Avalon and the Emerald Noil Gem: The Onyx Isle - Part Nine

     Avalon dropped to the deck, pouncing forward at the same moment. He felt a rush of air as Ridell swooped overhead, letting out a furious noise like an angry Crokabek’s caw. Avalon whirled around, baring his teeth at Ridell as the Darigan Lenny spun to face the Guardian and rogue Gelerts, his wings spread, hooked beak glinting in the moonlight, massive talons carving thin lines in the deck.

     Ridell didn’t seem worried by the odds against him, and that bothered Avalon. He glanced at Tacit, now standing beside him, and saw similar confusion on the massive Gelert’s face. Avalon started to shout a warning, but he was too late.

     Snapping her teeth together, Vora leapt for Ridell. Hack wasn’t far behind her, and the other two Gelerts bounded after her. For a moment, Avalon thought he might be wrong; the sight of so much movement looked chaotic and powerful enough to take the Lenny down.

     Then Ridell lashed out with one taloned foot, pining Vora to the ship’s deck. He swung a wing into Hack’s face, and when the other female Gelert got close, he seized one of the her whip-like ears and flung her into the short-eared male.

     Tacit’s muzzle wrinkled as he bared his teeth, but rather than lunging forward himself, he shoved Avalon away with his shoulder. The starry Kougra stumbled back, but when he regained his balance, the Gelert nudged him again. Avalon frowned, then realized what Tacit was doing- telling him to run, to go while he still could.

     Avalon hesitated as Tacit turned toward the Lenny, crouching, to face Ridell in a defensive position. The Gelerts weren’t really Avalon’s allies. They didn’t care what Scarback did, just as long as they didn’t have to be his servants. They didn’t care if Avalon lived or died- it was just important, for whatever reason, that he didn’t die by Scarback’s paws.

     But no matter their motivation, they had helped him escape. They’d chosen to risk their lives getting him off the ship, instead of just killing him and being done with it.

     And maybe- just maybe- these Gelerts were the key to a revolution among Scarback’s so-far loyal soldiers. Even if they simply became tired of endless fights they never won, rather than the evil of their actions, Scarback would be a far more manageable enemy without his pack.

     Ridell grinned at Tacit, grinding his heel into Vora’s back. “C’mon, mute- I’ve got plenty of claw and beak left for you.”

     Tacit stayed still a moment longer- then he charged, looking more like a Skeith than a Gelert. But Ridell merely grinned, and angled his head slightly.

     Avalon saw what the Lenny was planning to do immediately- use his beak to destroy one of Tacit’s eyes. Tacit- the only Gelert who seemed like he might care more about Avalon’s safety than his own escape from Scarback.

     Letting out a roar, Avalon lunged between the Gelert and Lenny, and slammed Ridell’s face aside with his paw.

     The Lenny screeched, then smacked Avalon with a wing, knocking the Kougra to the deck, his belly up, winded. As Ridell raised the talon that wasn’t pinning Vora, ready to disembowel the Guardian before Tacit could charge again, Avalon heard a familiar voice shout, “What’s going on up here!”

     And a dagger shot past Ridell’s face, nearly gouging his beak, before embedding itself in one of the ship’s railings. Ridell’s head snapped in the direction the dagger had come from, and he cawed loudly as a chunk of icy slush collided with his face.

     Vora, with the Lenny pinning her now teetering, suddenly stood up. Ridell stumbled backward, nearly colliding with Brazen, who had emerged from a room near the back of the ship. The Gelert captain snarled at Ridell, “You idiot! Get them!” Smacking the Lenny with a paw, she barreled toward Vora.

     The scarred Gelert was on her feet and ready now. She snapped her teeth together again, and Vora and Brazen met in a tangle of black and red, snarling and barking furiously.

     Avalon rolled back onto his feet, and whirled around. Leaping onto the deck from a... a giant ice bridge were, sure enough, his friends; Ash, Silverdrop, Captain Storm... and Flit.

     “What’re you doing here?” Avalon shouted, seeing with despair the Gem around Silverdrop’s neck.

     “Saving your tail!” Ash spat, pulling another dagger from her belt. “Now shut up and let’s fi-”

     “More Gelerts!” Flit shouted, pointing.

     Avalon turned in time to see the doors leading below deck slam open, and a horde of Gelerts emerge, like darkness spreading after a room was suddenly doused of light. A Gelert came right at him, and Avalon reared up, catching the Gelert’s paws as it swung them in attack. Avalon slammed the Gelert against the nearest railing, then shoved it back toward into its oncoming companions.

     He heard a shout from behind him, and Storm raced past, swinging his sword in wide arcs that left Gelerts bleeding and worse before they could take a single swipe at the pirate Lupe.

