Chapter 34 ~ Katerina
Katerina plunged into the darkness; her eyes immediately adjusted to it. Elektra took out an arrow that emitted a soft glow, illuminating the passageway. Katerina was eager to see William again, to run her fingers through his tousled, dark brown hair, hear him laugh; see him smile, how she longed for his comforting arms. Katerina forced those thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on the upcoming battle. She grip the soft hilt of her dagger, which was a little longer than an averaged sized dagger and followed Enryx down the cavern.
Their footsteps echoed and sounded across the hollow tunnel, she stepped lightly on her toes, careful not to make loud noises like Adrian was. Suddenly, there was a loud noise - thunder - and the whole group craned their heads to look back at the same time. Zeus must be mad. Followed by the thunder, there came at first slow, steady drops that gradually became faster, as fast as Katerina's heart was beating.
"Ignore it, we're in shelter anyway," Nethrys persisted, edging them on. After about taking a few steps, Katerina saw Lysandra's ears perk up.
"Guys - shush! There's someone or something coming," Her voice was barely a whisper; not loud enough to echo around the cave. There was humming heading their direction. Elektra dimmed her torch-like arrow as the humming got closer. Quickly thinking, Adrian told everyone to press up against the tunnel wall, and they did exactly that, holding their breath as they did so. Katerina could feel Rosamynd tense beside her. Katerina could just make out a floating figure just of a man around his late thirties, frowning. Poor soul. It looked lost and afraid, not knowing where to go. It had a little glowing blue wisp where their heart would be. The ghostly figure with the little blue wisp floated past them and out into the storm.
"Did you guys see that?" Katerina breathed, looking back into the heavy rain.
"See what?" Enryx asked her.
Something clicked inside her brain. I'm the Goddess of Spirits and the afterlife, of course I can see them. "Doesn't matter." Enryx shrugged and continued walking along the tunnel as Elektra took out her arrow and the tunnel was flooded with light again.
After walking around in the maze for what seemed like forever -but according to Scarlett, who whined every few minutes it had been a couple of hours- they finally reached a small arch engraved in the stone wall. There was, however, no door but there was light seeping through the slight gap at the bottom. Katerina vaguely heard sound floating through the door, but they were too muffled for her to make out any words. "How do we get through?"
"We blast it," Adrian said, but Katerina shook her head, pulling him back, away from the entrance. Vytoni studied it carefully, but she didn't say anything.
"I guess we do have to blast it," Elektra frowned. Just as they approached the huge arch boulder, it slid open. They all stepped back and pressed themselves against the wall.
"Guys, it's alright. It's just me."
The stone door slid back to it's place. William was standing in the arch opening, looking normal. Not a scratch, nor a bruise. His sword was strapped to his back and he had a small change of clothes. He still wore his black leather jacket but over a white shirt instead of gray and the same -but a little cleaner- black jeans. Excitement and relief filled Katerina. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight. He returned the gesture, resting his head on the crown of hers. She smiled and hugged him even tighter. "I missed you!"
In the background, she heard Nethrys mutter, "They're suffocating each other." But she knew he was only jealous, so she ignored him, instead pulling away from William to kiss him. Which made Enryx pull a fake puking noise and Nethrys scoff in annoyance. Pulling away, she grabbed his hand.
"So what do we do now?" Katerina asked, lacing her fingers through his. Adrian looked hurt, and Kat felt guilty that she was reunited with her love, when his was still trapped in a dungeon. But she didn't let go of his hand which she gripped more tightly.
"I guess we go rescue Trudy," Nethrys raised his eyebrows. The others agreed and looked at William, who smiled cheekily.
"Take me to her!" Adrian demanded.
"Okay, so the plan is I take you to the dungeons but before we go in you bound me and pretend that you've captured me." William explained. He muttered a single word, "Fóvos." It meant 'fear' in ancient greek, which explained why Elektra and Enryx looked confused but soon understood once Lysandra explained it to them. The stone door shifted out of place and William led them through into a room, which seemed like a foyer. They followed him down a small staircase down a couple of floors and through another passageway. They stopped in front of a chained door and looked at William, obviously waiting for a magic password or something. But William just simply shrugged and took out a whole ring of keys and was scrambling to find the right one. He finally found the right one after what seemed like forever. It fit perfectly; making the satisfying click of the lock unlocking. The door made a creaking noise as they pushed it open, making Katerina gulp nervously. William immediately slipped his hand through hers.
"Ok, wolfie. Time to bind you." Adrian hurried, taking out the normal rope. "Now turn around." William's hand left Kat's as he turned around, and Adrian tied a sturdy knot around his hands behind his back. Katerina frowned about the way her best friend was treating his boyfriend but she couldn't argue. Nethrys grabbed him by the arm and dragged him inside, holding his golden sword at the ready.
Logan perked up from his seat next to a prison cell Trudy was being held in. "William, what are- wait, unbind him!" Logan hesitated, standing up and pointing his silver-coated spear at the Godlings. His face suddenly turned grim, and Katerina realized he had now recognized them. He reached for his belt which held a little red button. Out of the corner of her eye, Kat saw Lysandra throw her dagger and the hilt of it hit his hand. He yelped in pain and shook his hand.
