While Valeriana found her eyes fluttering close on their own as the alpha beast took the first attack, everyone else were unable to blink.
With the beasts successfully held captive in the cages of their elements, the Twelve and one extra were straining to keep their walls from collapsing from the sheer force the beasts were putting into their breakout attempts. This was the reason why they partnered up according to their abilities, to help keep up guard uniformly and prevent the unwanted escaping of their preys. Their only job now was to keep them in until the fight between Cifaro and his brother was finished. That was a lot harder than it seemed, though.
'Amril, I beg thee as thy brother.' Cifaro started as they circled each other. 'Please, regain thy sanity.'
'Is darkness not sane?' He asked. 'Is light sane? Which of it?' His eyes were slits that bled red and his scleras were black--an epitome of everything dark he was. 'Thou callest thyself my brother, yet thou showest not a bit of the strength behooving of the alpha blood. Thou art weak! In every sense there is!'
With a proud roar, the dark panther-beast pounced sharply on Cifaro, his powerful jaws opening to display a row of narrow-edged teeth that he used to gnaw at the skin of his brother. Cifaro gave a pained howl in return before shaking off the other beast, swiping his paws that left marks on the velvety fur of Amril. Thrown off balance momentarily, the alpha backpedaled and gnarred at his brother before swooping down upon him once again in a mighty leap.
"How surprising." Corvan seemed to have noticed something that amused him to the point that he had his brows rising. "It seems only a Gilerad can hurt another Gilerad. It might be something with their teeth and nails."
Zion huffed at him, flashing an arrogant smirk. "You only knew now? I already knew it wayyy before you did."
Corvan was wise during that moment not to initiate another argument between himself and Zion. With the task of keeping the beasts locked in hard enough, a distraction in his concentration would prove to be unnecessary, not to mention troublesome.
Trying to estimate the difference in power, the beast called Amril was obviously in advantage. Aside from Cifaro's frame being feeble in comparison to the alpha's, he was obviously overpowered in all aspects. Seeing the difference in strength, one would think the fight was concluded. However, Valeriana knew better than to underestimate the underdog.
"Cifaro said he was having trouble detecting their alpha's presence." Valeriana said to Genevieve. "Do you think this was only on his part?"
Genevieve was silent, unable to conclude anything on her own at the moment. Incapable of anything else except doing her current assignment, she just gave her partner a shrug and turned to watch the fight commence. Her brain was feeling strangely muddled that drowsiness became her enemy. Did she use that much of her energy a while ago?
"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I'm feeling a little strange."
"It's okay. Just relax." Valeriana answered.
With a worried glance, she looked back to Cifaro just in time to see him being thrown backwards. His back hit a spot on the hardened ice that left cracks on it as he weakly regained the balance on his paws. The whiteness of his fur made his wounds visible, a contrast of colors that made the scene all the more dramatic and unbearable for the fifth-ranker and a few others to watch.
"I feel sorry for him." Keelan muttered. "But respect him all the same."
'This beast admits that I was never physically strong to begin with.' Cifaro said, limping on one leg. 'And being one of the alphas was a sore topic. However, a being is not awarded everything by the gods. Where I am weak, thou art strong. But where thou art weak, I am strong! And with this only capability, I, Cifaro, shall bring this entire pack back to its former glory!'
Amril was silent.
'Art thou forever lost to remember? Is it not pride and strength we all boast about? Is it not the invincibleness of our fur and the beauty in our eyes? The pleasure of the hunt and the wellness of each member we enjoy? Those days roaming the mountains freely under no restraints!' There was a moment of silence as Cifaro began to look bigger than his actual size. The vicinity was void of any sound and the silence was defeaning. Like the eye of the storm, the growing tension and the goosebumps trailing the skin of every listeners increased.
'It is not about the sanity thou findest in darkness or light, but what thine heart sings about. We are all about the wind, and where it takes us is where we go! That is what we symbolize! The freedom in all things! Prove to this beast that thou art capable of living up to the name of the Gilerads! The name of the precedented Holy Beasts, Guardians of the North, Messenger of the Gods!'
With a felicitous roar of finality to his words, the other beasts grew silent. The sound echoed--reverberated across the mountains. Despite the darkness that threw their senses in disarray, a part of their innate instincts was roused by the moving words and a venerated call that vibrated straight from his heart. If initially they were uninhibitedly termagant about their desires to be free, even occasionally swiping their paws through the holes on the walls the Twelve had placed them in, they stood upright and trained their eyes forward. The darkness had faded slightly from their auras. Valeriana could see the fact that the tumultuousness of activity had receded, as hard it was to notice at first. It felt as though that call awakened something in everyone.
"Something happened." Was what she picked up on.
To live up to the drama thriving in the current atmosphere, Cifaro took the initiative to pounce as the air current shifted inside the dome. As though following his movements, the winds swept forward in a shocking suddenness, nearly throwing everyone off balance. Wild and uncontrolled like the whole area was being raged by a storm, the fight resumed in a slightly faster pace.
In a duel of power with the force of the winds backing up Cifaro, Amril found himself trying to make his body not give into the invisible force bombarding him in all directions while trying to fight off his brother's assault at the same time. There was a scratch thrown to the right side of his body as he attempted bite into the flesh of Cifaro.
'To think thou hadst managed to break free of the spell, I wonder how.' Amril grinned, his claws digging into the dirt.
'I shall leave that to thy imagination. For now, I shall have to ask thee to bring my brother back.'
"Everyone! Whatever happens, do not let the beasts escap--"
The Twelve could only watch in vain as their preys broke free of the cages they put them in. One by one, the elemental walls they conjured crumbled or vanished.
