“You feel it right? The power?” said Chad.
“No. Nothing” replied James. If the axe possessed power, it seemingly had no effect upon James.
“Pass it back to me,” said Chad. Upon touching the weapon he was once again filled with the feeling of enhanced power and strength. He closed his eyes as the sensation filled his body. “It’s incredible! Here, try it again!” Chad gave him the axe once more. Again, the axes power had no effect on James.
“It’s not working Chad, I don’t feel any different,” he said, tossing the blade back to his friend.
Chad was careful to catch the axe before it hit the floor. He had already become very fond of the object. “Strange…so it only works on me then?”
James looked around, suddenly remembering he had sent the others after Lucius. “We have to get moving.”
“What’s the hurry?” said Chad, who could barely take his eyes off the blade.
He looks like a child with a new toy. “I sent the others after Lucius. I only did it to get them out of harms way when that creature attacked us,” said James.
“So?” replied Chad, not sounding the least bit concerned. He was more interested in his newfound weapon, swinging it aimlessly in the empty air.
James noticed that Chad was hardly paying attention and gave him a push. “Hey, you want to take your eyes off that thing for a minute?”
Chad finally gave James his full attention.
“We have to find the others. If they try and take on Lucius alone well…it won’t be pretty!”
Without warning, the whole area began to shake. Rocks began to fall from the walls as did parts of the ceiling and the entire temple began to become unstable.
“What’s happening?” asked Chad.
The lost descendant began to speak to James once more. “The temple has lost its gatekeeper. Without him, the entire structure will crumble to nothingness.” James relayed the message to Chad who looked at James oddly, wondering just how he had obtained this knowledge.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Said Chad
“That creature you just slayed! He was the gatekeeper of this place.”
“How do you know that?”
“Just trust me! We have to find the others, and quickly.”
Chad reluctantly nodded and the two of them set off out of the room.
Sophie, Cody and the twins ran down a narrow passageway. They fell from side to side against the walls as the temple became increasingly unstable with ever passing moment. “We have to get out of here!” said Cody as he ran. The others didn’t disagree but they had no idea where to go. The wall from Sophie’s left began to collapse and debris hurled towards the Irish girl. Cody noticed what was happening and quickly dived towards her, diverting her out of the way just in time. The pair of them looked on from the floor as the entire left-hand side of the wall caved in.
“Thanks,” said Sophie, realising that Cody had in all likelihood just have saved her life.
The loud bang from the sound of rocks crashing to the ground could be heard behind them. The intensity of the shaking inside the temple was beginning to increase. “This whole place looks like it’s coming down,” said Cody. The young Texan picked himself to his feet and helped Sophie up too. Further behind the pair Jade struggled as she fell against the walls. She looked over her shoulder but could no longer see her twin sister.
“Rachel?” Jade called but her other half was nowhere to be seen.
The other twin had fallen behind somewhat compared to the others. She had always been the weaker of the two twins. Despite being physically identical, Jade had always been the superior one in terms of athleticism. She fell to the floor face first as a huge earthquake-like tremor hit the area she was in. As the girl lifted her head up from the sand on the ground, two dark and silver leather boots were in front of her. A familiar voice began to speak.
“Look at you. Poor lost little lamb.”
The twin slowly looked up and her worst fears were realised. Lucius now stood before the fallen agent. The white haired man picked up a sharp piece of metal that had fallen to the ground with the rest of the rubble and then picked up Rachel by the throat with one hand. Lucius looked at the sharp object that he held firmly in his left hand. “A curious element, metal. It has many uses,” said Lucius. “It is strong, flexible…” Lucius increased his grip around Rachel’s throat. “It is resilient, and also…” Lucius lifted up the sharp point of the metal to Rachel’s chest. She tried to fight off the white haired man’s grip, but he was too strong for her. “…Adaptable.” With that final word, Lucius plunged the metal through the girl’s chest. Rachel cried out in pain. James and Chad heard her screams and began to look around frantically.
