Chapter 21 – Crisis In The Rain

Big gray clouds loomed above the land, warning it of what was to come. Leaves shook like waves in a sea as the winds picked up its pace. A large figure ran across the forest blindly in search of her companion.

Vortayn...where have you gone?

Somewhere at the back of Irthal's head another more important question popped up; how could Vortayn move? Small drips started falling like snow, just to become a heavy downpour. As a lightning passed above Irthal's head in the sky, she thought she heard a scream, though thunder had deafened her ears. Rather than seeking blindly for him, Irthal decided to head towards the scream, if it was one.

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It started drizzling and the girls decided to head back. They were talking about the upcoming downpour when Narla heard an unnatural rustle of leaves in front of them. Brushing the thought away as strong winds, Narla moved towards the bushes towards camp. However, Oriah grabbed her arm in an abrupt stop. Turning around, Narla guessed that Oriah had heard the rustle too, and it was getting louder...and closer.

"Who goes there?"

Narla braved herself to shout at the bushes. Though she felt momentarily courageous, all feelings merged into fear when she saw what came out from the shrubbery. Oriah, too, had paled.

Standing as healthy as any man, Vortayn stared at Narla's pendant. Nothing seemed to have ever happened to him from the looks of his face and body, though his clothes were torn and stained. However, something was different. As if on cue, a lightning appeared showing Vortayn's face clearly to the girls. They gasped. His eyes were no longer those of the quiet warrior's, but were glowing red orbs, as though he was possessed or berserk. He let out a low growl and before the girls could react, he plunged at Narla.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, Oriah went to pull Vortayn's arms from Narla's neck. Not only did she fail miserably, Oriah was also thrown back into the bushes in great force. No movement came.

"Oriah-!"

Narla called out to her friend with whatever breath she had left, but was cut abruptly by Vortayn's powerful hand. In fact, one hand was all it took for him to strangle her. The other reached for the pendant. Narla's vision blurred, but she could feel her pendant was in danger, so her hands moved quicker than her mind and wrapped around her gem. Her attacker's hand squeezed harder around her neck, making her hands fall limp by her side.

Vortayn sneered maliciously at his triumph as his hand hovered above the pendant. However, the pendant had a will of its own. The moment his hand touched it, the pendant shone and burned his skin. Letting out a roar of pain and anger, Vortayn threw Narla onto a nearby tree. This was all too much for the girl from Earth. Hearing a few ribs cracking when she hit the tree, Narla fell face first onto the muddy ground as her consciousness deserted her. The rain was heavy now, draining all sounds other than itself.

"Vortayn!"

In his anger, Vortayn did not realize someone was approaching. His loyal companion arrived, horrified at the scene before her. The man she saw in front of her was not a monster with red eyes, but not the man she knew either. Vortayn looked the way he was at the start of the journey when he turned around to face Irthal, and his voice was still his.

"Irthal, you came just in time."

Something wasn't right. Irthal looked deep into the eyes of her partner for seven years. His eyes were filled with ice and his tone sounded like a snake's hiss. Irthal just stood there.

"Vortayn? What is going on?"

"This is our chance, Irthal. We could leave these people behind and bring the gemstone to our Master now. The two of us alone could reach Searia in two days!"

As convincing as it sounded, Irthal was still suspicious. She moved towards Vortayn slowly and cautiously, giving glances to the limp and muddy body of Narla.

"What is the matter, Irthal? Tarry not and take the gemstone. Master is waiting for us."

As though being brainwashed, Irthal turned towards Narla. She moved the limp body around and pulled the pendant from its chain. The gem glowed in protest, but it did Irthal no harm. Vortayn's face had twisted into a grin and the two were about to leave the girls behind when an arrow shot through Vortayn's leg.

"Vortayn!"

Vortayn let out a cry of anguish as once again his plan was interrupted. Irthal took out her swords facing the direction of the attack and out came a slender and tall figure. The rain was so hard that it formed a curtain between Irthal and the archer, but she did not doubt he was an elf by the skill of his shot.

"Legolas? Mirgom?"

The downpour drowned Irthal's shouts and though she preferred not to fight the Elves, she had no choice. The drenched Elf emerged from the bushes with a frown on his usually arrogant face.

"What is this I see? A traitor in the company? Return the gemstone, Lady Irthal."

The brawny woman stared at the Elf who had been missing for so long, but she regained her fighting pose and exclaimed,

"I do not want to harm you, Calegris. We need to bring this gem back to Searia as soon as possible, so stay out of our way or-"

"Or what? Do you really think you could defeat me? However, I am more concerned with the creature behind you."

By now Calegris' face had turned grim and stared cautiously at the woman's companion. Irthal, too, had turned around only to find Vortayn standing in an awkward position; his head hung low in front of him with his shoulders slouched diagonally. Calegris' arrow had been pulled out and the wound seemed to have disappeared. Vortayn's entire body seemed to have darkened, but the rain had obstructed Irthal's vision. Vortayn started growling and red orbs replaced his eyes.

"Vortayn...?"

