Chapter 13
A/N: hey y'all, remember, I'm just the writer, the OCs belong to Gabeherndon308.
"You mean like that?" Trezac questioned pointing up.
Whirling on their heels, everyone felt the blood drain from their face at the sight of the leech looming over them. With loud screams, the group leapt out of the way as the beast lunged, slamming its jaws down on where they'd previously been.
It first slithered after Ava and Ellis, who ran around it and lead it back closer to the others. Seeing what was like easier targets, the beast began to chase Rayla, who ran up a boulder and flipped back over the creature before continuing to run from it. Climbing back up in the tree, the elf's eyes widened as she saw the monster chasing Ezran. Fortunately, Ellis and Ava saved him, racing over and scooping him up.
"FOCUS! WE CAN DO THIS!" Callum cheered from the side. "EZ AND BAIT, YOU'RE UP!"
Ezran nodded, picking up Bait and closing his eyes. Through their clids each of them could see the bright flash of light accompanied by the pained screech of the beast as it was blinded.
"YES! ELLIS, AVA, AGIR: WOOF!"
Ezran hopped off Ava, allowing the wolf and rider to take off after the flaming fire-fox barking and running around the disoriented beast. Its massive head swung between the difference sources of sound coming from all around it, trying and failing to pinpoint its prey.
"Ok, my turn for Zap," Callum said drawing the lightning rune. The orb in his palm sparked to life and lightning crackled over him. "Here goes nothing," he threw his hand forwards, "Fulminus!"
A near deafening crack split the air as the lightning shot across the battlefield, slamming into its unsuspecting target. The leech released a series of agonized screeches, writhing as its body spasmed.
"YES! GET ZAPPED! GET ZAPPED BY THE ZAP HAND!" Callum cheered.
"Can you be astounded later?" Rayla asked pulling out her sword alongside Trezac.
"Right, Rayla, Trezac, you guys got this: Slish Slash!"
Unfortunately, at that moment, the beast seemed to be able to reorient itself, turning towards the pair with a shrill cry. Startled, Rayla stumbled back, tripping over a rock and knocking her sword from her grasp. Her eyes widened as she saw the beast slithering towards her before it threw its head back with another pained cry.
Looking over, she saw the cause. Trezac had stabbed his glowing silver blade into the beast, causing the stench of burnt flesh to permeate the air. The leech lunged at him and Trezac leapt back, almost shimmering in a way her kind would do when they wanted to hide. His yellow blade arched out, slashing the monster across the muzzle causing it to whip its head in her direction with a cry. Seeing her chance, Rayla sprinted. With quick steps she approached the monster, swinging her sword up and through the beast's neck for an effective kill. As it fell, the rolled out of the way, crouching next to Trezac.
"That was too close," she panted.
"No kidding," he agreed.
Seeing movement come from the monster, both gave startled cries as they the babies crawling their way out of their mother's body. At that moment, Rayla was never more glad for the strange human's magic as he sent the vile little creatures flying clear across the clearing.
"Still better than a Rathtar," Trezac mumbled.
-.-
Runaan forced his eyes open as the door before him gave a creak as his captors entered. A shiver ran through him as he saw Eleven skip in behind the High Mage with a smile, tossing him a little wave as her companion set his materials down.
"Enough brooding elf," the man spoke, "my patience wears thin." He turned ripping the tarp off the strange object that'd been sitting in front of him for hours. Tell me what you know about this relic or I will seal your fate!"
A lump formed in his throat. No…no…it couldn't be. How—how did the humans even get their hands on it?! Runaan trembled as he thought of what lied on the other side of that infernal prison. He would take Eleven's "fun" any day over that.
"You—you have succeeded," he stuttered shrinking away from the mirror.
"With what?"
"That mirror," he gulped, "you have found something worse than death."
The implication of what he just said hit him like a kick in the gut as he looked at the mage who'd been torturing him. Her golden eyes practically gleamed with excitement, and a wide smile split her face. What…what had he done? He'd just given vital intel to one of the most insane dark mages he'd ever encountered. And there was no doubt about it, she'd use this knowledge to inflict the most suffering.
"What is it?!" Viren demanded again, sounding more interested.
Steeling his resolve, Runaan glared up at them, "I will never help you!"
