The Greater Evil IV : World of Ruins
Part 4 : Shadows
Chapter 16
Streaming golden sunlight slowly washed like the tide over the island as the dawn star ascended in the sky. Palaces and great towers revealed to its ever-burning eye, the flame that had warmed mankind for eons did not care, nor did it care about the strings of poesy she brought to all those watching.
Watching the glowing orb of fire in the east, over the sea, Tanya couldn't help but feel those strings pulling at her, even though she had never been one to define herself as a poet. She was a fighter, a psychic, a Goth, but a poet? That has never been part of her idealized vision of self.
She had, however, wondered once or twice why Hosho was the one place in the world that was called the land of the rising sun. Watching the golden light streaming all over the half-rebuilt Hirosaki, she could easily understand why. There was a glorious beauty to the streaming golden rays that could not be found in anything else in nature, could not be found anywhere else either.
She had found herself on the island after the breaking, washing aground in the waves of a storm to see the broken, destroyed city. It had not been built to withstand the wrath of the world that had accompanied the breaking - or so it had seemed, at first. While their houses might have been pulled down they could be built back with ease - and their precious knowledge and technology had been kept safe, beyond the reach of even the electromagnetic shock wave. And with that knowledge, they had rebuilt faster than she - than anyone - would have thought possible.
Now, Hirosaki was far more than the half-rebuilt town she used to see of it. Buildings had replaced those destroyed three years before. Some of them, at least. The work was not done, certainly, and there was much yet left destroyed, but still, they had done far better than any other city she had heard of.
The soft, warm breeze that blew with the morning brought to her nose the scent of flowers as spring dawned over the world. Beautiful cherry blossoms flowers covered the nearby trees - sakura as the Hoshoans called them.
For the last three years that she had spent there, the spectacle of a city so advanced in technology yet in such harmony with nature would never cease to amaze her. Yet it was not for that harmony that she had stayed in Hosho despite numerous possibilities offered to go back to her homeland of Kanto. No, there were much more down-to-earth reasons for her doing so. She had spent the last three years reading through the assembled knowledge of the Hoshoan scholars, with the help of some of them, trying to find clues as to the nature of Avaraen, and their true reason to go on a campaign of blind destruction against mankind.
Of course, so far, little had been found. Oh, there were tantalizing clues, of course, but nothing that held enough truth to warrant her attention, to warrant passing along the information to her mother through the tenuous psychic link they managed to maintain on certain days.
Soft footsteps outside her door caused her danger sense to flare, within moments, she was crouched in a defensive posture, her blade-staff held ready to strike. The door opened slowly, revealing a young man in scholar uniform, short black hair - like those of many Hoshoan - around his head, dark eyes sparkling.
"Asuka-san?" She straightened, putting her weapon, a strange device seemingly like two sword welded by their handles, aside.
"Ketchum-san." He answered, using, as always, her family name followed by the "-san" particle. "We only have a few books left to consult. I thought you would like to work on it early, that you may head back toward your homeland soon." He offered. She nodded, not bothering for once to seek out underlying motives. Those were always present in what the Hoshoan did, but this time she did not even try to find what they were.
"Of course." She followed the young scholar, Asuka Nagori, toward one of the many great libraries of the city, among the most solidly built buildings of Hosho. They had all resisted the breaking, keeping safe the many books stored inside. Which had been, of course, the intent of those who had designed them, as the people of the Rising Sun put a great store on knowledge.
"How much is left to look at, Asuka-san?" She asked the young man. "Exactly, I mean."
"Three books only that might contain information on the topic. We do not have much about these creatures. The Feldars might know more, but to reach them is almost impossible."
"I know."
The great doors opened before them, welcoming them in the lair of knowledge. Floors upon floors of books written since the dawn of them, kept safe by the meticulous work of an army of scholar and librarians. She knew some of the scrolls in there had been written milleniums ago, so much as ten of them. The knowledge kept in there encompassed nearly every myth, legend, and actual discovery of the people of Aysaka since the first human had walked the earth.
It never ceased to amaze her, the wonders of the strange land she had found herself in. The people of Hosho had always kept a technological edge over anyone else, so much that they could have had the whole of Aysaka bowing to them had they wanted. But somehow, somewhere, they were only interested in peace, justice, not in conquest or power. They would fight if they had too, but only if they believed the cause was good.
She walked up one of the many twisted stairway of oak wood, carved in absolute beauty, not resembling the arranged beauty of what mankind could do, but the perfect chaos of nature.
The last three book they had yet to make their way through, after three years of long reading, were left on a low wooden table, carpet around it. Sitting down by the table, her knees resting on the ground, she picked one of them and started leafing her way through it. It was more recent than most, which was quite surprising as most recent books had a bad tendency to dismiss Avaraen as a myth.
This one, however, did not. While most of the first few chapters were spent on proving that they did exist - quite well, even though she knew to most scientist what was brought up would not have been enough - the seventh already seemed more interesting, as it was a thesis about the possible origin of the Avaraen.
"Interesting that. This one's mentioning that Avaraen are really only shadows, that they really exists only in a mirror image of our world. They are shadows living in our world...their real self live in the shadow of our world." She mused about the idea. It made a certain poetic sense. "Only certain things exists really in both worlds. Starspire, and the elements, though their elements would be different in a way. Really massive thing have their shadow strong enough that they continue existing."
"I've heard about the world shadow theory before." Nagori nodded, a strange sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. "Though not about starspire and such existing beyond. And it never was linked with Avaraen."
Reading on, she tried to make sense of the puzzle the book revealed. How would the Avaraen, all the kind of beings that would live in this world of shadow, be born there? She forced herself to think. They obviously did not breed normally, she could simply feel it. The number of Avaraen in the world lately, right up until the breaking, had been far too low for it. A mythical creation by some power or another was possible, but...there was something not quite fitting in it.
Why were they back, causing more destruction and pain in a world already badly wounded by...
She froze. Destruction and pain. The Avaraen had been a non-existent threat, or almost so, right up until the Lotus war. Destruction, pain. The death of Tremayne, the breaking of the world, those had brought even greater number of them out. It might have been a coincidence. However, she did not believe in such.
"They're born from destruction and pain. And they're attacking us to cause more of it, because, for the last hundred year or so we have been busily trying to destroy less and less, and to make everything less painful."
"Why no outbreak of Avaraen after the Great World War then?" He pointed back.
"Because the outbreak was during the war. And I would imagine they moved toward the place where the pain was greatest - were most of them were born. And when the bomb was dropped on Rayme, their shadow form were taken out by the..."
"Resulting flash of light. Point taken." He smiled. "How do we know they go toward their main birthpoint?"
"Because they are still gathering around the place were the greatest pain still linger - the Alph peninsula, were a God died."
