Volcan Knights

by Bowler, Laurie

  Gradually I watched as Sam fought bravely on his own, the other Volcan’s hadn’t come to his aid and he was the one who had to make sure his family remained safe. I lay on the ground and watched with a heavy heart as he continued to fight, the shadows grew stronger and angrier with every move that he made, and still I watched feeling the read well up inside of me. It was then that I realised I could have gotten her out and to the safety of the light, but I’d been so caught up with the surreal moment and the surreal events that had caused this pain stricken moment for us.

  Sam exhausted and bleeding started to become weak, the smell of defeat hung the air around us all, as my daughter watched terrified and wide eyed. I stood and started to gain the speed to head to the shadows, Sam’s arms made a grab to pull me back away instead he knocked me clean of my feet and sent me pounding into the wall where I eventually lost consciousness. I didn’t get to see the fate of my child, only knowing and hearing of it through the Sam’s events, I knew the power and the greed of the shadows and I’d witnessed firsthand their strength in their attack and the way the devoured the humans. I only prayed for my daughter’s soul that it hadn’t hurt her, and she’d been knocked unconscious before they ground her small body down to nothing but skin.

  I struggled against the rising tide of agony that had hit my heart with a ferocious speed, and Sam’s hands were gently stroking my hair away from my cheeks, the dampness I felt I assumed to be my tears considering I couldn’t even begin to open my eyes and look at him, for fear of seeing his agonised expression and the expression of accusation that it was I who’d let him and our daughter down by not doing what I know I should have done.

  “Zera,” he whispered sharply beside me. “Come back to us now. It’s ok. We’re here,”

  “Is she relapsing?” I heard Regan ask quietly.

  “I don’t think so,” he answered with a sigh. “I think she’s remembering, eventually the doctors said this would happen and she might be in the stages of grieving when it does happen, due to the fact that she hasn’t had a chance to grieve like we have.”

  Distant voices, it sounded like I’d floated to a far away land, I was still with them, my body anyway but my memories were far away, in a land when once everything had been alright. The wonderful array of colourful flowers I’d planted with my daughter one year set before us, their beauty contrasted with the greenery of the outdoors, her playful smile and the twinkle in her eyes when she saw the other Volcan’s, who she had long since decided were her uncles and best friends.

  We were once a big family, only to be pulled apart by the grief of the missing child, and the grief of the facts that we’d all played our part in letting her be taken from us. I played the worst part, they’d all played their parts well, but I was her mother, giving her life and supposed to protect her life, but now I knew I hadn’t protected her. I’d more or less handed her over to them to do what they had set out to do from the outset, if only I’d seen the shadows watching from the distance on the day she’d decided to practice and show off her wings, then I could have warned the others, or if only I’d grabbed her while I had the chance and slipped away in the light while Sam battled with the shadows.

  There were many ‘if onlys’ but none of them would bring her back, but I would set her soul free and take back what was rightfully ours to have; freedom and the peace that wad truly ours and to be able to live without the fears of the shadows and to keep the humans from being taken and marked one by one.

  Chapter Nine

  I waited patiently for my chance. Watching from the window seat as the sun began to set and the shadows began to descend and join the earth.

  Sam watched me with open curiosity, whether he knew what I was about to do, I wasn’t sure, he didn’t say anything.

  Ethan tried to have an open conversation with me, laughing and joking around but soon gave up when he realized there was something on my mind. All of the Volcan’s were worried, this much I was sure of, and it was a definite certainty.

  The weapons I’d seen earlier on in the study would be the best advantage, in particular the dagger that was enclosed inside the glass cabinet, using that alongside the powers the Volcan’s possessed already would enable me to try and aim to destroy them; The Devourers otherwise known as the shadows.

  Most humans didn’t suspect of their existence and only knew from the disappearances of their kin that something deeper and a lot more sinister was afoot into their world. It was the Volcan’s destiny to destroy them and keep forever safe the lives of the innocent human that lived and worked on the planet.

  To this day, since meeting Sam I couldn’t understand why he’d chosen to give to me the Volcan powers and the being that I could form myself into, but again it was another of those unanswered and useless questions that was stuck inside my head.

  “Are you ok?” Sam asked causing me to jump slightly at the sound of his voice.

  I hadn’t heard him approach; I’d been locked inside my deeper thoughts that his approach hadn’t unnerved me in the slightest.

  “Yeah,” I yawned. “Just a little tired I guess,”

  His frown appeared, and his stance was one of pure adoration and concern.

  “Are you sure?” he persisted. “We think there’s something that you might want to tell us. It’s written all over your face and your posture,”

  “My posture?” I questioned.

  “Yes,” he sighed and sat down beside me, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “You’re sitting as if you have a poker up your backside, and you’re really tense. It was Ethan who mentioned it; he’s pretty accurate sometimes,”

  “Hm,” I hadn’t been paying attention and his words washed over me, nothing seemed to be making a whole lot of sense. “Sorry,” I murmured.

