Rebirth

Chapter 13: Welcome Pad

I counted at least 50 guards. Maybe more, but I lost my train of thought as we leapt into battle. It was strange, the second they began pouncing on us, I instantly went on autopilot. I moved faster than they could catch, my eyes seemingly predicting their attacks before they even made them. I jumped up, hanging from a loose vine and looking over. Cynthia had totally changed. There was at least 3 guards down by her feet, and she was effortlessly fending off another 3. She wrote something in the air, sending it forward. After a small flash, a bunch of boulders came crashing down and separated the group of the guards, and she jumped back into Beowulf, who pushed off an oncoming group.

Looking down, my pursuers were taking aim, launching arrows and bows at me. I began swinging myself back, kicking from the wall towards the oncoming arrows. Summoning my flames, I spun, smashing through the onslaught and smashing into the heart of the guards. When the dirt and dust shot up, I grabbed the spear of one guard, and used him as a weapon. Spinning, I slammed him into my surrounding enemies, throwing him high into the cave opposite from me. I slammed my palms to the ground, flames shooting up from the cracks and blowing the remaining guards away. As they hit the ground, twice as many took their place. "These guys are relentless..." I muttered. I took my defensive stance, racing forward.

From the corner of my eye, Beowulf smashed two guards heads into the ground. Looking up, he raced forward towards Sansas, who was running and trying to avoid as much conflict as he could help. Cynthia was on his heels, jumping from one guard to another, tossing as many magic spells as she could. I didn't think she could move that fast.

I slid under a line of guards, dragging my finger in a straight line as I did, then flipped on my feet. Turning, I smirked and snapped, a line of white fire shooting up around the guards and swallowing them whole. "Anyone else?" I asked, preparing for the coming forces. Just then, I felt a ripping pain in my right shoulder. Clutching it, I swore loudly at the arrow sticking out, turning as another struck my leg. Ignoring the blood, I ripped both free, welcoming the following pain, and barely dodged a spear headed for my head. Two came at me, and I caught both head on, cutting my hands deep. Not the best idea, but I didn't have enough time to dodge them and the next line of arrows, so I used my head. Raising both guards that were at the end of the spears, I used them to take most of the arrows while I ran back. They fell limp quickly after that and dropped. I swore, dropping the spears and regrouped back to back with the others. "Now what... There's too many."

Cynthia wiped a small cut on her leg, and Beowulf ignored the injuries on his arms. "We have to get out, but I don't a way except through." As he said that, my eyes locked on the cave directly ahead of me. "This way!" I yelled to the group. I was the first to race forward, and the guards anticipated this. They grouped up, waiting to pounce on me. I grit my teeth in irritation as they began tossing their spears and arrows, some cutting me and others piercing and sticking from me. The pain was almost enough to make me stop, yet something inside drove me on. I could feel it, in a momentary burst, violet flames swallowed me in a massive fireball. The dark flames burnt away the incoming arrows before they came close to me, and I smashed through their ranks like a bull. "MOVE IT!!" I yelled, the flames reacting and blasting away the surrounding guards as we entered the cave.

Cynthia turned as Sansas entered behind us, and wrote b-o-u-l-d-e-r in the air with her magic. In a flash of brown, a massive boulder smashed down in front of the cave, blocking off the guards and us. I made a small flame out of a rock, and collapsed in the dirt, breathing heavy. My body was rocked with intense pain. Sansas knelt next to me, helping me to my knees. "You're cuts will get infected if you let the sand inside, and trust me, that doesn't feel very good. Cynthia, hold him up." She knelt in front of me, doing so. "Ma, what was that?"

"What was what..." I asked tiredly and wary eyed.

"That purple fire. You never said you could do something like that." She said.

Truth be told, I had no idea how I managed to pull it off. It just happened, and it kind of scared me a little. "Let the boy rest," Beowulf said. He sat, sighing. "We lost two of the pack."

"Oh, those guys didn't make it?" I asked, looking at him as Sansas started applying ointment to my cuts.

"You say it like you don't care."

"Sorry, I'm just- AH! Hey!" I yelled in pain. Sansas smirked, "Be quiet. This is normal treatment for the stronger members."

I stayed quiet then, and after he was done, we moved on deeper into the cave.

We came to a fork in the road. There was two pathways, and we would have to split up. "We'll communicate via markings." He said, pointing to his pack double cut on his chest. I looked at the triple cuts on my arm and nodded, then we went down our paths. Cynthia and I down the left, Beowulf and Sansas on the right. If we ran into any issues, I could pinpoint Beowulf or Sansas with the linked wolf telepathy. I listened for Beowulf until our paths were completely separate, then searched for his mental signal. He was fine. I had to make sure everything was good so far.

As Cynthia and I turned the corner further left, we stopped when we came face to face with one of the guards. His face was covered with a blank mask, and we initially readied ourselves for another fight. However, he walked right past us, as if we weren't there. I watched him go, blinking in slight confusion, but then the two of us moved on.

"This place is so vast, Ma." Cynthia said as we entered the fourth dining hall. "Zhaniah is towards the top, right? How are we gonna get up there fast enough?"

"Fastest way is to go through the roof. I don't have the energy for that right now, so this is what we're left with." I went in my bag, laying out the map on the dining hall table. "Beowulf and Sansas are going to check the lower prisons incase they want to outsmart us and move her down below. The only way to reach the top is via the staircase lining outside this hall." I said pointing to large doors to my left. "After that, it'll be a straight walk, and one more flight of stairs. This is where it'll get difficult. We're expecting lots of company." I rolled up the map. We began walking, opening the large doors and getting smacked in the face with a massive breeze. Originally, I thought the staircase was on the inside. Turns out, it's actually on the outside of the tower, reaching upwards. It'll be a long climb, and my legs felt like jelly, on we pressed. I could feel something inside twitching. I had a feeling we were getting closer to Zhaniah. With that feeling, came a twisting in my gut, and I just hoped it was some bad food I had earlier.