Surrounded by darkness in the large, intricately designed throne room, Kumraa sat upon his majestic throne, his eyes closed and chest rising and falling with each ragged breath he took. Floating a few inches away at eye level were a holographic image of Jeneta and the rest of the girls walking tiredly and looking as though they would drop from exhaustion at any moment. But the evil lord had seen enough. What raged in his black heart was the fact that the last Sacred Medallion was found, and now they were on their way to confront him. It was not supposed to be like this. They were supposed to be dead, a nuisance easily taken cared of like all the rest.
So many other, stronger warriors have fallen quickly under his might and power....warriors that would put fear into the hearts of others with just the mere mention of their names. But they were no match for him. Yet somehow, these mere...children, these mortals from a world so far away have caused him so much more trouble than all of them combined. How could this be? And now, the very Goddesses that had sealed him so long ago have awaken with the finding of the Sacred Medallions, and it shocked him to the core that they were indeed these girls the whole time.....somehow reborn to finish what they had started so many millennia ago.
With a scowl darkening his bony face even more, Kumraa's eyes snapped open, glowing red and menacing. Well, they won't have a chance to finish anything once he gets through with them. That fool sorcerer thought he was clever, trying to break through his cloaking spell and tracking him here to this wasteland. What he didn't know was that Kumraa was onto him the moment the old sorcerer began the spell, and he had a very nasty surprise waiting for the girls. A very nasty surprise indeed. "Come," the dark demon whispered, his hands curling and his long nails raking the armrests on his throne. "Come just a little closer, children. Soon you will see no one stands up to me and lives. I will feast on your bones tonight!" With a dark chuckle, Kumraa stood to his full height, and whispering some ancient, evil words, spread his arms wide in the air. At first, nothing happened, but a moment later, a heavy breeze filled the enormous room.
A black cloud formed right above Kumraa's head, and with each passing second, it got bigger and bigger. Soon it was nearly the size of the throne room, and coming from inside of it were the sounds of flapping wings and loud, screeching caws, as though coming from large crows. A single black feather, much, much larger than normal for a crow, fell from the cloud and swirled gently to the ground. ""My pretty birdies," said Kumraa, his eyes aglow with pride. "There are newcomers to our land. Why don't you go and properly greet them. My powers will be its full extent any moment now, so I want to prepare. Make me proud."
Loud flapping of great, immense wings surrounded the entire room, and the black cloud moved and slowly floated out of the large window to the right. When it was gone, the hologram of the girls disappeared, and Kumraa sat back down on his throne. Already he could feel more power surging through him, giving him strength and a new purpose. Just days ago, he would never have been able to summon those creatures. His crooked smile grew wider. Yes, just a matter of moments now, and he would be strong enough to take back what was his. "Enjoy my surprise," Kumraa whispered as a pale, red glow surrounded his body. Throughout the castle, all could hear Kumraa's evil laugh, and even the most loyal of followers felt dread grow in their hearts.
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Outside in the hot, arid sun, Jeneta and the rest of the girls walked on, panting and sweat rolling down their faces. They had long past exhaustion, and were now going on by sheer force of will. For nearly two days they trudged on, no food, no water, no rest, and having to spend a very uncomfortable night on the dusty ground. The cloudy, rainy weather from mere hours before gave way to a very hot, steamy day. They had started out yesterday on what seemed to them to be early morning, and now, a whole day and a half later, the sun was about to set, having passed over them and on its way to the western horizon. But that did not alleviate the heat a bit. It was certainly different from the weather they faced in Tao's home city, and they surmised that this must be near the planet's equator, which like on Earth did not experience any true Winter. The black castle came closer and closer to them, until they could almost make out the details of it.
But geography was the last thing on the girls' minds as they walked on. Every breath they took was like torture to their lungs, and every step agony to take. Finally, with one last shaky breath, Pyra fell to her knees, a tear rolling down her face.
With a gasp, the others turned and rushed over to the Hindu girl. "Prya! Oh God, are you alright?" Jeneta was the first to reach her and gently took the girl into her arms, steadying her. But the Indian girl just shook her head, her damp hair sweeping her shoulders.
"I..I can't. I can't do this anymore!" Prya gasped out, trying to catch her breath. "Please...let's just go back. We'll die out here!" She looked up pleadingly into Jeneta's eyes, wanting nothing more than to end this and go back to where the others were waiting.
For a moment, Jeneta looked surprised at the girl's words. "Oh Prya..." She had wanted to go back too. She was just thinking that maybe Master Yelsnid had made a mistake and they were in the wrong place. All of their pain, their journey was for nothing. But she looked up at the others girls just then, and with her heart pounding, she saw that they were looking to her for the answer to what to do next. Should they quit and just find a way out of this wasteland, or should they go on? It was all up to her. She was about to say they should quit, when suddenly, an image of Djoser entered her mind. She remembered the words she told him, and remembered how much he said he believed in her and her mission. She remembered Zain's...or rather Menes's final sacrifice for him, protecting him from the deadly blasts of Kumraa. She remembered Danji and how he sacrificed his life to save them all from falling into Kumraa's hands. She shook her head to bring her back to her senses. What am I thinking? I can't quit now, and I can't ask my friends to quit too. We HAVE to go on, for the sake of everyone that believe in us and died for us!
