The Faithfuls

Chapter 10: Zeth

Chapter 10: Zeth

I get Jinx’s reflex out of my pocket and walk into the field where I first met the Faithfuls. In a blank patch, I carve the symbol of a demon head into the earth. As I finished, the symbol began to glow red and sink into the ground. Now there was a giant hole in the ground, and on the other side, my old home.

“You guys ready?” I look over my shoulder at the rest of the group. Ursa had a few explosive stars on a belt and had her bow at the ready. Brandon and Muse were just in their casual wear, as they rely on their aurora. It took us two days to come up with this plan, and we haven’t seen Jinx in three days. We are finally ready to find her. So we jump. I try to be acrobatic and I front flip into the rift. The others let out cheers and whoops as they soar through a mixture of reds and blacks. We appear right above my father’s palace, and we slide down the roof onto the dry ground. I lead them down a few paths (We got lost a few times) until we get to an old ruin, also known as Raiku’s main base. Ursa goes forward a little bit, discussing a plan with Muse under her breath. After being a little lost, we come across an entrance that isn’t completely ruined. We sneak inside, sticking to the shadows. There was a stone staircase at the end of the hallway, and at the bottom of it, chambers. Lots of chambers. Most of them made for prisoners. If we were to find Jinx anywhere, it would be here.

 Then a scream of pain echoes down the hall. It came from the room at the end of the passage. We ran to it, knowing that voice anywhere. Jinx. We burst in on Raiku and his assistant standing in the corner, laughing, as Jinx is clasped to a metal pole in the centre of the room. Her hands are clasped together on the other side of the pole, and her feet chained to the ground. A demon guard raises a whip onto her back, each one brining a new sound of pain from her mouth. Her tank top is gone, only her white singlet, torn and bloody remains. Her hair droops over her face as she looks at us through teary eyes. Then she mouths something to me. Help me...please... Ursa throws one of her explosive stars at the guard, knocking him into the wall with the whip strewn on the ground. The plan of being super stealthy and subduing everything in our path has gone out the window.

 I cover Brandon in shadow as he dashes over the Raiku and his accomplice and holds lightning swords to their necks.

“Don’t move.” He mutters under his breath. I run over to Jinx and kneel down next to her. I move some of her hair out of her face so she can hear me, but where her ears should be is only blank skin.

“Zeth?” she says weakly. I unclasp her hands and feet. I help her just sit down as Muse brings over her tank top. She puts it on, ignoring the pain. I move her hair again, only to once again see blank hair where her ears should be. She automatically pulls the hair back, hiding something.

“Haven’t you told them yet, Ms Amadeus?” Raiku shouts from across the room. “Have you been telling your closest friends lies about your origin?” She looks back at me, weary of whether to trust me.

I speak in a calm tone. “Jinx... we won’t judge you for what you are. But can you tell us?”

“I’m not afraid of you judging me.” She says shakily. “It’s complicated...”

“Well come on then! Tell them!” Raiku laughs. “Or would you like me to show them for you?” Out of nowhere, Brandon gets knocked off his feet and pressed into the wall by shadow, and the same happens to Ursa, Muse and I. The shadow picks Jinx up by the hair, tying her hands behind her back. A hand of shadow pulls off her engineer goggles to show something I thought I would never see on her. Red fox ears. It’s why the normal area for human ears is blank, and the reason she keeps it covered. Next the shadow pulls a red fox tail out from under Jinx’s shirt, and two fox feet from beneath her boots. She looks over at us shyly, disgraced of her past.

“If you don’t know what she is yet, Ms Amadeus here is an Anthrofauna. The last of her kind were killed in a human raid to their tree, and now she’s the last one. These beings kept nature in balance, and if all Anthrofauna die unnaturally, nature will die along with them. But since she is the last, if she dies unnaturally, so does the whole of nature. It’s really the same principle, just with less people.” Raiku chuckles. “Why were you hiding your race, Ms Amadeus?”

Jinx speaks up, but with a strong sense of voice. “If they found out how important I was to the, you know, sustainment of life, they would have protected me more, and I never like sitting on the sidelines, even if entering the fight gets me in trouble.” A tear falls off her cheek, and she looks up to us. “I’m sorry. I didn’t plan on any of this happening. I’m sorry.”

I speak now. “Jinx, we understand. And if we get out of this, we’ll be able to help you, and you don’t have to hide anymore.” I smile at her and the smile returns.

“Sorry to ruin the cosy catch up,” Raiku shouts. “But I think it’s time that I have the strongest powers here.” Raiku’s assistant comes from behind him with her scythe raised level to Jinx’s stomach. She brings it in closer, so that the barrel of the gun scythe is only centimetres away from her skin. But Jinx takes action, despite the pain of her whip scars. She kicks the end of the scythe so that it fires into the ceiling and kicks the woman, sending her pin wheeling into Raiku. The shadows holding us break, but the woman and Raiku are already on their feet. We sprint like there’s no tomorrow down a different hallway. Jinx is in constant pain as she runs. We make it some kind of throne room, and Raiku sends stabs of shadow everywhere. He wraps the others in shadow, holding dark blades to their throats.

“Move and their souls belong to me!” He roars. “Zeth, give me your position as shadow lord, or their spiritual forms and physical forms belong to me for eternity! Your choice!” Either they’re gone forever and the world dies or they get killed and the world dies anyway.

“The dimensions and your friends will die either way, buddy. Nature dies when she does. So make up your god damn mind before I make it up for you!” I don’t know what to do. Either way the closest person I’ve ever known dies, and so does the world.

“Times up.” Raiku laughs. “Jazzmozzelle, take them out.” But we all look over to where Jinx should be and she’s gone, the shadows dissipating. Then from behind Raiku came a small gun connected to some ribbon. It slashed the back of Raiku’s armour and cut it, showing the clothes inside. The gun has a blade on the top, making a perfect weapon. Raiku turns sideways, and Jinx circles him till the fight is side view. She twirls the ribbon in a circle saying a few words before attacking. “Time to face the pain, death bringer.”