     Avalon swung at another Gelert, and was quickly flanked by Ash, sliding and swiping with her dagger, punching with her free paw, and Silverdrop, whose sword was moving faster than Avalon had ever seen it. Flit was a blur as he wound through the pack, taking on several Gelerts at once, winding and dodging and spiraling and ducking, causing Gelerts to hit each other, driving them into positions where they hampered the rest of the pack.

     Among the black mass, Hack and the two renegade Gelerts Avalon didn’t know were impossible to find, but Vora and Tacit were obvious. Vora was still fighting with Brazen, consistently trying to take advantage of the helmet-clad Gelert’s limited peripheral vision. Tacit was a silent war hammer, not as fast as the rest of the pack, but more effective, battering Gelerts aside as he made his way toward Avalon and his friends.

     “You’ve gotta go!” Avalon hissed to Silverdrop. “Scarback can’t get the Gem!”

     “He won’t!” Silverdrop shouted. “But he’s not getting you either!”

     Avalon gritted his teeth. “It doesn’t matter what hap- Storm! Behind you!”

     Storm whirled around, smacking two Gelerts with the flat of his sword blade without appearing to notice, and raised his sword in time to block the snapping fangs of another attacking canine.

     “It doesn’t matter what happens to me!” Avalon finished. “Get off the ship before Scarback-”

     A roar burst across the deck, louder than the clang of swords, louder than the snarls, the barks, the hisses, the cawing, the paws smacking the deck and the paws smacking each other.

     Everyone dropped back, and silence fell over the entire deck.

     Kreludor slid into view, casting gray light on the ship, and a highlighted figure stepped into view.

     Red eyes, more almond-shaped than the Gelerts. A broad muzzle, a limp, a long, winding scar tracing his spine.

     “Go ahead, Avalon,” Scarback said, and his voice was the rumble of an oncoming thunderclap. “Before I what?”

     Avalon stepped forward to get between Scarback’s red gaze and the Gem around Silverdrop’s neck. Ash pointed her dagger at the red-eyed Kougra, and Tacit seemed to be trying to obscure them all. Flit planted his paws firmly by Silverdrop, and Avalon kept one eye on the small Gelert. He remembered what Hack had told him, that Flit wanted the Gem for his own reasons...

     Scarback raised an eyebrow at the small Gelert. “Flit. Not dead, I see?”

     Flit bared his teeth, his eyes glowing brightly, then dimming, then brightening again in anger. “No. I’m not.”

     Scarback’s smirk was visible even from a distance. “So you are a traitor, then.”

     “Of course.” Flit’s voice had become hard, as if he were prepared to defend himself from any arguments.

     “I see.” Scarback examined his claws for a moment, then asked nonchalantly, “Your Guardian friends don’t know everything, do they?”

     Flit hesitated a moment too long

     Scarback raised his eyes and his voice. “He didn’t mention, Guardians- these Gelerts he’s allied with had planned to use Avalon as a ransom- to get the Gem for themselves.”

     Silverdrop whirled toward Flit, and Avalon bared his teeth. “Hack was right!” he snarled. “You just want the Gem!”

     “No!” Flit shouted. “That’s not it! I mean, it was Vora’s plan- I wanted the Guardians to try, I didn’t want the Gem! Vora did, but we had to get Avalon out, so I was just going to sneak Avalon back to the ship later-“

     “You dung pile!” Ash snarled.

     “We trusted you!” Silverdrop’s eyes seemed to be flaming and melting in the same instant.

     Avalon glanced at Tacit, his own eyes hard. The Gelert was already watching him, and simply shook his head, looking not murderous but... sad. Then Tacit turned his head, glaring at Scarback over the heads of the crowd.

     “And of course, the Crokabek came to me first,” Scarback said, seeming to address Flit. Avalon’s stomach sank. “Obviously, I read the letter the bird had with it. I hope you fed it well, Flit.”

     Flit shook his head. “The letter told the others to get Avalon out!” he shouted. “The bird was trying to spy on us, so I caught it and tried to use it to help us instead!”

     “An’ yah never said there was a spy, ya filthy mongrel?” Storm snarled.

     “I needed to tell Tacit to get Avalon! You wouldn’t have let me send a letter!”

     “Why didn’t you tell us about the others in the first place, then?” Silverdrop demanded.

     “You already didn’t trust me!” Flit took a step back, looking with wide eyes at the harsh gazes directed upon him. “I swear, I was going to tell you everything as soon as we got Avalon!”

     “C’mon, little brother!” Everyone’s head jerked toward the mast, where a small Gelert was sitting, a wide grin on his face. The Gelert was miniscule- Shag. “They don’t believe you anymore!”

     “He’s your...” Ash’s muzzle wrinkled, as if in disgust. “Figures!”

      Flit’s teeth were revealed, white and cold in the moonlight. “Get away from me!” he snarled.

     Shag’s grin only widened. “Still haven’t Changed, little brother?”

