Original Stories Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ The Elementalists ❯ Twenty-three - The Beginning of the End ( Chapter 23 )

Guren's group met up with Ilias's by late morning the next day. They ate a small breakfast in silence and then continued on, heading towards the Celestial Clearing. “You do know this may kill you,” Ilias said, looking slightly concerned at the six people. “You have to give it your all as it is.”

 

Candis sighed, replying, “Yes, we know it could kill us.” She looked down, kicking a pebble out of her way. “It's not like we really have a choice.”

 

The other three girls nodded solemnly in agreement, adding to the tension surrounding the group. Florian and Eryk chose not to talk in fear that they would say something wrong or make the girls' nervousness increase even more.

 

“Well,” said Chi, “At least we've toughened up these past few months. And we got a good night's rest last night, so hopefully we'll be rejuvenated enough to beat this guy.” She offered an innocent, optimistic smile, which only Ilias returned with a smile of his own.

 

He sighed, absently reaching for a braid to twirl it around his fingers. “Let's hope all goes as planned,” he muttered, glancing up at the clear, blue sky.

 

They came across the clearing about half an hour before dusk, and when they didn't sense any demonic aura, they settled on the outskirts of the clearing, waiting for the demon to show his face.

 

The night air was cool, the moon nearly new. The stars shone brightly above the dark forest, illuminating the beauty of the Celestial Clearing. It was much different from the other clearings they had camped out at; the dirt was the color of sand and sparkled in the moonlight; the trees lining the edge of the clearing were much healthier than the trees further out, and a large clear lake stretched across to the other side of the forest, the depths of it glittering vibrantly.

 

The wind picked up, rushing madly past the eight warriors, causing them all to stand up in alarm. “There!” shouted Kai, pointing towards the center of the lake. The same black portal from many months before swirled into existence as Gilead stepped out of it and floated mere inches above the water's surface.

 

Leering, he said, “How wonderful to see all of you here for the show.” His glossy blue hair had grown longer, now reaching past his backside. His black eyes glowed maliciously, sending shivers up the girls' spines. “And you've brought more people for me to toy with as well,” he added, his smirk widening as he eyed Chi and Feng.

 

Eryk spat on the ground, retorting, “It's you who'll be toyed with! Candis and Kai alone may have not been able to take you, but with all eight of us—”

 

“Do shut him up,” Gilead interrupted, looking annoyed with the arrogant man. “I've no time for your petty little games, sorcerer. No…” He lowered himself down, standing on the water, then began to walk across it, causing the group to tense. “I have something much better for you and your other male acquaintences to play with.”

 

Gilead snapped his fingers, and two blobs of gray light materialized at the lake's edge. The blobs churned violently for a moment, and then formed some sort of animal-shaped crature. Florian gasped, clenching his fists. “They're chimeras!” he hollered over the high winds.

 

The first chimera took the shape of a lion, then bat wings forced their way out of its back and its tail was a black with yellow spots, that of a serpent. It roared into the night, making the girls flinch unintentionally. The second chimera took the form of a vulture, it's dark crimson eyes glaring at them. Where its left wing should have been was instead a lizard's arm, the sharp claws glinting in the bright starlight. Its tail was also that of a lizard's, and it had a cheetah's hind legs.

 

“Damnit,” cursed Eryk, quickly forming his infamous staff. He eyed the first chimera, staring it down as it stalked towards him. “Hey Florian, take care of baldy over there and I'll tame this kitty-cat,” he shouted, grunting when the chimera charged at him, just barely defending himself with his staff. The chimera had attempted to jump on him, but he held up his staff in time to make a barrier and push the thing off of him.

 

Florian swore under his breath, jumping back in surprise when the second chimera tried to bite him. It screeched loudly, clawing at Florian as he continued to jump backwards until the trees blocked his way. “Shit,” he muttered, taking out a small, baseball-size sphere made of gold. He held it in front of him, closing his eyes and whispering a spell in an ancient language, causing the sphere to shine brightly. He shouted the last incantation, opening his eyes and holding the sphere out. A bright blue light shot out from the sphere, hitting the chimera head-on. Its head blown off, the body of it stumbled and fell over.

