Chapter 14: The Lost

Please don’t cry
You know I’m leaving here tonight
Before I go I want you to know
There will always be a light
~Jet

Shuffling footsteps echoed through the narrow hallways, drowning out the innocent chirps of the gleeful birds after a long night sleep. Two figures dashed down the corridors towards the stairway, one with a long dress flowing behind her, and another with his black armor clinking and clanging together. They turned the corner and flew down the flight of stairs. With a yelp, the woman dripped over the hem of her dress and came tumbling down in the last few steps. The man, following close behind, tried to reach out to stop her, but lost his balance too, sending him hurling down to the foot of the stairwell.

Aaru and Mark looked up in a pool of sweat at the rest of the company, who stared right back at them in surprise. Mark jumped up and started to furiously apologize while Aaru looked a shade nervous and walked towards Latia and Reptina.

“So everything is ready?” a sudden booming voice asked. The company turned towards the top of the stairs and saw Grendel the Very Old staring down upon them.

Vanya stepped forward, “Yes Grendel, we are ready to go.” He looked around at the rest of the company, his eyes stopping on Mark, “We all thank and appreciate your hospitality.”

The old wizard smiled warmly, “Well, in that case, I wish you the best of luck on your journeys. May the ancient spirits of magicians always be with you and guide you to your destination.” Grendel’s eyes met Vanya’s. What happens will happen. You cannot stop it Vanya. He gave a nod and the great front doors of the house swung open magically.

The cool morning sun hit the company with a refreshing ray of light. The wind rustled the trees of the Magic Trees and the fresh scent of blooming wild flowers filled the air. Not a cloud was visible through the treetops, completing the perfect morning.

By the time they had stopped walking, the magical city of Ellinia had disappeared behind them amidst the lush Magic Trees. The company sat down in a small clearing in the forest, removing their backpacks in exhaustion.

Vanya walked over to Raeken, “I don’t like the looks of this place, we must move on,” he muttered quietly as the rest of the company laid back on the grass.

“No, we need rest. We are still within the limits of Ellinia. I highly doubt anything will happen,” Raeken replied gruffly, but he too was scanning the tree line, trying to make out anything in the darkness, but there was nothing.
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The bell rang shrilly, signaling the end of the school year. Summer Vacation had finally begun. Will ran out of the local school in Perion. He was finally free. The sky was clear, the air thin from the altitude, but it did not matter. He loved the feeling of total independence, and he would live it for three months until the start of the next school year.

Will walked down the market square in Perion, glancing into a few sweet shops’ windows and at the great spears and swords of the local armory. Suddenly, his glance stopped dead at a DoomBringer Two-handed Sword. His mouth salivated greedily as his eyes bulged out of his sockets at the amazing weapon. Will continued to drool all over the shop window until the shop keeper came out and shooed him away with a broom.

Someday, Will thought, Someday I’ll be old enough to be able to wield that weapon. Someday.

Will spent the rest of the afternoon on the street on the east side of Perion, watching his school mates prod and poke at the numerous Red Snails and Tree Stumps roaming around. He sighed lazily on his Relax Chair and looked dreamily into the clear, sunlit sky.

Suddenly, the dark storm clouds formed with amazing speed right in front of his eyes. He jumped out of his chair just as a lightning bolt seared out of the sky, and decimated a part of the rocky ground. Screams filled the air as the people on the streets fled for cover. Will found a rocky outcropping to sit under and wait out the freak lightning storm. The wind picked up and was soon ravaging his face.

The lightning was relentless, striking the earth with no mercy at all. The apocalyptic clouds seemed to turn a deeper shade of black with every passing second, swirling in a cyclone up above. Dust and rock were picked up and thrown through the air at deadly speeds. Will found himself grasping his helmet for protection. He felt a rock ping off of the metal of his helmet, leaving a prodigious dent in the gold.

Then, through all of the chaos, he spotted a girl walking down the street. She was a magician, holding a Fairy Wand and wearing a pretty green dress. Her long purple hair and dress were flowing wildly in the tremendous wind. However, she seemed to be clueless towards the pandemonium unfolding around her. She just continued to walk down the street absentmindedly.

Will tried to scream out to her, but no amount of noise he shouted out could penetrate through the spectacular claps of thunder. He had to get her to safety, he thought to himself. Without thinking, he grabbed his beat up sword and dashed out into the open.

Rocks pelted him harshly, leaving dents in his armor where they impacted. He could barely see the girl now. Will noticed it had gotten extremely cold. He looked up at the sky and realized that snow had started falling form the pitch black sky, along with the thunder and lightning. The wind blew the snow almost sideways. Through the blizzard, Will ran for the girl.

Suddenly, out of no where, a chunk of rock slammed into his right side, throwing him a good twenty feet into the side of a cliff. His helmet fell slant on his head as he tried to regain his mind from the impact. However, his world just started to swirl around in a cold white blizzard. Will blacked out, a trickle of blood running down the side of his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ahthunkhisawaek,” Will heard someone say as he slowly regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and immediately squinted as the blinding white light shined directly down on him. He turned his head to the right and felt a sharp jab of pain run through his nerves. Will opened his eyes again and looked past the light. Figures hovered over him. Will tried to lift his hand to cover up the blinding light, but could not move an inch.

Suddenly, one of the figures swooped in, its head blocking the examination light.
“I think he’s awake,” he said in a gruff voice. A man behind him turned the light off, and Will’s vision slowly returned back to normal. He tried to get up but the man hovering over him kept him lying down. “Not yet, you are not fully healed.”

