Chapter 7
The mountain trails
Bsyk vep: Ojdeicu.
"Umm, Cid, what does that say?" Kate asked.
"I do not know. It's either gibberish, or some sort of ancient text," he said.
"Wait a second, I know this!" Scott exclaimed. "My grandpa showed me something in an old book of his! It's the language of the Black mages! I think it says 'This way, Entauro," Scott read with some difficulty.
"How could the Black Mages speak like that?" Emily asked Scott.
"They did somehow, but since this is the only lead we have to go on to get to Entauro Bay, let's use it," Scott answered. The party made their way down the steep slope, only to come face to face with a huge hill. With much struggling effort, the group managed to come to the top of the hill, that led them to a fork in the road.
"Which way?" Aisha asked.
"No clue," Kate stated while sitting down on a nearby boulder. But the second she sat down, a wave of water cracked the ground in front of the entrance to the left road, blocking any passage through it.
"Yeesh!" Kate screamed as she fell backwards off the rock. She put her hand in the air and said; "I'm fine," although it was rather feeble. Meanwhile Scott was peering at the rock.
"It says the wave will show the way. Since the water is blocking that way, it must mean we go this way" Scott explained pointing to the right.
"You better be right Scott, or you won't have a head when I'm through with ya," Kiro said in an exhausted, yet threatening tone.
"Boo hoo! Suck it up you wimp!" Emily yelled, impersonating an army-drill-sergeant.
"Please don't remind me of Ischka," Kiro pleaded.
As the party moved onwards, Kate fell to the ground, unconsciousness beating its way into her body.
Something was glittering. No wait. Shining. A handle. A sharp blade. The colour of aqua flowing through the middle of the blade.
"Heaven Sent." Hmm? "Heaven Sent. Ferma's destruction. Prevented by the heavens. Demanded by the fiery ambition of the Keeper, and her guardians. 100 years later, after the sent reaches Ferma, the Keeper uses the ancient magic to bring forth danger, to stop the use. Only one. The High Priestess. Drakonites. Ferma's saviour. Rejoicing. Happiness. The ultimate sealing of the mystic chamber.
The one. She. Daughter of the High Priestess. The gemstones lost forever. Never to be seen again. Never to be used. The inner soul. The cost is tragedy. Result is rejoicing, happiness. Guaranteed safety.
"What the..." Kate said as she woke up. She tried to lift herself from the ground, but Kiro's firm hand against her arm told her to stay down. A story? Kate pondered that thought for a few seconds when Scott asked; "What were those words, Kate?"
"Pardon? What are you talking about?" Kate asked as she looked into Scott's face.
"You were talking, but it was weird. You were... distant and vague," he continued.
"Yeah, something about 'Heaven Sent,' 'Ferma's Destruction,' Keeper,' and the daughter of the High Priestess of the Drakonites," Emily recited. She was feeling worried about Kate. It had been four months since the last time she had fainted. This time she spoke, about... something. Emily wasn't sure what to make of it.
Aisha on the other hand was just down-right confused. She had no idea if this was a normal thing for Kate to do, or if she was possessed! She spoke so funny, like she wasn't human.
Scott wasn't as disturbed as the others, sort of like he was used to the funny business that was going on in the world. Almost as if he understood why Kate was doing what she did. But a voice in the back of his head was telling him it was more than just a simple wave of exhaustion. Something else.
"Well what would a Drakonite be?" Cid asked.
"I don't know! Ever since this damned mark appeared on my arm, my life has been screwed up! Billney destroyed! Weird dreams! And now this! I don't know what a Drakonite is! And whatever they are, what do they have to with me!" Kate screamed in anguish.
"Kate, you don't have to talk about it now, Cid was just asking a rhetorical question," Emily assured her friend.
"No I wasn't, I really want-" Cid uttered, before he was silenced by Kiro stepping on his foot.
"Mmmph!" Cid said between clenched teeth.
"What Cid is trying to say, according to his facial expressions is he'll shut the hell up," Aisha said, her voicing dripping with the sugar that a parent would use to tell a child that something bad has happened. She shot a glare at Cid, and he stopped speaking, and making his face wiggle.
"Garon, I'm really worried about Taran, Misty and Armando. They should be back by now!" Diana exclaimed, worry etched across her face.
"Listen Diana, we'll think of something when Cid gets back. He's coming back with new people, so we can have them rescue the three," Garon replied.
