The still air was filled with tension as the group silently watched with held breaths as the large god walked with a purposeful stride towards them. When he stood before them, Iyanish looked down with concerned eyes. "Please, let me help her before it is too late," he whispered.
Tears filled Jeneta's eyes as she looked down at the pale Prya in her lap, then back up towards the animal-headed god. Could she trust him? What if it's true, what if he's the only one that can help Prya now? She just didn't want the girl to die when they were already so close to finishing their mission. But it could also be a trick. Her heart was torn in two, but she knew she couldn't just let Prya die. She had to take a chance. She was sure the other girls would do the same for her. She turned to the others standing behind her, and at Djoser's nearly unnoticeable nod, Jeneta turned back to Iyanish and nodded her head.
"Yes...please, help my friend." Jeneta whispered out, her voice thick with emotion.
Ling's eyes narrowed with mistrust, but she kept silent. After all, if he did do something wrong, she can always call her sword along with Heather and Jeneta and beat this....this creature to a bloody pulp!
With nervous looks, the group backed up slowly as Jeneta gently laid Prya on the ground and joined them. For a moment, Iyanish stood in front of Prya with his eyes closed, then knelt down once more on his knees and placed his large grey hands over her body. Soft, comforting words flowed out of his mouth, and a moment later, his hands began to glow a soft, blue light. It was a light that was gentle, serene...a light that was healing in every possible way.
The god lowered his hands and touched Prya, and her body began to glow in the same comforting blue light. For long moments, Iyanish continued to pray as Pyra lay still. A trail of sweat came down his forehead, and his breaths came out in gasps.
"What's going on, why isn't it working?" Ling asked, her heart beating fast with nervousness. She also began to get a little angry. There was no way she was just going to stand by and let one of her best friends die if this went wrong!
But before anyone could answer, the coloring in Prya's face slowly began to come back to a healthy, caramel color. Her chest began to rise and fall with each breath she took, and her eyelids fluttered slowly. The wound on her arm quickly shrank smaller and smaller until it was no more than a shallow scar which would fade in time, and the awkward angle it was in slowly straightened out, signifying that the bone was indeed mending. Then just as quickly, the healing light around Prya began to dissipate. When it finally died out, the god let out an exhausted breath as Prya's eyes snapped opened. Cautiously, slowly, she sat up and looked around her in confusion.
"Prya!" shouted out Jeneta. With an excited shout, she and the rest of the girls rushed over towards the Indian girl. They all covered her with hugs and kisses and talked excitedly at once as they looked her over, making sure she was really healed and okay as she shakily stood up. Ling was the most grateful of all as she gave Prya the biggest hug she had ever given anyone. The two had become very close and the Chinese girl couldn't begin to describe the relief she felt at knowing Prya would be alright.
Finally Jeneta was the one who motioned for the girls to calm down, then she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Prya, are you alright now? Are you...still in pain?"
Prya smiled softly as nodded her head. "Yes, I think so. I think I will always have a bit of pain, but....I'll be okay." She turned to look behind her at Iyanish as he stood up. At his height, she almost had to look straight up at him. My gosh, did I really fight him? she asked herself in amazement. It truly astonished her because not even a month before she came to England back on Earth, she would have never imagined herself doing something like that. She was always the timid one, the shy one who used to cry whenever she tripped or fell or even spilled milk as a child. But her friends were in danger, she knew she had to defend them, even if it meant her life. Even the god saw that in her eyes when she cautiously stood before him.
"Iyanish...I just...I mean..I just wanted to thank you for healing me...for-" Before she could say anymore, the mastodon-headed figure chuckled and lifted her chin up with his finger.
"My child, I should be the one to say I am not worthy of your gratitude. You have shown me that you possess great courage and loyalty in your heart. My regret was that we could not have met under better terms...not when I was controlled by that...that monster Kumraa! One of his demon servants surely must have placed me under the mind control spell for him!" Iyanish seemed to spit out the demon lord's name, but then he smiled back at Prya.
