The Zodiac Empire

Chapter 7 - Dance With a Devil

Authors Notes: Chapter is called "Dance with a Devil" so I must share "Dance with the Devil" :D

"Alsen! Cosena!" Naito screamed, reaching out for his sisters, but the ocean forced them apart. The boat was on fire and shattered into multiple, sinking pieces. Rising like a geyser, smoke stood up to the heavens in the burning sea. Alsen and Cosena's lips moved as the three of them desperately reached for each other, but Naito's ears were ringing too much for him to hear them over the roaring ocean. Second by second, they were pulled further apart until Naito lost sight of them. Despair plagued his mind. There were no words to describe the fear and anguish he felt. Did he really just lose the two most important people to him in the world, just like that? He continued to scream their names, barely able to even hear his own voice. It was hopeless. The only thing he could do was swim to land and trust that Alsen and Cosena would be able to do the same. After all, they were his older sisters. Cosena was always capable of taking care of all three of them, and Alsen was an Aquamancer, the sea wouldn't be able to beat her, right? But what about the soldiers? Were where they? Had they even survived? Naito panted heavily as he swam against the ocean's currents and pulled himself to land. It was so dark here, he could hardly make out anything around him, even with his vision clearing up. This couldn't be just any ordinary darkness. He could feel it. It was cold, unwelcoming, and he felt like a thousand shrill voices were whispering down his neck. His skin crawled as if insects were swarming all over him.

Calm down Naito...Cosena would tell you to keep calm, he thought to himself. But how could he keep calm when he was all alone in this creepy place and didn't know what would happen to his sisters? Naito shook his head. Panicking wasn't going to help anyone. From the little he could see, there were several mountains around him, as well as many mossy trees. Naito wiped the mud off of his quivering hands onto his pants, but noticed something bizarre. His hands were much smaller, the size of a child's. After scanning his body and seeing that the rest of him got smaller too, he quickly checked his reflection in the mirror. He was his seven year old self again, and all of his injuries from the explosion were gone like magic. Not even a single bruise or cut remained. Before he could even contemplate what was going on, he heard an all too familiar voice behind him.

"I'm so sorry, Naito...my mother was killed too. She died protecting me."

"Shadow...?" Naito asked, turning around briskly. Why was he hearing Shadow even though he hadn't summoned him? And those words...he remembered clearly when Shadow told him that story.

A tiny, purple wisp, shaped like an ember floated in front of Naito, then went towards a clearance in the trees. It stopped as if waiting for him. Naito's heart slammed against his chest in trepidation. He didn't even know what that thing was, and the moltrogks were here somewhere, plus there could be all sorts of other things in there. Should he really follow it? Then again, it was shining pretty bright, and he did need a source of light if he was going to find any form of shelter.

Naito timidly followed the wisp through the path of trees, glancing over his shoulders and looking from left to right every second. Some of their thick branches and vines hung down low, forcing him to duck under them. He heard the barking of a wolf, and the wisp turned to the right.

"S-Shadow?!" Naito shouted as he ran to keep up with the wisp. After clawing his way through a thick and thorny bush, he gasped at the sight in front of them. There were three men circled around a wolf with their guns pointed at it's head. Shadow. Even though he was a real, living wolf and not a spirit, Naito still recognized him instantly. "Shadow!!!" He called out and tried to race over to Shadow, but tripped over the roots of a tree. The howling of another, grown wolf echoed in the air, and she tackled one of the men to the ground. Her fangs ripped into his neck, but the sound of his screaming was instantly replaced by the sound of the barrage of bullets that assaulted Shadow's mother, as well as her dying howls. They didn't waste a single second before making Shadow face the same fate as well.