Blake lay unconscious on the ground, steam and smoke rolling off him. His hands were still on fire, making the grass go black around him.
"Blake," I gasp, out of breath, and sliding on my knees over to him. I kneel beside him and touch his back, only to reel my hand away. He was scorching. Jeremy comes up beside me in the form of a tiger, but quickly becomes human once he stopped by his brother.
There were corpses everywhere, and it smelled really gross. But I barely paid any attention to that.
"Can we cool him off?" I ask, "Hell, he's burning me."
"Where's Evelyn?" Jeremy suggests, "She knows how to pull water from air, doesn't she?"
"I-I don't know, I didn't see her—"
A blast of flames from above, and I tug Jeremy away from Blake. Some kid leaps down from the bare trees— how did I not see him? He snarls at me like a rabid creature, crouching on the forest floor in front of Blake, guarding him like a dog.
"Touch 'im, ya die." He hisses. I recognized that voice- from the woods. He set fire to the trees and nearly killed Jaydelyn. He had red hair, a very bright, fire truck kind of red, with darker red streaks on either side of his head. His eyes were silver, like Evelyn's, and he had strange purple markings around his eyes. On his neck were scales, matching that shade of purple, and behind him flicked a long red scaled tail with, again, purple feathers.
"Wh-what the hell—" Jeremy stutters, and I gasp, "He's dragonsick!"
"R-Rhaed?" Jeremy slowly gets up, and I stand beside him. As we rise, so does the redhead, showing off his sharp teeth as he continues to snarl at us.
"Rhaed—" Jeremy murmurs, "Rhaed, you know me."
Wait- Rhaed? Didn't Jeremy mention him earlier today? This was him? The guy who set the trees on fire? The guy who was supposedly 'dead'.
"I dunno anybody," Rhaed growls, "so long the're wi'the COE progr'm."
"I-I'm not!" Jeremy raises his hands, as if in surrender, "Rhaed, they were going after Blake. I came here to save him—"
"Tha'doesn' seem very much like ya," Rhaed tips his head, slowly losing his scowl, "Savin' people was neve' y're specialty."
Jeremy looks hurt. That was right. Jeremy was the only one who came back. So he left them behind? Could he have saved them? Protected Rhaed? Jeremy starts to apologize, but Rhaed makes a sharp whistling noise, cutting him off.
Behind him, the ground shook, and I look over his shoulder in time to see a huge creature bounding up to him. It- it looked like—
"No," I mouthe, "no, nonononono!" I back up, nearly tripping over my own feet. It was those- those things! The Gonons! I turn to run, but suddenly I've got a hand on my throat and an arm around my chest. Rhaed snickers by my ear and murmurs, "I dunno who ya're, but you an' y're lil' buddies are comin' with us."
"U-us?"
"WHAT THE F—" I hear Jeremy start, but his voice is cut off once again, and I can't turn and see what's happening. I can only see on either side of me as several large creatures bound forward, heading in the direction of the battlefield. Some look like wolves, others like deer, and the rest actually looked like full on dragons, right out a book. They came in so many different colors and sizes- either large, or gigantic.
A couple of them circled us, and Rhaed orders them, "Go afte' th'masked ones. Bring th'othe's home."
They disperse, and join the other creatures as they bounded out of the forest. One of the wolves with several antlers and severed wings came towards me as Rhaed walks away, and I'm snatched up into its jaws. I'm afraid to move, thinking I'll onlh end up cutting myself on its fangs while it takes me deeper into the forest. I feel like I'm caught in a kid-friendly bear trap. As we pass Blake, a bird-looking thing ticks him into its talons, and carefully takes off into the sky. I can't see where Rhaed or Jeremy has gone, but I'm more worried for myself than anything. Jeremy said that as we get farther and farther away from COE, the chips in our necks would activate an start killing us, right? I didn't really want that to happen.
I waited, in the jaws of a wolf, with suspense, for the burning sensation in my neck to start. But it never came. The creatures around me walked on for nearly an hour, until finally, finally, we stopped at the edge of a cliff. But only for a moment.
I could see the tops of millions of trees, another forest, just over the ledge. The moon was climbing the sky, near midnight by now, and the stars were bright. For a second I thought that they were waiting for Rhaed to come back, but in the next, one by one, they were jumping off the cliff. I grimaced as the wolf that held me leapt off too, and bit my tongue, hard, to keep from screaming. It was a longer fall than I had predicted, and the landing hurt my gut.
The wolf turns, and to my dismay, I see a huge opening to tunnel inside the cliff. The dragons and beasts filed through the mouth of the cave, the darkness swallowing them whole as they went further down the tunnel. At some point, I couldn't see a thing. I could only hear the rumbling of several footsteps, and the growling and sharp barking of the conversing creatures.
