A/N: Elliq had come out of hiding. Prepare for violence, gore, and swearing. Mwa. Ha. Ha.
Now, before we begin, I'd like to quote one of my favorite villains of all time: "Falling is just like flying, except there's a more... permanent destination." If you can tell me who said that, I'll give you a shout-out in the next chapter.
Also, if I hear a SINGLE arrow to the knee joke, I will stab someone in the face with a spoon.
Gracepunk
Felix was sitting in a small secluded room in the Gracebeast Factory. He was staring at a monitor, absently biting his nails. The monitor he was looking at was showing Warren's location, along with his vital signs.
It was early in the morning, so early that the sun hadn't risen yet. The only reason Felix was awake was because he was worried, as usual.
As he sat watching the monitor, he started to doze off. However, he snapped back awake when something on the monitor started beeping. He saw that Warren's heart rate had started accelerating faster than normal. It kept accelerating until it had reached a dangerously high level.
Felix quickly signaled for two of the nearby drones to start up one of the airships. As they did, he picked up the portable monitor and carried it on board.
"Emerald Valley, and fast," exclaimed Felix, seeing Warren's location and signaling for the drones to go.
The airship slowly took off. Felix kept his eyes glued to the monitor, willing the airship to go faster.
That was when it happened.
Warren flatlined.
Earlier
Andrew slowly blinked his eyes open. It was early in the morning, so early that it was still dark. For a moment, he forgot where he was. Then his memory kicked in and he remembered that he was lying curled up in a tent in the middle of a freezing cold forest. It wasn't that cold in the tent, though, simply because the tent held heat really well, and his Grace kept him warm.
That was when Andrew noticed that someone was curled up against his side. Looking over, he saw that Caleb was snuggled up under his arm. The little Seer must have fallen asleep while drawing, because he was still wearing his ink nib gloves. Andrew smiled a bit when Caleb hiccuped in his sleep. It was the first time he had ever really seen the kid sleeping soundly...
Glancing around the dark tent, Andrew saw Ben sprawled out on the ground, fast asleep. There was also another slightly smaller shadow next to him that Andrew recognized as James. He figured that James would eventually make his way into their tent, seeing as the night before he had shown an extreme aversion to sharing an enclosed space with his narcissistic cousin and the gas giant, Josh.
Andrew smiled a bit and looked up at the top of the tent. He was still trying to figure out what he had heard the night before. He could have sworn he heard something fall, and he knew that he saw a shadow. But it couldn't have been anything human. Anything human would make a noise if it fell...
Andrew sighed and held up his bandaged right hand, still burnt from sliding down the cables back at the cathedral. He flexed his hand a bit, but was surprised when it didn't hurt like it did last night. Curious, he unwrapped the bandage and was surprised to see that his burns had almost completely healed, leaving nothing but a thin red scar. He assumed the same had happened with his other hand. Then again, he probably shouldn't be surprised. He had always been fast when it came to healing shallow burns and blisters.
Before Andrew could think about the strangeness of how fast his hands healed, Caleb sat bolt upright with a sharp scream. One of his gloved hands with the razor sharp ink nib fingers flew right past Andrew's face, nearly cutting him.
"Whoa, watch it with the claws, Scissorhands!" exclaimed Andrew.
Caleb's scream also woke up Ben and James.
"Caleb? What's wrong?" asked Ben.
Caleb sat blinking for a minute, looking confused. Then he seemed to regain his senses, and he turned to face them. "We have to go." Then, without waiting for a response, he scrambled to his feet and ran out of the tent, most likely to go wake the others.
"Guess we better listen to him," sighed James, folding up his blanket and putting on his gray hat. "But if you asked me, it's too early for this..."
Warren was curled up in a large pine tree, shivering and wrapped in his wings. Suddenly, he was jolted awake by a sharp scream from down below. He sat bolt upright and looked down through the pine needles to the campsite below. At first he didn't see movement, but then the small boy with the ink black hair from the night before sprinted out of one of the tents and into one of the others.
Damn, that kid's fast...
Warren quietly slunk down the tree a bit further. The green pine needles that had kept out the wind and kept in the heat during the night were now concealing him from being seen from the ground. Not even the snow on the needles moved as he descended.
Once he reached the lowest branches, he stopped and crouched down, listening hard. He could hear voices coming from two of the three tents.
A moment later, the skinny black-haired kid came back out. Now that he was moving slower, Warren could see that he was young – only 15 years old – and he also wasn't wearing shoes. He was only wearing socks, and they were already stained red with blood, probably from frostbite or getting cut on the uneven ground. The kid still wasn't looking up, so Warren still couldn't see his eye color.
Slowly, the rest of the Gracelings filed out of the tents. Except Warren only counted eight of them.
Finally, after two of the tents had been taken down and compacted into metal tubes, the last Graceling exited the last tent. This one was wearing a funny hat, and he had a red cape draped around his shoulders. He was talking to the others, but as he spoke, he turned and faced Warren's direction.
Warren gasped. Not only did he recognize the tan one that could start fires, but he also recognized this older one with the funny hat.
What is going on...?
Warren zoned out for just a moment, trying to remember where he had seen these Gracelings before. And just as a hazy memory started to emerge, the snap of a branch caught his attention. He looked up just in time to see the Gracelings leaving the clearing and heading off deeper into the forest.
Mentally face-palming himself for letting his guard down, Warren quickly stood up and silently ran through the trees, following right behind the Gracelings.
Caleb had been in a panic the entire time they were packing up the campsite. He hardly said anything, though. He simply fluttered around the campsite, fidgeting with the key hanging around his neck, which he always did when he was nervous.
"Caleb, what the hell is wrong with you?" grumbled Christopher as he emerged from his tent. "The sun isn't even up yet!"
Caleb didn't answer him. Instead, he simply turned and kept pacing, trembling in the freezing predawn air.
A minute later, all of the tents and blankets had been packed up.
"Do we have any time for food?" mumbled Josh tiredly.
"We'll eat something while we're walking," said Jen, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Okay..." said Josh, pouting.
"Let's go!" exclaimed Caleb.
The others nodded, and Christopher led the way into the forest with Caleb right on his heels. The others followed, silently trudging through the quiet forest with the young Gracebeast following closely behind them.
