Chronicles of the Chosen: The Last Battle - Part Four

     Monica climbed into the bed beside me, and almost immediately began to snore. I squirmed in my uncomfortable bed quietly as my eyes began to close. Then, my dream began.

     Quickly I was whisked away to the Meridell forest, at the exact moment where Jhudora appeared in front of Kathryn. The Kyrii’s face was plastered with fear, and her lip trembled as her enemy spoke:

     “Kathryn, we meet again.”

     “What do you want, Jhudora?” Kathryn asked, glaring at the Dark Faerie.

     “To deliver a warning, perhaps,” Jhudora answered. “Or maybe I’m here to shed some light on the future.”

     “Why should I know the future YOU want to tell me?” Kathryn asked.

     “So you can back out while you still can,” Jhudora said, her voice just as icy as her personality.

     Kathryn’s eyes widened.

     “What are you talking about?”

     Jhudora closed her left hand into a tight fist.

     “I’m talking about this,” she said, opening her fist to the Kyrii.

     Now, levitating just above her hand, a thick, purple mist formed. An image swirled into view in the mist, and Jhudora blew it onto Kathryn. The mist began to swirl around her, showing her the future.

     Looking at the mist, I could only think about what Kathryn might be seeing. She might see the battle of the Solstice, where Jhudora prevails. She might see what the world will be like with Jhudora ruling it. She may even see herself, being a future slave and servant of the Dark Faeries.

     Finally, the mist lifted from Kathryn, and fled back to Jhudora’s hand. Jhudora clenched her fist tight, and when she opened her hand, the mist had disappeared.

     “You see? You will soon be bowing down to me, and the world will be mine. When your pathetic friends battle my army on the Solstice, they will hide their faces in shame.”

     Kathryn looked down, and bit her lip. She looked ready to cry. Jhudora continued:

     “Why do you even bother trying to win this war? As you can see, there’s no use in it.”

     I watched in horror as the words sank into Kathryn’s head. She looked down thoughtfully. I couldn’t let this happen! I didn’t want her to give up like Maurice almost did!

     “No,” I said. “If we all unite together, we can change the future. Just don’t lose hope!”

     Kathryn’s tears suddenly stopped. She jerked her head up, and glared at Jhudora.

     “Nice try, Jhudora.” Kathryn said. “But you’re wrong. You can’t stop my friends from fighting back, and you can’t stop me.”

     With that being said, Kathryn stamped her foot into the ground. She turned it towards Jhudora, and shoved her fists forward. A huge pillar of rock rose from the ground and propelled towards Jhudora.

     Jhudora side-stepped to the right, and it missed her. Then, she created a disk of darkness and flung it at Kathryn like a Frisbee. Kathryn ducked, and it just barely missed her head.

     “Is that all you can do?” she taunted.

     But Jhudora was just getting warmed up.

     The Dark Faerie released a wave of darkness at the Kyrii. She blocked the attack by encasing herself with rock. When the darkness receded, Kathryn flung her rock armour at Jhudora.

     She jumped into mid-air, and the armour sailed into the tree, and plopped onto the ground. Then, Jhudora did a flip to face her opponent, and spun around while landing, releasing a HUGE cloud of darkness. She landed perfectly onto the ground, and the dark cloud approached Kathryn at top speed.

     Kathryn quickly created a large Earth wall in front of her, and the dark cloud smashed into it, destroying both the wall and the cloud.

     Kathryn then encased her paws in rock, and it hardened around them. Then, she shoved her rock-encased paws forward, and the rock – in the shape of her paws – propelled towards Jhudora. Kathryn knew that the shape of the rock would ultimately pin anyone to anything. So, in this case, it would pin Jhudora to the tree behind her. The battle would be over, with Kathryn as the winner.

     However, she didn’t expect Jhudora’s next move; she quickly made a cloud of darkness in her hands. She expanded it, until it extended out past her shoulders and down towards her knees. Suddenly, the cloud became rock solid. She had created a shield. Oh no!

     The paw-shaped rocks simply bounced off of the shield, and – instead of pinning Jhudora to the tree – flew in the air, back at Kathryn!

     She tried to move out of the way, but by the time she could move her legs from their rooted position, it was too late. The rocks pinned her by the shirt, and she fell back with them, right into a tree.

     Kathryn struggled to break free, but she couldn’t. She was stuck in her own trap.

     Jhudora laughed.

     “I’ll come back and get you, after I’m done taking over the world.”

     And so Jhudora walked away laughing, leaving Kathryn alone in the forest, struggling to break free.

     ---

     I quickly sat up in my bed in alarm. Usually, I wouldn’t be too worried about these nightmares. But now I knew their true purpose. My dream was warning me that Kathryn was in trouble; more trouble than I ever imagined.

     And I wouldn’t even be able to help.

     “Come on,” Monica said from her bed. “It’s almost time to leave.”

     I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and to the closet. I threw on some Chest Armour and a pair of Sky Boots overtop of my Snow Roller Crash Jumper and Khaki Skirt. I brushed my hair quickly with a Blue Short Hair Brush, and nodded to Monica. We both exited through our doorway (the door was still singed to ashes) and snuck down the hall to the entrance.

