w00t!! 100 reviews!! AND Bristol Rovers won their playoff final!! Double w0000t! All is cool in the land of Nisa!
Thanks to: Meg, Spongey, Kira, Kakure and Starlit Phantomess for bringing this story's reviews to the century-mark. Nice one guys, you rule!!
Dedication: This chapter goes out to Sam and Amanda, a pair of identical twins who are competing in the 8th series of Big Brother which started here in the UK yesterday (30th May 2007). They're bubbly, chirpy, cute and have a habit of finishing each other's sentences - in other words, they're my own Starz twins Mimi and Nini, but dressed in pink!! Go Melody Sistas!
Random Quote: "Oh my god! Can you believe all the pinkness?" (Sam commenting on the colourfulness of the new Big Brother house... or was it Amanda?)
"Leg it!!!"
Our heroes and heroines sprinted and flew through the many-forked corridors deep within the centre of Shadowhaunt, all of them cursing their luck.
Just a few minutes before, they had reached what they thought would be the end of their journey - a large, imposing wooden double door. Up until then, Taranee's face had been a picture of glumness but as they approached it, the young fire guardian's face became a whole lot brighter as a huge smile appeared.
"She's here - I can feel it!" she beamed, doing her best to contain her elation.
"Who? Will?" Mimi replied as she and Nini continued walking together with her in the middle of a three-way embrace. The twins had developed something of a close bond with Taranee - it was kind of a big sister thing, they would later say.
"Uh huh," Taranee nodded. "She's in that room."
"Finally. Come on then, let's get her and get out of here!" Cornelia said as she walked up to the door with the express intention of bulldozing it with a hefty dose of her earth magic.
That was when it hit them. It started softly at first, nothing more than a warm breeze that appeared out of nowhere, but it quickly became hotter and hotter until the air in front of them burst into an intense flame of bright orange. The lads and lasses had no choice but to take a step back and as they did so, a familiar figure began to materialise in front of them.
"Oh man," Stella groaned as the figure became clearer. "It can't be!"
But it was.
It was the Ifrit, and it stood towering above them with a myriad of ugly burns running this way and that all across his body, his arms crossed, glaring down at Charlotte in particular.
"Nahriina! You'll pay for what you did to me!"
Charlotte bravely stepped forward.
"Be careful, babe." Riven whispered. "Something ain't right here."
"Don't worry honey - I'm gonna take this bozo out once and for all!" she said to him before turning her attention to her supernatural foe. "So... want me to give you more of the same, do you?"
The Ifrit gave a cold dark chuckle. "By all means, please do!"
Charlotte paused for a split second. Why would the Ifrit say that, of all things? For someone who knows that her magic would hurt him like hell, he seemed mighty confident - could Riven be right about this? Or was this... this ithing/i just trying to psyche her out? She shook her head to clear these unwelcome nagging doubts from her mind before launching into an attack, firing off a fearsome volley of fireballs at the Ifrit.
"No way!" she cried as they just thudded off him - they made him stagger a little, but apart from that they had no effect on him. The Ifrit just stood there and laughed.
"Come on Nahriina, surely you can do better than that!"
Riven dashed forward and took Charlotte's hand.
"It's this place - it's weakened you."
Charlotte shook her head. "I don't think so. That attack was as strong as it always is. There's something else."
She was interrupted by the gloating Ifrit.
"Come on little girl - I'll be kind and give you another free shot."
Charlotte glared at him before taking off and mustering all her strength.
"Nahri Flamethrower!" she yelled as she unleashed what could only be described as a tidal wave of fire which quickly enveloped the Ifrit. She kept her attack going for as long as she could before falling to the ground in a daze, collapsing gratefully into Riven's muscular arms.
"Baby! Are you okay?" Riven yelled.
Charlotte blinked and shook her head once more before standing bold upright.
"Did I get him?"
The answer, sadly, was no. The Ifrit, all twenty feet of it's demonic figure, stood defiantly in front of them as if nothing had happened.
"Pathetic! Now it's my turn." he sneered.
"Bring it on. You still can't hurt me!" Charlotte shouted equally defiantly as she marched forward to meet him.
"Charlotte! No! He's too strong!" Riven shouted as he tried to stop her.
