Rise of the Overlord

Chapter Thirty-Five

I've really got to stop updating at 12:30AM

Kai felt himself sink lower into the inky abyss, his cheeks puffed out in a desperate attempt to hold in his last breaths of air. Bubbles tickled his skin as his hands reached towards the shimmering reflection of the moon on the waves high above him. Everything was muffled, his clothes weighed him down, slowing his movements. Kai sluggishly kicked his legs, but he only sunk lower into the darkness. His chest started to burn, desperate for the fresh air that only grew further from his reach.

Please. Please, I need air!

More bubbles wobbled past him, brushing through his hair and past his fingertips. They disappeared within the moonlight, but more would take their place with each frantic kick. Kai felt his body start to relax as his mind seemed to blackout, drifting deeper into the cold abyss below. The last bubbles escaped his parted lips, carrying Kai's last plea as the ocean around him seemed to grow blacker than ink. As his vision started to fade, he felt something large brush past his back. Just before he shot awake, he heard a deep laugh echo around him with two words clear as day strike through his heart.

"We're coming."

***

Jay was trapped on a flat plane, the floor beneath him was as black and smooth as obsidian, revealing his confused reflection perfectly. Where am I? What's going on?

Jay?

Jay glanced up and saw Nya a distance away, facing him. She looked as beautiful as the first day he saw her, though sadness gleamed in her eyes. Nya! he cried out, stumbling over himself to reach her. His footsteps echoed across the plane, fading into the darkness surrounding him.

Jay?

Nya started to walk towards him, reaching her hand out, yet they never grew closer. She had no footsteps, yet she continued to walk towards him.

Nya! Nya, I'm coming! Jay cried, but she never grew closer. I have to get to her; I have to save her!

Behind Nya, the darkness seemed to churn and shift, growling and growing closer to the Samurai. Black tendrils grew out of the churning void, curling closer to her. Nya didn't notice.

Nya! Behind you! Jay screamed, but she couldn't hear him. The tendrils wrapped themselves around her neck, waist, arms, and ankles. With one strong yank, she was thrown into the thunderstorm of darkness behind her without a sound.

Jay threw all of his energy into sprinting as fast as he could, yet he never grew closer to the void. No, give her back! he shouted. Nya, come back!

The abyss thundered and rumbled, dark tendrils shot out at him, startling him awake, as two words echoed across the plane.

"We're coming."

***

Lloyd was falling through the gray sky, arms and legs flailing wildly and without restraint. Screams were ripped from his lips as his hair thrashed about, his eyes flickered across the gray clouds that surrounded him. Far below him, he could see the ground growing closer and closer to him.

I'm going to die!

His heart thundered against his chest, his blood turned cold. Lloyd wanted to close his eyes, to embrace his impending fate, yet he couldn't control his body. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, yet his voice was trapped in his throat. He wanted to cry out for his teammates, for his mother and father, for Kai, but only silence and the roaring of the wind could be heard in his ears.