by Lola St. Vil
“Like I said the forest is one of three challenges you will face. You not only have to get past the Craygo, you have to find a way to lure them out from their nest. That’s the only way to access the pattern that activates your second obstacle: the Bridge of Abondi.”
“So we find this pattern that’s embedded on the ground and it leads to a bridge?” Miku says.
“Yes,” Tony replies.
“Is there anything we need to know about this bridge?” I ask.
“It doesn’t exist.”
“Are you for real?” Jay says, confused.
“When you touch the pattern, it will glow, indicating that the bridge is there; but it won’t appear unless you know how to cross it.”
“And how exactly do we get across?” Emmy asks.
“The bridge seeks out your happiest moments and lays its foundation on that.”
“Sounds easy. We just think about happy memories, right?” Emmy asks.
“It’s not going by what happened to you in the past. It’s going by what’s happening to you now. So if you have a great life right now the bridge should be no problem. But if you’re on a team that has recently lost loved ones, including a sibling, and a three year old…”
The mention of the little girl causes both Ameana and Rage to wince. The team tries not to bring up the subject of Mouse. The little girl died so horribly and had come to mean so much to us that the mere mention of her name hurts us.
However strong our feelings were for Mouse, it pales in comparison to what Rage felt for her. She found a way to get into his heart; very difficult to do since he literally doesn’t have one. The three-year-old Lyris will always be sorely missed.
“You think this team won’t be able to cross the bridge because we’ve seen too much sadness?” Ameana asks, eager to change the subject.
“It’s always been hard for Guardians on missions to cross the Abondi Bridge. Paras on the other hand, cross it with no problem.”
“Then we’ll get a Para to come with us,” I reply.
“The bridge only allows one being at a time. If the being on it can’t find enough in their present life to be content about, the bridge will start to sink into the ground below. And you don’t want that,” Tony warns us.
“Why, what’s below the bridge?” Miku asks.
“Hell.”
“Where else would it lead to?” Rage says sardonically.
Tony goes on to tell us that should we get past the Craygo, and the bridge, that’s when we will enter the ‘Cave of Echoes.’
“What’s in the cave?” Rage asks.
“Anora.”
“As in the only being to battle Lucy and survive?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Who is Anora? And if she fought Lucy, doesn’t that mean she’s on our side?” Emmy asks.
“She is definitely not on our side,” I reply.
“Tony, tell me about her,” Emmy says.
“Anora was a high ranking demon in Lucy’s army. She could easily rival the Hun or Kairo. She felt her ‘talents’ were being wasted on fighting Angels. So she told Lucy she was going after Omnis. This did not sit well with Lucy because if Anora had somehow managed to overthrow Omnis, how long before she came after Lucy herself? So Lucy trapped her in the cave.”
“One of Anora’s powers is luring beings to her. That’s where the cue about the clock comes in. She looks into your past and creates this fake elaborate world where the victims happily surrender. Then she feeds on their soul until they die. Since she is trapped by Samson String tied by Lucy herself, there is no escape.”
“While Lucy was able to contain her, she is still pretty powerful. The good thing is her powers are limited to the cave. But you guys go inside and there’s no telling if any of you will make it back.”
“Perfect,” Rage says bitterly.
“I—I—can—you—know…if you need me,” Tony says trying to hide his fear behind his words.
The team and I exchange a look of amusement. But then we let Tony off the hook and tell him we can handle things ourselves.
“Okay, but I did ask,” he says.
“Yes and thank you,” Emmy says hugging him.
“Do you have anything that could help us in case we get into trouble?” Miku asks.
Tony reaches into the pouch he has with him and pulls out a small tin box and places it on the palm of his hand.
“This contains a very rare item. I won it in a card game. Normally I would never part with it but…”
“What is it?” I ask.
“It’s a Triplex large enough to cover an entire being.”
“It works like the normal Triplex right? That means we can use it to hide ourselves and no one will see us because they don’t know we’re there?” Emmy asks.
