The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

#58 Back Out

[Sophia]

I lead the way into the small tunnel, my vision finally adjusted well and it seemed like the rest of the gang didn't have a hard time keeping up. I assumed since they all lived in relatively dark places, their eyesight wasn't changed. But they were still amazed to see my eyes light up.
Anyway, we stepped further into the tunnel, climbing up and over following the trail of ink. But it was starting to run short again. Since this is the only tunnel here, it had to be the only way it went. The further we went in, the air around us began to grow colder and we all felt a sense of uneasiness. I really hoped there weren't anymore of those slimeball creature things hiding around anywhere. Those were pretty annoying to deal with.

I climbed over a few loose rocks and told everyone to be careful. Some of them weren't very sturdy and they watched me climb down before they attempted to.
"Are you sure it's safe down here?" the Twins asked.
I paused for a moment, trying to think of something nice to say, but I couldn't think of anything in time so I just said, "Uh... I don't know."
When I made it to the bottom, I pulled out my crystal and it flashed into my sword and gave off a warm, blue glow. It was brighter than my glowing eyes and I held it in front of me, making it easier for the others to see rocks they had to climb over. I looked off into the distance as I waited, just to make sure there wasn't anything waiting for us at the bottom. Teri went first, and she began making her way down carefully until she stepped on a loose rock that gave way and she yelped as she tumbled down. My head spun as I rushed over to help her and helped her back on her feet and asked if she was alright.
A little bruised and shaken, but she seemed fine. She stood by my side as she waited for the Twins to come down and meet us. When they did get down, they asked if Teri was really okay. Teri mentioned that she might've bumped her head, but it wasn't anything serious.

And then everyone froze as I jerked my head away again and I listened into the distance.
"Sophie?" Teri asked. I held up my hand to signal them to be quiet, but I didn't make a sound. The Twins listened with me. I held up my sword and looked onwards, and I heard it again. Some sort of echoing in the distance. I gathered my strength and stepped forward, being careful not to make any sound or sudden movements. I paused every now and then to make sure it was safe. I tilted my head upwards and listened again. I heard it louder this time. And for some reason it sounded kinda familiar. I took another step forward and moved slower. It was some sort of echo. As I proceeded, I held out my sword with one hand and noticed that the tunnel went off to the left as well as forward. There was another opening and I stuck close to the wall. I lowered my sword when I got closer, hoping that whatever was in there couldn't see the glow.
"Sophie?" I heard a familiar voice call out. I froze in shock. And at first I thought it was a trick. A trap of some sort. I got a little paranoid, thinking that it was something else making me think it was her, when it wasn't.
However, Teri wasn't as cautious and stepped in front of me, peeking into the other space and gasping as she saw a familiar face.
"Apollo!"
"Teri wait-!"
The Twins followed her and I stepped behind them and was surprised to see that it wasn't a trick at all.
There he was. And from what I could see, he was trapped in some sort of cage. I quickly rushed over to him. But as I got closer I noticed that he was waving his hands, and I thought it was just to get my attention, but as I studied his face, something told me it wasn't for me to notice him.
It was for some other reason.

And soon I found out why when I heard Teri shriek, and it hurt my ears because it echoed so loudly that I didn't have time to look at what she screamed about and before I knew it, I was knocked against the wall and I dropped my sword. My head hit the rocky floor and I heard Apollo call out in fear as I winced in pain and tried to get back up. But, man that was quite a hit...

A shadow began to grow in the cracks of the wall and everyone stepped back. A pair of deep, red eyes followed and everyone began to shout as they ran away in panic. But they had nowhere to go. As I began to get up, I suddenly made eye contact for a moment and its gaze filled my vision. Just for a moment, before I leaped over to Apollo's cage and tried to reach out for my sword. But instead I watched Flyboy's leg was suddenly dragged and picked up and everyone was shouting and screaming. I couldn't see how he was being picked up like that, but the glow of my sword made it seem like the shadow had somehow wrapped itself around his leg and began to pull him into the air.
I didn't know what to do. I just stood there helplessly, keeping an eye on the enemy and trying to think of a quick plan at the same time.
Suddenly, Fleetfoot reached out and grabbed his arm and began to pull him away and they gripped each other tightly, refusing to let go. Teri cowered behind him, unable to move and too scared to fight back. The shadowy creature finally let go and made the Twins topple onto each other, knocking Teri down in the process. The shadows began to make Teri back away as she struggled to get back on her feet. She inched away until she felt a wall and looked away as she cried out. It was then that I finally snapped back into reality and I picked up my sword. I rushed towards Teri and I swung  wildly, hoping to hit something that wasn't her. And a few times, I felt it make impact and I kept my eyes open and focused my attacks on the shadow. I yelled as I swung and Teri watched as I defended her.
Look, I'll be honest, I was pretty scared when I did this. From what I saw, the shadows looked as if my sword would just swing right through it and I was surprised when I managed to hit it. I suddenly made eye contact with the red eyes again, but I didn't go stiff this time. Each time I hit it, it made a hiss and began to recoil as I yelled at it to back off.