“Rachel!” Chad shouted, fearing the worst. Moments later a huge explosion sent the already crippling temple into complete free-fall. The temple crumbled, sinking into the ground from whence it came.
The temple was no more. After the dust had settled, Chad lifted a huge piece of rubble off of him. The collapse of the temple had caused the formation of a huge crater where the structure had once stood. The crater was over sixty feet deep and Chad stood at the bottom of it. He began looking around the area for his fallen comrades. He spotted part of a leg sticking out of some fallen rock and he rushed over to it. He quickly tossed the rock aside and lifted the person from the rubble. It was Cody.
At the same time, James flung away a large boulder that he had been buried beneath. He picked himself to his feet and helped Chad in search of their comrades. James and Chad recovered all of them apart from Rachel. Cody, Sophie and Jade attempted to join James and Chad in the search, however, their progress was much slower due to the injuries they sustained from the collapse of the temple, not to mention their somewhat considerable lack of strength compared to James and Chad and their inability to shift large rocks with relative ease.
After searching the area for a while, Chad finally spotted a head sticking out from beneath the rubble. He rushed over and it was indeed the missing twin. Chad removed the rock that had been on top of her, however, he was horrified by what this revealed. Two sharp metal rods had pierced through Rachel’s chest. She remained conscious, but only just. The others quickly joined Chad. The expression on each of their faces changed upon seeing Rachel’s predicament. Her twin sister’s eyes filled up with tears. Jade tried as hard as she could to force the tears back as she didn’t wish to alarm her sister.
The fallen agent could not see the pieces of sharp metal that had sliced through her body because she couldn’t move her head. “Chad…help me up,” she said. The words struggled out of her mouth, having barely enough strength to speak.
Chad glanced at the wounds. She had lost so much blood, and the agent knew to move her would likely cause more distress and pain than their needed to be. “Just stick tight Rachel. I’ll get you out of here.” Of course, he was lying. He knew he couldn’t move her. She was not like he or James. He knew there was no way her body could recover from a wound as bad as this. She would die here, he knew that, but he had not the heart to tell her.
Rachel began to realise the seriousness of her injuries by the looks on all of their faces. She used whatever strength she had left to raise one of her hands. “Chad…please…” Tears began to fall from her eyes and down her cheek. Her twin Jade could no longer hold in the tears and she was about to rush to her sister before Sophie held her back. The Irish girl hugged Jade tightly. Chad looked to James. He was at a loss as to what to do. James is the smart one. He thought. This time, though, even James could not help.
Chad kneeled down next to his childhood friend and softly touched her cheek with his hand. “It’s ok…” he said. Just after those words Rachel stopped breathing. She lay there, motionless with her eyes open. Chad bowed his head for he knew what this meant. All of them had a hollow feeling inside. Jade was broken, shaking and crying uncontrollably as Sophie did her best to comfort her.
“What a pathetic death,” said a voi
ce from high above them. At the top of the crater stood Lucius, who had been watching events transpire from the edge of the long drop.
Chad stood up from Rachel’s side. A deep feeling of anger flowed through his body. “You’ll fucking pay for this!” He gripped the golden axe firmly in his arm and challenged the white-haired man to come and face him. Sophie, Jade and Cody looked a little afraid, but James stood by Chads side. He too was ready to make Lucius pay for his sins.
“So, the two of you are teaming up? How amusing,” said Lucius, showing not even the slightest of concern. Then, the man smiled. “Wake up!” he shouted. He leapt from the edge of the crater and headed down the sixty-foot drop. As Lucius fell towards them, a loud buzzing sound filled Chad’s head. He fell to the ground, holding his head in agony. Flashes of the large dark red eyes he had seen so many times before in his dreams appeared before him once again.
Lucius landed only a few feet from where the agents stood. “What’s the matter? Something in your head Shadow?”
