I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, actually, I expected there to be more... fighting. I expected chaos on the island. I expected... not this. Calmness. It was unnatural. But nothing in my life was exactly natural, was it? But the further we walked inland, the more quiet things seemed to become. It was unnerving. I was anticipating the chaos so much, that this was unexpected.
There was fire around us, but I couldn't feel the heat from it. It danced around us, flickering in the wind. It was so strange that I had the desire to reach out my hand and touch it. I wanted to feel the heat- but there was no heat from what I could tell. It was like the world had dropped twenty degrees in the space of ten minutes. I was scared.
The world had gotten darker, and more silent.
But I could feel eyes on us. There was a whispering, a yowling, in the wind. So silent it was barely audible. My whole body was trembling. I could see the red eyes in the shadow of the forest around us. They were following us. I wasn't sure if they were hunting us, cornering us down, or just wanting to watch the battle that was sure to initiate.
Where was Balor? Was he in the shadows too? What did he look like?
So many questions ran through my head. I frowned. Soon enough, my questions would be answered. This was a given fact. We know Balor is on the island somewhere, waiting for us. I was just glad we wouldn't have to be dealing with Fomorians. Maybe Balor would be more manageable on his own... Or maybe I was just being too hopeful.
The flames came to a stop like an entrance way. All of us hesitated before it. Was Balor on the other side? Was he expecting us?
Scathach was the first to walk through. Reluctantly, we followed her actions.
He was there. As I expected, he was waiting for us. Two Demon wolves circled his legs, growling at us and licking their mouths as though dinner had just arrived. I gulped. Maybe it has just arrived.
When I looked to Balor, I almost cried out in shock.
Balor was at least seven foot tall; much taller than any of us. He was large, and beefy with a long spear in his hand. In his left hand he held onto a massive shield. He hadn't much to cover himself up; just a rag to hide what was necessary. I felt, already, powerless being next to him. On his head he wore some sort of helmet with two large horns which curled behind his head coming out of it. His eye was open, and thankfully I wasn't dying as he looked at us.
What did that mean? He didn't want us dead?
I sighed. As if. He probably just wanted some entertainment for a while before he decided he was going to kill us.
"Scathach! What an honor!" Balor exclaimed, smirking at the red haired girl. She scowled up at him, tightly gripping the handle of her sword. "It's been a while since I've killed a warrior. And I see you've brought aíonna too. How thoughtful of you. Go raibh maith agat." He smirked slyly at her as he sized us up. I had a feeling that even North, who always looked a little bit intimidating, looked like a joke to him.
The fire seemed to heat up in a split second, sending a trickle of sweat down my spine. I was edgy. Right now, fire was my second biggest enemy. Being so near the fire made me nervous. But Balor intensified that fear in me.
"Where's your Evil Eye?" Mund asked the King of the Fomorians. "Ain't we suppose to die if you look at us?"
"Oh, that myth?" Balor rolled his eyes looking thoroughly annoyed by this question. "Yes. I suppose I could kill you right away by my Evil Eye, but where's the fun in that? You'd just die instantly. My wolves would much rather fight you to death. They especially like... What are you exactly? Are you a kangaroo or a rabbit?"
Mund narrowed his eyes. "I'm the Easter Bunny."
"Of course you are." Balor sighed. "I'm fighting children heroes. Fantastic. My biggest dream come true." Sarcasm dripped from his mouth.
"We're pretty badass children heroes, to be fair," Jack said, twisting his staff in his hand.
"I'm sure you are," Balor replied. "But as you can see, my wolves are getting impatient." To emphasize his point, the two wolves circling Balor growled darkly at us. I didn't like how the especially eyed Mund and Bribry. My heart was pounding in my chest. I hated fights. They sucked. But then I remembered the poor lost souls on the islands. I remembered how Jack was taken from me for days, and possessed by a demon for a further few days because of this guy. My hands clenched up in anger. I wanted to take this guy down so bad. He was evil. He was more evil than Evil himself.
"I'm getting wee bit impatient too," North said, taking out his swords. "How 'bout we settle this now, eh?"
"I agree."
Balor was quickly joined by more wolves. Man, I really did not like wolves right now. I certainly did not like demon possessed wolves, that's for sure.
'Don't these guys seem nice?' Bribry chimed sarcastically.
"Definitely." I barely had the words out when the wolves attacked on Balor's command. There was enough so that three could attack me at once. I shot the first one with lightning, but one of the wolves knocked me over, knocking the wind out of me. I heaved as I struggled to keep the wolf away from my neck. His sharp nails scraped deeply into my shoulder. In seconds, I could feel blood pouring from the wound. I cried out in pain, still struggling to keep the wolf away from me. I felt a piercing pain in my left leg. My whole body spasmed as my whole leg began to burn with the pain. I had a feeling the second wolf decided to join in on the attack.
The spasm was enough to knock my defense long enough for the first wolf to bite into my shoulder. I screamed out in pain, my eyes burning with tears. I found enough strenght to pry the wolf away from my shoulder. My leg was shaking, and I could feel the warmness of blood dripping down the sides. I regained enough focus and shot lightning at the wolf on top of me. It disintegrated. The second one was still tearing into my leg. It was almost numb. My whole leg was covered in blood. My vision blurred at the gruesome sight before me.
