The Rift

Chapter 9

              Brother and sister hid in the vast brush of the Enchanted Forest, his bow ready and her sword drawn. Honeymaren signaled behind her, and a small group of fellow hunters began to fan out around the cliff before them. A herd of wild hogs snorted while they grazed.

Ryder grabbed the shoulder of a young boy next to him. "You ready for this?" he asked the youth.

The eleven-year-old drew his dagger. "Climb a tree if they charge, right?"

"Right." Ryder gave him a comforting pat. "Here goes." His sister nodded and prepared to leap out of the forest but stopped dead in her tracks.

"What's wrong with that one?" she asked quietly. Ryder followed her gaze. A young adult hog had begun squealing and kicking the air around it, alarming the rest of the herd as they ran away. A gasp escaped Honeymaren when she saw a cloud of darkness swarm around the animal. Its cries filled the cliffside as it attempted to fight off the darkness.

"Get Isa out of here!" Ryder shouted, drawing an arrow. The other hunters let their arrows fly. "No!" he hollered. The hogs squealed and took off in all directions. Ryder hid behind a large spruce tree as the herd sprinted past, their brown fur raised in fright. Labored breathes sounded above him, and the young man looked up to see his sister and Isa perched on a thick branch. Other than some scratches that covered his forearms from the climb, the boy was unharmed. Ryder and Honeymaren sighed in relief. They dropped down and began retreating up the hill.

"My knife! I dropped it!" Isa cried.

Demonic squeals echoed around the brush. The three watched as the hog ran into a boulder in a blind frenzy while the dark entity leeched onto it. "We'll come back for it later. Let's go!" Honeymaren urged, pulling him along.

"My dad gave it to me!" Isa broke free and sprinted. "I can't leave it!" Ryder rushed after the boy, but as soon as Isa reached the edge of the tree line, Ryder was knocked back with sudden force. A wall of fire had appeared out of nowhere and separated the forest from the cliff. Ryder gasped and stumbled backward on all fours, his sister grabbing his shoulder.

"Isa!" they screamed. Ryder gritted his teeth and charged forward, leaping through the wall of fire. He collapsed on the coarse ground with a cough. Isa was still on the ground from the impact, but with a small lizard standing in front of him. The fire spirit growled cutely, and a blaze of fire shot up from its body. The darkness infected hog pawed the dirt before charging.

The wall of fire ceased to burn as a blast of ice froze it solid. A tall young woman shot over the hill, her body covered in what appeared to be dark armor. She skated along the ice wall and grabbed Isa by the shoulder. Ryder watched with pure wonder and audibly gasped. Marie glided by and grabbed him by the foot. He let out a high-pitched scream. Marie struggled under the weight of the two and fell. Their bodies rolled several feet before coming to a stop. Ryder shook his disoriented head, Isa groaning beside him. Marie stood and eyed them, holding a dark sword. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

Ryder sat up. She was nearly his height but was slender. Her blue eyes pierced into them intensely yet softly. Her loose brown hair was held back by what appeared to be a helmet made of darkness. He could sense that this darkness was not evil, though. The woman seemed to be working with it harmoniously. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "W-we're fine!" he stammered.

Another mage rocketed into the air using a gust of wind from the wind spirit, Gale. Elsa aimed her ice-covered palms at the hog and imprisoned it in a frozen cage. It slammed into it and let out a furious cry. She landed and ran to their sides. "Another animal," Elsa commented.