Okay. So this one took longer than I expected. I'm still not entirely sure that I'm happy with the middle part, so I might tweak it a bit in the future, but for now, I am done with this chapter. In case you can't tell, I had a nasty bout of writer's block with this one, so it might not be up to my usual standard, for which I apologize.
Anyway. Here's hoping you enjoy it anyway =)
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Chapter 27 - Aduro
The roar came from a corner of the room that was still shrouded in darkness; its piercing cry made my flesh crawl. I looked back through the wall of fire to see Jay restraining Adelle. For once I didn't mind his arms around her, knowing that she was safer on the other side of this inferno than stuck here in the middle of it. With my mind, I searched for Jay's presence.
"Keep her safe," I told him, meeting his eyes. He nodded gravely at me, then replied "Be careful." Smirking, I nodded. It was a mark of how much we had grown on each other that he said this, and though I knew we would both be caught dead before saying it aloud.
As I turned around, however, the smirk faded from my lips. The far corner of the room was shrouded in darkness, but I could just make out the bulky shape of some creature. It lifted its massive head and stared right at me with jewel bright eyes that shone out of the shadows around it. It stood up and stumbled towards me, then jerked abruptly to a stop.
Curious, I looked closer and realized that it was chained to the wall. Huge manacles covered its wrists and ankles, preventing it from moving any closer to me. I breathed a sigh of relief. All that worry, and for nothing - this was going to be easy.
The creature roared again, louder than before, and to my astonishment actually began to pull against its chains. After a few minutes, there was a huge crash and the chains fell to the ground. It turned back to me, took two steps forward, and then burst into flames. Crap.
Unsheathing my sword, I stepped warily towards it, analyzing it's every movement. It was big, so it couldn't possibly be fast - at least, not as fast as I was. While it had pulled it's chains free of the wall, they were still enclosed around its ankles, and were dragging behind it on the ground as it walked towards me. That was a tripping hazard for it, and a possible advantage to me. Of course, I couldn't get overly close to it without fear of being burned... definitely a disadvantage.
Its entire body was covered in a plated sort of armor. It had huge, razor-sharp claws on its hands, and spikes running down its back. It was relatively protected by the armor covering, and I sincerely doubted that my sword would penetrate that. It had to have a weak point though, a spot that I could use to help me take it down...
It took an aimed swing at me, and I dodged, narrowly avoiding the claws on its hands. That was a close one - it was faster than I had predicted. I parried around behind it, trying to grab one of the chains, but it followed my movement and took another shot. This one connected, and I felt myself falling back. I landed hard on the ground, and it loomed over me, ready to kill. At the last second I thrust my sword up, managing to stab the thing in one of its eyes.
It shrieked in pain and backed off, stumbling around with its hands on its face... this behavior struck me as remarkably human-like, but I shrugged the thought off, seizing my chance and grabbing one of the chains connected to its' ankle. I planted my feet and pulled hard. Incredibly, I managed to knock the monster off of its feet. It crashed to the ground, and I rushed forward, thrusting my sword into its chest, with enough force to pierce its tough armor. With a crack the plating broke, revealing a soft underbelly, and a weird, shiny circle on its chest. The flames that covered the creature died down, finally extinguishing. Breathing heavily, I lowered my sword, certain that the thing was dead.
"Daniel! Don't turn your back on it! It's not over!" Adelle cried out from behind the wall of fire, and I turned to look at her, surprised.
"What do you mean, it's not over?"
"When the fire dies, you'll think it's over, but it's just begun! That's what he told me!" What who told her? I thought, but didn't have time to ask, because she screamed and I felt something huge slam into my back, throwing me forward.
How the hell wasn't that thing dead?! Okay, now I was pissed off.
I shifted forwards, inch by inch, until I reached the sword that I had dropped when I was thrown forwards. Gripping the hilt tightly in my right hand, I moved into a crouch, searching for the hulking shape of the monster.
My eyes passed over the others behind the wall of fire; Adelle's hands were pressed over her face, as though she couldn't bear to watch. Lisimi and Jay were both watching me, Jay's eyes followed my every movement, and he moved his lips as though he were talking to himself under his breath. His arms were still around Addie, protective and strong. A pang of jealousy shot through my gut, but I shook it off and pushed myself up.
A ball of fire shot towards me out of the darkest corner of the room, and I quickly threw up a wall of wind to protect myself. It was enough, but only just - I could feel the singe of heat as the fireball missed me by inches. This thing was without a doubt stronger than I had anticipated, but I was still faster; I still had the advantage.
Now that its location had been given away, the beast was clearly on defensive mode - it was hurling flames at me every second or so, which I dodged with precarious accuracy. I couldn't get close enough to do any damage, though.
"Fly, idiot!" The voice was Jay's, sarcastic with an undertone of worry to it. And of course! I was an idiot - big and powerful though it may be, the monster was clearly limited to the ground. In the air, I had a definite advantage, and I was a whole lot faster, too.
Unfurling my wings, I shot into the air, moving quickly to the sides of the room, where I could hide in the shadows. The monster hadn't seen me fly up, and was stumbling blindly on the ground, searching for me. I smirked and dive-bombed it, clearly taking it by surprise as I switched directions at the last second and landed hard on its back.
With a crash, it toppled to the ground, writhing underneath me and almost crushing me as I was flung off - but I managed to gain altitude again, just in time to see it's soft and unprotected underbelly exposed.
