I stayed up till 1am writing this chapter. It's longer than the usual chapter because I had so much to write since I used two POVs this time. This is to make up for all those times I said I'd update when I hadn't. It's actually been a few months since I updated, I apologise. (Literally last updated last year in October) Anyway, hope you enjoy the new chapter and sorry it took so long.
—-
Dawn's POV
I felt a chill up my spine as I watched the soldiers in front of me rise back up to their feet. I felt their gleaming red eyes pierce my soul as they got up one by one just like undead beings. I felt my hands shake slightly as I stared at the soldiers in front of me. I glanced at Paul and Kenny who flanked my sides defensively with their broadswords stretched out in front of them. Both held serious expressions as they stared at the soldiers who were emerging from death like zombies from a horror story.
I gripped the handle of my whip tightly as I felt sweat drip down my face. I could feel fear bubble up deep inside me and my eyes flickered from one soldier to another, unsure of what to do from here. The shadow warriors were menacing figures, their bodies holding defensive stances, ready to fight. Before I knew what was happening, I noticed that Paul launched himself onto one of the shadow warriors, fiercely attacking it with his sword while Kenny had done the same to another soldier. So much for staying as a group.
I nodded to myself, thinking that if they had attacked, then it was my turn as well. I slashed at a soldier trying to sneak up behind me with my whip, knocking them back a few metres. I tied my whip around the soldier, tightly trying to bind him before sending him flying with all the strength I could muster. I directed the throw to where Amethyst was struggling with one of them, causing that soldier to go flying with the one I had launched.
"Thanks Dawn." Amethyst nodded to me before calling out to Max.
Dawn continued to use her whip against the soldiers, constantly throwing them in the air, seeing that was the best way she could attack them. But every time she thought they were knocked down, they stood back up relentlessly. It was never-ending.
"Max, go back to the castle and get Iris!" Amethyst yelled to May's brother who looked reluctant to do so as he was fending off a soldier with May. "Just go!"
Max didn't say anything as he nodded to her and bolted straight out of the fight, back to the castle where Iris would be. Because of that, I had been distracted and a soldier pounced on me, their sword pointing towards me menacingly. I collapsed on the ground, the soldier directly above me, sword held high. It came slashing down towards my face but I managed to roll out of the way in time. I got up and held out my whip defensively in front of me. I aimed for the soldiers feet and wrapped my whip around his leg bringing him down to the ground.
I wiped the sweat off my forehead and glanced over to where May, Drew and Brendan were viciously fending off the warriors as a trio. Amethyst stood in the centre of the battle, attacking relentlessly. Leaf, Gary, Ash and Misty had formed as a group together and were knocking down each of the soldiers in a very coordinated manner. Paul and Kenny were fighting on their own, ignoring each other as they focused on the soldiers in front of them.
I went to attack another soldier only to get tackled from behind. The soldier that I had been aiming for turned to face me at the same time and came over to where I lay on the ground under the weight of one of the soldiers. The soldier in front of my held its sword to my face, the tip of the blade inches away from my nose. The other soldier held me to the ground. I was pinned. That was not good at all. I saw the sword flash in front of my face. The soldiers were about to kill me. I squeezed my eyes shut in horror. This was not how I wanted this to end.
I waited for the sword to strike my flesh, but there was no pain. Nothing came. I opened my eyes to see a person whip past my vision, knocking down the soldier that had almost killed me. Another person came scurrying towards me, forcefully knocking off the soldier who had me pinned to the ground.
I stared in surprise at my two rescuers who seemed to be both Paul and Kenny. The two of them were fighting in sync, their moves matching each other's surprisingly. It sure was a sight to see the two of them working together. But that didn't last. Kenny ended up getting in the way of Paul who had knocked a soldier backwards and collided with Kenny. They began arguing. A terrible time to do so as well.
I sighed in frustration. Those boys couldn't pick a better time to begin their squabble? I attempted to make my way over to the two of them, only to be knocked back down by a soldier who struck me in the head with the hilt of his sword. The blow wasn't hard enough to deal a whole lot of damage to my head, but it was still painful and caused me to become dizzy. I grumbled in irritation before spinning around dizzily with my whip, the chain binding the soldier together. I attempted to knock the soldier down but I felt too dizzy to do it properly. Instead, I ended up unbinding the soldier from my whip and he kicked me hard in the stomach, launching me backwards.
I heard Kenny call my name as I tried to get back on my feet before being struck down again by another soldier who approached me from my other direction. I felt helpless. My head was pounding and my body ached with pain. I threw out my whip, hoping to strike one of the soldiers, but my weapon reached nothing. I struggled to look at Paul and Kenny who were fighting off the soldiers around them before dodging a sword that aimed directly for my arm.