James crouched down next to Chad and tried to speak to him, but his words did not reach his friend. Lucius began to slowly walk towards them. James stood up and charged towards him. Lucius quickly unleashed a powerful blow to James’ chest, which launched him back over twenty feet, crashing against the crater wall.
“There now lap dog. Give me the axe,” said Lucius.
The buzzing sound inside Chad’s head intensified. Suddenly it felt like he was no longer in control of his body. He looked up and smiled at the white haired man. He picked up the golden axe, which had dropped at his feet when he fell down, and slowly walked towards Lucius.
The others looked on, confused as to why Chad and Lucius were not fighting each other, even appearing somewhat friendly. James also looked on from the ground as he tried to pick himself to his feet.
Chad got down on one knee and knelt before Lucius. He held out both arms and willingly handed over the axe to Lucius. The latter began to laugh. “There Shadow, good boy!” he said, before vanishing in an instant.
With Lucius gone, the others began to crowd around Chad. He was crouched on the floor holding his head. James was the most concerned of them all.
“Chad…are you alright?”
Chad began to shake on the ground. “I…gave the axe to Lucius?”
James and the other agents looked at each other. None of them knew what to say.
“What did I do? Tell me James!” Chad shouted from the ground. Chad’s shaking began to increase, and so did his anger.
The rest of he agents stood back, leaving just James close to the fallen agent. “Calm down, everything’s going to be fine.”
A loud buzzing sound set off inside Chad’s head once more and he screamed out in rage. He pushed James away and began to attack the next closest person to him, which was Cody. He tackled him to the ground and began to punch his face repeatedly.
“Chad stop!” Sophie shouted, but the enraged agent continued his assault.
Jade began crying once more. “James do something!” She knew he was the only one capable of stopping him now.
James quickly kicked Chad hard in the side of the head, connecting directly with his temple. Everything inside of Chad’s head went white and he dropped to the floor and lay motionless. Much to James’ surprise, it seemed that Chad had been knocked out cold. He knew his kick couldn’t have done that much damage, however, the blow to the head had seemed to stop whatever it was that had been driving him on, at least for the time being.
James, Cody, Sophie and Jade stood in silence. They were bruised and battered and realised that they had failed in their task. Not only that, but there had been dire consequences from the events that had taken place during this disastrous mission, event’s they knew would ensure things would never be the same again.
Chapter 14: Danger At All Corners
Kara looked up with concern at the dark skyline. The sky had usually given the princess a great sense of peace, however, this was the first time she had ever seen a night lit sky above her head. It was the sky of the Underworld realm. It was not the foreign skyline that was the cause for her concern, though. She felt something deep within her heart. She knew somehow, that someone close to her was in danger.
“What’s up with your gob m’lady?” asked Fargrim the dwarf. The dwarf had grown grumpy of late. He and Kara had been traveling for fifteen days since they had departed from the Alexandrian palace. The pair had stayed in just about every dark and dismal corner of the realm during their journey in order to not be recognized by anyone, and the two of them had slept very little during that time.
“I told you not to call me that,” Kara said. She had told the dwarf many times not to refer to her in any way that would make her seem as though she was a person of importance. She needed to keep her identity a secret. She would be in great danger if her presence were to become known.
“It’s ok m’lady. They’re no folk around to hear it. No one knows who you really are.” The dwarf’s eyes narrowed. “So, what is it that worries you?”
A boy named Valentine. “I don’t know,” answered the princess. “I feel uneasy. Something’s wrong.” Fargrim looked around the area. “There’s no bother here.”
“No not here, something…elsewhere,” said Kara.
The dwarf chuckled a little to himself. “Foolish girl. Anyways keep your mind in the now, here and in the present. It will keep you alive longer!”
Kara and Fargrim were aboard a small boat, barely big enough for the two of them. The princess sat at the back of the boat, directing the dwarf as he rowed along the River Of Mist. Fargrim had purchased the small boat for a few pieces of gold back at the Dead End Keep Inn from a drifter. The dwarf thought he had been short-changed, as the boat was a piece of old junk. However, he had little choice but to buy it as his own boat had been missing from the spot where he had tied it up during his long journey to Alexandria.