"We can't just throw them into that kind of situation! They don't have the know-how!" the tactician retorted irritably. Wasn't this man listening to anything she was saying?
"THUNDER!" A bolt of lightning struck a monster just seconds before it was going to sink it's fangs into Cid's neck.
Further away, Kiro and Emily were working together slashing the Mist-Spawn, drawing torrential amounts of the disgusting blue blood. Nearby, Kate was smashing her rod into the wolf-like spawns. Each time she struck one, a yelp issued from it's mouth, and it fell to the ground. Moving no more.
Aisha on the other hand had been running low on arrows, and so she was left to ration them, facing certain danger, not used to fighting with her fists and feet. But she was willing to do better. Quick kicks into the stomachs of her foes, and the few that dared to leap at her through the air, were met with an upward smash of their jaw from the bottom of her palm. A body blow from behind knocked Aisha to the ground. She raised her arms to protect herself from the dripping fangs of her opponent. CRUNCH! The Mist-Spawn fell on top of Aisha, revealing Kate's figure in front of her. Aisha grabbed Kate's outstretched arm and pulled herself up.
One of the beasts fell to the ground after attacking Scott. Kiro had impaled the creature through the mid-section, blue blood flooding the ground. Another leaped through the air, met with a vicious slash across it's neck from the spear. Kate had used the strange healing powers she possessed to heal Scott, and he retaliated with an extremely powerful Fire spell. As the team retreated behind Scott, an explosion of such caliber that had never been witnessed as the might of a Black Mage. Many creatures fell, only to be replaced by more.
Emily followed by Kiro and Kate ran full out into the horde of beasts. Stabs, cleaves, and smashes were all that were heard, other than war cries from the three attackers, and the yelps of pain of their enemies. Scott attacked with another fire spell, not quite as large, but equally dangerous on more of the beasts. Aisha could only look on in despair, the despair of being unable to help. Her skills in martial arts were none to well developed, and she was low on arrows.
"To hell with rationalizing!" she screamed. She pulled the rest of the arrows from the quiver on her back (only about 100) and loaded them each into her crossbow. She pulled the trigger, and one after another fell to the ground. But the funny thing was she wasn't even aiming. An instinctive force had taken over her mind and body. Eventually, all of the beasts had fallen leaving the warriors tired and hurt.
Kate, I leave with you the strength to heal your allies.
Kate heard the voice, but did not speak out about it, just listening to it. Once she understood, she was again surrounded by swirling green and blue. When the colours disappeared, she had released a brilliant white light with sparks of blue, that surrounded the party like a tornado. A gentle breeze was the feeling among everyone, and instantly the pain in their bodies vanished leaving them with an exuberance of energy.
"Well, that was interesting," Cid mused. He thought to himself that Kate's powers were like ones of the Drakonites, although they no longer existed. Wiped out by a plague one thousand years ago. But why did she show the characteristics of one. Another thing for Greg Littel to see to.
"Hey, no more trails, and that looks like a tower in the distance!" Scott said, his hopes of Entauro Bay being near rising.
"It's the tower of Entauro!" We're almost there!" Cid said happily.
Onward they trekked across the land. The tower looming in front of them, growing larger as they drew nearer to their destination.
"Wait!" Aisha yelled suddenly. There was a change in the surroundings. The ground began to swirl clockwise, mixing the colours of the flora at the feet of the party. The few trees melted into the ground, rising again as crudely shaped protrusions.
"I know what this is. It's just an illusory world made up to scare us. Entauro tower is still ahead of us. If we get there, we'll be fine!" Aisha reassured everyone.
"Fine then Aisha. Spoil all my fun." a disembodied voice said.
Sub-Chapter 7
Enter Vertigo
"You have become quite bold Aisha." A woman had descended from the sky wearing a white robe, her face hidden behind a veil of white. Long white boots ran up her slender legs, stopping just below a white skirt that hung to half past her thighs. Long white gloves lined her arms, and a cape which was dressed upon her back, also white, fluttered elegantly the wind.
What must have been dirt was blown away as she landed slowly and softly against the ground. She raised her head and removed the veil from her face.
"G-Ga-Gabriella?" Aisha stuttered. "Why are you here!? And what the hell are you doing?" Aisha was flabbergasted. The woman who stood in front of her was her sister. A sister who was deemed as too sick almost to live.