"You know, that make sense. That make very much sense. And it works with something else I heard - how each of the element has a destructive side and a creating side...something tell me the difference between the two sides..."
"Is that the destructive side is much more common on their side than in ours. Fire that gives warmth, fire that burns. Water that gives life, water that drowns. Ice that preserve, ice that freeze. Yeah, it works."
"Why do they have a shadow in our world, and not us in theirs though?" The next question was out of his mouth quickly. He would keep attacking the theory until she had proved out of all doubt to herself and to him that it was the right one.
"Because the destructive aspect of the elements is present, though weaker, on this side of the mirror. Whereas there is no creative aspect on their side." She offered.
"You really make sense. I think you figured it out..." He rose and walked away for a few steps. "Actually, I know for a fact you figured it out." He smirked, darkness drawing around him, his palm turned toward her now revealing for the first time the strange twisted moon-shaped tattoo that was there.
"Nagori!" She yelled sharply, readying her defenses as bolts of darkness flew toward her, only to bounce off harmlessly and dissipate in the empty air. Shock flashed through her as he attacked again, another attack she narrowly managed to deflect. Surprised, she was unable to mount up either a more effective defense or any form of counterattack. What she could do would have to do.
"To each element, it's destructive form." He smiled, the twinkle in his eyes no longer one of curiosity, but one of pure evil, of malevolence. "And to each of the nine..."
"A destructive match." She growled, understanding and frustration washing over her. The young man who had helped her for all these months had just proved himself to be the worst kind of traitor there was. "Well, how do you call yourself then?"
"The Nightmare, of course, Mistress of Dreams." He smirked. "And before you ask...I led you down to this because hunting is much funnier when the prey know the predator could be anywhere...and know who and what the predator is." his voice faded as did his presence, darkness swallowing him and taking him away, as she reached for her weapon to strike back. "Watch your back carefully little Tanya. One day, I will be there." The words seemed to hang around in the air as she finally managed to grab it. As he vanished, she pushed aside the book, gathered her things. She knew what she had to know now, it was time for her to get back home. Which, as much as she hated it, meant flying back there.
Racing outside the library, she called upon her pidgeot, jumping on the creature's back in a swift motion, flying away like a thunderbolt racing from cloud to ground, sizzling through the air. The wind struck at her like a thousand sting, but she would much rather face the stings of the wind than confront Nagori again for now. She should not have trusted him, she had never trusted any man except her cousin, but somehow, she had found herself unable not to trust the young man.
Hosho faded away like a half-forgotten dream, like a half-forgotten nightmare. The knowledge she had gained would be useful to what her mother and brother planned, and the information about the dark nine was something they all needed to know about.
Hours passed by without any attack from the nightmare, and as she finally landed on the chain of island between Hosho and the broken coast of Aysaka, not far from what had once been Lavender, she felt herself breathing a bit easier. At least she was in her homeland now. The wall of stone of the mountains between Cerulean and Lavender were a welcome sight, somehow heartwarming after the bleak revelation, even if they only were a thin blue line..
She hesitated for a brief moment when it came time to fly again, and head toward the valley of Viridian nestled between the Moon mountains and the stark wall of the Silver range. She could head north to Viridian, then to Saffron, then over the Celadon sea and beyond to Viridian. Or else she could make her way around the sea from north or south, by way of either Cerulean then Pewter, or Vermilion then Pallet.
Finally, she elected to make her way north, toward Cerulean. She soon was in flight, peering around carefully, uneasily. There was always the danger of another attack from Nagori - Nightmare.
Yet, as well as she watched, nothing betrayed the young man when he finally struck. Rising out of nowhere, the sizzling arc of black energy narrowly missed her - but far more important, and as she suspected, what had been Nagori's goal - it did kill off her Pidgeot, sending her plummeting down toward the sea far below.
Her heart leapt in her throat as she fell, the world seemingly going entirely too slow or entirely too fast, both at once. Panicked, unable to think straight, she desperately tried to come up with a way to avoid her impending doom, but nothing would come...The waves came closer as ideas flashed in her mind so quickly she often could not grasp them before they were gone.
Finally, she forged a plan at the last second. It would not work, probably, but it was worth trying. After all, with the salt water already so close to her, barely a few second after the dark arc had struck her pokemon, she had nothing to lose anymore.
Chapter 17
Shadowed ripples played across the crystal water of the small pond. Trickles of sunlight flared through the trees, golden flashes streaming from the water as Ash filled a bottle with it. The night before, flying, he had finally located the edge of the forest they were in. They were still moving north as best as they could, but from what he could see, could guess from the slowly dropping weather, they would soon reach a point where they would have to turn to the east.
In fact, unless he missed his guess, the rushing river he had seen in his flight, barely a few hours' walk from their current location, would have to be it. Oh, they could cross it, but what he doubted was that there would be another easy way leading in the mountains than the valley the river had to have gouged for itself over the years.
Walking back to their small encampment, he could not help but feel a strange sense of uneasiness settling him around him. There was an odd feeling to the air, one he could not recognize, could not put a finger on though he could have sworn he had felt it before.
A faint breeze stirred the three, but no signs of life could be heard. He shrugged off the ominous feeling, rejoining his friends. Gary was sitting off to the side, lost in though as always, thorn between the two women who held his heart within their grasps. Miyako was also lost in thought, resting, her back to a tree trunk and her eyes half closed. Tomoyo seemed just as relaxed, though a second glance easily told him it was otherwise. A small leaf fell, blown from the branches by the breeze, within moments two halves settled on the ground, apparently undisturbed - except that they had been cut in two. The young woman seemed not to have moved, though Ash of course knew better. It had been the blinking of an eye, but she had in fact moved.
Sabrina was nowhere to be seen, though again, that meant nothing. She could very well be toying with their minds, keeping herself out of sight, even though she was reluctant to call upon her powers now. She stepped out from under the trees on the other side of the very small clearing, a frown on her face.
"There's something not quite right around here." She stated. "An odd feeling. I'm not sure what it is..."
"I know. Something odd around here." With a brief nod, Ash looked at her. Tomoyo snapped out of her training trance, looking warily around. Gary did the same a few seconds after, Miyako finally getting up, taking her time, but once she was up, as alert as any of them.
"What are we looking for?" Gary's voice was cautious. An hand on the handle of his sword, he eyed the area warily, ready for anything. Ash did the same, his own blade half-drawn, ready for the strike. Tomoyo's stance was alert, ready too.
"I don't know. Something unusual, out of the ordinary." Sabrina's voice was tight, a soft surface falling to conceal worries. "Where did I get that feeling before..." She mused.
"That's the key, isn't it? Where did we feel that before?" Nothing was visible around them, but that did not mean there was nothing. Avaraen could hide in the shadow. Anything could be out there without them noticing. Yet nothing came out.