Glaring at the Godlings, he stood up straight and said, "What do you want?" His spear was held in a throwing position, ready to pierce through anyone's heart. "Let him go!"
"If you let Trudy go," Adrian countered, gripping William's arm in one hand and holding his black sword in the other. Logan was stupid enough to accept the deal. Lowering his spear, he took out a whole ring of keys very much like William's. He picked the right key and unlocked the cell door and pushed it aside. Trudy acted vulnerable as Logan grabbed her by the arm and forced her out. Trudy turned to him and kicked him in the stomach. He hunched over in pain, growling and held up his spear but Rosamynd snatched it out of his hands and tossed it away. Trudy and Elektra had tied him to the chair with sphinx-infused rope and gagged him with a strip of fabric.
"Sorry, Logan!" William then half heartedly apologized. "Let's go, Courtney have assembled her armies and are about to take over the world."
They all sprinted out of the dungeons and followed William to a massive brass door with drawings engraved on it, but they weren't drawings about history. They were drawings of the future, and Katerina could see an engraved Logan and Courtney standing in front of an army of ghost-like figures.
William spoke the command and the door burst open into a throne room, the walls and ceilings were painted a shiny black color with flecks of white dots here and there. In the middle was a illuminating orb around the size of a large beach ball, it was held up like a torch spinning slowly on a axis. Once they got closer Katerina realized the sphere was the globe. There was a blinking red glowing light where America was, as if the specific target was America. Which they assumed it was.
"Interesting object, isn't it?" A eerie voice voiced from ahead, "It was a gift from Phobos himself."
Katerina looked up and saw on the balcony overlooking the main floor was Courtney. Her black hair came straight down, ending just before the shoulders. She was wearing a navy blue blouse and a black skirt, her forearms covered with golden and silver bracelets. She walked off to the side and descended down the stairs and settled on one of the two thrones on the podium, watching them with some sort of evil satisfaction, "You're too late, you know that? My troops of Fear Phantoms have been sent out across America, spreading rapidly. You can take a look yourself." Her voice had a slight french accent and her eyes were a frosty blue. She gestured to the globe and smirked. She was right; black ink was spreading from the Florida Keys and flowing swiftly all across America on the globe. Impossible.
Katerina glared up at the girl, who looked a little bit older than them but not by much. "How dare you side with the demons over your family."
Courtney suddenly flared with anger, standing abruptly from her throne, "This is my family! My father is Phobos, the lord of Fear! And he will destroy you all!"
"Fool!" William spoke up, shielding Katerina from Courtney's fury, "He's using you!"
"And you! How dare you betray us!" Courtney clicked her fingers, and the sound echoed across the room. From the huge brass doors they had come in through, an army of monsters came marching in. They held weapons of all sorts; swords, shields, daggers, spears, javelins, and weighed nets. They were fully dressed in bronze Greek armor, each expression more venomous than the last.
There were a dozen or so flame-haired vampiric creatures with a leg of bronze and a hoofed foot of an donkey. Some blue-black skinned creatures, holding battle axes and javelins. There were some dark-winged, pale and ugly hags with clawed hands and really sharp teeth. A ghostly woman who was dressed in linen, one side of her body ink-black and the other bone-white. The telchines, barking and growling as they wielded expertly forged swords and shields. Katerina could just make out a monstrous ogress who was chanting to herself. Her body was shrunken, her teeth black, and her torso covered in green venom. Four bronze bulls came charging in after the army, snorting and puffing. Alongside them, two great black mastiffs the size of small trucks, howling as their glowing red eyes watched the Godling's every move. A flock of birds circled above them, their wings were spread, shadowing them and their beady eyes glowed yellow.
"Do you like my honor guard?" Courtney gave them a cold smile, a wicked sharp javelin flying into her outstretched palm.
"I can't believe I ever called you my sister," William growled, as his eyes seemed to go even darker, if that was even possible.
Courtney ignored him and yelled "ATTACK!" The monsters complied to her command with horrible eagerness, rushing into them with the identical evil gleam in their eyes. Katerina instinctively raised her new shield in defense, holding her dagger in her other hand. An empousa charged at her, her ruby red eyes glowing, and Kat slammed the shield in the demon's face as William stabbed the monster. She nodded to him in gratitude, but there was no time for lingering. They worked as a team, watching each other's backs as the monster army surrounded them. She sliced through a couple of ogresses and pierced a telchine in the chest after blonking it out with her shield. Courtney was nowhere to be found. She kicked over a tiny black-toothed woman and pushed her into the pathway of the bronze bulls, who then trampled the screeching demon.
