Chapter 67: Chapter 67
THE FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES
The Flight of Their Lives
The Tundra, Arctica
Aku just stared out at the water, watching as the eyes kept staring right at him. This was not how he wanted to spend the last few moments of his life. He didn't care that it seemed so drawn to Floor's ring. That didn't matter to him one bit. He knew what was going to happen the moment Floor took the ring away. It was going to kill them.
He kept backing further and further up, knowing that this was only going to work for a limited amount of time. Further and further he went. Everyone, but Floor, also seemed to be on the move. Aku blinked. Was Floor really going to give up her life in order to save theirs? He didn't think it was possible, but, then again, stranger things had happened before.
It like the monster didn't even see them backing up. It only had eyes for the ring. He wasn't even sure if it was even looking at Floor. If it was only interested in the ring, then why didn't she just throw it down and run? Was a ring really worth her losing her own life?
"Run," someone whispered in his ear.
He turned to see Aleksander standing next to him. "Run, now or you will never make it."
"What are you talking about?" Aku snapped back.
Aleksander rolled his eyes. "You really are the worst Alpha that I have ever seen."
Aku just gave him a small smile. "Well, I do have to live up to my name."
Aleksander just roughly grabbed him and pushed him forward. "Yeah, and you didn't come all this way to die either. Now, move!"
Aku took off running. The cold breeze beat against his face. Round the trees, round the shadows he went, without looking over his shoulder. There was no need for him to be afraid of what was going to happen. No need to worry. This was probably just in his head after all. He had nothing to worry about.
The wind beat against his back, almost as if it was urging him forward-begging him to go faster. He really didn't need to be told to go faster. It was as if he was skating over the land, like he was not touching the ground at all. He couldn't believe it. This was how it was supposed to be. He was free, actually free!
Never mind the fact that he was running for his life.
Never mind the fact that this could be the last thing he did.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the others moving around him. Then, he heard it. It sounded like a mixture of a growl and a roar. It made the little, tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Well, now, he knew that Floor wasn't going to give up her own life to save them. He picked up his pace as he tried to get as far away as possible from that monster.
Aku looked over her shoulder. The trees behind them were shaking, threatening to fall over. He kicked his pace into high gear. This thing, whatever it was, was huger; a lot bigger than what it had looked in the water.
The chill of air burned at his lungs. He would had thought with his wolf powers returning that running would not had been a problem.
He felt something slimy lap at him. He turned to find a slimy, white tentacle gripping his wrist. He looked around; the creature was on a rock, slowly trying to pull to him backwards. The land around him was no longer calm as more and more of the monster came into sight.
He looked back down at his wrist. He was not about to let the others save him now, not when he could save himself. He stomped on the tentacle with all of his might, but the monster did not let go. It kept dragging him back and back toward its black mouth.
"No!" Aku screamed as he dug his claws into the monster. It let out a rather awful sounding scream. It released him, falling ever the littlest bit backwards. Aku scrambled to regain himself. As he looked back, he could see that the monster was already coming back for him. Its blank, frosty looking eyes were fully trained on him.
Gulping, he turned and ran. The Hunters and wolves around him, who had weapons, were attempting to gun it down, but each shot only seemed to make it even more angrier. Its screams and growls made Aku want to hid under something and never come out until it was all over.
Snakes erupted out of the ground around them. Their hissing and slimy bodies only added to the horror. No matter where they stepped, there only seemed to be more snakes. Aku stomped hard on the ground around him, but it was doing no good. As soon as he killed on, about ten more replaced it.
The gashes from the swords and the holes from the bullets did not deter the snakes and monster at all: They just seemed to keep coming, as if they could not feel their own wounds. Their shrunken bodies stared up at them with open mouths, their fangs out. They were ready for the kill…Ready to kill them all.
Aku kept backing further and further away. He could feel the slimy bodies on him, knowing that they were trying to take him down so they could kill him and probably eat him. He tried to fight his way, tried to keep more of them from latching onto him, but there were too many. He kept hitting and hitting, but could not longer feel his body, no longer feel the life inside of him.
