Chapter 6
D was running. She held the Snake Cross Amulet tightly to her chest. Her legs felt heavy, like they had been turned to stone. She was exhausted, having run all night. It was morning now. She had to meet with her friends soon, but she was way off course.
She reached a cliff. The beast landed and the evil got off. She ran and was thrown off the cliff. Her heart pounded as the ground got closer. There was one thing she could do to save herself. But what was it? Her name was different. What was it? She had a whole other life before this one. What was it?
"D, wake up." said a voice and a hand touched her.
D opened her eyes. She was back in the room in the witch's house. Rayman stood over her. It had been his voice and his hand. Neshae stood next to the door with a bag in his hand. The witch was nowhere to be seen. "What time is it?" she asked.
"Dawn. We have to get going. The witch says Tempistus is very close to the amulet by now and we have to teleport now if we're going to beat him to it." Rayman explained.
D sat up and slid out of the bed. "What's in the bag?" she asked.
"Something to eat. We won't have time to eat before we leave." Neshae said.
They left the hallway and entered the room where they had touched the stone the previous night. The witch stood by a far wall and a pool of glowing, aqua colored liquid with a red-orange center swirled in the middle of the floor.
"Jump in before my energy is used up." the witch said.
"Thank you." Rayman said. "Bye." He jumped in.
Neshae waved. "I'm gonna miss this place!" He said loudly because he merely felt like it, then jumped in.
"Hurry, child." the woman said. The portal began to shrink. D jumped in before it closed.
In an instant, she was standing in a dark tunnel. Rayman and Neshae were next to her. Brownish colored stones made up the ceiling, while the floor itself was dirt. Torches hung on the walls. A few openings in the walls were blocked by stone bars with barbs sprouting from the sides.
"We're in the knaaren tunnels." Rayman said. "I'd recognize this place anywhere. Let's just hope we can find this amulet before we get caught by knaaren."
"What exactly are knaaren?" Neshae asked as they walked though the tunnel.
"They're invincible, they're deadly, and they're carnivorous." Rayman answered. "You'll see what one looks like in a minute or two. These tunnels are swarming with them."
"Do you think we'll find out what they were doing in the forest while we're here?" D asked.
"I hope so. I'll bet Dark has something to do with it." Rayman said.
The ground shook under them and collapsed. All three of them fell through it and landed in another hallway just like the other, only this one had a few knaaren in it. The knaaren looked at them for a moment, as surprised as they were.
"Run!" Rayman said and ran in the direction without the knaaren. D and Neshae followed close behind, followed by the knaaren.
There was a fork in the path, one direction going left and one going right. As they approached the fork, knaaren came out of the right path, forcing them into the left one. Neshae was the first to enter, then Rayman, then D.
The ground shook under Neshae's feet as he ran over it. He made it across before it collapsed, but Rayman and D fell through with it. When they landed, they saw knaaren jump over the hole after Neshae. He could not join them down there.
"How many times is the floor going to collapse beneath us?" D asked.
"At least there aren't knaaren down here. But look!" Rayman pointed past D.
Up on an altar of bones, a glowing, blue cross floated gracefully. D walked up the steps to the altar and as she did, she got a better look at it. The cross was made of glowing, blue snakes, bound together by the ring around them. A chain was attached to the longest snake's mouth. This was the Snake Cross Amulet. They had found it.
D picked up the amulet and put it on. She would not loose it again. Now she just had to remember how to use it.
"Woah!" Rayman cried out in surprise behind her. D turned around and saw five knaaren coming at them through the one opening in the room. They were trapped.
"Got any ideas?" D whispered.
One of the knaaren spoke to them. "So you are the one who killed Reflux, the one they call Rayman."
"Yes." Rayman said.
"Reflux was my best friend." the knaaren said. "These are our other friends." He gestured to the four other knaaren around him. "We have vowed to slay the one who has caused our suffering."
"Wait!" Rayman said. "Wouldn't you rather fight me first? Wouldn't you like defeating me in battle and then killing me better than just killing me?"
"We know better than to fall for that." A second knaaren said. "Reflux was a greater warrior than all of us and you defeated him."
"I actually only killed his staff." Rayman said. "In the end, it was the scepter he stole that killed him."
"Alright." the first knaaren said. "Let's fight."
"Let me fight." D said.
"What?" Rayman asked.
"Let me fight. I might be able to remember how to use the amulet. You don't stand a chance fist fighting something invincible."
"Okay." Rayman stepped back to let her fight.
A third knaaren slammed his fist against the wall, causing rocks to fall around Rayman, creating a cage of stone. That way, he would not be able to help D fight.
The knaaren approached D. She tried to feel the amulet's power, to find its source, its inner core, its essence, to find a way to unlock its magic. Nothing happened.