They walked for half an hour before the landscape started to change. The thick pine trees started to thin out, and the wind picked up. The snow completely disappeared, and the damp ground because hard and dry under their feet.
"What's going on?" asked Andrew, gesturing to the shifting landscape.
"We're getting closer to – oh look, here it is," said Christopher, gesturing to a gap in the trees that had appeared in their path.
As soon as they were beyond the gap, they all stopped.
They had reached a place once known as Emerald Valley. Andrew remembered taking a field trip to the valley – which was more like a canyon – when he was in elementary school. Back then, Emerald Valley had been nothing more than a crevice in the earth that was completely filled with lush green trees. There had even been several bridges to allow easy access across the Valley.
That was all gone now. There wasn't a single blade of grass left – let alone any trees. The Valley had expanded, now nearly twice as wide and three times as deep as Andrew remembered it. The Valley stretched for a mile across, and looking left and right, Andrew could see that it was several more miles long. There were no trees within a hundred feet of the edge of the Valley, so he could see the sky above and the pitch black clouds rolling across the dark sky. The freezing cold wind was whipping fiercely, blowing his hair back out of his face and chilling him to the bone. Also, there was debris, most likely leftover from the war. Large twisted chunks of metal were scattered across the barren ground, along with bits and pieces of airplanes. Andrew walked a bit closer to the edge, and further down the crevice, he could see an entire fighter airplane sticking out of the inside wall of the crevice, the wings and propeller still attached and jutting out at an odd angle.
"Shit..." muttered Christopher, snapping Andrew out of his trance.
"What is it?" asked Ben, who was standing next to Andrew.
Christopher walked towards the edge, and the group followed him, curious to see what had caused his exasperation.
"Look," he said, gesturing to what looked to be two wooded fence posts sticking straight up out of the ground. "This is where the bridge used to be."
"So what do we do now, genius?" asked Jen, leaning on her spear. She absently reached up to adjust her helmet before remembering that she had left her helmet in the cathedral, and it hadn't made it out.
"There's nothing left to do but go around it," said Christopher, turning around. As he turned, however, his elbow brushed against Caleb's shoulder, and it was enough to bring Caleb out of whatever haze he had been in. The second the Seer took in his surroundings, he let out a high-pitch cry of fear and dropped to the ground, grabbing onto the leg of whichever Gracepunk was the closest – in this case, it was Christopher.
"Not again..." Christopher muttered, glaring down at the trembling Seer.
Jen and the twins quickly came forward to deal with the situation. Jen pried her brother off of Christopher's leg, and the twins gently carried him to the back of the group. Only then did he open his eyes and stop hyperventilating.
"What just happened?" Andrew asked Ben.
"Caleb has a crippling fear of heights," explained Ben.
"Oh..." muttered Andrew. "Poor kid..."
"Okay..." said Christopher, loud enough to be heard over the roaring wind. "Since the bridge has been destroyed, we'll have to just go around." He then started to walk along the length of the Valley, and the others uneasily followed him. They all stayed as close to the treeline as possible, mainly for protection against the wind, but also for Caleb's sake. Andrew noticed that the kid stayed closer to the trees than the rest.
They walked in silence for several minutes, not seeming to come any closer to the end of the Valley. Andrew did notice, however, that they were getting closer to the crashed airplane, and now he could see that it was lodged into the wall about fifty feet below the edge. The Valley itself was almost three hundred feet deep, and the walls were sheer cliffs. A fall would be deadly.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Andrew saw something. It was just a fleeting image – a black silhouette against an even blacker sky – but he was almost certain he saw something moving between the trees on their left. It was the same thing he had seen the night before, and it gave him the chills.
With a gulp, he opened his mouth to say something.
That was when the first shot rang out.
Warren had followed the Gracepunks all the way to Emerald Valley, but he had been forced to stay back when the trees disappeared. He watched from a distance as the Gracepunks walked up to the edge of the Valley, only just being able to see them in the darkness. The light was so unsure that he thought he saw one of them collapse.
Due to the wind, he also couldn't hear what they were saying, but either way, he knew his window of opportunity was closing. He had to act fast. Today would be the day he would capture one of the Gracepunks, or die trying.
As soon as he saw the Gracepunks start walking back towards the treeline further down the Valley, he reached down and removed his gun from it's holster on his belt. The weapon was so small that it only held three bullets, but all he needed was one.
Taking a deep breath, Warren jumped from tree to tree, not necessarily needing to be quiet thanks to the howling wind. He ran through the trees, catching up to and passing the group of Gracepunks before stopping and crouching down in a place where the branches cleared to give him a perfect shot. He wouldn't shoot to kill, of course, but he did need to wound at least one of them.
As the Gracepunks came into view, Warren took aim. He aimed towards the very back of the group, where the twins and the ink-splattered kid were walking. He debated for a moment before aiming for the left knee of the smaller twin, the one with the 3 written on her jacket.
All he had to do was wait for just a few more seconds for them to be in the right position. However, as he narrowed his eyes to check his aim, something changed. The hardwired Gracebeast part of his brain stopped working for just a minute and his normal human self returned.
What am I doing...? he wondered, blinking a bit as if he had just woken up. He looked down at the gun in his hand. He had unknowingly removed the safety, and his finger was hovering over the trigger.
Warren looked up again as the group began to pass his hiding place, not even taking notice of him. He was still unconsciously following the small Gracepunk with the gun.
That was when Warren made the decision not to be a Gracebeast. He would cut off his foot if he needed to to get rid of the tracking device, but he was determined that he wouldn't go back to the Factory. He wasn't sure where this sudden courage came from, but he didn't want to let it go. He didn't want to let the beast programmed into him take control.
Warren drew the gun back and started to move his finger away from the trigger.
That was when he noticed the skinny black-haired kid. He had slowed down a bit, and was trailing back from the group. Then without warning, his head snapped up and he looked right at Warren, his bright purple and green eyes wide with fear.
Warren gasped at the sight of the kid's eyes. He started to stand up, ready to fly as far away as possible, mostly out of fear.
Then his hand twitched, causing him to pull the trigger of the gun.