He gulped. This was going to be it. This going to how it ended. The weight was just too much, too much for his body to hold. He could actually feel his body starting to crumple beneath the weight. The ground was getting closer and closer; any second now, he would make contact with it. There would be no release-he would just be another meal for these snakes.
But, then, something strange started to happen. He blinked, making sure that it was actually happening, but it was. Fire, the most beautiful thing that he had ever saw, erupted around him. Its crimson and gold raced through the snakes, in a blaze of death. It didn't touch any of the wolves and humans. The snakes were its only target. Aku could only watch as the fire burned the snakes around him, making them nothing more than charred stick like figures.
In the middle of it all was Sebastiaan. He was pale, but seemed to be taller than any of the flames. He had his arms raised above him, commanding the fire to do his bidding. From the tips of his fingers, fire raced out of them, like a torch, ready to kill anything that got in their deadly path. The only thing that the fire didn't seem to burn was the monster, but, even it, wasn't coming any closer. It was as if it was afraid of Sebastiaan's deadly flame.
The snakes that were still alive were turning, trying to get away before the flames reached them. They even seemed to be looking at the monster, as if they were begging for it to save them. The monster paid them no mind. It just seemed to be in a state of awe at Sebastiaan-like it had never seen anything like him.
Without a final glance, the monster turned, retreating back to wherever it had came from. Without a word, Sebastiaan let his deadly flame drop. He looked around at the others. "We should get going," he said, his voice low. "That's not going to stop it for long." He turned and started walking in the other direction.
Aku, who was shaking all over, only followed Sebastiaan because he wasn't sure if the other wolf could stand to walk. He had seen how weak Sebastiaan got after using his magic. Aleksander also kept close to Sebastiaan, but the other wolf didn't seem to need them. If anything, he looked stronger than ever before-like nothing in the world was going to take him down.
After a few minutes, Sebastiaan paused. He raised his hand once again, casting a protective wave of fire around them. "I don't know how long it will hold. We need to keep moving."
Aku only stared in a mixture of wonder and horror at the flames. Why hadn't Raakel been able to do something like this? Was Sebastiaan really that much stronger than Raakel? It was just downright scary. That's all it was.
They kept going further and further into the island. Above them, the mist still rose, dancing in its wave of flames. This was just getting crazy. First, all the snakes and monster and now the mist was still above them.
Further and further they rushed backwards. Flames littered the ground around them, but never reached them. Aku really was just simply amazed at Sebastiaan's power. It truly was something simply magical to witness.
They kept going. The snakes tried to reach them through the flames, but each time they got close to them, their bodies just turned to char. Aku would had thought that they would had learned after watching their friends burn to pieces, but he was wrong. They just kept coming and coming. He really hoped that Sebastiaan's power held up. It just could not fail them now. To fail them now, would mean that they all died. There was just no other to put it.
Aku could still feel his entire body shaking. It really wasn't that he was cold. He was just so afraid of what was going to happen to them.
The mist shone above them, guiding their path. Aku didn't want to follow it. It only seemed to bring death to them. It shone far brighter than anything that he had ever seen. The more they followed it, the brighter it seemed to get.
He would had thought that they would had run out of land by now, but the island seemed to be never ending. It seemed as if with each step, it was actually adding land in front of them, but that was impossible, right? These things were not supposed to happen right in front of their eyes.
"I don't know how much longer I can hold out," Sebastiaan said, his face was rather pale looking. "I'm going to try to keep it going, but I can't promise anything."
Aku fought down the urge to vomit. If Sebastiaan were to let his power down, it would kill them all. As much as he hated to admit it, Sebastiaan was the only thing keeping them alive. It was a scary thought, but it was the truth.
Tarja nodded, as her eyes shifted around. "Okay, we're just keep going for as long as we can and go from there."
Aku did not like the plan; however, he didn't see how they had any other choice. This was how it was going to be.
He stared out ahead. There was something in front of them. It was a shape, a rather human looking shape. The more he looked, the more certain he was that it was a human. He blinked. There was something familiar about her. He frowned.
"Elisa," Aatu breathed.
Elisa smiled at them.
Aku blinked. What in the world was she doing in the middle of the island? How had she gotten here? She looked so unharmed, so untouched.
Something wasn't right.