Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos Insues ❯ CI2 ( Chapter 2 )

Before long, we made it to the Core's `backyard'. The dreadhounds never slowed and were gaining ground. I searched the back wall as we neared; looking for the secret door that would lead inside. Its location was no problem since it was hanging open, Darkness standing in the entranceway.

"Hurry! Before-"

"Just don't close the door! Run girl! I want them in here!" I yelled as I rushed by her, cutting her off.

The cramped tunnel opened out after about 100 yards. The next chamber had two adjoining tunnels and a door on the far wall. I heard a shout and turned.

"What is it?" I called back, feeling very confused.

"They aren't coming in!" Lycan called from somewhere down the tunnel.

"Huh?" There was my great mind at work again. 'Say something useful!' it crowed at me.

"Must be from the magic that surrounds the hold..." Darkness offered with an off-handed gesture. Of the seven of us, Darkness, Pyros, Lycan and I could use magic; albeit Lycan's was healing in nature. Both Lee and Loc were natural swordsmen, and Bardi...Well, he was our thief and bard.

We let out a collective sigh of relief and flopped down onto the hard stone floor. We hadn't rested a lick on our flight to the Core; we were all dead on our feet, figuratively speaking, that is. I rested my staff on my lap and tried to even out my breathing some. I was a bit out of practice.

Frowning, I looked around at my friends. Lee appeared to be the only one who wasn't too winded from our jaunt across the countryside. Of course, he was the youngest and the most well built for it; but, still in all...I was jealous.

"What. Now. Dar?" Loc asked brokenly from his spot on the other side of Bardi.

My frown became a grimace. "Haven't got a clue. Darkness, what's been going on since I left?" I was only a little bit surprised that I was able to speak without sounding winded or fatigued.

"Oh, not much really, the council had a meeting yesterday. I was not invited." She frowned at this; she was one of the top council members and was not allowed in? "I have no idea what they talked about; the others refuse to tell me. I think they know about *us*."

I only nodded as she bowed her head, staring at the stones under foot.

"Not good. Well I guess we wait then. Not much else to do..." Pyros said, letting the sentence trail off as she glanced at the door behind me. The look she had was joined by my own. I jumped up and twirled around, eyes flashing.

"Nani!?" was Lee's startled call.

The door slowly swung open, we waited; Pyros, with a fireball, me with my staff. 'Who is it? I thought only the seven of us knew about the tunnels...guess I was wrong. Bad thought on my part.'

I was about to attack; but Py fell over clutching her head, an ear-piercing scream tumbling from her mouth. She wasn't alone; I also heard Darkness let loose a yell. Seconds dragged by in slow motion as terrible pain coursed through my skull. I gritted my teeth, falling to one knee; my brain felt like someone was trying to rip it apart from the inside out.

Blood was rushing in my ears, cutting off my friends' pained cries. 'Can't blackout now, must stay awake. Come on, remember to block, damnit!' My pulse quickened and I knew I would lose the battle if I didn't do something.

I blindly swung at the figure that had been in the doorway. I felt my staff connect with a body. The maddening pain was slowly receding; my senses coming back to me in a rush of pure adrenaline. 'Got to make this shot count!' Through the haze in my mind, I found my target, hunched over, with my staff pressed into its stomach. Focusing on my prey, I brought the staff up with all my might, knocking whoever it was into the door. Seconds ticked by and the torment stopped. The magi was out like a light.

Heaving a sigh of relief, I pulled the body into the room. In the process I checked the hallway for anybody who might have seen the wall open. Finding no one, I turned back to my companions apparently in a great deal worse shape than I was.

"Let's move out. Lycan, you all right?" At my inquiry, he only nodded his head. Clicking my tongue at him, I headed out the door.

We broke off into groups to search for the other council members. I, of course, went alone. No reason for me to take backup since I can handle just about anything; so long as it's not the Tweedledum family...

It didn't take me long to find Reggie, the head of the council; he was in his office doing paperwork. Naturally. When I stepped into the room, he stiffened, even with his back to me, he knew who I was.

"Is there something I can do for you, Daria?" He asked, not facing me.

"You could start by telling me what the hell has gotten into everybody lately. I hear you guys plan to raid the towns and villages, looking for recruits and protection money. It hardly sounds like a plan by a rational group of people."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied tersely.

My voice got that manic edge to it as I spoke, "Reg, don't lie to me; you know I hate liars. Besides I can see the report from here-you can't deny that it's true." He cringed, as if I had walked over and slapped him across the face.

"Ah, well, I couldn't do anything to stop them."

"You mean you're a coward, too afraid to do anything."

