Chapter 14
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" The Beginning" is coming to an end, and the second part of the 7th
Warrior Trilogy is beginning. This is the last chapter for The First Section.
The second section is the actual story when it begins...
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Syaoran could sense his partner's uneasiness. It was gnawing away at his mind as well. He kept his sword high, a flame flickering at the end to act as a makeshift torch. It only helped a little, lighting just far enough ahead so they could see things in time. Bert was twitchy as a hare being stalked, constantly turning as if in apprehension of danger. Syaoran finally had to put a hand on her shoulder.
" Relax, Bert, you're going to hyperventilate soon."
" Something isn't right...something's just not right."
" What, are you precognitive now? Come on. We'll
be fine. Cameron'll be fine, Eriol'll be fine...Sakura..."
" Sakura!!!" Bert 's eyes widened, as if the name
had just dawned on her.
Syaoran stared at her, then his worst nightmare came
true.
[ SYAORAN!]
[ Sakura? Sakura?! SAKURA!!!]
Silence. Syaoran's breathing sped a pace, and he
quickly looked about. Surely, there was a way to get to her through these
walls, but how? He reached across his link to his partner, and felt an
onsurge of pain and fear.
[Sakura?!!! What's going on!]
He felt another spasm of pain, but it seemed more
like a muscle cramp then torture. Much to his relief, he heard Sakura's
thoughts, even if they didn't transmit such good news.
[Syaoran! I've fallen down the side of one of those
pits. Eriol's about 8 feet above me.]
[ Where are you?!]
[ On a ledge.]
[ Can you climb up?]
[ I can try. But, the side is really steep.]
" Bert," He turned to the girl," Run a message through
to Eriol via Tomoyo and Cameron. Tell him to find a way to lower something
down so she can get up."
" Already on it." Her eyes seemed to glaze over
for a second, then," He's on it."
" Good."
[ Sakura, it'll be okay. I'm going to try to get
to your course from mine.]
[ But, that could disqualify us from the test!]
[ Well, with the alternative, I'd rather fail any
day.]
[ Well, what about the others...]
" Bert, Sakura's having doubts about me going through
the wall to..." Syaoran stopped when he saw the look Bert gave him.
" I don't think worrying about the test is the greater
worry." She said simply...her way of saying " Forget the test, just get
us over there!"
Syaoran nodded and began to run along the hallway,
trying to think of something to do. He felt a sharp jolt of pain, and touched
Sakura's link. She'd been hurt!!
[Sakura!]
[ It's okay, I burned myself on the rock. I'll be
fine.]
[ Don't worry, I'm coming!]
He growled in frustration. With a ferocity surprising even himself, he
tapped into his trans-morphing power and tried to change into an elephant.
As he morphed, the ceiling suddenly seemed to cave in from above.
" AAUUGGH!" His surprised yell was cut short, by
the sudden halt. Bert strained all her magic into the huge trees that grew
from the floor, holding the spiked ceiling up. She turned with sweat pouring,
and yelled for him to continue. He returned to his changing, and suddenly
the hallway seemed a lot more crowded as the fiery orange elephant pounded
its feet against the floor. Bert gasped from where she stood - her trees
were beginning to collapse beneath the ceiling!
{ Bert! What's going on?! Tomoyo's pacing our course!}
Cameron's mind yelled.
{ Sakura's having a crisis on her side. Can you
reach her?}
{ Tomoyo's trying right now, and so am I. What are
you doing?!}
{ Trying to keep the ceiling up! AUUUGGGHH!}
{ BERT? Bert?!!!}
Syaoran turned at Bert's scream, and saw the ceiling
moving fast to crush them. The 5 inch spikes were closing in. He opened
his mouth, and with a loud trumpet, fired flames toward the ceiling, eliminating
the spikes one by one. He had just enough time to make a pocket in the
death spears to save Bert, when the first of the ceiling spikes jammed
into his back. He roared out in agony, as the ceiling drove towards the
floor, impaling him deeper. He collapsed beneath the spikes, feeling the
blood gush from his body. As his world darkened, he heard a voice calling
him back.
" Syaoran! Change back! For god's sake, change back!"