Nethrys was sparring with an armored warrior, piercing through his hard shell and sending him crumbling down into pieces. Vytoni was a menace, leaping from monster to monster, leaving a trail of disintegrated ashes in her wake as she stabbed, slashed and hacked, her runes glowing dark gray and humming with power. Lysandra was throwing daggers at the woman dressed in linen, making her hiss and snarl. Rosamynd was entangling her attackers in vines and poking thorns into their skin, causing them to bleed black blood. She could see Enryx and Elektra shooting at the evil eagles, firing arrow after arrow at the wave of fowls. She saw her boyfriend disappearing into the shadows and reappearing behind his opponent and stabbing them with his sword. Scarlett was in the corner yelping in surprise and stabbing a little woman in the stomach but closing her eyes in disgust.
More enemies were charging through the double doors. This can't go on forever. She looked down the necklace that was tucked under her shirt, which was covered with blood stains, which, thankfully, were not hers - since she was an immortal, she had the golden blood of ichor.
Dodging from another of the Empousa's blows, she made a split second decision and grabbed her locket. What was the command? She racked her brain for the code her dad told her, she cried, "πολεμιστές του θανάτου έρθει στην ενίσχυσή μου!"
Warriors of death, come to my aid. Energy surged through her, so intense and gut-wrenching her knees buckled and she sank to the ground. The floor rumbled and fissure split open, a great big cavity on the marble, blood-spattered floor. Skeletons erupted from the ground, their bones covered in dirt and debris. These skeletons were in no way like the ones from hollywood films or halloween costume stores. These skeletons were growing flesh, turning into men, but men with dull transparent gray skin that made their bones shimmer underneath and had glowing amber eyes. They wore gray muscle shirts, camo pants and combat boots. A few of the skeletons shifted uniform, looking like security guards or police officers. They carried weapons of all sorts but mostly swords and shields and the occasional javelin, spear and dagger. They all looked at Katerina who was knelt on the floor panting, waiting for orders. Katerina noticed and nodded.
"Defend us and attack the monsters," The skeletons understood and charged at the attacking monsters. Katerina sat down on the floor, panting heavily. She had just enough energy to camouflage to her surroundings. She willed her clothes and skin to turn into a matt black colour with flecks of white. She crawled along the floor, out of breath from the skeleton eruption. She had no clue the locket would summon an army of warrior skeletons. She sat on the podium steps, as far as she could get from the fight. She was so drained of energy that she nearly blacked out, slumping against the steps.
Adrian was fending off two bronze bulls, while Trudy pierced her bronze dagger through another telchine. Vytoni was making her way towards the entrance - no doubt for the dungeons to hunt for Logan, who was probably free by now- killing everything in sight. Her runes were dimmed slightly and her cheeks were blazing red from exhaustion. Enryx and Elektra had managed to shoot down all the monster eagles and were helping to exterminate the other creatures on the ground. Nethrys and Lysandra had made a barrier around Scarlett, who was slumped against the wall. Rosamynd was in the corner, shooting thornes at the attacking monsters. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her face was drenched in sweat. William was supporting her, tossing a canteen of nectar for her to drink.
Soon the creatures were all disintegrated, the room was filled with dissolving sand and dirt. Vytoni was gone, and so was Nethrys and Adrian. Lysandra and Elektra were supporting Scarlett, and Rosamynd leaned heavily on Trudy's arm. Enryx was hunting for arrows, replenishing his stock and occasionally sending silver arrows his sister's way. Katerina shifted back to normal, and sheathed her dagger into her belt.
"We need to get to the dungeons," Katerina told them, "Logan and Courtney are there." They nodded and followed her back the way they came from, and William was suddenly next to her, holding her hand and guiding her to the dungeons.
They burst through the doors of the dungeons, where Courtney was fighting Nethrys and Adrian, and Logan was going one-on-one with Vytoni. Courtney's eyes were milky white and blue sparks were flying out of her hands, shooting at Nethrys and Adrian. Once, one of them hit Adrian on his knee, and he winced in pain, crouching down. Logan was fighting with his spear, using it to block Vytoni's staff, so she grabbed a sword and shield seemingly out of mid air and fought him with those instead.
"Surrender or die trying!" Wiilliam commanded, his eyebrows arched up; his face was a half-smirk. He held his sword at Courtney, who whirled around to face him, which made the sword point right in front of her heart, but she didn't seem to worry about it.
"Fear will conquer," Courtney snarled, her eyes were glowing white and mist around her seemed to cling to her. She clapped her hands to together, making a blinding flash of white light. When Katerina opened her eyes again standing in the middle of the room was a huge bronze bull. An automaton. It was three times bigger than a normal bull, with shiny skin and those crazy eyes that makes people run ten miles in the other direction. It also had a nose ring pierced on his nose, like those bulls from cartoons. Katerina was tempted to brandish a red cloth and challenge it, but she figured it wasn't really the right time.
"Great," Adrian muttered, one hand against his head, "More uglies." Even as he said this, a great big eagle flew in, shrieking it's head off. It's wings shadowed them, and Katerina estimated a wingspan of about twenty feet. Kat unsheathed her dagger from her belt and bent down, taking another one from the inside of her new boots. Enryx and Elektra took aim and fired, but their arrows only caused mild irritation to the bird. William, and Lysandra and Trudy rushed into battle against the bull, and Katerina decided to aid them, since she was practically useless in aerial battles.