“Yes, it will make you invisible and only someone who knows you are there can see you,” Tony replies.
“That’s perfect. We can go through the forest undetected,” Rage says.
“No, they won’t be able to see you but they will be able to sense your fears. But since you guys rarely fear, you should be fine. The bad part is, unlike a small Triplex, which can last forever, this one has to conceal so much, it can only hide you for a certain amount of time,” Tony tells us.
“How long? An hour or two?” Miku asks.
“I’m not sure.”
“Oh c’mon!” Rage rants.
“I’m sorry, Akon, but I was lucky to get my hands on it at all,” Tony counters.
“That’s fine, we’ll work with it,” I reply.
“There’s another problem. I only have five Triplex. And well, there are six of you.”
“Well get another one,” Rage says.
“From where, the ‘Triplex outlet?’ This stuff isn’t easy to find,” Tony reminds him.
“Even if Tony could find another, we won’t have time for that. We need to get to the forest now,” Ameana says.
“We can’t go if we are one Triplex short,” Jay says.
“Maybe one of us has to stay behind,” Jay says reluctantly.
I turn and look at Emmy. Her jaw drops.
“Don’t you dare Marcus, you’re not leaving me behind,” she demands.
“Actually, I was thinking we could use you as bait,” I reply.
“What?” she says in disbelief.
“Well, you’re not my girl anymore so I’m not as worried about your safety as I was before,” I reply.
Everyone in the room looks over at me shocked by my remark, Emmy most of all. Just when she is about to lose it, I break into a smile and she realizes I’m not serious. She picks up the pillow on the sofa and hurls it at me. I can’t help but laugh at her.
“Okay, seriously though. Humans are like dessert to a Craygo. They are filled with multiple fears. We could place you in a Holder. Then when they come after you, we’ll head for the platform. Then Jay can Glide back and pick you up,” I reply.
“So you really want me to be bait?” she asks.
“The Holder won’t give out. And since the Craygo won’t see the rest of us, they won’t know to guard the platform,” Miku says.
“I can be the bait,” Ameana volunteers.
“Craygo feed off fear. No one has more fears than a human,” I reply.
“You up for it, baby girl?” Jay asks.
“You sure the Holder won’t break?” she asks me.
“Hey, all joking aside, I would never let anything happen to you; you know that, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, I do,” she says smiling warmly.
“The only other thing I have that may help is this,” Tony says as he hands me a silver vial filled with some kind of thick liquid.
“This paste is called a Blocker. It does just what it says. If someone is bleeding, it blocks the flow of blood until the victim can get to a healer.”
“Thanks, Tony,” Jay says as we start to head outside.
“You guys sure you don’t want to sit this one out? You know maybe ask a Para to take over
?” Tony asks.
“What’s going on with you?” Rage asks.
Tony shrugs his shoulders.
“Tony, what is it?” I ask.
“Every time you guys go on a mission, you come back minus one. And, I don’t know. What if none of you come back at all?” Tony replies, clearly uncomfortable with the emotions revealed in his voice.
“Tony, we got this,” Jay assures him.
“Sorry, I’ve been real emotional lately, I’m doing a lot of yoga and well…C’mon, guys bring it in,” Tony says reaching out to hug Jay.
Jay, caught off guard, doesn’t respond, that is until Miku nudges him and forces him to embrace Tony back.
“I’m not letting Jay go until we all go in for a group hug,” Tony demands.
Rage leans over and whispers to me. “Seriously, can’t we just kill him?”
The Rukar Forest is just off of the small island of San Lucas. It’s a small strip of land that looks like it only stretches a few miles. It is only when you get inside the forest you realize it is vast and goes on for miles. Like most areas inhabited by evil, the Rukar Forest is a no-fly zone.
As soon as we enter the forest an unnatural darkness surrounds us. This forest is unlike any we’ve seen before. For one thing, there is no sound whatsoever. There are no birds chirping in the trees, no small slimy animals crawling on the ground, or sliding off the leaves. It’s as if every living thing fears the Craygo and have gone into hiding. The air reeks of blood and rot.