"We'd better set out and keep moving, but stay ready for anything." Gary suggested, taking things in his hands. Ash nodded, his friend was right.
"Right. Let's head out." With a crisp nod, he lead them north once more, toward the river and the edge of the forest. All of them were alert, ready to fight.
A heavy boot stamped the dust ground around the campfire they had made, finally stepping on a still incandescent small branch.
"They felt us." The voice was without feelings. It was as if the one who spoke had no soul anymore.
"I know." The laughter of the woman accompanying the booted, cloaked soulless man was filled with malice. "I was counting on it. Now all we have to do is let them drop their guard, let them think the odd feeling is meaningless." She smiled.
"And then, we strike." Sadism in her voice, she toyed with her small sacrificial knife.
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"What do we do now?" Lance looked at the small group gathered about the table. Erica, studying a map of the region, red flags representing the known location of enemy forces, and a handful of blue flags representing what they could field.
"I think we need to send people to look around, at the various cities, get a good, hard look at the whole situation, and help decide what to do." The suggestion came from Bruno, standing by the door, his trunk-like arms crossed over his bare chest.
"Good point." Lorelei nodded.
"What's the point? We lost already?" Mournfully, he looked away. HE had tried to keep his spirit up for the discussion , had failed.
"I don't think so Lance. There's still a lot we can do." Lorelei turned toward him. "You don't want to give up now, to leave all those people suffering..."
She knew his weakness, how he couldn't bear to let people suffer when there was something he could do about it.
"There's something else. The fighting's going to come to an head pretty soon. We should try to gather some help, shouldn't we?" Erica pointed at the map. "We can't hold out alone against all the forces they seem to have."
They were silent a while longer, Lance considering with a weary sight how exactly they could change things.
"I just feel like giving up." He stated. "There's not much we can do."
Lorelei turned toward him. "Is that the Lance who wouldn't let the Lotus take a step farther talking? The Lance I knew? The one who stood up against them at Viridian?" Fire and ice met in her voice, calling on him.
"That wasn't me, that was Giovanni." He waved aside.
"Nonsense. History will remember you as the leader who pulled through that one - if you act now and force it to hear you. Change the world, and generations in the future will worship you. They won't care someone else actually did that, they'll just try to find every way to make you seem greater, better - to make you more of a hero."
"I don't care about being a hero." His words cut her short. "Guess I should still do my best...I feel it's someone else turn, but I guess I can't give up..."
"Amen to that brother." Bruno grinned, holding both thumbs up with a grin. "Now, what do we do?"
"Well, we go to look around. Try to find allies, see what the actual situation is, try to find a good place to fight whoever it is that's attacking all around off."
Lance took a deep breath, banishing all dark thoughts out of his mind. There was no point in panic, now he needed to be cool-headed, their leader...the one they had trusted in the past, and needed to be able to trust again now.
"Well, then, let's do it." the confidence in his voice amazed even him, as he set his mind back to work. "I'll go check out the area of Lavender. Bruno, you go south toward Vermilion and Fuschia. Lorelei..."
"I'll take care of Cerulean." His friend smiled. "Don't worry about it."
"Right. Erica, why don't you go check out around your old town?" He turned toward the young general, feeling life flowing again through him as he faced action once again. It felt relieving somehow to be doing something again, even if it would not help that much in the end, probably.
"I'll do that." The young woman bit her lip, and Lance realized it must not be easy for her to return to her waves-covered homeland.
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The speck of shadow flew out of nowhere at him, though it fell on the ground before even coming close, cut in two by the rapid strike of Tomoy's blade.
"AVARAEN!" Sabrina's shout had them all ready to fight in the blinking of an eye. The dark beings, flying and crawling out of nowhere, attacked, striking out with hands, claws, fangs and tentacles, mist of darkness that they could barely strike back at.
Dodging narrowly, Ash fell the black mist whirling past him as his blade sunk through the mirror in one of the attacker, at the same time throwing himself off balance to dodge the attack of a second. Tomoyo faced a group of them together, both of her blade cutting wide swats of devastation through the attacker, as did both of Gary's sword. Miyako, now a fierce dragon-looking creature, cast forth flame and light to dispel the Avaraen. Sabrina's psychic powers blazed out in blue light to push the creatures back.
More came. Ash found himself attacked on both side, summoning Tairen's power to create a shell of ice around one with his left hand, slicing at the other with his blade as he dove again, letting a third crash in the cliff.
Five avaraen flung themselves at Miyako - two landed on the floor dead from Gary's pair of sword before they could even reach her, two more were swathed aside like flies with a burst of light from the young woman, the last one defeated with a psychic blast out of Sabrina's hands.
The faint rays of the dying sun barely reached them in the depths of a canyon, and those Avaraen were apparently of a deadlier kind, able to operate when light was around, low light at least. Stark cliffs rose on both side of the small stream they followed in the mountain. And on both sides, Avaraen waited for them, striking out whenever they could.
With a last tremendous blast of light, Miyako blazed a path clear of the dark beings. Racing, Ash and his companions made their way out, the circle of shadow reforming behind them.
"Watch it!" The yell was Gary, as an Avaraen jumped from the cliffs above toward them, landing somehow safe and ready to strike at them. Tomoyo was there first, and her blade struck home, taking out the offending dark blot, somewhat close to a Pikachu in size and shape.
"Another one there!" Tomoyo pointed back, this time letting Ash to handle it. The second Avaraen didn't even reach the ground - landing at hight spead on Ash's waiting sword, he was dead by the time the two separate pieces fell down.
A few more fell down, but between the five of them they handled those while the larger group they had already faced seemed to wait out of range. They expected something to happen, Ash could see that, but what? There was no choice but to make their way forward.
And then, two hooded, cloaked figure appeared there. The strange sense he had felt a few days before returned in full bloom, these two meant them no good. A avaraen bird, strangely like a crow, flew around one, while the other held a sword, strangely similar to his own but seemingly blood-red.
"The One who Stood Alone. And The Child of the Dragon. We were looking for you two." The one with the crow, obviously a womean, said. "It's been too long a time." An unmistakable red glow surrounded the woman, revealing her nature as a psychic.
"Syraelle." Sabrina snarled, holding her staff low, ready to charge.
"It's good to see you again. Did you give my friends a good time before your friends killed them?" The voice of their enemy seemed fill with dripping venom.
"You bitch." The blaze of blue light surrounded Sabrina again. "You're going to die!" She flung herself at Syraelle, blazing power striking out in bolts of pure energy as her mental defenses, the one she had used to keep away her emotions, cracked.
"No." Syraelle countered the attack, sending off the bolts. "You die. After all, the dark nine exist with only a goal - to kill the nine." One of the psychic bolt flew back at Sabrina, surprising her, sending her down on the ground.
