at a disadvantage during the fight. The deer could easily wade through the snow with its long legs.
Somewhere along their journey Rosalyn had vanished, and Ari wondered where she was now as he stepped forward. "Are you Infernose?" He questioned.
The deer approached, shaking its head from side to side. "So I am! I am Infernose, what do you want of me?"
"We want your disc," Kisling explained. "To save our friend, and quite possibly the world."
Infernose reared up on his hind legs, kicking his hooves. Landing heavily, he snorted once more, shooting warm fog from his nostrils. "You will have to fight me for it, whelps! My Master would not be pleased if I didn't put up a fight."
Coracinus growled, the fur on his neck bristling, and he began to circle the deer. Infernose bucked his head again, lowered his antlers, and letting loose another bellow, charged.
Ari stepped out of the way just in time, Marlene beside him. She stepped back, keeping a careful eye on her friends, as they began to fight.
Stan reared up out of Ari's shadow, letting loose a blast of Ice magic. It crept toward the deer and succeeded in freezing the land in front of it. Infernose slipped, ironically, sliding along the ground, and the Evil King chuckled.
"If I can't hit him directly, I'll do it indirectly." Stan told Ari. The boy ignored him, springing forward to hit the deer in the side.
With a bark of pain, Infernose swung around and charged again. This time lightning fired from his antlers, branching everywhere, hitting the friends. The blows weren't too serious though, and Ari got another hit in before Epros slashed its side. The deer twisted, examining the wounds on his flanks with two silver eyes, then turned around and kicked with his back legs.
All of the air knocked from his lungs, Ari gasped, falling flat onto his back. Ignoring Stan's jibes, he rolled over and got back up. Stan reared up, slamming the deer in his back. Infernose twisted, snorting and kicking, only to have his fur set on fire by Big Bull. A sharp pain in his legs alerted the deer to Coracinus dragging razor fangs across his flesh.
More lightning crackled, chasing away his attackers, but Kisling performed a spell of his own. Infernose reared up again, balancing on two legs, as fire erupted around him.
Bucking and jolting, the deer suddenly transformed. Silver mist scattered, and then rapidly connected again after a moment of hanging perfectly still.
Now facing them was a large mottled eagle. He lifted his wings, obviously trying to escape. Everyone prepared to attack him before he could get away, but suddenly Infernose became enshrouded in a circle of lights.
Down he fell, collapsing on the ground, immobile.
Marlene gasped, finishing healing Ari's back, and stepped forward. "Who did that?"
"I did."
They turned around to see a bored looking Rosalyn.
"Where were you at, Hero woman?" Stan snarled.
"I told you, I don't really have any control of when I appear. And Shiro is too weak to teach me."
"Shiro?" Epros sounded amazed.
"Yeah. He's real." Rosalyn replied.
While they were talking, Ari walked over and knelt down by Infernose.
"Where's the disc?"
"You won't get it," moaned the Shapeshifter. His form was rapidly breaking down.
"Yes we will, we've gotten Tawnvele already. The disc was there when he died too." Ari said mildly.
"Got…Tawnvele? My brother?" Infernose moaned. "My little brother."
Ari hesitated, and then patted the eagle's form. "I'm sorry, but he attacked us first. We just want our friend back."
Infernose looked at him. "…Melas doesn't have her."
Ari said nothing.
"I don't think he has her. I think Addonexus, his Majesty, does."
Ari nodded slowly, waiting for more besides what they already thought.
"I suppose it's too late for us. Tawnvele and I, we just went with Melas because he promised we'd survive. And…when you're immortal, you want to live as the best. Awful I know. I'm glad…" He turned his silver eyes turned Coracinus. "The young one got away. As long as he lives, our future is bright."
"How come?"
"Shapeshifters can mate with anyone. Our species can still go on, no matter whom we're with. When we become a certain animal, we can understand them."
Ari nodded. "Animal?"
"Human. Ghost. Animal. Doesn't matter. You can usually figure out what we normally were by our casual form. Coracinus is…special…" Infernose snorted, then with a great shudder he drew himself together, (he had almost completely broke apart), and whispered hoarsely, "You're Ari, aren't you?"
Ari looked nervous, and then said, "Yes."
"You're famous in the Diablerie. Servant to the Shadow King. Defeated Beiloune. Be careful child. But there are also many in the Diablerie who...would follow you…not all ghosts are bad." With a sigh Infernose closed his eyes. "Tell Linda…I'm sorry, for what we did to her. We had no right to capture her…"
Then he vanished in a flash of silver energy. Not just one, but two discs dropped. A bright purple one and a white one.
Ari gasped. "Guys, this is the Highlands disc, and the Pospos disc!"
"What? Melas doesn't have it?" Kisling said in surprise.
"I'm certain this is the real thing."
"Does he want to fight us?" Big Bull said.
Ari listened to his friends talk, holding the two discs, and he thought over the words Infernose had said.
But there are also many in the Diablerie who…would follow you…
Ari blinked. Him? Why him?
"We have the last discs!" Stan, whom had been in his physical form while talking to Rosalyn, suddenly cheered from behind him. His dark, deep laughter spread through the field, echoing slightly and causing everyone to flinch.
"Let's go-"Ari looked around. "Where's Rosalyn?"
"She left again, right after Infernose passed on." Coracinus explained. He wagged his tail, green eyes bright. "Let's leave!"
Ari and the others used the altered Guidance Stone, vanishing from view. The wind screeched and tossed snow, hiding any traces of the battle.
The sky rumbled.
***
Beiloune didn't seem surprised to see them. "What do you know; it's the deviant and the others." He laughed darkly. "Back already?"
Ari showed him the discs. "We have them all, now all we need is the Spiritus."
"You bested Melas?" Beiloune questioned.
"No, Infernose dropped two discs when he died." Ari looked thoughtful. "Do you think Melas wants to fight us?"
"That is what I believe. Trap or not you don't really have a choice," he replied.
Beiloune moved toward them, and Ari thought he really did seem old now. He almost limped, eyes tired but still bright with cunning. Snapping his fingers, the old man coughed as he waited for something to happen.
"We don't have all day!" Stan raged.
Beiloune ignored him, and finally, slowly, something materialized in the air. It looked like a globe of pure, white energy. Flowing from it came strings of light, and the room seemed just a little bit colder since its appearance.
"I have guarded this for a long time, longer than I care to recall." Beiloune studied the orb. "The Spiritus will need a new master now I suppose. I may not be as strong as a god, but I have more than enough power to watch myself and Marlene…I do not wish you to go with them to fight Melas and Addonexus, my dear."
Marlene shrugged. "I have to." She put her hand on her hip, scowling. "Linda is my friend too."
"So independent. I remember that trait from you." Beiloune chuckled, but Ari thought he looked sad. Turning his eyes onto Ari now, the old man continued. "Very well. Take the Spiritus, take it directly to Wap Wap, and when you get there, hold it aloft."
He waved his hand and the Spiritus floated toward Ari. Taking the orb, the boy bowed his head. "Thank you, we promise to do our best. What else do we do?"
"Follow Shiro's instructions." Beiloune made a gesture. "Go! Be off now!"
As Ari and the others prepared to leave again, Beiloune raised his voice. "Deviant. I mean Ari."
Ari looked behind him, raising an eyebrow.
"Take good care of Marlene."
Ari smiled and then nodded, preparing to set off toward Utopia Corridor and what was left of the Highland Village.