Whatever walked into this forest before us didn’t make it out. We survey the area for any sign of a Craygo but see nothing. But that’s one of the Craygo’s specialties: hiding. They move at inhuman speeds and surround their prey. By the time you realize the rabid beast is next to you, it’s usually too late.
We can’t use the Triplex too soon otherwise the five minutes will be wasted. We have to look for their nest. Once we spot them, we can take the Triplex and disappear, and hide Emmy in the Holder.
Jay signals from behind one of the trees that he has spotted the nest. And sure enough a few yards away there are two dozen Craygo surveying the forest. They can sense that something is amiss. They sniff the air, suspiciously and wag their formidable tails.
This is my first time seeing a Craygo face to face. They live up to their treacherous reputations. They are massive blue and black wolf-like beasts; they have fangs the length of my palm. Their blood colored eyes are the only things that can pierce the darkness. As they strut and survey the area, their powerful paws split the earth beneath them. They growl and roar into the sky. The sound resonates throughout the forest.
We go over the plan once again. The plan is simple. Get the Craygo’s attention on Emmy. While they are preoccupied, we sneak behind them and get to the platform.
Worried they will soon spot us, we swallow the Triplex in the pill form Tony gave us.
We are instantly concealed. We signal for Emmy to come out from behind the tree where we hid her. Miku squeezes her hand reassuringly as we place her in the Holder.
The Craygo spot her immediately. They are on high alert. In a matter of seconds they have surrounded Emmy. As we head toward the nest I look back to make sure that the Holder is in fact holding; thankfully it is. I signal to the team that Emmy is okay and we get down to the floor frantically looking for the pattern.
I signal for the group to go faster as the Craygo howl and roar at Emmy. I can’t imagine how fearful she must be right now. I force myself not to be distracted and focus on finding the pattern. But something goes horribly wrong when the biggest Craygo, who I’m certain is the leader, begins to sniff near us.
How is that possible? He shouldn’t even know we are here. That is unless one of us isgiving off high levels of fear; higher than Emmy…
I can’t think which one of us it could be but the leader has now gotten the pack to move away from Emmy and closer to us. I signal for the team to stop moving. The leader gets so close, I can feel his filthy breath on my skin.
He inhales deeply and howls. He has found a fear so deep and so intoxicating, he’s following it even though there is seemingly nothing there. We can’t reveal ourselves.
Killing a Craygo is not hard but no one ever has to kill just one. They multiply; into hundreds if need be. So it’s best not to attack them at all.
I look around the team as the pack sniffs us. I can’t figure which one of us is emanating the fear they smell. I know the answer soon enough when the leader sniffs so close to Rage, it makes contact with his hand. And although the leader can’t feel Rage, his fear is so overwhelming, the Craygo knows he’s there. And like anything covered by a Triplex, once you know it’s there, it is no longer hidden.
Suddenly Rage is fully exposed. He is visible to the Craygo. They leap into the air and before the team can react, the Craygo sinks its deadly teeth into Rage’s flesh…
CHAPTER NINE:
THE DEATH OF MIKU AND JAY
The team rushes to Rage’s side but by then we are no longer concealed. And now that the Craygo know that Rage is not alone, they go into full attack mode. Before we can get to Rage, the leader howls calling for the pack to attack us. They leap several feet into the air and pin us to the ground.
Ameana manages to use her power and call for a nearby tree to uproot itself and fall on top of the Craygo that is about to bite her. Jay’s ability to Glide allows him to get the better of the Craygo that surround him. He grabs one by the neck and hurls it across the forest but no sooner than he gets rid of one, half a dozen appear in its place.
“We can’t fight them all,” Jay shouts.
Miku manages to hum to one of the Craygo and it starts bleeding from its mouth, ears and nostrils.
“Miku, sing out to all of them,” Ameana shouts.
