I nearly can't believe I had to fecth this from the 4th page o.o"
Wow, quite a long time since I last updated! Man, I thought I’d never finish this chapter, not because of the length, but because of my serious case of writer’s block.
This time, I’ll be trying a new way to write the chapters out. It’ll probably make them longer, but possibly have more sense since I won’t be jumping from a character’s location to another between scenes, and if I do, it’ll be rarely. Also, it’ll make writing much easier.
Other than that, enjoy!
Chapter 23 – David and Littlefoot found themselves trapped in the Licove Hills, a mountain range surrounding Licove Forest and their old village, Neast.
Kyro told Cera of how she would be able to find threehorns in Trago, and both head up that way.
Patricia, Ducky and Spike meet Olan, the spiketail sage from Trilmo, and meet the two other sages. However, Trilmo is not as safe as it may seem…
Ruby’s life is threatened by Karont, who menaces to sacrifice her for a very dark motive…
Also, a very clumsy “flyer” meets a very distinctive flyer. Will both ally?
Chapter 23 – Dawn of Twilight
Eat it, Spike! Littlefoot said it was good, he did, he did!
*groans*
Today is not your best day, is it, Spike?
Patricia approached herself to the lit fireplace, trying to get herself warm. Ducky had fallen asleep again, and so had Spike.
The three had been guided by Olan into Myasu’s house. Myasu, apparently, was a human sage in Trilmo, also taking care of a pinkish, very young threehorn. She usually wore a dark blue cloak, covering her silver eyes.
Now, Patricia was sitting on a couch, holding the young threehorn on her lap as she slept quietly.
- She’s quite energetic during the day… - Myasu commented, sitting by Patricia.
The young princess smiled and sat back.
- What’s her name? – She asked.
- She’s Tricia. She was supposed to be in the Trago Province with her parents, but it seems things have gone wild and I found her here… - Myasu answered, picking Tricia up from Patricia’s lap and placing her on her own.
The princess, now relieved, looked through the window near her. Dawn had broken already, but the sun was still not visible over the Colio Mountains.
- Olan told me you were heading up the mountain… - Myasu started.
- Yes, we intended to reach the flyers, but according to Olan, it isn’t safe anymore…
- Indeed… Pterano rules over the flyers now… He might be trying to break through the birdmen’s barriers right now… - Myasu stopped shortly, turning around to the door. – I think its Bron. – She explained to Patricia, putting Tricia on her lap once again.
Patricia nodded and Myasu opened the door, going out and looking around, confused.
- That’s strange... I thought I heard something out here…
The woman proceeded onwards, into the fields. Nothing seemed to be there.
Patricia relaxed and sighed, trying to conceal any signs of anxiety.
Ducky sighed as she now curled up by Spike, while the latest stared with a constant grin at Patricia.
Silence was abundant inside that house, exception made to a clicking sound from the fireplace and the roof.
Patricia sighed and relaxed her head back, closing her eyes for a few instants, carried away by the thought of Luminia Castle’s situation. With Karont there, things were bond to go wrong…
Then suddenly, a loud shout was heard outside, a cry for help, Myasu’s voice, making Spike rashly get up and throw Ducky to the fireplace’s metal bars, overheated by the flames of the said fire. Patricia instantly got up, holding Tricia with her hands.
Quickly, she placed the threehorn on the couch and run out with her Power Device in hand.
- What was that? – Ducky asked, climbing on to Spike’s back. – I was sleeping so well, I was, I was!
Patricia stood outside and looked around holding the Power Device firmly pointed forward, into the foggy, morning fields. No sight of anything odd, but no sign of Myasu either.
Under a heavy silence, Patricia scrolled the landscape with her eyes.
Ducky beaconed to Spike to walk forward, and so did the spiketail do.
- What is it, Patricia? – The swimmer inquired, tilting her head as Spike stopped by her.
Patricia seemed to suddenly change her attitude, as she turned around quickly with a panicked look and threw Spike – and, consequently, Ducky – into the house again by pointing the Power Device at them.
Before Ducky could do anything, though – not even get up – she saw Patricia being picked up by the arms by something with rather large paws, seemingly flying up and away.
The swimmer quickly mounted Spike and the spiketail ran outside.
- Patricia… - Ducky whispered, watching as the girl was carried away, unconscious, by an almost silver flyer, into the fog that seemed to surround the fields to the north. Spike sadly groaned.