I shot the second wolf down.
I had to roll over onto my stomach to push myself off of the ground. So much blood was gushing from my wounds. I felt weak. But I pushed myself to keep going. I couldn't give up now. I wasn't going to die. I couldn't now. Not now.
I felt as though everything was double. My vision was way too blurry.
Where was Balor? I could hear him laughing. How could I not make out the seven foot King?
I heard Jack somewhere near my right. I headed off in that direction, wanting to help him. I pressed my hand to my shoulder wound. The blood was sticky. I focused my eyes and saw Jack without his staff. The wolf was just about to jump on him when a boomerang came flying around and knocked the wolf over. In a flash of silver, a sword decapitated the wolf.
I noticed Jack's staff near me and I quickly snatched it up. I threw it to him and he caught it. "Duck!" he cried out to me. I did as he said and he shot ice at the wolf that had just went to attack me. As I ducked, my vision got worse and I found myself on hands and knees, trying to hold myself up. I clenched my hands into fists feeling fury course through me. I was not going to die.
Sparks flew out from me, catching the interest of everyone/thing.
This wasn't fair. Why were we even fighting?
More sparks.
I pushed myself off of the ground, finding a different kind of strength in me. Piece of advice: Never piss off a girl. Ever.
There was a flash above us and lightning struck down, hitting me. And I didn't burn to pieces. Instead, I felt it course through my body, tingling the tips of my fingers like a new found energy. I liked it. And I realized something; the lightning here was now responding to me. I could usually just shoot lightning from my hand. Never before could I summon lightning from the sky.
Despite the fact that I was probably going to bleed to death, I felt powerful.
The wolves quickly lost interest in this and began to attack again. I could still feel the tingle in the tips of my fingers. I concentrated as much as I could and then shot out. Lightning struck in different directions, killing at least five demon wolves in the process. My knees buckled beneath me. Blood still oozed out of me.I felt too weak.
I used the last of my strength to kill those five wolves. My vision grew dark.
"Sophie Bennett."
The tiny spark of energy I had left vanished. I couldn't even hold myself up anymore. The world around me was slipping from my grasp. I could feel myself fading away... And I never got to say goodbye. I was suppose to be immortal. I wasn't supposed to die. But here I lay, face down in the dirt, struggling to breathe, my body burning and sticky from the wounds and the blood.
And all I wanted to do was say goodbye.
'Sophie!' I felt warmth against my face followed by a whimper. 'Hold on, Soph. Be strong. Please don't go yet.'
'Lucas, she must go. Her time is now. It is her fate.' It was the woman's voice. I was surprised that there was no wailing considering this is a banshee. Wait- Lucas? That is the Demon's real name. I forced a little smile onto my face.
'Bye, Lucas,' I managed to think.
'Stop! You can't- a life for a life!' Lucas said.
'But you're life is already gone. You're a demon.' The Banshee replied.
'I know. But... this fox is a living creature. And I control him.' My mind slowly began to comprehend what Lucas was suggestion. I wanted to protest but I couldn't find the energy. It was like my life was balancing on the edge of existence. I was slowly slipping away. 'I'm willing to leave the body and stay in the Otherworld. I want Sophie to live. Please, a life for a life?'
'It has always been Sophie's fate to die surrounded fire,' the Banshee told Lucas. 'Her first death was not expected, but it did not change her fate. A life for a life.' The Banshee paused as though considering this option. I wanted to scream at Lucas to just let me die. This is my fate. The Banshee said it so herself. You weren't supposed to mess with fate, were you? 'It's considerable. I have not had the option a life for a life in a long time. I guess it could work out. And they really do need her help to fight Balor.' Banshee sighed. 'If I let her live, I can also see great things for her in her future... If she beats Balor, that is.'
'She needs to live.' I wish I could see them. I wish I could tell Lucas to stop. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I couldn't do anything. I was completely paralyzed.
'And you are willing to let this creature die for her?'
'Yeah, I am.'
'Very well, Lucas. But you cannot return to the mortal world. You have overstayed your welcome, I'm afraid.'
'I understand,' he mumbled. 'Goodbye, Sophie. Thank you for being good to me, even when I wasn't so good. You're an amazing person, and I am so glad I got to meet you. I'm gonna miss you.' He whimpered. 'I'm ready to leave, now.'
-.-.-.-.-.-
My vision slowly came back. My wounds began to numb... To heal. But the minute I found energy, my body began to shake and I began to sob. Bribry's body lay curled up next to me, and he wasn't moving. Battle still raged on around me, but I didn't care. My friend is gone. I'll never be able to talk to Lucas again. He died for me. It was only then did I notice the relieved looking Jack next to me, his hands on my shoulder. How long has he actually been there?
"I thought you were dead," he said, pulling me into his chest.
"I'm supposed to be," I muttered, wiping my eyes. He pulled me off of the ground, and quickly turned an oncoming wolf into ice. I felt angry.