"Olé!" William shouted, holding a red piece of cloth he must've snagged earlier. The bull, whose attention was successfully diverted, turned to face William, breathing out two plumes of angry flames as it snorted and bowed it's horns, as if ready to charge. And unfortunately, in Katerina's case, it was not as if. William stood there holding the red fabric, smirking. Just as the bronze bull was ready to skewer him, William disappeared into the shadows. The bull stood there confused but that didn't faze him as he immediately charged at the next closest target - Lysandra. She squeaked in fright and dodged it, flinging her dagger at the skin of the animal, but the blade only bounced off the metal husk. Katerina jumped onto the bull's back and stuck her dagger at the crown of the bull's head. The bull was thrashing and jumping about, squealing and trying to make Kat fall off by rearing up like a stallion. Katerina held onto one of his horns and stabbed the crown of the bulls head, but only causing a minor dent. The bull flung her off its back and she crashed against one of the cells. Katerina groaned in pain as she felt the wind get knocked out of her. For the second time today, she saw black spots dancing in front of her eyes. She immediately regretted sending her miniature skeleton army back to Hades, wistfully wishing they were still here to defend them. Stumbling back into a sitting position, she gratefully accepted the Nectar Rosamynd gave her, feeling the power rush back into her veins as she drank the whole thing seemingly in one gulp. She stood back up again, feeling rather dizzy, but not as bad as she knew it could be.
She ran back towards the bull, who was now trying to charge William, who was darting around quickly. Grimly, Katerina realized how funny the situation would have been if it weren't for the thousands or so of monsters taking over the world, and their looming deadline. Katerina shook those thoughts out of her head and ran after the bull, grabbing his tail and yanking it, questioning her sanity as she was doing so. The bull snorted and fixed it's angry red glare on her. Katerina glared back and stabbed him between the eyes. The stab created more impact than the bull had anticipated and machine oil oozed out of the wound. The bull shook it's head furiously and snorted a huge burst of fire, making Katerina dive to the side, scrambling backwards.
Looking up, Katerina saw Trudy creeping behind it after giving her a meaningful look. Kat nodded to show she understood and stood up again, working with William and Lysandra against the bull to distract it. Lysandra repeatedly flung her dagger at the bulls face, trying to get its attention, which -unfortunately or not- worked. The bull charged at Lysandra, who yelped slightly and jumped out of the way. The monster growled, stamping a huge hoof on the floor and probably making a sizable dent. A grunting sound escaped from his mouth, and a giant column of flame erupted from it's mouth, scorching the air.
"Hiyah!" Trudy suddenly leapt onto the automaton's back, unaffected by the sweltering heat. The bull gave an angry snort and bucked wildly, but Trudy held on, grasping on of it's horns and stabbing the monster in the back with her dagger. The bull reared and fell over, throwing Trudy to one side as the deadly metal pierced it's side. The monster crumbled to dust, leaving the occasional nuts and bolts here and there.
Adrian immediately rushed over to Trudy's side, trickling Nectar into her mouth.
Katerina looked up at the massive vulture squawking a deathly cry as a mix of gold and silver arrow hit its hide, making it explode as Elektra gave a small, hysterical laugh of satisfaction. A mass of black feathers disintegrated as they floated to the ground, covering the stone floor with ashes. As Katerina looked around, she realized that Logan and Courtney had, once again, escaped. Cowards. Everyone relaxed, relieved about their victory.
Without warning, the dungeon doors flew open and a whirlwind of air blew in violently. They all stepped back, shielding their eyes. The wind died down and in its place was a woman about eleven feet tall. Her hair was platinum on the brink of silver, fanning out behind her and her eyes were glowing white. She was wearing white linen robes that seemed to be woven with mist, flowing around her. She was so pale, Katerina almost thought she was a spirit but the glanced at the others and they definitely saw the white lady too. Her eyes were completely silver, and were cold and frosty, radiating power. With a flick of her hand, a nearby pipe burst and drenched the Godlings with cold water. The white lady moved her hands in a sweeping motion and the water swirled around them, forcing them closer together.
They stood in a protective circle, back to back as they watched for the woman who had mysteriously disappeared. Katerina whipped her head around wildly; she thought she heard a whisper of air pass around her. Subconsciously, she grasped William's hand, feeling slightly reassured as he squeezed her hand. The water tornado collapsed into a pool of water that went up to Katerina's waist. It soaked her pants and boots, filling them with murky water. Katerina grimaced in disgust. "Gross."
The burst pipe was gushing water out of its opening. Katerina scanned the room and saw that another pipe had a gigantic hole in it and water was falling rapidly, filling with the dirty substance.
"Come on," Vytoni was already half stepping, half wading towards the doors, "We have to go before the water drowns us."
"Lets hurry," William muttered next to her, leading her to the entrance, too.
"Where is Kyle when I - when we need him?" Rosamynd whimpered.
"I don't think Kyle would do so good right now," Lysandra murmured, obviously recalling his episode in the hospital wing, where he had his fear landscape of drowning.
