A Hero In The Dark

Chapter 103: Drained

"Stay away from her!" shouts Eight.

We must be at least 100 feet apart. Too far to launch any kind of assault without the risk of them killing Marina.

We need to play this carefully. Now that I've gained some of my strength back, I am able to call all of my legacies with relative ease. My connection to Lorien through the pendant stronger than ever.

Phiri Dun-Ra laughs alongside the Shadow Mog while Adelina and I approach Eight's side, the others remaining near.

"You know exactly what we came here for, human!" yells Phiri in response then. "Give it to us and she is yours."

I look to John whom joins me at my other side. He shakes his head; objects, "Emily and Ella are not going with you! Give Marina back to us before we really hurt you!"

Phiri Dun-Ra only laughs bitterly again at that and wields a small steel dagger. She steps atop of Marina's body and grabs her hair, putting the blade up against her throat. "Believe me, I am prepared to hurt her if we don't get what we're after!"

"Don't!" cries Adelina. "I will go with you. Just don't kill her. She is my responsibility."

Neither of the mogs say anything, but Phiri Dun-Ra does release her hold. And Adelina steps forward.

"Adelina? What are you doing?" I ask, attempting to stop her.

"I'm going to save Marina," she simply responds and continues walking.

Henri counters, "That's a bad idea. We'll find another way."

"There is no other way Henri. She is my Garde," she says. "I'm sure if John was taken, you'd be doing the exact same. It is what we were trained to do. I have to."

Henri does not reply. And so, we all watch Adelina advance peacefully on the two augmented mogs.

The three tendrils of ooze lurk around Phiri Dun-Ra like something alive in a horror movie, waiting. I can already feel the negative double-crossing energy from her and those sickening dark ooze limbs.

I need a plan. If this goes south; if Adelina isn't able to get Marina back, I need a way to protect them both from harm.

Then the idea comes to me. Well, actually it came to mind as I was struggling under her control. Though I was never able to act on it.

It's risky. It's untested. I don't even know if it will entirely work. It's something I never thought to do; something Pittacus Lore has never mentioned in my visions but may have known.

Eneration. The ability to control and manipulate currents of energy at will. To be able to sense all the energy around you even if it is unseen. An ability to use your own energy to create cobalt blue beams in the face of danger. The ability to give life and energy to living things; people, plants, and animals.

Well, what happens if I look at the reverse end of the spectrum?

Risky and untested. Uncertainty in the midst of a great threat. Yet if it works, it could all be over. Just like that. But the precision necessary to accomplish such a task? I don't know if I have it.

There are too many factors at play. Too many hazards to encounter and too little confidence after what happened tonight already.

And at that point, I hear its voice from deep within, "I am here for you dear. I am here and I will fight with you."

I watch as Phiri Dun-Ra steps aside so Adelina can pick up Marina's unconscious body. And while she does, I spot a tendril of vicious black ooze inching ever so closely to her from behind.

I see it all happen before any of the others can react. Seemingly in slow motion, I push past them and run. And as I run, I yell, "ADELINA!"

Just like that, my palms glow. My vision changes from the dark of night to nothing but several shades of blue. My eyes aglow. My skin aglow. My bare feet pouring a cobalt blue energy into the ground with each step I take. Just like that.

And I breathe in a deep breath. The largest of inhales I have ever taken and hold it.

And with that breath, holds the energy of the two I am focused on.

The Shadow Mog stares at me; stares at the azure spark in my eyes. He notifies Phiri Dun-Ra of my approach but that is all he can manage.

It happens so fast.

I raise a palm and aim it at him. And before he has a chance to teleport from shadow to shadow, I pull his energy away.

A mist of faint sky blue radiates off of his body and flows into my outstretched hand.

To anyone else, I probably look insane. The unseen drain of bodily energy escaping his every pore. Unseen to all but me.

It takes an effort to hold more energy than I am used to, yet with my bond with Lorien, I know I can handle it.

Not even a second passes before the Shadow Mog's body drops lifeless to the ground. He isn't dead though; I still sense his dark heart beat. Enough time and rest will bring him back from zero.

I step over his unmoving body, my gaze shifting to Phiri Dun-Ra. Adelina, too in awe of what she is witnessing in me, stands idly with Marina in her arms.

"Get back to the others," I tell her urgently, my gaze primarily on the trueborn. "Go now. Before-"

Phiri Dun-Ra takes her chance.

She sends a tendril of dark Mogadorian ooze straight into Adelina's chest, missing Marina's jaw by a hair.

"NO!" I scream.

A stomp and another extended palm. I breathe in and pull her energy away. Drain her of whatever is left after the destruction she caused already. Drain her of it all. Make her energy mine.

I am just able to see the tendril of ooze in Adelina's body retreat lazily to Phiri Dun-Ra's missing arm before they both fall to the ground.

I try to stand tall; try to endure all the vivid energy in my body, absorbed by the mogs.

But I can't.

This is the limit. I have reached the boundaries that I cannot push farther.

My body falters and sways and falls. Blue turns to black and all becomes calm.