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“Do you think the shadows did this?” I ask as we walk past the poor thing.
“Maybe. It looks like the claw marks that Brog had when he was attacked,” Trek says. The sound here is more intense, and we are starting to feel it vibrating through our bodies, but it’s still not as bad as when I first heard it with Drez.
“I know where we’re going,” Shok suddenly says. “Dream, do you remember that cave we used to hide in when we were young?” I look around to try to get my bearings. With everything around us dead and grey, it is difficult to see where we are, but when he mentions the cave, I look around with a new perception. It has been so many years since I have been here that I’m not certain.
“I remember, but with everything in such a poor state, I’m not sure where we are.”
“I think the source of this sound might be in there. Remember how the sound reverberated in that cave?” I smile, remembering those times so long ago.
“Isn’t that the cave where you tried to kiss her?” Hope asks as she swipes her free hand to the right. Immediately, the roots and stumps of a dead tree that was in our path starts to retract.
“What?” Drez asks as he stops and turns to look at Shok, a scowl on his face. “You kissed her?” He takes a step towards Shok as if to confront him, but I can’t see what happens, as Shok is behind me and I can’t exactly turn around when Hope and Love are both holding my hands.
“No, no, I didn’t,” Shok states. “Swear, I didn’t touch her.”
I hear Hope laugh and know that she is purposefully teasing Drez. Love elbows me in the side. When I turn to look at her, she winks as if to sayI told you so.
“No lack of trying,” Hope says, looking behind us, a grin splitting across her face.
“Thanks, Hope, you’re a real friend,” he mutters, which has me grinning at his sullen response. I remember that day when we were in the cave and Shok walked up to me, stating that he thought we should kiss just to see how it was. At that age, I had other ideas and kneed him before running away. He was so angry at me that he did not speak to me for a whole week. I see Drez out the corner of my eye. Looking over at him, I see his eyes are on Shok, and he looks far from friendly.
Looks like Love might be right and Drez does have feelings for me. I am so distracted that I only realize there is danger when we are nearly upon it. Trek, Shok, and Drez push the three of us into a circle as they stand with their backs to us. “Six is better than three,” I mutter as a crazy thought enters my mind.
“What?” Hope asks loudly so she can be heard above the intense sound. There are four hooded figures at the end of the path. Their faces are darkness itself, the hoods low, covering half their faces or what should be their faces. They are huge and much taller than Shok, who is the tallest of the three men. The dirty black threads of their capes hide the bodies below.
“Turn, touch the men. One hand on them and the other on one of us.” I let go of their hands and turn to show them what I mean. My right hand rises, and I place it flat against his back, and then with my left hand, I place it on Love’s upper arm.
Love nods and copies my actions, the same with Hope. The men don’t show any sign of our touch on them, but I for one can feel Drez’s muscles tensing under my touch.
“There are three, Love, Hope, and Dream,
The heart, the soul, and the mind.
All are here; we are a trinity.
Let the Fae energy surround us,
Let the earth bind us,
And let our hearts guide us.”
I repeat Love’s words, and then Hope joins in and repeats the words. An amethyst light twirls around our group, and I know that the energy of our trinity has been linked to fight this danger. The hooded figures howl as if banshees, and then they rush towards us. I feel my heart beating erratically, thinking that maybe I should have grabbed my arrows instead of using our energy, but what possible damage would our weapons have against these creatures?
Whatever the source of the sound is, these creatures are the product of it. Drez swings his sword, trying to stop the creature attacking him. Trek is fighting with two long blades, his wolf very much evident as he growls at them. His muscles strain as he wields the blades, slashing continuously, trying to wound them. Shok has his own unique way of fighting. His axe befalls the two fighting him at the same time as his flesh turns stony, impeding them from wounding him.
“They are too strong!” Hope screams to be heard over the fight. She is right; it does not seem like the men’s weapons are doing any kind of damage to these creatures. I see roots popping out of the ground, and I know that Hope is trying to detain them so that we have a better chance of stopping them, but to no avail. Unlike whatever the other creatures were, these are too quick and strong for the roots to get a chance to hold them still for any number of times.
“We can’t hold them back for much longer,” Trek growls as the creature rips a gash down his arm. Drez is having the same difficulty. I see various wounds on his body. These things are tiring them down. What are their intentions? Well, let me see what I can do. They are a figment of evil, so the only way to beat them is to fight evil with good. Closing my eyes, I draw everyone’s energy to me, feeling a rush of power overflow every fibre of my being.
“You want to fight us? Well, fight this!” And then instead of lighting everything up, I enter the darkness that is their beings. I can feel the oppressive darkness and evil clawing at me as I penetrate their evil energy and start filling it with goodness. Taking Love’s unique goodness and Hope’s power of life and my power of inner light, I fill these evil creatures with every fibre of pure energy that I can.
I feel my mind swirling, my body getting heavier, but I don’t stop until I am sure they are forever gone. I hear the others screaming my name, but I don’t stop until there is only light and the darkness has completely dissipated.
I feel a weakness within myself and know that I have used every fibre of magic that I am capable of. My head is swirling with a purple light flashing around and around in my mind behind my eyes. My body feels like it is falling, but it never touches the ground as it continues to fall. The others’ voices become distant. I try to open my eyes, but they are weighed down by the swirling motion, as if I’m in a whirlwind, and then all of a sudden, everything goes still and the swirling purple light starts to disappear.
I hear many voices all at once, sounds that I have never heard before. Opening my eyes, I tense. Where am I? My heart starts to race, my stomach knotting. “Where are we?” I turn my head to encounter Love next to me, a look of horror on her face as she looks around.
“Dream, where did you bring us?” Hope asks from behind us. Turning, I encounter the other four all looking around. I am relieved to know that they are all fine and we are together.
