The early evening night air was suddenly filled with sword smashing against sword as Jeneta and the rest of the group fought hard for their lives, as well as to avenge those who have lost their lives earlier. Sweat poured down Jeneta's face as she blocked another slash of a sword with her own. Her opponent....one of the disfigured men who called themselves the Brothers Of Darkness...pushed hard against her sword and slowly pushed her back as she groaned with frustration. Her breaths came in short gasps as she tried to figure out what to do, for if she relented for even a moment, it would all end for her.
Jeneta closed for eyes for just a second, praying silently for any hidden strength that might lay deep within her to help in this losing battle. When she opened her eyes again, the evil man's mismatched face was right in front of her, grinning and chuckling in triumph, having pushed her back even farther as his sword bared down on her own. Panic settled in her heart then as she closed her eyes once more, and for that one, tiny moment, Jeneta wanted nothing more than to give up and run away....away from the fighting, the hunger, and everything else. She wanted to be in her bed back home in England again with her adoptive family. She wanted to be with her annoying little brother desperately trying to wake her up for school. She wanted to see her mom smile kindly and offer her breakfast, and her father sternly reminding her to do her chores before rushing off to school. Her life at that time seemed so far away and so long ago just then, with nothing more to worry about than her homework and who was the cutest guy in school.
Deep in her heart she wanted that life back, and more than anything just wanted to give up........until she opened her eyes again and looked at her friends fighting. Each girl was doing their best to fend off Lord Kumraa's minions, and each fought with a determination that she had never seen before. Prya...with her graceful and deceptively smooth moves easily caught her opponent off guard as he mistakenly thought she was the weakest because she was so quiet. With quick movements of her sword as she twirled it all around, he was defeated and sliced through within seconds. With a grim look, Prya faced another of the evil men.
Ling grinned widely and yelled in triumph as she reveled in showing off her martial arts moves again, flipping up and over the head of the sorcerer that was fighting her and landing expertly behind his back. She then ducked down to avoid his sword as he swung at her, and on her way up, slashed upwards and easily sliced through the middle of his body, nearly cutting him in half. The howling man crumbled to the ground in pain, then lay still. But her victory was short-lived as not even a second later, another sorcerer jumped down behind her, reading to run her through with his sword. Ling turned and screamed in surprise, but just as the man was about to slash down, Tao suddenly rushed up and snapped his whip. The long whip wrapped around the large man's frame, and an instant later, he was dispatched by Tao's expert sword moves of his own. Ling looked up at him in admiration, and with a nod, both turned to face their next challenge.
At that moment, Heather had just rolled away on the ground from a downward slash of a heavy sword. Grunting, she jumped back up and faced her opponent, and grimaced as his nearly inhuman face snarled. She ducked again as his sword slashed towards her and rolled safely away. Always one to use brains over brawn, Heather's keen mind searched for a way out of this situation without resorting to too much violence. When she got up again, she smiled slightly as a thought came to her. She tried to look as scared as possible, then dropped her sword on the ground and put her hands up, making it look as though she was giving up. The Darkness sorcerer laughed in victory and stalked up to her, his sword raised to finish her off. Just as he was about to strike down, the blonde girl stamped heavily on the hilt of her sword, making the blade stand straight up. Then before the evil man could even realize what was happening, Heather crouched down, grabbed her sword, and thrust out, making a dead center mark right through his chest and ending his life in an instant. With another small smile, Heather adjusted her glasses and turned away, ready to fight again.
At the sight of her friends fighting on and not giving up, hope entered Jeneta's mind and heart. No! I can't give up...not now! she thought desperately. My friends...everyone is depending on me to fight too! If they can fight to save this world...so can I! Jeneta's dark brown eyes narrowed as she turned to look into the monstrous face of the Dark sorcerer. At that instant, renewed hope and strength flowed through her, and with a determined grunt, she pushed back against him with all her might, actually moving him back a few inches. A surprised look came over the man's face, then he growled loud and lifted his sword high, ready to finish her off. That was his mistake. With a loud yell, Jeneta jumped up and did an expert kick against his head, knocking him back a good couple of feet. He barely had time to get up before Jeneta was upon him again and swiftly made an end to him as she slashed downward.
But there was no time to think about her victory as Jeneta suddenly heard a scream. "Oh no!" she breathed out. Angeni was on the ground, desperately trying to back away from one of the sorcerers as he advanced on her. The Sioux girl had desperately tried to defend herself while the others were busy....kicking, jumping and basically trying to outrun the evil men, but it was not enough and she was finally knocked down by one of the men as he sneaked up behind her.
Growling angrily, Jeneta ran as fast as she could to Angeni's side. "Get away from her!" she yelled out. But even she knew she would not make it in time to save Angeni as the dark-skinned girl's heart beat loudly in her chest in fear.