"Dark nine?" Startled, Ash looked at the two of them.
"Of course! You didn't think Rethen would let you get away with interfering with his plans without sending people after you? The elements have a dark side just as much as a good side - and there are the dark nine just as much as the nine. I am the hungering, the psychic dark nine. My friend here is the Slayer, the Dragon dark nine. We have been looking for you two for a while now. And now that we have found you..."
Sabrina rose slowly, sending another flurry of attack at Syraelle. As Slayer walked toward him, Ash fell in a standard defensive stance - but Gary rushed in from the side, attacking the cloaked being. Their blades clashed as Ash rushed in to the attack, but Syraelle, distracting some energy from her defenses, flung Gary away as easily as if he was made of paper.
She countered another flurry of psychic bolts, sending them bouncing off the walls of the canyon. Be it luck or be it fate, one of them cracked open the wall, revealing a cave.
"In there!" Miyako's yell resounded as she raced to the newly revealed entrance. They followed her, Ash using a short blast of ice to disengage from the battle with Slayer and Sabrina teleporting out of the way immediately after a flurry of bolts. "I'll hold them off!" the young woman yelled. "You all, get further in.
The cave seemed deep enough to offer them a protected zone, perhaps even leading to another way off, further away. All in all, it seemed like their best chance, at least to gain some time to get ready, if not to avoid the fight altogether.
"No way, I'll do that!" Ash countered, calling upon Tairen's power again, remembering how he had held back a pack of angry Tyranitar in the same way once before. Ice formed on the edge of the entrance as Miyako fired blasts of light at the approaching enemies through the narrowing gap. As soon as it was closed, they made their way deeper in toward the others, Ash repeating his trick a few more time to make sure to slow down the enemy enough.
They were safe, at least for now.
Chapter 18
"I don't like the look of those birds." Keeping close to the cliff, Misty glanced above.
"I've never seen the like of them before. But they don't look like Avaraen." Jeffrey mused as he watched the two dark figures circling above.
"They've been circling above this spot for awfully long. I think they're pointing our location to someone." The third to speak was Naia.
"What can we do about them though?" With a questioning glance at the group, Sarah looked up again. "I don't think I can shoot that high."
"I don't think so either." Misty did not bother to turn her head to reply.
They crawled their way further in the canyon, trying as they could to stay out of sight of the circling birds. They had made their way in the mountains for days, weeks even, following what they only could describe as the trail of those who had kidnapped Elayne.
So far, they had met nothing that could be their base. Weariness had begun to settle in, but they went on. They had done too much already to give up now.
"May, can't you do a thing about those?"
"Sorry Misty. I tried to use those little powers I was given, but the bird just...they aren't there. Not like Avaraen, like dark type." She detailed the problem.
"Crap." For a moment she toyed with the idea of summoning one of her pokemon to use some ice attacks, then discarded it.
They walked a bit further down the path, towering stone walls on each side. There was little light in the depths of the trench, unless the sun was directly above it, and May's glow provided them with a welcome source of light.
"I hope she'll be alright." Jeffrey mused slightly as he skillfully avoided making any noise.
"Depend on how much time we give them before we get in." Misty's hand went to grip her handle of her sword of their own accord, flashes of murders in her eyes as she started thinking about what she would do if they were too late. Sarah was apparently thinking along much the same lines, her own hand gripping her long bow.
"Guys..." May was looking upward still.
"What is it?" Turning, Misty had her sword drawn before even realizing she was drawing it. Held in her hand, the metallic blade seemed to give off a golden glow as it reflected May's inner light.
"The birds. They're gone." Her voice was tight, and her own sword half-drawn. Her golden aura, the gift she, as part of the nine, had received from Ho-oh, the phoenix, was joined by a slight blue one as her old mental link to the soul of an Alakazam still trapped in her mind came in action again.
"Any idea were they went?" Sarah had an arrow ready to fire, bow drawn and one eye half closed, a position that reminded Misty entirely too much of Elayne.
"Not at all." May slowly slid her blade out of her scabbard, eyeing the thin line of blue skies above them warily. "They just...vanished."
"That's a psychic trick." Reflexively, Misty moved closer to the canyon wall.
"No, actually. A trainer trick would be my guess. I think I saw red flashes of light just before they vanished. You draw your conclusion." May turned slowly away.
"We're in deep trouble." Misty did just that. "Their trainers know we're here now, so they're likely to be on us anytime soon."
"Yeah, but are they friends, or foes?" May surprised her with the comment. "Lotus troops wouldn't use pokemon. Avaraen aren't pokemon, and don't get recalled in pokeballs. So draw your own conclusions..." The young woman left it hanging.
"Good point." Nodding slightly, Jeffrey nonetheless made sure he held his halberd ready to strike.
"Someone's coming. I think I encountered those minds before, but then again, they might as easily be friends as Lotus - the later more easily, perhaps." Her eyes locked warily on what seemed to be the mouth of the canyon, were the lowering ridges met the slowly rising floor.
Two cloaked shadows stepped out of the way, blades held ready. A much smaller figure, extremely familiar, stepped between them, energy blazing around it.
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"Are you sure of this?" The voice of the young woman was worried. Oh, she had reason enough to be worried, of course, but, holding her cloak closed, the older woman who went by the name of Siren among her peers set to work on settling those worries, those fears. After all, she could not be allowed not to do what they had meant to be done here.
"As sure as I can be, my lady Lily." She smiled. She knew she had to convince her, none of her sisters, especially the youngest, would fall for it.
"It will keep Cerulean safe from those Avaraen?" Suspicion covered her face. "I'm not too sure about that." Even she was reluctant to fall. With a confident smile, Lorelei reached out to touch the young woman's shoulder.
"I can guarantee it. Not a single citizen of Cerulean will be harmed by those Avaraen after you're done. They will never set foot here again. All it take is a bit of dedication."
"Yeah, well. Why isn't Lance using it to protect the other cities then?" Questioning glance again, she was far more intelligent than most had assumed her to be up until the Lotus wars, when she and her sisters had dropped the pretense of being simpletons only interested in the material side of life. Still, even Lorelei had trouble adjusting her plan to their actual level of intelligence.
"He's being a coward. He's a pathetic weakling now." She knew it was a lie, she did not want to say such things about him, but what choices were there? She had to convince Lily, and she had to find a way around Lance's existence to do so. Lying was easier than having to kill him, something she could never do, not even if her life depended on it. "He gave up." She spat the words. Them being true, or at least having been so, made it no easier for her to utter them.
"I heard that too." Lily nodded slowly. "Are you really sure this is the best way to protect the town?" She asked again.
"I'm as certain as I can be." Putting on her best smile, she let her eyes lock with those of Lily. She hoped fervently her gaze didn't betray the lie, didn't reveal her duplicity.
