Next Part {Of Shades and Elves}

Part…a lot. Like…12, right? Ok.
Part 12

*Scratching dried paint on pants desperately* Arg…IT’S NOT COMING OFF! *Glaring at Flint*…Oops. Hi. Ok…here we go. Go see Render’s post, “Leviticus and the Duel of Greatness”… Now. Here’s the 12th part:

The next day came rapidly, the sun springing up in the East as if trying to kill the travelers…or warn them. Its golden beams spread like liquid fire in the sky. Charity was watching the sunrise. Footsteps sounded behind her and Bonnie plopped down next to her friend, gazing at the scarlet sky.

“If the sunrise was music, I’m sure it would be the best song ever written,” she said slowly. Charity nodded and closed her eyes, letting the sun warm her cheeks from the cold night. Bonnie looked at her. “Are you afraid?” she asked. Charity opened her eyes and nodded. It had been harder than ever to keep her secrets with Bonnie’s mind speaking ability continually growing, but the girls never really kept anything from each other anyway.

“Render says this is the last safe campsite we’ll have for a while,” Charity said. They looked at the sky in silence.

“Don’t worry,” Bonnie said, “That’s what friends are for. We won’t let anything happen to you.” Charity smiled. Flint popped down beside his sister.

“Hey you two. Will says it’s almost time to go and you need to help pack up,” he said, poking Charity in the stomach playfully. Bonnie put her hat on, looking up at him with a sarcastic face.

“You pack, we’ll supervise,” said Bonnie, remembering countless times he had told them that. Nevertheless they all rose and rolled up their sleeping bags. The dragon riders, Will, Render, and their new friend Leviticus, were all ready to go. They set out on a rocky trail surrounded by trees and shrubs. This was a large forest and before they went into it, Levi told them briefly that this was a popular place for shades and other creatures to hide and dwell. They moved silently and slowly, trying not to make noise and stick to the shadows. They all enjoyed their moonbeams cloaks, compliments of the Elves and Levi. They made them almost invisible in darkness. Flint stuck his hand out from his cape and immediately pulled it back in, for the air outside was humid. His cape kept him relatively cool. The forest had large trees whose trunks were so huge that not even Render could wrap both his arms around one of them. It seemed to them like no one had ever ventured here before, the trees looked so ancient and undisturbed. Will noted a few cobwebs in some of the branches. They could not see very far ahead of them, so dense and thick the trees were, and although the day was bright, the forest was dark and seemingly endless. Baladon, Will’s dragon, Clesseath {Levi’s major dragon}, and Ancalagon, Render’s dragon, all chose to walk instead of fly. They didn’t trust the skies here. Miya rode inside Bonnie’s cloak but she stuck her head out of the opening, observing everything around her. Moss, Levi’s minor dragon, stayed safely inside Levi’s cloak. Bonnie listened in on what the little dragons were saying. Miya was trying very hard to have a conversation with Moss, who was very shy.

“Do you think there’s a reason for the lack of animals here?” whispered Charity to Bonnie. She shrugged and realized her friend had made a brilliant observation. There were no birds or squirrels like there should have been. No small creatures played around the trees. Nothing flew, not even bugs.

“It’s as if something evil is lurking nearby,” said Flint, trying to scare his sister. Charity rolled her eyes but that thought echoed in the back of her mind. Bonnie said nothing, trying not to frighten Charity, but she silently agreed with Flint. It was almost like the very creatures in the area avoided this forest like the plague. It soon grew darker as they progressed into the forest and Levi’s staff produced a small light that they followed. All the riders made other lights in their hands and they moved themselves between the others. With the darkness came a mist, a haunting, chilling, mystifying mist that made it hard to see. They decided to form a line and place a hand on the shoulder in front of them so as not to get lost. This strange mist sank to the ground from the sky, and as it increased they began to feel tired. Gradually they began to breathe slower, drinking in the intoxicating fumes, not quite knowing what was happening. Even the dragons nodded off and drowsily sat down. Before anyone quite knew what was happening, they were all asleep. If Levi had not tripped and landed where the mist had not yet fallen, they probably would not have woken up. He blinked and looked around him.

There was a noise. Not noise…music. Music was playing somewhere in the mist, but he could not see where or even quite tell what direction it was coming from. Its soft lullaby was so tranquil, so peaceful, that he almost fell asleep again on the spot. He thought that must be the source of the enchantment. He spoke to Clesseath and woke him up. Levi explained to his dragon that music was coming from the mist, and both the music and the mist were dangerous. Clesseath let out a roar and flapped his winds. With three flaps the mist was completely blown away, along with the enchanting sound. He roused his friends.