BANG!
The bullet flew right at the twins.
Caleb had still been recovering from his panic attack by the crevice when his Grace told him that something was wrong. It was only a small sensation in the back of his mind, but it was enough to get his attention.
He walked with his head down, following the twins' footsteps. He was distracted, using his Grace to try and find where the danger was.
The second Warren looked at him, he found it. His eyes snapped up and he found himself looking right in the eyes of the Gracebeast.
Then he saw the source of the danger.
It was coming from the gun in Warren's hand.
Without another thought, Caleb rushed forward and tackled the twins to the ground just as Warren's hand twitched. He knocked the twins out of the way of the bullet.
The others heard the shot and immediately turned around to see Caleb and the twins on the ground, all three of them looking terrified.
"Run!" Caleb shouted to them, quickly jumping to his feet, grabbing the twins, and pulling them into a nearby bush large enough to hide in.
It was right at that moment that Warren began to panic. His hand twitched again.
BANG!
This bullet flew through the air and hit James right in the knee, shattering the bone before going right through his leg and coming out the other side, where it embedded itself into the ground, still completely intact. He let out a cry of pain and crumpled to the ground. However, when he hit the ground, he flicked his hand up and, using his Grace, he made Warren's gun explode. The force of the blast threw Warren backwards where he hit the trunk of the tree he was hiding in. Then, before he could get his balance, he pitched forward and fell out of the tree, flipping in the air before landing flat on his face out in plain sight.
By the time he hit the ground, all the Gracepunks had scattered. Christopher had already dragged James over to the bush where Caleb and the twins were hiding, and the rest of the Gracepunks had pulled out their weapons.
Warren looked up in time to see Jen running full speed at him, her spear held high above her head.
Faster than lightning, Warren was up on all fours, and when Jen reached him, he lunged forward and took her legs out from under her with his wing. Then, using that momentum and the sudden gust of wind – courtesy of his second Grace – he quickly took to the air.
He wasn't flying for two seconds before Andrew threw a fireball at him. The fireball connected solidly with Warren's leg.
Warren let out a cry of pain and tumbled through the air, landing on the other side of the Gracepunks, between them and the Valley. Behind him, he heard a whirring noise, and, with a quick glance, he saw that it was the propeller of the airplane fifty feet below. The violent wind had caused it to start spinning at an alarming speed, and the vortex of air it was creating would be too much for him to fly away from.
He was trapped between four pissed off Gracepunks and a spinning propeller of death.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, one of the Gracepunks – the one with only one eye – shot an arrow at him with his crossbow. Warren tried to dodge the arrow, but it skimmed across his shoulder, slicing open his wing and his shoulder. He didn't even have time to register the pain before the enormous Gracepunk threw an axe at him.
He had no choice. He spread his wings and quickly flew up into the sky, using every ounce of his wind Grace to keep from being sucked into the vortex. The axe still hit him. It dug into the right side of his ribcage and ripped the main fabric of his right wing – and his side – wide open, causing him to instantly lose stability in the air, along with a lot of blood. He started to fall.
Suddenly, a crazy idea sprung into his mind, and in one swift motion, he turned and fired his already loaded harpoon towards the ground, hoping that he would be able to hit the ground and get something steady to hold on to that would keep him from falling.
He accidentally hit Jen in the leg.
"What the fuck!" Jen loudly exclaimed as the harpoon sliced through her thigh and knocked her backwards. Then she felt herself being dragged towards the edge.
Andrew saw this and lunged forward, picking up Jen's dropped spear and jamming it into the ground. He held onto the spear with one hand, and he wrapped his free arm around Jen's chest to keep her from sliding towards the cliff.
"JOSH!" he shouted. "Cut the cable!"
It was at that moment that Christopher and Caleb joined the fight, having left James with the twins. Caleb joined Ben at the edge of the crevice, forgetting his fear in the presence of danger, and he looked for something with which to help shoot the beast down, seeing as Ben was almost out of arrows, and it was hard to hit the Gracebeast while he was tumbling erratically through the air.
Christopher was helping Andrew and Jen, holding onto the cable attached to the harpoon to try and prevent it from hurting Jen any further.
It was right at that moment that Josh managed to find his machete, which he had dropped in the heat of the moment. He then swung the blade and severed the cable.
There was a loud SNAP as the cable broke, and Warren, having nothing else to hold on to, hit the ground. The cable was still loose though. It snapped backwards and was instantly sucked into the vortex, where it caught on the spinning propeller.
Warren was instantly snapped backwards as the cable caught the propeller. Then, because the other end of the cable was still attached to the device on his back, he was dragged backwards towards the edge. Panicking, he fumbled for the latch to release the cable, but his wings were in the way, and he was pulled almost all the way off the ledge.
In a last ditch effort, he pulled out his knife and dug it into the ground.
There was a loud CLANG as his knife hit something metal. Whatever he hit, it began to crack, and the next thing he knew, the entire section of the cliff they were on began to collapse and slide over the edge, into the deep crevice. The ground lurched, and they all went over the edge.
Caleb and Ben managed to miss the propeller by mere feet. They landed on a ledge right next to it. Caleb landed flat on his stomach, and the wind was knocked right out of him. He also thought he felt a rib crack. Ben landed flat on his back, but he also landed on his medical bag. He heard a loud crack, and he hoped that it was a vertebrae instead of something inside the bag.
Up above them, when the ground collapsed, Josh managed to grab onto the edge, and with his free hand, he grabbed Jen and kept her from falling. Andrew grabbed onto Josh's leg, and as Christopher fell past, Andrew grabbed his staff and held it out. Christopher grabbed onto the staff and held on for dear life. Andrew groaned as he felt his right shoulder starting to pop out of it's socket from supporting himself and Christopher.
Warren was in a slightly more difficult situation. He had dropped his first knife when he fell, and now he was holding onto the cliff with his bare hands, his face red as he strained against the propeller trying to pull him down. The force was so strong that the straps that held the cable holder to his back started to bend some of the bones in his ribcage into strained positions.
Gasping for breath, Warren tried to use his wind Grace one last time to try and get further away from the spinning propeller. It worked for a moment, and he was able to climb up close enough to almost reach Christopher's feet.
