Chapter 71: Chapter 71

IN THE MIDDLE

In The Middle

The Tundra, Arctica

Floor ran across the battle as smoke erupted around them. Sebastiaan paused on the other side of her, letting blue flames soar out of his fingers. They crashed into a group of snakes, causing them to turn to nothing more than little charred sticks. Someone she could see Raakel's flames.

Floor stopped, staring as the rock tower started to come down. She could not believe how it just seemed to fold right into itself; it kind of reminded her of knocking down a tower of blocks.

"They were in there!" Sebastiaan yelled over the roar of the battle.

Floor looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Aleksander and Tarja. I think Aku was almost with them." He looked wide eyed at the tower. "I didn't see them come out either."

Floor looked back at the tower. It was almost on the ground. Not only was Aleksander, Tarja, and Aku missing, but Elisa and the newcomer were also out of sight. She really didn't like not knowing where Elisa was. She could easily come up behind them and attack, have them killed before they could even react.

She kept on looking at the rest of the tower came down, shaking the ground in its wake. The dust filled her lungs, making her want to double over and cough. She blinked, trying to get the dust out of her eyes, but it only seemed to make it stick even more.

Still, she could see nothing. There were no moving shadows in the mess. They surely couldn't all be dead. She couldn't picture that happening to everyone. Even in the ugliest of battles, someone always made it out alive, there was always someone left behind to make sure the fight went on. There just had to be someone in there…There just had to be…No one else could die, not when they had already lost so many.

Sebastiaan stood next to her. He was a bit paler than he had been earlier. "Anything?"

Floor shook her head. "No, I don't see anything at all."

Sebastiaan shifted his weight around. "They could had made it out, couldn't they? I mean, it came down, but there was still plenty of time for them to escape."

Floor couldn't tell if the words were directed at her or if he was just saying them to make himself feel better. She wished she could find the words to tell him that everything was okay, to just tell herself, but she couldn't make herself say it. She couldn't make herself come up with the lie. She didn't know why. She had told lies before, but this time, it felt somehow different, like it was wrong to offer false hope. It just felt wrong.

He looked at her. "How long are you going to let me talk to myself?"

"For as long as it takes," she answered.

"For as long as what takes?"

A beat passed before she answered. "Before I can believe your words." She looked at him. "Do you even believe in what you are saying?"

Sebastiaan looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Floor looked at him. "Do you even believe what you are saying?" she heard herself ask again. She didn't know why she was drilling him. It wasn't fair to him, seeing as he really didn't deserve it. He had save their lives more than she cared to admit.

The smoke was clearing even more, but Floor still couldn't see any signs of life from within the tower. Maybe they really were gone and they were going to be forced to keep fighting alone. She just had a gut feeling that the tower did not kill Elisa. At the rate the snakes were still coming, it just didn't possible that she was dead. There was just no way that the snakes would keep up the fight unless someone was commanding them.

Beside her, Sebastiaan shot flames out into the army of snakes. He was either starting to slow down or the massive amount of snakes was actually starting to pick up. It was hard to tell, hard to even tell how many had been there before. He stumbled a few times; his stumbles were so great that Floor feared he would fall to the ground and become snake food.

Floor fired her gun. She didn't know how much longer it would work. Her bullets were getting low. Sure, she had a sword and a few daggers, but she didn't like to use them. Hand to hand combat was a bit too messy for her liking.

Sebastiaan shot more and more flames at them, leaving a charred mess behind in his wake. His face was getting paler and paler. Floor looked closely at him. His hands were shaking. He wasn't going to be able to keep it together for much longer.

She looked around at the others. They were still up, but their movements were growing slower and slower. It was only going to be a matter of time before everyone feel apart. That was Elisa game: to slowly wear them down. They were going to lose.

She kept on firing, waiting for the empty click. Most people would probably save their bullets, but she always thought it was better to go full force, then worry about what was going to happen when the time came.

Sebastiaan blinked. He took a small step forward. She noticed he was having trouble staying upright. She just prayed that he couldn't collapse-that he could hold on for a little bit longer. He just had to keep it together. If he went down, she wasn't sure that she could get them both out of here in one piece.

On and on they went. She didn't see any end to the snakes nor did she see anyone could out of the tower. Maybe this was how it was going to end…Maybe this was how the events were going to play out…It was actually a sickening thought…

Sebastiaan's steps were actually getting slower and slower. His entire body shook with each slow step. His pales was pale, almost as white as the snow in front of him. His magic was slowing down, like he was actually drained. When he looked at her, there was no life left in him.

Floor screamed as a large snake came flying down at them from a tree. She tried to fire her gun, but nothing came out as she squeezed the trigger. She tried again, but nothing. As the snake came closer to her face, fangs out, she quickly pulled out her sword and picked it upwards, just as the snake reached her. It exploded into a million tiny pieces of snake guts and something else.

When she opened her eyes, she saw purple flames dying from Sebastiaan's fingers. He smiled at her as she lowered her sword. There wasn't even any signs of the snake on her sword. Had he really just done that?

He looked at her with a smile. "Well, I guess now we know what happens when a snake explodes."

Floor stabbed a snake at her feet. "I guess we do." She looked once again up at the tower's rumble. There was still nothing.

Wait…There was something…Something running away from the rumble. However, that person wasn't running toward the battle, but away from it. There! There was someone chasing the person's fleeing back!

Floor looked over at Sebastiaan. "Fancy a run?"

