Fan Fiction ❯ The Path to Adventure ❯ The Struggle Begins ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter 9: The Struggle Begins


Laura sped off from the forest clearing. She ran along the dirt path that coursed throughout the forest. The night created a majestic scene among the forest’s various trees. Laura was running extremely fast, much faster than she had ever gone before. The experience was amazing.

The wind gently blew her sandy hair around her shoulders and across her face. She quickened her pace, remembering the urgency of the affair. To any creature watching, she was an agile blur speeding along the path and blending in with the night sky. Up ahead she could spot the forest’s exit.

As she approached the exit, she felt on her belt for the pouch, checking its contents again. She stopped at the edge of the woods and inspected her surroundings. All around were flat grasslands amidst the midnight blue sky. Off to her left, the slivered moon was somewhat visible, casting an eerie glow along the flat lands.

She sprinted from a standstill to nearly maximum speed in a matter of seconds. The plains were peaceful. She almost hated to run through, preferring to stroll along and take in everything at a slowed pace. After she had run several miles, which only took a good ten minutes, she saw a change in scenery.

The grasslands were no longer appearing. Instead, wet, marshy land took over. The marshes weren’t swampy and foul smelling, but they still produced a noticeable change in smell. The temperature also took a change of its own. It dropped sharply, almost twenty degrees (Fahrenheit), which left the speedy Laura shivering slightly.

Although the changes were unfavorable, she knew she was on course. The Wizards of Nox preferred the damp marshlands. In fact, they drew much of their magical power directly from the marshes. As Laura ran, she became aware of eyes upon her.

She peered around and couldn’t see anything suspicious because of the, now dark, marshland. Then she remembered something the Elder of Azul had given to her. It was a spell scroll, meant to make the user have night vision for a limited time. She withdrew the scroll from her vest pocket and unrolled it.

She read the ancient incantation and was astounded as the whole marshland became alight, as if the sun were closer to the earth than the moon. She could even see better than in the daytime. There were no shadows that lurked in the marshes. “No,” she thought, “there are shadows out there...heartless shadows.”

She was right. The only shadows visible were the numerous heartless forming on either side of the path. She realized what was watching her. “I’m done for,” she thought grimly.

Then she remembered the pouch. She untied it hastily and searched through its contents. She grabbed the crimson object that lay next to the Nox Crystal. The object was in the shape of a knight’s coat-of-arms. She held it firmly out in front of her, toward the rapidly approaching heartless.

There was a hissing noise and wild, dark chattering as the heartless awkwardly began backing up, back toward the marshes. “The Pacifist Emblem worked!” Laura thankfully thought.

She continued running along the marshy path with the Emblem wrapped tightly inside her right fist. She knew the Emblem would not keep the heartless away forever. The Emblem was like the tangible form of peace and non-violence. It made most creature’s feel peaceful, or at the very least, not feel like fighting.

The Heartless were creatures born of darkness and consumed hearts. The Emblem would not keep them away for long. Laura sped up, knowing this danger. Soon she came to another change in scenery. Everywhere she looked, there were stone towers and keeps. Although she could see in the dark, with the help of the scroll, it appeared the wizards could not. The entire stone city was illuminated by tall, green-flamed torches.

“Ah,” Laura thought knowingly, “I’ve reached Nox.”

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The woman mage, known as Mira, was leading the summoning. The nine mages were standing in a large semicircle. Each had their short staffs pointed down toward the half circle’s center. Mira said the incantation while the others repeated her words, like an echo.

After five or so minutes, the sky began a series of rapid flashes. It flashed, like lightning, nine times, one time per mage. Immediately after the ground began quaking. The semicircle’s center cracked and groaned, eventually a large round pit was formed.

The mages traded complements for the near perfect summoning while Kira and Karl stared at the pit. A high pitched war cry pierced the air. The mages halted the complements and watched as their work produced its outcome.

A light green colored hand with sharp yellow claws reached out from the pit onto its edge. From the pit, a similar green colored creature arose. The creature was around three feet tall. It was slim, and was composed of tough looking skin. It had short, but deadly, spikes protruding from its back. It possessed earthly dark brown eyes that could only described as experienced.

Karl and Kira were amazed at the sole creature, but wondered if it could take on the heartless by its lonesome. As if on command, another set of clawed hands reached out from the pit. The claws were followed by another body, identical to the first. Closely trailed by the second creature was another pair of hands and another body. The creatures kept spawning form the pit until there were more than fifty of them. All of them possessed the same experienced, earthy colored eyes.

“Their called Draxils,” Mira the Summoner informed the two, open mouthed, teens.

“How well do they fight?” the more curious than ever Karl questioned.

“Very well, but don’t take my word for it. You can see for yourself in another moment or two,” Mavir the Scholar, told Karl.

Sure enough, the dark mist could be seen approaching. It consumed the trees as he hovered near, transforming them from lively oaks and wispy willows to dead, charred black, birch and dark entangling mangroves. The actual border could be seen between the live forest and the freshly decaying swamp.

The mist was a good fifty feet from the eagerly awaiting Draxils when it began swirling end over end. The ground beneath it churned and groaned as the army of darkness was called upon from an unworldly void. The unholy Heartless troops began spawning. At first only the crudest of heartless formed, which were small dark figures with beady yellow eyes and sharp claws. But as time drew onward, more complex and deadly heartless were called upon. The mist created nearly two hundred of the crude heartless foot soldiers

One type of heartless summoned appeared to be a circular floating ghost. It was three feet by three feet in dimensions and was colored black with light purple highlights. The creature’s mouth was almost always wide open, flashing its jagged yellow teeth. It left a trail of dark mist as it transformed into a purple gaseous form and hovered from one place to another, before reverting back to its original form. There appeared to be at least thirty of the ghastly heartless.

Another species of heartless that was called upon looked sort of like a large knight with a shield twice the size of its body. This heartless was really two beings in one. Its shield was also brimming with evil. The creature attacked and defended with its indestructible shield, which possessed a terrifying face. The creature seemed to only be vulnerable from behind at its, fully destructible, soft body. There were about twenty or twenty five of these bone crushing heartless.

The last of the summoned heartless were the most terrifying. These heartless were ethereal and didn’t appear to be able to be damaged with long ranged weapons. They were ghostly wraiths that hovered a few feet above the, now swampy, ground. These heartless seemed to be covered in a badly torn and tattered hooded cloak, which was the only visible part of them.

The Mages of Azul, the Draxils, and the teens all faced the army of darkness.

“It shall begin,” the Elder spoke just as hell broke loose.

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Chapter End_____________


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