Chapter 22 ¨C With Death Comes Release
Realizing there were more obstacles appearing, the monster howled in frustration. Millions of questions needed to be asked, but there apparently seemed no time for them. Legolas and Mirgom both shot double arrows at the strange creature in front of them. One thing was clear:
This creature had hurt their comrades, and Narla.
The arrows seemed to create temporary pain to the creature, but one could tell they were not lethal as no blood came out. In fact, the creature seemed like it was made of a big black hole.
Worried for the fate of this company, Narla tried to move herself up. However, the ground was now muddy and her body fell backwards again. A firm arm halted her fall and she faced a grim-faced Calegris.
"Our Prince may not hold the creature for long. Gem-bearer, it is time to use its power."
Narla could sense the reluctance in Calegris to ask for help and was astonished to see him holding out her necklace to her. In the midst of the chaos between the creature and the Elves, Calegris had retrieved the pendant and thought of what happened previously when the gem made a hole in Vortayn's chest. Perhaps Narla was not so useless after all.
Narla was not given any time to argue. Making sure the pendant was tightly wrapped in her hand, Calegris helped her up (and not very gently either), and dragged her little by little towards the battle scene.
Narla gasped as she took in the scene before her. With her body on the ground, she could not see all the damage that occurred. Oriah had disappeared in the bushes. Irthal's body laid silent beside a broken tree. Her Elven friends were busy shooting arrows and dodging blows from a massive creature. That creature was no longer Vortayn, nor was it a living being. It seemed to have become nothing more than a pile of foul-smelling slime in the form of a standing figure. Dark, boiling liquid mixed with mud surrounded the creature¡¯s feet. The arrows that pierced through its body would eventually slide towards the ground and out of the liquid form. The creature had no face, just a mouth that frequently gave out black smoke. The red orbs had disappeared, thus the thing was blindly flinging its organic limbs in front of it to attack.
The rain seemed to mock the Elves. They could have killed the creature easily, if they knew what it was in the first place. However, the heavy drops decided to make the battle more exciting by making the numbers equal. Mirgom lost his ground and slipped into a deep puddle. Had it been a normal raining day, Mirgom would have jumped out of it, but due to the persistence of the mud and the falling rain, Mirgom was stuck. Only Legolas was left fighting the monster now.
Something surged inside Narla. She could feel her pendant burning in her hand.
Save your friend...
It felt as though the pendant was calling to her. Something warm flowed through her wounded body and she let it in. She could no longer hear nor see the things around her. Brightness devoured her and as quickly as it came, it disappeared.
_________
Calegris felt it. He felt the heat flowing through Narla¡¯s body as he turned to see her glowing in blue. She did not seem in pain anymore. In fact, her eyes seemed distant, as though her soul was elsewhere. Without hesitation he dropped her.
He did not understand the power of the gem and he had no time to ponder it. His Prince was still struggling with the creature. He called the gem-bearer several times yet she remained dazed. He had miscalculated. The girl and the power of the gem were unreliable. Calegris took his knife and charged to assist his Prince. It has been a long time since he felt so unconfident about victory.
_________
Her sight returned even though she had them open all this while. She could feel the rain and hear the battle, but she could not move. No, Narla could not control any part of her body, not even to speak. She could sense that her body was shimmering with a strange but familiar glow. She could see the never-ending battle between the Elves and the Vortayn-turned-monster.
Just then her body moved. Her legs got up steadily with her hand clenching the radiant pendant. Narla could feel her body moving closer towards the gory scene, yet there was nothing she could do! It seemed as though she was watching the world through a telescope. Her mind reeled when she realized that her body was moving straight towards the liquefied monster. She was near enough to smell the stench that covered the area. Terrified, Narla tried to stop her feet from moving to no avail. There was no way of stopping her body from knocking face to face with the creature now.
_________
Legolas was glad that Calegris was safe and back, but that was the least of his concern at the moment. Most of his other comrades had been defeated and there seemed no method to destroy this vulgar pile of mud in front of him. He had shot its eyes, limbs, torso, everywhere! With no eyes, the monster grew even angrier and started shooting sprays of corrosive mud everywhere. How was Legolas to vanquish such an enemy when it had neither heart nor brain? The battle dragged on and under the merciless rain, the Elves were running out of schemes.