"Locked," Nethrys growled, hitting the handle of the door with more force than necessary in frustration. Katerina waded towards the dungeon doors as the water level slowly reached her chest. As she grabbed the door knocker to test it too, she felt something nip her legs.
"Ow!" Katerina gasped at the sharp sting and used the handle to prop herself up to avoid the water, which reached the top of Rosamynd's -who was the shortest of the group- shoulders.
"What is it?"Adrian asked, turning his head towards Katerina, who was attempting to get a look to the bite, but kept flopping over the water.
"Something just bit me."
"Bit you? Like an animal?" Trudy inquired, trying to inch closer to her.
"I'm not particularly sure-"
"Did you see it?" Enryx and Elektra were next to her. Elektra was trying not to sink, with her pouch open, looking confused.
"No! If I did, I would know wouldn't I?" Katerina snapped. Water was up to her shoulders now, and she started to tread the water.
Nethrys hastily stifled a curse word, "Thing got me, too."
"Did you see it?" Katerina asked, "Was it an animal?"
"No, I don't-"
"Shut up, guys. We have to think of a way to get out of here" Vytoni began carving small symbols with her stylus, but they kept disappearing once she finished.
"Vytoni's right. I really want to get out of here," Lysandra keened, clutching Enryx's arm. Enryx was about to move his the hand submerged in water to comfort her when he yelped, mumbling something in Latin.
"The water current is pushing the door closed, there's no way out." Katerina told the others.
"Even if there was no water pressure, the door would still be locked," Nethrys informed them, tapping the wooden doors solemnly.
"What should we do?" Trudy piped up, struggling to keep her head above the water. She was gripping onto Adrian's arm and kicking her legs underwater. The water had risen to Katerina's chin and the water monsters were swarming around her now, biting any skin she didn't cover. Kat felt stinging pain on her arms, and grimaced at the future welts that were sure to show up later.
"I have an idea but I'm not sure if it's a good one," Adrian murmured, making Katerina slightly hysterical. If Adrian starts thinking, we must really be in danger.
"Any idea is good right now," Elektra and Vytoni, the tallest girls, were tilting their chins above the water level now, and also began treading water.
"Well I was thinking we could the water as an advantage," Adrian began as everyone stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and awe, "We could wait for the water to rise all the way to the top and escape through those air vents on the ceiling."
Katerina shrugged and thought about it. That's not so bad, I guess. The others nodded and agreed. They swam out to the middle of the dungeon, about another three feet above the air vent, which didn't look particularly spacious. Squinting uncertainly at the rectangular hole, Katerina hoped they would all be able to worm their through. They waited for the water to slowly float them up to the ceiling. Scarlett was hugging Nethrys' arm, whimpering slightly. As soon as they were close to the top, William sliced the vent open and climbed up the musty vent. Katerina recoiled as she hit the stench and tried to breath through her mouth, wriggling up the shaft until they emerged from the vent and onto a barren hallway.
"This way," William whispered, and the others followed grimly. They were led through a maze of stone corridors, eventually stopping in front of two huge, magnificent mahogany doors. "The library," William explained, walking through the aisles, "There's a secret entrance here, I think." Katerina had a sudden vision of the old bookshelves in the movies, when the detective pulls out an old tome and the shelves give way to a secret passageway.
Lysandra gazed up at the floor to ceiling bookcases that stretched along the walls, her eyes full of delight. Enryx picked up a book, flipping through it but giving it no sign of interest and slipped it back on the shelf. Katerina followed his lead, taking books out in hopes of finding the escape route, but coming back empty-handed. Rosamynd and Elektra were taking a keen interest on the non-fictional herbology books, stroking the spines delicately as they read the titles. Nethrys kept glancing at Vytoni, who was flipping nonchalantly through old runes, shaking her head once in awhile irritatedly as the author made a mistake in their annotations or whatever.
Katerina had a sneaky feeling that neither of them were really concentrating on their task. Adrian was curled up next to Trudy on one of the big bean bags, while his girlfriend absentmindedly stroked his blonde hair. William was looking around nervously, gripping his indigo hilt and poised at ready.
Candles were lit across the room, mostly on the window sills next to piles of books that were stacked up crookedly. Curtains were drawn so it dimmed the room slightly but the candles created a warm glow that cast off the curtains draped wall- Katerina had no idea what time of day it was. But she knew that they needed to find Courtney and Logan in time, before fear takes over.
A faint silhouette flitted across her vision, and as Katerina whirled around to face the mystery figure, she caught sight of a flash of linen disappearing around the corner. Kat was just about to open her mouth when the library caught on fire.
Katerina could smell smoke coming from the corner of the room and she could feel the room getting immensely hotter. She caught sight of a flame where the smoke was coming from, it was getting larger, consuming pages of books as it spreaded over the bookcase. "Uh, guys. The library may or may not be on fire," Katerina pointed out.
