I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.
FUBAR
The trip to the Everglades was easy. There was no trouble getting on the plane, no problem even renting a fanboat for the trip through the swamp. Riding the Fanboat is proving to be a bit less entertaining than the rest. We're all still worried about John and Ella, but we're keeping it in check, focusing on the mission. Among the group is me, Six, Marina, Nine, Eight, and Five. Everyone else had stayed behind incase John and Ella woke up.
All around us, there are trees, mud, reeds, alligators, and mosquitos. I have to work hard not to be eaten alive by the bugs, but it seems to keep everyone else safe since they seem to like human more than Loric. I grab the side of the boat as Nine haphazardly steers around another log floating through the water. Just as he does, Eight shouts something and points. I look, as does Marina. An alligator watches us from the reeds before retreating from sight. It was a big one two. Could have passed for a very large log. I shift my Tavor on my shoulder, catch my sword as it starts to fall, then look back at the maps that they gave me, since Six couldn't figure it out. I'm not a bad navigator, but my directions seemed to differ from Five, who was flying over us, claiming to be able to see it better from above. Probably true, considering that's how the maps were.
"Where's he going?" I ask, looking up at five. "The map says it's to the left!"
"Who knows!" Nine responds. "He's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed!"
"You should really learn to keep your mouth shut!" I shout over the fan and the wind. "You're going to get yourself into trouble you can't get yourself out of if you don't!"
Nine shrugs and I look up again. Just as I do, Five flies down, hovering over the boat for a moment before dropping down into it. He, more so than the rest of us, is drenched in sweat and his clothes are sticking to him. He pulls his shirt away from himself subconsciously then points ahead of us.
"It's a mile up ahead," he says. "There's a patch of land up ahead."
A moment later, we reach the patch of land. It's a pile of mud in the middle of a river with a gnarled tree on top of it.
"This is a pretty good place," Marina says.
"Thanks," Five smiles. "I camped under the tree and figured I'd be able to find it again easily."
"Good call," I nod. "So, where's the chest?"
Five walks over to the tree, reaching under the roots. After a moment, there was a wet sucking sound and Five pulled his chest free. I look around as he does just as the grass off to one side parts. Eight notices to as an alligator head emerges. It's massive. It's head is easily two feet longer than that of any alligator I've ever seen before, in real life or online. I suddenly remember Nine and John talking about being able to talk to animals.
"Nine," I say. "Get rid of that thing."
Nine looks over at it and grins.
"Maybe I'll keep him for a pet," Nine grins. "Or I'll make a nice coat out of...hold on..."
A second, equally massive head appears next to the first, then a third. I swallow hard, pulling my sword over my shoulder, slinging it across my back before raising my rifle.
"I thought this was too easy," I growl.
The heads slowly rise from the water, their three necks joining together on a single body covered with oily black fur. A pair of massive bat wings spreads from the creature's back and it stands fifteen feet tall on a pair of humanoid legs.
"What the hell is that?" I ask, unsure which head to sight in on.
It roars, wings beating as it climbs into the air. It has three curled talons on the front of each foot and one on the heal. There are soft-looking pads on the bottoms of its feet with a pair of "S" shaped scars. Once it's high enough, it begins to fall toward us. Eight teleports Marina away and I dive aside, rolling to my feet and opening fire on the thing. It shrieks in rage and pain, staggering away from my hail of bullets, thick black blood flooding down its side. One of its wings is shredded by bullets in a moment just before my magazine runs dry. I drop it, slamming the next in before the other wing crashes into me, launching me into the water. As I surface, Five is rummaging through his chest and Six is trying to form a storm. Nine is struggling to fend ofd the creature with his staff, and when he trips, Eight shape shifts into a huge man-boar hybrid, grabbing the creature's alligator tail and yanking it back, stopping it from biting Nine. It twists around, biting into Eight's shoulder. He bellows in pain through his snout, his form starting to flicker. Before it can bit him again, a lightning bolt strikes it in the back, knocking it flat on the ground. Nine charges it and slams his staff into it but it hardly does anything.
Marina sprints toward Eight and I drag myself onto the muddy ground, aiming at the creature and sending bullets at its face, trying to blind it. I manage to get two eyes before the creature is up again. It smashes its good wing into Nine, knocking him away just before two more lightning strikes hit the creature, destroying its good wing and knocking it down again, but it's up sooner this time.
"What does it take to kill this fucker!?" Nine shouts.
Just as he does, a shrill whistle fills the air, like nails on a chalkboard. I cover my ears, spinning to see Eight blowing into a strange obsidian flute. A moment later, the creature drops, heads tucked to its chest and wings folded, like it's bowing. I look back at Five. His bearing is completely different now than it was when we had met him. Hell, than it was on the trip down. He seems confident. Certain. Most of all. He seems arrogant.