"They would have killed me!"

"And you think I won't?" He seemed to consider it, back still turned, his head bowed.

"You're too late at any rate...four parties have already left the hold."

"It's never too late. Do you have any idea what this will do to the citizens? Do you know what they will do once the attacks are over? Why don't you do something instead of cowering in your office!"

"And what do you think *I* should *do*? Tell them I think they are making a mistake? They would hang me for sure." I rolled my eyes; the man had no backbone.

"How about forming a revolt against the Core members that have gone bonkers! Get together as many people you can find that hate the idea and attack! Don't just stand there, man! Move your butt!"

*****

After leaving him at an intersection I went in search of the others. Things were about to get rather ugly in here and I wanted us to be out of the way. Hell, it wasn't *our* fight really; so why should we have to stick around?

I found the others standing by the secret exit when the whole place shook. My eyes went wide as teacups as I looked back up the hallway.

A *very* large fireball, the width of the hall, came hurtling at us. I was only dimly aware of someone pulling me through the wall. It whizzed by just seconds after I was safely out of the way. "Too close...way too close."

"State the obvious, Lee..." Py chided from my left.

I just couldn't believe that the fight had already begun...I had only just left that idiot Reggie.

"Question...what are we going to do? The dreadhounds are most likely to be staked out at the exit, and only an earth mage can kill them. The last time I checked, none of us are earth magi; and the whole place has become a war zone out there," I said, chucking a thumb at the closed door.

A new voice rang out in the tiny space. We turned as one. "I can help you out...for a price."

*****

The Core was in an uproar. Reggie had rallied half of the hold against the stranger's imposed ideas. The allies of good were attacking anyone without a white band around their arm, indicating an ally. Soon, the fighting had everyone in the halls throwing who-knows-what at each other.

Reggie and about four spirit mages were trying to bring down the house. The earth magi gave a booming laugh, amused by his opponents. The walls trembled, the bricks breaking away and merging to create a barrier between them.

"Give it up, Reg. You and your ragtag group will never win against us!"

"That's what you think, Duk, not what will happen."

*****

The body count got higher as the raiding parties continued to burn down the small huts and buildings of the poor people. It was pure madness. There was blood everywhere--children crying for their dying parents--farmers trying to stop them, only to lose their lives to the thieving bandits. Couldn't anyone stop them?

*****

Reggie snapped another magi's neck and continued down the hall. He was heading for their high magi, the man in charge. Surely he would stop this madness and unite the hold once more.

However, when he reached Rich's room, he found only a pile of dust in the center of a robe. Most likely, a fire mage of high rank had killed their only leader. Reggie weeped for all of them...

*****

Dawn was fast approaching as the raiding parties headed for the hold. They had no idea what kind of a mess they would greet them when they returned. Two groups would not be coming back, however; pale white blurs with dead red eyes surged forward...

*****

"Who the hell are you?" my eyes narrowed to slits as a glared at the intruder. "How did you get in here? How did you know the tunnels were even here in the first place?"

"Breathe, Dar." Lee said at my elbow. But--how could I when my mind was screaming at me? Of course, try to tell that to Lee...it's impossible.

Lycan had started talking then, more to keep the stranger from my wrath then to find out anything. "You said that you could help us...how do you plan to do that? Are you a member of the Core?" He was slowly making his way over to our 'guest'.

"Hardly. I was just...passing through the area. As for how I found this place is easy, I fell back against one wall and into the tunnel." He was just *too* damn calm for my liking.

"Passing through, my a-"

"Dar..." Loc warned me gently.

I was just about ready to kill something or someone. "I don't trust him."

There was a collective sigh and a shaking of heads all around. I dared not look away from the man.

"Excuse our leader, she tends not to trust anyone. I'm Pyros and you are...?"

"You can call me...Nanashi." There was a slight smile on his face that made me growl.

"All right, Nanashi, how can you hel-"

"What's your angle and what price do we have to pay for your help?" Py rolled her eyes at my interruption; sometimes it pays to be paranoid.

"I'm a simple man who needs just simple things. The price is just your sou--er-- something to eat. I've been rather busy to actually get something for myself."

If looks could kill, Nanashi would have died minutes ago and even his ashes would be long gone. He was on my *last* nerve. And, guess what, I wasn't happy, and I sure as *hell* wasn't going to give him anything.

Lycan was already handing over his only bit of food. "Here. Eat." It was almost like a command coming from him. I couldn't help but laugh.

The dried meat and bread were gone in seconds. "Thank you," he managed to get out before I pounced again.