"What does it involve again?" Reluctant. She definitely still was reluctant, but closer to giving in, at least.
"Nothing much. It's simply an old power, mostly forgotten...you can use your own blood to keep them away - the blood of each of your finger, cut. It's a great price, but it will keep your town safe from Avaraen." She had no problems uttering the words, they were true. With the power Lorelei had summoned on the young woman, her sacrifice would make sure no Avaraen ever stepped in Cerulean.
"I..." Her voice broke, she shivered. "I'll...do it." She shuddered, looking at her long slender fingers, which she had just agreed to have reduced to stumps soon enough.
"Good." Lorelei rose. She could have done what she had asked the young woman to do herself, but putting the curse upon herself was nearly impossible. Why Kiljaeden had refused to do it in her stead was beyond her - perhaps he simply did not have the same power that she, as one of the dark nine, had - , but she didn't care much about in either way.
"I have to leave now." She smiled. "I'm still far from done with my inspection, trying to see how we can end the suffering of this world and its people, you know, all that." She smiled again. It wouldn't do at this point to reveal the idea to do so was Lance, it would break her whole cover story.
"I understand..." A tremor in her voice, Lily held out her hand. "Good luck finding a way to end it all..." Her eyes were slightly glazed off.
They had, of course, already found one. She had started to implement it, the plan that she and Jared Kiljaeden, Rethen's high priest, had created between the two of them, to end the suffering. After all, if the entire world was to be destroyed, no one, nothing would suffer anymore.
"We'll do something." The confidence was easy to come by, they already had done something, and Lily would be the key to their success, without ever realizing it.
"I know you will..." Her hesitation was easy to understand, surprising only in that it was so weak. After all, she had just agreed - as far as she knew - to live our the rest of her life as a cripple, unable to do much. The reason for asking her to do so was not the one Lorelei had created.
The darkness would come from any wound, but once she had become the conduct for the destruction they hoped to unleash, it wouldn't do at all for her to kill herself. Fortunately, fingerless, she would have a hard time of slicing off her head, perhaps the only way she could end the process.
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"Who are you?" One of the cloaked figure held out a sword, as the creature at their feet packed up energy around it. The voice, however, was definitely familiar - a voice which had, at first, for years been among the things Misty hated to hear the most, then slowly had turned side, becoming the voice of a friend.
"James? That's you?"
"Well, I'll be damned. The twerp." The other voice was just as unmistakable, as now as the shape of the small creature - a rodent surrounded in a wreath of electricity.
"Pi? Kachu!" The creature yelled and threw himself at her, a smile appearing on his face.
"Raiken! Jessie! James!" Great to see you all!" Misty grinned as the little electric pokemon threw itself at her.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I'm not happy to see you again twerp." Jessie grinned back. "And for once you don't have to prepare for trouble around us." She smiled. "Well, you might have to prepare for trouble, but not because of us." The grin playing across her face was now visible even in the dim light.
"Great to see you two again!" Jeffrey agreed. "Might as well tell you, Felicity and Ralph are fine, they are helping out at the wall." He pointed out, referencing to the pair of ex members of team rocket.
"Yeah, heard about them from the boss." James replied as the two group joined near the exit of the canyon. "May...Miss Oak that is..." He turned toward the young woman. They had only met for a few minutes before the final showdown with Tremayne, and never before.
"May's fine. So you are that pair of Rocket, are you? I've heard a lot about you." She smiled, her golden light flickering a little.
"Yeah, I guess that'd be us." James blushed. "I guess you didn'T hear much good about us, uh?" A sheepish smile across his lips, he turned slightly aside.
"Some good and some bad. You did fine against Tremayne." She countered.
"Sure we did!" Jessie grinned. "Just like we're going to do fine against the people down there." She pointed with her hand at the valley extending below them, of which none of them had gotten a clear sight yet. Misty looked, and gasped. A city seemingly out of a fairy tale, spire of pure marble lancing out in the sky...
And from it all, a permeating sense of unmatched evil. The stones, pristine white, seemed to glow with an inner darkness. The towers, reflecting the light of the sun, seemed to corrupt it, to taint it. And all around the cities, Avaraen were moving.
"Whoa. What's that?" Sarah asked, her voice awed. She had probably never seen a major city - if any such really remained - let alone one such as this. There were perhaps three in the world that could claim to match the glorious splendor of the city - and fortunately, none of them had the same sense of evil - Feldaranne, Hosho, and Tamako. All of them were distant, Misty had never seem them outside breathtaking pictures.
"Home of a lot of Avaraen. And who are you?" James' answer came with a question Misty had been expecting to hear for a while now.
"Sarah Waterflower. Damian and Elayne's daughter..." She went on to explain about her age. Jessie and James seemed not very surprised, but then, after their numerous adventures in the few years they had spent as friends, it as hardly anything out of the - she giggled - ordinary.
"What's funny?" May looked at her curiously as Sarah went on with her explanation.
"Just that when something like that is not out of the ordinary, something you're almost expecting to encounter daily, things are weird.
"Very good point there." Her friend grinned. They had not been friend for long, but saving each other's life numerous time had helped establish a certain bond between the two. It was not as deep as the one Ash and Gary had seemed to share, but given time, it could come close to that.
While she considered the growing friendship - the first woman with whom she could feel such a friendship, even Elayne had not been that close, nor that kind of friendship - Naia introduced herself, and they went down to talking about the situation. She was a bit surprised to hear of Brock and Bill's big breakthrough, a bit skeptical, but the sight of the two Penumbra was enough to convince her.
"What do we do now?" Jessie finally asked, pointing at the city.
"We get in, get some info, get Elayne out, and back home." With a smile, pointing out what they would have to do, Misty looked a gain at the city.
"The Avaraen are going to get us." Jeffrey objected.
"Uh-uh...I think I have a plan." May smiled.
Chapter 19
"There's probably something in the clothes they were that makes the Avaraen ignores them." May pointed at the soldiers walking among the masses of shadow down below, around the city.
"Agreed. Best way to check would be to steal some and go around an Avaraen." James nodded thoughtfully.
"Point." With a smile, Misty rose, walking down. "Those avaraen can't spot me anyway, and I can handle those guards if I need. So, I'll get you some."
Watching the city still, May tried to push away an icy feeling as the young woman walked down the path. Of course, she was a deadly fighter, of course she was safe from Avaraen - as save as she could be - but yet, she would have felt safer had there been a way for more of them to go. She barely noticed the two shadowy birds trailing behind Misty, the smiles on the faces of Jessie and James, but when she did notice them, they relieved her far more than she would have expected.
Her fears proved unjustified. Soon enough Misty was back with enough clothes for them all to wear. She grimly wiped her sword on a clean cloth, yet her shudder as she watched the bloodstained fabric was meaningful. Death still did not agree with her, not the death of other human beings, even enemies, at her hand.
