Hello, people. Sorry about the huge gap between this post and the last one. I wonder if anyone's even reading this anymore. Anyway, there's only a few chapters left, so I decided, "What the heck. I'll just finish it up."
So critique away, because I plan to give this a brutal editing. I am, after all, technically a comedy writer, and I wrote this during a humorless phase four years ago, AND my writing style has changed tremendously...okay, enough ramble. Here's chapter six.
Chapter Six: Encountered Once Again
It was hovering in the dusty air, fingers clenching and unclenching. A sickly wave of dark magic washed over me, but I promised that I wouldn’t let it catch me again. I clenched my own fingers, tightened my jaw, and stared hard at the Skeletal Hand.
The dirty wind blew grit into my eyes and I was forced to blink. I didn’t want to let it out of my sight for one second.
My journeys came to mind, from when I first left the maid at the castle to that moment. I remembered crashing through the woods and meeting Luna, to finding the hair-band and Shield, and finally, battling the evil griffin. It was all because of the Skeletal Hand. I wouldn’t let it chase me any farther. I was going home.
The skeletal hand made a sorrowful sound and beckoned me with its fingers. It seemed to be saying, follow me! Refusing, I stepped back. The Shield seemed to tug at my back as if it wanted to fight the Hand. I listened to the Shield’s pleas and whipped it out, holding it in front of me like a sword. “ If you come any closer I’ll rip you bone from bone.”
Limb from limb didn’t seem like the right thing to say.
Instead of shrinking away in fear, the Skeletal Hand advanced, beckoning. Follow me! I couldn’t see a reason to obey, so I stood my ground.
Then another feeling grew in my heart. It was sadness so great that I nearly stopped breathing. The full reality of what I had done came crashing down on me. I had left the maid, my dearest friend in the whole world, when I could have stayed and fought. And even when I could have voluntarily gone back, my cowardice kept me going. So here I was in the middle of a frozen desert, looking death in the face and screaming at myself for being afraid.
I had to fight.
I had never given a savage war cry before, but, for a beginner, I think I did I pretty good job. Yet even the most seasoned warrior would have trouble attacking a hand with a mind of its own. The Skeletal Hand lazily drifted out of the way as I barreled past. I lunged again and again, but with the same results. My blood boiled, my fur rose.
The Skeletal Hand seemed to grow a little, tiny shards of bone crackling off it. Follow me! Yes! Yes! It wailed in delight.
I paused. What…?
Gathering up my strength, I attacked again and discovered I had claws tucked away in my soft pink pads. That was what brought me back to reality. Looking at those sharp little black daggers made my heart melt. I understood now. The Skeletal Hand fed off my anger. And that’s what follow me meant.
I collapsed on the ground, my Shield crashing with a bang. “Kill me if you must,” I whispered.
There was no sound, but an answer in my head that didn’t come from me. All right.
A bolt of sizzling blue lightning flashed down from a darkening sky, making me jump back. The world was plunged into darkness, lit only by the bolt of lightning that remained frozen in the air. Little streaks came from it, cracking the ground and opening a pit in the dust. I was as frozen as the lightning, my heart thumping madly against my chest.
What came next kicked my heart into overdrive. A ghostly mist floated out of the pit, moaning and groaning like tortured ghosts. The fog began to take shape, turning into hard ivory skulls. They whirled around in a clattering tornado. Some dashed towards me and nipped at my neck.
It was too dark to see the Skeletal Hand, but I caught a flash of white move.
The singing stopped and the skulls froze in an eerie silence. They all lost their ability to fly and dropped, ivory faces smashing on the ground. One narrowly missed me. After it hit, a lost soul rose from it, sparkly skin flashing. It stroked my fur and whispered indistinct words in my ear.
Souls were something I had only read about. Then it all hit me. They were trapped in hard prisons, loyal to the Skeletal Hand. But, when they crashed, the souls were released, along with their real selves. The Skeletal Hand didn’t mean to drop the skulls. It was a mistake. So, the flash of white was not the Skeletal Hand.
The soul vanished.
I charged forward, the splintered bone slicing my ankles. I was waist-deep in smashed skull, trying desperately to get to the white flash. I didn’t know what it was, but it would make me feel safe.
It was just out of reach. My paw stretched out, silver fur billowing in the hard wind. A crimson rain began to fall, splashing everything scarlet and soaking the ground. It blurred my vision. The bone sliced my skin. I was still reaching for the White Flash.
Voices started to dance in my head, all mixed together. But standing out among them all was the deadly whisper, follow me!
“ No!” I screamed, bursting out of the pile of splintered bone.
I landed in a heap on the ground, blinded by the rain and the dark, deaf from the evil voices. I was panting, wanting it all to end, and just waiting to be swallowed up by the pit. I was no longer aware of what was going on around me.
