by Lola StVil
The Echo sucks up everything around us. Homes, trees, and cars fly past us as they enter the swirling vortex of carnage. We run as fast as possible, but it’s still not enough to place a safe distance between the Echo and us.
“We need to get below ground, now!” Pryor shouts over the roaring wind.
“There’s the entrance of the cave,” Bex shouts.
We make it to the opening of the cave with only seconds to spare. I put Mateo down, and I’m relieved to see that he’s starting to regain consciousness.
“Hey, wake up! We need to get inside the cave,” Diana orders him.
He moans and then whispers something as he regains his strength.
“Caves like this have traps in their entry points. We enter at the wrong part of the opening, we will be eviscerated.”
“Damn it!” Diana shouts.
“I have a device that can expose where the traps are,” Mateo says, but by now, the Echo is no longer chasing us; it’s here.
“There’s no time. We have to jump,” Pryor says.
“How do we know we will survive this?” Mateo asks Diana.
“We don’t!” she says as we all leap into the chasm.
Thankfully, we don’t dissolve into puddles, but the fall is brutal. We are like flies caught in a wind tunnel. We have no control over where we are tossed or how we land. When we finally hit the ground, it’s on a thick slab of flat rock. It’s resting on top of the very tip of a spire. The platform barely supports the weight of one angel, let alone all of us.
“It’s not gonna hold. We’re going over the edge. Hold on to something!” I shout.
But there is no time to latch on to anything; the platform tips over. Once again we go flying into the air and head straight for the river of lava below. There is no avoiding death now. I can feel the heat from the river of fire below. The lava will cook us within seconds.
Bex aims at the wall of the cave and fires. Large chunks of rock fall into the lava, allowing us a solid place to land. Not sure exactly where we will land, he blasts as many points on the wall as he can before we touch down. We all manage to latch on to a boulder—except Mateo.
He lands in the middle of the river. He sends out an ear-shattering cry as his body is engulfed in liquid flames. Mateo’s pain is immeasurable but brief. He disappears from the river and uses his powers to reappear next to Diana on the bolder she is holding on to. He is burned over eighty percent of his body. He would be screaming had it not been for the fact his lips have been melted shut. Panic-stricken and on the verge of death, he looks up at Diana with tears in his eyes.
“You’re okay. You’re okay,” she lies.
She frantically looks in her pouch for something to cure him. Everything she pulls out, she dismisses. She goes into her pouch one last time and breathes a sigh of relief as she finds what she needs. She takes the vial of green mixture and pours it over him. We watch as his body begins to repair itself. By the time we get onto the rocky shore, only faint scars remain on Mateo’s body.
“Are you okay? Did I miss a spot?” Diana asks.
“No. Thank you. Thank you so much,” Mateo replies.
“It’s no big deal,” she says, clearly taken aback by Mateo’s gratitude.
“Is everyone okay?” Pryor asks.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Key says as she studies Randy.
“Bex, where is the flower, and how do we get at it from here?”’ the leader says.
“Behind those rocks up there, there’s another cave that takes us deeper into the earth. It should be inside,” he explains.
“Mateo, do you have anything that can help us get there faster? It’ll take forever to climb up there without wings,” Pryor says.
“I do,” he says as he takes out a coin-sized gold-colored piece of metal.
He throws it down to the ground and the metal begins to mold itself into a staircase.
“It’s called a Pick Up. It’s very useful for places like this where wings won’t work. But you have to follow the same path as the being in front of you or else the step will disappear,” he warns.
“Bex, go first since you know the way. Randy, it might be better if you stay here,” Pryor says.
“Why?” he asks.
“I don’t know what’s inside that cave,” she replies.
“I can handle myself,” Randy reminds her.
“That’s what you took away from the Endu experience?” East teases.
“Maybe you can stay here and be the lookout,” Key suggests.
It would have been more merciful for Key to use her powers on Randy than to take that tone with him. I know she didn’t mean to belittle him, but that’s exactly what she did. He looks back at her, partly pissed and partly wounded.
“You really don’t think much of me, do you?” Randy says.
“That’s not true. I think the world of you. But we can’t have another setback. My sister’s life is on the line and I don’t want to worry about you,” she says, reaching for his hand.
“I get it. But what you don’t get is that I can handle myself. This is mission number five, and I’m still here. So can I get some credit for that?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Key says.
“So you’re coming with us?” Diana asks.
“Not only that, but I will take the lead,” Randy says.
And before we can stop him, he marches up the gold steps. We have no choice but to follow in his exact footsteps. Once we make it onto the landing, the steps disappear. The Kon then points us towards a small opening within the rock formation, where a bluish glow is emanating.
“The Midnight Flower should be in there,” Bex says.
“Good, let’s go get it,” Randy announces with certainty as he marches towards the small opening.
Without warning, Randy’s body is rocked by bolt after bolt of electric current. It throws him onto the ground. We rush to him, everyone except Bex and Pryor.
“Randy!” Diana calls out.
“What is it? What’s wrong with him?” I ask.
Pryor and Bex exchange a look of disapproval. She looks down at Randy and shows no concern whatsoever.
