Chapter 52
*Solstice*
"Solstice wait!" Bealfire shouted to me as I ran outside of Skull Rock. I didn't wait. I needed to get to the others. Bealfire caught up with me and grabbed ahold of my arm. "Will you wait a second!" He twirled me around so I could face him. "I can't wait! Archer and the others are in trouble!"
"But we can't just raid over there without a plan!" Bae stated firmly.
"We don't have time!" I hissed. "Pan is going to kill them!"
"No he's not." Baelfire said through the pouring rain. "He's using them as bait. Don't you see, if you go over there without a plan then Pan will win."
I shook my head as the thunder crashed and the lighting flashed. "I don't care! Shine is a Blue Star too, and he knows that. He could take her heart instead of mine!"
Bae sighed. "This is a trap."
I nodded, "I know but we don't have much of a choice." I paused, "we need to leave, now."
But suddenly, to our horror, a puff of green smoke swirled around us; engulfing us. I couldn't see anything in front of me, until it faded and I saw that we were back in the forest.
"Wha—" Bae was cut short by who stood before us.
Archer was there, with the torch he used to signal us with; and Felix, holding a knife to his throat. "Well, well, if it isn't the star and Baelfire." Felix sneered. "Pan told us you were leaving Neverland."
"I'm sorry guys." Archer whimpered over the rain. "He got the jump on me and signaled you."
"Where's Shine and Wendy!?" I demanded of Felix.
"You don't have to worry about them." Said an accented voice. "They're all right here."
I turned my head to see Peter Pan with Shine and Wendy. Dustin was there also, who had a deadly looking crossbow held in his hands and a sword in its sheave.
"I guess you got my letter." Pan said with an amused tone. "I thought you would."
I gulped. I needed to think of something, and fast. We need to fight.
"You know, I really thought you were smart enough not to fall for my trap. I guess I was wrong." Pan began to pace, "ah but don't worry, I'll still make use of you."
"Pan, it's me you want. Let them go." I snarled at him.
"And take the fun out of the game?"
He scoffed, "no. It's much too fun for that."
"This isn't a game!" I shouted, starting to lose my temper. My skin began to tingle; I glanced down and I saw it start to tint blue. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing right now.
Pan smirked, "take your best shot."
I was just about to hit with magic when Shine burst out. Blue light glided across the air and hit Pan in the back. He flew through the air and hit the ground with a thud. In the confusion, Archer caught Felix off guard and twisted away from his grasp. Baelfire then ran toward Dustin with his sword in hand. Dustin quickly took out his sword and they started to brawl.
Wendy screamed as their blades clashed. She didn't know what to do so she picked up a few sharp rocks and started throwing them at Dustin and Felix.
I glanced at Shine, her arms were still extended and her skin was bright blue. Her eyes were shining as bright as Sun in the afternoon. Although she couldn't speak, her emotions said enough; she was ticked off.
I gazed at Pan who was now on his feet, chuckling to himself; "Nice move, but I have a few better ones." With baffling speed, he zipped over behind Shine and took ahold of her neck and snapped it.
To my horror, she fell to the ground. Her blue skin faded and was now white, her eyes showed no light. Her limp body didn't move. She didn't breath—He killed her.
Words couldn't describe what I felt at that moment. I stared at Shine's dead body, I couldn't make the connection. But just as a wave crashes through you, so did the anger. It hit me so hard that I thought I was going to fall over. In that moment I didn't care what I did, so long as I stopped Pan.
My skin burned, glowing a vibrant blue. My eyes stung to the point of crying out; my pulse raced and my heart broke. Magic coursed through my veins, more than I had ever felt before.
"The darkness is attractive now, isn't it star." Cale's voice echoes in my head. Normally I would've told him to shut up and go away, but I didn't. Right now I needed him. I needed the rage, the hate, the darkness. "I told you that you would need me."
"Now here's a challenge." Pan motioned to me. "Now, finally now, I can take your heart."
I advanced, finding that my breath was fast and heavy; Pan zipped back into the darkest part of the forest before I caught him. I didn't care, I kept stalking him. He was going to pay.
But what I didn't realize then was that Pan was leading me away from the others, to get me alone so he could finish me.
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*Bealfire*
My sword clashed with Dustin's, iron against iron. Sparks flew through the air as our weapons collided again.
The thunder boomed through the night, the rain made the ground slippery and unstable. The flashes of the lighting showed the demons which hid at night. And far off, if you listened closely, the eerie cries of the children could be heard.
The blades connected again, the thunder echoing our rhythm of clashes. I heard Wendy scream, I glanced at her to see what was wrong, but Dustin took that to his advantage; he swiped my arm with his sword. I grunted with pain but didn't give up. I returned my attention back to fighting and swung at Dustin. He reflected it and swung back.
As we were fighting, I didn't notice what happened to Shine or Solstice. I couldn't afford to look away from the fight.
I heard Archer and Felix fighting, sword against sword. Somehow I managed to get the upper hand on my opponent. From it being so wet, Dustin lost his footing and fell. I made my move and collided the hilt of my sword against his head. He grunted but then soon past out.
I looked over to see Wendy crouching by a fallen log looking like she could fall apart.
I made my way over to Archer, and just in time too, for Felix was just about to slice him with his sword. I quickly stopped his sword with mine.
"Archer!" I yelled, "get Wendy and go!"
I clashed swords with Felix, his smirk was grime and haunting in the lightning's flashes.
"I'm not leaving you!" Archer protested as he swung his sword at Felix. The scar-faced boy deflected Archer's swing easily.
I swung at Felix again, our weapons clashed and screamed with effort. Sparks danced away from us as we fought. My arm burned from my wound, my eyes hurt from raindrops falling into them, and my ears were about to burst from the noises of the storm.
"Sol is going to die and there's nothing you can do to stop it!" Felix snarled.
I faked right and swung left, catching Felix off guard. I nicked him in the chest; blood slowly trickled down his shirt as he backed away from me. I used this time to persuade Archer to get Wendy out of here.
"Archer!!" I demanded.
"Okay, okay!" He yelled back at me. He ran over, grabbed Wendy by the hand and took off into the night.
I glared back at Felix, hatred shown in his eyes. His face was demonic in the flashes of light. The wind hollowed and shrieked as Felix began to speak; "You've lost Baelfire."
"Lost?" I questioned, "who's the one with the wounded chest?"
Felix glared at me, "you should know by now, things always aren't as they seem. You may think you've won, but in doing so, you forgot about your precious star."
All the smugness drained from my face; I forgot all about Solstice. Without thinking I swirled around to find that no one was there. Shine, Solstice and Pan had disappeared. I turned back to face Felix, "where'd they go!?" I pointed to sword at him.
He shrugged, "how would I know?"
"Don't play dumb! Where've they gone!?"
"That's for you to find out. You may have forgotten I was a little occupied." Felix stated, snickering slightly.
I huffed out the frustration which boiled inside me. I was just about to speak when something hard hit my head. Instant pain shot through me and I collapsed to the ground.
The rain pounded on my back, the thunder echoed in my ears, and I heard Felix say something. Something that never scared me before now;
"Peter Pan never fails."
Then I drifted off into the darkness.