"If you had that thing to start with, why didn't you use it?" Nine demands.
"I thought you might want a workout," Five says, smiling coldly at Nine.
It's not the same as any time they've fought in the past. This time, he seems like he knows something no one else does. I really wanna take that whistle from him, though I'm not sure why.
"Would someone please kill that thing already?" Six asks.
"Gladly," Five smiles, taking two steps forward and stopping right next to Six. "I made the beast, the least I can do is put it down."
Instinct kicks in. My rifle comes up toward him. Before I can fire, he's plated in steel, and I'm flying through the air, my rifle lying on the ground where I had been. As I crash into the creature we had been fighting, Five's steel-plated fist crashes into Six's jaw in an uppercut, launching her through the air to Marina. Marina tries to move to heal her but is clearly being held back by Five's Telekinesis. Six is most likely going to have a fractured skull. I have to put Five down, or at least distract him, so that Marina can heal Six.
Nine charges as I try to stand, but I'm still disoriented from slamming into the creature's unnaturally solid scales. Five's body turns to rubber and his arm stretches out, grabbing Nine around the throat before stretching out to the water and dunking him, staying there.
"The three of us should probably talk," Five says sitting down on his chest.
"Where's the real Number Five?" Eight asks after a moment as Marina edges toward the edge of the island.
"Oh, you think I'm Setrákus Ra," Five says. "It's cool Eight. I'm the real deal. No shape shifting tricks."
I sprint forward, sword raised and am sent flying again with a force like a semi truck. I crash into the creature and slide to the ground, groaning.
I start to push myself up again as Eight and Marina talk to Five. That's fine. Let them talk to the traitor. I'll figure out a way to stop him. I can't throw my sword or he'll catch it with Telekinesis. If I charge again, I'll be blasted with a most likely stronger Telekinetic shove. I could kill the creature, probably. At least then that wouldn't be a threat. Just as I turn, Telekinesis slams me into the ground and Five hurls Nine out of the water into the tree, Nine hits back first, crying out in pain. His back is more than likely broken, and he falls to the ground, unable to get up again. the Telekinesis holding me down evaporates and I stand again, glaring at Five.
"You were trained by your pitiful Cêpans, if you were lucky," Five is saying. "Mucking about with your chests and your Legacies, always in the dark. I was trained by the most powerful fighting force in the universe, and you're threatening to hurt me?"
"Pretty much," Eight growls, transforming into his ten-armed lion.
At that moment, Five blows his flute and I spun just before being football-kicked by the creature as it charges at Eight. I crash down into the water and surface instantly, swimming toward land. As soon as I'm out, I rush to help Eight, who's having a ferocious wrestling match with the creature.
"Don't hurt each other, we can still be friends," Five calls out.
I glance at the psychopath. He actually seems to believe friendship is possible. I turn back to the fight and leap onto the creature, stabbing the rightmost head through the brain, making that head go limp. As I rip my blade free,the other two heads roar in rage. One snaps at me but Eight catches it by the throat. I slash its eyes out, then stab the remaining eye on the other surviving head. Then, a wing crashes into me, launching me past Five. My sword stabs into the ground in front of me and I pull it free, seeing a chance. I sprint at Five but once again, Telekinesis forces me back, less violently this time.
Marina tries to heal Six but Five lifts her off the ground with Telekinesis. Then, a branch hits him in the back of the head and smashes on his steel skin. He turns, deflecting a second Nine hurled at him with his own Telekinesis. Five begins toward Nine just as Eight finishes the creature, snapping its middle jaw open to the point that its head is nearly torn in half, the other two head hanging limp.
"Well done," Five congratulates. "But there's plenty more where that came."
He continues to Nine as Eight shrinks back down to normal, wounded by the creature but still able to stand again. Marina is healing Six again now, but Five doesn't notice. Nine tries to pull his staff to himself but Five catches it then breaks it over his knee like a stick. Before he can kill Nine, Eight appears between them.
"Get out of my way Eight," Five growls. "My offer to you still stands, but only if you let me finish this loudmouthed moron off."
"Let him take a shot dude!" Nine speaks up.
"Shut up!" Eight snaps over his shoulder. "Five, you're not thinking straight. They've done something to you. In your heart, you know this isn't right."
"You want to talk about right? What's right about sending a bunch of children to a strange planet so they can fight a war they don't even understand? What's right about giving those children numbers instead of names? It's sick."
"So is invading another planet," Eight defends. "Wiping out an entire people."
"No, you understand so little," Five says. "The Great Expansion had to happen."
"Genocide had to happen? That's insane!"
"You were told to fight by your Cêpans and that it's what your Elders want! Have you ever questioned why? Of course not! You're just following the orders of old dead men! And I'm the insane one?"