And then a soft white light engulfed me, ruffling my silver fur. The tension dissolved and I knew that I had reached the White Flash. Who or what it was didn’t matter. I was just glad to be alive.
I began to notice the strange silver blurs around me, mumbling and swirling about. They looked like the soul, but were not human, like that one had been. They were more like dogs with feather duster ears and quivery noses. They were more like me.
Snapping awake, I grabbed for one. It went right through my arm. I stumbled around, trying to catch the strange blurs. They skipped out of reach, giggling. Sadly, I sat down, safe in the White Flash but still chilled by the horrors going by outside. One soul quietly glided over to me. I could tell that her fur had been scarlet like the falling rain. She radiated quiet strength and dignity. Her face was unsmiling, but her eyes compensated.
More of the Moon Children approached, coming in colorful, smiling clouds. One, two, three, I counted. Seven, eight, nine, ten. Ten Moon Children. They danced around me, chanting songs that I might have known…once. They made me feel sleepy and peaceful. My eyelids could barely keep themselves open, they felt so heavy. Drifting off to sleep, I collapsed in the White Flash. I had to keep awake. I had to keep awake…
“Wake up, child of the moon!”
I was jerked awake by a strong voice. The scarlet Moon Child was gently shaking my shoulder. “Welcome to the White Flash,” she said.
It took me a moment to understand what was happening. I shook my head; my eyes lost their blur, and I tried to remember. The soul hovering over me was a reminder. “How…?” I attempted to ask, but the soul was way ahead of me.
“We saved you from the Skeletal Hand, that wicked, humorless humorous. It’s not your time yet, Faith. You have many great adventures ahead of you. So we summoned all our power and the White Flash retreated to earth with us let you recover. That was a nasty fight out there.”
Grateful, but still a bit uncertain, I asked, “What’s the White Flash? Who are you? What on earth are you talking about?”
The Moon Child sighed and twirled her paw around one of her ears, a thoughtful expression on her face. “ I guess I’ll have to start from the beginning. Moon Child, you are the last of your kind. The rest were killed by the Skeletal Hand, and now it is after you.”
I reeled backward in surprise. All my life I had wanted to know my past, but this was a little too much. I was the last one? When I died, our species would be gone, just like dodos and dinosaurs. Sniffling, I questioned the Moon Child. “Why does the Skeletal Hand want me? Why did he kill all of you?”
“While we are alive, only we can wield the Paws items. Together, they possess a power great enough to destroy the world with a flick of the wrist, and so the Skeletal Hand has been hunting us down for years. It is currently in possession of eight of the items, and all it needs is the Flute and the Shield.”
“I won’t let it have them,” I said triumphantly, puffing out my chest.
“Good. We went to great lengths to protect the two. On the night we all died, we had just enough time to hide them.”
“You hid the Shield in the waterfall,” I said, beginning to understand. “And gave the Flute to the maid.”
The Moon Child nodded. “We gave you to the maid as well. You were born that night. We risked everything we had to bring you there.”
“I was…born,” I mumbled. “Who were my parents?”
The Moon Children thought this was dreadfully funny. “Did I say something wrong?” I asked uncertainly.
The scarlet Moon Child wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. “No, Faith, it’s just that—the moon is our mother.” She must have seen my confused look, so she explained further. “When a Moon Child is born, they come down to earth in a moonbeam. Each one of us had a special purpose to fulfill on earth. Now it is your turn. You are the last, eleven.”
That’s where I had heard the song before! The maid’s song came flooding back to me. It all made sense. “The prophecy!” I gasped. “It wasn’t talking about me—it’s about you!”
She nodded, and they all began to sing:
“Step by step
across the land
to flee, to fight,
to take a stand.
The moon’s cruel darkness
Hides them all
Yet one by one
They all will fall.
Till she alone
With fur of red
Is left to face
The living dead.
Protect the baby
The last, eleven
And know she’s safe
When you watch from heaven.”
My eyes darted outside. I was not completely lost in the White Flash; I was bathed in it and had a clear view of the outside world, although it was a little blurred. The ground was a mess of rain-stained skull, the red liquid dripping into the eye sockets with sickening plops. The stark sky was no longer stark, as silver clouds were swirling quickly around. I could see the mountain range in the distance, swathed in mist. I hoped all the chaos hadn’t reached the griffins. Whimpering pathetically, I buried my face into the warm fur of the soul. “ Do I have to go?”
“ Yes,” She said. “ If you want to save us then must go. We live off the energy of the White Flash. If the Skeletal Hand thrives, the White Flash dies, and so will we. Good luck, child of the moon.”
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Um...yeah. Well, there it is!
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:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
-oh forget it! Just call it the white flash..." or something like that 