"What?" she replied, staring at the Ifrit in shock as he unleashed a huge fireball in her direction. Instinctively she raised her arms in self-defence, expecting it to bounce off her or even pass through her, just like his previous attacks had done - but not this one. It slammed into her with the force of a thousand rockets, sending her flying backwards. She cried in pain as she looked at her arms, which were covered in a fearful mixture of bruises and smouldering burns. Whimpering, the injured fire fairy tried to pick herself before swooning back to the ground in the mess of tattered cloth which her dress had been reduced to.
"Heh. You poor little child - it looks like you found out a little too late!" the Ifrit laughed at the sight of his hated enemy laid out before him.
Riven growled at this cruel mocking. "You'll pay for that, you monster!"
"Really? Well mind your heads as you go!"
At this point, the Ifrit leapt up and aimed an uppercut directly at the ceiling. With a loud rumble, large cracks instantly appeared and ran directly over the heads of our heroes, sending a shower of rocks onto them.
"We gotta get out of here!" Tegryn yelled.
"No! I'm not letting that git get away with what he did to Charlotte!" Riven replied angrily.
"Not here!" Tegryn said as he looked at the rapidly crumbling tunnel. "If we try and fight him in such a cramped space, he'll cream us in no time. We have to lead him back to... that room. Come on - leg it!"
And so they took flight, going as fast as they could with the Ifrit marching behind them, sending the occasional fireball their way just to remind them he was still on their case and that they should keep on running.
Riven, who was carrying Charlotte on his back just like the hero he was training to be, glanced back over his shoulder at the Ifrit.
"Why is he just walking? I thought he wanted to catch us."
"He could catch us any time he wants - the Ifrit can transport themselves in the blink of an eye." Tegryn replied.
"So what's he up to?"
"He's either toying with us, or he's herding us somewhere. I dread to think which."
Tegryn's suspicions were soon answered as they approached a fork in the tunnel that they had passed shortly after leaving the scene of their previous battle.
"That's as far as you go, insects!" the Ifrit yelled as he slammed a fist into the ground, sending a tremor into the group which took them clean off their feet. Seeing them trying to pick themselves up, the Ifrit smiled a smile of immense self-satisfaction (or at least he would have done if he had a mouth). These pixies were lined up perfectly for him. Taking careful aim, he sent a brightly-glowing fist slamming once more into the ground, sending a wave of intense fire screaming towards them along the floor. In a panic, they threw themselves to each side as the wall of flame reached the centre of the fork and stopped. The Ifrit's little ploy had worked - the group of brave young fleshlings were now neatly divided in half, and now all he had to do was to pick which half to take out first. His eyes were immediately drawn to group on the left, where Riven stood holding up his half-conscious Charlotte, alongside Bloom, Sky, Layla, Jason, Nini, Musa, Tegryn and the remaining WITCH girls.
Perfect.
The Ifrit leapt up and aimed another thunderous uppercut straight into the ceiling above him. A large crack snaked its way towards the left-hand side, leaving a shower of rocks in its wake as it bore down on the group. Desperately they sprinted away to avoid getting crushed but just as they were getting clear, a small rock fell in front of Irma, causing her to trip and land heavily.
"Teggy!" she yelled. Everyone stopped and looked back in terror at her frightened face as it began to disappear in the cascade.
"Irma! No!" Tegryn shouted as he rushed in towards her. Soon, they had both vanished in a deafening cloud of stone and dust. Musa looked on forlornly as the last few pebbles bounced off the pile that had now blocked off the passageway.
"Teggy?" she squeaked, biting her lip. "They... they can't be..."
Hay Lin walked forward and laid her hand on the rock pile, closing her eyes as she listened intently. Pretty soon, a smile appeared on her face.
"I can hear them. They're still in there."
"We gotta get them out!" Musa cried as she began trying to shift the huge boulders before being pulled back by Bloom... and just in time too as she narrowly avoided a mini-rockslide.
"Calm down sweety," she said soothingly. "We don't need you getting buried under that lot."
"That's right." Cornelia said as she thrust her hands outwards. "Let me handle this!"