"Kenny, will you stop getting in my way?" Paul called to the boy in frustration as he slashed at a soldier, attempting to make his way over to me.
"You're the one in my way you damn prunehead." Kenny retorted, also making his way over to me.
Even though I was in such a hopeless state and completely pinned in one spot, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at their quarrel. They need to stop arguing and get fighting. They're completely hopeless if they don't work together for once in their lives. Where's that coordination they had only a few minutes ago?
I wanted to yell at them, but the words got caught in my throat and I ended up coughing. My stomach was hurting from where I had been kicked but I still managed to get back on my feet. The dizziness I had felt before still remained but felt fainter now and I could properly see my surroundings without feeling sick. I growled at a nearby soldier who was trying to approach me from behind before kicking his legs so that he stumbled slightly. The only thing that prevented the soldier from toppling over from my kick was the heavy armour he wore.
I stared straight into the soldiers gleaming red eyes before wrapping my whip around his legs and pulling him down to the ground. I didn't have time to retract my whip before I was hit from behind by a soldier that had been knocked into me by Kenny. I grumbled profanities under my breath as I spun around to face Kenny who was yelling furiously at Paul and Paul stared at him coldly. They had completely stopped fighting and were now having a back and forth argument in the middle of the fray.
"Would you two finally just quit it?" I yelled at them, the words finally escaping my mouth.
Kenny stared at me in shock and Paul just wiped any expression off his face as he looked at me.
"We're in the middle of a dangerous fight and you two idiots are just yelling at each other! What good do you think would come from that? You're both on the same side so stop acting like you aren't and fight the real enemies!" I shouted at them, my anger getting the best of me but I didn't care.
Kenny finally fell silent and Paul looked at me in surprise. I hadn't had an outburst like that for some time but it sure felt good letting out some anger on them. They had what was coming for them, acting like idiots in a life or death situation. I puffed out a breath that I had been holding in before turning away from them, tired of their stupidity. I used my whip against more of the approaching soldiers, exhaustion and pain taking over my body. I wanted to collapse right here and now.
With the anger out of my system, I lost a lot of energy from my outburst and the pain in my stomach and head did not help me at all. Finally, I was drained. One of the shadow warriors knocked me down and this time, I didn't get back up. I closed my eyes, waiting for something to hit me but I felt a light tap on my shoulder instead.
"We got you." Kenny reassured me with a warm smile. "Just hang in there, Dawn."
I glanced up to see both Kenny and Paul flanking my sides as they stood up beside me. Paul looked down at me and nodded before the two of them drew their swords out in front of them. This somehow looked dramatic but I felt happy. They finally settled the argument. I couldn't help but smile as I watched Kenny and Paul attack in an unusual sync with each other, defending me with all their strength.
"Thank you." I whispered.
Leaf's POV (it's actually been ages since I've put it in her perspective)
When the soldiers began to rise, I knew it meant big trouble. This battle couldn't get any worse. We had begun fighting as a whole group but each of us had separated somehow through the battle. I watched Max scramble his way out of the battlefield under Amethyst's command but I noticed a couple of soldiers tail him from behind. I wanted to call out to him in warning, only to get tackled by a shadow warrior nearby, losing my chance to tell him. I yelped in surprise, not expecting to have been tackled. My eyes met a piercing, blood red gaze causing me to flinch in horror.
"I got you Leaf!" Misty called to me from nearby before striking the soldier with her sword, piercing it's armour, causing the soldier to roll off of me.
I stood up and dusted my clothing, before thanking Misty with a smile. I unsheathed my twin swords before striking a nearby soldier with my blades, knocking him backwards. Misty struck another soldier beside me, flanking my sides as we batted away at the shadow warriors with all our strength. For awhile, we were in sync, only to lose that sync when Misty was sent flying backwards into a nearby tree. Her back hit the wood, hard, causing her to groan in pain. I bolted over to where she was and immediately examined her for the injury but she shook her head before standing up with a reassuring smile and thumbs up.
"I'll be alright. Just keep it up." Misty assured me before struggling to fend off a nearby soldier.
I cocked an eyebrow at her seeing that she was clearly in pain but I knew if I pressed on about the matter, she'd definitely get annoyed with me. Although I didn't ask more, I kept a sharp eye on her just in case she ended up being in a tough situation even though I knew Misty could most definitely handle herself.
I found myself in a difficult situation myself. Three soldiers surrounded me from the front while one was sneaking up from behind. I held out my twin swords defensively in front of me, being cautious about what I should do. I glanced to the tree on my left and smirked. I really did love climbing trees.
