The Winged Ones

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Rohan . . . wake up . . . Rohan . . .”

            It was that voice that greeted Rohan as he became conscious. He could hear shouts and cries of pain, though they were still too faint to make out. He could feel hard stone beneath him. He could feel the searing pain in his arm. He could feet a soft breeze flowing past him. He opened his eyes and saw that he was inside a cave and lying near the entrance. He looked outside and saw grass and trees in abundance. His arm was crudely bandaged, and it looked to be that all it did was keep the wound from bleeding too much. He looked further and saw Loki standing a little farther away. He was trading blows with the White Warrior, using magic and dealing it back and forth.

            It was then that Rohan panicked. He was in Fatos Woods, even worse, he was in the White Warrior’s chamber, and she was the guardian of the great power. Rohan knew that it was only a matter of time before he was used by Loki to get to the great power. And Rohan knew that he had to do everything in his power to stop Loki from using it.

            He must have dozed off because next thing he knew, he was being jerked off of the ground by the collar of his shirt. His eyes snapped open and he looked around him wildly, only to regret it as he saw the White Warrior lying unconscious on the ground. A doorway behind her throne had appeared, and Loki dragged Rohan over to it. He threw Rohan to the floor roughly in front of the door and crossed his arms.

            “I'm waiting,” he said. Rohan looked wearily up at the door and saw a symbol of a wing in the center, the symbol of the Winged Ones. Rohan took a deep breath, knowing what he had to do, and reached out to touch the door. The symbol glowed for a moment before fading away along with the door. Loki grabbed the back of Rohan’s shirt and pulled him along the newly formed tunnel. It was long and dark, and it took the two of them some time to get to the end of it. At the end was a dead end, nothing to be seen but the stone surrounding them.

            “What kind of joke it this?!” Loki cried, stomping his foot on the ground, the sound echoing throughout the tunnel. He turned to Rohan, who he had forgotten until now. “What did you do?”

            Rohan glared at him. “What did I do?” he repeated. “I did nothing but follow you here. But, I didn’t even have to do that! You dragged me here!”

            Loki’s hand reeled back and the slap echoed as much as Loki’s stomp. Rohan placed a hand to his cheek, already feeling a bruise forming.

            That was when he heard her, the White Warrior. Her voice drifted to him like the wind drifting through the trees. It was soft, but clearly audible at the same time. “Rohan . . . the power . . . it is invisible to him . . . because of his corrupted heart . . . you can use it . . . you can use the power to put an end to the evil he has done to this world . . . just want to use it . . . only you can do it . . . your destiny is so close to being fulfilled . . . your people are close to being freed from the corruptness of the world . . . call the power to you . . . and use it . . .”

            Rohan closed his eyes and called to it. He ignored the outraged cries of Loki, he ignored the throbbing in his arm. He called to the great power that so many have talked about. He could feel it coming to him, could feel the warmth spread through his body as it entered him, could feel the power it possessed, could feel the legend come to life. The pain in his arm subsided until it was no longer there. And, without looking at it, he knew that the power had healed him of all injuries, even the bruise that had yet to show on his cheek.