This time, it was Viren's face who went dark as he grabbed his staff, "Then, you are of no use to me."
Eleven giggled as Runaan's screamed permeated the dungeons, echoing almost melodically off the stone walls. Ancients, his fear felt so intoxicating.
"I always manage to capture the same expression," Viren drawled as the elf's screams were cut off.
She hopped over to Viren looking at the silver credit in his grey hand. "Oooh, defiance, giving way to absolute terror," she purred. "That's always the best."
-.-
"There it is!" Ellis pointed up the mountain, "there's the tree!"
All eyes scaled the slope of the mountain, landing on a single large tree high above the others illuminated by moonlight permeating through the clouds. "We're almost there!" Callum grinned. "We can do this! We can make it to the rim. We're going to find the healer and save the egg!"
Ava whimpered and Ezran bit his lip, looking distressed. "Oh no…"
"What is it?"
"I don't know how to say this…"
"Just spill it," Trezac said crossing his arms.
"Even if we make it to the rim, it doesn't matter, there is no miracle healer…I'm sorry," he answered setting Bait down.
"Stop being mysterious," Callum said. "If you're going to make a claim like that you owe everyone an explanation."
"Ok, Ava told me—"
"Ugh, here we go again," Callum rolled his eyes.
"No, it's true!" the boy protested. "I can understand animals."
"Well did you ask Bait?" Callum snapped. "He might disagree. Or maybe we can find a very opinionated squirrel around here!"
The younger prince threw himself over his backpack, "I knew you wouldn't listen to me!"
"Ezran, I'm listening to you, but it is pretty hard to believe," Rayla said kneeling beside him.
"I've always been different," Ezran began, "it's hard for me to make friends with other kids. I just feel like, I don't fit in."
"That's ok, fitting in's boring anyway," Rayla reassured.
"But with animals," he pet Bait, "somehow I have this connection. And a few years ago I realized I could understand what they were saying."
"Can you believe this?" Callum scoffed.
"Why would he lie?"
"Because he's a kid? Because it's fun? Because he's afraid to go up the mountain?!"
"I'm not afraid!"
Callum frowned, rolling his eyes, "Come on Ez, tell the truth."
"Callum, similar things happen with my people," Trezac shrugged. "Though…I've never heard of it to the extent Ezran has it. Mostly it's just being able to control and calm down animals and get them to cooperate—not really talk with them."
"Oh come on! The first time he did this I asked him to prove it! So Ezran said a group of Racoons told him that there was treasure hidden behind a waterfall. But when I went through the waterfall did I find treasure?"
"No," Ezran sighed.
"But did my underwear get soaked?"
"Yes."
"See, case closed!"
"The raccoons were being mischievous," Ezran stated. "I've since then learned you can't trust raccoons!"
"See! This is why you can't make friends!" Callum snarled.
"Callum! Back off!" Rayla growled standing up.
"Do you believe me Rayla?" Ezran asked.
"Does it matter?"
"I believe you Ez," Ellis smiled, "but I also know the Miracle Healer's real, cause I have Ava."
"Arguing over the fact isn't going to change the fact that getting up that mountain is likely still our best bet at saving the egg," Trezac spoke up. "We need to get going."
-.-
"Huh, the higher we walk up this Caldera, the brighter the Moon Rune glows," Callum commented.
"Maybe cause the higher we go the closer we are too the moon," Rayla deadpanned.
"I dunno, something seems different this time."
"I agree," Trezac concurred glancing around warily. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. "Something's not right."
A disembodied moan echoed over the area, causing all of them to stop in their tracks. "Did…did anyone else hear that?"
"Yep, ignoring it! Keep moving," Rayla replied continuing to stomp forwards.
The moan came again and Trezac tentatively reached out with the force. The response he got almost made the young Jedi double over. This place had practically been saturated in something; something telling them to run, to turn back. He could feel it, all the pain, the fear, the anger, there was so much in this place.
"Turn back."
"Trezac?" Ezran asked pulling the padawan from his connection. "Are you ok?"
"Fine," he grunted. "Something really doesn't want us going up this mountain."
"What do you mean?" Callum questioned.
"This place, it's covered with…magic," he said unsure how to describe the sensation. "I tried to sense what was crying out, but instead all I got was something telling us to leave."
"Maybe we should go," Ezran whimpered as the moan echoed around them again.