But eventually, an orange light began to glow up ahead, and warmth washed over me, a huge contrast to the cold outside. The beasts begs to disperse, and I see that there are even more tunnels within the large cave. The wolf goes up to the light— a fire— and drops me beside it, growling at me before turning away and leaving me alone. I got to my feet, quickly, and debated running back, until Blake was dropped beside me, and Jeremy with him.
I gasp and get to his side again, turning him over onto his back to make sure he was okay. He had a cut on his lip and a gash in his shoulder, but he seemed to be fine. Just unconscious. That blast of fire musta taken a lot out of him. I think.
I relax, and fold my legs into a cross-cross position. Jeremy is gnawing at his knuckles as he looks around, watching the beasts disappear further into the caves. I'm afraid too, but I think he was overdoing it.
Today has been very intense. I get told I'm going to die in COE, and yet, here I am, being held captive outside of it. But it was all for Blake, so it was okay. For me, anyways.
"Think they're gonna kill us?" I ask Jeremy, deciding to talk. Sitting here in silence just felt so unnerving.
"No," he shakes his head, "I don't think so. If they wanted to, they would have already."
"Good point." I mumble. "What about Rhaed?"
"I dunno." He admits, "He isn't acting like himself at all. He's dragonsick, I get that, but for how long? When we were attacked, he was being ripped at like a dang stuffed animal. I... I don't know how he's even alive right now."
"How long ago was this?" I ask, genuinely curious. How long has Jeremy had his scars? How long did he believe Rhaed was dead?
"Two years ago. A week before I could decide to stay or leave."
"What?" I gawk, "And you still chose to stay?"
"I was hospitalized, and they kept me there. I didn't get a choice." I stare at him wide eyed upon this discovery. That sucked— he was forced to stay. "I've been sitting in the Center of Earth like a puppet attached to strings. I could never decide anything for myself— sure, I warned people, hell, my scars are proof that this place isn't what it seems. But children are oblivious to the warnings. Y'all think you're invincible with powers. But this whole thing is just a scam. It's never worth it in the end."
Im silent for a second, taking this all in. I shoulda went home.
"Jere," I wonder, "How did Blake know that we left COE?"
Jeremy sighs. "When Blake was asked to- ah, you know, he was automatically connected to the barrier in a mental kind of way. So every time something or someone passes through, it's like an alarm goes off in his head. But because he ain't like that, he's always the first person at the border so he can save whoever's out there, before anyone else gets to them."
Well, good. So Blake wasn't a killer. Oh gosh, did he see me absolutely destroy those students though? I saw him. Did he see me? I wonder what he thinks of me. Oh no.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner." Jeremy mumbles. "Rhaed was right."
"Right about what?"
"I'm... not good at saving people."
"Come on," I shake my head, "Don't be like that—"
"Shadeye!" Emrya's voice echoes through the cave, and Jeremy and I rise to our feet and watch my friends get carried through the cave. They all looked slightly panicked, and I find Sil being carried upside down, his feet trapped between a dragon's teeth. He swayed left and right, mumbling things to himself.
"You guys good?" Jeremy asks as they were let down, one by one, and the beasts go away. Evelyn was passed the frick out, and Jaydelyn stuck by her.
"Fine," Sapphire mumbles, "Where are we?"
"I dunno," I answer, heading over towards Silhouette as he was nearly dropped on his head. Just like when he was a baby. I hold out my hand to him so he can pull himself up from the ground, but when he went to take my hand, he instead grasps my wrist and pulls me down, a menacing look on his face.
"Ah—! Sil?!" I crash on top of him, and he rolls us over so he's pinning me down. If I hadn't sat up and head butted him, a metal rod would have pierced the back of my head. He struggles to pin me again, and Emrya and Sapphire quickly rush to help me. They pull him off, and I rise to my feet again.
"What's gotten into you?!" I ask, my heart beating heavily.
He screams and flails in my friends' grasp, like a child throwing a fit. He kicks at Sapphire and swings his arms at Emrya, screaming, "LET GO! LET GO!"
"What the heck?!"
Instead of rods, planes of different alloys shot up from the ground, like giant knives, but he only ended up hurting himself. Sapphire came close to losing another hand. They release him to escape the trap, and Silhouette, now with a gash in his side, leaps to his feet, out of breath and angry. But tears are starting to flood his gaze. He starts to ramble.
"...I broke... I broke it..." He starts to stop, looking at his wrists, "I-I'm not gonna last.... It's over... I'm..." He looks at me, and he's trembling. "Im gonna die."
I don't even know what to say to him. My friends look between us, and I take a cautious step forward to him. He doesn't lash out, so I see him safe enough to pull into a tight embrace. "You're not gonna die, yet." I mumble to him, quiet enough for only him to hear.
"'Yet'." He scoffs.
"You're not allowed to go intentionally." I tighten my hold on him a little, then make him promise, "Got it?"
"Sure." He then whispers, "though it's a little too late for that."
"What?" I ask, letting him go, and he takes a step away from me. He quickly wipes his cheek before anyone could see the tear that strayed from his eye, and he takes a shaky breath.