Sebastiaan's eyes flickered over to the running people. "I guess I do."

"Good," Floor said as she started running forward, kicking up a wad of snakes in her wake. She ran hard, then even harder.

Ahead, the two figures were still running. She couldn't make out who they were. She picked up her pace, running even faster. Sebastiaan ran alongside her.

Breathing hard, Floor kept an eye on the snakes. The ground beneath her feet was littered with them. Their bodies actually crunched beneath her, the guts made it hard to walk. The two figures though just remained far enough away to make it difficult to see who they were.

She ducked as a snake appeared out of a tree limb, ready to latch onto her tender body. Behind her, Sebastiaan was using whatever little bit of flames that he still had left. She had to admit that they were not as strong as they had been earlier, but it was still doing damage and was still better than nothing.

The two figures were now running up a raised rock. One seemed to be carrying something in her arms…Oh, yes, Floor could clearly see that both of them were female. That meant that Aleksander was still possibly trapped somewhere…

Sebastiaan looked up at the two females, gasping. "They're going to kill each other," he breathed.

"Is that really a bad thing?" Floor asked. The two females were now circling each other. They seemed to be yelling something at each other. She wanted to hear what they were saying, but the wind was blocking it.

"It is if one of them is our friend," Sebastiaan snapped.

Floor's eyes narrowed as she looked at the two females. There was just something about hearing such a hard tone from Sebastiaan that really made her pay attention.

The rock ledge that the two females were on was very narrow. More than once, they came very close to its deadly edge. A foot would step off, then quickly right itself.

Floor grabbed onto his hand. "Come on!" Much to her surprise, he let her pull him closer to the fighting. She pulled them closer to the ledge, looking around from any sign of a way up. She looked up at the fight, but still couldn't see just who it was.

Rocks were sliding down off the ledge. Though most of them were small, there was still some large enough that they could do some damage. Dodging and running, they went round and round the ledge, but it was almost as if all the ways up had been sealed or something. She couldn't see one way. She looked wide eyed back at Sebastiaan, who also had a very confused look on his face.

She lead them around the ledge one more time and, still, there was nothing. How could all the ways up had disappeared? She was certain that there had been one. She had seen the females run up it. There had been a ramp, she knew she wasn't that mental.

"Stop, stop!" Sebastiaan whispered.

Floor froze, looking back at him. "What is it?"

He rested his hands on his hips. "We just need to stop for a minute and think about this. Maybe we aren't supposed to go up there. Maybe it's a fight that they had to do on their own."

Floor blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe we aren't supposed to find out what just for sure who is up there." He paused, looking at her. "Maybe things are supposed to play out this way."

"Are you saying that we should just let this happen?" Floor looked up at the fight, not believing what she was hearing. Why didn't he want to see what was going on? Why didn't he see that she had to see it, that she had to know what was going on? Was it really that difficult for him to see?

Sebastiaan gave her a small smile. "Just believe me. I'd never let you miss a fight if I didn't think it was for the best."

Floor's eyes narrowed. He didn't know her and he most certainly did not know what was best for her. Why had she even let him follow her? She looked back up at the fight, then around. There was no way up. Maybe she wasn't going to be able to get involved anyway. It was just so hard to sit here and watch these things go right past her. It wasn't right and it just wasn't fair, at least in her mind.

Above them, the females went round and round. The green mist seemed to circle them, creating a whirl of both colour and death. Their shouts echoed off the walls, creating an illusion that there were more than just the two of them up there.

Floor's eyes kept darting around. Snakes were slowly starting to come their way, as if they had just realized that she and Sebastiaan were standing there. She stabbed a few of the closest ones with the tip of her sword, but it only seemed to make their numbers multiply.

"A few flames would be very helpful about now," she hissed at Sebastiaan, who just seemed to be standing there.

Sebastiaan frowned. "I'm trying, but it's like my magic has been frozen." He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened, not even a spark. Floor tried not to groan as he kept on snapping without any results. This was not good. She couldn't keep up with the stabbing and she wasn't sure how his fighting skills were without magic.

A whole wall of snakes exploded around them. Snakes rained down on them, hissing as they landed. Floor danced around, trying to keep them from biting her.

One latched onto her arm. She tried to shake it off, but the movements only seemed to cause the snake to hold on even more. Blood was starting to run down her arm. She couldn't remember if blood from a snake bit was a good thing or not. She tried to get Sebastiaan's attention, but he was in the middle of trying to shake off his own snakes.

The snake bit harder, causing her to cry out. Her arm…Oh, the burning! It felt as if her very arm was going to fall off. She could still feel it at least. It meant that it wasn't dead and that was a good thing, right?

She pulled a dagger out of her pocket. If she could just stab it, then maybe she could get it to let go. Of course, it could only make the snake latch on even tighter. She really wanted her sword, but it was lost someone beneath the snakes.

Sebastiaan was getting lower and lower. It seemed like the snakes were trying to pull him down. She couldn't even hear if he was saying anything. His arms were pulled so tightly to his side that he couldn't even use them.

She had to get free. She had to get to him or he would die…If he hadn't already.

She gripped the dagger tightly in her hand. The snake was so forced on keeping its grip that it didn't even notice her moving until it was too late. She plunged the dagger into the snake. It let go to hiss.

She moved and rushed over to Sebastiaan's side. The snakes just seemed to be going after him. She had never seen anything like this. It was like they were picking him for their target.

What was he that made him so special?