Then suddenly at that moment, another figure jumped down bravely in front of the Sioux girl and stood in a fighting stance. "Kain.." Angeni whispered out. Just as the evil man came up to Angeni, Kain jumped and did a powerful sidekick that sent the sorcerer flying. Kain quickly turned and held out a hand to her. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Angeni could barely trust herself to speak as she nodded her head and took his hand. When she stood beside him, she smiled slightly. Maybe I was wrong about him, she thought to herself. Then her smile turned to dread as she saw that they were surrounded.
"Angeni!" Jeneta said as she came up to her.
"I'm fine. But if something doesn't happen soon, we're not going to be!" Angeni indicated the surrounding men.
Soon they were joined by Prya, Heather, Tao and Ling and they formed a tight circle of defense around Angeni and Kain. "This is bad," gasped Heather, her eyes wide. Suddenly, two more figures jumped down from out of the night sky, their arms wide and their long coats billowing out around them. First Djoser landed, followed closely by Kondolar.
Both then raised their arms high in the sky and shouted "Solarius enountantus flarum!" A huge burst of fire energy erupted from their outstretched hands, and they both turned in a circle together to envelope each of the Brothers Of Darkness in flames. Screams that could not have come from human throats rose out of the flames, making everyone cover their ears.
Slowly, each of the figures seemed to melt to the ground. A lone voice filled the night air, "We'll be back! You haven't defeated us so easily!" With that, the figures lay still.
"What the heck did he mean by that?" Ling wanted to know, looking up at Djoser and Kondolar curiously.
"Although they are technically human, those men...the Brothers Of Darkness, were also heavily infused with evil magic. They are not easily killed by ordinary methods," Djoser turned and pointed. "Look," Sure enough, where the bodies of the other sorcerers once lay, it was now empty.
"Oh great, so that means we have to face them again?" Jeneta sighed.
"Maybe. But let's not worry about that now. We should go." He gestured for the others to follow, and tiredly, they fell in step behind him, going towards the horses. Just then, Angeni stopped in her tracks and looked around curiously.
"Angeni, are you okay?" Jeneta asked as she walked up next to her.
The tan-colored girl seemed to pale just a little. "I...I don't know. I feel...something is coming. I don't know what...."
Suddenly the ground beneath them began to shake heavily, nearly knocking them to their feet. "Wha...what's going on?" Prya screamed as she fell to her knees. Kondolar was immediately at her side and took her gently in his arms.
The earthquake seemed to go on forever, until finally, something burst through the ground a few feet away from them. Clouds and vapor swirled around the tall figure, and soon, it began to dissipate to reveal what floated within it. When it was finally clear to see, everyone stared in awe; before them was a very beautiful and tall woman, with long jet-black hair parted in the middle and styled into two long braids that reached to nearly her knees. Two golden clasps adorned the end of her braids. The dress she wore was astonishing. It was pure white with beautiful, golden intricate design that seemed to swirl around, giving it the feeling of the sea. Dangling fringes ran along the arm length sleeves, and they were nearly as long as the woman herself. A golden broad belt encircled her small waist, giving her an hourglass figure. She wore golden-colored boots that also had fringes, and they were laced up with white strings. Around the woman's head was a simple gold circlet with a red jewel in the middle, making it look like a crown. The woman's skin was bronze shade, giving her a sun-kissed glow, and she turned to look at the group curiously.
"What has happened here?" she asked in an ethereal, soft voice. Before anyone could answer, she looked around at the dead bodies of adults, children, and the horses, and realized the devastation that took place there. The floating woman gasped in disbelief and turned to give them all an accusing glare. No! the woman thought to herself. No, it can't be! The people to whom I secretly sent messages to meet me here....not these good people! Pain, anger, and other emotions the Goddess long thought long forgotten flowed through her ethereal body, and tears misted in her beautiful eyes. The pain...the pain was too much to bear. Someone had to pay for this! She glared at the mortals standing not too far from her, her face tight with indescribable emotions.
"You did all this! You murdered all those people! You murdered my followers!" she screamed out. "How could you do this terrible thing?"
"No! It wasn't us!" Jeneta was the first to step up and shake her head. "We didn't do this! It was ordered by Kumraa, and he..."
"Kumraa!" she screamed out. She floated down, her eyes glowing golden. "You did this! You are Kumraa's followers, and you used these people to find me, as I was the only one who was able to hide from him!" Sadness entered her eyes.
"Oh man lady, don't you ever have it wrong!" Ling quipped, her hand on her hip.