  I shook my head to clear the random thoughts that seemed to be possessing me. There was nothing else that mattered tonight, except to finally defeat the shadows that were always going to be trying to take lives, in particular my own.

  “Zera,” Sam sighed. “I don’t like the way you are. Will you tell me what’s wrong with you?”

  His persistence was taken from the fact that I wasn’t paying any attention to him all and I kept on zoning out on them all. As they’d gathered around to be with me, as if they all needed to be as one big family and here I was, sitting in the corner watching as the night began to fall and it seemed to be taking a considerable amount of time to do so.

  I wasn’t listening and they were aware of it, faintly I heard Ethan trying to crack his usual humorous jokes, and Sam remained beside me. The frown on his face whenever he glanced at me was concerned, to the point that I had started to feel guilty but I felt unable to control myself or to become involved in their conversation.

  Eventually after some time, of trying to coax me into participating, they gave up and rambled on about some things that were both senseless and trivial. It was as if, in my mind, that they had nothing else to say and no other worries which struck me as odd for the faintest of moments.

  They had plenty to worry about. The lives of the humans depended on them and their Volcan beings, and my life once depended on them to protect me and my child’s. It wasn’t their fault, but I knew something had to be done and I was willing to make that ultimate sacrifice.

  “Right,” Ethan clapped his hands and stood up with a wide grin across his face. “Time for me to leave, and no,” he stopped Regan in his tracks as he opened his mouth to say something. “I don’t have a hot date,” he yawned. “Not tonight anyway. Tomorrow I have but that’s something I will need to discuss with you all, and soon.” He added on the end.

  Slowly Regan began to rise, stretching and yawning loudly. His arms stretched high above his head, as he glanced my way and stopped, he stared at me for a few minutes and then shook his head as if he was clearing a sudden thought and trying to get rid of it.

  “I’ll see you both out,” Sam said and stood and headed towards the door leaving me to stare blindly out of the win
dow at the shadows that now seemed to be beckoning me to them and trying to aimlessly grab at the panes of glass to pull me outside.

  I felt the overwhelming urge to open the window and jump. It would be far simpler than the ideas that I had tonight, but I wasn’t prepared and I needed to gain the dagger to be able to cope with what I had to do. And aid my cause, the plea of the humans was on my mind, their lives and the lives of their families, the ones that had to cope with the fact that their family member had blindly walked away from them and left them behind with no trace at all.

  It must be the hardest thing for them bear, and by far the meanest of thoughts that whirled around in their minds. If I could save, at least one of them to keep a family unit together and happy with each other, then my task tonight would not be in vain and I would be accomplishing something.

  “Come on Zera,” Sam said quietly from the doorway. “Shall we go to bed?”

  I nodded. Unaware of the pain that I was causing him but only too aware, of the journey that I had to make tonight, for the better of everyone else around me.

  “I’m coming,” I said back trying to sound as if I was here with him rather than miles away like I had been all night. “Sorry,”

  His brows shot up at the sound of my apology, and he looked at me with a confused expression.

  “What for?” he asked. His voice sounded different even to my own ears, and I knew he was trying his hardest to be strong and to act as if he didn’t have a care in the world and everything was fine between us.

  What he failed to remember was that for the best part of the night, all of them had exchanged strange and rather concerned glances with each other. It felt like, when they thought I hadn’t caught them, that there was this strange unexplainable bond between us, a link that allowed us all to trespass into each other’s feelings and sometimes minds.

  All of them had appeared to clearly read something about me that I hadn’t meant to pass onto them, and to create to show them. But somehow I had, and now my task tonight was in peril.

  Peril because they’d all lay down their lives to defend one and another, and I was part of them so that section of the honor of the Volcan’s included me.

  “For being quiet and a little sullen,” I offered my explanation in the hope of pacifying anything that he might be thinking. “I mean,” I shrugged and collected my things from the window seat. “I have been a little pre-occupied tonight,”

  “You have that’s true,” he said gently. “What’s on your mind? Is there anything you might want to talk about?”

  I shook my head and daren’t look at him for fear that he would see what I was truly thinking and would know instantly that something was definitely wrong with me. No matter how hard I tried the unshed tears floated behind my eyes and I blinked rapidly to clear my moisture filled vision.

  “No there isn’t anything,” I stood and faced him, smiling brightly as I walked over to him and took his hand before leading him out of the room towards the bedroom.

  For once he believed me, or that might have been my imagination, I’d tried to be as convincing as I could be for the sake of the adventure that I had to complete tonight, and then we’d all be free from the killings and the slayings the Devourers constantly caused and erupted themselves into displaying, time after time.

  History was not going to repeat itself, and I was not going to die in vain, tonight once Sam was asleep I’ll be sneaking out to find them, and end this horrid conflict that was always appearing in the depths of everyone’s minds.

  I climbed into bed, and lay with my head on the pillow staring up at the ceiling, imagining the future, a future that might not still be open to me, depending if I succeeded tonight or not. Sam lay facing me, his eyes watchful and his frown deepening when he saw how I seemed to fidget without realising I was giving the game away, and causing him concern, if they got involved with the fight tonight, then someone would die and that was not something I was willing to face. Already we’d lost so much because of these paranormal beings that couldn’t coexist with us in anyway shape or form.