It happened too fast for Irthal to react. A painful blow landed on her skull and she reeled on the slippery ground. Her brains would have spilt out if Calegris had not shot three arrows consecutively into Vortayn's torso, pushing the bulky figure into the mud piles. Irthal tasted blood, but she had no time to worry about herself. She pulled herself back up and reached for her companion when a firm arm stayed her ground.

"Do you not understand? He is no longer the Vortayn who had traveled with us. The Vortayn you knew has been slain, I was there!"

"A lie! If Vortayn had been slain, then who is this??"

With a slash of her sword Irthal managed to escape from Calegris' grip and ran to her fallen partner. In the rush of movement, Narla's pendant fell out and landed on Vortayn's chest. With a scream of a beast Vortayn's hands grabbed the gem and flung it away. Even under the rain one could see a horrid hole had been made on Vortayn's chest, as though the gem had burned through his body. Irthal's Vortayn had vanished. Instead, a hideous creature under Vortayn's mask bellowed,

"You whore! How dare you try to kill me? I'll slaughter you!!"

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Narla ran through the damp hallways. She had once again returned to the dark, icy cave, but it seemed she had landed somewhere else. This place felt like a maze. She had been running around, calling out for the old man frantically. If Narla was here, that meant she was unconscious in the real world. This much she figured out for herself through the many visits here, but as to how to get out she needed to get to the old man. She wasn't sure what had happened. The last thing she remembered was flying in mid-air and crashing onto something hard. She could not believe that Vortayn had harmed them. When she first saw Vortayn, he did seem intimidating. However, she learnt that he was a quiet and considerate warrior once she traveled with him. Rarely opening his mouth, Vortayn spoke through actions and sometimes Narla wondered if her father was of such type. She did not believe Vortayn would harm her, but he did. Or was it really he? Oriah had suspected something about his wounds and when he appeared in front of them, he did not seem like himself, or even human. Something was terribly wrong and somehow Narla had a bad feeling about her pendant's safety.

The ground was extremely slippery due to all the water and one single slip could send you sliding on your ass, and that was what happened to Narla. Slipping on a turn, Narla was sent skidding down a hallway and landed flat on a wall. Recovering herself and whatever dignity left, Narla sighed in relief at what she saw in front of her. She finally found the frozen old man...to be half frozen.

Only the bottom half of his body was frozen, and with his arms crossed the old man turned his head when he saw Narla skidding in. His usual humor had disappeared and a deep frown spread on his forehead.

"What took you so long? Narla child, you must return now!"

Expecting some comfort Narla was greatly disappointed with his tone and look. However, looking at the old man moving his arms while his legs were stuck in ice reminded her of a jack-in-a-box. Too bad his body wasn't dangling up and down nor was she in a humorous mood.

"You have no idea how hard it was to get here! I would have returned immediately if I knew how."

"No time to talk! The gem is in danger! You must return to your world!"

Your world? So what world is this? The old man's words made no sense. How could her pendant be in danger when she was the one being flung off? Returning to consciousness was what she wanted, but now that she would be going back, Narla wondered what she could do against a one-man-army like Vortayn. Narla felt her surroundings dimming away and cried out,

"Wait! Tell me what is happening? What should I do when I get back?"

The old man's figure was already gone, but a faint reply could be heard.

"Use the power of the gem...and save your-"

_________

Narla awoke with a start. The old man's words had blurred as pain moved in like a tsunami. Her wounds did not heal like they did before and she had never felt so weak in her life. Reaching painfully for her neck Narla panicked when her hand found nothing. My necklace! With great effort Narla managed to move her sore head and what she witnessed was most heart wrenching.

Calegris stood not far from her, holding on to his elven knives with an alert expression. From the state of his tattered clothes, Narla knew that he must have had a number of narrow shaves.

What took her attention was a limp body swaying about. Narla's heart almost stopped when she saw a seriously wounded Irthal being used as a shield. Behind Irthal was the most horrifying thing ever existed.

Vortayn, or what used to be Vortayn, had become a monster, with red glowing orbs as eyes and rotting skin of the undead. The stench emitted was almost unbearable and the rain was not much help. He, or it, started to roar a deafening cry he noticed Narla's gaze. This took Calegris' attention too.

"So you have awakened. I would have sung a praise for your endurance if it wasn't so damp."

Somehow Narla did not find that funny. As bad as the situation was in front of her, she could only think of one thing,

"M-my...pendant..."

When she spoke, the creature, or ex-Vortayn, tossed the body in his hand away and pounded towards Narla. With swift reflexes Calegris intercepted it with a slash of his knife. The creature swung back with a growl of pain, but it wasn't the knife that hurt him.

Narla watched the hideous monster stomped near and almost cried. Calegris had tried to stop it, but his knife seemed blunt under the rain. When it did turn, Narla was both shocked and relieved to see four to six arrows stuck on it's back.

Legolas' arrows.

Author's Notes: Words fail me to express my apologies for the delay of this fic. Life has not been smooth, pretty much like Narla's. However, the next chapter is already on the way so it would be a matter of days before I post it up. Once again, I'm sorry for the delay and thank you for all your support and reviews. Next up:

Will Legolas be able to fight his ex-comrade Vortayn? What happened to Narla's necklace?