"That is why I am know giving you my greatest treasure...one even Kumraa never managed to find, because it was in a place he never thought to look." At those words, the god stepped back and a powerful white light surrounded him. Prya and the rest of her friends watched in wide-eyed fascination as he reached up to touch his left tusk. The ivory tusk seemed to shimmer when he touched it, and that's when they all knew that it was but an illusion. He slowly began to pull, and when he did, it began to grow larger and larger until be pulled it out all together. But instead of a tusk that the group of friends expected, it was actually a long and beautifully crafted sword. The handle was ivory-colored, just like his tusks, and was decorated with softly glowing diamonds. The blade of the sword was sharp and gleaming in the hot sun, and seemed to be able to cut even the hardest objects in half.
Slowly the sword flowed out of the god's hand and towards Prya, and she reached up for it with admiration. No sooner had she held it in her hand, than her own medallion, the fourth Sacred Medallion, appeared around her neck as her sword safely absorbed into her body. It was gold like the others, but the design was of the head of a mastodon. It had four eyes and four tusks, and there was a diamond in each of the four eye sockets.
"Wow..." breathed out Prya as she gently traced the design of the medallion. She looked up to the god with gratitude shining in her eyes. "Thank you..thank you so much..." she said, smiling gently at him.
"No dear child. My thanks to you. Thank you for freeing my mind, and for giving me the chance to right my wrongs." Iyanish said, bowing his head. "I know you have come a long way to free our world, and I also know that you still have a many trials ahead of you." He turned to look each of the girls in the eyes. "My only regret is that I was not strong enough to resist Kumraa and his thugs when he first broke free, and that I cannot fight along with you. I must stay here and makes sure his evil does not spread in this region again. But know that my heart and my hopes will always be with you, as well as the hearts and hopes of the other gods." For a moment, his four eyes turned sad. "Kumraa...he must be stopped, at all costs....."
"And he will be, we promise this." said Jeneta with a nod.
The god smiled and nodded his head back, then turned to Djoser. "There is one more thing I have yet to give." He reached up his hands once more and closed his eyes. There was a flash of white light in his hands, and a large diamond-like object appeared floating above his hands. When he opened his eyes, the girls gasped when they saw that one of his eye sockets was empty. Djoser stepped forward and reached out his hands towards the large diamond. It floated towards him and gently landed in his waiting hands.
"The city of Calithra has always been under my protection. With my eye, no harm can come to it, not even Kumraa now, as he is not yet in full power. Take this back to them, and give them my gratitude in their loyalty to me."
"They will know what a great god you are, and know that your protection will always be with them." Djoser said, hiding the diamond in the folds of his trench coat.
"We will meet again," said Tao, "When our world is free once more and Kumraa's evil reign is over. We owe it to the ones we have lost." An image of his lost sister Hun Li entered Tao's mind, and he nodded in determination.
At those words, the god seemed to smile in relief, then his whole body began to glow and shimmer with a bright white. When it disappeared, Iyanish was gone, and once more the sounds of the birds and animals filled the air, where once it was filled with silence and evil.
"Well I must say, that was most interesting." said Heather as she fixed her glasses on her nose.
"Yeah, now the question is to figure out what to do next." nodded Angeni, walking up next to Jeneta.
"Simple, we go back to the city and give the Silver Eye back to the people. We can't go to the next location of the last Sacred Medallion and leave these people unprotected." Jeneta turned to Djoser and smiled hopefully.
"She's right. The sooner we can go back to the city and give it back, the sooner we can find the last medallion!" Ling smiled excitedly. "Can you believe it? We almost made it, just one more to go!"
The other girls looked at each other in amazement, not having thought about it like that yet....then they all jumped up and shouted in a joyful yell in their happiness.
Djoser, Tao, and Kondolar looked at each other and smiled in admiration as the girls rushed off back towards where they came from, talking excitedly with each other.
