*WARNING, NEARING THE END OF THE STORY!*
Joy to the world! This is a real chapter! Oh no! I only have five to six days of freedom, huh, this really sucks. T-T
Oh, by the way, I really messed up and forgot to tell you guys what Silkfur looks like! He is actually black, I know, stupid color but it came to me one day, he has really green eyes, like forest green, really forest green, there, that's Glossary for ya!
This is written in Silkfur's point of view.
-O-
"So, Silkfur," Ayla asked, leaning causally against the cave wall, arms crossed.
"Yes?" I asked , looking up from a small eel cube.
"You really can smell thought?" Ayla prodded a little.
"Yes, I can," I sighed, this was another one of the Overlander's games, she loved messing with everyone.
"Um, okay, what am I thinking now?" she asked.
"Oh my god, I wonder if he really can read my thoughts?" I said, giving the air another sniff, "Oh, shit! He can! There, that answer your questions?" I asked.
"Yeah, it does, thanks, Glossary," she said, using her nickname for me.
I smiled, I really couldn't help but grow attached to her, she was a happy soul wrapped in snark and sarcasm with a core of fair play and honesty. I wondered over to Zeva, she also had a bit of Overlander humor, some of her jokes... I shook his head and lay down next to her.
"So, was Ayla prodding you for random information?" the black and white rat asked.
"Yes, unfortunately," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Eh, don't let her get to you, she means well, for goodness sakes, I lived with her for five years!" she said.
I smiled. Zeva nuzzled into my side a little, and I curled my tail around hers, just perfect.
-O-
We were walking again, there was no mud or stinking water in this tunnel though, the voice or 'Abbess' as it called itself, had not come out to say hello yet, I took that as a good sign. Up ahead, Ayla was acting like she was having a seizure, Zeva said she was dancing to a song from their home.
"What kind of song is this?" I asked.
"Um, it's called, Just Lose It, she loves that song, it's really funny though," I nodded, finding it amusing to watch her dance, every now and then she would jump up and down a little, truly amusing. After a few minutes she just started humming softly, it was an odd little tune, I sniffed, she was singing in her head odd, I sniffed to hear the words.
Poppin' bottles in the ice,
Like a blizzard, when we drink we do it right, gettin' slizzered,
I stopped, 'Humans' I thought. She changed tune again, something about bringing someone to life.
"Zeva, does she often sing in her head?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah, she does, she has every song on her media player memorized, so then she can listen to them wherever she goes," she said. My forehead creased a little. It had to be a human thing, or and Overlander thing.
-O-
"We are no longer under the Queen," I announced, there was a collective sigh from the group.
"Good, do we keep going?" Ayla asked.
"Well, we're not sure, the Prophecy mentions only you, Zeva, Gregor, Luxa, and Jinx to go, of course Aurora as well," I spoke, I had memorized the Prophecy perfectly, and dissected it every way possible.
"Oh," she said, shuffling her feet, "Lemme guess, I'm leader of this jolly band?" she asked.
"That's the sum, pup, you lead and don't let them get killed too soon," Ripred said, I rolled my eyes a little, I wanted to go with my love, but I was only brought as a guide, nothing more, my heart sagged a little.
"But, when do we split up?" she was a little impatient.
"The only other place mentioned, the Stone Castle," I said, "It is legend, said to be ruled by a strange spirit they call Abbess, they say it is where souls go after death, both good and evil alike,"
"Abbess? The voice? Really? Huh, but, then what's going on? We need to go there and what?" Ayla crossed her arms, locked her knees, and had her thinking look plastered on her face, I called this the thinking posture.
"Something is very wrong, dragons being that wrong, the leader is the Abbess, she is waiting for the Night of Light, when it comes, they say she becomes all powerful, she sends out minions to burn the Underland, killing all in their path," I told her.
"But, why has she been helping us?" I sighed at her again.
"Because, it is not the Abbess contacting us, it is the soul of the new Abbess, she must inhabit the throne in the Stone Castle during the Night of Light, or all the souls will be released, crumbling the Underland to a dust. The Abbess, the one we are fighting, she wants this to happen, it will destroy all, first, kill all Underlanders for causing their extinction, second, after the Underland falls on itself, fly to surface and cause mass carnage and rule the Earth. Simple as that,"
"What? She want world domination? Why? I mean, if she guards the souls from escaping, then why is she wanting them to be let out?" Ayla creased her forehead in confusion.
"Because, she is corrupt by her power, she had been Abbess for millions of years, guarding the Underland, but one day the thought niggled into her head that she could take the Underland, then the Overland, this was after the gnawers made her race extinct, she grew angry and, what's the word?" I asked, lacking a good word Ayla would understand.
"Hitlerized? That's what I call it when someone grows too power hungry, like Hitler," she said.
"Yes, she grew Hitlerized, this was just after the last Night of Light, now nothing stands in her way for power, except you, you hold the key, you can open the doors," I said, not wanting to tell her all I knew, she would not be ready yet...
"Oh, well tar and all things bad. We need to find the Stone Castle,"
"I have heard stories of it, they say it's near the Lava River, we need to find it," Luxa said.