Will looked at the two men in the room. The one above him was a Magician and the one that turned the light off was a Warrior like him. He noticed a black lightning shaped tattoo on both of their shoulders. Slowly, he fell back into a deep sleep.
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In the middle of the night, Will awoke suddenly after a sudden clash of thunder rang through the night sky. Rain pelted the house relentlessly as lightning flashed continuously. Will propped his back up with the backboard of his bed and turned the lamp on the nightstand on.

He looked around the room. It was decorated like a hospital room, with a nightstand next to his bed, medical equipment on the other side, a few chairs, and a dresser in front of him. A door led outside into the hallway and a few windows showed the constant flashes of lightning outside.

Will got up and walked towards the mirror. He squinted in the dim light and saw himself clearly for the first time in a long time. He was dressed in a white hospital gown. Will looked around and saw his armor sitting on a chair, waiting to be returned to its master. He looked back at the mirror and noticed something on his shoulder. Will slowly turned his head down to look at it. There, contrasting with his tanned skin, was a solitary lightning shaped tattoo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will walked up to Mark in the little clearing in the Ellinian forest. He sat himself down with a sigh and took off his boots to massage his feet. He looked over at Mark curiously, who was looking over in the direction of Aaru.

“Mark!” Will snapped. Mark suddenly turned towards Will, breaking his view of Aaru as she sat with Reptina and Latia. “Mark you can’t. You know the rules.”
Mark sighed and looked down at the ground. His Omega spear lay on the ground in front of him, its tip reflecting Mark’s face. Mark looked at it and sighed again, “I know, but I can’t control it. I can’t harness it.” He continued to look at his reflection as he spoke, “I can’t help if I have fallen in love with Aaru. But I’m sure you know what happened last night. The feelings are mutual you know.”

Will sighed and nodded his head grimly. He gave Mark a pat on the back and walked off. Mark returned to look at Aaru.

Will’s DoomBringer gently bumped into the side of his leg as he paced about the clearing. He stopped and turned to the rest of the company. Guosim, SolarKatz, and Damian were huddled together, perhaps playing with a Snail or a Squishy Liquid. Aaru, Latia, and Reptina were in deep conversation, probably talking about Mark and last night. Mark sat alone, still staring dreamily at Aaru. Annikabelle watched her husband closely as he conversed with Vanya. Then, Will heard a rustle behind him followed by a twang.

Will felt blood start to pool up in his mouth. He grunted forcefully as a sharp twinge of pain shot through his spine into his brain. He reached behind him and felt the shaft of the arrow and wrenched it out with a scream of pain. The company was aroused now, all running and shouting and shooting projectiles into the trees. Will saw Vanya run towards him as he collapsed onto his knees. Vanya fired a last Holy Arrow blindly into the trees and caught Will as he fell. Quickly, the two of them were surrounded in a green mist. The wound on Will’s back quickly healed, leaving not even a scar. Will relaxed a bit, his pain now gone.

“Thank ya,” he said gratefully as both of them straightened up again, now surrounded by the rest of the company.

“Anytime. Do you know where that came from?” Vanya asked as he peered into the trees.

“No, it just came and went. All I heard was someone walking and the sound of his bow as he fired. I bet it was one of the Ran-” Another arrow suddenly shot out from within the tree line. It narrowly missed Aaru’s head as she screamed in surprise. The clearing was suddenly filled with flying deadly arrows. “RUN!”

The company ran for it, dodging through the trees to escape the hail of incoming arrows. So much for protected Ellinian Borders. Vanya thought to himself as he teleported along with the company. He heard shouts from behind him, but continued on.

They didn’t know how far they had ran, or how long the arrows had stopped, but when they finally collapsed in exhaustion, there was no sigh of any Rangers. Now, they were way off course from their destination.

Will wiped his sweaty forehead and looked back towards where they had ran from. Nothing stirred, not even a snail.

Aaru laid down on the crisp grass. She breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Latia and Reptina collapsed next to her.

Mark leaned against a tree, propping himself up with his Omega Spear. He too was breathing rapidly, trying to regain his equilibrium. He was sick and tired of the Rangers constantly sniping them from afar, attacking them and disappearing into the trees again. They had to get to the Station quickly.

Will turned his head back towards the company. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a dark figure within the trees, aiming a Hinkle at Aaru. His eyes widened in horror as he ran towards Aaru. “GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

He heard the twang of the bowstring and the dull thud as the arrow pierced his chest. Crimson blood spattered the innocent grass. By the time the rest of the company had rushed around Will, there was no sign of the Ranger anywhere.

Vanya cursed profusely as he tried to heal Will, but the arrow seemed to have a chemical on it that kept wounds open. Will grimaced in agony as Vanya tried again and again to heal him, but to no avail.

“V-Vanya,” Will finally sputtered as he coughed up a bit of blood, “Vanya it’s ok.”
Vanya shook his head profoundly, “No! I will not let you die!” Tears welled up into Vanya’s eyes. It was the first time Will had seen him cry before.

“Vanya p-please don’t cry,” Will said with a sudden calm in his voice. “I have done my duty. I have protected The One. But you cannot keep saving me Vanya. I have to go sometime, and this is my time. But before I go, I want you to know there will always be a light, a hope for peace in the world again. Although I leave you here, I will always be with you. Always.” Will grunted softly in pain. “Vanya you have to let me go.”

Vanya’s tears fell upon Will’s body like pelting rain. He shook with emotions as the rising and falling in Will’s chest slowed. Will smiled up at the company, many of whom were adding to Vanya’s rain. He closed his eyes, and saw a white light. He walked towards it.