CHAPTER 23:
SURPRISE ATTACK

With the Gaia Dragon out of the way, the Heroes, Icarians, and their faithful dragon headed for the enormous tower that was Gaia. Finding what used to be the metal doors of J Base, they headed inside. Once again, they found themselves within the dark chambers of Gaia itself. Groping along the slimy walls, while being careful to avoid those enormous tentacles, they headed deeper and deeper, climbing higher and higher.

"So," Justin began. "All we have to do is travel to the Gaia Core, and let the dragon torch it, right?"

"I seriously doubt it will be that easy, Justin," Feena replied. "You remember what it was like last time we were inside Gaia. I still remember. It always seems like the walls are whispering to each other about you. And then you think that you hear laughter...cold, evil laughter. But there is no laughter. There's just the sound of your heavy breathing and rapid heartbeat. Then, as you go deeper and deeper, the light gets darker, and the air gets thinner, and your skin gets colder, until you can hardly breathe. It begins to feel as if the walls are closing in around you, and some invisible hand is clutching your throat, and the only thing you care about in the whole world is to find a way out so you can see the light of day again, and breathe the fresh air again. And all you can do is try to ignore it all, and pray to God that you don't go insane."

After what seemed like an eternity, the group decided to take a rest, a very risky decision to make while inside an enormous tower that was also the bringer of death.

"We should have been there by now," Feena said to herself. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

Justin had to admit that he was feeling the same way. Something just didn't seem right to him, like someone, or something, was watching him. "We should probably get going," he announced.

As they got up, though, Justin heard something in the distance. Footsteps. The sound was definitely that of heavy footsteps, slowly coming his way. The footsteps gradually grew louder and faster, as if whomever they belonged to was speeding up to a run. Justin then heard the unmistakable sound of a large sword being unsheathed. Looking towards his right, he saw a large figure running towards him.

"Look out!!!" he hollered as he dodged the blade that came down at him. Turning around, he looked straight into the face of Baal.

"Time to end our little adventure," Baal remarked with a maniacal grin as Justin and all three of his accomplices readied their weapons. Baal charged towards Justin with his sword raised and brought it crashing down upon his blade.

Mullen instinctively raised his sword and sliced it straight through Baal's arm, which fell to the ground. To his surprise, Baal didn't even seem to be in pain. He just stared at Mullen, then looked down at the bloody knob that used to be his left arm. He looked back up at Mullen and smiled evilly.

Baal kicked the useless arm aside. In a few seconds, the knob hanging from his left shoulder began to grow. It grew longer and longer, until, finally, it had grown into a new arm. "Insignificant little insect!" he bellowed, and he raised his hand up to Mullen and psychically sent him flying across a room.

Leen ran up and shoved her saber straight through Baal's torso. Baal just struck the side of her head with the back of his broad hand, knocking her off her feet. He then pulled the saber out of his body, which now had a hole so deep that you could look through the other side, until it shrank and disappeared.

Justin leaped into the air with his sword raised and swung it through Baal's neck. His head fell down to the ground and rolled into the darkness. "That had to work," Justin thought to himself.

Baal's body swayed on the spot. It seemed to have worked. His body was growing weaker and weaker. But then, the headless neck that stuck up from the top of the body began to grow. It bulged at the top, and when it had finished growing, Baal once again had a head. He grabbed Justin by the throat and raised his sword.

Just as he was about to bring it down, though, Feena leaped up and wrapped her arms around Baal's large wrist. She held on with all her might to keep Baal from killing Justin.

But Baal had other plans. He grabbed Feena by the hair and pulled her off his arm. Letting go of Justin's throat, he threw her against a wall. "You, I've had enough of," he growled into Feena's face. Still pinning her against the wall, he raised his sword and shoved it through her body.

Feena let out an ear-splitting scream of agony as cold steel ripped through flesh and vital organs. But Baal just kept pushing the sword through her, until the tip of the blade was poking out of her back.

"Get the hell off her!!!" Justin screamed as he charged towards Baal.

Baal pulled the sword from Feena's torso, letting her fall to the floor in a heap. As Justin swung his sword, Baal caught Justin by the wrist holding the sword. He squeezed it with all his might, causing Justin as much pain as possible, causing him to drop the Spirit Sword. Baal picked the Spirit Sword up off the ground and raised it up into the air. "Now, you die," he laughed with a crazy smile upon his face. But as Baal held the Spirit Sword, he thought that he smelled something burning. Then, he heard the sizzling of burning flesh. Finally, he felt intense burning upon the hand holding the Spirit Sword. It felt as if he were holding his hand against a hot grill. Screaming in pain, he dropped the Spirit Sword, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter. Looking at the palm of his hand, he saw that it was red and swollen, and covered in blisters, and the texture of the hilt of the Spirit Sword had been burned into his flesh. The Spirit Sword was filled with far two much goodness for Baal to touch it. Frightened, Baal ran off into the darkness.

Justin ran up to Feena and scooped her up into his arms. Her blood was literally all over the place. Justin looked down at her. She was barely alive.

"J-Justin...." she muttered, as a small trickle of blood poured out of the corner of her mouth.

"No, no! Don't talk, Feena," Justin told her, wiping the blood away with his sleeve. "Y-you need your strength."

"It...doesn't...matter. It...It's...too...late...for...me."

"N-no, Feena! I...I won't believe that. Come on! We've got to get you to a doct...."

"We're...too...far...away...from...help. You...won't...make...it...in...time. I...I...can...already...feel...myself...slipping...away."

"Don't say that! You're...you're going to be fine!"

Feena paused for a second. "P...promise...me...Justin."

"Huh?"

"Promise...me...that...no...matter...what...you...won't...give...up. You...and...the...others...can...still...defeat...Gaia.

"We can't do this without you! Feena, hold on!"

"Promise...me...Justin. I...I...love...you."

And then, she was gone. Justin looked down at Feena as he held her body in his arms. Even in death she was beautiful. A tear silently rolled down Justin's cheek, something that never happened to him in a very long time. Knowing that there was nothing he could do, he bent down, planted one last kiss on Feena's lips, and walked off into the darkness, towards the core of Gaia.

TO BE CONTINUED