“Randy, give Bex’s powers back to him,” Pryor says.
Just like that, the current that held Randy hostage is released. The force field around Bex disappears, and Randy stops shaking.
“What just happened?” Randy asks, looking pale.
“You used the stone Malakaro gave you. You tried to take power from an angel, and it would have let you except you picked a Kon to take power from. You can’t do that. Stones like that don’t work on angels who are leaders. It won’t work on me or on Bex. All it will do is place extra protection around the leader and shock the hell out of the being seeking to steal the Kon’s powers,” Pryor informs him.
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” the human asks.
“I thought you knew better than to use something given to you by Malakaro,” she replies as she helps him up from the ground.
“Randy couldn’t have used the stone. He threw that thing out a while ago.” Key says.
“Well, I was meaning to throw it away, but—”
“You lied to me?” she says, hurt.
“I only kept it so that I could help you out if you needed me.”
“When are you going to get it through your thick skull? You don’t have to worry about saving me!” Key snaps.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I don’t have to worry about saving you because I’m too weak to even try!”
“That’s not it,” Key insists.
“Then why, Key? Why can’t I be the one to save you?”
“BECAUSE YOU ALREADY SAVED ME!”
“What?” Randy asks.
“After Bex and I ended, there was nothing but loneliness and misery to look forward to. I was drowning in self-pity and sadness. You saw me and threw me a lifeline. You pulled me back to shore one Game of Thrones episode at a time. Your patience, humor, and understanding helped get me back to s
olid ground. Bex didn’t do that. You did. You save me just by looking at me. Don’t you get it, you jerk? I love you.”
Judging from the look on Randy’s face, this is, in fact, the very first time Key has ever spoken these words to him. His eyes bulge out of his head, his jaw drops, and his cheeks are flushed with color.
“You love me?” he asks in disbelief.
“Yes, I do.”
She leans into him and gives him a long, seductive kiss. East shakes his head dramatically and dabs the corner of his eye as if he’s crying.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I ask.
“I’m sorry. It’s just so good to see these two kids work it out. Someone hand me a tissue,” he says, pretending to be overcome with emotion.
Mateo starts to laugh, but his laughter is cut short when he finds himself on the receiving end of a red Powerball.
“Get down!” Diana yells.
But it’s too late.
Chapter Twenty-One:
Midnight Kiss
In a battle, there is a moment where everything slows down. We see what is about to happen, but the messed-up part is that while you have a perfect, clear view of what will take place, you are in no position to change it. This is the case right now. We watch helplessly as the red Powerball makes contact with Mateo’s chest. His eyes close and his lifeless body goes over the side and down into the river of fire.
“NO!” Diana yells as she looks over the side.
East pulls her away from the edge. The red Powerballs are now coming for us, thanks to the creatures made of liquid fire. They crawl along the cave and spit Powerballs that explode on contact. East holds up his shield to protect us, but he can’t cover all of us.
“Where the hell did they come from?” Randy asks as the orbs of death fly overhead.
“Down there,” I reply.
We watch as creatures emerge from the lava. First we see the top of their heads and then their fire-soaked eyeballs. They continue to rise until they are fully formed. Some of them use their wings and take to the air; others crawl along the walls. But although they have different methods, their target is the same: us.
“Lava zombies? Really?” East says, disgusted as he looks down at the new enemy closing in on us.
“They’re called Zenti,” Diana explains.
“Call them whatever you want, they look like lava zombies to me,” East replies.
“Does it matter what they’re called?” Bex says as he blasts creatures headed our way.
“Yes, it matters. I want to know the name of what’s going to kill me,” East counters.
“He makes a good point,” Randy says.
“Key, you can run inside and get the flower. We’ll stay out here and cover you,” Pryor says as she rips the life force from a Zenti.
“No, I’m not leaving you guys here with these things,” Key says as she dodges a wayward red orb.
“Careful, when you talk like that, it makes it sound like we’re a team,” Pryor says, flashing a quick sincere, teasing smile.
“Hell yeah, that’s what we are,” Key replies as she shatters a Zenti and makes it rain with his blood.
“Diana, behind you!” I shout.
She moves out of the way of the orb, but her reaction time is slow compared to what I have seen from her. She’s shaken by the suddenness of Mateo’s death. It’s not like they were a couple, but still, to have someone there one minute and then gone the next can be jarring. I try to make my way towards her, but I have nearly a dozen of these red bastards on my ass.
“Hey!” Bex shouts as he tackles yet another Zenti that comes close to incinerating Diana.
She looks around and is somewhat uncertain about what to do next. Bex grabs her arm and scolds her.
“You’re angry your new friend was killed; show them what it means to anger a Kaster. Because that is exactly what you are, so start acting like it!”
It’s as if a light goes off in Diana’s head. Her thirst for vengeance is palpable. Sparks of hate and rage have been ignited in her eyes. An evil grin spreads across her face. I get where Diana is coming from. Sometimes you get tired of having shit taken from you, and even if it’s not the dearest thing to you, you fight like hell because you refuse to lose yet one more thing.
