Chapter 53 - For what they Fight

  “Did he just say rekindle?”

  Viper twirled his twin blades, his gaze examining every inch of the cavern for any footholds he might use to enter this fight and aid his master. “I told you once, Eksa, you're the most humane out of the four of us. We're not belonging of this world. We're devils to all.”

  If I shadow walk in and out of the walls, I'll have to springboard off of them each time, or gravity will pull me down and once I'm in water, I'll be ripped from the Umbra and become helpless.

  “But…”

  “Aaron is a Flame Bearer,” Viper said. “The only one who can change this world for us. The only one willing to. It's why we follow him blindly.” He turned to give her a smile. “I hope you'll accept him still as you've accepted Jack and I.”

  Viper ran forward and pushed the canoe into the water, leaping into it and disappearing into the Umbra as it soon filled with water from the holes inside. Aaron used his increased strength to cross half the spring with a single leap, bursting forth and arcing in the air like an arrow fired from a bow. He stuck the landing, driving his weapon into the underside of one of three snakeheads and hanging from it using his weapon as a grip.

  “Let me at the Flame,” the princeling pleaded to the creature. “I'll rekindle it!”

  Might he have asked it that before attacking it? But then, emotions were hard to overthrow in the heat of the moment. Aaron was hurt by Eksa's words. His sheer strength given him by the Chronary blade all but proved that.

  “LIES!” the Serpent hissed. “I WILL NOT FALL FOR TRICKERY THRICE!”

  Viper reappeared from the Umbra just at the canoe had drifted close enough to the Serpent. He'd already shadow-walked multiple times in succession before reaching this spring. The Umbra was growing exceedingly cold. He hacked at the Serpent's underside. It roared, two heads splashing down under the water, rippling waves sending the quickly filling boat to the cavern walls. The third head swung around, flinging Aaron away. He summersaulted through the air, landing on a wall side with his feet against, and leapt off before gravity's chains could pull him down. But the Serpent's third head disappeared beneath the surface as well, and Aaron was arcing through air, and soon falling toward the water.

  Viper considered his options, barely holding his balance as he stood in the sinking boat. In the water, he spotted a head quickly making for him. It came out, jaws wide open. Viper sucked air through his mouth, near coughing at the putrid smell of the creature's breath, and dipped into the Umbra of the cave wall behind him just as the sharp teethed jaw crushed the canoe with a horrid crunch, turning it into scraps for good. More heat was siphoned from is body.

  Aaron in the meantime had crashed into water.

  Viper too was sinking, gravity very much existing in the world of shadows. He came out, leaping from the wall as he'd originally planned, and landing on slippery scales, barely holding to his feet.

  And then falling on his rear as the snakehead rose fully from the water and jerked its head back, sending him flying through air as well and soon descending into the dark spring. Oh Flames.

  This, he realized, had been a very folly idea.

  ***

  Jahck watched from the landing as his entirely mad friends were flying through air, fighting against a beast with every possible advantage in its favor. Aaron had crossed half the spring with a single jump —a testament to the Artifact's abilities. Not even Jahck, a Vampire, could leap that far. But for all its strength, Aaron was left at the mercy of water, and Viper was not far behind in that regard.

  Jahck grasped the hilt of his twisted dagger, considering long and hard about thrusting the red blade through his own heart. His friends were out there struggling, but he didn't know the limits of his dagger. What if I can't use its abilities multiple times? He'd used it once and had been saving it to use on Karine.

  Karine…

  His sister had once said that most skilled of Vampire warriors could run on water for a number of seconds. Jahck swallowed. Can I do the same? What if Karine had lied to him? What if it had been some devious ploy for him to just drown to death?

  No. Jack removed his mask and let it fall. I have to do this. Viper and Aaron were fighting for their lives. This was not the time to sit on his hands and idle. He sheathed his dagger and closed his eyes. With a shallow intake of air, Jack ran forth, treading lightly and on his toes.

  He reached the spring. His foot touched the water. And it didn't sink. Step after step, he kept going, each foot forward creating but a puddle splash. Jack grinned. Enter the protagonist!