That was when the backlash hit him.
All of the wind he had been using to hopefully slow the propeller snapped back in on him, slamming him face-first into the side of the cliff. The impact broke his nose and knocked his helmet clean off. It fell into the canyon below, revealing his pale and terrified face.
Dizzy and already bleeding from several other wounds, Warren felt himself start slipping. As a last ditch attempt, Warren lunged forward and grabbed the first thing he could, which happened to be Christopher's cape.
Andrew cursed loudly, now supporting the weight of himself, Christopher, and the terrified Gracebeast who was attached to an enormous spinning propeller.
That was when Christopher's cape started to rip. Warren saw this, and his eyes widened. Holding onto the cape with all the strength in his dominant left hand, Warren fumbled around his belt for his last remaining dagger. He knew the cable was too thick for him to cut, especially from such an awkward angle, but maybe if he could just get a better grip...
That was when he and Christopher made eye contact. Christopher gasped, almost losing his grip on the staff.
He knew this Gracebeast. And from the look on Warren's face, Warren knew him too.
The cape ripped even further, but right at that moment, Warren found his dagger. He pulled it back and stabbed it into the hard wall of the cliff. The knife hit something and deflected off. The cape ripped even further.
Using all of his remaining strength – which wasn't much after his week of sickness and starvation – Warren stabbed the knife into the cliff one last time.
It stuck, but barely.
Then Christopher's cape ripped completely apart, and Warren was again jerked backwards by the force of the still spinning propeller.
And then his knife slipped away from the cliff.
"No!" screamed Christopher, reaching his hand out in a desperate attempt to catch Warren.
He was too late.
With sickening speed, Warren was sucked down by the vortex.
He hit the propeller full on.
A moment later, the wind stopped.
Andrew and Christopher hadn't been able to see what happened to Warren because of the dust cloud the propeller had kicked up. Ben and Caleb, however, had been in the perfect position to see what had happened.
They had watched in horror as Warren hit the spinning propeller full speed. They could hear the sickening crunch of his bones on the impact, and less than a second later, they were both splattered in hot, sticky blood.
They didn't see what happened to him after he hit the propeller though. All they could see was a fleeting glimpse of the dark, mangled form as it fell deep into the chasm.
Ben simply stared for a minute before looking down at Caleb, who was on his hands and knees, still trying to catch his breath. He looked much paler than before, and he was staring with wide hazy eyes at the spot where Warren had been torn to shreds.
Trembling, Ben looked up and saw that the others had already climbed back up. Andrew and Josh were leaning over the edge, though, and they were lowering a rope.
Ben took hold of the rope and tied it around his waist. He then looked at Caleb. The poor kid was still frozen, and if the look in his eyes were anything to go on, Ben knew he was in shock. He knelt down and gently shook Caleb's shoulder.
"Caleb?"
The Seer slowly looked up at Ben, his eyes wide and his face a mask of fear.
"Do you think you can hold on long enough for us to get out of here?"
Slowly, Caleb gave a single weak nod.
Ben nodded and bent down, and Caleb crawled up on his back, wrapping his skinny arms around his neck and holding on for dear life. Ben then tugged on the rope, and Josh pulled them both up.
As soon as they reached the top, Caleb slid off of Ben's back and quickly crawled into a nearby bush, where he violently threw up.
Ben couldn't blame him.
Looking around, he saw that the others had regrouped themselves. The twins were helping James limp over towards the group. Ben could tell just from where the large bloodstain was that the bullet had shattered his left knee. He looked over at Jen to find that she was leaning on Andrew, and he was unfortunately able to read her lips. None of the others looked any worse for wear, except Caleb, who was still vomiting.
As Ben went over to help James and the twins, he walked past Christopher, who was staring off into space.
"Hey!" he said, snapping his fingers in front of Christopher's face and snapping him out of his trance.
"What?" asked Christopher, his usual venom missing from his voice.
Ben reached into his bag – he still hadn't found out what the loud crack had been – and pulled out a water bottle. He handed it to Christopher and said, "Go give this to Caleb and make sure he's okay." He then turned and went to help James.
Muttering several swear words under his breath, Christopher turned and walked towards Caleb. The kid was still sitting there, facing away from him, hunched over and trembling.
"Hey, kid..." he started to say, but he trailed off when he noticed that Caleb's hands were covered in blood.
Glancing over his shoulder, Christopher saw that no one was looking. He knew they needed to continue moving as soon as possible to avoid getting caught again.
"I'm sorry about this..." he whispered to Caleb. Then he put his hand on Caleb's shoulder.
Andrew had learned a lot about Christopher's Grace in the time he spent at the cathedral. He learned that Jen and the twins were the only ones immune to his influence, but he didn't know if it was because of their Graces or because they were girls.
The next thing he learned was that a hand-to-shoulder contact was the best way for Christopher to use his Grace. Andrew figured there was some kind of nerve in the shoulder that drew a link to the brain and made that the most influential spot. When he tried to think about it, however, it made his head hurt. The only think he really learned out of that was that whenever Christopher put his hand on someone's shoulder, he was probably using his Grace on them.
The final thing Andrew learned was that pain can make one more susceptible to influence. Pain weakens the mind and willpower, and even something like an influence Grace can be seen as a relief.
Andrew had been helping Jen stand as she spouted a line of curse words and insults that would make even a Gracebeast blush. The only reason he noticed Christopher was because he saw him glance around to make sure nobody was looking. Then he saw him put his hand on Caleb's shoulder and start talking to him.
Andrew narrowed his eyes, his naturally suspicious nature taking over. However, his suspicions were eased a bit when he saw Caleb nod, and he calmed down a bit more when he saw Christopher hand him a bottle of water. Then he realized he was probably being too paranoid, and Christopher had probably just been making sure Caleb was okay.
Andrew let it go, and a few minutes later, the rest of the group had gathered at the edge of the forest where he and Jen were waiting. Ben had done his best to heal James' knee, but the bone had been completely shattered, and he could only really heal flesh wounds. James was, however, able to walk on his own now.
"We should leave, now," said Christopher, straining to be heard over the sound of the wind, which had just picked up again.