With barely any effort at all, she began to will the rocks away, sliding them off and laying them down expertly in a neat little pile, until eventually a figure completely smothered in dust could be seen huddled on the floor, with one hand holding Irma tight as she lay curled in a ball beneath him, and the other cradling Discorda almost like a little baby.
"Teggy! You're okay!" Musa cried as she ran forward to him. Upon hearing her sweet dulcet tones, he poked his head up with a sigh of relief.
"Phew!" he exclaimed happily before coughing up a huge cloud of dust. "I'd love to say that was fun but..."
"Cool! How on Magix did you get out of that?" Cornelia asked as she helped to haul him and Irma up.
"Luckily I was able to cast a shield spell around us just in time." he explained in between bear hugs from his beloved. "Irma? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just peachy!" she replied cheekily as she dusted herself off.
"That Lork Darkar has a lot to answer for." Discorda grumbled. "Just look at me. My best outfit - filthy!"
Tegryn chuckled. "Don't worry Dizzy, we'll save a piece of him for you!"
"What, with those rags he wears? No thanks!" the little pixie retorted. "And I've told you before - don't call me Dizzy!"
Tegryn smiled and patted her on the head as they looked through the half-cleared passageway. It was completely empty now, with the other exit blocked off by a wall of flame similar to the one that separated the group in the first place.
"Man I hope the others are okay." he mumbled. "Come on, let's go."
"Shouldn't we try and help them?" Taranee asked.
"Believe me Ranee, I'd love to more than anything, but the longer we spend chasing around this place, the closer Darkar gets to the Heart."
"He's right," Cornelia sighed. "We can't let that happen. The quicker we spring Will out, the more chance we'll have of kicking that thing into the next dimension."
And so they walked off. After the noise of the collapsing tunnel, the area was thankfully silent... except for one little noise. It was a soft sobbing noise, coming from behind them them. They turned around to see Nini standing there with her back to them, staring sadly at the firey barrier.
"Nini? What's wrong?" Musa asked as she joined her.
"Mimi... My sis. She's... she's... alone." she murmured, stifling her sobs as best as she could.
"No she's not babe, she's with the others," Musa said soothingly as she put her arm around her.
"She is. She's my sis. We've never been... separated... before. She's alone!" she wailed as she finally broke down, slumping to the ground in a flood of tears.
"Of course - she's your twin. That means that she's more than a sister to you, isn't she?" Tegryn said as he joined them. She nodded as she looked sadly at him and Musa through her sparkling deep sapphire eyes before once again breaking down, clinging to Tegryn for support.
"Ssssh, ssssh - come on now N." Tegryn said as he hugged her while she bawled into his blood-streaked chest. "You and Mimi'll be back together in no time, I just know it."
"Yeah, not even that creep Darkar and his stupid little cronies can keep you two apart for long. Just you wait and see." Musa added.
Nini quickled wiped her face and looked at them. "You really think so?"
"Uh-huh! We really think so!" they nodded together before looking at each other and giggling childishly.
"Oh man!" Nini said with a smile. "You sure you two ain't twins too?"
With that they rejoined the party, arm in arm, as they made haste towards the doorway that had been denied to them before. As they neared the door, Tegryn suddenly winced in pain and reached for his injured leg.
"Teggy? What's wrong?" Musa asked, her voice tinged with concern.
"Damn it!" he grunted angrily. "It's my leg - I think Flora and Delphi's spell is starting to wear off."
"Already?"
Tegryn nodded. "I guess this was so major, no painkilling spell was gonna last that long." he said, breathing deliberately slowly as he composed himself in a real mind-over-matter moment. "Come on - let's see to these doors."
"Shall we knock?" Sky asked.
"Yeah, I'll knock alright - knock a ruddy great hole in 'em! Rage Blast!" Tegryn yelled as he fired off his trademark blast of pure white energy. Before you could say 'may we come in?', the doors were suddenly nothing more than a pile of splinters. The group waited in a uneasy silence as the smoke cleared before finally they were able to enter into the room. It was large and rounded, surrounded by a row of grand columns. At the far end sat a plinth with an imposing throne sat on top of it, and just behind that stood a very familiar figure indeed, pinned to the wall and surrounded in a dancing green and pink glow.
"Will!" Taranee shouted happily as she dashed blindly forward to her dearest friend, completely oblivious to the danger lurking above her...