Thinking fast, I scrambled towards the tree with the soldiers attempting to grab at me. I weaved around their outstretched arms and dodged their swords as I made my way to the tree. I clambered up the towering tree with all my strength and glanced down momentarily to see the soldiers surrounding the foot of the tree with their gleaming red eyes staring upwards at me.
I made my way to a branch and sat on it, adjusting my position so that I could steady my weight on the branch. It may not hold for long but it was enough for me to observe the situation below me. There was at least a few dozen shadow warriors in the area, each of them targeting the group. I glanced down at Misty who was beside Ash and they were battering a couple of soldiers side by side. I took a deep breath before standing on the branch, shaking slightly.
I balanced myself, outstretched arms to my left and right so that I could steady myself. I gripped my swords tightly so that they wouldn't fall before sheathing them. I grabbed my throwing knives which Misty gave to me because she had once said that I might need them to save my life. She was a very defensive person and always said that the more weapons you have, the better and safer you are.
I silently thanked Misty for her throwing knives before aiming a couple down at the soldiers staring up at me. I took a deep breath and shut one eye to focus on making my aim more precise. I flung one of the knives downwards, striking one of the soldiers in the face causing them to collapse to the ground momentarily. I smiled to myself, before flinging a second knife which struck its mark. I cheered to myself internally, happy that I had hit two of them. There were at least three of them left, and I had five knives remaining. I flung down another knife, only to strike the ground directly next to the foot of one of the shadow warriors.
I growled to myself before launching down another knife, this time piercing the soldier properly. I flung down two other knives, striking the last two soldiers surrounding the tree with ease. I sighed a breath of relief, glad that I'd only wasted one knife. That meant that I still had one knife remaining. I kept that last knife just in case. I looked down and realised something. I'd made my way up the tree, but of course I'd forgotten to think about a way to get down. I could just climb back down, but the branch was crackling. It was going to fall under my weight. This had happened before.
I yelped in horror as the branch began to bend downwards. It was definitely going to break. I listened as it began to crackle even louder. And then finally, the snap of wood breaking and the plunge of my body falling from the tree. I squeezed my eyes shut in fear. I didn't know what would happen now. I was going to die from falling from a tree. The feeling of plunging towards the ground felt terrible. I waited for the impact but nothing came. Nothing at all. No pain, only the warmth of someone's strong grip on my body. I opened my eyes to meet concerned dark brown eyes staring into mine.
"Gary." I spoke in surprise and he stared at me with worry. "Thank you for catching me."
"Why were you in the tree?" He questioned me and I sheepishly rubbed my head.
"I thought it would be the best way for me to get away from the soldiers who were surrounding me." I responded and he shook his head.
"Either way, that was dangerous." He said and I nodded in understanding, sensing how concerned he really was.
This scenario seemed awfully familiar. The same thing had definitely happened before. I chuckled to myself in Gary's arms, recalling that moment where he'd caught me inside the forest the first time we'd met. What an eventful day that had been. He looked at me with a cocked eyebrow, his eyes filled with confusion and I just shook my head, not wanting to say what I had been thinking. He placed me down on the ground, steadying me as I stumbled slightly to get back on my feet before I unsheathed my twin swords and he unsheathed his. How ironic that we'd have the same weapons as each other.
I smiled at him warmly before he smirked in return. We faced the soldiers in front of us, back to back. Ash and Misty grouped up beside us, copying our stance unintentionally. I glanced at Misty and she gave me a reassuring thumbs up. We smiled before launching ourselves back into the fray, even if it took all day long, we'd keep fighting.
The battle was taking a lot of energy out of us. I could tell. Misty was panting, hard, and she kept a hand on her back as she slashed at one of the soldiers with her broadwords. I realised after awhile that no matter how many times we struck down these shadow warriors, they'd keep coming back. Gary had assisted me multiple times during the fight and Ash was keeping close to Misty and I'm sure she noticed as well. I stared up at the sky momentarily in desperation.
I wonder if Max made it back to Iris. If so, were reinforcements going to arrive or will we be stuck in this battle until we are out of energy? If that happens, who knows what might become of us. But this was taking so long. Max, where are you?
---
And there you have it. Again, I'm so sorry that it took so long to update this book. Actually, as soon as I wrote that 'Once again, not an update' thing, I suddenly had a burst of ideas running through my brain and I wrote it all down. Also, a bit of an oldrivalshipping moment there for you. I don't know to be honest but I tried.
I hope this long chapter makes up for the amount of time I spent not updating at all. I hope you like it, and thanks so much for reading. Also, big achievement right now. This is the second update I've done today. Wow, that's a surprise lol.
Depending on how I feel, I might just begin writing the next chapter. I don't know, we'll see.
Anyway, byeeeeee!
- April
8th February, 2019
(Happy very late new year by the way. The last time I updated this book was last year already.)