Since entering the Underworld realm, the dwarf knew the safest place for them was on the river. You see, those from the Underworld have many powers and abilities. However, they could not manipulate the element of water like an Alexandrian could. Fargrim knew that if they were to encounter trouble on their travels, Kara’s ability to control the water could prove vital in keeping them both alive.
The boat rocked a little from side to side as a small wave hit the front of it. Kara and Fargrim momentarily lost their balance. “Keep hold of something back there princess, we don’t want you falling in now do we?” said the dwarf.
“I can swim you know!” replied Kara.
“Oh, I bet you can m’lady. It’s what lurks in the river that bothers me.”
“Why, what’s in the river?” asked the princess, who took a curious look over the side of the boat and into the river.
The water was dark much like the sky, however, Kara could see something moving beneath the waves. It swam like a fish, but it was too big to be one. This is what the dwarf feared most when traveling along the River Of Mist. Beneath the calm surface of the water, lay a half-breed of the worst kind. A creature of half human, half fish descent lived within the river. Some of you may know these beings as Mermaids, the gentle, loving creatures from fairy tails. However, in this realm, all feared the half-breeds. The mermaids looked harmless enough. They would act friendly like the ill-informed legend says. Unlike the legend, however, mermaids cannot breathe above the water. Instead, they trick their victims into joining them in the river and then drown them, before feasting upon their dead corpses.
The princess looked on with wonder as the object she could see swimming by the boat began to swim nearer to the surface. It was indeed a mermaid, which had in fact been tracking the boat since it hit the water. It had kept its distance somewhat until now, swimming at the same speed as the boat whilst maintaining a watching brief on the pair. The mermaid was now only a few feet from the surface. The half-breed held out its hand above the water’s surface in the direction of Kara. The princess had never seen a mermaid before
and curiosity got the better of her. The mermaid smiled beneath the water as Kara touched the creature’s hand.
The mermaid tightened its grip around Kara’s hand and then, without warning, attempted to pull the princess from the boat. Luckily enough, Fargrim had spotted this just in time and grabbed Kara’s arm. The mermaid wasn’t about to give up its prey without a fight and pulled the girl with all its strength. Kara screamed as she and the dwarf struggled to keep her aboard the boat. Realising they were fighting a losing battle, Fargrim reached for one of the oars he had been using whilst rowing and struck the mermaid several times.
The creature reluctantly released its hold on Kara’s hand and retreated beneath the water of the river. “Are you ok m’lady?” asked Fargrim. Kara, who was visibly shaken, nodded her head. “Fowl creatures they are,” said the dwarf. “They thrive on the false legend of them being peaceful creatures. They lure you in, and then before you know it…bang! They pull you under.”
“I’ll have to remember that in future,” said Kara, who was still somewhat shaken from the attack.
The dwarf’s attention shifted onto something else entirely. He began to sense something else in the area. Fargrim looked upwards, toward the top of the high cliff’s that overlooked the River Of Mist. “I don’t think the mermaids are the only things we need to worry about,” said the dwarf.
The princess looked up at the cliffs edge above them. On both sides, small figures began to appear. Then their numbers began to increase. “Who are they?” asked Kara.
The dwarf took a huge gasp of air. He had been hoping to continue on their journey without having come to the attention of this race of creatures, however, it was too late for that now. “Some call them the Forsaken, creatures that live, yet are not dead. I suppose you’d call them undead,” said the dwarf. A hint of fear filled his voice. Make no mistake about it, Fargrim was a proud warrior, who did not fear battle, however, he realised that the increasing numbers of the forsaken around the cliff did not bode well for the pair of them in the future. “I was hoping we wouldn’t cross paths with this lot. Nasty buggers they are!” said the dwarf.
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