Perfect - I had a clear shot at its weak spot. Tucking my wings in, I dove forward again, letting gravity pull me hard and fast towards the earth. Just in time, I changed my position and thrust my blade into its stomach, delivering a fatal blow and landing in a perfect crouch at the same time.
I jumped off of it as it writhed on the ground, becoming still after a moment. Breathing heavily, I kept my sword out and at the ready, just in case. It turned out to be unnecessary, though.
This time, the monster was well and truly dead.
~♥~
Noticing the silence in the room, I peeked out from between my fingers, then slowly lifted my head. The walls of burning fire had dissipated, leaving only the lanterns on the pillars to light the cavern. Daniel stood, chest heaving, before the vanquished monster. I regarded him solemnly for a moment.
His shirt was practically shredded, his hair tousled and windswept. But he stood tall, proud of his accomplishment. There was courage, strength and determination in his face, mingling with a look of fierce triumph. I looked at him, and I wondered when it was that my childhood friend had turned into a warrior. He glanced at me and I smiled faintly, beginning to walk over to his side.
Suddenly the monster shifted and Daniel whirled around to face it, planting himself in front of me and lifting his still-unsheathed sword. We waited for a tense moment, but nothing happened. Then the creature exploded into thousands of little shards of light, which hung in the stillness of the air for a moment, before being pulled to each other like matter into a black hole, and condensing into the little ball of light that had guided me here.
With a whoosh, all of the remaining lanterns went out, leaving the room completely black except for the little ball of light. Then the floors of the cavern began to shake slightly, as two smaller, more ornate pillars began to rise purposefully from the ground in the center of the room. The light drifted backwards and then spread itself between the two, creating an iridescent sheet of light that pulsated and swirled, as though there was a breeze flowing from the other side of it; but the cavern itself was completely still.
We all glanced around at each other, then looked back at the obvious gateway that had just been formed in front of us. None of us moved to enter, but then...
Daniel sheathed his sword. He turned his head, looking at us, and nodded toward the gateway, before starting forwards and quickly disappearing into the shimmering veil. Jay shrugged and followed, Lisimi on his heels. Not wanting to be left alone in the dark cavern, I quickly pursued them, stepping through the gate and into the nothing beyond.
~♥~
At first, I couldn't see anything as I stepped out of the gateway. As my eyes adjusted, I realized that we stood in a darkened, circular room. The walls sloped upwards into a natural dome, where a single beam of light fell through, illuminating the center of the room. The ball of light floated in the very center of the room, not moving... it appeared to be waiting.
Then, all of a sudden, it shifted; growing and stretching into a completely different form. Four limbs materialized, and a head quickly followed. Features began to distinguish themselves, until finally, the iridescent figure of a little boy stood before us. No colour adorned his skin, yet he was strikingly beautiful. His eyes traveled over each of us, but he stopped his piercing gaze on Daniel.
"Ego Aduro custos benefeceris, puer egregiae indolis." The voice was soft and melodic, but I had no idea what language he spoke. "Expugnare tenebras conversum in me ignis pecus, tu salvasti me: et probatum et fortem te munimento montes ipsum regnum ... custodiam Mundus autem lumen usque discrimina est ... ad vos et alius voluerit salvari," I glanced at the others to see if any of them were getting a word he was saying. Jay and Lisimi seemed as utterly confused as I was... but Daniel was nodding, with a slightly awestruck look on his face. "Veni tolle ferrum accipio sollemne officium ..."
"Daniel.. did you understand that?" I asked. He glanced at me, surprised, "You didn't?" he asked.
"No." Lisimi and Jay said at the same time. Daniel frowned.
"He said - 'I am the guardian Aduro... you have done well, young warrior.' Then something like, 'In defeating the darkness that transformed me into the fiery beast, you have saved me, and proven yourself as brave and as strong as the very mountains that guard this kingdom...' Then there was something about 'the world of Light' being in grave peril, and it being up to me and the other chosen ones to save it." He paused, and glanced back at the glowing figure. It nodded slowly at him, as though encouraging him to continue.
"Come, take up the sword and accept your sacred duty..."
With those last words, we all turned our attention to the center of the room, and for the first time, I realized what was in here. A smaller circle ringed the middle of the room and, at first glance, I thought the surface was made of glass. But on further reflection, I realized that it was actually water, perfectly still and shimmering in the light. Floating magically in the center of the water was a circle of stone, on which a pedestal stood, engraved with an inscription in the ancient language...
"Sword Strong as Mountains Tall."
A transparent staircase rose out of the water, although somehow there were no ripples on the glass-like surface. Daniel hesitated a moment, then began to mount the steps, determination and awe marked on his face.
"One down, three to go..." Jay murmured.
"Maybe not..." Daniel said, confusion in his voice.
"What do you mean by that, Daniel?" Lisimi asked.
"We might have a problem," came the reply. "It's gone."
"What's gone?" I asked, straining to see the top of the platform. Daniel was standing at the center, just in front of the pedestal. From where he was stood, I imagined that he could see the entire pool of water, and his reflection perfectly below him. He looked over at us, and all of my worries came back.
"The sword is missing."
~♥~
Oooooooooooo, cliffhanger. Any guesses as to what happened to the sword? And just so you all know, that is not the last time we'll be seeing the guardian Aduro, who has a role much later on into the story (along with some others, who we've yet to meet, and some who we have...) Lol. aren't I being fun and cryptic?
Anyway. Let me know what you think of the chapter by leaving a comment and voting. Please. And please join the facebook group? It's much more fun with people, and I'll be more inclined to post teasers and whatnots up there :P
Thanks for reading!!! =)