However, the moment didn’t last for long.
A large shadow started to emerge over the two, blocking the already faint light emanating from the mist.
[N]- Now, now, who do we have here…?[/N] – A weighty voice snickered from behind them, as the shadow kept growing.
Ducky and Spike shivered, and she turned her head around in a very slow motion.
She gave out a loud and high pitched scream when she saw a tall, cloaked man behind them, forcing the spiketail to run away in fear over the wet fields, towards the mountain tops visible over the fog.
Ducky looked back as Spike ran away, trying to find the human.
It quickly vanished between the mists, disappearing from sight.
Ducky sighed in relief and turned forward, as they ventured into the unknown mountain.
Tricia blindly stepped outside, looking around and following the two others into the mist with a playful face.
An ash dropped from between the iron bars that blocked an opening on the stone wall, seemingly a window.
They fell over a female threehorn that was passing by, a young threehorn with an orange colored tone, yet lighter.
The threehorn grumbled something and blew it away, turning to a wall near her.
- Ruben… - She called from the other side of the wall.
Not seeing any answers, the threehorn outside it pushed the cover on the wall with her teeth and let go of it, forcing the tile to roll up on a breach over a bed.
The boy inside it shrugged and shook his head, slowly opening his eyes.
- Who is that…? – He slowly asked, getting up and looking out of the bed. – Is that you Cera? – He inquired, blinking various times.
- Cera?! Why are you talking about m…- - The threehorn trailed off, coughing right next. – I’m one of the members of the New Order. Call me Shira. – She explained.
- Huh? You’re not… - Ruben rubbed his eyes and looked with a little more attention. In fact there was a different threehorn in front of him. – Oh. Sorry for the confusion. – He apologized, getting off the rock bed.
Ruben looked into her green eyes for a few moments. They were passive for a few moments before turning into a stern look.
- It’s fine, but get moving. We’ve got to get out of here before it’s too late. – Shira quickly added in a cynical tone, exiting the room.
Ruben got slightly hit by her reaction, but followed Shira out, into the altar.
“Not Cera, but much alike…” He thought, frowning.
However, his expression immediately changed when he saw what had happened:
Most of the cathedral had been burned away, leaving only the altar standing, along with its tainted glass figures.
Various hands were raised from under the numerous burning logs. Curiously, the hands weren’t moving, and hadn’t been burned away, unlike the smashed corpses in the ground over pools of blood, burning blood reflecting the flames that still rose high up in the sky, covering the ideally blue sky.
The Master was standing near a young longneck and a human priest, firmly looking at the burned arch that made up the entrance.
Shira joined the longneck and started talking with him, while The Master turned his look to Ruben. Feeling watched, the young boy walked over to the priest.
- What happened here…? – He trailed off, watching the hands with disgust.
The Master sighed.
- Our home… it was burned away… - He answered.
- The knights who left you here must have done this… - The other human added, revealing a rope he had hidden behind his back. He held both hands while holding each end of the rope and walked towards Ruben.
The latest retreated a few steps after seeing the rope.
- Wha-… what are you doing…? – He stammered, walking backwards until he hit a wall.
However, just when he thought the priest would tie him up, the priest simply handed him the rope.
- We are sorry… but you must go to Lake Bafro by yourself… - He apologized, letting the rope go when Ruben grasped it. Shira seemed to gasp at this, and immediately ran to the priest’s side.
- What do you mean, he’ll go alone?! He’s a puny child that doesn’t even have a weapon! – The threehorn piped up in an annoyed tone. – If he goes, I go with him!
- What?! – Both the priest and Ruben claimed, astonished.
- She is right. – The Master interrupted, approaching the group. – He cannot go on his own. And Shira seems the appropriate company for him.
The Master then turned away and went up the altar, grabbing a decorative statue on it.
However, as he rotated it, a small cavity was revealed above.
The Master stretched out his hand into the cavity and pulled something out, approaching Ruben once more.
The latest realized that the object was a white bladed sword inside a green scabbard, which The Master handed to the boy.
- Take care… - He wished. – You will see us again.
The boy curled the rope on his shoulder and slowly grasped the scabbard. Ruben slowly raised his watch to meet The Master’s cloak.
- I wish you luck, my boy. – The priest added, turning to the longneck. – Lap! It’s time to go!
