I'm back! JHave a climax chapter! (MWAHAHA) *cough* someone ends up having PTSD *cough*
*Blinks innocently*
What? Nothing!
AshallynDXA: Thanks! J
Reyanna Pov
Fact: Honeydew was right.
The desert was cursed. However, it was no match for our flying rings.
Also: He- meaning Israphel- was in the desert. That's why we had to go in. Apparently the soldiers at the hold had already noticed the Sands becoming more powerful, and of course they'd seen the giant sandstone tower rising out of a suspicious looking crater. So, why not go look?
I'm being sarcastic. This is what happens when I don't get enough sleep. Yes, yeah, yay, we're going after the lord of creepers. So fun.
Anyway, as we geared up and entered the desert, I was not a happy camper. I had little love for deserts, despite growing up in one. I also had no love for creepers.
The crater was massive. It could have held the Jaffa factory easily. Rising up from the bottom of it was a tower, looking like it popped straight out of a storybook, except the fact that it was carved with images of creepers all over it, etched into the sandstone.
"How much do you want to bet he's not in there and is going to trap us inside or something?" Honeydew asked. Xephos glared at him.
"Ten emeralds." Sips said. Xephos glared at him, too.
"It does look like a decoy." Lalna agreed.
"Do we really care? We can easily bust out through sandstone." Kim blurted.
"Let's get a closer look, at least." Ridge said, leading the way to the top.
No sooner than we got close than a boom echoed outwards from the tower, though we couldn't see any damage. But the message was clear.
"Well, something's in there." Sjin said. Xephos nodded.
"Honeydew, would you do the honors?" He asked.
Honeydew lifted his pick. "I thought you'd never ask."
The diamond pick smashed through the sandstone like it was sugarcane. The tower shuddered.
"Maybe that wasn't a good idea…." Minty said. Moments later, the roof collapsed under us. Typical.
Only Rythian, Lalna, Sjin and Lomadia managed to get up in the air in time. The rest of us tumbled down the inside of the tower. As I fell, I could glimpse floors that ringed the outside of the tower but had nothing in the middle- perfect for falling down.
If this wasn't a trap, than I was a pink squirrel.
I managed to somehow twist my flying ring mid-fall and land safely on the fourth floor/balcony. Glancing below, I saw that Toby, Zoeya and Kim were on the level below. I could just make out Nilesy and Teep on the bottom floor. Martyn was on the same floor as me but all the way across the tower.
"Is everyone all right?" Lomadia shouted.
"Teep and I are." Nilesy's accent came up.
"Ridge and I are okay!" Minty's voice sounded from the level above.
"Toby and Zoeya are with me!" Kim yelled.
"I'm with Martyn!" I shouted, my voice echoing in the tower.
Somewhere far below, Honeydew confirmed that Sips was with him. Xephos was by himself on the highest floor.
BOOM!
Something exploded below and Nilesy's panicked voice came up.
"We need help!"
I dropped over the edge without a second thought, plummeting to the ground level. An arrow shot past my ear and lodged itself in a creeper below, and it exploded, leaving a pile of sulphur behind.
I'd never seen so many creepers. Throngs of them had already surrounded Nilesy and Teep, but they were a darker green than normal. Not good.
I finally hit ground level, pulling out my Dark Matter sword and decapitating a creeper. It dissolved into nothing. A row of them blew up behind me, and I hit the sandy floor. I rolled and came up, but there was only a pile of sulphur left. That was, until it started to move. It piled up like the wind was pushing it, but somehow there was always more sulphur to move. I watched as it formed the shape of a creeper and turned dark green.
The re-formed creeper came for me and I ran it through before it could blow up.
"They're re-forming!" I warned the others, who were joining us one by one from higher floors.
"What?!" Minty's voice answered.
"Gather in the center!" Someone else yelled. I moved towards them, trying to kill as many creepers as possible before they blew up.
"They only respawn if they blow up!" Someone, maybe Sjin, yelled.
"Take that!" Someone yelled, off to my left. I slashed low at two creepers and crippled them. I saw a flash of colour, blue and green and black, and I almost stopped in amazement.
Martyn and Toby were suddenly killing machines. They worked together like they'd trained all their lives for this. Martyn would slice a creeper or two, then spin around and stop another from blowing up Toby. The younger boy returned the favour by running another one through the middle as Martyn dodged and sliced some more.
I took down a few more creepers, pushing my way inwards. Hopefully Martyn and Toby were too, because I couldn't get close enough to them to help.
An arrow impaled a creeper next to me and Teep appeared in the fray, sniping everything that threatened to blow up. Rythian, Nilesy and Xephos had formed a ring around the dinosaur, diamond swords and red katar flashing. I joined them as more and more of us gathered, slowly making progress against the army. Lomadia, surprisingly, pulled out a bow and joined Teep. I didn't know that she was an archer. Minty and Kim appeared together and joined us. Martyn and Toby finally showed up, dusted in gray sulphur and sand.
