Estrellas: Book 2

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: A GRAVE DAY

(told in perspective of Matthew) 

I finally made it to the pass, regretting leaving my friends behind. I looked back, then slowly turned back to the stone staircase ahead of me. I need to get this done, for them. I quickly hopped up the steps, two at a time if I could, although it was difficult because the stairs were all uneven and different sizes. I quickly went up, step by step, my legs quickly getting tired, but I pushed on. How am I even supposed to end this war? Climbing a mountain doesn't solve anything. I grunted, continually hopping up the stairs. What if everything so far has been wrong? What if there is no way to stop the war? What if I can't save them? I finally reached a clearing at the top of the steps, I looked up at the multiple stairs ahead. I sighed and  stopped to catch my breath, I knew I had to get moving, but I needed a small break. I unpacked the water bottle in the hiking backpack Cassandra had given me, and I quickly took a few sips. I sealed the bottle up and put it back in my bag, I looked up from my bag and just barely noticed some words carved on two pieces of stone. I walked over to investigate, then I knelt down and gently brushed off the dust and dirt that had built up on the stones for a while now. A cloud of dust formed and I started coughing, I waved my hand to clear the dust from the air, I squinted at the tiny lettering. The stones read: Margaret and Mark Crustello. I started to tear up, no, it couldn't be! I came out all this way to try and bring our family together, they couldn't be gone. They just couldn't be gone. I sat on the ground now, staring dumbfounded by the graves that lay before me. What am I going to do?

(told in perspective of Pandal)

We were all barely holding on, the ground we held before had slowly begun to disappear, we were clearly outnumbered and losing. I quickly grabbed something out of my pocket and threw it, when it landed, an explosion knocked some people back, but when the dust cleared, more Sols and Lunas marched forward.

"Fallback!" Cassandra yelled over the firing. I rolled back and threw a smoke bomb as a diversion, then I made a run for the rock we had hid behind earlier. Everyone was huddled there, shaking, beaten and battered, scrapes covering their faces. The gunshots were getting louder, every shot we fired was rendered useless.

"What do we do?" Draco shouted, his face was filled with both concern and doubt. "We are completely outnumbered, we have no reinforcements, and we're all so tired I don't think we can put up much of a fight anymore." Draco said sadly. We all nodded in agreement and we looked at Cassandra.

"Look guys, I know we're tired, and losing hope fast but we need to stall these guys for as long as humanly possible..." Cassandra sighed, "...Matthew needs us, if they get to those stairs, it's game over, we came all this way for nothing. But if we stall them for long enough for Matthew to complete the mission, we can end this war, for good." Everyone gave her doubtful looks and she shook her head, "...And I know this is difficult, believe me, I know... but if I need to die to end this war, SO BE IT!" She yelled.

"SO BE IT!" we all echoed.

"Alright! Let's do this." Cassandra loaded her gun, we all did the same. Then we got ready to run out again, our morale boosted, and death, almost inevitable. We all ran out, guns firing and faces filled with determination, all the Luna's and Sols ran around in confusion, even Alberta was scared. We had them on the run, and we pushed them back, almost to our car actually, but sadly, their confusion didn't last for long and they regrouped again, this time we all made a run for the car. We only barely shut the car doors before they started firing at our car, trying to shatter the windows, but luckily, the car was from Media base, which meant it had bulletproof glass. We all looked around at each other, trying to figure out what we were going to do next.

"Is there still gass in the car?" Draco asked Danny, who happened to have jumped in the front seat.

"Yeah, but somebody decided to leave the door partially open this entire time so the car battery is drained, we can't go anywhere." Danny told us all, sadly.

"Which means we're stuck in here, aren't we." I sighed and kicked the door next to me. Everyone nodded and was silent, we didn't know what else to say, well what was there to say? That this was the end of the line, for all of us? That we were all about to fail our mission? Suddenly, the shooting stopped, and we heard and engine coming from a little ways down the road, the Sols and Lunas sounded like they had switched targets which gave us the perfect opportunity to get out of the car. "Come on guys!" I urged everyone out of the car and we ran back to the rock. After watching the mystery van distracting the Sols and Lunas for a good two minutes, we waved the van over to the rock and it came and parked right next to us. The door opened and out popped Andrometa. "Andrometa? I thought your supposed to be in the med bay?"

"They released me early, big mistake on their part, where's Matthew?" She seemed concerned. I pointed to the mountain pass then she sighed. "You know what, I had a feeling. Could you guys cover me long enough to get to those stairs?" She was now pointing  to the mountain pass.

"Anyone feeling a bit of deja vu?" Brutus joked.

"I certainly am..." I laughed, "...sure, we can distract them, now go save Matthew." I gestured towards the mountain and she gave me a determined nod. Then she ran off, leaving us with the entire army of Sols and Lunas to face. We all charged out, once again, and this time, we had a van. Danny was driving it around and everyone was screaming for their lives. Suddenly, I heard a scream of pain behind me, and someone drop to the ground. I turned around and found Brutus, blood pouring out of a newly made wound in his chest, he looked like he was in agonizing pain. "Danny! Park the van infront of us!" I yelled frantically, running to Brutus, I kneeled at his body, the van swerved and Danny drove infront of us and parked she jumped out quickly, her face was filled with concern.

"What happened?" She slowly walked over to Brutus and realized he had been shot. "O-oh." She knelt down with me, the rest of the team had now joined us, looks of shock and disbelief on their faces.

"Don't worry, we can get you to a hospital, you'll be fine you'll be fine." I told Brutus.

"No, kid." He coughed. Tears were pouring down my eyes. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight, hoping it would keep him alive. "You've gotta keep going, you've gotta keep fighting. It's the only way to win this war." His voice was growing fainter, his coughing more frequent.

"No no no no no, you'll be fine, we can fix this, you'll be ok, you'll be ok." I told him, knowing it was a lie.

"You know that isn't true." He gave a faint laugh and he almost drifted off.

"Brutus stay with us." Cassandra was kneeling by Brutus, holding his other hand.

"*Cough* Cassandra." He turned his head. "You know I'll always love you." He smiled putting his hand up to her face.

"I do." She was smiling, her eyes were filled with tears.

"And Pandal..." He turned back to me, "..save me some gummy bears will you?" He laughed which made him break into a coughing fit. Everyone was crying now, we all knew what was about to happen. "Before I go..." Brutus started, "I just wanted.....to say..." He was starting to lose consciousness, "...you guys are the best thing that's ever happened to me." His voice faded away and his entire body went limp. Cassandra checked his pulse and shook her head.

"Goodbye..." Cassandra whispered and kissed him, "...I'll always love you."
TO BE CONTINUED