More Than A God (IV)

V

The closer they got to the island, the more vivid Eli's memories became. Even though he was there with a different objective, he was really excited that he could somehow see everyone and check on them. He had a smile, but that soon turned into a frown when Iris and him reached the island.

"Where is... Everybody?" Eli asked. "This doesn't seem like good news..."

"Maybe they are just, you know, somewhere else! I guess the best we can do is look around the realms to see if they are safe." Iris suggested.

"I guess that is a good idea. I'll scout the first three, you take care of the rest. Deal?"

"Sounds good to me!"

With that out of the way, Eli quickly rushed into the Daylight Prairie to see if someone would be there. He flew through the clouds, trying to see if there were some changes around the place that he could notice. The only thing he was aware of was that the sky was a little darker than usual. There didn't seem to be any children of Light nearby, so he was a bit relieved by that and took his mask off. However, seeing that no one was nearby made him worry a bit more about his friends. He needed to find them and protect them to make sure they were safe, and we would do that at all costs.

He went deeper into the prairie, eventually reaching the great gates that Skye opened a long time ago. A few memories came to his mind as he saw this, and he smiled a little. He just entered walking like usual, but then he suddenly hid as he heard something. He thought the suspense would end there, but it was just about to begin. The room suddenly got darker, and Eli started hearing voices as the ground began to shake. He quickly put his mask on again to avoid damaging it, and he paid close attention to the voices around him.

"What is going on!?" A familiar voice screamed.

"I have no idea! Whatever you do, don't try to run away! Stay here with me!" Another voice replied.

He could tell that it was his friends that were in there. He didn't want to rush in unless it was totally necessary to avoid any conflict. And thus, the moment arrived. The place got bathed in a dark fog, and Eli could hear someone screaming close.

"Oliver! What is this!? I'm scared!" Emily screamed.

"I'll protect you! Stay strong!" Oliver replied.

Eli couldn't stand knowing Emily and Oliver were there and not helping. He tried to stay calm, but his devotion towards their friendship told him otherwise. He knew he didn't have to interact with others, but he had to if he wanted to fix this ominous mess. Before he could rethink everything, he had already taken a decision: he had to help his friends.

His eyes started glowing behind the mask, and he threw fire swirls around the place to get rid of the dark fog. Oliver and Emily were amazed, and they tried to figure out who this person was.

"What the..." Oliver said. "Wh- Who are you!?"

"No one you should worry about..." Eli said, trying to pretend he was someone else.

"Hm? Why does your voice sound familiar? Emily wondered.

"Must be your imagination. Now, get ready. Things are about to get dirty..." He said as he pulled his knife out.

From within the shrine a dark orb that Eli could recognize started growing. It eventually blew itself up, and Eli created a fire barrier to protect himself and his friends. After the explosion cleared up, Eli saw there was more than just the three of them in the room now. There were more people, completely dark with their eyes glowing crimson red. Just by looking at them, Eli knew things were about to get dirty. He stepped back, and his back bumped against Oliver's. They were surrounded, but no one lost their cool. They looked at each other, Eli's eyes glowing like fire and Oliver's dark as the room itself. They nodded, and they were ready for the clash.

"You'll pay for this, Mara..." Eli said in his mind. And with that thought, he rushed to attack.

With his knife covered in fire, he slashed them and vanquished them one by one. It was easy to get rid of them, but they kept appearing from the orb that was generating them. He tried to get closer to the orb to destroy it, but there were too many shadows in the way. Eli started to get tired, but then Oliver came in to help. He tried to open the way, for he also understood that the orb had to be destroyed. Emily also went in to attack more shadows with a knife Oliver had gifted her, and they were doing pretty good on not letting them pile up.

For a moment, Eli froze. He was amazed to see both of them working as a team, and it was pretty wholesome. He caught a smirk, and he was proud to see that not only him had grown in such little time. His eyes stopped glowing, but his strength increased with every second he stood still. Until finally, he tried to break the orb again. The path was now clear, and he created a fire orb that would hopefully burn the dark orb away. At last, he threw it at its core, but it bounced back. He didn't know how to react, but Oliver did. He jumped and held the orb with his hands mid-air, looking like an absolute legend. His eyes got darker, and the orb started to darken with it. It got bigger and bigger in Oliver's hands, and Eli knew what he could do to make his attack more effective. He kept throwing fire swirls towards the orb, all of which turned black as soon as they reached it. And to end it all, Oliver landed the final blow.

"TIME TO END THIS!" They both screamed from the top of their lungs. And thus, Oliver threw the orb to break the other one.

As soon as it touched the other one, it created a big explosion that somehow didn't blow them away. Emily was a bit scared, but she turned around only to see that it had worked. There were shards of what seemed to be a dark essence on the floor, and Eli knew they had something to do with Mara. However, he had no time to think about that in much depth. He just picked them up, burned them to ashes, and took a deep breath.

"Fighting darkness with darkness... That's something only the strongest of the strongest do." Eli said.

"Heh, I learned from the best." Oliver said.

"Oh? Who is that?"

"A friend called Eli. You seem to be some sort of god, so you may have heard of him or even seen him! He's an example to follow, and I respect him with my heart and soul. Thanks to him, I've been able to become who I really are, a dark warrior."

Eli turned around and smiled. He was flattered by hearing this, for Oliver had always been really close about his feelings and thoughts. It was almost as if he knew that Eli was behind the mask, but it was impossible for that to be a thing.

"Heh, he seems to be a cool guy. I'll tell him if I ever see him." Eli said. "Well, I think I better go before this issue gets even worse."

"Wait! Who are you? Why did you come to help us?" Emily wondered.

"You'll figure all of that out eventually. Stay alert, this is only about to begin..."

Eli grabbed his necklace and threw it away. And with the flick of a finger, he teleported towards it. Oliver and Emily were amazed, and they were looking forward to seeing him again.

"That was amazing! It was almost as if you two had fought together before!" Emily said as she smiled.

"I thought the same... Come to think of it, that actually could have been Eli." Oliver said.

"Nah, he doesn't act the same way. Eli's more chaotic and funny than that guy!"

"Haha! That does make a lot of sense. But we can think of that later. I think we should check on Skye. Leaving her alone at this moment in time was a bad idea..."

"Right! Let's go see if she's ok!"

And with that said, they rushed towards a place that brought back a lot of memories for them. Perhaps they would meet Eli again if they were lucky enough.