Putting on the clothes was a matter of moment, verifying the theory barely took longer. Soon enough two dead Avaraen who had never even seen or felt them coming were proof of that.
Slowly, they made their way down in the valley, May keeping her eyes locked on the city for any sign of alarm there. If they found the bodies of the guards Misty had slain, there would be trouble, that much was certain.
"Halt!" The guard at the gates of the city might not be fooled by their disguise, she suddenly realized, her heart skipping a beat. If he did see through, they would have to kill him, leaving a trail of blood from the entrance to wherever Elayne would be held.
Again, her fears were wasted. The guard gave them no more than a cursory look, then, apparently, satisfied by what he saw, motioned them forward, lowering his heavy pike.
"Get in, get in." He let them in as she breathed a sigh of relief. One part of her plan done, many left to go. Hopefully, they would all go as well as this one.
The city, seen from inside, was every inch as impressive as it had been seen from outside. Every house seemed made of marble, gleaming white stone shining in a strange kind of perfection. People went about their business, like they would in any other city of the world...
Except Avaraen were everywhere to be seen, black bodies walking, floating or flying around. Except the citizens all wore uniforms, all bore weapons, not innocent civilians but for most of them, cold-blooded killers. Their faces were stone hard, faces May would love nothing more than to punch. She had been a warrior, one of them, yet never as fanatic as those, never as eager to kill. Yes, the enemy was to be defeated, but there was more honor in defeating the enemy with as little loss of life on both side as possible...
Wasn't there? She couldn't comprehend how people could come to enjoy bringing about death and destruction, she had never done so. Enjoy defeating a skilled enemy, yes, for the very test of her skill it provided, but enjoy the killing itself, the fact of knowing she had brought about the death of hundres, thousands of other human beings? It was something she could never do.
She pulled her mind back to the point, they had to get deeper in the city, and to find the dungeons were prisoners were held. It was probably close to the great palace in the center, at least had she been in charge it would have been there. The palace had to be their headquarters, headquarters and dungeons required the most guards, therefore they could save precious resources by keeping the two together.
There was another wall between the section of the city they were in and the second one, further, in which the great spires of the palace - and possibly, the dungeon - and it seemed that the guards at those gates were both more numerous and more alert, carefully examining each of the soldiers who passed through the gates. They had Avaraen with them, beasts that as always made her blood run cold, creatures of utter shadow who seemed to like nothing more than bringing death to mankind.
"How do we get past those?" With a hushed tone, Misty turned toward her, her red-orange hair falling on her face as she silently half-drew her katana.
"I don't know yet, I'm thinking on that." Warily, she observed the troopers again. They were a bit too alert, seemed so at least...a simple noise was enough to draw all of their attention...
With a tin smile she focused her mind, the mental power that had been bound to her soul what seemed so long ago, and imitated the sound of footsteps rushing in a nearby street. The guards whirled toward it, drawing their weapons, the Avaraen moved forward...and as the sound of steel meeting steel seemed to be heard, most of them except two, and both Avaraen flew out of the gate and rushed in the alleyway.
The two last guards did not pay much attention to the small group of other guards seemingly coming in as they tried to see what was happening in the street without leaving their posts. Sneaking past them was done with ease, and finally, they were in what seemed to be the inner city.
More guards patrolled the streets here than in the area they had just left, many of them accompanied by Avaraen, holding up weapons. Their uniforms were slightly different as well, though the differences didn't mean much to her, beyond the fact that they seemed to be lead by higher ranking officers. She didn't think much of it, in her opinion sergeant were the better members of any army, not big-headed enough to stop thinking coherently, but experienced enough to know what was going on.
There was one thing she was glad for with the uniform, the fact that it was an hooded cloak, keeping her face hidden. Any number of the troopers had been part of the Crimson Lotus when she had lead their troops in war, and many of them would have certainly recognized her.
The gates of the Palace came nearer, as it became apparent from the screams and barred window which of the tower was the dungeon. Different paths lead to each entrance, and they stood there.
"Well, guess we each go our own way now..." Jessie whispered softly, pulling closer to the palace. It was not like what May had heard of her to behave that way, but then again, perhaps she had enjoyed being reunited with her friends.
"Yeah...you really think you can handle getting information out of that Palace alone?" Jeffrey seemed worried.
"We have to, don't we?" James' fatalistic replies had held an uncomfortable truth. Sensing somehow a troubled mind behind her, May turned to face Misty. Her face reflected great anguish, as if she was torn apart between two feelings.
"I'll go with them." She finally decided. "They need some backup, and I think I'm best for giving it to them..." Her eyes were pain-filled, a pain May felt reflected deep within her, a feeling of being shunned aside for Misty's old friends.
"Yeah...I guess you are..." Her voice quivered, shook, like trees in the wind.
"Look...take care k...I...I'd stay with you all, but I really think...I just know I have to be with them. Call in instinct or whatever...it's just what I think I should do. Take care though May." Misty's voice was just as thick with emotion, pain, as if she felt she was being a traitor.
"I will." With a quick promise, she turned again to face Jessie and James. "Do we rendezvous outside the city, at that old canyon?" She asked quickly.
"Yeah. If we don't get there, say, by tomorrow night, get out and get to Pewter. Asks around for Brock, Misty's friend. He'll lead you to Giovanni's base of operation, and we'll rendezvous there. If you have Elayne with you, things should work out well." Jessie nodded quickly.
"See ya there!" Jeffrey waved discreetly, moving toward the prison. May turned behind, with one last aching look.
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Turning away from her last look at May, Misty wondered again why she had chosen to accompany Jessie and James. There were perhaps no answer to be given, simple...instinct. She would have to wait and see what had brought her to this junction in time and space.
"You coming twerp?" There was a slight mocking tone in Jessie's voice. With a weary sight, Misty followed. The walls of the palace seemed bleak and flawless, but the two ex-criminals weren't about to let themselves be undone by something as simple as a marble wall. Within moments they had found an unguarded window, moments later they were inside.
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The mountains of Lavender were high and tall, the passes through them rugged and hard to follow to Tanya's tired feet. She had managed to survive the unlucky encounter with her dark mirror image, Nagori, but she only at the price of tapping further in her psychic power than she had ever done, exhausting her and keeping her down for a few days in Lavender.
Now, though, she no longer felt the exhaustion, only a well of power the like of which she had never felt...such power that was beyond even what her mother was able to tap in. A power that lured her, drew her - scared her. Somehow, her strange life-saving act had broken an unseen barrier on what she could tap into, increasing her power to level she had never dreamed of.
From the mountains, it took her only another day to reach Cerulean, making her way through to the outskirts of the city. The stark walls of Mount Moon waited behind, guarding the passes that would lead her to Pewter then her family.