Soon, after walking for almost an hour, they came across a lovely scene of a small waterfall flowing into a medium-sized pond surrounded by green and blue grasses and bushes. Knowing that it might be a while before they got back to the city, the group decided to stop and rest for a bit from the hot burning sun before walking again. As the other girls talked and laughed with Djoser and Tao, Prya sighed and walked off by herself, unknown to the others, her mind full of thoughts and emotions.
So much had happened so far, much more than she could ever have imagined. Even though they met some hardships, Prya was glad for the adventure. She had always wanted to do something meaningful and important with her life, and now with this journey, her dreams had just about come true. But now there was just one more medallion to find, then one final battle with Kumraa, and depending on the outcome, it would all be over and she would have to leave. Prya sighed again. She seriously didn't know if she actually wanted to leave. Sure she was upset and sad when she first came...she was in a strange world and she was scared....but now...now she had friends and adventure, and she had met someone here she couldn't help but think about more and more.
She sat down on the ground by the edge of the pond, the sounds of her friends off in the distance, and played a little with the grass. I'm just being silly, she thought to herself. Kondolar wouldn't like me, he's...he's probably too busy just thinking about becoming a sorcerer anyway.
She sat for long moments, thinking about the young man's handsome face and sweet yet disorganized nature. She couldn't help smile to herself. He did have his clumsy times, but he made her smile, and no one had really done that before. She sighed one last time and was just to get up and go back when a soft voice interrupted her reverie. "Prya?"
Prya jumped up in surprise and turned to see Kondolar standing near her, a slightly nervous look on his face. "Oh! Kondolar..I..I mean, I didn't see you..."
"No, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that...." The young man looked down on his feet and blushed slightly. "I saw you walk off, and I thought I'd see if you were okay. I mean...if you want to be alone, I can go," He turned to leave, but Prya shook her head.
"No, it's okay, really!" She smiled as she stood up and walked up to him. "I guess I just needed a breather, that's all. What with almost dying and all..." A tinge of sadness came in Prya's eyes. When Kondolar saw that, he smiled softly and took Prya's hand, and together they sat back down on the pond banks.
"I, err...I'm glad you're okay now. I'm glad that Iyanish was able to heal you." Kondolar said softly. "I wouldn't know what to do if I...I mean...if we lost you like that."
"Thanks," Prya smiled softly as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She looked shyly at him from the corner of her eyes, wondering if he could hear her heart beat from the way it was pounding in her chest.
He nodded, then shyly reached inside his robes and pulled out a yellow rose-like flower. "I...I found this while we were walking. I thought it might look..well..more pretty on you." With a blush, he reached over and gently placed the flower in Prya's dark, silky hair.
When he leaned back, he smiled softly and lowered his eyes, "It's...it's beautiful." he whispered, mostly to himself than anyone.
Pyra's eyes widened and she blushed to herself. Beautiful? Could he mean...me? No one had ever really called her beautiful as far as she could remember. Her father did call her "acceptable" one time when she asked him if he thought she was pretty, but that was it. Now, she truly didn't know how to respond to the compliment. "Oh Kondolar, I...I..." Her throat suddenly seemed to have a lump in it as her heart pounded fiercely, and she couldn't say anymore.
"Come on, we should get back. The others might be looking for us now." The brown-skinned man stood up and looked back where the others were, his long braid swinging behind him. He reached out a hand to help her up and when they stood together, Prya in front of him, they looked at each other for a moment. Then almost without thinking, Kondolar reached down and gave a quick peck on Prya's cheek. Then realizing what he just did, he attempted to rush off before he did or said anything stupid, his face blushing. But instead, his clumsiness took over again; he tripped over a thick tree branch. On his way down, he reached out with both hands to grab something, anything, to stop him from falling. Instead of a tree that he hoped to grab, it was Prya that was in his arms as he tumbled to the forest ground. Together they both fell with a surprised gasp. When it was over, Kondolar was straddled on top of Prya, his hands on her shoulders and his legs on either side of her.