Adrian and Trudy bolted up from their bean bag and backed away from the blazing fire, Adrian standing in front of his girlfriend in an attempt to protect her from the fire. But Trudy defiantly stepped in front of him, making some sort of force field for them. Elektra's eyes were wide from fright, her face turning chalk white as she scrambled to the farthest corner of the library. The fire was rapidly spreading towards to the door, and soon they had no way out from the main entrance.
"Quickly!" William urged, "We have to find the other exit!"
They pondered around for a bit while the fire continued to blaze through the library, protected by Trudy's force field. Katerina laced her fingers through and gripped William's hand. Lysandra was practically dry sobbing at the sight of the books getting burnt to ashes, and Enryx was literally holding her back, shielding her from the flames and hot ash. Rosamynd cheeks were almost flushed as red as her hair from the sweltering heat. Scarlett was gripping her knife, her eyes wet with unshed tears. Nethrys was holding up his shield protectively and angled to to cover him, his other hand still fumbling for secret codes or entrances. Vytoni was covered in a sheen of blue ripples like water, running through the fire, her sharp eyes darting around the wreckage. Katerina tried not to inhale too much smoke, her eyes stinging.
"Where is that secret entrance you told us about?" Adrian demanded.
"I don't -" William started to say.
"You don't know?" Adrian looked like there was steam coming out of his ears, and was staring at him with a mixture of fury and shock.
"I just heard Logan mention it once or twice," William said innocently.
"You were playing us the whole time, weren't you? You weren't really on our side! Trudy was just bait!"
"Adrian, shut up!" Katerina shouted at him, blinking back angry tears. My best friend. How could he?
"Guys, this isn't really the time to fight," Rosamynd piped up. Adrian glared at William about to unsheath his swords, but Trudy laid a hand on his and looked at him. Adrian sighed and turned away from William. Katerina hugged him tight, resting her head on his shoulder.
"We have to get out of here, pronto!" Elektra urged.
"We could hop out of the window!" William enthusiastically offered.
"And fall to our deaths?" Nethrys narrowed his eyes at William, "I don't think so."
"Well we've got no other choice, do we?" Vytoni muttered, coming back to join them from her hunt for an escape plan. She placed a bright blue rune on the largest window and punched it, shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces.
"I guess that's our best option." Enryx agreed.
With Trudy taking the lead, still protecting them, they ran over to the huge windows which overlooked the courtyard. William clambered onto the window ledge, gripping onto the top ledge, and slid out of the way so the others could join him. Katerina followed, clamping onto the ledge and cautiously walking along the narrow bar, stopping next to William. They shuffled along the ledges, their hands turning red from gripping onto the bar above them. Soon they all escaped from the library, hanging onto the tiny ledge and grabbing the window frame above them, trying not to plummet down onto the courtyard, ten feet below them. William led them over to a water pipe that was running down a gap in the wall that led down to the courtyard. He grabbed hold of the pipe like a sliding pole, wrapping his legs around it.
"What are you doing?" Enryx asked.
"Don't worry, I used to do this all the time as a kid," William gave them a cheeky grin. Katerina watched him in worry as he slid down the pole and landed safely on the courtyard floor. Katerina hugged the water pipe and wrapped her legs around it and slid down. She relaxed once her she felt Williams hand on her back, smiling she let go of the pipe and grabbed his hand. One by one the others started to slide down; Vytoni, Nethrys, Scarlett, Lysandra all slid down without hesitation, eager to get away from the burning library.
"Come on!" Lysandra called up at Enryx, who was frowning uncertainly, practically strangling the pipe. Slowly, he edged himself down and wrapped his hands around the pipe, one of his legs still propped against the ledge. He took a deep breath and took the leg off, looking like he was about to slide down a fireman's pole. He inched down, looking straight ahead. "Enryx- what are you waiting for?!" Lysandra cried from beneath him. He slid down the pole slowly, stopping abruptly midway to look down below. "It's fine, Enryx!"
"Just relax and slide down swiftly," Elektra advised, desperately grasping onto the bar. A gush of violent wind blew in their direction, causing them to step back slightly. A yelp came from Enryx, and he reached behind him quickly and grabbed his bow and an arrow. But as he grabbed his prized weapons he accidentally let go of the ledge. Enryx tried to regain his balance, but one foot caught onto the pipe and he flipped upside down, dangling awkwardly as something went crack and sucked in a breath.
"Oh my Gods!" Lysandra screamed. William immediately started to climb up the pole. Once he reached where Enryx was dangling, he helped him regain a fireman stance without injuring his ankle any further. When Enryx reached the ground he immediately laid down.
"Finally, solid ground!" He winced in pain, grabbing hold of his ankle. Lysandra immediately sank to the ground to examine him, even though she had no clue what she was handling. Soon the others came down and Elektra treated her brother; her eyes were filled with concern and worry, her hands rapidly rummaging through her healing kit. Katerina looked down at her friend in worry, sighing.
"What happened up there?" Adrian asked, his black and white swords drawn.
"I thought I saw the lady, the one from the dungeon," Enryx explained.
