**Ever heard of George R. R Martin... The game of thrones people will understand. Sorry, I couldn't do a Martin.
Enjoy Chapter 42! :)**
Chapter 42: The Ultimate Trial
Eiji opened his eyes.
He sat up, and felt that his leg had broken. He wasn't very surprised, because of the giant crack he heard when he hit. But still, it was gruesomely painful.
He jumped when he realized how hot the ground was. It had sent third degree scorch marks up his side, where he was laying. He stood, and pain shot through his leg.
"Ah! DAMMIT!" He yelled.
It seemed no matter what he did, he was in excruciating amounts of pain.
He looked ahead and saw a cave.
"I could probably sit there." He said aloud.
He hobbled over to the cave, cringing as the soles of his shoes melted to his feet.
He walked into the appealingly cool looking cave.
The cave closed down behind him.
It started to heat up, and Eiji banged on the walls in an attempt to escape. The walls became hot, and Eiji could hardly breath as this scorching pain cooked him alive.
Like being in an oven, feeling your own flesh boil over in agony...
He opened his eyes, and felt the same broken leg, with his burned up side.
He stood.
He was shaking, and didn't want to move. He didn't plan on going in that cave again...
The ground opened up again, and teeth swallowed him, eating him alive...
Tearing his body apart with it's razor sharp fangs...
He opened his eyes, and immediately stood, running as fast as one with a broken leg could.
No cave, and no not moving. Eiji knew where he was, but he didn't want to admit it. This place holds a true legend of no escape, and Eiji desperately wanted to escape
There was a howl in the distance.
Eiji tried to run faster, but he was as good as wounded prey to these wolves.
They tackled him, tearing him limb from limb.
He woke up.
He stood, and didn't move.
The ground opened up again. He tried to attack the beast from the inside, which only prevented his immediate demise.
He fell into this slop. It felt strange on his skin, and it smelled horrible. It was dark, and he was neck high in this horrible goo.
It wasn't horrible... Not at first.
Soon, his skin broke out in an excruciating rash.
His skin started to peel, until he felt his very flesh being dissolved.
He let out agonizing and tortured screams as his flesh and bones were slowly being eaten away.
No longer able to take the suffering, he allowed himself to drown in the digestive juices of the beast.
He woke up, and ran again.
He ignored the pain in his leg, running faster in another direction. He heard the wolves coming, and shot out his threads, keeping them at bay as he ran. They scurried off, and Eiji relaxed.
Just in time to step into an electric field.
All of the muscles in his body tensed up all at once. He felt his body pulsing as his own flesh slowly melted off of his bones.
He remembered the humming sound it made, and decided he'd remember that later.
He didn't want to run into it again.
He woke up, and ran in the same direction. He kept the wolves at bay again, and watched them scurry off. The humming hit his ears, and he ran around the field. He moved forward as the humming stopped.
He continued to run, and stopped as his feet hit a shallow bit of ground. He fell, and all was dark again.
...
Kuhn had seen Eiji fall. He had made it through countless tortures, and into some sort of Haven. Kuhn had gotten there in a similar way, falling through the ground, and being housed by the residents.
He ran, and caught Eiji.
His right leg was horribly broken, and he had third degree burns on his right side as well.
A girl ran up to him.
"Another one already?" She asked.
Kuhn nodded. "Yeah, I know this one. He was with the group I was in... He must have gotten stuck during the trial."
The girl looked at Eiji, and sighed.
"Loki, we've got another one."
A woman with jet black hair walked up. Her eyes were a striking mixture of indigo blue and a darker violet. Her skin was extremely pale, and she held an hourglass figure that would put most models to shame. The one off feature she had, were the burn marks that marred one side of her face.
The burns went down her neck, and no one saw past that.
She knelt down, and looked at Eiji.
"Those burns can be healed." She said.
She examined the now mutilated leg. She also saw that his arm was now horribly injured, due to a gash filled with toxins. He was running so fast, he didn't even realize he had gotten it.
She took a piece of tight fabric, and tied it tightly above the gash.
"The arm's coming off." She said. "I'm not sure about the leg yet."
Kuhn's eyes widened as he saw the festering gash.
"Oh god... What happened to him?"
Loki shrugged. "Hard to say, we'll know more when he wakes up... If he wants to talk at all."
He stirred.
"Though I was hoping it wouldn't be soon." She said.
He groaned in pain. "Uuugghnn... What's happening..." He croaked.
"Stay calm." Said Loki.
He looked at his arm. "Why can't I feel it?" He asked, reaching for the tied cloth.
She grabbed his hand.
"Don't touch that." She said. "It's the painkiller we have, and it cuts off blood flow."
Eiji started shaking. "B-Blood flow? Why...?"
"The arm has to come off." She said. "I just hope the shock will help you forget some of it..."
He began to struggle.
"Hold him down!" She yelled, looking at Kuhn.
Kuhn was conflicted. "There has to be a better way!" He exclaimed.
"Do you want him to die!?" She barked.
"The toxins in his arm will kill him, there is no cure. Now hold him DOWN!"
Kuhn held him down.
"No! DON'T!" He screamed.
The woman tied the knot tighter, and began to saw off the arm.
Eiji began screaming in agony as she continued.
"STOP! NO!" He wailed.
After that it was just screaming...
Kuhn looked away, biting back tears as his hand twitched painfully.
The arm was off, and Eiji had finally passed out from the pain.
The woman was a fine medic, suturing his upper shoulder, and reconnecting the veins.
She loosened the cloth, but only slightly.
"This allows for some healing." She said.
"However, I want to make sure his shoulder heals up some before I remove it. He's going to be in pain anyway, but I don't need to increase it."
Kuhn sighed. "Alright then, what about his leg?"
She gave it another look. She sighed.
"The bone needs to be set, and then I'll wrap it. He is not to be walking around at all."
Kuhn nodded. "Right, and I take it that you want me to watch him."
She looked at him. "Well, you do know him. So yes."
"Of course." He said. "I would have done of anyway."
He looked down at him.
He sighed. "Eiji... I'm sorry you're in this mess."
Loki finished wrapping his leg.
"That should do it." She said.
She looked at Kuhn. "Good work."
He looked down. Eiji was in so much pain... It didn't feel like good work. In some ways he disliked Loki, because she was ruthless in most of her practices.
But you had to appreciate the speed and precision in which she accomplished her goals.
Kuhn was no one to be complaining right now.
Loki's attitude was exactly why everyone here was alive.