The woman never bothered to even answer as she balled her fists and screamed. At once, a change overcame her. Light poured out her eyes and mouth as lightning surrounded her body. Fur began rising up from her skin, and horns grew out of her forehead. The lightning enveloped her body, and a moment later with a burst of light, it evaporated. In the woman's place was now a strange creature that looked exactly like the statue the group saw earlier. That same creature resembling a cow with white and gold fur now stood before the friends, smoke coming out from its nostrils and stamping all of its hoofed feet. Its long tail swished back and forth, and its two ivory horns gleamed dangerously in the night.
The creature reared up on its hind legs with an earsplitting roar, then dashed across the area, the hooves shaking the earth. "Move!" cried Djoser, grabbing Jeneta's hand in his own.
Flames poured out of the creature's nostrils as it rushed towards them, and they all turned and ran as fast as they could. "We...we have to try and...make her understand we didn't do this!" Jeneta huffed besides Djoser.
"How?" Heather's eyes were wide with fright as she looked back behind her. She gasped as she saw the steed-like creature was nearly upon them. With a cry, the group fell to the ground and rolled away just as it thundered past them.
"I don't know, but we have to try!" Did you hear her? She was able to hide from Kumraa! That means she isn't under his spell! She could help us!" But even Jeneta was clueless as to what to do next as she shakily stood up with the others. The goddess turned creature skidded to a halt and turned around, its nostrils flaring.
Silent the whole time with a million thoughts going through her head, Angeni took a deep breath and stood in front of the others, her face set in determination. "I think I know how. And I think she is the key to finding the last Sacred Medallion."
"What?" Ling gave her and disbelieving look. "What are you talking about, Angeni? What are you going to do?"
"I don't know how, but I know this is my fight. I have to confront her," Angeni turned to look at her friends. "Just please trust me for now." With that, she smiled softly and walked forward towards the beast, her head held high.
"Wait! You can't do this alone! Stop!" Kain reached out and was about to go after her, but Tao placed a hand on his shoulder.
"No. Let her do this." Tao, recognizing a warrior's spirit when he saw one, nodded and turned to see Angeni walk away. Kain could only look at her worriedly.
After walking a moment, Angeni stopped and stared down the creature. "Alright, I'm here," she whispered, as though it could hear her. "Now what?"
Another roar pierced the air, and the behemoth creature once more rushed forward. Angeni stood in a fighting stance, getting ready for...what, she didn't know. But she didn't have long to wait as it came nearer and nearer. Then, just as the monster nearly rushed by, Angeni jumped up, grabbed a handful of fur to pull herself up.........and landed right on its back and grabbed its horns.
For long moments the creature kept on running with Angeni on its back. She held on as tightly as she could, her teeth rattling in her mouth and her bones feeling as though they would break and shatter with each stomp the beast took. Gotcha!! she thought through her pain. Then unexpectedly, the steed monster stopped abruptly, and Angeni went flying through the air from the momentum.
"WHOOOOOAAA!" Angeni yelled, her arms and legs waving. She landed with a loud thud in a crumpled heap on the ground. For a moment everyone thought the worst as Angeni lay still....then she stirred and turned her head.
"Angeni!" Jeneta shouted.
No one noticed as Kain slipped away, his face set in determination.
Groggily, the Sioux girl sat up, rubbing the side of her head. "OWW! That smarts!" she groaned. A tiny trickle of blood fell down at the side of her head. She tried to get up, but every inch of her body screamed in protest. All of a sudden, the ground started shaking again, and she looked up in shock as she realized the creature was coming for her once again.
"Oh man, is this night ever going to end?" She didn't have any more time to complain as she got up just in time before being trampled to death by six enormous hooves. She rolled away on the ground, tried to get up, but fell to her knees from the pain.
The shaky Angeni finally struggled to her feet a moment later and faced the creature. "Listen..." she gasped. "Whoever you are...we...we didn't do this to your followers! We didn't....." The words fell on deaf ears as it turned and rushed towards her again.
Oh no! If this keeps up... Angeni didn't even want to think about it. Not knowing what else to do, she stood her ground and balled her fists, waiting for the end.
But Jeneta couldn't take it anymore. There was no way she was going to stand by and watch her friend get killed! "NOOOO!" she screamed out as the creature was almost on her. She was just about to run out....when something so unexpectedly happened she had to stop and just stare.
A large grey wolf, his eyes glowing red, suddenly jumped down on the animal's back, and with a loud growl, took a large hunk of its fur in his mouth and bit down hard.
The monster reared back on its hind legs and howled loudly in pain for long moments. All the while, Angeni could only stare open-mouthed. "That....that wolf again." she whispered. "Who is it? What does it want?" But even she knew that was a question no one could answer for now, especially herself. But if she did find out the answers, would she like it? Angeni shuddered slightly. That was another question she didn't know the answer to...nor did she WANT to know.
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To Be continued.....
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