Suddenly a chunk of the courtyard erupted from the ground. A massive boulder floated through the air. It rose up a couple of metres and started to plummet down towards them. Katerina grasped Enryx's wrist and dragged him out of the boulder's way, while the others stepped back alongside her. The boulder crashed into the ground, causing a deep dent and a plume of smoke floated up from the damage. Another chunk of earth rose from the ground and shot towards them. They dodged out of the way, and the massive rock landed just a few feet away from them. Katerina let go of Enryx, her dagger drawn, shouting, "Split up!"
Lysandra supported Enryx by letting him lean on her arm, while Elektra stood in front of them; she was quick to hit boulders out of the way and time seemed to slow around her as she smashed them with her now-useless bronze shield. The others went their separate ways, running around the courtyard to dodge rocks, branches, and occasional boulders that shot towards them.
Katerina sliced a lump of hard-packed earth out of her way, turning them into gray mist, which evaporated. Suddenly she could feel the ground below her shaking slightly. She looked down and a crack started to form in a circle around her. The ground started to rise underneath her, "Katerina!" William yelled from the ground. She was floating about ten metres off the ground, balancing on the wobbling boulder. "Kat!" William yelled from the ground again.
The boulder began to plummet to the ground, rocketing at full speed. Katerina gave a split second decision and somersaulted on to the ground, landing safely on her feet; while the boulder crashed into the castle wall. William had sliced a boulder into two, running towards her. Katerina embraced him in a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck tight while he did the same around her waist. They pulled away and continued, slicing at the rocks and lumps of soil that were continuously thrown at them. Lysandra had summoned two tigers that attacked the army, tearing their chubby limbs off their mud bodies. Vytoni was fighting a big mud monster; the mud and soil was creeping up her legs, and she kept having to summon a blast of fire, kicking her foot free as it hardened while blasting another plume of flame at the monster, which just kept gathering more earth and soil as it reformed. Nethrys was shielding himself from a rainstorm of humongous boulders and debris -wisely using one of the spare shields than taking the magic shield his mother had given him- and sprinting across the field to help Vytoni. Rosamynd was battling against a giant rock statue that the mysterious lady had summoned to life, throwing vines and thorns. Enryx and Elektra were swarmed by an army of little mud creatures, shooting them down as they came closer - but Katerina could see that they only have about a third of their arrows left. Trudy and Adrian were standing back to back defending themselves from attacking boulders and massive rocks.
Soon the courtyard was a wreck: there were massive craters dented into the courtyard ground, and there were mud pools scattered everywhere. Everyone was panting heavily. "We have to keep going," Vytoni tried to wipe the grit from her face, but instead only succeeded in smudging it even more. Nethrys made as if to go help her, but seemed to hold back at the last second, instead turning back to cleaning his sword.
"Where to?" Adrian asked, sheathing his swords then putting an arm around Trudy.
"No clue," Rosamynd answered, picking up a spear off the floor which belonged to one of the rock soldiers.
"We should try to find Courtney and Logan," Katerina managed to wheeze, twirling her dagger around in her hand before deciding that Kalypso needed a touch up. She wiped it carefully on her shirt, but it didn't really make a difference. Heaving a sad sigh, she was about to put it back in it's sheath when a hand stopped her.
"I think you should keep it out," William suggested, putting his other arm around her. She smiled softly at him, but when she was about to reply the earth started to shake, pounding rapidly and causing everyone to stumble, trying to find their balance. Cavities started to open up through the ground, making debris fall into endless pits and rock soldiers to dissolve into a pile of pebbles. Cracks began to snake across the castle courtyard; the cracks started to create little islands of land, some sinking into the earth, some drifting apart from one another.
"The roof!" Adrian ordered, and everyone turned to look up at the decidedly tall landing above.
"Why?" Enryx hesitated. Enryx's ankle had practically healed, thanks to his Godly heritage and Elektra's expert healing. He was leading the way now, trying to stay balanced as he sprinted towards the edge of a crack that was weaving it's way around them, occasionally limping or having to be supported by either Lysandra or Elektra. The others followed behind closely, The piece of land that was once connected to the little island they were standing on was drifting away. Katerina cursed and narrowed her eyes at the tower looming ahead of them.
"We got to get as high off ground as possible," William explained, nodding to Adrian in agreement.
"Hold on," Nethrys tossed half a scrap shield into the muddy substance that surrounded the piece of land. The silver metal immediately sank into the ground, disappearing out of sight.
"Quicksand," Vytoni simply stated, watching it become completely immersed, then turned back to focus on the courtyard; her hard, glinting eyes darting quickly around her surroundings.
Katerina followed Vyt's lead and looked behind her, She saw that the piece of land they were standing on was tilting at an angle, as if something was trying to drag them down and drown them in quicksand. "Guys, look!" They all craned their necks back to see the piece of rock was slowly melting into the quicksand. Panic shot through everyone's faces as they tried to stay out of the quicksand's path, hopping onto any piece of hard rock that wasn't consumed yet.