  ***

  Flame Bearer.

  “I'm the only humane one?” Eksa mumbled. How did that make any sense? She was the one holding prejudices. She'd been the one making assumptions and passing judgments without even giving her friends a chance to prove their innocence. I lived a slave, but I wasn't hunted like a dog all my life. I didn't have to live hiding myself and my identity. I'm the least humane out of all of them.

  Eksa let her cutlass clatter beside her. The least humane, and still the weakest. She could do nothing as her friends fought a fight they were hard losing. All to allow Aaron a chance to cross to the other side. He and Viper had already fallen. Jack was running on water towards them. Eksa wasn't even awed at the fact. She just felt even more useless. Why do I always do nothing? Why do I always need help? What can I possibly do?

  She fell to her knees, staring across the spring, tears forming in her eyes. A Shrine of Flames. Aaron needed to get to it. If he could rekindle the Eternal Flame, the serpent might yet stop its rampage. But Eksa had no way of helping him get there. What could she do that they couldn't? She was powerless here.

  Her eyes fell on the Serpent's eggs. An idea formed. Madness the coward inside whispered to her. But no. Eksa would not heed its words this time. There was something she could do. Something that neither Aaron nor Viper nor Jackrin could do.

  Eksa could swim.

  She threw off her coat and kicked off her boots, binding her hair all the while. She inhaled a deep breath and flung herself into water. As bitter as a taste it left in her mouth, if Eksa could make it to the other side, she might yet threaten the serpent's eggs and bring its wrath to a halt.

  ***

  Aaron flailed in the water. His mouth was open and all air left him in bubbles. His weapon supplied him with strength still, and though he couldn't swim, he kicked up with his legs, half his body bursting out the spring —just enough for him to take in a gulp of air before he fell again, slowly sinking while the Serpent lurked beneath him.

  He'd thought he had enough strength to cross the spring, but that wasn't to be. Such was the price on over relying on artificial powers. This fight was far too inefficient, and it was his fault for losing control of himself and attacking without proper thought. He flailed still as an open jaw rose from beneath him. He was suddenly pulled upward by his arm and flung out a bare few inches from the surface.

  “Ashes, but you're heavy,” Jack said, grinning. The half-blood was somehow running on water.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The snakehead burst out beside him, snapping its jaw shut around nothing. Jack ran on, slowly sinking from carrying added weight. He reached the cavern wall, stabbing his twisted dagger into rock to hold on to the side to hold himself and Aaron there. That dagger had an enchanted edge indeed to cut so easily into anything.

  “Hold on,” Jack said, pulling Aaron up with one arm and forcing him to hold the dagger hilt. Jack then jumped off and ran on his toes toward Viper, leaving Aaron hanging on to the dagger stabbed in the wall. His torn palms burned, but he held on to both dagger and sword, teeth clenched and eyes stinging.

  The serpent was not so folly as to ignore a stationary target. It appeared again, showing just the top of its head. Aaron hacked wildly with one arm. His efforts could only mar the hard blue scales with scratches. He kicked off, knowing the Serpent would snap at him with its jaw soon. He arced through air again for a stretching second. Jack was still running the opposite way to aid a flailing Viper.

  Aaron crashed into the spring, feeling like a helpless ragdoll tossed around. Can I do nothing but flail and flap like a fish on land? He kicked up again, barely keeping his head above water. If only he could swim, he might have been allowed a better fighting chance. He could make the glossy figure of a snakehead moving toward him. Aaron breathed in air and water, choking all the while. He couldn't prepare for the inevitable, but he held on to the sword for dear life, for without its added strength, he would drown all too quickly.

  An open jaw closed in on him. Aaron hacked at Serpent's fangs with one hand while splashing water with the other, and simultaneously kicking down with his legs to attempt staying afloat. The Serpent's momentum pushed him half a meter out of water, its jaws snapping shut around air again. No sooner had he come out did he fall again and begin flailing. It was only luck keeping him and his friends from being bit into two.