The longneck nodded and both she, the priest by Ruben and The Master walked away into a breach in the wall on the other side of the monastery, disappearing from both the boy and Shira’s sight.
- So, where are we go-… - Ruben trailed off, turning his head down and noticing that the threehorn was missing. – Shira? Where did you go? – He called.
- I’d appreciate if you went a little faster, you know? – The threehorn called from the monastery’s destroyed entrance arch.
Ruben snarled something in a low voice and ran to the arch with an annoyed expression.
“Too bossy for me…” He thought as the two followed through the ash clouds from the burned houses of Pastri. He kept grumbling about while they kept walking, and Shira seemed to grumble something as well.
Chomper… How are you…?
I’m okay. I just fell from that rock, it’s no big deal.
Alright… come inside, then…
Ruby jump awoke as a loud thud echoed through the dungeons, and suddenly, her cell’s wood door was opened, and three of Karont’s dark beasts slid they’re way in through the floor in a misty status.
One of them stopped by her feet and then rose up to reveal a pair of red, glowing eyes just between the fog, gazing into her own.
-[N] It is time… Come… [/N]- The beast announced.
The two other beasts took slightly more solid, human outline shapes, solid enough to hold a couple of keys on their hands.
These two slipped the key into the fast-runners chains and freed her from the cold iron.
However, Ruby didn’t fall. Instead, she kept floating, commanded by the Dark Beast’s arms, mainly composed by fog. The latest kept whispering, “Erguictuo” in a cold voice.
The beast started to move back toward the door, keeping Ruby under his control.
-[N] Your time has come… you shall serve the king… [/N] - The creature announced, exiting the cell.
Ruby gulped and closed her eyes, expecting the worst.
Humph, stop pushing, Littlefoot!
Why don’t you stop, Cera?!
Don’t make me angry!
Why? What would you do?!
- We’re nearby, Cera! Keep walking! – Kyro shouted in the complete darkness.
Indeed, the two had proceeded further into the cave… and further into the pitch-black dungeon.
Now, Cera was walking as a blind in the dark, constantly bumping against the walls and stalactites.
- It would be easier if you could tell me where I’m going, Kyro. – She answered in a harsh tone.
- Well, I can’t see in the dark, sorry. – Kyro replied, ducking on Cera’s back.
Cera continued walking on, bumping a few other times.
Until, she got completely full of getting her head against things and sneered.
- Kyro, hold on tight. – She simply demanded, preparing to charge.
- Wait, what do you me-… - The rockback trailed off as Cera ran at full speed against the first wall that had the unfortunate luck to stand in front of her.
However, unlike what the threehorn expected – bumping against the wall – Cera actually destroyed the wall and found herself and Kyro in a freefall towards a small river with seemingly calm waters.
As the two fell on with high speed – and adrenaline shouts – a rather large wave was sent sailing towards the shore.
Curiously enough, the two landed smack in the middle of the river, leaving a trail of bubbles floating up to the surface as Cera sank in the water.
Cera, watch out! We’re about to fall!
No we aren’t! We’re going to go through this like normal.
Wait!
Aaaah!...
CERA!
- Littlefoot, I think I made it. – David announced, cleaning the sweat off his forehead using his naked arm. He had taken the upper half of the tunic for a better mobility.
- What is it, then? – The longneck asked, approaching the swordsman.
David and Littlefoot had gone into the cave that opened on their ledge, with David excavating with his sword and Littlefoot dragging a few larger rocks out of the way by rolling them.
Not long ago, David had already reached something with his sword, something with a hard material nature that deflected the sword’s blade upon another prick.
Littlefoot carefully stood back as David gave the final blow on the sand wall, which crumbled apart into a cloud of sand.
- Stairways. I knew it. – The swordsman commented upon the cloud’s disappearance.
A stairway appeared, carved in the stone wall and descending further into the large fissure.
- We should get going. – Littlefoot decided, taking the first steps into the stairs, followed by David.
The swordsman put the upper part of tunic on again, sheathing the sword and following Littlefoot deeper into the cave.
The air turned fresh, and a breeze could be felt from within the cave. An exit was nearby.
Littlefoot looked around, gazing at the runes scripted in the stone walls. They seemed to make no sense at all due to the complexity of the words, which neither him or David could understand.
However, this distraction had a price: the longneck seemed to have made a false step and the ground fell, allowing a roaring sound to be audible from the crack.
