Legends: The Folklore Trilogy Book 2

Chapter 30-Where the Tides Turn

I was petrified. My mind had gone fuzzy, like the static signal on a TV. I could feel my heart pounding against my ribcage. They were all here. All of them. Here.

Suddenly, one of the unicorns flashed with light and a phoenix blazed upwards. Sierra. My heart lifted in hope and the others followed suit, leaping into action and attacking the Tormentors and Tempters with everything they had. I rose onto my feet, preparing to join them.

And then I froze. A Tempter was slowly coming towards me, and I remembered this one. Everything about it was dull gray, and it bobbed like a sleepy jellyfish. It was the Tempter that countered diligence, Laziness. My talons dug deeper into the wood as I realized what it might do to me. I began to think of the most productive thoughts I could, trying to fight, trying to try.

And then suddenly I heard a scream of agony.

I looked down in panic to see that Isaac was being dragged by the Tempters to the front of the room. My Tempter began to move towards them. Isaac was writhing in pain, but not from the Tempters. This pain came from within.

I surged from the rafter--and froze again. I almost screamed in frustration. I was getting really tired of being frozen. But then I saw that all my other friends below were frozen too. Sierra was in fairy form, stuck in place 15 feet above the rest.

Everything was completely silent.

Then, a silky smooth voice wormed its way into my head. "Watch and learn, little ones. It appears you are strong amongst your friends. Let us see what happens when you take your friends away."

My heart nearly stopped. Damius.

The Tempters were floating around Isaac in a circle, no longer touching him, but looking at him hungrily. He was curled up in a ball on the floor, shivering. Slowly, he began to get up.

Everything was silent, and everything was still.

"Guys?" he said weakly, looking around.

Isaac! I wanted to scream. Isaac, we're right here!

But he couldn't see us. We had been made invisible.

He looked around even more wildly. "Guys!" He sounded desperate.

"They are not here," the silky voice said, resounding throughout the room. "They have abandoned you."

"No," he said softly. Then, "no!" Stronger the second time. "They wouldn't do that," he said firmly.

The voice sighed. "I'm afraid they did. Oh, don't blame them. I don't think they meant to. I think they just...forgot about you."

Don't listen to him, Isaac! He's lying!

But Isaac looked down, confused, and hurt. One of the Tempters began to hiss. I recognized it. Bitterness, Isaac's weakness.

My blood ran cold.

"They never really noticed you, you know," the voice continued. "They only noticed when they needed help, when they need emotional support. You're very good at that, aren't you? But when you weren't needed, I'm afraid you just...faded from their minds."

How could Isaac believe something like this?

His fists were clenching, and a muscle near his jaw began to twitch. The Bitterness Tempter was getting closer and closer until it was breathing on his neck.

"The truth is, they were never really your friends. They were just using you."

And the Tempter lay a hand on his neck.