With a sigh, she stood up along with the shaky Prya and looked into the eyes of each of the girls. "You guys...we can't quit now. I know you're all tired, hungry and thirsty. So am I. Master Yelsnid, Djoser, Tao....everyone, they placed their trust, their belief in us to fight Kumraa and free their world. We can't let them down now," She turned towards were the castle stood, closer now and standing on a cliff. "Kumraa is there, and I bet by now he knows we're here too," She turned back to look at her friends and nodded. "Let's do this...for our friends we've lost."
Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Angeni was the first to speak. "She's right everyone. Even though we haven't known them that long, I'm sure Djoser, Kain, Tao and the rest would do the same for us. I know it." She smiled softly at Jeneta and winked. Smiling back, Jeneta nodded and mouthed the words "Thanks," to show her appreciation.
Even Prya, after taking a deep breath, nodded and smiled back at everyone, now determined to finish what they started. But before she could say anything to show that she was with them, Ling pointed up at the sky right behind them. "Ummm..guys, I hate to break up this happy little moment, but LOOK!" The girls turned around to see what Ling was talking about, and they all stared in curiosity as a roll of black clouds came towards them. But somehow, this bank of clouds was different...it moved faster than the rest, and it somehow seemed to purposely seek them out.
"What a...strange formation of clouds," Heather commented, looking up in fascination.
Angeni was the first to step back warily and narrow her eyes, getting a bad feeling. "You guys...those are NOT clouds," she said nervously as it got closer and closer...almost upon then now. "RUN!"
"Oh BUGGER!" yelled out Heather, turning to run.
Almost too late did the girls finally hear the loud cawing and flapping of wings coming from the black mass of clouds. As the girls dashed away for their lives, the clouds slowly disappeared, and in their place was a large flock of large, fierce-looking black birds that resembled crows, but instead had six glowing red eyes and nearly double the size of ostriches. Their large beaks snapped open and shut menacingly and looked to be as sharp as blades. The talons were easily ten inches long and glowing fiercely in the sun's dying light. Each flap of their immense black wings brought up a gust of strong wind and dirt into the girls faces as they screamed and ran, flailing their arms in the air for protection.
In panic, Prya fell to the ground and covered her face as she lay on her back. Blood raced down her arms as a monstrous bird pecked and scratched at them. With a painful scream, she brought up her legs, and with both feet kicked it away from her. It landed on the ground with a painful squawk, and then flapped away. But not even a second later, Prya rolled away just in time as another of the birds flew straight towards her and landed heavily with a skid to where she just was. The bird made ready to rush her again, but just before it reached her, a grunting Ling tackled it to the ground, both rolling. She got up quickly, and not even giving the giant black bird a chance to get up, kicked it heavily away. It flew into the sky with an angry yet pain filled squawking and chirping.
Jeneta, Angeni, and Heather were surrounded by the low-flying bird demons, each trying their best not to have their eyes or anything else scratched out by the deadly talons or beaks. "Back off!" screamed out Jeneta as one of them flew a little too close. She jumped up and gave it a kick to the side of its head. But it was soon replaced by at least two more of the monsters. Soon they were overwhelmed.
"There's too much of them! We have to use our swords!" yelled out Angeni, knocking away another of the demon black birds with a balled fist. Blood leaked from the side of her head from a nasty scratch.
"Right!" Jeneta nodded her head, and with that, each girl raised their hand into the air, their eyes closed in concentration. Within a moment, there was a bright glowing in their hands, and their swords appeared, glowing in the sun and prepared to defend their lives.
With a yell the girls charged forward, their swords slashing every which way to defeat the deadly demonic birds. Ling jumped up to do an expert flip in the air, then landed and thrust her sword upward. She easily sliced in half the bird what was just about to land on her. The two pieces fell to the ground, wiggling with steam coming from them.
Jeneta slashed down to the right, then to the left as two of the black birds came flying at her. When it was done, the bodies of the headless creatures lay steaming on the ground.
Ducking down low, Heather just missed having her head nearly torn off by a pair of immense talons. The bird flew ahead, missing her by an inches, then flapped its wings and turned back to try again. The blonde girl crouched and waited until the last moment. When it was just about to reach her, she straightened up, held her sword like a baseball bat, and when she could almost feel the beat of its wings, swung forward. The bird's chirp was the last thing it did before it fell lifeless to the ground.