For what seemed like eternity, they both looked deep into each other's eyes, mesmerized by the moment and the intimate closeness. It was Prya that was the first to break the long silence as she blushed deeply and blinked her eyes. "Kond...Kondolar," she whispered, finding it so hard to speak then.
With a embarrassed cry, the young man got up quickly and dusted himself off, then helped her up. "I..I'm sorry, I didn't...I mean, it was an accident, I..." Before he could say anything else to cause him more embarrassment, he bowed in apology and then rushed off, his face fiery red now.
For a moment, Prya just stood there, surprise all over her face. Then she slowly started to smile, her heart skipping a little beat. With a slight bounce in her step, she headed back towards where the others were waiting. When she approached them, Ling let out a sigh of relief.
"Well it's about time! Come on, we still have a long way to go." At those words, Ling rushed over and grabbed Prya's hand, then hurried off with her. The others could only smile a little at her impatience and shook their heads as they hurried to keep up.
"Hey, where did you get that flower?" Ling asked as she looked curiously at her hair.
"Oh! Umm...I...errr..found it, by the pond." Prya blushed as she reached up and touched it.
"Riiiiiight." said Angeni unbelievingly as she winked. The girls all giggled, knowing that it was Kondolar that gave it to her, as he had went to go look for her after he found it.
Not even a moment later, Tao suddenly rushed up in front of them and motioned for them to stop. "Wait...something's changed." His warrior's senses in high gear, the young man looked around him. Indeed, the feeling and atmosphere of the area did change. The wind was still once more, and a sense of foreboding hung heavily in the air.
Angeni also felt her heart race with the sense of danger flowing through her. "Guys, we should hurry. We have to get out of here and back to the city." she whispered. She was going to say more, but suddenly Tao grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back.
"Look out!" he yelled. A second later, a large and deadly-looking arrow flew by and pierced itself into the tree Angeni was standing in front of. The group looked at the arrow in astonishment, then turned to see a figure walking towards them, her hips swaying suggestively with each step and her eyes glowing with evil.
In her hands was a large black-colored bow with gold designs, and an arrow already poised to fire in it, the tip gleaming in the light of the dying sun. She lowered her bow and smiled mockingly at them.
"Sabanti!" Ling said with disdain. "How in the hell did you find us?" Her hands balled into tight fists.
"Tut, tut young lady. Didn't we already discuss your potty mouth?" said the green-skinned demoness with a smirk. "For your answer, let's just say a little birdie told me, shall we?" She laughed in her high-pitched voice, drawing more disgust from the others.
"Oh yeah? Well, we're going to make you sorry you found us!" Jeneta said as she stood before the girls. "You won't get away with what you did to Hun Li!"
"Oh I'll do much worse to you than what I did to that wench," said Sabanti with scorn.
Tao growled in rage and was about to rush her when she turned her bow towards him and let loose her arrow. The arrow was just about to embed itself in his chest when Djoser quickly jumped forward and tackled him to the ground, missing him by half an inch.
"That's it! You're going down, TODAY!" shouted Ling. She turned to look at Jeneta, and at the dark-skinned girl's nod, all four girls raised their hands high into the air, mentally calling forth their swords.
The weapons magically appeared in a flash of bright white light at the same time and fell expertly into their respective owner's hands. Then together, the girls took on a fighting stance.
"Your evil ends here Sabanti," said Heather. Her eyes narrowed as she pointed her sword at the woman. "We won't lose another one of our friends to you!"
"Oh really?" She snapped her fingers, and to the surprise and horror of the girls, about seven or eight grey, mean looking demons, complete with long black horns and razor-sharp nails, appeared. They were bare-chested and wore loin clothes around their waist, and had cloven hooves for feet.
"We shall see about that." Sabanti said, her hand on her rounded hip. "This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun." She threw back her head and laughed once more.
"Oh bugger!" said Heather as her eyes grew wide. "This doesn't look like it's going to be easy." She backed up along with the others, and waited with held breath to see what would happen next.
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To Be Continued....
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