     “Enough,” Scarback said. “Suffice it to say that these Gelerts were working for themselves; I wouldn’t count on their help, Guardians. Don’t worry- I’ll make sure they suffer almost as much as you.”

     “Not happening,” Ash snapped. “C’mon, the bridge-”

     Ridell squawked loudly, Hack pinned beneath one claw. “Your little bridge is gone, sparks. It’s ice, and this ain’t Terror Mountain.”

     Avalon turned his head, and sure enough, the only evidence that a bridge had been there at all was a ring of water on the deck floor. His throat constricted; now what?

     Ash lifted a paw, as if to throw her remaining dagger, but Avalon taped her arm with his tail, and shook his head. They might need the dagger for a more serious situation later.

     Scarback wound his way through the Gelerts, heading for Silverdrop. She backed away, Avalon, Ash, and even Flit and Tacit stepped back with her.

     Tacit stepped in front of the entire group, his body quivering as if with repressed growls. Avalon was confused once again; if Tacit was only in this plot for himself, why put his own life in such danger?

     Logic suggested only one explanation- Tacit wanted more than freedom from Scarback... he wanted Scarback gone, and knew that keeping the Guardian safe was the way to do it. He was on their side.

     So was it possible that even shifty Flit...?

     “Tacit,” Scarback said, “You’re really going to stand in my way?” The last words were a threatening hiss.

     Tacit planted his paws more firmly. Avalon saw his shoulders roll as the Gelert prepared for Scarback’s inevitable attack. Avalon’s tail touched the railing. They had nowhere else to go...

     The ship lurched, crunched, shook, reared up. Snarls, barks, shouts, and a roar from Scarback added to the clamor of the ship as it struck land, scrapping its wooden belly on harsh, jagged rocks.

     The Gelert who’d been at the steering wheel must have run off- he could have vanished the minute Ridell appeared in the mast, or be among the attacking pack even now.

     Avalon didn’t have much time to contemplate the Gelert pilot’s location; the ship hit another rock, jerked again, and suddenly, the deck was no longer beneath his blue and gold paws.

     The railing hit his back, then he was tumbling over it, the paw shooting out to catch the rail missing. The sea snarled beneath him, then black, rough rock was racing toward him.

     ***************

      Avalon wasn’t the only one to fall. Silverdrop hit the rocks as well, and when she looked around, she saw Avalon, Flit, and Scarback, both looking slightly stunned.

     Silverdrop scrambled to her paws, and started to head toward Avalon. The starry Kougra still looked a little dazed as he tried to stagger to his feet.

     Flit scampered up beside her, shaking his head, and when he started to follow her, Silverdrop snarled, “Get away from me!”

     The Gelert stepped back, as if he’d been pushed. “I swear, Silverdrop, I’m on your side! Please, you’ve got to trust me- we’ve got to get off this island!”

     “I know that!” Silverdrop snapped. “And we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you!”

      “Avalon would be locked up in the ship if it wasn’t for me!” Flit shouted. “You don’t get it, it’s not like I could choose who would help me!”

     Silverdrop growled, and looked up at the ship. The massive Gelert Scarback had called Tacit was looking down at them, an expression quite like worry on his face... in eyes aimed not at Scarback, but Avalon.

     Ash was leaning over the rail too, shouting, “Silverdrop, Av, we’ll be down in a sec! Just keep Scarback busy, we’ll-”

     There was a loud screech, and Ridell suddenly appeared, lunging at Ash. Ash stabbed at the Lenny with her remaining dagger, driving the Lenny back. But Ridell seemed to have inspired the crew, and the sound of fighting drove away the sound of waves snarling against the island’s rough rocks. Ash and Tacit had to turn away to fight off the pack.

     Flit bit his lip. “Silverdrop, we’ve gotta go now!”

     “Don’t you dare tell me what to do, you-”

     “Silverdrop!” Avalon was on his feet, tail twitching, but eyes focused. “Stop it! He’s right... and I think Tacit’s with us, at least. Maybe Flit is too.”

     The Gelert’s eyes widened in surprise, and his whip-ears pricked up. “I am!” he said. “Tacit and I- we’re the only ones... and Avalon, there’s something I gotta tell you about Tacit, he’s-”

     “How sweet, Flit.” Everyone’s eyes darted to the spot where Scarback had landed, but he was no longer there. “Think he’ll change back if the Guardian knows?”

     Scarback suddenly appeared behind Avalon, his eyes brighter than Silverdrop had ever seen them. “Too bad you won’t get to tell him,” Scarback said, then swung a paw at Avalon.

     His paw was glowing black, and the Noil Gem burned against Silverdrop’s chest. A single word entered her mind- “Magic!”

     Before either Silverdrop or Avalon could do anything, Flit had charged forward, a back blur, and slipped between Scarback and Avalon, tackling the red-eyed Kougra.

