Index
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Where do I Belong?
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In mere minutes, Chaos Devil was on the edge of the Elvin Village. He wasn't quite sure how he had gotten there so easily. It was like before; he just knew.
As he stood at the edge of the clearing, what Blind saw shocked him; the entire village had been overrun by Skeletal Warriors. There were dozens of them!
Blind could sense the presence of a few living beings, but what predominated his senses were the undead creatures before him.
"Well I've got my work cut out for me, don't I?" Blind muttered. But something else caught his attention. Some of the Skeletal Warriors were..strangely smaller than the others. They seemed to be only about half the height of the their fellow skeletons, and they still had some muscles clinging to their bones.
That's when the realization hit him; they were elves! The creatures must have slaughtered half of the village.
Chaos gritted his teeth in disgust. This was going to take some thought.
Astra came at Raven, swinging her huge blade like a madwoman. Raven considered meeting her head on, but at the last moment decided to sidestep and parry her off.
She cursed under her breath as he avoided her strike, but was quick to turn around..right into Raven's fist. Astra stumbled back, her nose a bloody mess. But somehow, after all that, the woman's lips curled into a smile; almost as if she liked the pain.
She took a few steps back, "Nice try, boy. But let's try upping the ante," with that she drove her sword into the ground and incanted, "Tores bey eleno mory tempe!"
The stone on the handle of Astra's sword began to glow with a fierce, crimson light. There was a high-pitched squeal and Raven quickly realized that the air around him was becoming scalding hot. Suddenly, there was a flash, and everything around him exploded with such force that Raven was thrown to the ground.
Raven groaned and coughed up blood. He slowly got up, trying to suppress his anger. He looked at Astra with cold, even eyes that matched her own. He wiped the blood from his chin.
Astra looked at him with a bitter smile, "Tell you what. Give me your pendent and I'll consider letting you live. After all, Baneheart only told me to get the Thunderbolt Pendent."
I don't have time for this. But then Raven thought of something. He stumbled, feigning that he was hurt worse than he really was. "You want the pendant?" he questioned. Raven put away his sword, and pulled out the Thunderbolt Pendant, "Take it," he offered.
Raven staggered over to Astra, and she howled in delight. The blond man extended his arm and began to focus. Astra reached out take it..
That's when it happened; a lightning bolt arched from the pendant right into Astra's hand. She cried out in pain as the electricity surged through her. The energy subsided, and she looked at Raven, wide-eyed, "You tricked me.." Then she collapsed, unconscious.
Raven shook his head, "You catch on quick."
He turned and headed into the forest, but suddenly began to feel faint. Raven put his hand on his chest; he was bleeding inside, he could tell. That blast of Astra's must have done more than he first realized.
But Raven knew that he had to ignore it. Emmelyne's safety was more important than a little internal bleeding. Still, the question remained, "How am I supposed to get to the village?"
Emmelyne had said she would take the portals, but Raven had no idea where they were, or which ones to take. If he wondered around too much, he could find himself hopelessly lost. So how was he supposed to get there?
Raven stopped. He was already a good distance into the forest, but wasn't sure how to proceed. That's when he felt a tugging at his pant cuff. He looked down, and smiled at what he saw.
The last of the Skeletal Warriors fell to Chaos Devil's blade. It had been almost painful, but Blind had even destroyed the Elvin skeletons. He knew that there was nothing that could be done. Once someone falls to an undead creature, they themselves become undead. They're not even them anymore. A victim of such a curse becomes nothing more than a soulless, carnal monster.
But with his unfortunate task finished, Blind decided to take up a much more pleasant one: finding survivors. Fortunately, he hadn't seen anyone Emmelyne's height among the skeletons, so if she made it this far, the girl was probably still alive.
Blind approached the nearest house to him and tried to open its door. He soon realized though that it had been bolted. So, with a swift kick, he busted it down.
*A flash..*
*Blind saw someone on the other side of the door mistake his entrance as an attack, and took a swing at Blind with an ax.*
The blind man quickly stepped back, just before an ax landed where he would have been. Chaos sighed in relief..
There was a shrill scream from within the house, and a moment later, a man holding an ax exited, ready to take another swing. Fortunately he realized that Blind wasn't a Skeletal Warrior.
"Who are you?" the elf questioned.
"My name is Chaos Devil," Blind replied. A moment later, he saw the ones that the man had tried to protect. A woman, presumably his wife, who was holding a toddler in her arms came out of the house to see what was going on, "I'm sorry I frightened you. I understand that I was rather forceful. Are there any other survivors?"
"We don't know," the man replied, "the attack was so sudden..so calculated, that we barely had time to escape and bolt the door."
That didn't sound good. Blind gritted his teeth, and began the search anew.
The Toddler and the Tree
Twenty people! Out of a village of more than a hundred, only twenty people had survived. Blind balled his hands into fists at the injustice. It was just so..wrong. Blind had never felt this way before.
With all his abilities - all his strength, Blind couldn't have stopped this. He couldn't bring back the dead.
And to top it off, Emmelyne was still missing. No one had seen her, nor did anyone know where she was.
Blind was about to start another search when suddenly he noticed Raven stumbling into the village. Just behind him was a kodama. The small woodland spirit looked up at him for a moment before receding into the shadows.
Raven got closer, and Blind got a good 'look' at him. And for the second time that day, he was truly surprised. The boy looked horrible.
He was white as a ghost, but still managed the strength to keep going.
Blind rushed over to him, "Are you alright?"
"I'll live," he replied, though Blind wasn't sure of his sincerity.
However, his put it aside for a moment, "You were right. There was an attack. Almost everyone's dead.." then he added grimly, "I don't know where Emmelyne is either.
Oddly enough, Raven didn't seem surprised, "I think I know." He started to lead the way.
"Will you make it alright?"
Raven nodded, and they made their way back out of the village.
They found her in a large clearing with a massive oak tree as the centerpiece. It was so hauntingly familiar, even though Raven had never been there before.
As they entered, Raven and Blind saw Eldin not far from her. He was laying down, and breathing heavily. Wounded, but alert, he was the first to notice the pair.
Eldin made a grunting noise and Emmelyne looked up from what she was doing. But beyond that, she didn't move, "They're all dead!" she cried out.
Blind shook his head, "There are survivors."
For a moment, Emmelyne's face softened. But then she spoke again, "I tried to fight them off..I tried but there were too many! If not for father, I would have been among the undead ranks. He rescued me, but was hurt badly."
"Tell me, Emmelyne.." Blind started uneasily, "Have you found your pendant?"
To this the Elvin girl gave a cockeyed glance, "What are you talking about?"
"It's true," Raven croaked. He now had to lean on Blind for support, "I saw your mother put a silver necklace around your neck. It had the Pendant of Life attached to it!"
"I don't understand..Raven! Are you alright?"
Before he could answer, Raven's strength failed him. He collapsed to his knees, and the gentle darkness took him..
Within the dungeons of the underworld, Astra stood before her master.
"My lord! He.." she tried to explain it away.
However, Baneheart silenced her with a glance, "'My lord' nothing! You FAILED me! Two of my most powerful servants taken down by a boy!"
"Forgive me. I suppose my heart just wasn't into it."
Baneheart thought about that for a moment, "You still hold a grudge against that girl."
Astra nodded, and to that, Baneheart smiled, revealing a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, "Then you will have the chance to get even. The chance I promised you so long ago. I have learned recently that Sky McCloud is a pendant bearer," then said simply, "Kill her."
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