She backed up to avoid being caught by a knaaren. She decided to try anything else she could throw at it. She let her rage come out and concentrated it in her hand, forming a fire ball. She threw it at the closest knaaren. It merely dissolved into a flicker and disappeared as it hit the creature's skin, not even leaving a mark.
She tried earth magic next. She dropped to the ground, her hands flat on the stone, and felt the essence of the rock like she had back in the forest when she trapped Dark Rayman in the stone.
Spears of rock shot out of the floor and at the knaaren. They batted the spears away as they came, causing them to shatter. D gazed for a moment in disbelief as the fragments hit the stone next to her hands.
Claws wrapped themselves around her waist. Her feet left the ground as one of the knaaren picked her up. Her heart pounded in her chest, going faster than she thought was possible. A painful knot tied in her stomach.
The other knaaren gathered around to join in the feast. Behind them, she could hear Rayman cry out her name. If she was going to remember a power that could save her this was the moment to do it. This was the last chance she had. This was the last moment.
She suddenly felt like her soul was moving on its own, separate from her body. She could move her arms and reach out wherever she wanted, as far as she wanted.
D looked up at the knaaren that had a hold of her. Her eyes seemed as cold as steel as they sent a piercing stare directly into his eyes. The knaaren hesitated for a moment, unsure of what was going to happen. Now that there was a distraction, D punched at the knaaren with her soul. It immediately let go of her and flew across the room, crashing into a wall. She dropped to the ground in the middle of all the knaaren.
"Why you little..." another knaaren said and came at her.
D held out her hand and reached out again, sending that knaaren against the wall as well.
The others did not want to stick around for her to attack them also. They helped their friends to their feet and ran off down the tunnel from whence they came.
"That was amazing!" Rayman said. "What did you do?"
"It wasn't the amulet, I can tell you that." D told him. "Now how are we going to get you out of there?"
Rayman pushed on one of the stone bars. D pulled on the same bar, adding her strength to his. It cracked at the bottom and fell over, creating a gateway for him to come out.
"No problem." He said.
The wall behind him exploded. Rocks flew everywhere. The ground shook, knocking Rayman and D to the ground. One rock hit Rayman's head, knocking him out.
When the dust cleared, D saw a figure walk through the hole in the wall and into the room. Everything about this man was white, from his cloak, to his hair, even his eyes.
Purity...D thought. Tempistus sees the world as impure and wishes to destroy it.
The man looked at D, then at the amulet hanging from around where her neck would be if she had one.
"Give me that amulet." He said.
D shook her head.
"Give it to me and I will spare your life." the man said.
"You're Tempistus, aren't you?" D asked.
"I am. Now give me the amulet if you wish to see another day." Tempistus demanded.
"No." D said.
Tempistus held out a hand. "Then I will kill you first."
D held the amulet in front of her. "I wouldn't try that. If you hurt me, you're going to hurt the amulet."
"I see. We're going to play that game." Tempistus turned his gaze to Rayman, who was still unconscious on the floor. "Two can play it."
Seeing what was happening, D let her rage out and concentrated it in her hand, like she had when fighting the knaaren. A fire ball formed.
Tempistus picked up Rayman and held him in front of him. "I wouldn't try that. If you hurt me, you're going to hurt him."
D's heart pounded again. She watched helplessly as Tempistus reached up and blew a hole through what appeared to be four ceilings, revealing a mid-morning sky. A massive, winged beast that was five times her size flew in. Its body was like that of a lion, except for its black fur. And its head was like that of a bird with black feathers. Huge bat wings sprouted out of its back, allowing the creature to fly. Around its neck was a silver collar with reins attached.
It landed between her and Tempistus. The sorcerer climbed onto the beast's back and gave it a command in a language D couldn't understand. The beast flew back up through the hole. D's stomach clenched, because with it, it carried Rayman.
"Watch out! Coming through!"
D looked into the tunnel that the knaaren had come through. Neshae ran towards her, with the knaaren they had first encountered still following.
"Neshae!" D called. "Tempistus got Rayman!"
"What?" Neshae stopped when he reached her. He glanced back at the knaaren. To buy more time, he threw the bag of food the witch had given him at them. "We're going after him." Then taking hold of D's waist, he spread his wings and flew through the ceilings, leaving the knaaren behind.
Once in the air, they looked around for any sign of Tempistus.
"There!" D said, pointing towards a black blob in the sky. The beast was flying fast.
Neshae took off after them like a bullet. As they got closer to Tempistus, D saw him turn around to look at them. Then he turned the beast around and flew back, then stopped when he was close enough. Neshae stopped too. They both hovered for a moment.
"You have my brother." Neshae said.
"And your friend has my amulet. Bring it to me in the mountain over there" Tempistus pointed to a mountain in the distance, surrounded by trees at the edge of the desert, "if you ever want to see him again."
Tempistus turned the beast around and it flew away, faster than Neshae had been flying before. Neshae flew after him, though not fast enough to keep up.