     Snarling, the two rolled twice before springing to their feet. Scarback’s paw was still gleaming black, and before both had even fully regained their footing, he swung at Flit. His paw slammed into the Gelert’s head, and the magic sent Flit flying several feet.

     Silverdrop shouted as the Gelert hit the rocks. His back was to Silverdrop, so she couldn’t see whether his eyes were open or not, but when he hadn’t moved after several moments, it was clear that he had been knocked out.

     Or worse...

     Silverdrop whipped her head toward Scarback, who stood crouched, facing her and Avalon. Avalon looked furious, as angry as he might have looked if Ash, Silverdrop, or Storm had been on the receiving end of that blow. The combination of what Silverdrop had just seen and Avalon’s obvious belief that Flit wasn’t a traitor made her doubt her earlier assumptions.

     Why intervene in an attack on Avalon? She had the Gem- to a traitor, she would be more important.

     “Welcome to my island!” Scarback said to the two Kougras. Black light glowed around both paws now, and when took a step forward, it became immediately clear that his limp had vanished.

     “You’ve seen the Tornado Towers, of course,” Scarback went on, “but this portion of the island reveals its true soul! It’s called the Onyx Isle, and while I stand here, I have access to immensely powerful magic.” He glanced at Flit, and his grin widened. “As you probably noticed.”

     Avalon let out a snarl. “What’s the big plan now, Scarback?” he demanded. “Looks like you can’t do your ritual now.”

     The shadow Kougra’s crimson eyes brightened. “Can’t I?”

     He slammed the ground with one front paw. Black magic course down his arm, and the stones rumbled.

     The ground suddenly split open between the Guardians and Scarback. The starry and silver Kougras scampered backward, and just in time- with a roar like an enormous fire, one that could devour every tree on Mystery Island, a wall of lava the same color as Scarback’s eyes leapt from the fissure. Heat rolled across the island, drying out Silverdrop’s mouth and eyes instantly. She shut her eyes and turned her head away, but had already seen that the lava wall was gargantuan, tall enough to block the top of Scarback’s ship from sight.

     The wall suddenly fell, replaced by a cloud of thick, acrid smoke. Silverdrop’s eyes, still stinging, quickly found Scarback’s silhouette- the cat was striding toward them.

     “The ritual, Avalon,” he said, his head appearing through the smoke cloud, “involves the Guardian being dropped into the lava. Then the Gem is dropped into the same lava, and its power is released, and hovering for the taking. My taking.”

     Avalon’s face twisted, and he took what seemed to be an involuntary step back. “You’re insane!”

     Scarback leapt over the fissure, fully emerging from the smoke. “You carry a Noil Gem with the power to create ice bridges and immensely powerful swords. You find a tiny ritual involving lava strange?”

     “Where’d you get this nonsense?” Avalon demanded.

     Scarback raised an eyebrow. “Ever wonder why your ‘Guardian faerie’ is a fire faerie, but guards a Gem the color of earth?”

     Avalon and Silverdrop glanced at each other.

     “A long time ago, Guardians, there were many powerful faeries, all of a different element. They decided to contain their powers in Noil Gems, each made of a metal proper to their elements.”

     “Then a dark faerie came in,” Avalon guessed.

     Scarback slammed a paw into the ground again, and another fissure opened between them. Again, Avalon and Silverdrop scampered back.

     When the steam began hissing, Scarback continued, “Exactly. The Onyx faerie tried to steal their powers from the Gems- and the Emerald faerie fought back. She won... but at a price.”

     Another lava fissure. Silverdrop realized that Scarback was driving them further into his island, away from the water and the ship.

     “All the Gems but the Emerald were lost, and all the faeries except the Ruby were trapped in a place where time seems to stand still, where magic is useless and strength is almost null.

     “The Onyx faerie was able to break out once... and here I and my Gelerts are, and of course, my Onyx Isle.”

     “And if you get the Emerald faerie’s Gem,” Avalon guessed, “...you can make the Onyx faerie’s?”

     “The Onyx Noil Gem. Quite a weapon, don’t you agree?” Scarback waited a moment, then said, “Good. No comebacks.”

     Silverdrop wanted to shout something about how he was the one being the cliché villain- he’d just spouted off his entire plan!

     But what were they going to do? The same thing they would have done anyway- avoid the lava.

     A fissure burst open behind Avalon, and he had to scamper diagonally, moving farther from Silverdrop.

     Both of Scarback’s paws were glowing now, and the entire island was beginning to rumble, as if it might all explode any second. Flit was still down, and Scarback was slowly separating her and Avalon.

     She had the Gem, but its magic was nowhere near as powerful as this. They were in for the fight of their lives.

     Perhaps, Silverdrop thought, the fight that would end their lives.

To be continued...