“No!” I yell as a Craygo latches on to my arm.
I take it off but not before it grabs a chunk of my flesh in-between its teeth. The pain travels up my arm and spreads throughout my whole body. I scoop the beast up in my arms and twist. It roars as its mangled body dies. As soon as the Craygo is dead, it is replaced by yet another pack.
“Marcus, Miku has to sing, we can handle it,” Ameana begs.
“Yes, but Emmy can’t,” I reply as the new pack of Craygo aim for my wings.
I can hear Emmy screaming for us to let her out of the Holder. A few yards away we hear Rage cry out in anguish as a piece of his flesh is parted from his bone. The more Rage fights the more Craygo invade his body.
“Rage is going to die, do something,” Ameana screams.
“He needs to say what he is afraid of; it might lessen his fear and get them to back off,” Miku says as she wrestles a Craygo who’s gone after Jay.
“I’m not afraid,” Rage shouts in pain.
“They wouldn’t be on you like this if you had no fear,” I demand.
There are so many Craygo on Rage; it’s hard to make him out. I order him once again to confess his fear out loud and again he insists there is no fear within him.
“Marcus, help him!” Ameana demands of me.
“He has to admit his fear,” I reply.
As soon as I say that Ameana goes into panic mode and her markings begin to glow.
“Something is happening; I think it’s Aaden,” Ameana says as a pack of Craygo block his exit.
“Aaden, NO!” Rage yells.
“Rage, we need his help,” I insist as the Craygo bears down on me with his blood soaked teeth.
“Aaden and Ameana could die if they touch me,” Rage counters.
“I can help without touching you,” Ameana replies.
“I won’t risk your lives, Marcus, keep them away,” Rage instructs.
“Then you better start talking; what’s your fear?” I ask again.
Miku sends a desperate cry out into the air when a Craygo sneaks up behind her and tears into her shoulder. Furious Jay curses Rage and threatens Rage if he doesn’t start confessing his fear. Jay tries to make his way over to Miku but there are just too ma
ny Craygo in his way.
Fortunately, I am able to get the better of the beast that had pinned me down. I head over to Miku. I get there just in time to snap the Craygo’s neck. Ameana, unable to stand the sight of Rage being mauled, runs over to him. All the markings on her body are now illuminated.
“Ameana and Aaden are headed for you,” Miku says to Rage as she tries to tend to her wounds.
“AADEN GREY, I SAID STAY BACK!” The First Akon although severely wounded, speaks with the authority of Omnis.
The markings immediately start to dim. Aaden heeds his father’s stern warning. I marvel at the connection the two of them have.
“If you ever want to see your son you better speak now,” I tell him.
“There is nothing...” Rage groans.
“Thomas, Aaden and I need you,” Ameana says.
A steady stream of ink colored blood oozing out from Rage’s body spreads through the forest. The Craygo are ripping him apart and he no longer has the ability to fight. His eyes start to roll to the back of his head.
The First Akon is dying...
“Thomas, we can’t lose you,” Ameana implores him.
Looking at the trauma on her face it reminds me of Emmy. That is when I realize Ameana and Rage’s situation is similar to ours. If I’m right then I think I know what his fear might be.
“You’re afraid of Wolf,” I shout.
“No, Rage would never fear fighting anyone,” Ameana says, offended.
“It’s not fighting Wolf that he is afraid of, it’s something else,” I reply.
“Thomas, what is it about Wolf that makes you afraid?” Ameana asks unable to stop her voice from shaking.
“Afraid Wolf…better…dad...”
As soon as he speaks the words the Craygo back away from his twisted body. I signal to Jay to go back and look for the pattern on the ground. Ameana uproots over a dozen trees to block the Craygo and keep them in a makeshift prison.
I run over to Emmy and start to release the Holder but she tells me she wants to stay inside it. I look back at her as if she’s lost her mind.
“We need to get out of here,” I tell her.
“Leave me in here and have Miku sing. It’s the only way we stand a chance,” she pleads.