“Pretty music…” muttered Will, rubbing his eyes. Render sat up, blinking. His face changed.

“Of course,” he said in a low tone, looking around at the waking forms around him.

“Shades,” agreed Levi. They stood up and searched the area mentally. Their faces changed to ones filled with concern.

“We’ve got to move. Now!” said Render, pulling Will up. Charity and Bonnie rose to their feet, still recovering from intense dreams.

“Wha--?” said Bonnie, sleepily yawning. The area darkened. The dragons rose up from the ground. Considering their essential need for speed, they decided to ride but would not fly. Levi and Flint rode Clesseath, Render and Bonnie Ancalagon, and Charity and Will Baladon. The only light they followed was emanating from Levi’s staff. The dragons moved quickly, weaving in and out of the trees with surprising agility and grace. Bonnie held out her hand in front of her face. She couldn’t see it at all, not even a dim outline. She looked around her but could see nothing except Levi’s staff far ahead. She looked back. Nothing. She turned her head away but then snapped it back. Was…did that shadow just move? No…no, it couldn’t have…She turned around and looked to her left. There! She was sure something was there now! Something was moving around them in the darkness, or maybe multiple somethings…She reached out with her mind. Shades! Lots of them! That was extremely unusual.

“Render,” she said to his mind.

“Shades. I know,” he replied, “We’ve got to outrun them. I’ve already told Will and Levi.”

“But is that enough? Can they outrun dragons?” She asked, feeling her new Elvish knife to make sure it was still there.

“Looks like we’ll soon be finding out,” he said. Ancalagon sped up. The wind almost swept Bonnie’s hat off, but she held it on. The other dragons were also speeding up. They had formed a single file line with Levi leading and Render bringing up the rear. The passengers looked around at the forest nervously, trying to find the invisible terrors. The darkness was cold and the night was starless as the dragons ran as fast as they possibly could. Then from somewhere in the dark night, a scream echoed around the forest. Shivers ran up and down Bonnie’s spine.

“What’s the quickest way to kill a shade?” she asked, pulling out her knife and holding it at her side. A gust of wind rustled her cape. Miya was terrified and hiding inside it. She thought she heard breathing in the wind.

“There’s only one way to kill a shade,” said Render, “And that is to stab it through the heart.”

Another gust of wind. They were gaining speed. With this gust she thought she saw a form passing by quickly. Something whispered nearby. Bonnie turned around, looking every way. Render urged his dragon to go faster, to follow the others. Another scream erupted in the silence. This one was nearby. They were going at a break-neck pace. She wanted to call out to her friends. She opened her mouth but her words were drowned in laughter. The evil laughter from invisible lips enveloped all of them. Multiple tongues mocked them, for the shades were close. Bonnie looked down at the ground passing below them. Then a voice spoke from behind her in a foreign tongue. She whipped around, her knife aimed at whoever it was. Yellow eyes glared at her. That was all she could see. Her knife was stuck, her hand was held in one position in the air.

“Render!” she shouted. He turned and saw them, throwing a knife at the shade. The knife evaporated in midair. Bonnie found she could move again and pulled out her other knife while Render took out his dagger. They began to attack but the shade disappeared. They looked around but the yellow eyes were gone.

“Be alert,” he said out loud, sending a mental warning to his friends. Laughter continued to echo around them, reverberating off the trees and growing louder. Ice cold hands wrapped around Bonnie’s throat before she could utter a word. She was being lifted by unseen hands and she fell to the ground, landing so hard the wind was knocked out of her and for a moment all she saw was black. She struggled and reached for her knife, rolling on the ground in hopes of the shade letting go. A muffled sound came from right next to her. Her fingers fastened around her knife and she stabbed the arms holding her neck. Once free she took two steps away, turned, and began to fight with the shade, aiming for his heart. Next to her, Levi had been dragged off his dragon in a similar fashion and was fighting another shade. Charity, Render, Flint, and Will were no where to be seen, not to mention the dragons.

The shade was tall and had red hair, his yellow eyes now changing to a deep shade of purple. That was strange. She charged him then briskly turned, ducked, sliced at his feet, and jumped up on the other side of him. He was faster, however and blocked her blows. This carried on for a while, each strike being blocked. Then the shade began to fight back, each hit more powerful than the last. Bonnie met his blows, determined to win. Miya flew out from her cape and the shade was so taken aback that when Miya spat her venom into his eye he didn’t know how to react. Bonnie took this advantage and pierced him through the heart. He looked at her and then evaporated like smoke.