  “Goodnight,” I whispered into the darkened room while Sam took hold of my hand and planted a soft kiss into the palm.

  I felt the tears start in the corner of my eyes. It felt as if I was betraying him by not telling him of my plans, but then he would try and stop me and nothing would go the way that I needed it too. And he wouldn’t agree to me spreading my blood to trick the Devourers into taking it, consuming it and then becoming a whole person, or thing whichever the correct term maybe, but that was the only way to stand a chance to defeat it and then live if I could, or die knowing I’d succeeded into doing something for my fellow Volcan’s.

  Sam didn’t say a word, and simply held onto my hand until I heard the soft snoring in the room, which was the telling sign that he’d finally fallen asleep.

  Chapter Ten

  Silently slipping out of the bed and tiptoeing around the room, desperately trying not to wake him and freezing like a statue when I heard him stir in the bed, his snoring continued and I waited until he was comfortable.

  I raced around the house, using the walls on the outer rim to guide me to an opening I was sure I’d seen, and I avoided the shadows using my skills in keeping to the open areas where the moon light was clearly visible.

  The shadows encompassed throughout the alleyway, the light dimmed as I moved further down to the end where I knew the darkest of the shadows lay in wait.

  The shivers that ran up and down my spine brought the goose bumps out on my arms, and the sweat began to appear on my brow, fear and the pending death was nearing and I felt elated but frightened at the same time. The eerie darkness surrounded me, and I heard the growling of the devourers as they neared my location, their noises were like the sounds of the demons and the stench of death heavily floated into my nostrils.

  The end of the alley way and the large wall that I faced was dark beyond imagination, my hands stretched out the walls as I felt my way down the alleyway. The feeling of the crumbling wall beneath my fingers, I heard the stones fall to the floor and the noise reverberated around me, causing me to step back with a start.

  Still the noises of the closing Devourers continued around me, and I heard their voices begin to chant my name, gently whispering and beckoning me to come to them, their voices began to climb clearer and climax to a loud deafening chant.

  “Zera! Zera!” they chanted to a mass crescendo of different tones of voices.

  Some were soft; others were gruff and harsh sounding causing the goose bumps to rise to the surface on my skin again.

  “Zera, come to us,” The Devourer insisted on speaking in full sentence to me, for some unknown strange reason I felt like I’d heard the voice before, but only I didn’t know from where.

  A mysterious mist began to surround me, I couldn’t see my feet anymore, as it began to grow thicker and swirled around my feet, and I could barely see where I was walking. I still found myself clinging to the wall, and feeling my way down towards the end which was now partially covered with the mist. Still the shadows loomed larger before me, mildly fascinated I watched as they changed continuously to the shapes and forms of arms and hands. Simultaneously the shadows grabbed out towards me as each one of them greedily tried to encase me deep inside their own shell of shear monstrous and dangerous shadows.

  It wasn’t until the wall began to slope to the right that I had the instant feeling of reaching the end, I clawed around with my fingers to find the join in the wall, and I found it where I stood in its safety. Far away from the shadows that teased in front of me, dancing around and laughing gleefully at the capture of the female Volcan, a roaring sounded somewhere in the distance, I looked up to see the clouds were no longer fluffy and white like they’d been on my journey here but the sky had changed to black.

  The black clouds swirled directly above my head, while the mist climbed up my legs higher and higher until I saw that it was nearer to my knees.

  Still I carried
on staring at the blackened skies while I tried to forget about the mist that was now black, it had gathered higher and I felt the tingling sensation on the skin at my elbows, carrying me along its tidal wave.

  Gathering higher and higher, until I felt my head swamped beneath it, to my astonishment the hatred I felt inside was nothing compared to the lightening that was flashing back and forth, and reverberating from the walls of the alley way.

  Slowly I bent down to bended knees and watched with wide eyes, my own fear had raised a few notches and I could feel the sweat on my palms along with the way my legs trembled. I knew I was helplessly stuck here, and I had the second thoughts of making a huge mistake, but one that I hoped wouldn’t cost the Volcan’s their own lives. It was a female Volcan they needed to bring themselves back to life, then that’s what they were going to get and then Sam and the others could finish them off in the final stand, good against evil.

  “What is it you want?” I demanded in a shaky voice when nothing happened for some time. “I’m here. Why don’t you just take my life? Isn’t that something that you want from us?”

  Again nothing happened. Their biggest intimidation was the silence that prevailed around, the chanting had long since ceased.

  My knife started to dig into my thigh, I felt the blade as it started to penetrate my skin, and the trickle of blood caused my trousers to feel damp.

  I shifted slightly on my feet as I crouched on the floor, easing the painful penetration.

  Without any warning at all the chanting started again, this time instead of starting gradually like before, it began with a deafening noise, so much so I clamped my hands against my ears where it hurt with the bellows of my name, and those of the other Volcan’s that they were summoning to fight with them.