Chapter 56: Introducing the Demon Clan….

Gulping for air, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, my heart thumping adrenaline-spiked blood around my body. I daren't look behind me, because I could still hear the roar of several engines following me and my friends. Eek the spider yelled in his very small voice, and leaped into my pocket, although it wouldn't help him much if these monstrosities caught up with me.

We found ourselves back at the gates of Barbarian Village. I didn't want to go in there and endanger lives. I didn't fancy going back and facing these men on motorbikes, either. I looked around desperately, and saw a muddy bank leading into a forest of evergreen trees. I gestured for everyone else to follow me, and I skidded down the muddy bank. I ran into the forest, with the others following me, panting for breath.

That didn't stop the 'demon clan', though. I heard several engines revving as they slid down the muddy hill/bank. I raced deeper into the forest, hoping to outrun the demon clan. I failed, as the bikes gained on me, smashing down trees in the process. I covered my head as twigs and leaves rained down on me.

A motorbike whooshed past me, repugnant smoke blasting in my face. I coughed, flailing my arms to beat away the thick, disgusting stuff trying to choke me. The motorbike screeched to a stop, and spun around to face me. The engine started up again with another ear-splitting roar. Several more screeches surrounded us, trapping us. The black fly hovered above us, cackling evilly.

All of the demon clan smiled at having us cornered. The engines seemed to scream for blood. But then I had a thought. How could they possibly kill us with a few motorbikes? The worst they could do would be to knock us over with them, but that didn't seem as bad as it could be. We could handle that-the only thing we had to fear was the black fly's sword and sky stick. But, almost as if they could read my mind, they pulled out several blades. There blades were fairly long and green, but nowhere near as long and blunt as the black fly's.

"You will die at the hands of our electrocuted swords!" the black fly smirked. I didn't know what the word 'electrocuted' meant, but I didn't need to find out-the black fly plunged his sword right through a tree and the tree burst into flames with an unpleasant crackle of energy. I was now glad that that blade hadn't touched me in the stronghold of security. The demon clan pointed their swords at us, revving up their motorbikes.

We continued to run. The growl of the motorbikes reached a crescendo, and they zoomed after us.

We couldn't run away for much longer. These motorbikes were catching up to us, smoke polluting the atmosphere around us. I was surprised I had this much energy in me-fast enough to barely outrun motorbikes! The strike of an 'electrocuted' sword narrowly missed my head, and I felt several of my hairs singe.

This was solid proof that what Ilookgood99 had been telling me was true. There was another dimension. But could I believe what he was telling me when it came to me coming from this 'other' dimension? Well, I'd had visions of strange things on Christmas and New Year's Day, but what did they mean?

I felt myself slowing down. My lungs couldn't take any more of the pressure. The others slowed down too, obviously as exhausted as I was. I heard the motorbikes come closer to us. I saw evergreen trees burst into flames and collapse. I closed my eyes, preparing to be barbequed by these powered swords.

I desperately searched for ways to stop this ruinous clan from chasing us. I thought long and hard. I thought of a similar situation, fighting Death the horseman. Oh, how they would suffer if I still had my skull sceptre…..a raw wound stung at this, so I pushed it away, scared of having it take over me again. I went back further, to when I was fighting Gunther the brave. That nearly drove me insane, knowing I was about to fight a warrior much stronger then me. But I succeeded, with help from lady luck and a few emotes. That sparked a massive idea in my head. I smiled.

I could see the black fly approaching me at top speed. He was coming so close I could see the yellowing shade of his teeth, and the red glow of his eyes. He took a black dagger from his pouch, and threw it at me. It hit my shoulder with a resounding crack! I screamed in pain, but I couldn't let something like agony distract me from even worse agony.

I thought strongly of the emote I received in the stronghold, where the massive shield would appear for a split second, then disappear into thin air. I willed myself to be consumed by the emote. All of a sudden, the huge, red and yellow shield came from nowhere.

I had to chuckle silently at the black fly's face. Shock and confusion plastered his face, and I was sure I could hear him say 'oops' to himself. An echoing crash could probably be heard from Lumbridge as the black fly collided with the shield, collapsing in a heap of black leather and metal, before the shield disappeared into nothingness. The black fly's sword swerved in a perfect arc right over my head, and implanted itself cleanly into the soft ground. I felt drained from the effort of making that emote appear, and didn't feel like I could do it for at least another ten to twenty minutes.

I heard a loud skidding sound as the demon clan swerved around to avoid running over their already injured leader. The result was catastrophic as a horrific crash followed. Flames spurted everywhere and people jumped off their bikes to avoid injury.

The black fly stood up. He elbowed me out the way, and reached out to grasp his sword. He turned around, prepared to jump back onto his sky stick and continue chasing us. Instead he was greeted with a heap of wrecked metal on fire and six people awaiting orders.

The black fly groaned, obviously not expecting to be outsmarted so early in his stages of becoming an intimidating villain. "Great," he groaned. "Now I need to build another six motorbikes out of the scrap metal this dimension has to offer. Coming over here to cause some havoc and destruction in the name of Zamorak was not worth it. Everyone, we need to teleport back to base!" Several roars of agreement followed, and I saw everyone disappear in puffs of smoke one by one, until only the black fly remained. The black fly spat at my feet, and was gone.

I removed the dagger from my wound, wincing in pain. Amy11 rushed over, looking worried. She delved into her bag, and pulled out several health potions. She handed them to me, and I gulped down the thick orange mixture. I felt in my own bag, and my blood almost froze. I'd forgotten my own health pack and potion-making kit in my bank! I slapped myself, and gave Amy11 a grateful smile. She smiled back and winked at me, and I found myself blushing.

We all whooped in relief, and retraced our steps, using the destroyed and burnt trees as a guide back to the path. Osrie1 patted me on the back.

"Nice thinking," he commented. "If you hadn't done that stunt with the shield, then we would have been barbequed by those 'electrocuted' swords, whatever that means." I thanked him, smiling at my very first and one of my very best friends. Eek the spider poked his small head out anxiously.

"Is it safe to come out now? Wow, your world is a very dangerous place to be," Eek commented. I nodded sadly in agreement, though I wouldn't call his dimension the safest place either, with giant queen spiders and sticky webs. I wondered if Eek had a brother called Eew.

We finally arrived back at the path, after climbing back up the muddy bank. I could see the black marks of the wheels of the motorbikes, and I could still smell the lingering smoke. We continued on our journey.

After much walking, the air became fresher and fresher. I breathed in the scent of mud, grass, and tree sap. It was the curious scent of adventure, and it felt brilliant on my tongue. We finally arrived at a crossroad which led in several different directions. One was the way we just walked. At one side, there was a stone statue of a man in robes with a beard. There was a man playing a lute by the statue. He stared up at us happily, plucking away at the strings, creating a powerful melody.

One led up a side path, with a huge stone wall towering next to it. I would investigate that wall further some other time.

The final path led to a large marble wall, made from the most expensive and finest marble bricks. This wall stretched out as far as I could see. It stood, proud, tall, and shining; proof of this city's glory and history. There was a large arch in this wall, and the gravel path turned into shining marble as it led under this arch. Several guards wearing a lot of iron, with the mark of Falador on their chest, stood under the arch, watching everything with a hawk's eye.

We walked towards this arch, staring up at it in awe. Even though I knew we were entering something majestic and awesome, my mind still wandered towards the demon clan. I hoped, for Falador's sake, that they wouldn't enter the city on their massive monstrous bikes, and ruin everything pure and glorious.