Tales from Frostbourne [Cancelled]

Chapter 4 : Fight Back (Part 3)

Previously:

Rio was surrounded by pigmen, all lead by Naeus of all people. I could just about hear what they were saying.

Now: Ceris POV (16)

"So we meet again, General Rio. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Naeus hissed at Rio.

"Yes, it has, Naeus. And it will be the last time we meet." she replied slowly, savouring every word. Naeus frowned at that.

"Don't you say that every time?" he challenged, tilting his head slightly. It suddenly occurred to me that Rio and Naeus knew each other well, from previous times they'd fought. They knew each other almost too well. It was Rio's turn to frown, but she didn't have much time to, since as soon as he'd said that, he attacked. Thankfully, Rio is the General for a reason, so she saw it coming and defended herself.
It brought me back to the moment when I fought Void, in defence of Dad, bringing painful tears to my eyes. As they fought, I heard a member of the Horde call Naeus away, making him pause just before he would have brought a fatal blow to Rio's neck. A bitter grin spread across his face.
"Alright General, I'll spare you this once, but next time, you won't be so lucky. Watch your back." He warned, turning away. Rio saw that as an advantage, and waited a second, then ran at him, swords at the ready. Unfortunately, Naeus must have heard her, and sent a shockwave towards her. It knocked her off her feet and blew her like ten meters into the air.
As she hit the ground, Patrick and Azura burst out the door and ran to see if she was OK, not caring about the masses of pigmen surrounding the base, and despite all our warnings.
"Azura! Patrick!" Dominic yelled after them.
Azura turned around and called to him, "We're fine! Don't worry!" They both knew how to fight anyways. I had the sudden urge to go out and help Rio, since she had helped me, but part of me told me not to as well... Patrick and Azura were trying to lift Rio back to base... could they do it? It was dangerous, but nevertheless, I grabbed my katanas once more and sprinted to Rio, my eyes glued to her. I couldn't let another person die without doing anything.
"Out the way kiddos! Allow me!" I bellowed at them. I gave Patrick and Azura a katana each and hoisted Rio over my shoulder. Time seemed to suddenly slow down as we ran as fast as we could back inside. I propped Rio up against my legs as Dominic examined her back and neck, the most likely places she would have hurt herself.
"She's winded badly. She might not have long if we don't do anything quickly. Azura lift Rio off Ceris will you?" Dominic told his apprentice.
"OK." She replied, gently lifting Rio up, careful not to hurt her. She groaned slightly as she did, eyelids flickering for a moment, then she went still again.
"She's still alive, which is good." Patrick observed, but he was obviously very scared. I suddenly saw a portal appear outside, and the Nether Horde race through, then for the first time in so long, peace. They were finally gone. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or not, they'd got away with injuring or killing two important leaders, for now anyways...
I couldn't deal with all the tension in the room. I couldn't get my hopes too high for Rio.
"I'm gonna go get some fresh air." I muttered to Mum, slipping through the door and closing it gently. There's a place I had to go to, where I always go when I'm feeling sad, or stressed, or whatever. Of course, I was feeling both of those things at the time. It's right on the edge of the land, and looks over the void. When I got there, I sat on the edge and just let everything that had happened today, fade away. I closed my eyes and breathed the cool evening air, into my bruised and battered body. I just sat like that for a good twenty minutes. There's two reasons why it's my favourite place. One, because I spent so much time there with Dad, who was now, well, dead. Two, because the void is so empty, so when I look at it, there's nothing to distract me from letting everything slip away. Then, I heard something moving around behind me. I turned around quickly, but it was just Patrick. I sighed a quiet sigh of relief, I didn't want to fight a pigman at the moment.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him, looking back over the void.
"I could ask you the same thing." He shrugged. "I just came to see how you're holding up."
I paused before replying, "I come out here sometimes, to clear my mind. It's always so peaceful. Everyone's got a happy place, and I suppose this is mine."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I go up to the top of the mountains sometimes, to clear my mind too." He nodded. I didn't realise we had that much in common. We were both the next leaders of our realm or clan, we were both good at fighting, and now this. He came and sat next to me, and stared out into the void too.

"It's nice out here, isn't it?" I asked without looking at him. We sat there for a few minutes, when we heard someone call to Patrick.

"Hey Patrick." Azura called. "Come on, Rio's woken up. She wanted to see you." Patrick sighed in relief. He got up slowly, looking down at me.

"Wanna come? She won't mind, you did save her life after all, along with us and Dominic." he asked, smiling.

"Sure." I replied simply. I wanted to make sure she was OK. I stood up wearily. Patrick and I sauntered over to Azura. When we got to her, she leaned over to me.

"Just so you know, he's mine..." she whispered, grinning.

"Ha! Don't worry, I'm not going to fight over him!" I chuckled, and she smirked back at me, in a friendly way. Then together, the three of us ran back to base. Once we'd got there, Rio was sitting upright speaking to Dominic. She saw us come in and smiled.

"Hey there guys. Ceris, Dom told me you saved my life. Thank you, how can I repay you?" she thanked me.

"Actually, I think I repayed you, for, well, helping me try to save Dad." I told her, dipping my head gently. Her smile faded a little at that. She probably felt guilty about not doing much else, but it was so much to me.
"Heh, I suppose so. Now, Dominic, can I please get out of this bed?" she requested, tilting her head.

"Yes, in fact, I think we should return to Frostbourne now, since the battle's finished. What do you think?" he urged.

"Yeah, Patrick, Azura? Let's go home." she smiled and got up form the bed.

"WOO! Yeah! Let's go!" Patrick whooped. I lead them out, and showed them the portal out of the End. Each of the warriors disappeared through the portal. Patrick and Azura nodded their thanks to us, and jumped through. Rio and Karma came over and gave me a hug each.

"Good luck, Ender Watcher. It's been an honour fighting for you. I'm sure we will meet again soon." Rio nodded as we parted our hug. I felt tears sting at my eyes.

"Yes. Yes, we will meet again. I can feel it. Thanks for everything Rio." I turned to Karma. "Thanks, Karma." I acknowledged her.

"Best of luck, Ceris. I know you'll do great. I'll come back every few days, and see how you're doing, OK?" she informed me. I knew she'd do something like that. She's a good sister.

"OK. See you guys soon." I exclaimed, waving them through the portal.

A few weeks later, when Karma had been visiting once or twice a week, she came with sad news.

"I'm afraid General Rio has died from an unknown disease. Patrick is now the new General."

-------FLASHBACK ENDS-------

Ceris POV (Now) - you may need to remind yourself on what happened before the flashback.

"I never even liked them. I only pretended, so I could be on their good side. The Nether Horde are crazy. Especially Naeus." I shrugged, I could see Phoenix knew that wasn't the case.