A Trillion Years: Rebirth [Book One of the IGU]

Chapter Four: A Desperate Plea

The cave walls were slowly closing in on them as the pathway slowly grew narrower and narrower. The Umbra were relentless in their pursuit like parasites focused only on the food before them. Slowly, but surely, they were closing in on the two boys as a dead end seemed to be ahead.

Ren fired at the cave wall, hoping there'd be another pathway. With a bright flash and a burst of smoke, even the Rularian Prince couldn't see any further. He and Xander closed their eyes as they braced for impact.

Much to their surprise, there was a large open space on the other side. Ren tossed Xander to the side and stood at the gap in the wall. He faced his palms at the oncoming shadows, bent his fingers until his hands were like claws and twisted his writs slightly inward. With more concentration toward the enemy before him, he fired a larger, golden beam than before, but it flared along the edges as though it wasn't refined enough to remain stable.

Xander's legs gave out the moment he stood up. His legs were shaking from being dragged along the way. He grabbed onto a flat surface to pull himself up, but a sudden whirring sound resonated around them as the floor felt unusually different from the rest of the cavern.

Ren's breathing grew heavy. Unleashing everything he could in a single instance was quickly draining him of the energy he had for the day. Soon, the beam from his palms dissipated and the wave drew nearer. His hands were twitching from the overwhelming strain on his body, but as the shadows were about to reach him, the floor beneath him brightly lit up and the Umbra let out a blood-curdling scream as they retreated from the path they came. Ren dropped to his knees and tried to catch his breath.

The entire area was lit by the panels within the floor and in the ceiling. The metal walls were rusted to the point of no return and a strange crackling of electricity flowed through the air.

Xander looked around and noticed something strange was floating in front of him. Ten kite-shaped objects pointed downward and slowly spun in a circle as they were encased in an electrical orb. The miniature gears within each one could be heard, whirring and slowly ticking like the inner workings of a clock. There was a small orb at the thicker end of each one with lightning sparking outward from within the core. A glowing, inner outline was near the edges of each surface on them.

"Don't touch it!" Ren yelled as he was struggling to stand.

Curious, Xander reached out toward it but pulled back his arm as it let out a spark of lightning and shocked him. "Ow!" He yelped as he fell back.

Ren let out a sigh, but he noticed it was slowly approaching the cursed child. "Move!"
"Huh, what?" Xander looked up at the orb and realized. He crawled back, but he backed up into a pillar. He was frozen in fear as it moved faster and faster until it homed in on him. He felt his hair rise with the electricity as it flickered around him. The pain that previously lingered in his body was suddenly intensified as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

The prince was speechless.

The strange objects circled around Xander and slowed down as soon as the shock ceased with his silence. He fell and hit the ground with a loud thud.

Ren crawled over to check on him, but he noticed the cursed child wasn't breathing. Quickly, he placed his hand over Xander's chest. A sudden burst of gold aura came from his palm.

There wasn't a response.

Ren forced another burst of aura.

Again, no reaction.

Once more, Ren placed both of his hands over Xander's chest and shot another burst of aura into him.

Xander's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air. He saw Ren looking down at him. "What just happened?"