     Kendall, Johnny, and Maurice stood by the front door, clad in full battle gear, gesturing for us to follow them. We nodded and snuck out the door, and out into the open Plaza.

     Maurice led the way as we sprinted through the Neopian Plaza, past the Defenders HQ, around the Hospital, and out to where the Main Shops stood. For a moment, we simply stood behind the NC Mall building, waiting for any suspicious activity.

     “Look for Neopets frolicking and playing in the Rainbow Pool,” I told them, recalling my vision.

     “What does THAT have to do with anything?” Maurice snapped.

     “Just trust me,” I told him, eyeing the fountain and its multicoloured waters.

     Through the corner of my eye I saw a little yellow Xweetok, skipping through the grass, picking a daisy that grew in the ground here to there. I looked the other way and saw two blue Bruces, running to the Rainbow Pool. They jumped in, and started to splash around.

     The Xweetok skipped over to them.

     “Are you allowed to do that?” she asked timidly.

     “Who cares?” one Bruce answered, before splashing the other.

     The Xweetok shrugged her shoulders and hopped in, as well. Soon, other young neopets joined in the fun, splashing and playing and having a good time.

     “Look at the Rainbow Pool,” I told Maurice.

     He rolled his eyes and looked.

     “What am I supposed to be looking at...?”

     “Keep looking,” I told him.

     Suddenly, the water temperature in the Rainbow Pool plummeted. The young neopets shivered and waded out.

     “Now look at the sky,” I told Maurice.

     Slowly, Maurice looked up. The sky turned from sky blue to a plum purple within seconds.

     “What the...?” I heard him mumble.

     Suddenly, a gigantic swarm of dark violet soared through the air, as bolts of purple and green singed the buildings around us. One hit the Rainbow Pool, and it exploded, sending the water flying everywhere.

     “LOOK UP!” I shouted over the roaring waters.

     I watched as Monica, Kendall, and Johnny slowly looked up, and gasped. The cloud of purple began to descend, and now they were close enough to see their evil faces. Each minion’s eyes shone with a sinister gleam, which seemed to penetrate the very fear in your heart. I gulped, as my eyes trailed over to the leader of the pack; the evil Dark Faerie, Jhudora.

     “Faerie minions, ATTACK!” she cried, landing swiftly onto the ground below.

     Her minions lifted their shields in agreement, shouting, “HUZZAH!” and rushing into battle. That was when the five of us emerged from the side of the building, with looks of determination wiped across our faces, although mine was to cover the fear rumbling inside me.

     The Dark faeries screeched to a halt. All of their faces looked the same; angered.

     “You didn’t think it would be THIS easy, did you?” Monica said, with her arms crossed at her chest.

     “Oh, PLEASE!” Jhudora snorted. “You fools are just here to entertain me.”

     Anger built up inside of me, banishing the fear that I was overwhelmed in before. I clenched my fists tightly, as they began to heat up. I shot a look at my friends, glared at Jhudora, and shouted, “ATTACK!”

     And the battle began.

     The Dark Faerie minions surrounded us all, attacking with every ounce of magic they had. About forty or so surrounded me. Each one’s hands began to glow a dark purple. Suddenly, green fire burst from their fingertips, soaring up to fifty feet in the air! Fear began to creep its way back into my body.

     One dark faerie began to step forward, flame in hand, and evil smirk pressed across her lips. I stumbled backwards, falling onto the dirt ground below me, and the faeries around me exploded into a mocking laughter.

     I kept my head low to the ground. I can’t do it. I’m not ready to face these guys. Maurice should be doing his. He’d know what to do...

     “Stand up and fight, hero!” one dark faerie spat, as she kicked dust in my face. More laughter followed.

     For a moment, I felt like just giving up. I can’t face these guys. Why bother even trying to fight? I saw what will happen to this place. There’s no way I can change it!

     Suddenly, voices began to pop into my head. First, I heard my owner’s voice, from my first vision:

     “The future is in your hands.”

     Then I heard Fyora’s voice from when we were summoned to Faerieland:

     “You’re a leader, Sandra.”

     Maurice’s inspirational quote came to mind next:

     “If you believe in yourself and work hard, you can do anything you set your mind to.”

     Finally, Kathryn’s voice crowded out the rest. Her voice was proud and strong, and filled with determination. When the words flowed through my head, they emptied out of my mouth. My hands grew warmer and warmer as I said with new confidence, “Nice try, but you’re wrong. You can’t stop my friends from fighting back, and you can’t stop me!”

     FWOOSH!

     I released the flames that were building in my hands, and they spilled out over the dark faeries, showering over them like rain; hot, red, magma-like rain. And yet, when the fire died out, they still stood, with only a few burns.

     The others were fighting against the faeries surrounding them, as well, and again the minions were unaffected. This was just like my vision; they were completely indestructible!

     The forty dark faeries began to close in on me. I backed up, until I was leaning against the Money Tree. They surrounded me, each with their green fire that could destroy me at the slightest touch.

     I decided that the best thing to do was await my peril. I shut my eyes tight, and prepared for the brutal attack that shortly awaited me.

To be continued...