Subconsciously, his body began to slowly revert
to its human form, and he winced, waiting for the spikes to tumble down
and crush his frail body. Instead, he saw it stop and slowly begin to ascend
back up. Bert, once again in control, moved to Syaoran's side as her trees
pushed back the roof. His blood pooled across the floor, from wounds, that
though shrunk in size, still posed some threat to him. She tried to get
him to sit still, but he pushed her back, moving back towards the wall.
With decisive force, he raised his sword, and with a warrior's cry, slammed
it into the cement. The blade rang with the impact, and he felt a shudder
of recoil. Suddenly, much to his utter amazement, the wall cracked. With
more deliberate aim, he once again attacked the opening, and Bert watched
as the wall slowly gave way. A blinding light flooded in, but dimmed to
reveal the heated volcano course.
" Come on, let's go!" Syaoran grabbed Bert's arm,
and dragged her in a running gait towards the spewing pits of lava and
fire.
[ Where are you? Sakura?]
Syaoran answered his own question, as he felt along
their link like a rope. As her aura began to grow stronger, he saw Eriol
in the distance, leaning down and yelling into one of the fire pits.
" ERIOL!"
" Syaoran." Eriol flashed a smile," Thank god! I've
been trying to make a ladder or something for her to climb, but the ledge
is too narrow, and the side is too steep. Where's Tomoyo? And Cameron?"
" They should be on their way. In the mean time,
where's Sakura??"
" Down there." Eriol pointed down the side of the
cliffs. " Sakura!!!"
" Syaoran? Syaoran!"
" Sakura. Hold on!!!" He looked down desperately."
Don't worry."
He turned to Eriol.
" Are you sure you can't think of anything else
we can do?"
" No," Eriol looked at him in sad defeat.
" I'm not giving up that easily." Suddenly, it dawned
on him.
" What is it?" Eriol could see the look of determination.
" My element is fire. So it would be logical to think
that I'd be immune to this part of the trip."
" That's right!"
" I'll just change into something that can carry her back
up!"
" An anaconda? That could carry her."
" No. There's nothing to grip up here..."
" An elephant."
" That ledge looks a bit unstable..."
" How about a tiger?"
" A tiger...that could work..."
Syaoran looked down.
[ Sakura, I'm coming down after you.]
[ What?!! No, you're not!]
[ Relax. I'm fire element, remember.]
Throughout all this Bert stood off to one
side, staring off as if watching something in the distance. She held her
breath, and suddenly yelled.
" Syaoran, don't do it!"
" What?"
" Don't go down!!"
" What has been going on with you lately?" Syaoran couldn't
believe what he was hearing.
" Syaoran, whatever you do, don't go down there!"
" Listen. I've had it. I'm NOT GOING TO LET HER DIE DOWN
THERE!!"
" You don't understand..."
" I'm going down, and that's final!!"
Syaoran began his changes. He fell onto all fours,
and a tail twisted out from behind him. His hair lengthened, covering his
entire body, glowing like red hot liquid magma. His fingers stubbed, shrinking
into the paws, muscles rippling up and down his forearm and back legs.
Mouth and nose lengthened into a short snout, whiskers twisting out like
threads of fire. Lastly, stripes appeared, rippling up and down his sinewy
body like waves. His ring had disappeared, reappearing as a jewel glowing
at the base of his neck, right where the white underbelly met the chins
orange fur. Tail lashing, he sprang from the side, sliding
down the side of the pit and onto the ledge. Sakura ran to meet him, wrapping
her arms around the fur as he backed up to take a running leap. Climbing
on his back, she hugged herself close, trying to ignore the roaring river
of molten lava below her.
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" He's got her!" Eriol leaned over excitedly, watching
with held breath.
" Let's hope it stays that way..." Bert murmured.
They were making good progress. Sakura clutched
Syaoran's fur convulsively as she felt them literally go to a 90 degree
angle with the ledge. She was literally hanging off of him as they climbed,
Syaoran digging his claws into the rock face. As they made their way to
the top, something shimmering buzzed by Syaoran's foot. Bert caught it
just out of the corner of her eye. A black chucking star.
" Syaoran, there's something attacking!"
" What?!!" He turned just in time to see more then twenty of
the little buggers coming at him.
Sakura reached over with one hand and sent
little ice crystals out from her palm. They melted in the air.
" Don't let go, Sakura!" Bert called out,"
Me and Eriol'll take care of it!"
" Don't forget us!"
