The Liar (ON HOLD)

Chapter 34

Zane

Zane walked in front of Nya. He stared in awe as he looked around. The walls glittered with gems and crystals.

"Wow." Nya breathed.

"This looks more like a palace than a dungeon." Zane commented as he looked ahead. A giant fortress stood in front of them. It was made of gold and had a dark obsidian gate. It looked like the house of a King or more accurately...a god.

Cole growled and marched in front of them. "Don't get distracted." Cole shouted.

Zane nodded and followed with Nya walking behind them. 

As they approached the monstrous castle, Zane felt a gradually increasing vibrate in the ground beneath him. Zane narrowed his eyes and glanced around as he pulled out a shuriken. 

"Stay on guard...I have a bad feeling." Zane stated.

Nya nodded as she pulled out her weapon, "Same. I hope I'm not the only one feeling the earth shake." She answered.

Zane looked to Cole to find him frozen and shaking. His eyes were fixated on something ahead.

"Cole, we need to continue. What are you looking at?" Zane asked as he stepped forward. Zane tried to follow Cole's gaze, but it seemed he was looking at nothing.

Cole shook his head, "You didn't see that?" Cole asked hesitantly.

Zane frowned, "See what?" Zane asked.

Cole shook his head again, "Never mind. I'm probably just seeing things." Cole muttered.

Zane placed a hand on Cole's shoulder, "Cole, whatever you see probably has something to do with Alptraum. It wasn't real whatever it was." Zane reminded him.

Cole nodded, "I know." Cole answered.

Zane sensed something was wrong. Alptraum was messing with their minds. If they wanted to beat him, they had to do it together.

Nya walked ahead of them until she stood in front of the gate. She began pushing the ate open.

"Nya, wait!" Zane shouted, but it was too late.

The door slid open, and Nya stood in horror and shock. All of a sudden, a dark arm flew out and grabbed her, pulling her inside.

"Nya!" Cole yelled. 

Zane and Cole ran through the gate, but Nya was gone.

"This isn't good." Zane muttered.

"We have to find her." Cole stated.

Zane nodded and they both looked around. There were three passageways. One ahead, one to the left, and one to the right. 

"We have to split up." Cole declared.

"Cole, that's a bad idea. We have no idea what we're up against. We have to stay together." Zane insisted.

"I know, but it's our only hope of finding Nya. She could be down any of these...we'll meet back here in fifteen minutes and then we'll go down the front passage together if we don't find her. Got it?" Cole asked.

Zane hesitated but nodded. "Don't let him in your head." Zane stated.

"Same back at you, Snowball." Cole joked.

Zane smiled and walked down the right passage. It was dark and Zane was slowly beginning to sweat, due to all the heat. Soon it would be difficult to even breath. Zane used his ice power to freeze the walls of the cave which would allow him to cover more ground. Plus, it would cool the air down for a time.

Zane began sliding down the passage, but it wasn't long until he came upon a fork in the rode. Zane decided to stay with the right path. Just when Zane was about to turn back, he heard a scream. 

Zane ran towards the scream but stopped when it ended. Then came another scream and Zane continued running. Zane soon found himself lost...

"I don't understand, where are the screams coming from?" Zane asked himself. His head throbbed as more screams broke out.

"Zane! Help!" Someone cried.

Zane turned around and frantically searched for a passage towards the scream, but there were none. 

"Pixal?" Zane asked aloud.

"HELP!!!!" Pixal screamed. 

"PIXAL!" Zane yelled. He looked around but realized there were no openings. He was locked in.

Pixal's screams echoed in Zane's mind, making his head throb and ache. Tears sprang into his eyes, and he clutched his head as he fell to the ground.

"Make it stop!" Zane cried.

"Zane, help us!" Another person yelled.

"Zane!" Someone called. "We're going to die and you're just sitting here?! You're pathetic!" Someone mocked.

"Just stop! This isn't real." Zane cried. 

The voices continued to scream in Zane's mind as he plugged his ears and tried to block it out. Zane sat there for what felt like hours. The voices cried relentlessly, not giving Zane any chance to break out of his trance. Then all of a sudden, Zane heard a crack and the next thing he knew he was unconscious.