She turned and watched as Levi used his staff to disarm his shade and used his sword to strike against him. The shade blocked him with magic, however. Fire burst out from Levi’s sword, and he continued to attack with renewed energy. Bonnie drew her sword and joined him. Miya chirped to Moss, but he remained hidden. Levi struck him on his shoulder, dropped down and tapped his knee, swirled around, and drove his sword through the shade’s heart. The shade looked at the sword in his heart and gave a wicked smile, reaching out a hand to choke Levi, but he melted into the ground and disappeared. Levi and Bonnie both stood, panting, for a moment. They looked around. Their friends were gone. The night was silent.

Screams came from the trees and Levi lit his staff. They set out in that direction. Charity met them, running from something. She was flustered and her hair was in such disarray it would have been comical if not for the present deadly circumstances. Two shades were after her. Then from their left came the sound of swords clashing against each other. Will and another shade soon came into view, the shade pressing him back. Everyone fought fiercely. A gunshot sounded and Flint came out from behind a tree, his pistol drawn. A shade reappeared behind him and knocked it out of his hand. Flint stepped on his foot and drew his sword. Render came into the scene, breathing heavily and looking a bit pale. He wiped a thick substance from his blade and joined them. The friends unconsciously made a circle, with the shades circling around them. More shades joined them. It seemed like they were outnumbered. Bonnie was in between Will and Charity. They briefly exchanged glances, each half-doubting themselves.

Then the dragons came down from the sky. As if that was some unspoken signal they had all been waiting for, the forest became alive with the sounds of weapons clashing. Charity and Bonnie worked as a team. They fought well and hard, Bonnie using her newly acquired mental advantages and Charity using her dancing skill to maneuver around them so quickly they didn’t know what hit them. Render fought on his own, using magical weapons and the nature around him to his advantage. He bent a tree and made it fall on one of them, but while the shade was moving out of the way he threw a dagger into his heart. He turned and ducked the blade from the other shade, rising up and continuing to fight. Levi also worked alone, lighting his staff on fire to illuminate everything. He managed to make glass on the spot, shatter it, and send the pieces flying into the two shades he was fighting. One piece of glass found its shade, the other shade stopping the glass before it reached him. The shade laughed and tried to freeze him but Levi made a circle around the shade with fire. The shade disappeared and re-appeared behind him. Levi stepped backward, driving his knife into the shade’s heart. Flint’s pistol had not been found in the darkness so he used his sword to slice away at his shade. The shade bent down suddenly, pistol in hand, and pointed it at Flint. He pulled the trigger. The bullet shot through the air, bounced off the protective layer on his hat, and embedded itself in the shocked shade’s heart. Will raised his arms and his dragon swooped down and picked up his shade. Will shot him with a flaming arrow as Baladon released him to fall to the ground.

The fight lasted for quite some time. Soon there was only one shade left, but this one was bigger, better, and smarter. He kept evaporating and re-appearing somewhere else. It was his laughter that echoed around the trees in the cold, dark night. He had a malicious smile on his face as he darted around, his weapon flashing with reflected firelight.

“Why have you come here?” Render called to it. It had disappeared.

“Death…death to all who dare try to stop Me!” he said, reappearing, “This is my forest! Enter here and you shall die! One day I shall rule all of Alagasia! One day—” He was cut off as a multitude of voices came from the trees. He disappeared quickly as a volley of arrows came at him.

From the trees came Elves, about ten of them. Each Elf had pointed ears, a long face, and delicately chiseled features. Their hair was long, some dark and some light. They seemed to float over the ground, so graceful and light they were. Five Elves were female, wearing long dresses that almost touched the ground. Their hair was let down over their shoulders and their eyes sparkled. The other five were male, and they were clad in rich green fabric. They had light cloaks and long bows on their backs. Their hair was also long, but it was tied back somewhat. All of the Elves were tall and beautiful, and suddenly the travelers had nothing to say at all. Finally Render and Levi bowed, the others following suit a second later. Render and Levi spoke a few words in a different language, everyone looking on with interest. The Elves smiled, said something back, and began to lead them through the trees that now seemed light, as if these Elves illuminated everything in their path. Miya briefly translated everything they had said to Bonnie, for she had the gift of languages. It was simply an elaborate salutation.

As they walked, Bonnie could not resist mentally asking Render, “How many did you kill?” He hid a smile.

“Three and a half,” he said softly.

“How do you kill half a shade?” she asked, looking at the bright forest, pretending to be observant and watchful.

“That last one didn’t count,” he replied, “But given more time I could have finished him.” Bonnie smiled. They continued to be led by the Elves to a place where they could rest for the night, their dragons walking behind them and the Elves around them in a protective circle.

~ Captain Bonnie Spinner
{See Render’s blog for the next part} Chapter 13 Elismera