Bert turned and found Cameron and Tomoyo coming
towards them. She immediately filled them in in a rush.
" We have to keep those chucking stars from hitting
them while they go up!"
" Right!"
Tomoyo and Eriol fired pulses, that knocked the
stars towards the lava. Bert shot huge thorns, cracking the stars on impact.
But, each one that was destroyed was replaced by 3 others behind it.
" Where are all these stars coming from?"
Eriol finally managed to shout.
" Don't know...whoa!" Cameron ducked. The stars were aiming
for them now.
" I think they're drawn to our magic, because its more
powerful then the magic that Syaoran and Sakura are giving off."
" AH!" Eriol ducked as one nearly caught him in the nose.
" Owch!" The side of one sliced across Cameron's arm.
" Cameron!" Bert moved in closer.
" I'm fine, don't worry about it."
But, they weren't fine. Soon, it was as if a cloud
of stars were hailing down, cutting and nicking them all over. Soon, all
of them were standing in pools of their own blood.
" This isn't good." Eriol said, trying his
best to protect Tomoyo and himself.
They'd given up attacking now, and began forming
shields. Bert and Cameron concentrated on the offensive, they on defensive.
In the meantime, Syaoran was still struggling the remaining 4 feet up.
They were almost there.
" Syaoran, I don't think I've got....AAAUUUUGGGhhhh!!!"
" SAKURA!"
Everything went in slow motion from there.
Sakura lost her hold on his back, and slid down the length of him, reaching
for his tail in desperation. Syaoran turned around, reaching out with one
paw towards her figure as it plummeted to the molten river below. In her
desperate attempt to escape her fate, she tried to change into a bird.
" NO Sakura! DON'T!"
Syaoran watched in horror as her icy body
began to liquify. Each droplet fell, and her eyes were the picture of helplessness,
and despair, as she disappeared under the surface.
" SAKURA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Syaoran jumped down into the river of fire,
swimming through it searching desperately for a sign, a hint...ANYTHING!
He plunged through it, splashing through the magma like it were water,
diving under and up and under and up, and under again and...
" SYAORAN! Syaoran, get up!" Eriol called
out.
" SAKURA!" Glowing tears fell, as he tried to reach out
through his link, only to discover to his horror that he felt no other
presence. He shook his head in denial. " No, no! NOOOOOOOO!!!!"
He reached the ledge that had, only moments
before, held the poor soul of his linkmate, and transmorphed back into
his human form, glancing quickly at his ring.
It was black...Syaoran felt everything crash down...
" It's black..." He stared at it for a while,
as if contemplating, then suddenly, burst out into hysterical laughter,"
It's black!!!"
Cameron used his power over stone to change
the rock-face into a staircase. They rushed to Syaoran who clutched the
ring laughing psychotically.
" Look, Eriol, it's black!" He laughed," First
it was yellow, now its black. It's magic!!!!!!! Yellow, black, yellow,
black...ooohh look how pretty..."
" Syaoran..." Bert felt tears trickle down at the sight
of her poor friend, reduced to this.
" It's so pretty," He murmured again, still chuckling.
Everyone stared in silence at him, watching
as his mad laughter turned to wracked sobs, followed by anger.
" It's all her fault!" He muttered, tears
streaking down, then turned to the pits screaming," Go ahead!!!! Disappear!!!!!
See if I care!!!!!! See if I...."
Once again he cried. Cried for his mother,
his father...but most of all, for Sakura. For the love he'd never again
have. For the hopes and dreams that had gone with her, but most of all,
for her. Cameron and Eriol, after a few more moments of silence, turned
to Syaoran and helped their friend up quietly. His eyes were dull, their
gleam forever lost, as he fought against his two comrades.
" NOOOO! Don't take me away! We're still playing!
Sakura! Tell them! We're playing a game! Come out and tell them! Sakura!"
He shouted back at the pool. No answer came.
Everything was silent. The lava pools bubbled and flowed, and that sound
echoed the cavern, but never again would the bell-like voice of Sakura
Kinomoto, ring in its midst.
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Thank you for reading the Final Chapter of The 7th Warrior Trilogy Part
1. Though it is tragic, this is not the end of our adventures. Be sure
to stay tuned for Part 2, of the 3 parts of The 7th Warrior Trilogy!