Something bright caught his eyes. It was Narla, but not really she. With eyesight sharper than an eagle, Legolas felt like they might go blind. A shining figure charged through the bushes and rushed straight to the creature. There was no mistaking it that the figure was Narla, but something wasn¡¯t right. Before he could do or even think about anything, Narla plunged her hand into the creature¡¯s liquefied torso.
Everything happened too suddenly. The monster yelled in pain and slapped Narla, hard. Although she felt the sting, her body did not move an inch. Her hand was still inside the creature and the pendant she held seemed to react within the creature. It tried to escape from her grasp but more pain came. Its whole body seemed to be boiling and gurgling. All it could do was bash Narla until she bled.
¡°Narla!¡±
Couldn¡¯t seem to hide his shock, Legolas rushed towards the gleaming girl and tried to pull her now bleeding body away, but her feet seemed to have glued themselves intact. Suddenly, in a scream of anguish, the creature¡¯s boiling body bloated like a balloon. All this while, Narla¡¯s hand did not move. The monster¡¯s body became bigger and bigger. Helpless, Legolas shielded Narla¡¯s body from the upcoming explosion.
However, none came.
The monster had solidified. There was no more roar or lashing limbs. The creature¡¯s body became cement-like hard. The rain had subsided. All of a sudden, the battle ended.
Legolas stared at the atrocious sculpture in front of him, speechless. Was this the power of the gem? He turned to face Narla, only to find her eyes staring straight at the creature.
¡°Not yet.¡±
That was all that came out from her mouth, even with her eyes still dazed. Just as Legolas turned to face the hardened enemy, large cracks formed and tiny pieces broke away. Rays of light escaped through the cracks and as the cracks got bigger, so did the light.
With one last crack a wave of light burst through the scene and swept through the land around them, cleansing it with its warmth.
Calegris and Mirgom opened their eyes to see their wounds healed. The combat area, which was bloody and dark a minute ago, was returned to the way it was. The once heavy downpour was now but a light drizzle. The menacing aura was replaced with calmness and peace.
Legolas, still holding Narla, saw that she, too, had returned to herself. She was staring at him and then in front of her, her eyes filled with sorrow. Were those tears or raindrops under her eyes? He turned around and exclaimed,
¡°Vortayn...¡±
What they had been fighting was now gone, replaced by their old comrade. However, Vortayn was now a translucent figure with Narla¡¯s hand passing through his soul. His hands held Narla¡¯s arm (although she could not feel a thing) and said,
¡°Thank you, my friend.¡±
With that, Vortayn¡¯s soul started to dissipate.
¡°Vortayn!! No!¡±
Everyone turned to see a live and well Irthal dashing through the bushes towards her partner, her face in grief. Her best friend came back, only to leave again, this time for good. She reached out a helpless hand out, but it passed right through him.
¡°Don¡¯t leave, please.¡±
The only person that Vortayn could not bear to leave behind was Irthal. She was more than a combat partner, even though he never expressed it. They intended to leave for the south once this mission was over and he would ask her to settle down with him.
Now it seemed that he would never get the chance. Her look of anguish only made things worse. With a sad and longing smile, Vortayn bid goodbye to Irthal before disappearing into the air.
¡°VORTAYN!¡±
Author¡¯s Note: No amount of apology could atone my sin for delaying this fanfic, so I¡¯ll just say it once. I¡¯m sorry. And thank you for all the support even though my fic seems like a dead duck now. Thank you to all my readers, supporters, reviewers and critics! I shall try to change my speed on writing the next season of this fic. Yup, season 1 has ended tragically. There¡¯s still season 2...shall I kill another party member? Hmm... Anyway, next chapter: Will the company ever find out what happened to Vortayn? Can they cross the Iron Hills safely? Thank you once again!
PS: there is something wrong with my file. Can¡¯t figure out what, but some of the inverted commas and apostrophes become unknown symbols. They¡¯re fine offline though. Me using Word...it should be fine...hik hik help?!