Undying #Wattys2015

Chapter 32: All Twelve

As the vines gradually tightened around me after every struggle, I slowly lost feeling in my legs. My pants were erratic and my eyelids were closing from fatigue. Ender watched Halo carefully, with eyes filled with regret and confusion. Halo looked at Aure, waiting for orders. Aure, on the other hand, took her time coming over to where we all were. Her mouth was curled, and her eyes were filled with devilish delight. She called to me, "Aiden, do you know of the Legend? The Legend of Twelve?"

I shook my head, and she cackled, "No, of course you don't! You don't remember anything." She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and tilted her neck side to side. The joints of her spine cracked and popped. Smiling at me, she asked, "Would you like me to tell you the Legend?"

With my mouth closed, I looked at her with hatred. She laughed, "I'll take that as a yes." Hissing the 's' on yes, she turned away from me and touched the wall of the cavern behind her. She began, "According to Legend, once all the hearts of all the Guardians gather on the Summit of the Alpha Mountain of Theal, a vortex opens to The Other Side. Once all twelve hearts arrive, it can be done." Pausing, she turned to me and explained, "Twelve, my dear Aiden. Twelve is the magic number. There are twelve mountains around the Alpha mountain. There are twelve dragons, each of which live on a single mountain encircling us. Twelve hearts! Twelve elements." She breathed in the dank mountain air and smiled wickedly, "And now, thanks to your arrival, there are twelve Waywards."

My eyes widened in fear. Inside my heart, regret clung to its beating walls. No. What had I done? Now that I had come to the Summit, the vortex can be opened. What is on The Other Side?

Her beady eyes burned into mine, and she answered, "I know what you must be thinking... What's on The Other Side? Oh my dear, pathetic, stupid Aiden. On The Other Side, there is a valuable, vulnerable, and obtainable power. The power that keeps this pathetic world in balance. The power that lies within our stolen hearts. The power of the Myth. Whoever claims the power of the Myth has all the power. All of it. The Myth fulfills every command to the being who tames her."

"You see," she continued, "Bane will use that power for evil. He will destroy everything. Unless we stop him!"

Halo added, "So, either you're with us, or you're against us. What will it be?"

Struggling to find my words, I choked, "What makes you think, for a second, that you deserve that power? You might be even worse than Bane!"

Aure smiled, and turned her face away slightly. After deliberating for a moment, she asked, looking at me carefully, "Where's Claira?"

Before I could answer, a familiar voice echoed off the walls of the cavern, "I'm right here!" Standing at the entrance stood Claira, a determined and rage-filled Aetherial Warrior. Her eyes manifested hatred in her blind glare. Tightly wrung between her hands was the handle of her Pierced Blade with all the blades loose and spiraling – ready for revenge! Her jacket was loose to her sides and her black stone necklace was swinging against her chest. Without another warning, she flew! Her eyes, red with hatred, glowed, and like the wind, she zoomed toward Aure, holding her blade out for the kill. Her blade thirsty for blood.

With an effortless flick of her hand, Aure distorted the space around Claira. The force flung Claira to the side of the cavern wall, and she crashed. Immediately, she fainted, and upon impact, her necklace's string snapped and the pendant disappeared on the cavern ground. Gravity pulled Claira to the ground, and the sound of her falling bones echoed throughout the cave. "CLAIRA!" My blood curdling scream escaped my lips, and Ender's vine covered my mouth hastily – to shush me.

Her sword's blade pieces were scattered around her, dangerously close to her corpse-like body, and Aure sighed, "She's still alive. It's a shame she didn't die by her own blade." Turning toward Halo, she demanded, "Retrieve her. And her odd sword." As he went toward her, she joked, "I guess it won't be just 12 Waywards going to The Other Side."

Suddenly, a black haired woman emerged behind the shadows of a nearby boulder. She looked tired and dizzy, but she walked over to Aure. Thrilled filled Aure's eyes, and she asked excitedly, "Is it time, Eon?"

"Yes. As soon as the vortex opens, all the Waywards on the Summit, and all they carry," and she glanced at Claira, who was being carried by Halo over to where we were, "will be transported to The Other Side."

Aure nodded and stretched her arms. All the air in the room went flat, and at her finger tips, dark energy concentrated. The woman named Eon did the same and walked over to where Aure went. Yet, in her hands, light energy formed. Aure called to the heavens, "With the powers of time and space, I hereby demand the gates to open!"

With their hands together, an irregular shaped void of white, blue, and black opened. Its opening was empty, and The Other Side was undetected from our end. At its rim, flames surrounded it, burning into space-time. The cavern began to shift and twist and all of us felt the pressure of the vortex on us. Sucking us like a vacuum, our souls became visible, slowly being pulled into the grasp of the vortex. My gaze was locked onto it – I could not look away. Aure yelled, "It's already begun! I can feel our brethren on The Other Side!"

She turned to me and cackled, "Not even light can escape the grasp of a black hole!"

Above us, every few moments, a burst of energy went over our heads and into the vortex. "Another one!" she narrated.

Without warning, Halo and Claira were sucked into the vortex. They traveled as ghostly light traveling to The Other Side. Because I could not speak, my eyes widened in despair. Claira! Once they disappeared, the ground between me loosened and shook. It was then Aure's maniacal smile disappeared. I could see fear in her eyes. She gasped, "Kana!"

At those words, Ender loosened his grip around me, focusing his attention elsewhere. I used my time to escape my natural prison, pulling the vines off of my body. Ender disappeared soon after, with his eyes focused on something behind me. When I looked back, I saw a young girl with short brown hair. Her hands were pointed toward the ground, and with one push, the ground right beneath me crumbled. She disappeared down under with me. Looking up at the vortex, I saw Aure scream, "NO!"

Both Eon and Aure disappeared, as soon as she yelled, collapsing the vortex. Plummeting down inside the mountain, tears collected in my eyes and floated out from them. My eyes closed. We were no longer on the Summit; therefore we escaped the vortex just in time. Yet, Claira was with them. The weight of the world crushed my chest, and darkness consumed me. I was falling too fast. Deep into the mountain.