Chapter 4: Unexpected Visitors

While on their way back to the base, Lyralei and Traxex shared a few laughs on the path. Everything was fine, until Traxex felt an unpleasant presence nearby. She thought she heard a faint whisper repeating, "Middle is missing." but shrugged this off as just the breeze. When the horde of monsters were out of their sight, Traxex heard footsteps, over Lyralei's constant laughing. She reached for Lyralei's hand in order to start running, but it was too late. The familiar face of a skeletal archers appeared, with an arrow notched and aimed at the girls. As they were backing away from their assailant, a new face instantly came from behind them. A vibrantly shining green man focused on the ginger, with a disturbing look plastered on his face.

Right as Lyralei was starting to scream for help, a skull with green fire was projected towards her. The projectile collided into her head, forcing her to the ground. The sudden impact temporarily incapacitated Lyralei, as The Bone Fletcher started to release arrows upon their targets. When Traxex started to scream, a gust of frigid air propelled itself from her lips. The archer was throw back, stumbling to release his seared arrows. The green man was just about to force his blade into Lyralei, but a weird yellow ring came down onto her. She felt more energetic, but was still bleeding as she attempted to return fire at their two attackers. When the swordsman realized his foe was not yet quelled, he launched another burning skull towards her.

To Lyralei's luck, a man, dressed in white appeared, placing a peculiar incantation on her. A white pulsing ring covered her, breaking apart the skull just moments before it would have crashed into her head. Lyralei and Traxex let out a barrage of arrows, but not enough to counter the sheer amount of damage they were taking. Just as they felt the need to collapse, the mysterious man aiding their survival shouted, "Guard us well."

A white light came down on the two girls, negating the damage the archer and swordsman put out. The archers stood back to back, fending themselves from the two men slowly approaching with their assault. As the white light faded away, two arrows were lodged in Lyralei's arm. She dropped down to the grass, howling in pain. The swordsman shouted, "Another subject for the Wraith King." as his blade pierced Lyralei's chest, stopping her heart.

Traxex stalled for only five seconds. She stared at her friend's corpse, filled with terror at the sight. When she finally came back out of this state, arrows and the 'Wraith King's' sword were lodged in her torso. She released her last breath, falling to the ground. The Bone Fletcher vanished into nothingness, while the green man vanished in the blink of an eye.

The reappeared near the lone guardian, catching him while his spirit lacked the essence for a spell. He launched another flaming skull, incapacitating the next subject for his wraith forces. After just three strikes of the King's sword, the guardian fell to his knees.

"But I'm not finished." his final words came out with a struggle getting progressively larger.

Although Traxex was now deceased, her mind was somehow still alive but in a black space.

"How could this be?" was the only thought racing through her mind.

She waited in the darkness, her mind slowly switching from a panic to calmness. She pondered so many different factors that could have saved her life, along with the life of her only friend. She stared into a black abyss, waiting for her suffering to finally end. It felt like eons, but her consciousness was resurrected and placed back into her corpse. When she finally came to the conclusions that she was truly alive, she searched her body for any scars from her last moments before she died. To her surprise, there was no evidence of injuries. When she finally stood up, someone lunged at her and knocked her back down. Her eyes took a few moments to recognize the figure as Lyralei. She was weeping uncontrollably, causing Traxex to smile and embrace her in a hug.

(Author's Note) I've been feeling under the weather, which is the reason this chapter is so late. I'm going to do my best to update every two weeks. This story is remaining PG 13, and I might consider doing a spin off of a later chapter, as a single chapter not included with the book. Hope you guys really like the story.

Characters so far

Traxex

Treant Protector

Windrunner

Ursa

Clinkz

Silencer

Brewmaster

Slark

Omniknight

Wraith King

Dazzle