I heard a whoop from somewhere to my right. I twirled around to see that we had beaten all the wolves. Mund and Tooth looked victoriously around at the scene. I cringed. We hadn't won yet. We still had Balor to fight. He is the bigger threat. He can kill us at will if he wanted to. But I wasn't going to let that happen.
I observed my surroundings. I shuddered. There's so much blood everywhere. I look down at my leg. The wound had faded to a scar now, but blood was everywhere from my knee to my ankle. Katherine was pressing her hand to a wound on Alvern's side. Nightlight had a long scrape up along his pale face. Tooth's wings were damaged. Sandy's golden colour looked pale making him look tired and weak. And Jack had blood dried into his hair, and a puncture wound on his arm.
A life for a life.
Tears burned my eyes. How could Lucas/Bribry be gone? It wasn't fair. It should have been me.
But I was here now. I was going to help finish Balor off once and for all. I wasn't going to allow Lucas and Bribry be gone for nothing.
"Where's Balor?" I heard Tooth whisper in the silence. How could a seven foot King go missing from sight? We all faced the forest, looking in the same direction, until something made me look to the right. It was movement. Fast movement. I whipped around as Balor came barreling out of the darkness, his spear held above his head.
"Look out!" I cried as Balor charged closer to us. Everyone turned and readied themselves for the attack.
Balor's attack came quickly.
But scathach was too quick for him. As he swiped, she jumped, landed on the shaft of his spear and stabbed his hand with her swords. Balor roared in rage, swatting her away with his shield. She jumped off of his hand, and we ran in to help her.
Mund and Alvern began to control the grass to tie around his feet. This made him more agitated than anything, but it did distract him. I began to strike the back of his leg with lightning; this caused him to land on his knees on the ground. He bellowed out in anger, trying to kill us with his spear and his shield. Jack began to freeze his hands so that he couldn't use them properly when he went to strike us.
North and Tooth began to help Scathach. Sandy struck the Kind of the Formorians back with his golden sand whip. Nightlight summoned moonbeams, striking him anywhere he could manage to get. Balor hit Tooth with his shield, knocking her to the ground. This attack made us work harder to bring him down.
The grass thickened around his legs, bringing him down so that he was now on his stomach, struggling to keep his hands from the grip of the grass. He squirmed in his trap, trying to tear away the grass, but couldn't because his hands were frozen because of Jack. Balor cursed so loudly that I felt the ground shake beneath me.
And then every part of his body, bar his head, was encased in the grass-rope trap.
"Quickly! Cover his face!" Scathach demanded. I looked at Balor, seeing the urgency in her eyes. Balor's eye was beginning to glow. "Look away!" she screamed at me. Even though my eyes were shut, my eyes burned from the intensity of the light boring out of Balor's eye.
And then the light was gone. Daringly, I slowly opened my eyes. In Balor's place was now a huge lump of land, with something clearly struggling beneath it.
I saw it in a flash- a blur of silver, striking Balor where I guessed his neck was. My eyes widened in shock as Scathach withdrew her sword with a sickening slurp. She made a face, wiping blood off of the grass that covered the now still body of Balor. We all stared, transfixed. Balor was... dead. And Lucas was gone, and my fox from Jack was dead. And right now, Tooth was on the ground, carefully being examined by Mund. I just felt numb. I didn't even feel happy that we were victorious. My friend was gone and he was never coming back.
Slowly, I walked over to the body of my fox, and scooped him up in my arms. He lay limp.
"Soph?" I looked up to see Alvern.
"He died for me," I got out. My tears welled up, and Alvern had his arms around me and Bribry. I felt myself being gently placed into someone else's arms. From the coldness, I guess that Jack was hugging me now.
"It's okay, Soph. Everything's gonna be fine," he whispered in my ear, rubbing my back with his cool hand. I sniffled, pulling myself away from him. Gently, I lowered Bribry to the ground. Grass began to wrap itself around him. I looked up and saw Mund standing there, his face grim.
In seconds, Bribry's body was encased by the ground. Flowers began to bloom on the ground. It was beautiful. But I felt empty. I just can't believe that two of my friends are gone.
Among the red flowers, a single white flower bloomed. I frowned. It was like the innocence in the bloodshed around it. Bribry was only a pup. What a cruel world we live in.
But the war is over, and the fight is done.
It was all finally over.
Aha. I don't know how to end stuff? xD
I dunno if this is the last chapter. I'll probably just do one-shots after this on this story, tbh- so I'm gonna mark this as complete, okay? :) As I said before: I suck at fighting chapters *sigh* ...
Anyway.. I really do hope ye read this because I know I've been lazy about writing lately (school, exams, last year of school EVER, etc. IT'S A LOT OF PRESSURE FOR ONE PERSON, PEOPLE!). xD Please forgive me? :D
Anyway, review what ye think!
Aha... AND I'm gonna do a long shout out list to thank you all:
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THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! IT TRULY MEANS THE WORLD TO ME :D You guys are seriously awesome :D And a big shoutout to my reviewers who kept me motivated to write all the time :D :') Thank you all so much :D :D
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(i'm so glad I didn't do a massive shout out in the first story because I've A LOT of followers [over 70...] :P )