"I'm going to share an old elven proverb with you," Rayla said, "When travelling up a mountain trying to save a dying dragon egg and you hear a spooky sound, just keep walking."
"That's really specific," Callum commented and they all flinched as another groan came.
"What if someone needs help?" Ellis asked trying to be optimistic.
Rayla sighed, sharing a look with Trezac before looking back to the prince. "Ez, you have a good heart. It's super annoying."
Standing up, she began to walk towards the cries when Trezac rested his hand on her shoulder. "Sure this is a good idea?"
"No, but he's right, someone could need help," Rayla pointed out. "I'll check this out, you stay here and watch them."
Before he could argue, she raced off into the fog, disappearing from sight. The padawan sighed, leaning against a tree and running his fingers though his hair. Ancients, this was going to take too long. They didn't have time to spare, not with the egg dying as they stood there.
Fortunately, their comrade returned less than a minute later looking pale as she cradled her injured hand.
"Did you find someone?" Ellis inquired.
Rayla shook her head. "No, there was no one there. We have to get moving."
They all shared a look, jogging to catch up with her. "Rayla, it looks like you've seen a ghost. What happened?" Trezac questioned.
"Yeah," Callum agreed, "Are you alright? You seem pretty shaken."
Rayla sighed turning to look at them, "It was barely alive, crumbled to dust right before my eyes. It was horrible."
A scream came from the back of the group and the two fighters pulled their weapons out as Ezran scampered towards them. "Ez, what's wrong?"
"I…I saw something…a face in the dark," he pointed to the shadows.
Creeping over, the three older members of the group peered in, using the light from Trezac's lightsabers to try to see what startled the boy. "Something doesn't feel right," Trezac murmured.
"I fell like we're being watched," Rayla agreed.
"..If…if you guys wanna turn back—" Ellis started before Callum cut her off.
"There's no turning back," he said. "We have to keep going, the egg doesn't have much time."
"Rayla, you take the front I take the back?" Trezac spoke up.
"Your swords give off light, might be better if you were in the front so we can see where we're going."
Giving a nod, Trezac took the lead, illuminating the path with a dull yellow glow. "Alright, it's gonna be a little tight from here." He strode forwards, using the force to push thick branches out of their way. As they moved forwards, they could all begin to see something big blocking their path.
"What is this?" Callum questioned.
"Looks like some sort of web," Ezran answered.
"Can you guys cut through it?"
Trezac began to raise his saber when Rayla stopped him, looking wary. "I don't think that's a good idea. We should go around."
Trezac raised a brow, looking at the girl. Just like earlier, she seemed to have gone pale, seeming afraid. He looked back to the webs frowning; did the webs have something to do with what frightened her earlier? If that was the case, he'd have to take her word for it. "Alright," he nodded. "Agir."
The little fox perked up, wagging his tail before running up and down the length of the block, sniffing curiously. He did this several times before returning with a whimper, resting his head on Trezac's shoe.
"I take that as there isn't an around," Callum muttered as Trezac knelt down to reassure his pet, "We need to punch through."
Rayla grimaced, reached out with her sword and pulling away, some webbing wrapped around it. "This is pretty thick webbing, my swords might get stuck. Trezac, your swords are sunforged blades, think you got this?"
"Lightsabers, not sunforged blades," he corrected activating the second one as he stood up and walked to the web wall. Swinging his sabers, they all wrinkled their noses at the smell of burning webs as he cut their path open. "Let's find out what made this mess."
"And don't touch the webs," Rayla warned holding her swords up as they crept forwards.
"Ugh, they're everywhere," Ezran groaned getting some in his hair. "It's too dark, even with Trezac's glowy-swords."
"Like I said earlier, something's here," he repeated, "something strong in the force."
"You think this thing has been what's been watching us?" Callum asked.
"It has to be," Rayla growled. "Nothing safe would make these," she sliced through a small web in their way, "whatever did this is dangerous, and very big."
Several of them gulped at that thoughts, going quiet as the cautiously continued forwards. It was then they could hear the soft clicking of something behind them. As they turned, Ezran screamed at the sight of the giant spider crawling behind them.
"What is that?!"
"Holy shit!"