Cerulean was one of the city of Kanto who had survived the breaking best, retaining her beauty and at least some of her vigor. Oh, it had lost much, but far less than Viridian, let alone Celadon. The sapphire-blue sky of late evening slowly covered the world as she tried to find a place in the city where she could stay for the night.
Strange voices seemed to whisper from within the city, a strange presence of narrowing darkness she could feet at the back of her mind, getting closer, but she could not pinpoint the source or event get a general idea of where it came from...perhaps it was only a dark feeling for the future, she had no idea.
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"We were intercepted by a force claiming to serve the "true lotus" And the "Silver Lotus", general Starkhad. They surprised us, and while we took Viridian, the civilians managed to flee thanks to their intervention. Misty clenched her fist in helpless rage and frustration as she heard of the destruction of the city - and moreover, as she heard of the city being destroyed from the very mouth of a man she had once considered her friend.
"You have failed me General Klaus." The bearded man sitting on what seemed to be a throne held an icy glint in his eyes. "Nelson's pathetic attempts are not enough to explain your failure. You...did not put enough effort in your task. I'm afraid I must...punish you. Guards?" He turned toward the doors, were two heavily armored soldiers stood.
They opened the door, letting in a group of soldiers in the same kind of armor, flanking a young woman bound hand and feet.
"Your youngest sister, I believe, is that correct?" The man, Starkhad as Todd had called him, turned toward the young man. Todd did nothing, did not answer, but the anguish in his eyes spoke for him. If she was not his little sister, she was close. "WE have taken much losses thank to you General Klaus. They must be made up for with new troops...your sister will make a few nice Avaraen, or at least her blood will."
"No..." Todd's voice was barely audible, and Misty felt a sharp surge of guilt and horror as she watched on...she had to do something. The face of her companions reflected her.
"We can't do a thing without revealing ourselves..." James murmured, thorn between mission and his sense of what was right, just as they all were. Misty felt the division even within herselves as they watched...
"Ah damn it!" With a steely sound Jessie drew her blade and her pokeballs. "ARBOK! LICKITUNG! RAPIDASH! SNOW PEARL!" She called out, releasing her four pokemon in the room as she let herself drop in through the window.
"Right!" James added, following in with the short sword that had replaced his spear, broken in the battle with Tremayne. "WEEZING! VICTREEBELL! RAFLEEN! All of you go!" he added, jumping in after his three pokemon.
"PIKA!" Raiken added in as he let himself fall in the room, unleashing his fury at the guards in fierce bolts of thunder.
"Starmie! Syldra! Rapidash! Seadra! Golduck! Lapras! All of you, I need you!" Her call was answered with the six familiar beams of red light as she jumped in as well.
"Misty? Pikachu?" There was a sound of hope in Todd's voice as they dropped in. The hope of the condemned, the one who suddenly saw a glimmer of light appearing in utter darkness - a way out where there had been none.
"DEFILERS!" Starkhad screamed in helpless rage as the pokemon filled the room. The scream was taken up by the guards.
"Let's make it a fight." Tears of hope - or maybe it was joy - ran down Richie's cheeks as he drew his sword and turned on Starkhad, reaching for something in his uniform pockent, and withdrawing a pokeball.
"DRAGONITE! I CHOOSE YOU!"
Chapter 20
Misty dropped in a fighting stance as the guards moved in toward her and her friends, her katana held on the ready. Rushing at her, two guards found themselves pushed back by jets of water streaming out of Starmie and Seadra, the two great water pokemon covering both her sides. A third guard tried to come at her from behind, but thanks to the timely warning of Syldra, the dragonair who has once been her guide on the path of being the lady of the mists, she turned to meet his blade before he could kill her, second later her own sword was meeting flesh.
She felt no pity for the guard who fell at her feet, only a wave of frustration as blue energy surrounded the man who dared to lead those murderers, letting him vanish a second before Todd's blade sank in him. Golduck used his own mental power in the fight, though not to attack, rather lifting to safety Todd's sister, putting her out of range of the dark angel-like Avaraen that had stood silent in the room until now.
Lapras and Rapidash coordinated their attacks, fire and ice wrapping around the guards in deadly combination of well-timed strike that shattered all iron as the rapid and devastating switch from warmth to cold and back simply put pressures on the steel it could no longer take.
Rafleen was high above, in the rafters of the throne room, summoning icy gales at the guards, filled with shards of the hardest ice, pushing them back relentlessly. Down on the ground, Victreebel's vine wrapped themselves around the defenders, leaving them helpless before James' sword, while Weezing would unleash tightly controlled streams of noxious smoke to keep his master's back covered. Arbok's strangling method were highly effective, as were the swarm of small stings that could come out of its fangs.
Yet not all was going well. One of the guard had already struck a blow, and a pool of rich red blood had extinguished the fire of Jessie's Rapidash's mane, the pokemon's own blood. Standing over her fallen mate, her golden horn adored with a single red drop of ruby human blood, Snow Pearl flung fierce retaliation at the murderer, but it was already too late to save the great steed. Lickitung's tactic was much similar to Victreebel's as he used his tongue to hold target at bay for Jessie to finish off at her leisure.
The last two pokemon in the battle were certainly not the least ; Raiken seemed to fly from column to column, acting as a sniper against the guard as he unleashed a devastating power on them, filling their body with energy, and leaving them crippled or dead. Many of them tried to catch him, but he was always one step ahead, mocking their ability to do anything about him. Meanwhile, flying from high above and dropping fierce streams of flame and bolts of crackling energy, Todd's great dragon shattered the enemy defenses. Todd himself stood over his sister, protecting her from harm as best as he could.
Her sword sank in the flesh of another guard, sending him down to the ground in a well-deserved death. Two more rushed at her as they kept coming, but both fell as well, one to Raiken's fiery assault, the second to Syldra's flames.
The Avaraen flew above the melee toward Todd, its great black wings mocking them - but it had not accounted with those of their pokemon that could strike above. A brilliant white flare came out of Todd's Dragonite's mouth as a beam of pure white light devastated the creature of shadow, weakening it almost to death's point - a point it reached under the combined fire of Rafleen and Raiken, thunder and ice sending the great beast down to the ground.
Jessie and James were now back to back, their pokemon close to them, the enemy had managed to surround them, using their superior number as the advantage it was. With a single sign of the head the two charged forward, their pokemon concentrating all they had against a single point among the group of guards. The pressure was too high, the guards soon broke their formation, leaving free passage to the duo and their pokemon. However, as they got out, one of the guard who had been quicker to recover managed to deliver a blow to the neck of the retreating Lickitung, causing a cry of horror and stricken loss to cross Jessie's lips.
"It's time to get out of here!" James yelled, releasing the two pokemon the group had kept hidden until there because of their lack of fighting capability, their pair of Penumbra..