The warning faded into nothingness as the wind current grew stronger, literally sweeping everyone off their feet and sending them skidding away. As if on instinct, Brindon and Keelan projected a pillar of stone from the ground to hold on to, allowing everyone else to grab on so they wouldn't be blown away. Zevlin, Corvan, and Zion were in a slightly tougher position as nothing solid could be made out of their element. Elfre and Courtney . . . well, they were unable to do anything of significance as well.
"I'm gonna kill you, Corvan!" Zion shrieked over the howling wind. The moment he opened his mouth, his cheeks began to look like a balloon--perhaps even a dog hanging his tongue out of the window. "Why dwid you lwet thwem gwo?"
Refusing to embarrass himself like the first, Corvan kept his mouth close.
Charles procured a wall on either side of him to prevent him from being taken away, but even that proved futile against the strength of the wind. His ice was cracked along with Tamara's before he could even react.
The rock pillars Keelan and Brindon made, on the other hand, cracked into two that allowed them to fly off while still holding on to it.
"This the worrrrrrssssstttt!" Keelan screamed.
"The worst." Brindon agreed, his ever apathetic demeanor present despite the situation.
"How unsightly." Complained Raziel.
Aneeka and Rowe had been lucky to have a rock nearby but even that wasn't enough to prevent the two from being taken away. Genevieve, Valeriana, the injured ones were ruthlessly--and literally--blown away as well, given no chance to brace themselves for it from the start.
Like rag dolls pulled along by a playful child, everyone was helpless against the raging currents.
The ice carving the lake was cracked, allowing the hissing water to forcibly flow through the weakened spots like a fully loaded water gun. Amril, who looked agitated by the sudden display of strength, put his last bits of power forward and leaped for Cifaro, biting onto his left leg and pulling him along with him. Yet, despite this, as the walls around them collapsed, flooding their entire spot with water, Cifaro caught sight of the crashing ice. Selflessly, he dove forward and jumped over his brother, covering his bigger frame with his. Both of them quickly disappeared as the water swallowed them whole, along with the ice that fell over them both.
The others were enveloped by water as it broke free of its restraints and sent strong splashes everywhere, following the flow of the air.
"Crap! Crap! By the name of the five great gods!"
"I want my mommy!" Keelan hiccupped as his hand flew to his mouth and blocked the incoming bile of his recent meal.
With the wind current dying, they all fell straight down into ice-cold liquid, wrapping them in bitter frigidness. A few were lucky to slip straight into the water part, but a few met with slight danger as they hit major chunks of ice instead.
Corvan was about to get pierced by an icicle of some sort and he knew well enough it would kill him if it drove through his back. Shooting out fire from his hands, he threw his hottest flames to it that melted it down as he fell, allowing him to roll safely under instead.
Of course, it wasn't only the Twelve. The panther-beasts started acting like drowned cats, trying to helplessly poke their heads out of the surface. Yet, despite everyone having their own struggle, there was one more awaiting conclusion.
As the lake settled and the activity receded, calmness taking over the whole thing. With false tranquility, people were seen rising to the surface.
"Hey!" Valeriana gasped, padding across the waters like a dog. "Is-is anyone hurt in anyway?!"
She heard somebody scream from somewhere. Turning to the direction, she saw Elfre gasping as she hurriedly tried to swim away.
"Oh my god." The seventh shrieked.
"Elfre!" Valeriana exclaimed. "What's wrong?"
Elfre was frozen. "Blood."
"Who's hurt?"
"I don't know!"
"What about you?"
"I-I'm not sure."
Moments later, a strange glow coming from underwater made them panic. The others heard the commotion and hurriedly went over. However, for Keelan, it was another story. He was having trouble staying afloat in water and was panicking like crazy.
Grabbing onto something random as he had trouble seeing, he spoke, "H-help--"
"Graargh!" Roared a panther-beast, making him yelp in response.
"Mommmmmyyyy!" He cried.
The glow seemed to spread until it reached the corners of the now calm lake, and, unlike before, the ice seemed not to 'crawl'. The lack of activity confused some who were waiting to have the surface blocked. But a few were relieved they weren't stuck under. Even so, what shocked them all was the emerging of the panther-beasts from the water. They rose after a while. This time, their furs were not black, but in a more delicate color akin to white. Some had cream, even patches of brown sometimes. They varied in marks, but all in all, nothing had a coat of pure white like Cifaro.
Valeriana clumsily made her way to the shore like the others and, like a drowned rat, climbed until she was out of the water. Finding herself sprawled out on the dirt, she dragged her gaze around and saw a panther of white with a patch of royal blue on the forehead making its way over. On his back he carried the smaller form of a limp Cifaro, seemingly unmoving. The beast she assumed as Amril slumped down himself, causing his brother to slide off of him and lay still on his side.
Valeriana hastily made her way over and worriedly bent over him.
"Cifaro?" She shook him lightly.
Amril was gazing at him silently, his eyes filled with a clump of emotions that resembled grievance.
'A fool he was.' The alpha brother spoke. 'He knew he could tap into the lake's burst of purity should a life of a Holy Beast be forsaken in it. A sacrifice shall always open the doors and cleanse both body and soul, removing all things negative and banishing everything evil in a person. For death and birth are just the same as it is different. Where birth symbolizes innocence and the blessing of life, death is the cleansing of a corrupted soul and the end of a life.'
"He . . ."
'However, only a fool calls another a fool.' Amril tiredly set his head down against the ground as Valeriana felt the tears rushing to her eyes.
With a sniff, she decided to give the beast one last hug. Unexpectedly, she was able to tap into the last flare of his dwindling aura and found the onslaught of his memories suddenly flashing before her eyes.