"You guys gotta get to the mountains." He tells us. "Shut down the barrier. That's the only way we can be free."
"...What?" Jeremy asks. "What are you talking about?"
"Th-The barrier, its main source is in the mountains—" he starts to breathe heavily again, and I know he's going to start going haywire again. What happened to my brother? Did Moses do this?
"Sil, calm down." I tell him. "Breathe."
"Y-You need to go to the mountains... You need t-to get to the mountains, shut the barrier off. You need to turn it off- I-I don't have much time," he clutched his head, "frick... turn off the barrier. This place is hell. Alright? It's hell. Th-They're going to kill me, and all of you, if you don't let—"
And suddenly he's off light a light. His eyes roll into the back of his head, and he falls to the floor, limp. I panic and rush to his side, managing to catch him under his shoulders before he could hit his face on the rocky ground. "Sil? Silhouette?" I call to him, turning him onto his back.
"Whats wrong with him?" Jeremy asks.
"Why is he acting like this?" I think that was Evelyn.
"Is he okay?"
"He's been acting really strange, lately."
"Whats happening to him?"
I'm freaking out, the voices are blurred together, I don't know what to do. My friends looked scared, horrified even, and Ray quickly takes my side. He pushes me aside, knowing I wouldn't be any help, and I pull at my hair and bite my tongue.
Ray places his hands on either side of my brother's head, and I watch as little glowing green strings attach from his fingertips to Silhouette's temples. Ray huffs, closing his eyes and looking as if he was having some kind of mental crisis.
"What are you doing?" Jaydelyn whispers.
"Speeding up his time," he answers, "So he'll wake up sooner— few more seconds." His jaw tightens, and I kneel back down beside him. So Sil would be alright. I felt a little better, but I still worried. He was acting really strange lately, and I had no idea what to do about it.
Sil wakes in a few seconds, as Ray promised, but once his eyes opened, I could immediately tell something was off. He sits up, looks around at us, a confused look on his face. Evelyn crouches down in front of him, placing the back of her hand on his forehead. She frowns. "Are you sick?"
Silhouette gave her a blank look, not bothering to answer. What was with him? What was wrong with Silhouette? I quickly remind him of the last things he said. Maybe that would help him? I repeat his words and go to touch his shoulder, but almost at once, my blood starts to stop moving in my neck, like I was getting a cramp. I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. I immediately claw at my throat, opening my mouth to try and suck in oxygen, but to no avail. Silhouette continues to glare at me, a look he's never given me before. Like I was his arch nemesis.
"There is no barrier in the mountains." He speaks, absolutely monotone.
And then he lashes at me. He rips a small piece of metal from out of the ground and lunges for my throat. Ray grabs at his waist, and Evelyn at his shirt. The rest of my friends are useless, literally just standing there in shock. Heck, some of them backed up even. But while this happens, he quickly turns on the two holding him back and ends up cutting Ray's face. Twice.
My friend screams in agony and writhes on the floor, covering his eye as blood pours down his face. Jeremy and Sapphire are at his side, while Jaydelyn covers her mouth and backs up. But this doesn't stop Sil. He tackles me to the ground, once again, and attempts to slice at my face- or throat. I couldn't tell what he was aiming for.
He was grabbed by his hair, and he yelps as he was forced to stand. He tried to turn and attack, but Blake's fist meets the side of his head before that could happen. My brother is knocked unconscious, and falls to the floor once again, somehow allowing me to finally breathe. I gulp in large amounts of air and gasp heavily, looking up at my teacher and nodding. I wanted to thank him further, as it was more respectful, but Ray was badly hurt, his face reddened with his own blood as he clutches his injured eye. I crawl over to his side, but, again, I feel useless.
"He's gone insane." Blake murmurs, and I feel my gut tighten. My brother was not insane.
"Aye?" A voice echoes through the cave, and I look up to peer through the darkness, "Wha's goin' on 'ere?"
Rhaed comes into the light, the orange making his hair seem brighter. He looked between us, then his eyes landed on Ray, Silhouette, and then his eyes linger on Blake. His brows raise, and he tips his head, "Oi, wha' happen d'ere?"
Blake however seems frozen. He stared at Rhaed, eyes wide, and he quickly starts to shake his head. "No, no." He murmurs to himself, turning away and closing his eyes as if he were trying to remind himself that this wasn't real.
"Who's this guy?" Blake asks. I look between him and Rhaed, then get to my feet.
"Blake, you probably won't believe me," Jeremy starts, "but that's Rh—"
"No he's not." Blake barks, "He is not Rhaed. Rhaed is dead."
"Ya can pu' it tha' way." Rhaed shrugs, walking up to us. He walks right through my group, and bends down by Ray, only to pick him up bridal style and start heading further into the cave. The blonde couldn't even protest.
"One of ya pick up th' psycho, woul'dya?"