"Right!" Misty nodded, jumping on the back of her rather large dragonair as Rafleen picked up Todd's sister. "Todd, get on your dragonite!"
"Right!" He yelled back, jumping on the pokemon as Misty's Golduck provided still more cover for him. The five of them flew off, recalling their pokemon, leaving the remaining guards demoralized after their heavy losses...
With a crash, the door of the main room opened. Misty breathed in relief that they had chosen to flee before the reinforcements could join in, and kept flying toward the window they had broken earlier to get in, knowing it was their best way of escape...
And was forced to veer sharply as a thick sheet of unmelting ice suddenly covered the hole there had been.
"Not so fast. This time you guys aren't getting away." The voice that spoke the words was entirely too familiar. The faces, as she turned toward the new arrivals, were equally familiar.
Butch and Cassidy.
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The five of them were clothed in uniforms similar to their own, but their very action spoke to May louder than any words. They certainly were not at home in the city, or even pretended to be, they were reading the place with a specific goal in mind, though no one could tell what it was.
It was easy, with the advantage of surprise on their side to silently overcome the group in a dark alley, and neutralize them, even despite their number disadvantage. Her psychic flow neutralized enemy with efficiency beyond her wildest dream, and soon they were left defenseless.
"What are you doing here?"
"We're coming to deal with your traitor of a leader, Starkhad." The man who seemed to lead them growled, his eyes blazing. May could feel the same fire burning inside her as she heard the words, she should have guessed. Ethan Starkhad had to be the one behind this city, just like he had been behind the failure at Cinnabar and ultimately her only defeat, at the battle of Viridian. Starkhad, and his unending ego.
"I should have guessed." The words left her lips in anger.
"You aren't one of his follower? What are you doing here then?"
"Trying to free a friend of mine and trying to find out what's happening in this place." She replied slowly, considering the new elements.
"Excuse me..." One of the soldier had spoken. "Did we meet before...your voice is somehow familiar..."
So that was it, the test, the moment were she would have to reveal herself to someone who knew her outside those who had witnessed her resurrection and their friends. The men before her were enemy of Starkhad...and as such, probably on her side...with deliberate slowness, trying to recall the man's name, she lowered her hood.
"Yes, we did, corporal." She settled on his rank finally. "I believe standard practice is to salute your superior?" She smiled.
They did not smile, as their jaws dropped open, military discipline letting room to an expression of boundless surprise. They had not expected to see her among the livings, obviously.
"Ge...general Oak?" One of them stammered. "We...weren't...weren't you dead?" He asked, tears of joy brimming in his eyes. She had long been convinced those who fought under her command did so because they wanted to fight for her, following her out of loyalty, the man's tears confirmed it. He turned toward those who had followed him. "Form up soldiers. General, the 5th commando squadron of the Silver Lotus is yours to command." He saluted crisply. "I know this is what General Nelson would want us to do, and he is in charge."
"Silver Lotus?" She asked curiously. "I have been away for years, what happened?"
"Ethan Starkhad seized control of the Lotus after the death of the grandmaster." He stopped as the news sank in. Despite his authority, or perhaps because of it, he had always been a sort of fatherly figure to May. "General Nelson, whom many believe was the grandmaster's new choice to seize control of the Lotus, led his own group away on a rebellion. Now he made them in a strike force, the Silver Lotus, one of the many small independent combat group fighting Starkhad's forces."
May nodded slowly. She could return there, but deep inside, she knew she was no longer really the same May Oak who had lead the Lotus. Oh, deep inside there were still barely hidden feelings for Eric, but she just knew she could never lead the Lotus - silver or crimson - again. No, she had to start a new beginning, if Starkhad was to be brought down eventually...a force of her own which she could use to unite all the small resistance group.
"Very well. What were you going to do here?" She turned toward them again.
"We were going to rescue a few of us who were captured." The man reported.
"Then, follow me. We'll storm their dungeons, get my friends and yours out of here, and then get out."
"Right. Glad to have you back in charge General. Starkhad doesn't stand a chance against you." The man smiled confidently.
"I sure don't intend to leave him one."
As they stepped out of the small street, they could see troops rushing past, toward the gates of the Palace, weapons held on the ready. For a brief moment, May's thought went to Misty and the others inside the palace, then she forced herself to think back about the mission they were on.
The guards left at the entrance of the dungeon offered little resistance; they were five and her psychic powers wilted away their reflexes, making them easy prey for the rapid, unexpected charge. Disarmed, they were rapidly locked inside one of the first cells.
There were rows upon rows of cell, some of them filled, and as she desperately sought the key, May finally decided to rely on a much more effective method of opening the door. Psychic energy ripped apart the hinges, causing each of the grated door to fall down, while Jeffrey, nodding, did much the same with his electricity, blasting apart locks to let the prisoners out in vast numbers.
Elayne yet was nowhere to be found, none of the cells going upward seemed to hold her. Looking around, May noticed a stairway going down, she raced toward it, the other in close pursuit, weapons drawn.
A rancid smell struck her as soon as she reached the lower level, followed by the horrid sight of what seemed to be a pulsating greenish mirror, reflecting a twisted form of the room. Through it, blood dripped from a corpse held to the roof by a rope, and from the blood falling the mirror, Avaraen were slowly forming.
"Oh my god..." she whispered in disgust. "We have to deal with that..." Drawing her sword, she readied herself to charge when blue light encased the summoning place.
"I'll take care of that." The mysterious hooded figure who had just materialized in the room looked at them. "Thanks for pinpointing this place to us."
"Should have known you were involved in this somewhere, Kyle." Jeffrey commented, smiling while Sarah's eyes darkened.
"And you'd have been right. I needed your help to pinpoint this summoning pit so that I could destroy it, so..." with that, blue storm raged around the pit, ravaging it as the prisonners who had been held waiting for their turn to be sacrificed seemed to realize something was happening.
"Sarah? Jeffrey? Kyle? May?" The voice was filled with amazement and relief. "You wouldn't believe how glad I'm all you got her..." The young blue-eyed woman had an haggard look. "I suppose we should be getting out now?" There was still wild fear in her eyes.
"Yeah. Any idea where they keep the weapons?" May asked, knowing Elayne's bow had much value for her.
"Yeah, upstair, near the entrance. I think they use the most interesting ones as trophies."
Climbing back upstairs, they did find the weapons, and many of the prisoners, those of them with enough strength left, were able to arm themselves.
"Aimée's going to seal down time for a while now, except for me and you guys. You'll be able to move around, but not them." Kyle explained rapidly. "That should give you the time to get close to the doors of the city, and your way out."
"Right." May nodded, as a green light seemed to seal the world around them. They all raced outward, hoping they would manage to get far away enough while time stood still.