Apollo watched me as I attacked and he began to snap back himself and looked around. This was his chance to escape. He had to get out quickly. But the fear within him made his blood turn cold, and it was then he had an idea. He gripped the bars again and held them tight. Immediately as soon as he grabbed the bars, frost began to grow on his hands and they reached up and down the bars and tiny crystals began to grow and spread. Teri rushed over to the Twins and helped them up as I defended them to the best of my abilities. The bars that Apollo held tight were beginning to freeze and crack, but his strength wasn't enough to free him. As the Twins watched me fight back, they looked at each other for a single moment before getting up, dusting themselves off quickly and just before I was about to be struck, a large rock rushed past my ear and landed with a loud crack. The creature spun around to see the Twins picking up whatever loose, heavy object they could find and hurled it at the shadow. Teri soon joined in and kinda panicked and literally started throwing whatever she found which gave me a moment to fall back to Apollo as the creature was being pelted by rocks and stones. I saw Apollo holding the bars tightly and the air around him was cold. He noticed I was standing there and he looked up at me.
"Sophie, quick, I need you to break the bars!"
"What?"
"Hit it as hard as you can and they'll break! Just do it!"
I took a last glance at Teri and the Twins. The shadow was trying to make its way back to grab us, I couldn't find an opening to get through, hissing every time the projectiles made impact. Apollo took his hands off the bars and shrugged back to give me some room. I gripped my sword tightly and raised it into the air with one quick stroke, I brought it down and the frozen bars broke with a loud shatter and I heard the creature yell loudly behind us. Apollo reached out to me and I grabbed his arm and pulled him out. He quickly hugged me as I stumbled back and just before I tumbled to the ground, the creature struck me again, this time square in the chest, knocking the wind out of me. Apollo suddenly stepped forward and his arm burst into flames.
"Don't touch her!" he screamed and he threw his arm and a light shower of heat and fire flew down upon the shadow and it yelled in pain and shrunk back up against the wall, moving frantically, trying to put itself out. Teri rushed over and picked me up by the arm and I gripped my sword tightly as she carried me out of the room with Apollo leading the way and the Twins threw one last rock before finally rushing out behind us. Neither one of us dared to look back. We started climbing up, carefully but quickly and we moved frantically through the tunnel. Until the Twins yelled and we all looked back to see Apollo turned around and raising the other arm, still ablaze with fire and we all heard it. The shadow creature was trying to follow us and we all shrieked when we saw its face.
(Or we assumed it was their face.)
Apollo suddenly lit up the whole tunnel in a burst of fire, making it impossible for the shadow to follow us any farther. He quickly put his arm out and rushed past us and we started climbing back out again. Through the tunnel, up and down until we made it near the entrance and one by one we jumped upwards until we reached the tiny tunnel we came through and started shuffling through in such a panic, we didn't look back to see if we were all here. We just wanted to get out.
Somehow, I made it out first and tumbled out onto the rocks and I sat on the ground in the daylight for a moment before Apollo finally climbed out and picked me up as he unfolded his wings and lifted me into the air as I opened my wings and struggled to get altitude and then, the Twins crawled out with Teri and Flyboy picked her up and opened their dark bat wings and frantically started lifting them up and down as Fleetfoot grabbed Teri's other arm and helped her into the air and we all moved away into the sky. I don't know how they were able to carry Teri together without crashing into each other. And as I finally gained momentum, I noticed Apollo's arm, still somewhat smoking, but I could see fear in his eyes.

We all rushed into the air, up through the trees and feeling the warmth of the sun and temporarily blinded by the light. But man, it felt so much better to be out in the open rather than stuck down there in the cramped darkness. It really did feel so much better. Besides the pain in my chest and my lower jaw.