"Jump!" Rosamynd shouted. Enryx held back, hesitating. Lysandra grabbed his hand impatiently and leaped onto a neighboring piece of land. Rosamynd joined them, just managing to land with two feet on the ground. Elektra followed, nearly landing in the quicksand. Adrian gave a short running start, and skidded to a halt on the other floating piece of land, with Trudy hot on his heels. The rest followed soon after, taking refuge on different chunks of not-yet-sunken rocks.
With a panicked glance, Katerina realized that they were on the very tip of what used to be the large marble statue, all eleven of them gathered together. "We have to find a way to get out of here!" She shouted to the others.
"Up there!" Elektra cried. Something whizzed by Katerina's ear, and she turned to see a grapple soaring above her head, latching itself on the rooftop. Another arrow joined the first, and soon five ropes were dangling down from the roof.
"You could have done that earlier," Nethrys frowned, but nodded with approval all the same. Rosamynd started climbing first, with Lysandra close behind. Then, Trudy, Enryx, Elektra, Adrian, Scarlett and Nethrys.
"Your turn," William shoved the rope into Katerina's hand, and she stared worriedly back at him, "I'll be right behind you." He reassured, "Now hurry!"
She climbed the rope with haste, finding it difficult at first but quickly got the hang of it then managed to climb up to the roof, quickly clearing space for William as she did so.
"Well," Vytoni muttered as she crossed her arms frustratedly, "Now we're trapped on the roof. Great."
"Better than sinking into the earth, don't you think?" Nethrys challenged.
"Whatever."
Katerina was slightly surprised that her half-sister didn't take the jibe, but she let it pass as she realized that Vyt was right. They had no way of getting off the roof.
"What was that?!" Elektra gasped.
"What? What was whatt?" Enryx questioned.
"I thought I saw the - Ah!" She suddenly screamed. An arrow whistled past Elektra as Enryx shot at -nothing?
Elektra was suspended in mid-air, her whole body dangling a few metres off the ground. A miniature whirlwind formed and the lady with the shimmering linen robes took form around Elektra.
"If I were you," She hissed, her voice serpentine and unmistakably evil, "I would put your sharp little toys down, or this one will die."
Enryx, Rosamynd and Trudy immediately dropped their weapons, but Vytoni strode forwards, her staff crackling with energy, "I don't see how you can kill her. You can try choking her, of course, but I will kill you? before you can even start to hurt her."
The woman threw her head back and laughed, but released one arm from Elektra's chokehold, "I control the very elements, foolish one. One clench of my hand will crush her windpipe. They usually say that air is the weakest attribute, but they underestimate the power and potential it brings. Stand down! This is my last warning."
Vytoni only narrowed her eyes, but she didn't lower her weapon. However, before anyone could react, the force of a small explosion hit Vyt from behind. Her eyes went wide and she crumpled to the ground, motionless.
"What did you do to her!" Nethrys shouted at Enryx, who -as Katerina slowly realized- was the one who shot Vytoni.
"I'm really sorry," He said quietly - barely a whisper, "But she was gonna get 'Lektra killed. I can't have that."
Nethrys tried to argue back but Adrian laid a warning hand on his shoulder. Nethrys shot them a death glare at them, then unclenched his hand and faced the lady again. Katerina frowned, twirling her dagger around in her hand. The ghostly figure snarled at the group, wrapping her bony, see-through fingers around Elektra's neck. Suddenly vegetation started to grow from the ground, curling around the woman's phantomess body. The woman simply stepped out of the vine column, dropping Elektra in the process. With a flick of her wrist, a jet of strong wind erupted from her palm; it slammed into Rosamynd, sending her flying backwards and knocking into Adrian, who had drawn his swords. Beside her, William leapt at the figure, and Kat immediately sprang into action, but she went for Elektra instead of the White lady and caught her semi-unconscious body.
The lady spun in a circular motion, creating a crescent-shaped structure of compressed air which swiped Trudy, Lysandra, Enryx and Nethrys in the gut and rocketed them backwards. Katerina dragged Elektra aside and left Rosamynd to tend to her while she sprinted towards the commotion. Vytoni, who had already recovered, was shooting fire blasts at disappearing figure that just went straight through her. The woman did a chopping movement with her hand and a slicing air current flung Vytoni backwards and sent her crashing into Nethrys. Katerina ran up to the phantom lady and jabbed Kalypto into her torso which created a small amount of grey mist to evaporate from her dagger. She tried to stab her repeatedly but the same thing kept happening; grey smoke curled up from the dagger and gently floated upwards into the hazy sky. Why isn't this working? Adrian was slicing and chopping at the figure, creating the wisps of smoke that formed her body. She smiled wickedly and made straight for Katerina and seemed to pass right through her, like a ghost might.
Katerina sucked in a breath as the Lady passed her. It was like being doused in burning ice, except it was a hundred times worse. She crumpled to the ground, feeling all energy being drained from her very soul. She knew there was only one option. She grasped her necklace again, murmuring, "πολεμιστές του θανάτου έρθει στην ενίσχυσή μου!" That alone sapped the rest of her strength, and she lay on the concrete roof, and tried her very best not to pass out.
~*~ END OF CHAPTER 34 ~*~