As Told by child_dragon: Part Eleven - Legends Alive by child_dragon |  |
WeatherWolf lay in the clearing, waiting. He'd raged for over an hour at Deealoe,
and at all the rest of the group. They were furious, especially at the news
of what happened to LanceHunter. Those Neopians would pay. But for now, he had
to meet with this Lord.
"Ahh, the mighty warrior returns," a figure hissed. "You have failed me, Lupe."
"I can still get rid of them. There are a lot more of us than them," he replied
calmly.
"True, but now the have the crystal. The girl must be eliminated, and soon!"
he growled, stepping out into the light.
WeatherWolf sniffed. "She will be destroyed."
The cloaked figure snarled in anger. "You fail to understand! Now that they
have the crystal, time is against us," he said, advancing on the complacent
Lupe. "I don't think you realise the stakes."
WeatherWolf stood up, watching intently as the cloaked figure lifted back
his hood.
"Look at me," the figure hissed, "and know what the price of failure is."
WeatherWolf stared into the figures eyes as the hood fell back, and screamed.
Deep within a black grove of trees, the whispers stopped for a moment. A soft
laugh echoed, then died. The whispers started again, stronger. And a firefly
died.
***
Infernus was out of the hospital, but was still very limited in his activities.
Melody and Aldrai were fine now, though Aldrai wouldn't leave the house alone.
He was having nightmares again. As was I. The shadows were always there, and
a Shoyru with a bow. Now I saw the crystal, it haunted me even in my dreams.
I heard whispering too, the shadows. The crystal sang, fighting against the
infernal whispering. I would wake, and the song of the crystal would remain
in my head. I wasn't getting much sleep, to say the least.
It was Padiglione who came up with the brilliant idea. Plans were hastily
made, and phone calls sent out. We were going to the beach, me, Melody, Sabreur,
and Sakuko. All of our pets were coming along. On the appointed day, we all
met at my house with towels, sunscreen, and other necessities. It was absolute
pandemonium for a while, until we managed to calm our pets down.
"Okay, Melody, your pets are riding with you, so that means you have one extra
space," I said, thinking. "Sakuko, you're riding with me, right?"
She nodded. "Then I can fit three pets, and Sabreur can take everyone else,
right? That'd be three pets to Melody, three to me, and three to Sabreur. One
person will have to sit in the middle, but it'll be in my car, so that's okay."
I had the biggest car of the three of us, Melody and Sabreur having sports
cars, Sakuko couldn't drive yet, and I had the four wheel drive truck made for
off road. Aldrai and Netsuko quickly gravitated towards me, along with Terraile.
Melody's pets stood by her, and Un-eairkagh and MoonFall headed over to stand
with Sabreur and Infernus.
"Okay, let's go."
We threw our stuff in the trunk of our cars, and the pets piled in. I quickly
pulled Sabreur aside before he unlocked his car.
"Don't let Un-eairkagh ride in the front," I whispered.
"Why not?"
"Cause he tries to shift when you're not looking. He put it into third gear
once at an intersection and I wound up killing the engine. He's dangerous around
a standard transmission."
Sabreur nodded, looking a little surprised. He was sure to put Infernus in
the front seat. I hopped in my car and made sure everyone was buckled up.
"Let's pray this starts," I muttered.
It took two tries for the engine to turn over, no surprise there. I carefully
backed out and started down the road following Melody and Sabreur.
It was a perfect day for the beach, not too sunny, not too hot, and the water
was perfect. I was walking along the shore with Melody, shell hunting, while
Sakuko and our pets played in the surf.
"You know," Melody said, "I was thinking. About the whole Rycio deal."
I didn't reply.
"And do you think that Rycio, those pets, and the crystal are all linked?"
"I doubt it," I said wearily. "There's this little voice in the back of my
head saying that we won't see Rycio again, I can't explain it."
Melody looked at me intently. I gazed out along the beach, and my eye caught
sight of a black piece of driftwood sticking out of the sand. A ray of sun caught
the tip, and it sparkled. Wait… driftwood doesn't sparkle! I walked a little
faster, Melody hurrying to keep up. I reached the object. It was a bow, entirely
black, and it seemed to have an aura of power. A hawk was carved near the grip.