"You've got what you wanted, so start talking. If you're going to help, do so *now* before I really get angry." Lee tightened his hold on my arm, stepping between Nanashi and me.

"Will you just calm down?!" I just growled at him, staring over Lee's shoulder.

"Follow me," he said. He took off at a run down one of the tunnels heading towards the main gate.

We chased after Nanashi in the hopes that he could help us out, or rather that is what the rest of the group believed. I wanted to keep an eye on him. There was just something about the guy that made me want to take a sword and gut him from bellybutton to sternum.

We reached the main chamber where the tunnels converged; the high ceiling gave off a soft light but did little to show the room. Nanashi stopped at the only door; laying his hand on the wooden frame, his eyes closed.

He was sensing beyond the door to see if any of the magi were in the anteroom. He nodded, opened the door and headed out. The rest of us followed at a safe distance, me taking up the rear. 'I could have done that, smarty-pants.'

Movement to my left made me turn, with a ball of pure energy at the ready. I never had a chance to throw it. Loc had his sword out and cut the mage clean in half, brain material and blood flying about.

"Thanks, Loc, next time just run me through...saves on cleaning it off later." He laughed at my statement; I was laughing, too. So, no biggie.

"We must hurry; there's no time to waste." Nanashi said, interrupting a *Kodak moment*

I was just about to take him off at the knees, when icicles flew through the air at us. "Head for cover!" I yelled over the ensuing chaos.

I watched my friends break off and scatter around the room; each one taking up positions against the walls. Snapping my staff at a fire magus, who promptly fell to the ground screaming, I searched for Nanashi. Somehow, I had lost sight of him in the scuffle and that worried me.

I dodged a rolling head. 'Most likely that was one of Lee's victims,' I thought as I made it to the stairs. Knocking one of the goons off the stairs with a double-handed blow to his solar plexus, I turned back to the others.

Py had her hands full, taking on a wind mage and a water mage. Lycan was holding his own against two giant men with swords. Loc and Lee were chopping any, and all, things near them in two; blood squirting everywhere, body parts flying. Bardi was up against a nasty earth mage, a close call on who the victor would be. Darkness was opposite me, desperately trying to stop a group of travelers from barging into the room. I pointed my staff at the doors, the runes glowing faintly yellow, and a gust of wind slammed the doors shut.

"Thanks, Dar!" Darkness called out before turning to face a new opponent.

'Where is that bastard?!? How could he leave us? He's probably the stranger that came here with those *great* ideas...' I was not a happy camper, there were no marshmallows left and the only songs we were going to sing were old Barney songs. Well, not that bad--but close enough.

Without warning, my world started to spin as I fell towards the center of the room. I could see dark spots in my field of vision and the rushing of blood in my ears. For me, the battle just stopped. My friends were calling to me but I was too dazed to answer. 'What the hell hit me?'

I shook my head slightly and wished I hadn't, as the room tilted once more. I felt nauseous, and why was I on the floor? Time sped back up as I lifted my head and turned it ever so slowly toward my attacker....

I tried to stand up but my legs felt like jelly. I landed, grimacing, once more on the ground.

"Tsk, tsk. You shouldn't try to get up. You'll only make things harder on yourself."

I snorted, "Nanashi...you bastard, I knew you couldn't be trusted."

"I'm glad to see your instincts haven't left you, Daria...or should I say you were?" I stiffened.

"Miss Wayfinder to you..." I spat out, as another wave of nausea hit me, stopping me from commenting further.

"Temper. Temper. Little. One." he said, punctuating each word with a kick to my stomach. A grunt escaped past my lips as I tried to avoid his attacks.

'Oh, the things I will do to you,' I thought, glaring death at him. He was circling me like a vulture; of course, a vulture was better looking and a lot nicer. Every once in a while a fist or foot crashed into me.

I was dimly aware that the others were no longer visible. The room I was now in did not belong to the Core. 'Great. I get a beating. After I kill him slowly and painfully, I get to hike back. Hopefully, the others can hold their own `til I get back.'

*****

{The Core}

Darkness cried out a warning. Too late, Daria was already falling. The others shouted as well; they, too, were not in time.

Nanashi had hit her hard on the back of the head with a large rock. Simultaneously he caused the floor to shift beneath her. The one-two-punch was enough, since surprise was on his side.

Darkness was then assaulted from both sides at once, drawing her away from her long time friend and leader. She knocked one attacker over to Loc with a kick to the head, the other she took down with a blast of lightning.

She turned back to the center of the room, just in time to watch both Nanashi and Daria vanish in a puff of smoke. 'Be safe, Dar, and don't worry, we'll keep a light on for ya,' she thought, before returning to battle.