"That was in a fairy tale! How could it be true?" Jinx asked.
"Well, it's our only lead, I say we find it!" Ayla said. Nods came from everyone, she was starting to become our leader.
-O-
I stood by the fabled Lava River, it was real! As a pup, I had been fascinated by the tales spun about it, my favorite was if you make a wish and toss a pebble in, your wish will come true. To my dismay, there were none to throw.
"And we follow it downstream, right?" Ayla asked me, prodding at my side a little.
"Yes, downstream," I said.
"So good to know you are coming, hurry the time is near, Abbess grows strong," it was new Abbess talking.
"Well, you heard the voice, we need to go!" Ayla said, we packed up and began trekking downstream.
I sniffed here and there, keeping watch for foes. Deep breath, nothing, good. Wait, deep breath again, oh no.
"Dragons! A lot of them!" I hissed, Ayla stopped dead in her tracks, Luxa strayed near Aurora, everyone tense, "They are coming to us! Ready for battle!" I said.
"How many, Silkfur?" Ayla asked, dropping my nickname.
"Twoscore, that would be forty, they are small, except for two," I said.
"Shit," Ayla said, muttering a few choice curses under her breath.
And low and behold, forty small dragons appeared, they were very colorful, some were blue, others green or black, they were a rainbow of colors, two larger ones up front were scary enough, one was a dark purple, with dirty yellow wings, and talons, a crest ran up it's back and to it's forehead, also dirt yellow, the wings were large, outlined with orange. A spiral triangle tailblade sat on the end of it's muscular tail. Two horns came up out of it's scull, making a lightning pattern as they jutted up, also dirty yellow. The dragon next to it was the same size, still a little spooky looking.
It had a more of a narrow head, ending in a beakish snout. It was black, it's underbelly and wing membrane were a dark crimson, two curved ivory horns came up out of it's head, four others framing its face, on the first bend of each wing was a silver scythe, as well was the tailblade, an odd design scrawled across its forehead in silver, in all the pair looked deadly.
"Greetings, we have been waiting for your arrival, my name is Letis, and this is my mate, Arinissa,"
-O-
"You've been waiting for us?" Ayla asked, her body tensed a little. I crouched, unsure of what was going on.
"Yes," the other spoke, it was female, "We have been waiting, we were sent by the Abbess's spirit to help you," she said.
"Indeed, she fears the tyrant on the throne will annihilate all, she sent us to help," Letis said.
"We are just warriors, we will fight the army of the Tyrant," Arinissa said, giving a puff of purple smoke.
"How many does her army number?" I asked.
"Sevenscore and four," the female answered.
"What? But that's, one thousand and four! They'll slaughter you!" Ayla said looking dismayed.
"Nay, Trickster, we are her special force trained in the ancient ways of stealth and all elements," Letis said. The male dragon opened his mouth and let a stream of ice flow out of his maw, followed by a bullet of rock, a bolt of lightning, and last of all purple fire. "My elements, Ice, Earth, Electricity, and Fury Fire," he said bowing his head a little. Arinissa did the same display with different elements, shadowy fire, a funnel of wind, loud scream, making Ayla see red and want to curl into a ball, and an orb of ominous green sludge.
"Shadow, Wind, Fear, and Poison," she said, "We are all trained in at least four elements, this will even out the odds, the Tyrant's dragons are weak, they only breath fire, the most advanced with shadow fire, we will win,"
"We must leave, Fly you high Trickster, Fly you high!" Letis said, flapping his great wings and lifting into the air.
"Burn like the flame, good dragons, Burn like the flame!" Ayla had no idea where that came from, but it sounded right.
"Come on! The Stone Castle and the Tyrant are near!" she said, using the name the dragons had used.
I followed her, waiting, looking over my shoulder, and sniffing the air.
-O-
Soon we were at the foot of the Stone Castle. It was beautiful! High stone walls soared above our heads. These were just the protective walls, the building was massive, made of stone as well. Two bell towers stood side by side, holding their huge bronze cast bells within. Two large gates barred our way, but Ayla had her plan ready I found.
"Well, this is going to be hard, but lessee, ah ha!" she said, looking at a map one of the dragons gave her, "The Tyrant's chamber is right here, so if we take this passage over here on the right, using the key of course, we'll run smack dab in the middle of her living room!" she said, pointing to all the places on the map, "Follow my lead, and we'll be in in no time!" she said, fear clutched at my heart, they were leaving for the mission.
Ayla mounted Jinx, Zeva made to get on, but scampered back to me, nuzzling my snout.
"I love you," she whispered, then ran back to Ayla. The bats lifted off.
"Run like the River, Zeva! Run like the River!" I shouted, a small tear forming in the corner of my eye, "I love you as well," I whispered to myself.
"Run like the River, Silkfur! Run like the River!" her voice was faint.
Now it was all up to Ayla.
-O-
Oh snap! I plan to end this story in the next chapter! There will be a surprising epilogue though! Be grateful, I wrote this one in two hours, and now I have to leave, my mom has the Spoon of Doom! {:O