Gradually, we fell into a formation- Sjin and Sips joining Lomadia and Teep with bows, Martyn and Toby still blazing a path through the enemy, Zoeya giving up on her blowgun and using her Red Matter sword instead. For a minute or so, we were winning. Then everything went wrong.
First Nilesy and then Lalna cried out from nowhere. I whipped around to see what happened and some kind of impact smacked into my shoulder, making me stumble. An arrow was lodged in my chest plate, barely an inch from my spine. If I hadn't moved I'd have been dead, or at least paralyzed.
Whoever had shot that was aiming to kill.
"We're being shot at!" I yelled. Teep immediately tried aiming upwards but couldn't get a clear shot at it. I tried to move faster and more unpredictably, hoping no more hits would be landed.
I wish.
Another arrow hit a chink in my armour, but it didn't do much other than scratch me before I pulled it out. Others weren't as lucky.
In between slashes, I counted three arrows in Lalna's shoulder and another took off Martyn's helm. Sips took an arrow to the knee. Sjin and Kim both got hit in the leg. Our group started to panic and fall apart.
"We need to deal with him, at least until we can stop the rest of the creepers!" Rythian shouted. I was just next to him and could only just understand him over the din.
"I'll go after him!" I shouted. I couldn't just stand here as my friends were shot, but Rythian shook his head.
"You can't kill him!" He reminded me.
"I don't need to! I just need to smash his bow or something!" I yelled back. I turned just as another blast threw me backwards. My armour took most of the beating, but I let myself tumble across the floor until I was in the shadows on one of the large pillars supporting the above floors. There were almost no creepers here, most likely because they were all attacking the large group. I looked up at the flash of white and black shooting at us, trying to decide where to attack from. I couldn't see anything good. Too bad, I'd just have to be stealthy.
I aimed my Void ring and teleported up to the level I needed. I glanced down, just in time to see more arrows fly into the group. Martyn yelled loud enough for me to hear him six levels up.
"You'll pay for that!" He yelled. I thought for a moment he'd been the one hit, but I quickly noticed that I couldn't see Toby. Fear coated my stomach like ice. Quickly, though, it turned to rage. How dare this Israphel person hurt my friends?!
It was irrational and I knew it, but I was already sore and tired and I'd just been pushed off the edge. I pulled out my own bow and aimed at the thing shooting at my friends.
He was a creeper, but with arms and legs like a human. His eyes glowed red and a tidy suit hid most of his white skin. He held his bow confidently, unaware that I was about to shoot his bowstring and hopefully him too.
I have one shot to do this.
I took a deep breath and aimed. I couldn't miss this shot.
Naturally, I did miss, but it wasn't that bad. I hit him in the arm and he dropped his bow over the edge of the floor, to the ground far, far below.
For a moment, I felt good. Then he turned and saw me. His eyes widened in surprise and he pulled something out from his suit pocket.
My instincts took over just in time. I ducked and a throwing knife lodged itself into the eye of a carved creeper just above my head. I looked up and he was running up a flight of stairs to the next floor. I raced after him.
When I got there, though, he was waiting for me.
"You know that you cannot defeat me! You are a fool. It is no wonder you couldn't save your mother." He snarled.
I felt like he'd punched me in the gut, but with something that wrenched my heart in half with grief and froze my mind with shock.
I never thought about, or talked about, my mother. Not even to Rythian, my own brother. I'd buried it deep in my memories to never be brought up again. It was too painful. But now memories surfaced, unwanted and more painful than ever.
You need to stop standing around and fight him! Some part of me warned, but I was frozen to the spot.
"Mommy, can I come with you today?" A little girl asked her mother. You could see the resemblance- the same milk chocolate brown hair, with a pale blonde streak on the right side, and the same features on their faces. But the girl's face was pleading and sad.
"I thought you were going to be with Amber today, sweetie." The mother said, glancing around the small home. A vase sat in the corner on a wooden table, drooping wildflowers resting inside. Two chairs were pulled up to the table, a third sitting in the corner by itself. The clock said it was just around dawn, and the large window in the living room said the same. Several doors led off into other rooms, but they were small.
"Amber's busy today. She said that I could go play with the other kids today, but I don't like the other kids. Please, can I go with you to the rose fields?" The violet-eyed girl begged. Her mother sighed.
I flashed out from the memory, startled by yelling from below. I rushed to the edge and looked over. The others were dispatching the last few creepers. Without arrows raining down upon them, they fought the creepers easily.