"Yeah," Nine speaks up. "Are you even hearing yourself Bro?"
"You're confused," Eight pleads. "You've been held prisoner for years without even realizing it. Just calm down and we can discuss this. We shouldn't be fighting."
He's stopped listening. He drops his shoulders, sprinting forward only to stop suddenly as Marina holds out her hand.
"His left hand, help me get it open!" Marina shouts.
Nine and Eight hold their hands out as well and Five shouts in pain, struggling to resist. The bones in his fingers crack loudly and a rubber ball and a ball bearing both fall free, rolling under the roots as Five drops to his knees, clutching his hand and starting at Marina. I start forward but he stops me in my tracks, more like hitting a wall than a train this time.
"It's going to be okay..." Marina says, trying to talk him down.
The Telekinetic wall fades as Eight rests a hand on Five's shoulder.
Five sobs, shaking his head. "It wasn't supposed to go like this."
"Crying like a girl," Nine spits.
My stomach drops. Five's expression darkens and he shoves Eight, flying at Nine, a foot long needle-like blade extended from a leather sleeve around his wrist. I sprint forward. Why couldn't Nine just keep quiet? I feel sick. Five is holding Nine down with Telekinesis, holding him in place. It doesn't matter. I know what's about to happen. Even before anyone had moved I knew. My curse had come to claim its next mark. And I was too far away, and too slow, to stop it. But that did nothing to stop me from trying. Five bears down on Nine. He pulls his blade back.
"STOP! ! !" I shout, for all the good it does.
The next second, several things happen at once. First, Eight appears over Nine. Five, not realizing who he's about to stab, sends a blast of Telekinesis at me, as I draw near. It hits me with the force of a cannon ball, and I can feel my ribcage explode. Then, As I start to fly backward, the blade drives itself through Eight's heart. Five backs away, shoved at what he's done. Marina shrieks in grief and pain. I land in a heap, head facing Six as a light begins to shine through her pant leg. Eight's gone. I hear Marina sobbing. Then, she stops. She's probably trying to heal him, but I can't turn my head to look. The fact that I'm still awake is either a miracle, or a sign that I'm dying. Again. Probably dying.
Out of the corner of my eye, I manage to catch a glimpse of the water freezing. I'm suddenly cold. Then, Five staggers into my view, just barely. An icicle sprouts from his foot, blood running down it. Then, he pitches forward, head out of my view but I can hear him scream again. I imagine a second icicle stabbed into his head. Except, he's still alive, so it probably only got his eye. Somewhere above me I realize there's a Mogadorian ship. I hear Six shouting to Marina, somewhere near the tree, probably. Fear grips me. Dying or not, I don't want to be left behind with Mogadorians. However, before my fear can gain any real footing, Marina appears over me, beginning to heal me. There's no pain, this time. I guess I'm too far gone.
"Marina there's no time!" Six shouts. "Bring him! We have to go now!"
"He can't move like this!" Marina shouts back. "Please hold them off! I won't leave him! I can't lose them both!"
She has tears flooding down her face but she's not sobbing. I can see the Mogadorian ship landing. It's too late to save me. If they stay, they'll die.
"Go," I manage to whisper. "Leave."
"No," Marina says firmly. "I won't let you die James."
I see Six pull my Tavor to herself and then turn on the ship, spraying bullets into the open doorway, ash flying out. I heat bullets ricocheting around inside the ship. For a moment, it's working. Then, Six runs dry. She swears then uses Telekinesis to pull a fresh magazine from my pocket. In that fraction of a moment it takes her to reload, several Mogadorians sprint out of the ship, shooting at us all. Nine blocks the shots before Marina's arm whips out before returning to me, massive icicles now impaling the ash clouds that used to be Mogadorians on the island. Six returns to spraying bullets into the ship. Just as Marina finishes healing me, Six runs dry again. I stand and she throws the gun at me. I reload as Six takes Marina's hand, Nine over her shoulder.
"Go straight that way," I say pointing North before running for the boat, grabbing my sword on the way. "I'll meet up with you!"
Then, I speed off and the others turn invisible. The ship takes off a moment later, chasing me. It begins to shoot and I only barely manage to avoid the fire. After nearly fifteen minutes of the chase, I hit a log, I hope, and the boat flips. As soon as I'm concealed from view, I dive into the water, swimming away as fast as I can. The boat explodes violently and I keep swimming. No further shots come at me but I wait. Finally, when I can't hold my breath any longer, I surface and look around. No ship. Two alligators, normal this time. I climb out of the water and turn to look back at them. The both growl hungrily, reaching shore before stopping. Then, they turn and swim away. I reach back to my sword and turn only for Nine to catch my arm and put a finger to his lips. I nod and we run into the trees, Nine leading me back toward the others.