The Jade City

Chapter 5: The Graveyard, Part II

Harumi's POV

The blade sunk into the woman's shoulder and I hid behind the monsters so that she wouldn't see me. I couldn't believe I'd missed and began to feel lightheaded. And in such a critical situation...

Now I really was weaponless. From the wound came some white translucent liquid.

"What is that?" Jay yelped in disgust.

"Eww! Is it her blood?" Kai cried, horrified.

"I think she's a vampire!" Cole blurted out.

She glared at us and used some sort of telekinesis to blast a hole in the wall behind her. We watched as even more zombies came clamoring through. But I didn't care. My sister was up there, and I needed to help her.

"Guys!" I shouted, "I need to get up there! I'll take Lloyd! My sister needs my help!"

"How?" Morro said, "You can't even get up there by yourself, let alone with some unconscious person." He was strangely calm, unlike everyone else.

"I can do it," I insisted, "And Ruby needs help!"

He sighed. "I'll take him up. You stay here." With that, he threw the limp Lloyd around his shoulder and motioned for Kai to melt the ice above. Morro flew out of the hole as Zane froze it again.

"Trouble ahead," Nya warned us.

I looked back. We were surrounded. And I was weaponless. But it looked like the mud monsters had melted into the ground.

They charged. Swords and powers flew everywhere. It was so chaotic that if you hurled a weapon, you had no idea whether you would strike a friend or foe. About every five seconds, a blade would almost hit me. Lucky for me, I was skinny and had enough room to duck or avoid. They ended up smashing and colliding into each other. I punched and kicked anything that came into contact. Tripping the zombies was especially fun. They'd crash into a jumble of dead skin and bones. Using the bodies as weapons was quite fun as well, albeit kinda gross. I grabbed one by the ankles and spun him around, knocking out others.

"The pendant!" Kai hollered, "She's getting away!"

"I'll go get her!" I called, "I'm the only person she isn't going to kill! You guys find a way to escape, and I'll meet you up there!"

Using the zombies' arms as a boost, I jumped on top of the crowd. It was really hard to keep my balance. Time and time again I would almost fall due to the zombies trying to bring me back down. Finally, I leaped down and chased after the woman. I figured she'd gone into the hole in the wall. There was a passageway behind it. I picked up my dagger from the ground, which had her milky blood all over it, and wiped it off on my sleeve as I ran down the dark corridor.

I halted at the end of the passageway. The woman was standing there, alone. I took the dagger from my belt and ran my finger against the blade. Sharp enough. It would have to do. I straightened up, rolled my shoulders back, and stepped forward the way I'd been instructed to back in the Palace.

"Hello," I said, flicking my hair off my shoulder.

She whirled around. "What are you doing here?! After you tried to kill me?!"

I put my hands on my hips and scoffed. "Listen, I missed on purpose. I have to make them think I'm on their side. Make them think they've won. Then lure them over, and destroy them all. Trust me. There's nothing I'd want more than to rule Jade City. With you by my side."

"How do I know you're not going to betray me? After you kept telling me to free your friends?"

I rolled my eyes, as if it was obvious. "What do you think they're gonna expect me to do? I need them to still trust me so that they could help in my mission to defeat the Shadow Knight. They'll assume I'm faking when we're working together. Once we secure the Crystal Blade we can destroy them. Call me the Quiet One. I know there's no reason for you to trust me, but those idiots back there got my birth parents killed. I've been plotting revenge for a while, and this is my chance. Our chance. Take it, unless you want the Shadow Knight ruling Jade City while you rot in this oversized coffin." I folded my arms across my chest with my lips pursed, waiting to see her reaction.