"No!" Someone yelled, and my heart lurched. I saw the sulphur rise up again, mixing with the sand. More creepers formed behind my friends. I was about to shout a warning when something grabbed me from behind and threw me across the balcony.
This is why you don't get distracted in battle!
I slammed into the wall hard and felt new pain blossom from my bruised back so forcefully I must have blacked out for a minute, because I was in my memory again.
"Alright, you can come with me to the fields, but remember, be careful when you pick the roses-"
"So you don't touch a thorn. I know, Mommy." The daughter beamed.
The girl-me- followed her mother obediently out into the fields, skipping among the desert roses the town was famous for growing. The sun was only just coming up over the horizon, bathing the entire desert in pink and golden orange. Beautiful.
The two of them started to pick roses carefully, choosing the best ones. Slowly, the village started to wake up; market stalls opening and people leaving for work.
I looked across the field. At the far side, a hole had been blown in the fence used for stopping animals from trampling the flower bushes. The sides had been fused into a glassy substance that still steamed in the morning air.
"Mommy, there's a hole in-"the younger me's voice was cut off.
I hit the wall and fell, but got up and grabbed my sword.
"Enough mind games. Are you afraid to come at me with a sword?" I asked him.
"I have no need to attack you, fool. You're friends will be your end!"He hissed.
An image of Lalna immediately flashed into my mind, but I pushed it away. That was no more.
"You believe that war among those you trust is a thing of the past? That's what you thought of your mother's death!" He continued. He thrust out his hand, and a force similar to a creeper's explosion knocked me back into the wall and I crumpled.
Why do I have to keep getting beaten up? I wondered. All I want is to save the world.
At the edge of vision, I could see Israphel coming towards me.
Get up and fight! I told myself, but memories weren't finished with me yet.
The younger me's voice was cut off by an explosion directly behind her and her mother. My mother screamed but was cut off. It all happened in slow motion.
I hit the ground hard, my head hitting a rock. Shouts came from the village, cries for help. I suddenly lost the third person view and was in the viewpoint of younger, six year old me.
Six year old me tried to open her eyes, only managing a flutter. I saw the blood pooling from my head, turning the desert soil dark and moist. The roses I'd been carrying were scattered across the ground and the ground was scuffed and disturbed by the explosion.
The same memory I drew last night. The realization shocks me back into the present, just as Israphel reaches me and kicks away my sword.
My head is bleeding, pooling on the sandstone. I raise my hand. I can hear my friends starting to rush up the stairs towards me, but they are too far away to help me right now. I can use my Void ring to get away, hopefully.
Israphel is one step ahead of me. He yanks off my Alchemical bag seconds before I can teleport.
Well, note to hopefully alive future self: Don't keep your only energy source for magic in a bag dangling from your waist!
He threw the bag across the room. At least, I think he does. The loss of blood from my head is making me dizzy.
I can feel my vision separating in two, but this isn't double vision like concussions give you. On one side I can see sandstone flooring with my blood pooling and Israphel. On the other, I see sandy soil damp with blood-again from my head wound- and roses scattered across the line of sight.
My sight returns in a burst of adrenaline. That's not a good thing, though, because of why I'm suddenly full of energy. I can't breathe.
I thrash and kick out, and I feel my feet slamming into Israphel's chest. It's not strong enough, though, and he barely moves. His hands are pushing my neck against the wall and one thought suddenly rings through my mind.
No respawning
I panic and kick out again, harder, and he moves just enough for me to grab a quick breath before he's crushing my windpipe again.
You're killing both of us! My Enderside hisses at me in rage.
The scary thing is I feel the same rage. I don't want to die. My Enderside wrestles for control of my mind and body and it takes every bit of my willpower to not let it.
I hear faint shouting again and know my friends are coming closer. Still not fast enough.
Give me control! I can save you, and you know it.
The idea is tempting. My vision and hearing are fuzzy from lack of oxygen and letting my Enderside take over and having a really long nap sounds so appealing.
"Give up, and I'll make it quick." Israphel hisses.
I'd rather die first than give in to either of you! I'd love to spit this out at Israphel, of course, but I can't breathe let alone talk.
My vision is dim and blood from my head wound trickles into my eyes. Everything sounds and feels like I am underwater. My heart pounds, and with every beat I feel the pain of my grief over my mother.
I am dying.
No shit, girl!
I try and blink the blood out of my eyes, but they will not listen to me and they close and refuse to open. I can feel my body shutting down, but my Enderside still screams at me. It lashes out at my control, trying desperately to gain control.
But I will not let this monster take over my mind.
Will I?
That is the last thought I have before I succumb to the blackness.
MWAHAHAHA I'm evil! ;)
I have your attention now, don't I?
How many of you thought you saw this coming? Really?
See you soon, (Hopefully,) –Spirit
P.S. This is my longest chapter ever! J