My breath caught in my throat. It was the bow from my dreams, NightHawk's Bow.
I gingerly touched it with one finger, and leaped back with a yelp. The thing
had shocked me with magic. "Get the others," I said grimly to Melody.
We all gathered around the bow. MoonFall hastily related the story of Nighthawk's
Tears, to a worried audience.
"And the bow is found," Padiglione said wonderingly, "washed up on the beach.
She did throw it in the ocean after all."
"Which means the fireflies have failed," Sakuko finished.
"Oh c'mon you guys!" I said desperately. "It's just a legend, right?" No one
agreed with me. Terraile stepped forward as in a daze, staring at the bow.
"It sings," she said, mesmerised.
I shook my head in denial. This wasn't happening. Terraile was just a shadowed
Shoyru, nothing more. But events were quickly spinning out of my control. Terraile
stepped forward and grasped the bow, easily pulling it out of the sand. A quiver
was with it, filled with black arrows. There was a flash of light, and I covered
my eyes. When I opened them, Terraile was standing there as if stone.
"Terraile?" I said timidly.
She shook herself and breathed deeply, coming out of her trance. "It all makes
sense," she said softly. "The fireflies are failing, they cannot hold the evil
back any longer. I'm Nighthawk's heir…. Destined to help the one bearing the
Essence of Neopia throw back this darkness."
I backed up, not wanting to believe this, desperately praying this was a bad
dream. The song of the crystal was in my ears, filling my mind. I could hear
the bow, could hear its song join with the crystal. And I could hear the whispering
of the Shadows. "No…" I moaned, and ran, trying to get away from the song. My
friends called after me, but I ran, changing into my Eyrie form in panic. I
eventually stumbled and fell to the sand, crying.
"Why Terraile!?" I sobbed, beating the sand with my wings. "Haven't we done
enough?! Haven't I had to watch my pets risk their lives enough? WHY!?!" I screamed,
my hatred of the direction fate was taking us spilling out in this one turbulent
outburst.
"That is one question I cannot answer," a voice said from above me.
I looked up and saw a Light Faerie, hovering serenely above my head.
"We cannot face this evil. The Shadows are things not of this land, they are
a void of evil. Each creature is aligned with an element, or more. As are we.
But the Shadows have no element, they are nothingness. And they feed off of
the life and soul of all living creatures. We cannot come near them, to do so
is a waste of our lives. The only thing that can stand against these monsters
are the fireflies, and Neopians armed with Nighthawk's Bow and the Elemental
Spear."
"Spear?"
"A weapon containing all the elements. It was lost to us shortly after BrightSong's
demise. Only the Essence of Neopia can wield this artifact."
I stared off across the waves, my mind numb. "How do you know all this?" I
asked softly.
"There are prophesies."
"What do they say?"
"They are very precise up to a point. The Heir shall appear, the Essence shall
be reborn, and they shall fight the evil. All connected to the Essence and the
Heir shall be in danger of their lives, but the Essence alone shall face the
true evil. The others should survive, if the Essence succeeds. The prophecies
do not say who will be the winner in this final confrontation."
I was silent for a long time, the wind ruffling my fur. Ancient prophecies,
a devastating evil. And we were caught in the middle. I just wanted to rest,
to be done with this all. I was so sick of the fighting and the violence, so
tired of the constant danger. But it seemed that we had no choice but to stand
by Terraile and fight. Heroes were needed, and all Neopia had were a bunch of
scared teenagers. But stand and fight I would. For Terraile, for Neopia, for
everything I loved and cherished. There was one question I needed answered.
"So who's the Essence?" I asked, dreading the reply. The Faerie looked at
me, holding my gaze. She reminded me of the dragon, knowing something that was
hidden to me, something of who and what I am.
"The Essence shall be reborn… in you."
To be continued...
Feel free to Neomail me, I encourage it. I like feedback. Sabreur is really my
brother, you can Neomail him also, though I ask you to go easy on that. He's in
college right now, and I'd rather not have him mad at me for getting a ton of
Battledome challenges, etc. Melody is also real, my best friend. She's in college
too, her NeoPets name is horngodess, but I wouldn't suggest bugging her, she has
a very demanding major and hardly any free time. Sakuko is also real, she's a
really nice person. |