Twirling around like an experienced dancer, Prya gracefully thrust and parried her sword with each turn she did, leaving behind body after body of the deadly creatures. Then with one final spin, she slashed down and made short of black creature bird that nearly landed on her back.
Angeni did one back flip away from the clutching talons of her flying opponent, then kicked upward to send it flailing away from her. But it was persistent and came squawking back at her. She held her sword sideways in front of her and blocked off the monster from snapping its razor-sharp beak at her throat. With a grunt, she pushed it away and immediately slashed down, easily separating its head from its body.
The fight seemed to go on for eternity...with each bird that was destroyed, one or two more took its place. Soon their arms began to burn with fatigue and exhaustion, and their breaths became short and ragged. Sweat poured like rivers down their faces, but still they wouldn't give up. Cuts and scratches appeared everywhere on their arms, legs and some even on their faces from the demonic birds' attacks. NO! Jeneta thought desperately as she fell to her knees in exhaustion. It...it can't end like this! Not when we were so close! She turned to see the other girls also falling to their knees, and felt a sense of hopelessness like never before. She was just about to reach up and touch her Medallion when suddenly, all the flapping and squawking stopped, and a dead silence entered.
Puzzled, the girls looked up and watched on in curiosity as the birds suddenly flew up and flocked together in the air, then seemed to make some sort of pathway for something coming towards them... a something flying at high speed and surrounded by a red light of power and wearing a ragged black cloak. The girls gasped as they realized who it was that was coming towards them....Kumraa.
Laughing loudly, the evil demon lord flew past the birds in triumph and floated down to where the girls sat on their knees. Not knowing what else to do, the group could only tilt their heads back and look up in shock at the huge size of the demon lord standing before them. Taller than before, he now emitted a deadly power that would make all others pale before him. His eyes glowed as red and deadly as ever, and his bony, yellow fingers wiggled and crackled with barely contained energy. It was easy for the girls to see that indeed, Kumraa was back to his full powers....powers that he received from the pain and misery he had cause on this world.
When he was done laughing, Kumraa stepped forward towards the girls, his hands balled into fists. "So, these are the great saviors of Cyphyrus...the ones who have the power to defeat me," scowled the black-hearted demon. "Mere whelps. How pathetic..." He brought his hands before him, palms up, and red lightning crackled in between them.
"You're...you're the one that's pathetic, Kumraa!" panted out Jeneta, standing up shakily on her feet. She held her sword bravely before her and glared determinedly at him. "Causing so much death, so much misery...it all ends here and now. We will defeat you!"
At those words, Heather, Ling, Prya, and Angeni stood up and brought their swords forward, standing along with her. "No more people will lose their loved ones or have to suffer anymore because of you. It's over Kumraa!" yelled out Heather.
"Oh, is it?" The blackened demon smirked and raised both hands over his head. For a few seconds there was nothing but silence as the girls looked around curiously. Then suddenly, the ground started shaking violently. Cracks in the parched and dry earth appeared all around the girls as they tried their best to keep on their feet. The cracks and splits grew wider, and out of them a sudden blast of large boulders, rocks and dust flew up into the air. Higher and higher into the air they reached...then they curved downward and towards the group of friends. They screamed and tried to jump out of the way before it all fell on them, but it was too late. The boulders and rocks came smashing down on them, creating more of an earthquake and loud crashes. On and on more piles of boulders and rocks falling and landing, leaving no doubt to anyone who would have witnessed it that they were now destroyed beyond recognition. When it was done, silence surrounded the area eerily as Kumraa looked on.
With a smirk, the dark demon turned away, triumph raging in his heart. "So much for the saviors of this world," he chuckled.
He walked only a few steps away when there was suddenly another rumbling coming from deep within the earth. With a gasp, Kumraa turned back and stared at the boulder pile. A moment later, white light began shooting out from the tiny holes and cracks in the piles. More and more light shot through, and before the evil lord could do or say anything, there was a large and very loud explosion. The demon raised him arms in front of him for protection, and when the explosion was done and he dared to look a moment later, he gasped in horror and shock.
Standing before him in front of the huge crater hole that used to be the boulder pile were five gorgeous women. When they raised their heads up at the same time, a soft white light surrounded their bodies, and they each stepped forward at the same time as the light dimmed. Kumraa's red eyes grew wide as he stepped back and gaped in disbelief. "No! Impossible!!" There was no way those girls could have survived that! How was it possible? But even he had no answers as he simply stared at the scene unfolding.
Before him stood the fives Goddesses, the Ones Who Are Blessed that defeated and sealed him away so long ago. Their long hair flowed gently in the wind, and their clothes hugged their bodies closely to accentuate their curvy body. Together, they glared down the evil lord Kumraa, and at the same time, their swords appeared in their hands. It was then that each living soul gathered there...the beautiful goddesses and Kumraa, realized one thing; a battle would ensue now.....a battle that will decide the fate of a whole world, and only one side, good or evil, will survive.
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To Be Continued.....
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