Author's Note: This chapter begins where "Lost in the Walls of the Mind" parts one and two end.
Toying With The Edge of Death
Eleven
Felix came out of the door like a bat out of hell. Around her, other doors were opening, releasing everything from Carnax-Infused monsters to DrakZombies. She gripped her wise-cracking sword and began attacking. The first thing to attack was a near by Drapy, a Dragon Harpy hybrid. The creature grabbed at her shoulders and tried to pull her apart. She twirled the sword around and sliced both it's claws off. The creature died from the shock. She then twirled the sword around and back-stabbed an advancing DrakZombie.
The carnage continued for some time before it finally ended. When it was all over, only Felix remained. A loud, cursed laugh boomed in the room.
"Congratulations, Cat Demon! You have proven yourself worthy. Not only have you bested your own memories..." The dead monsters began fizzling in place. "But you bested your friends and allies, as well." As this was spoken, each monster was replaced by it's true form, Rayne, Lizzie, Trip, Warlic, Artix, Orta, Azel, Vince, and Crystal Lion. Felix's mouth gaped open. "Advance, Hero of Lore, and be tested against me. My strength against yours!" She still had not recovered from the shock of what she had done when the door opened.
"Oh my god..." She muttered, touching Crystal Lion's neck. No pulse. She was, indeed, dead. "Oh my god..." She repeated again, standing and walking away towards the open door. Once she entered, she found herself once more in the library. The Gai'lin was across the room, hold Serras by her neck. The woman's body was limp and non responsive. Smiling at her handywork, the Gai'lin dropped her puppet.
"So you survive, huh? Very good, Cat Demon. How did you like my little trial?" Maria's once soft face was now horribly contorted by the Devourer's demonic appearance. Maria's eyes, once a beautiful red, were now pure green. They glowed in what little light was visible.
"Felix!" Was Serras' last dying breath. She slid a book across the gap between her and Felix.
"You sill girl! The book cannot help you!" The Gai'lin brought up her foot and sneered.
"The book is the key! I know it!" Before Serras said anymore, The Gai'lin's foot came down, breaking Serras' back, killing her. Picking up the heavy leather bound book, Felix read the title. ' Coridias de Marte sel Lore.', The End of Lore. She opened the leather cover and turned some pages. The language was Drolonex, a very old, very complicated language.
"The book is useless, Felix! No one understands Drolonex anymore! If they did, do you think I would have written it in such a hard language? My precautions are unparralelled."
"'The Gai'lin, the Devourer is a creature of immense strength and prowess. A head on conflict with this beast surely would mean the end of any man who would attempt it. Only one may attack the Gai'lin, only the awesome power of the one true Hero may hope to harm this behemoth. Only the Hero can learn His secrets." Felix muttered, reading the written words.
"W...WHAT?!" Maria's form asked, taking a step back. "You... You understand the words? N... NO! Impossible! It cannot be... yet... how?" The Gai'lin blurted out, trying to find an answer to a question.
"I spend my free time learning dead languages. Thought that skill might come in handy. Guess I was right. Now... what does it say about your weakness?"
"NO!" The Gai'lin shouted, covering the distance between them lightning fast. It attempted to snatch the book from Felix's hands. Felix, dodging everything, kept reading as if nothing were happening.
"From the bodies of his companions, one man shall arise. The Hero Of Lore shall strike at the Devourer with the Creator's Wrath, and all shall be still. Day shall be forged from night, and from the heat and abyss of despair, Lore shall reign supreme against the Gai'lin's awesome power. For light always penetrates the deepest darkness, and prevails." Felix continued dodging the Gai'lin's attacks. "You know, this is some good readings. Maybe I'll write a translated version of this once I'm done mopping the floor with you." She looked back at the pages. "The Gai'lin's true weakness is his own. No one can say what makes the Devourer weak, and what makes him strong. But the only thing that may bring mortal harm to either the Devourer or his Avatar, is the divine blade, the blade none may possess. In old, it was called Heaven's Spear, but as it's luster failed, Heaven's Spear has degraded to a simple sword. Heaven's Spear last made a mark on history some five hundred years prior, when a young girl used the weapon to destroy an entire village of Gai'lin worshipers. Although, through the years, the weapon has been corrupted. Now called The Blade of Insight, this weapon, when restored to it's divine state, is the only mortal weapon capable of destroying the Gai'lin." Felix closed the book. "Ah, I see now. Thank you, literature!" She sheathed her sword and rolled under Maria's spread legs. She saw Serras' sword lying uselessly against a bookshelf. She took it up and waved it around a bit.
"Can't you read, little girl? The blade is corrupt. You'd have to purify it first. How are you going to do that?" As much as Felix didn't want to admit it, she was right. Felix looked about, trying to find something to purify the sword with. Something came to her... like something was possessing her, she drove the blade into one of the statues around the room. The moment the blade pierced the marble, the statue began bleeding.
"NO!" The Gai'lin shouted. "NO! Do you have ANY CLUE what you've done!?" Was the continuation. Felix drew the sword out and wiped the blood from the blade. She opened the book again.
"Complete corruption of Heaven's Spear my only be reversed by the Blood of the Devourer's Opposite; the Creator." Felix smiled. "I recognize these statues. They're of the Elemental Lords. Of the Ten Gods. Minus yours, of course. Guess you're not loved. So this place... the Drakel Library is the Birthplace of Lore, is it?"
"No... you don't understand. This is not just any Kindre Library. These books are too old to be of Kindre make. This isn't just a library... it's the library. The original Library." The Gai'lin spoke. Felix smiled once more.
"Cool. It began here, and it'll end here."
"You're really confident of your skills, aren't you?" Despite the look of surety the Gai'lin had, Felix could see right through it. "How do you even know that you purified the weapon? It could be equally useless now as it was when that useless little girl held it. How can you be so sure?" Felix made no audible response. She simply waved the blade around and vanished without a trace. The Gai'lin looked around. "Where... how... COME BACK HERE!" He shouted.
"I didn't go anywhere. I'm right here." Felix muttered from behind the Devourer. The Gai'lin spun around. Felix stood cross-armed with a smirk of glee on her face.
"Why you..." It started. A spike of pain interrupted the Gai'lin. It looked down to see the Blade of Insight driven up to the hilt into it's chest. "Well..." It coughed out, falling to it's knees. "I'll be damned..." It fell over to it's back, the sword springing free and rolling to the ground. Felix smiled, satisfied that Lore was safe forever. The body flinched and got to a knee.
"F...Felix?" Maria's voice spoke from her body. Felix looked at her. "Felix, is that you? My vision's not so great anymore..." She continued. Felix crouched at her side. "I always knew your were destined for greater things... You're not just a comic relief... You're just as skilled as anyone else... You'd have to be. You beat me. That takes some skill..." She coughed again and faltered. "Listen... I'm not gonna last much longer. I always said I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. There could be no better blaze of glory then being bested by a friend. Thanks for that, Felix. Have a good life..." With this, Maria fell over with a dull thud, her body bursting into a blossom of orange flames. Final Death. Felix stood, dispelled the tear from her eye and walked to the exit.