"If you haven't noticed," said Ben as he healed Jen's leg, "we may not be ready to move on yet."
"I don't think we have much of a choice," said Christopher. "That Gracebeast probably has backup, and they probably know that he's dead by now." Andrew was the only one to notice that Christopher's voice cracked a bit when he claimed that the Gracebeast was dead.
"We should leave before they get here," Christopher finished. After a moment, the others nodded in agreement.
"Let's just stay in the forest this time..." muttered Ben.
The group began walking towards the treeline, notable slower than before. Everyone looked exhausted, even though the day hadn't even started yet.
As they walked, however, Andrew stumbled over something. He looked down and saw that it was a long thin metal pole that had been slightly bent at the end. He picked it up as he walked, and when he looked ahead and saw James limping along, he got an idea of what to do with it.
Activating his Grace, Andrew held the fire in the palm of his hand and ran his hand up and down along the end of the metal pole, heating it up until it was red hot. When it got hot enough, he bent the end into somewhat of a hook, forming a cane. As soon as it cooled down, he would give it to James.
By the time they reached the safety of the forest a minute later, the sun had risen. Andrew looked up and saw through the trees that the rising sun had turned the dark billowing clouds blood red.
They walked on in silence.
Not a minute after the group of Gracepunks reached the safety of the forest, the Gracebeast airship with Felix and the two drones arrived at Emerald Valley.
"Go down," Felix ordered, staring intently at the monitor that showed Warren's location and vital signs.
The drones obeyed and carefully lowered the small airship into the Valley. The second the airship landed, Felix sprinted out. They had reached the very bottom of the enormous Valley, but Warren was nowhere to be found. Felix was breathing hard, already panicking. The monitor told him that Warren was still alive, but only barely. His heart would flutter weakly for a few minutes before flatlining again for several terrifying seconds. At one point before they got there, Warren's heart had stopped for a full five minutes before starting back up again.
"WARREN!" Felix shouted at the top of his lungs. He could barely see anything within 100 feet of his face due to the darkness and the dust in the air. He took another breath and prepared himself to yell again.
That was when he saw it. Caught on a shard of metal sticking out of the ground was a large piece of light gray fabric. Felix recognized it instantly as a shred of Warren's wings, blowing in the wind like a ghost. Felix slowly reached out for it, but a strong gust of wind blew it away, sending it down the length of the Valley where it disappeared in a cloud of dust.
As soon as the fabric had gone, Felix looked past it. There, against the wall of the chasm, was a thin, broken body, lying in a pool of blood.
Felix sprinted over to the body, his heart in his throat. It was Warren. And he looked terrible. His wings were completely shredded, and entire body was covered in bruises and deep lacerations, especially what Felix could see of his back. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst injury was on the right side of his chest. Most of the flesh was gone, and Felix could see the white bones of his ribs showing through all the blood and mangled flesh.
Felix knelt down next to his best friend. He could see that Warren was still breathing, but his breathing was rapid and painful-looking. Felix gently pressed the back of his palm against Warren's forehead and wasn't surprised to find that he was burning with a fever, probably caused by an infection.
Suddenly, Warren coughed, spitting out blood.
"Don't worry, it'll be okay..." said Felix hurriedly, glancing over his shoulder at the drones, who had gotten out a stretcher.
When the drones moved Warren onto the stretcher, Felix thought he saw his eyes flicker open for just a second. The drones then quickly lifted Warren up in the stretcher and ran him back to the airship with Felix close behind.
As the Gracepunks walked through the forest, the clouds overhead got darker, and thunder began to rumble in the distance. There was a storm coming.
And the twins, who were afraid of thunderstorms, weren't happy about it one bit. As soon as the first rumble of thunder rolled across the stormy sky, they nearly jumped out of their hoodies. A moment later, Josh found them hiding completely under his jacket.
"I guess we'd better find some place to wait out the storm, then," said James, turning to hide his smile as he limped along with the rest of the group, leaning heavily on the cane Andrew had made for him. The twins poked their heads out of the neck of Josh's jacket and nodded in agreement, while Jen was trying not to burst into laughter at the fact that it looked like Josh now had three heads.
They walked on for a few more minutes before finding a large cave. It wasn't very deep, but it was large enough for everyone – even Josh – to fit in.
As the group settled into the cave, Andrew grabbed Christopher by the shoulder and quickly led him far enough from the cave so that none of the others would be able to hear.
"What?" demanded Christopher.
"You knew that Gracebeast," said Andrew. "How did you know him?"
Christopher looked like he was about to get mad and start yelling, but he stopped, his shoulders sagging with defeat and – possibly – sadness.
"Yes. I knew him," he said, staring down at his feet.
"How?" asked Andrew, his firm tone lightening up a bit as curiosity took over.
Christopher was quiet for a minute before holding his head up and looking Andrew in the eyes. "He was my nephew."
Andrew gasped and actually took a step back. "What...?" was all his mind could come up with.
Christopher nodded. "His name was Warren, or at least that's what my sister named him. He and his twin brother – Aidan – were kidnapped by Gracebeasts when they were infants... And his brother died. I'm not sure how, but we found him a month later..."
Andrew was shocked, but the thought also saddened him deeply. He had seen the terror on Warren's face right before he fell, but he had also seen how young he was – he looked like he was only a year or two older than himself. And he was Christopher's nephew?!
Then he realized something else, and the thought brought a stab of pain to his chest.
"What is it?" asked Christopher, seeing the pained look on Andrew's face.
"Nothing..." said Andrew with a shrug. "It's just... my sister's nickname for me was Aidan."
Christopher raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask Andrew about it, a deafening clap of thunder echoed through the sky, and a few drops of rain started to fall.
"We better head back to the others," said Andrew, turning and heading back towards the cave where the others sat huddled, shivering against the cold wind. Andrew ducked into the cave and sat down next to Jen, while Christopher went and sat in the corner as far from the others as possible. A minute later, the rain outside turned into a torrential downpour with the occasional clap of thunder and bolt of lightning.
"What a way to start the morning," Andrew whispered to Jen.
Jen smiled and glanced over at the twins. Ben and James were currently tickling them to try and distract them from the storm. It was working.