  If only this stupid snake could fling me to the altar.

  ***

  Jack pulled Viper out of the water and tried tossing him to a wall. The Shadow Walker disappeared into the Umbra and reappeared a half second later, only to flop into water again. “How bloody useless are you?”

  “If you've the time to curse,” Viper said through a mouthful of water, “Curse the laws of nature instead of me!”

  Jack's calves began aching from all his delicate water hopping. He couldn’t keep this up any longer. He pulled Viper up and flung him close to the landing where they'd come from. He tried running there himself, but his next footfall was too heavy and Jack sank into the spring instead, finding himself flailing like a drowning child. Burn it all! I should've just taken the eggs hostage.

  But Aaron and Viper would have died for certain if not for the precious seconds that he'd bought them. And where did that get them? All three of them were stuck in water, unable to swim, with a ravenous Serpent out for blood. Some Flaming protagonist I turned out to be. This isn't amusing. Even for a tragedy.

  “DIE ACCURSED HUMANS!”

  It's not a prophecy if you're stating the obvious you stupid snake, Jack thought. He'd have said the line aloud but was fully submerged in water, staring at a pair of golden eyes. In the dark of it all, he saw Aaron with his magic weapon jammed between one head's upper and lower jaw.

  Viper was slowly drowning, the middle head keeping a watch on it. This truly was a lame way to die, he thought, as the abyss of a jaw closed in around him, meaning to tear him in two. But Jack dove deeper, air bubbles escaping his parted mouth, and let the serpent's mouth close around him whole. Pure blackness surrounded him. Jackrin then stabbed the creature with a knife, wondering, expecting it to spit him out. But the serpent kept him trapped in its closed jaw, violently shaking its head instead.

  Jack felt a force pull downward on him. All water around him was drained away. The serpent was trying to swallow him whole. Jack thought to let it happen and cut his way out, but the sheer stench inside the snake's mouth made him think otherwise. There would be caustic bile awaiting him in this monster's stomach, and he'd be turned to nothing in a matter of moments. This assuming the creature didn't start releasing its acidic venom now. It won't do that, he bet, unless it wanted to melt its own mouth.

  Regardless of his efforts, his knife was slipping out, and constrained as he was in the serpent's mouth, he didn't have the maneuverability to stab again. He might have wounded the creature heavily, but victory was not his. The monster was too big for it to die of blood loss from its numerous wounds.

  Jack resigned himself, letting the knife go, and letting the beast swallow him whole, sparing a final thought for his friends, praying they made it out, knowing that they wouldn't.

  ***

  Viper slowly sank. He kept his mouth shut. But the exploding pain in his chest was truly testing his patience. Numbness entered his hands and he let go of his weapons, watching them slowly sink with him. A snakehead loomed above him, one of its eyes leaking blood. It was careful not to approach in fear of trickery, but it watched over Viper's final moments, making sure that he was drowning.

  I am a broken weapon. Viper's vision began growing dark. He opened his mouth, letting water into his lungs.

  ***

  Aaron punched and kicked at the Serpent. He'd lost his grip on his Butter Knife, and it had disappeared to the bottom of the spring. The serpent head had him pinned against the wall, meaning torture him to death by drowning rather than tearing him in half. It knew it'd won.

  Aaron knew he'd lost.

  He closed his eyes and begged his ancestors for forgiveness. He would see his mother soon, but he didn't want to meet her a failure. She'd given so much for him and he would return to her with nothing at all. With a final act of defiance, Aaron willed for the Amber Flames of Preservation to come forth, letting their glow hold in the palms of his hand, for water did not easily extinguish an Eternal Flame. He prayed that the serpent would see the Flame and stop its assault, but it did no such thing. Its eyes were wholly focused on Aaron's own. He slammed the Flame into his own mouth, willing it to preserve the air within his lungs. It did just that, seal away the air inside of him, starving him of it and only hastening his death.

  An instant weakness overcame Aaron and he had no willpower left to undo what he'd just done. He absolved himself from all responsibility and gave in to death's cold embrace.