Diana leaps off the side of the cliff and lands on the back of one of the Zentis. The beast struggles to throw her off of him. However she is too pissed off to let the Zenti win. She not only maintains her balance, she manages to wrap her bare hands around it and press on its neck, causing it to spit out red Powerballs anywhere she pleases.
“Did she just turn that lava zombie into her bitch?” East asks Randy, who’s protected within his shield.
“Yes! That is so Michonne, season one!” Randy replies with deep admiration.
“Who the hell is that?” Bex asks as he slams a Zenti into the ground and steps on its head.
“Walking Dead, season two, episode thirteen,” Key and Randy reply in unison.
“Wow…just, wow,” I whisper.
Meanwhile, two Zenti manage to land on the cliff where we’re standing and attack East, causing his shield to fail. Randy quickly takes cover along the rocks behind us. I rush over to East, but I never make it there; four Zenti pin me to the ground. I kick the shit out of one of them; it falls back down where it came from.
Pryor comes up from behind and pulls two of them off of me by smashing their heads together. The last Zenti we fight together. It fires at us and hits me in the leg. Pryor tackles it from behind as it tries to finish me off. The Zenti tries to throw her off the cliff, but I recover in time to put it in a headlock. I force its mouth open and send a fireball of my own down its throat. We take cover as the Zenti explodes.
I turn around to check on East and find Diana has the situation handled. She aims her new pet Zenti in East’s direction. She forces it to fire at its own kind by yanking on its wings and making it open its mouth in pain, causing a rapid succession of red Powerballs to escape the Zenti’s mouth.
“Hey, why do you get one and I don’t?” East yells.
Suddenly East throws himself off the side of the cliff and lands on a Zenti’s back—almost. He doesn’t quite stick the landing. He starts to slide off the beast. He’s about to fall when Diana swoops by and yanks him up so that he is sitting properly on the Zenti. East uses his lasso to make the Zenti submit to his will. Soon he is flying in the air and using his new pet as his personal weapon.
“Woohoo! This is better than sex!” East shouts.
“See, that just means you’re doing it wrong,” Diana replies.
The Zenti, realizing they are losing the battle, gather together in groups and compound their Powerballs. They form a massive orb twice as big as the ones they normally send at us. This time they don’t aim it at one of us, they aim it at the ledge we are standing on.
“INCOMING!” Pryor screams.
We all duck and take cover, but there’s no way of telling which side of the cliff will withstand the attack. That is assuming the entire thing doesn’t crumble into the river. All we can do is brace ourselves as the super orb hits the cliff.
The attack is successful; the ledge we are on breaks apart into two pieces. One piece, amazingly enough, holds steady, but the other half of the ledge goes tumbling down, taking Randy, East, and Bex with it. I manage to grab hold of East’s hand. Pryor grabs hold of Bex’s hand. We pull them to safety as Powerballs whiz by overhead.
Diana scoops up Randy before he hits the river. But her pet decides it would rather die than aid its enemy. So it steers itself into the side of the cave.
“Randy, you need to jump,” Diana says.
“Maybe it won’t crash.”
“Move it, human!” Diana orders.
They both jump off the suicidal Zenti and make it onto what’s left of the landing. As we pull them up, Diana shouts to us and tells us there’s another attack on the way.
“If they fire again, we’re dead,” I tell Pryor.
�
��I know; throw me,” she says.
“What?” I ask in disbelief.
“They are across from us, getting the next mega Powerball ready. Throw me, and I can kill them before they regroup.”
“No, fire at them from here.”
“My powers won’t have the same impact from this distance. You know that.”
“Bex and I will take a shot at them. You’re not getting tossed in the air over a river of lava.”
“Do you see that? They’re gathering in groups all around us. You and Bex take on the groups forming to the right. Diana and East, take the ones on the left. You throw me across.”
“Like a bowling ball?”
“Yes! C’mon, let’s get a strike!” she says, ready for her “trip.”
I take her in my arms, she braces herself, and I hurl her across the enormous chasm.
If she dies, I’m gonna kill her…
She lands just shy of the ledge. She holds on by her fingers—barely.
“Pry!” I shout.
Before I can go into full-on panic mode, she pulls herself up and starts to attack them. She is poetry. Her aim is without flaw. Her speed is better than I’ve ever seen it. Among the fire, blood, and impending doom, Pryor is the most at home. She quickly dismembers the group and kills its members. I gather the rest of the team and together we take out the other large groups that formed. Yet there are more coming from the lava below.
“Diana, there has to be something in that bag of yours we can use,” I shout.
“All I have are mixtures to heal, a Holder, and a vial of extra air for Randy, should he need it,” she says as she takes out the contents of her pouch and shows us.
“Key, look out!” East says.
The Zenti wraps its hand around her foot and yanks her off the ledge. Key falls down into the abyss. Randy is shouting her name; Pryor grabs the Holder from Diana. I know what she’s thinking, and it’s crazy.
“Pryor, no!” I scream.
She doesn’t listen; she dives down the side of the cliff. She’s hoping to catch up to Key and release the Holder before they hit the river so that it encapsulates them both and protects them from the lava. It’s damn near impossible. And once again the world seems to stop.