"You ran from us! Ran from your family! Ran from your life! Ran from everything! And now you have become a thief! Stealing, pilfering, hoarding, killing any threat in your path! And there I lied in my death bed awaiting the eternal sleep when I needed a sister to help me, keep me company! You refused responsibility, helping a sister who would have given anything for you!" she had screamed, tears running down her face.
"You bitch!" Aisha spat at her. "I didn't run from you! I didn't run from mom and dad! I did it to get money for you! For your sickness! You have the nerve to say any of that to me, after I tried my hardest to send money to you to rid you of this horrifying power! When it first manifested in you, that is why you were sick. Now you have been completely wrapped within it. I'm ashamed to know you! YOU ARE NOT MY SISTER ANYMORE!" Aisha screamed in sadness. Tears fell from her eyes, splashing the ground, or whatever it had become. Gabriella had become a minion to the darkness inside of her, while the thought of it's control over Aisha's sister wrenched her heart in such a way that all hope for her dear sister had leaked out.
"If that is what you want, so be it!" With a wave of her hand, Gabriella had conjured a quiver filled with hundreds of arrows. "I hope you're ready to battle!"
Aisha grabbed the quiver and loaded many arrows into the crossbow. She dodged to her left as a Psy-blast shredded the ground where she had once been standing. Aisha quickly let a volley of arrows out of her crossbow, all aimed at Gabriella.
The arrows zig-zagged there way towards the woman in white. With a mutter under her breath, Vertigo disappeared, and reappeared behind Aisha. She held her hand with the palm facing her sister, and an invisible blast knocked her forwards. Another invisible blast was fired, missing Aisha by only a hair. If Aisha was to have any chance in the battle, she would have to attack at far-range. She fell to the ground as a Psy-blast rammed full force into her.
"Aisha, you cannot win. My powers exceed the likes of yours immensely. Give up or die!" Gabriella screeched.
"Hah! Sorry, but that ain't gonna happen!" Aisha retorted. With a lightning fast motion, she aimed her crossbow, and fired multiple arrows at her sister.
"With a blinding light, bind my foe in unbreakable chains. Disperse the shadows! RAY OF PARALYSIS!" Vertigo had countered the attack with a blinding ray of light. The arrows stopped dead in their tracks, hovering mysteriously in the air, and the ray kept moving until it hit it's prime target: Aisha.
All that could be heard at the moment was a piercing scream from the thief, until she couldn't move.
"HAHAHAHA! Aisha, why were you so stubborn? Surely you knew you could not win against the likes of Vertigo, servant of the Keeper, did you not?"
"Of course I didn't."
"Whuh... How..."
Another round of arrows had been released from the crossbow, embedding themselves into the flesh of the Psych. Blood poured from the wounds, staining the white ensemble.
"Bitch! Why were you not paralyzed?" the Psych asked.
"Your telepathic powers don't affect me. Remember when Ara was sick like you were? I gained an immunity from her!" Aisha took this moment as a chance to attack. She ran towards her sister and prepared to deliver a flying kick into her chest. 20 steps... 15 steps... 9 steps... NOW! Aisha leaped into the air with her legs outstretched towards Gabriella.
To Aisha, Gabriella, and the rest of the Night Hawks, time had been slowed down. Any sounds in the world had been silenced. Aisha could hear her heart pounding loudly, the sweat beading on her brow dripped slowly down her face. Even the blood flowing from her wounds flowed slowly. And then it stopped. A loud thud meant that Aisha's vicious attack had connected with the target. The thief fell to the ground, while her sister was knocked back several metres. Gabriella struggled to get up off the ground, but couldn't. She finally sat up on her own and began to hover slightly above the ground. In the meantime the surroundings had returned back to normal before Gabriella had tampered with them.
"Gabriella, I don't ever want to see your face again, until you destroy whatever is controlling your mind. You stay away from mom and dad, or I will kill you. Mom and dad would never forgive either of us if I did. And just as importantly; stay the hell away from Ara," Aisha finished. Her voice held an acidic tone while her eyes had a look that could pierce through the thickest of steel. She held her crossbow at her side, daring her sister to try anything.
"I will not listen to one with a mentality insufficient to mine." With those words said, she vanished in a flash of bright light.
Kate had quickly administered her restorative spell upon Aisha restoring her strength. Aisha looked away from her teammates and began to walk towards Entauro Bay. I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore. Another promise I couldn't keep. I thought that once you cried to much, it was impossible, Aisha thought to herself. She furiously blinked away the tears welling in her eyes. The rest had followed and in no time they had boarded the boat to Seldovia.