 

Florian's shoulders slumped as he put the sphere away, looking over to see how Eryk was doing. Guren scratched his chin thoughtfully, murmuring to himself, “I guess they aren't quite as weak as we took them for.”

 

In less than a moment, Florian heard the deafening screech of the chimera once again. His head snapped back towards the decapitated creature, gaping as he saw the lizard arm pick the head up and attach it back on. Gilead laughed menacingly. “You see? These chimeras are for your entertainment as well as mine. The only thing that can destroy them…” he said, pulling out a crystal attached to a golden chain. “…Is this. You see, this is a duplicate of Edric Balin Elias's infamous amulet. Don't tell Lady Rika that I told you this, but she stores most of her power and energy in this duplicate as to throw off people like you, who naturally think she stores it all in the amulet.” Gilead smirked, stuffing the crystal back in his jacket pocket. “Now…” He started, his eyes slowly roaming over Guren and Ilias. “What to do with you.”

 

Guren laughed mockingly, saying, “Well, I never thought I'd use this form ever again. I'm sorry that I may have to waste it on you.” He took off his cloak, revealing two golden bands around his wrists that the girls failed to notice many times before. He unfastened one, then the other, and soon a purple aura was surrounding him. The four girls watched on, intrigued when black wings protruded from Guren's back, ripping his shirt to pieces. Kai blushed very deeply, seeing for the first time his well-toned arms and stomach.

 

Gilead only laughed in return, replying, “I already knew you were born a Dark Angel, Guren. Ah, yes, I have the perfect vixen for you to fight.” Gilead rummaged through his coat pockets once more, taking out a small black ball. He turned the top to open it and out of the ball came a swirling black mist. The mist traveled down towards Guren, forming a beautiful vixen with midnight black hair, her fox ears and tail equally as dark. Her eyes were completely white, a glint of evil in them.

 

“Come here, dear Guren,” she said, her voice silky smooth. “I want your dark energy…”

 

Guren winced, but would not give in to the evil fox demon before him. “You're nothing but a whore, vixen,” he spat, forming a purple energy ball in his hand and throwing it at the vixen. She did nothing to block it and took the blast straight on, sliding back a few feet. She laughed maniacally, straightening up her bent over body.

 

“Your dark energy… Give it to me!” she screeched, wildly leaping straight towards Guren. He jumped up in surprise, flying high to avoid the vixen. Her eyes were wide, clearly showing the fox demon's lunacy.

 

Ilias jumped in, an elvish sword in each hand. The vixen turned to him, muttering disappointedly, “You have no dark energy. But elves do make a good meal for me!” Grinning like a mad woman, she slashed her claws at Ilias. He blocked her absurdly long and sharp nails with his swords, slashing right back at her as Guren flew back down and grabbed his katana.

 

Gilead chuckled quietly to himself. “Hey, you bastard! How dare you put them against evil creatures like that!” shouted Candis, her hands already covered in flames. “You're such a coward! Get your ass over here so we can teach you a lesson!”

 

A chorus of agreement followed Candis's challenge, causing Gilead to almost giggle with enthusiasm. “Yes,” he mused. “This is what I've been waiting for. Now that your pesky friends are out of the way, this should be interesting.” He leapt off of the water, landing no more than five feet from the Elementalists. “Now is the time for you to show your true powers. If you don't, you have no chance of beating me!” His eyes widened and he smirked wickedly, charging towards Kai and slashing his nails at her. She jumped out of the way and sprayed a dagger-sharp line of water at his hand. It pinned him to the ground and he howled in pain, but only for a moment.

 

Laughing just as insanely as the vixen, he pulled his hand out of the ground, licking the blood from the wound as it healed. The marks where his nails had pierced the ground turned a murky yellow-green color. “Oh, I forgot to tell you last time,” he started. “My nails are poisonous. So if any of you have even the slightest scratch from me, you'll die slowly and painfully and nothing will save you, because there is no cure! It is my own secret poison.”

 

Kai and the others tensed up, standing their ground as the battles with the chimeras and the vixen went on. It was as if it was only them and Gilead: an enemy they could not defeat. He could heal himself and had many powers that no normal sorcerer could ever imagine being born with. `Shit…' they thought simultaneously. `What can we do?!'