Littlefoot froze on the spot, staring at David with a fearful look. David’s expression seemed no less encouraging.
- Just… don’t… move… - He slowly said, moving only his hand.
He looked over the longneck to check on how far they were from the enlightened part of the cave.
…
- We aren’t far from safety. A little more effort and we’ll make it. – David told the longneck, pointing at the established spot. Littlefoot nodded at this while slowly turning to it. – On my word, you jump towards it. – He added, making Littlefoot turn his head quickly at the swordsman with a surprised look.
- But what about you?! – He exclaimed.
- I’ll be fine, don’t worry! – David assured in a firm voice.
Littlefoot gulped and turned again.
- Ok… I trust you. – He confirmed.
David smiled and sighed.
- On three, you jump and run as fast as you can… One… Two… - Littlefoot was now pulling back, ready to charge at full speed. The single number would come, and he would jump. Fearless, powerful, winner. – Three!
The longneck didn’t hesitate, now: he propelled himself forward with the fantastic feeling of flight, falling only a few steps from the enlightened cave. The fall, though, made the floor under his paws crumble, forcing him to fall back.
Interestingly, though, he was suddenly pulled forward, into the cave. As he walked, however, he could feel heavier.
Sighing in relief, he took only a few more steps into it before falling over his own legs.
- Eh, that was… - He huffed, raising his neck and looking back. – …great, wasn’t it, Dav-…
The longneck trailed off and went from a rather playful expression to a concerned one. The swordsman was nowhere to be seen.
The stairway had completely disappeared, and there was no way David could have bypassed that fall.
- Da-David…? – He staggered, looking around.
That couldn’t have been. He was left alone? He was saved by him, promised to be safe, and he’s gone?
- Please… - The longneck whispered, getting up. However, he felt his tail being held by something. He simply couldn’t move it, and therefore couldn’t move himself. As he turned to it, a brimming expression returned: - David!
The swordsman was grabbing the longneck’s tail, and probably had been the one that had pushed him up again. However, he didn’t move.
But that was nothing to be surprised: his face was under a pond of water, originated by the drops from the rocks above.
Littlefoot rolled the swordsman using his head and grinned as David coughed and spat out the water he had managed to absorb during the short period his head had been submersed.
- Are you ok? – He inquired, coughing.
- Yeah. – Littlefoot replied, recomposing himself.
David nodded a few times and coughed.
- Good. – He said, getting up. – Let’s keep moving.
Littlefoot nodded and followed David as he took a step.
Unfortunately, this was their last step, as the ground simply crumbled and threw both into a fast water river. The two faded away into shouts of adrenaline and panic, as they were carried away deeper into the mountain.
Gulp... I'm lost...
Ah! What's that?!
A flying... gulp...
- Hmm... hmm... - A greenish flyer-like feathered creature shivered as he flew over the forest.
He closely avoided a rock peak, diving towards the woods again.
He quickly recovered height and started shivering again.
- Oh my... oh my... - It kept whispering, looking around with an anxious, yet scared look.
However, as he turned his head forward again, he entered a cloud and let out a scream, protecting himself with his wings for the incoming.
But, as he covered himself, a flock of flyers passed by him and got out of the cloud, leaving him with some propulsion.
The feathered one uncovered a wing and looked around, sighing in relief.
- They're gone. - He said, laughing. Suddenly, though, he also stopped floating, looking around with a confused expression. He then looked down and to his wings. As he realized the problem, he gulped.
This, though, was the last thing he said – or the last sound he emitted – before starting a free fall into the cloud maze under him, leaving behind a scream of adrenaline and fear while disappearing further into the whiteness.
…
Then suddenly, the fall stopped.
The feathered flyer looked around with a puzzled look.
- Where... why... but... - He staggered, feeling the type of terrain under him was too soft to be rock, and too solid to be a cloud.
- Well, now, are you going somewhere, little fellow? - A voice suddenly asked, an aged voice that left out a small laugh after the question.
- What?! - The feathered flyer exclaimed, ever confused.
- Oh Oh Oh! Sorry for scaring you, my friend! - The voice continued. As the feathered flyer looked back, he saw another head, from under that “floor”. He also saw two wings on both of his sides, leaving him a little more confused. - I'm the Hermit of Flyer's Rock! Who are you, my little friend?
The feathered flyer gulped and staggered something.
- I-I'm Guido... Guido. - He repeated.
Well, that's all for this chapter!