Callum raced to the back of the group, holding out his Primal Stone, "Fulminis!" he exclaimed drawing the run in the air. The crack of lightning striking echoed around them, and the spider appeared to burst, sending Callum into a panic. "Ah! Did I get it? Where'd it go? Ew! It feels like it's in my hair!"
"It's a two-ton magical spider, you'd know if it were in your hair," Rayla deadpanned.
"Then, if it's not dead, where did it go?!" Trezac reminded and at all pressed back to back, looking around.
Soft clicks came from above, and all of them silently cursed as they looked up. And, sure enough, there stood the spider on the webs directly above them. It gave a hiss, jumping towards them, causing Trezac to use the force in an attempt to push it back. Only, it had no effect as the beast kept coming towards them. With loud screams, they scrambled up a nearby slope, hiding behind some trees listening as they heard it continue to patrol the area.
"How are we going to get past that thing?" Callum panted.
"I don't know," Trezac bit his lip, "the force had no effects on it. It was like I was trying to push a hologram!"
"Even if we managed to get past, one wrong step and were caught in those webs," Rayla reminded looking grim, "and trust me, you don't want to know what happens if you get caught in a web."
"There has to be a way. We have to get through!"
As they argued, Ezran peered over the rocks looking at the spide. It crawled back up onto the webs, looking in their direction before giving another chitter. "Wait a second…" he murmured looking at it as it continued to chitter, "something's not right…in a good way this time!"
"Huh?"
-.-
"You know, there's something so invigorating about climbing a mountain at midnight. The moonlight, the clouds, the fresh air," Soren rambled on taking a deep breath before coughing. "Ahh! Claudia! I think you horse just—"
"Wasn't the horse," his sister sang and the boy looked annoyed.
"To be honest I am disgusted, and a little impressed," Soren said as they rode on.
Behind them, the Twelfth brother crouched in the shadows, narrowing his eyes. Honestly, how foolish could these two idiots be? If it wasn't for the fact he didn't know this infernal planet, he would've captured the princes and the traitor by now.
But no matter, all he had to do was wait. They'd lead him to the targets, he just needed to be patient.
-.-
"What should we do? We could turn back and try to find another way up the Caldera," Ellis offered.
Ezran chuckled, emerging from his hiding spot, "No, it's going to be ok. We can just walk right past it."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's not real, I'm sure of it," he answered.
"That doesn't make any sense," Rayla muttered.
"Where's your proof?"
"The chitters and screams don't make sense," Ezran replied as if that explained everything. "That's not how spiders talk."
"Ok, it's official," Callum sighed, "Ez, you've lost your mind."
"No I haven't, and I'm gonna prove it," the boy exclaimed racing down the path.
"Ezran!" Callum exclaimed with Rayla and Ellis on his heels.
Trezac ran a hand down his face, "I'm gonna die, surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy." Sighing, he ran after them, jumping over larger rocks to get down the slope faster. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the massive monster leap down and roar at Ezran.
The sheer force of its cry caused the boy to almost fall over, but when it finished, Ezran just stood there and screamed back at it. The spider tilted its head, before releasing another cry in Ezran's face, but it still made no move to attack as Ezran once again yelled at it.
With a laugh, the boy turned to look at them all, "Try screaming at him! It's fun!"
Callum inched forwards, stratching out his hand. The beast gave another call, causing him to take a few steps back, yet, like the same times before, it did nothing.
"See, it won't do anything."
"You're right…"
"Let's see if we can get it to turn around and show us its creepy glow-face," Ezran smiled making a face at the monster.
"Ezran, I owe you an apology," Callum said.
"Well at least one."
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I promise, I won't ever doubt you again."
"If you really mean it…"
"I do."
Ezran smirked, "Then you have to do the thing."
Callum's eyes widened in horror. "Here? Now?"
The boy's grin only grew wider as he nodded. Callum took a deep breath of defeat, then proceeded to do one of the strangest things Trezac's ever seen in his entire life. "Callum's famous jerkface dance!" Ezran laughed.
For once in his life, Trezac was at a loss for words at that.
"So…if it's fake, what's it doing here?" Rayla inquired looking at the spider.
"Cheering for the jerkface dance, I think," Ezran answered. "It wants more. Knees higher! Knees higher!"
"That doesn't answer the question," Trezac mumbled turning to walk up the slope as the others followed behind, Callum dancing on behind them.