As Jen glanced around, she saw that none of the others looked any worse for wear, except...
Jen looked around the cave three times before she finally spotted Caleb. He was sitting in one of the far deep corners of the cave, curled up in a ball with his shoulders hunched, his head down, and his hands shoved into his pockets. Jen noticed that he was trembling, and he looked paler than usual.
"Caleb?" she whispered, crawling over and sitting next to him. He briefly glanced up at her, and from the angle she was sitting at, she could only see his bright purple eye, which was glazed over and glassy.
"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." muttered Caleb, turning a bit more so that he was facing the wall of the cave he was pressed against.
"Really? A-are you sure?" she asked, slowly reaching out towards him. She stopped, however, when she saw him shrinking away from her touch.
"Caleb?"
"I said I'm fine," he snapped, huddling closer to the wall as if he were trying to get away from her. "You try watching s-someone get ripped to shreds, then tell me how you feel."
"Right..." said Jen, backing up a bit to give her brother some space. "I'm sorry."
In response, Caleb pulled his hood up, even though there was a long slit in the fabric, and some of his unruly black hair stuck out of it, giving the impression that the hood itself had hair.
Jen sighed, and she could see that her brother was still uncomfortable, judging by his tense position and clenched jaw. She decided to leave him alone, trusting that he would come back around in time. She crawled back over and sat next to Andrew.
"Is he okay?" asked Andrew quietly.
Jen only shrugged. "I think he'll be okay, but he's still traumatized."
"I don't blame him."
They sat in silence for what seemed like hours before the storm finally subsided, leaving nothing but freezing cold wind and slightly less dark clouds.
"We better get moving," said Christopher, speaking for the first time since the storm started. "We've got a lot of ground to cover before nightfall." As he spoke, Andrew noticed that his eyes were slightly red, as if he had been crying. He didn't mention it though.
From the back of the cave, Caleb watched quietly as the others filed out. Once they were all out, he slowly and painfully got to his feet, absently glancing down at what he had written in the dirt before walking out and joining the others.
He had written only two word:
Help me...
Felix was pacing up and down the hallway outside of the entrance to the medical ward. The flight back to the Factory had been a nerve-wracking one, seeing as Warren's heart had stopped twice during the flight. Once they got to the Factory and made it to the medical ward, all three of the Healers had immediately surrounded Warren, and the youngest Healer, a seventeen year old infection Healer named Ginger, had ordered Felix to leave.
Felix had been pacing for about two hours, and his feet were bleeding. Every time he heard footsteps, he would whip around, hopeful and fearful at the same time that it would be one of the Healers coming to tell him what was going on.
After a while, Felix began to lose feeling in his toes, and he thought it best to sit down. However, as soon as he sat down, someone sauntered up to him.
Please, not now... Felix thought helplessly, closing his eyes.
"Aw, taking a cat nap?" asked an irritatingly high-pitch female voice.
Felix counted to ten and took several deep breaths before cracking open his eye, the one that he couldn't see out of. That way he wouldn't have to look at her any longer than necessary.
"Oh good, you are awake."
"Go away, Melody," said Felix, opening both eyes and struggling to keep his voice calm as he glared at the female Gracebeast in front of him. She was one of Rogue's apprentices, practicing to become a torturer. She worshiped Rogue as a god, and she was just as irritating.
Melody leaned on the guitar she always kept with her. "Why would I go away?" she asked in an incredibly bitchy voice, which made Felix dig his fingers into the wooden bench he was sitting on.
"You should go away because I'm about to smash your guitar over your head," said Felix, still managing to maintain a calm voice.
Melody rolled her red and black eyes and pushed a strand of her black hair, which was streaked with red, out of her pale face. She impatiently tapped her healed boot against the floor.
"Don't be stupid," she said, her hands on her hips. "If you did anything to me, Rogue would throw you into the Cold Room."
There she goes again. Stop acting like a fucking twelve year old.
"Anyways, I just came by to see if Warren was dead yet," she continued, acting as if Felix had actually been listening instead of plotting her death. "I heard he screwed up at trying to catch some Gracelings. Go figure. He's probably the worst Gracebeast in history."
Felix counted to ten again.
"Well, other than you," finished Melody.
I'm four years older than you, you sixteen year old bitch. Respect your elders.
"Well, I better go," said Melody with an annoying amount of cheerfulness. "Let me know when he dies." Then she happily skipped off.
Felix hoped for the sake of everyone else that the only person around him when he snapped was Melody.
For a moment, Felix was so focused on trying to remove his fingernails from the wooden bench that he didn't hear the door to the medical ward open. He did, however, see Ginger standing right in front of him. He quickly jumped to his aching feet and opened his mouth, a jumble of questions ready to spill out. However, Ginger silenced him with a simple wave of her hand.
"You might want to sit back down," she said.
Felix nodded and sat down, knowing very well that the young Healer was in charge as always. No matter what the others thought, Ginger was the one who was really in charge of the Factory, since she had the power to save lives. She simply ruled from the back seat, though.
Ginger sat down next to Felix, and that was how he knew that there was bad news. That, coupled with the fact that her doctor's coat was almost completely covered in blood.
"First of all... yes, he is alive," said Ginger. Felix let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.
"So what's the bad news?" he asked quietly.
Ginger bit her lip. "This was why I made you sit down. He lost about half of the blood in his entire body, and we had to give him a couple transfusions... okay, a lot. Also, he's very lucky that we have the technology to grow new internal organs within minutes, because we had to replace his liver and his right lung. Also, he lost a kidney, so if he recovers, he isn't allowed to have any alcohol unless he wants to be poisoned by it."
Felix didn't like the way she said if he recovers.
"Now for the actual damage..." muttered Ginger before continuing in a normal voice. "He had a fractured skull, a broken nose, fractured collarbone, every single one of his ribs were broken, and most of the vertebrae in his upper back were cracked. We managed to fix those, though, and now he'll be able to use his legs again. As for the infection, I took care of that, and Duncan brought his fever back down to less lethal levels. He also healed that burn on his leg. How did he get that anyways?"
"New Graceling..." muttered Felix. "Pyrokinetic. That's why the Baron sent him out in the first place. That Graceling is the same little bastard that half blinded me."
