Lights Out (Book 2 of the "Living Nightmare" series)

Chapter 3

Lyria stared at Hogsworth like he had lost his mind. "How on earth are we going to do that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Look, we have to try."

"Hogsworth, they could be anywhere in those mountains. How are we supposed to find them before an army of hundreds?"

"It's worth a shot," he countered. "Lyria, there's no telling what Kralos might do if he gets ahold of the main Ender Watchers."

She sighed. "If we die, I know it's going to be your fault. Let's go."

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Ceris stared at the bloodied cloth wrapped around Lance's bare chest, feeling guilty. She shouldn't have let him go to fight Hellknight alone. Then this might not have happened. She forced herself to her feet. "I have to go find Echo."

"Sister, stop," Gwendolyn placed a hand on Ceris' shoulder. "You need to stay here. With him. I'll go find your daughter."

"But—"

"No buts."

Ceris sighed and squeezed her sister's hand. "Thank you, Gwen."

Kane looked up. "Wait, you have a daughter?"

"Kane!" Rain stepped in quickly, catching the look on Ciara's face. "Why don't you go and talk to Stella?"

Kane shrugged. "Okay?"

"I'll return with Echo." Gwendolyn teleported away in a flurry of purple sparks.

Ceris settled herself next to Lance, watching his slow breathing. Please hold on, Lance. Don't leave me forever.

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Alexsis and Spinner stared at Echo, Spinner putting a hand to his head. "Wait, you're the daughter of Ceris and Lance?! I didn't even know they had a daughter!"

Echo sighed. " either did anyone else for that matter. I didn't know myself until just recently. But Hellknight is trying to hunt me and the other Ender Watchers down. If he discovers I'm here, he won' hesitate to destroy all of Nightshaft."

Alexsis frowned. "That's true. We need to take you somewhere safe to figure out a plan."

"Alexsis? Are you busy?" A tall, teenage boy came into the room. He was clearly a Human-Warden hybrid with his broad shoulders and Warden horns. He nervously ran his fingers through his short, spiky, green-blue hair and his turquoise eyes shifted from Alexsis toEcho. "Who's this?"

"Waver, this is Echo. She's Ceris and Lance's daughter," his eyes widdened as Alexsis moved on. "Is everything okay?"

"Well, I cam to warn you that the Wardens are detecting a large amount of vibrations from the south mountain side. It's possibly a thousand or more," Waver groaned. "Ugh, the vibrations were so heavy. I'm almost positive it was Netherkins."

A panicked look came onto Echo's face. "Oh gods. They'e going to attack the Ender Watchers!"

Spinner grabbed her arm. "Don't panic! I know where we can take you."

Alexsis looked up. "You think she can help us?"

Spinner nodded. "Yes. Echo, we're going to take you to see Lady Myra."

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Kane had wandered to the entrance of the cave. Although he couldn't see anyone, he headd someone crying above him. Concerned, he pulled himself up onto thr rocks above and found Ciara sitting there, her back to him. He quickly asked, "Are you okay?"

She jumped slightly and rubbed a hand over her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

He nodded and they were in silence for several minutes before he sat down beside her. "You always look like you're in pain when you see me."

"What?"

"I might not really know who you are but...I don't want to see people upset like that."

She was silent for a moment before pulling a slightly-crushed paper rose out of her pocket. "I got this a few years ago on my birthday," she looked him directly in the eye. "You made it for me."

Kane thought about it for a moment. A sudden flash of him holding the exact same rose raced through his brain followed by a pounding headache. He grunted and pressed his palm against his forehead.

"Kane? Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." he decided against telling her the strangeness as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Just a bad headache."

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Hellknight paced back and forth, growling in frustration. "This is taking too long. I should've just gone to Kralos myself."

The wounded Shadow growled in agreement as Hellknight paced about ten more times. A pigman entered the tent. "A message from Lord Kralos, Sir."

"Finally. Out with it."

The pigman cleared his throat. "'This is good news for the Nether Empire. By my official degree, and aproved by King Naues, I put you in charge of my force of 1,000 men. Put it to good use. -Lord Kralos'."

Hellknight grinned. "Perfect. You, get them starred on shutting this camp down! We must make up for lost time. Go!"

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Gwendolyn wasn't exactly sure where she was or where she was going. She was climbing over some small boulders when the murmur of two voices reached her eyes. Seeing no where to hide, she set the tip of her staff firmly on the ground, willing the crystal to glow in the growing shadows. "Come no closer!"

The two people stopped when they saw her. One was a pink-haired girl and the other was none other than General Hogsworth himself. Gwen instantly pointed her staff at his face. "Don't move or I'll kill you right now!"

"No, wait!" The pink-haired girl put her hand out. "I'm Lyria of the Frostbourne. Hogsworth's with me!"

"But he's a conqueror for the Nether!"

Lyria shook her head. "He's on our side now. You're an Enderkin, right?"

"Of course she's an Enderkin, Lyria," Hogsworth said, not even moving the rest of his body. "She has Ender Eyes. Kind of obvious."

"Whatever! Kralos has an army of 1,000 preparing to hunt the Ender Watchers down. You and your kind are in danger!"

Gwendolyn thought for a very long moment. If Echo could survive for so long running from Shadow, perhaps she can hold out a little bit longer. "Fine. I'll take you to where they are, but we need to hurry."

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A/N: What is going to happen to Lance? Who is Lady Myra? Did Gwendolyn make the right choice?

...

I'm not answering those questions yet.

I love leaving you guys on cliffhangers way too much :)