  ***

  Eksa ignored the fighting and focused on her own task. She paddled hard with her legs and moved her arms in an alternating pattern as had been taught to her by her father when she was hardly higher than his knees. She kept to the edge of the spring to keep from going noticed, raising her face above water every few seconds for a breath. Eksa was acutely aware of the splashing sounds not too far from her position. Her heart raced. Fear ate at her strength. She hadn't swam in too long and aches settled into her calves and shoulders.

  Just a few dozen more meters.

  No matter how strong they might be, her friends would need her. They were bound to run out of stamina soon. She'd all but reached the other side when she realized she no longer heard any sounds. No hisses, no roars, and no splashes at all. She hastily pushed herself up to the rocky ledge on the opposite end, coughing out a mouthful of water. Aside from her own movements, the spring seemed eerily still. Murky blood defiled the clear waters. Eksa truly felt the cold of her soaked clothes, realizing how alone she was at that moment. Fear of everyone's death —of Aaron's death, had her shaking uncontrollably. She turned and made for the giant eggs, cringing at the stabbing pain of sharp rock against the soles of her bare feet.

  She reached to her waist to pull her cutlass only to realize she'd left it behind on the other side. No! Panic exploded inside of her. She fell to her knees, feeling the ground for a large enough rock she might use as a weapon. Eksa inhaled in audible gulps, barely feeling any air enter her lungs at all. Her fingers ran over a palm sized stone and she grasped at it as if it were a precious gem, quickly rising to her feet.

  “Stop!” Eksa gasped. It wasn't loud enough. Please! Please Flames let me be on time. She steadied her breath and raised the stone over her head. “Stop!” she shrieked. “Stop of I'll dash your eggs!”

  Silence.

  Tears leaked from Eksa's eyes. “Stop or I swear by Katri, I'll kill your children!” She didn't know why she took the name of the supposed deity of the seas, but it only felt appropriate here. It gave her courage.

  There was a rumbling within the waters and the three heads of the Great Serpent burst out. Eksa's friends were nowhere to be seen.

  “GET AWAY FROM MY EGGS!” all three heads cried with their high pitched voices.

  “Return my friends to me!” Eksa threatened, her voice growing desperate. The serpent moved toward her. She made a show of raising the stone higher. “Now!” she shrieked, almost adding 'please' behind it as well.

  The serpent's eyes seemed to narrow. One of the heads leaned forward and opened its jaw. Eksa backed away, her trembling arm on the verge of breaking the nearest egg when the head spat out Jackrin whole, his entire body covered in slime. The half-blood groaned and hacked, while clawing at his throat. Seconds later, he vomited.

  “That was horrid,” he complained.

  “The others,” Eksa demanded. “Give me back Aaron and Viper. Bring them back!”

  “Get away from my eggs. Please…” the serpent said. It was no longer screaming, but pleading instead.

  Shame my own mother never loved me like that… “My friends first.”

  The serpent disappeared beneath the spring and reappeared with Aaron and Viper in two separate jaws, laying their unmoving bodies on the landing next to Jack. Eksa's breath caught. Her fingers squeezed the stone in her hand. She glared at all three heads that were now bowed before her. “Back,” the Red Serpent hissed. “Go back to the far end and wait there.”

  “Don't hurt my childr—”

  “BACK!”

  The creature moved away. Eksa fell upon Aaron, laying both hands on his chest and pumping at it. Jack luckily did the same to Viper without needing to be told. They both lay unmoving. “Please. Oh please let it be enough. Heavens please. I brought them to this corner of the world. It's my fault. Take me instead.” Her tears fell on Aaron's face. Still he didn't move.

  Beside her, Viper coughed out gulps of water. For good measure, Jack somehow thought it wise to drive a fist into the Shadow Walker's gut, only forcing him into a harsher coughing fit.

  Eksa cried and smiled at the same time. Aaron still didn't move. She pressed with all her strength, forcing her knee on his chest as well. “Get up! Oh get up! Please.”