Ginger nodded. "Yes, I remember your vulgar comments about him. Like I was saying, Warren's back was mostly shredded, but there was still enough skin left for us to stitch him up. He's still pretty bloodied up, though...
"And... there's one more thing. The only thing we're really worried about now is the gaping wound on his right side. There's not enough skin left for us to patch it up, and it also set off some internal bleeding, and you know we can't fix that."
Felix mentally cursed Rogue for killing the last wound healer they had.
"Isn't there anything else you can do?" asked Felix. "Duncan can heal burns, so why can't he heal flesh wounds?"
"I don't think he'll be healing anyone for a while," said Ginger, her voice taking on her normal salty tone. "He used so much energy trying to lower Warren's fever that he got two nosebleeds and nearly passed out from Grace exhaustion."
Felix suddenly found his feet very interesting. "Sorry..." he muttered. A moment later, he risked a glance back up at Ginger. "So can I see my friend?"
Ginger was still for a minute before slowly nodding. She then stood up and opened the door to the medical ward, followed by Felix.
The medical ward was probably the only part in the entire building that had all of the lights working. Felix winced when he walked in, seeing as he was sensitive to bright lights. The room itself was filled with curtains strung up all over the place, creating small private compartments, all of which had their own beds. Most of them were unoccupied, though.
"Follow me," said Ginger, leading Felix down a long corridor of curtains. When she reached the end, she pulled back the last curtain on her right, revealing one of the small compartments.
Warren was lying in the bed, barely visible under all the blankets and bandages. He was hooked up to several machines that Felix had never seen before, and from what Felix could tell, he was still unconscious. He could also see that the bandages wrapped around Warren's right side were bloodstained already.
"You've got five minutes," said Ginger, closing the curtain.
Felix slowly sat down in the chair next to the bed. He was quiet for a minute before slowly speaking.
"If... if you can hear me... I just... want to let you know that you're alive, and you'll probably survive..."
No response.
Felix sighed and sat back in his chair, growing more and more frustrated by the second. It was his fault that his best friend was dying... but then again...
Maybe it wasn't his fault. No... it wasn't. It was that little Graceling's fault! If that Graceling hadn't blinded him in one eye, then Warren wouldn't have had to go out and fight and nearly get himself killed.
The more he thought, the more his anger grew. By the time Ginger returned a few minutes later to tell him to leave, his vision was red and his fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white. As he walked out of the medical ward and took his place on the bench again, he knew that he was going to make somebody pay.
The Gracepunks were still in the forest. They had left Emerald Valley behind some time ago, and it was starting to get dark.
As they walked, however, they noticed a strange blue glow coming from somewhere off the path.
"What is that?" whispered Ben, trying to get a good look at whatever it was that was glowing.
Slowly, Caleb stepped forward from the back of the group. He didn't say anything. He simply walked towards the blue lights, and the twins followed him, not failing to notice that he was limping.
A moment later, Caleb and the twins emerged in a clearing. At the center of the clearing, glowing blue flowers were scattered around. The twins glanced at each other, curious, but Caleb seemed to know exactly what they were.
A small smile crept onto his face, and he slowly and carefully walked into the center of the clearing. He then carefully knelt down and plucked one of the flowers from the ground, cupping it in his hands.
"What kind of flowers are these?" muttered Ben as he entered the clearing along with Jen and Andrew.
"They're called Skysparks," said Caleb quietly. "They only grow where lightning has struck. That's why the glow blue."
"Really?" asked Andrew, bending down to inspect the flowers. They were shaped kind of like tulips, but the pedals were blue and there was a bright white glow emanating from inside. Andrew stuck his finger inside out of curiosity, and he was immediately zapped so hard that his entire arm went numb and it felt like someone punched him in the chest and filled his lungs with lead.
"What the hell was that?" he gasped as he found himself lying flat on his back on the ground.
"Oh yeah, you might wanna be careful," said Caleb. "They've still got lightning inside of them."
"Thanks for the warning..." Andrew coughed.
Caleb stared at the flower he was holding for a minute before turning it upside-down and shaking it above his hand. A moment later, something glowing bluish white fell out of the flower and into his hand. The flower itself then went dark, and Caleb set it down, staring with wide, hazy eyes at the tiny bolt of lightning in the palm of his hand. After a moment, he reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out an empty ink bottle. He then gently let the small little piece of lightning fall into the clear glass bottle. He did this several more times, looking genuinely happy for the first time all day.
After a few minutes, he had collected about twenty bottles of electricity, and he put them all in his bag. Then he stood with a wince and carefully walked back towards the others.
"Just a precaution," he said, addressing their questioning looks. "S-should we get back to the others...?" Without waiting for an answer, he quickly walked back to where James, Christopher, and Josh were waiting. Caleb pulled one of the bottles out of his bag and handed it to James.
"What is this?" he asked quietly, looking at the glowing bottle.
"Lightning," said Caleb before quietly returning to the back of the group.
As they regrouped and continued walking, Caleb started to walk a bit slower as the dizziness returned. He started to have trouble breathing again thanks to his cracked rib, so he pulled his inhaler out of his pocket and took a quick hit from it. It didn't help much. Then he realized what the problem was: he was starting to feel again.
Right at that moment, the twins appeared by his side.
Are you okay? Erika asked him, not even bothering to use sign language, even though Caleb was the only one truly fluent in it since he used it for the first five years of his life.
"I'm fine," whispered Caleb.
You've said that a lot today.
"Because you guys keep asking..." said Caleb, swatting Erika's hand away before quickly speeding up to catch up with the others. His limp was now obvious.
Erika turned to her sister, who had been trying to read his emotions while they talked.
Did you get anything from him? Erika asked.
Sam nodded, just for a moment thinking of that morning. The reason she hadn't been able to see Warren was because he had been wearing his helmet, which blocked out any mental Graces from detecting him. However, when Warren's helmet had fallen off, she had been able to see that he was glowing with white hot fear and pain.
It's almost like he's wearing one of those helmets, said Sam. He's got really good control of his emotions, but...
What is it? asked Erika. What did you see?
Sam sighed. Just for a second... I saw pain.
It was getting late. Very late. Almost everyone in the Factory had gone to sleep. Everyone except Felix, who was still sitting on the wooden bench outside of the medical ward. It was almost midnight, and he still hadn't heard anything else about Warren's condition.
"Well well well," said a sudden smooth voice from right next to him.
Felix couldn't help but smile, even though he made it look like a grimace. He was very glad that Melody had shown up again, because he really needed someone to take his anger out on.
"What do you want, you heartless bitch?" Felix asked, glaring up at her.
"I just wanted to come and check back in on you and your little friend," sneered Melody. "I mean, it's my job to torture him, so before he dies in a couple hours, I want to give him a bit of hell. Just to hear him scream one last time..."
Before Melody could continue, Felix's hand shot out and he grabbed Melody's guitar. Melody was taken by surprise, and Felix was able to rip the guitar out of her hands. He immediately took a swing at her, but she had already started to run. She didn't get far. Felix was fast and pissed, and Melody was wearing heels.
The second he was in range, Felix swung the guitar and cracked Melody across the head with it. Melody crumpled to the ground, too dizzy to do anything but moan, and Felix picked her up by her throat. He dragged her into a nearby room and threw her down on the stone floor before slamming the door and locking it. He knew that Rogue was already asleep, and he was a deep sleeper. He also knew that these spare rooms were used as backup torture chambers, and they were designed to block out sound so that nobody on the outside could hear the screaming.
Felix looked through the torture equipment before finding a large wooden tub. He dragged it to the center of the room and started filling it with water, using the hose attached to the wall that he would use to wash up the blood afterward. Melody, who was terrified of water, seemed to realize what was about to happen, so she tried to clamber to her feet. Felix saw her though, and he shoved her to the ground.
Then he decided to make sure she couldn't run. He made sure the door was firmly shut and locked before turning back to Melody, who was lying dazed on the ground. He cracked his knuckles. It was time for a bit of revenge... *
Half an hour later, the tub was filled with water, and Melody was curled up in a ball on the floor, bruised and bleeding. Felix again picked her up by her neck and dragged her to the tub. Before Melody could take a breath, Felix dunked her head underwater. She flailed around, panicking, until Felix finally pulled her out. He let her breathe for a few seconds before dunking her again.
He spent the next hour or so dunking Melody until she finally lost consciousness. He laid her sprawled out on the floor, soaking wet.
Felix dumped the water down the drain on the floor. Then he used the hose to wash Melody's blood off the floor. Then, finally, he turned to Melody. Her clothes hid most of the bruises and cuts, but not all of them. Felix knew that she wouldn't tell Rogue about what happened because it would be too traumatic. She would probably repress it, or her concussion would make her forget it. But Felix knew that chance wouldn't be enough. He needed an airtight explanation for what happened.
After a moment's debate, Felix brought his boot down on Melody's ankle, breaking it. Melody was so far gone that she didn't even moan. Felix then picked her up and dragged her out of the room. He dragged her to the bottom of the stairs that led to the part of the Factory where her room was located. He then left her sprawled on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, knowing that by the time somebody found her, she would have dried off. And when someone did find her, they would hopefully assume that she had tripped on the stairs, broken her ankle, and fallen, receiving the cuts and bruises from the stairs.
Making sure everything looked perfect, Felix quickly ran to his room, changed into dry yet still dirty clothes, and then ran back to the medical ward, where he sat on the bench outside in the same place he had been sitting all night.
Darkness fell fast, and so did the temperature. The cloud cover thickened, increasing the darkness. Finally, it started to lightly snow.
"We should stop here," said Jen, tossing her pack to the ground. The others looked around and saw that they were in a wide clearing with plenty of overhanging trees to hang the tents on.
"Good idea..." muttered James, leaning heavily on his cane and looking ready to collapse at any second.
Looking around, Jen saw that everyone else looked exhausted. Christopher looked like he was sleepwalking, James wasn't putting any weight on his injured leg, and Josh was carrying the twins, who had fallen asleep half an hour ago. Andrew and Ben were sluggishly putting up the tents, and Caleb was sitting curled up in a ball on the ground, shivering. He hadn't thrown up for an hour now, so Jen hoped that that meant the shock was finally wearing off.
Jen walked over to help Ben and Andrew set up the three tents. They worked in silence until Andrew struck up a conversation.
"Rough day, huh...?" he mumbled, smiling tiredly at Jen.
Jen shrugged. "I've had worse."
"So what do you think we're gonna do now?" asked Ben. "I mean, if the Gracebeasts already know where we are..."
"Actually..." said Jen slowly, a thought forming in her head, "I don't think they know where we are anymore. I mean, the only reason that Gracebeast attacked us was probably because he was following us from the beginning."
At that moment, Jen felt someone tug on her sleeve.
"Jen...?" That was Caleb's voice.
"Just a second," she said, waving him off without looking at him. "Anyways, he must have been the one who started the fire, not you guys."
"Tell that to Christopher..." muttered Ben.
"But how did he find us in the first place?" Andrew wondered out loud.
"He probably used that spider-bot thing that was attached to your arm," said Jen.
Before she could continue, however, Caleb tugged on her sleeve again.
"Jen..." he said, sounding a bit more panicked.
"Just a minute, Caleb," said Jen, her voice a bit harder now. Before she could say anything else, Caleb grabbed her arm.
"Jenny..." he whimpered.
Jen froze, her face pale and her eyes wide. She felt her blood freeze as a cold hand of fear clenched down on her. Caleb never called her that. Not unless he was terrified or...
Jen didn't finish that thought. Instead, she turned and looked at her brother. Then she finished her thought.
… dying...
Caleb was deathly pale, and he was holding out his hands, which were covered in blood. His eyes were glassy and pain-filled, and the lower left half of his sweater was soaked in blood, most of it dried but some still fresh.
Before Jen could say anything, Caleb collapsed on the ground unconscious...
A/N: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA EVIL LAUGHTER HA HA HA HA HA!
Okay, let me clarify something. The bullet that James got shot with went right through his leg, along with the tracker device AND the Pitch. So he's not being tracked or poisoned. Just thought I'd clear that up.
* implied rape scene.
Bye!