The Dragon Children

7 | Mt. Longinus

CHAPTER 7 - MT. LONGINUS

The Holy Stone Empire were riding toward Kraghon for a long 3 hours, mostly filled with awkward silence. This was due to Lilith not wanting any noise, as it would distract her from leading the group. They rode for those 3 hours, and ended up at the bottom of a giant mountain.

"What the.. ?" Naphtali looked up, confused. "You said there wouldn't be any obstacles in our way, Naphtali." Akuji said, passive-aggressively. "No, this wasn't here two years ago. In fact it.." He looked into the past. "It wasn't here until.. 2 hours ago." They all got off their horses, preparing for the long hike ahead of them. Naphtali put his hand up to his chin. "Hmm.. How is this possible?" He walked much slower than the rest of them, lost in thought. "Spare the details, Naph. The point is, it's here and we have to climb. Hurry your backside up." Ruthven shouted his way.

".. No. It couldn't be. Could it?" Naphtali grabbed his head with both hands and gripped his hair. He started pulling it. "No.. no, no, no, no, NO!" He fell to his knees. The Holy Stones all gathered around him. "What's wrong, Lil dude?" Akuji shook him. Eden was standing in the back. She smirked. Naphtali looked up to the top of the mountain. He squinted his eyes, as he saw a figure. His theory was correct. "It's.. it's my uncle. It's his powers. He.. he can terraform any ground imaginable, to any height he wants. Once, he.. he pulled the ground under a prisoner's feet all the way to the sun." He stood up. "They.. they call him the Knight of Nightmares. His name is Longinus." All the Holy Stones looked up. "So, they're pulling out the big guns, huh?" Ruthven grabbed onto Naphtali and Akuji, who all grabbed onto the next, and the cycle repeated. "I guess we should stop playing around, too." Ruthven warped everyone on their side to a point in the mountain, where they were almost at the peak, but still invisible to the naked eye. "Our.. our chances at winning are 3%.. I suggest we surrender and-" Euryale was interrupted. "No! We never surrender. We fight until we die, don't we, Nap-Nap?" Rem smiled at him. "Y-Yeah.." Naphtali blushed.

They climbed the mountain for another 15 minutes, before finally making it to a small cave in the mountain. They were able to fit themselves inside, only having about 30 knights and soldiers, 6 Holy Stones, and Eden. They made themselves cosy. Rem fell asleep, leaning onto Naphtali. Ruthven was sitting next to him, and nudged him slightly. "Hey.. you two have been getting pretty close lately, huh?" He blushed. "W.. Well, Uhm, maybe.." Ruthven laughed and walked away. Rem woke up and looked at Naphtali. She placed her hand on his cheek. She closed her eyes, and puckered her lips. Naphtali did the same, they leaned in and..

"AAAAMBUUUSH!" The cave started falling in on itself. All the Holy Stones made it out alive, and only 5 knights. Eden was stuck under a rock. "Agh.. h.. helpp!" She reached out her hand, which Euryale grabbed on the other side. "I got you." She pulled Eden out with no trouble. "Oh.. thanks.." 

They climbed up to the top. Naphtali stood at the front of the crowd, and faced off against Longinus. "My nephew.. why must we quarrel? You killed my brother. Your father." He stretched out his hands. "It's okay to come back to us." Ruthven jumped up from behind Naphtali and hit the ground. "HA!" Cracks started appearing in the mountain. Lava was going to pour out any second, and-

"Weak." The cracks got covered up by another layer of snowy earth. "How pathetic. This is all the Holy Stones have?" He crumbled the floor beneath the remaining 5 soldiers. "Every human on your side is now dead. These deaths are on your hands. As per usual. Monsters." It was like he completely ignored Eden. Ruthven seemed shocked. "Haven't you heard who I am? What my power is?" He spoke proudly. "My name.. is Longinus. My power consists of manipulating the very earth itself into whatever I'd like. For example.." He stretched out his hand. "Hmph!" He put his hand in a claw-like position and dragged it up. "Ha!" The ground beneath everyone raised by 2000 feet in 2 seconds. "Damn.. how are we supposed to-" Akuji looked up. "Huh?" A piece of earth was falling above her, right on top of her. "Oh, did I not mention I can create the earth out of thin air?" He laughed evilly. The ground beneath all of the Holy Stones wobbled. Akuji could see the end. The rock fell on top of her.. and crushed her.

"HAAAAAHAHAHA! FOOLS! SO PATHETIC AND WEAK!" Longinus gripped his face with his hand. "IS THIS ALL THE HOLY STONES HAVE?! HAAAAA-" A katana flew at Longinus' chest. He created a mound of earth to stop it, as the katana flew back to the sender. "Huh?.." There was a massive shield above Akuji, created by Ruthven. On top of the shield was the rock that was meant to crush Akuji. Her katana had already come out of her arm, as she wielded it. "Weak?" She smirked. "I think you're the one that's weak." She looked back. "Commander Lilith, leave it to Ruthven and I!" "Very well. Let us leav-" Lilith was interrupted by Longinus. "MY NEPHEW! Why don't you and Eden return to our kingdom? You can do as originally planned. Marry Eden! The woman you love!" Rem's eyes shook. "Marry.. Eden? You.. love EDEN?" She stared at Naphtali. "I-It's a planned wedding! I didn't want to, I promi-" "ENOUGH!" Lilith exclaimed. "ENOUGH OF THIS CHILD PLAY. You may talk after the battle!" Rem looked away from Naphtali. She couldn't bare to look at him. "Damn you.. CURSE YOU!" Longinus stretched both of his hands into a claw-like shape. "HOOOOOAAAAH!" He screamed as the ground grew beneath all of the Holy Stones. "IF I CAN'T WIN, THEN NEITHER CAN YOU!" The ground lifted 1000 feet. Then 2000 feet. In a short time of 6 seconds, the ground reached 305,500km high. They started floating. They had no gravity. They were in space.

"Mm, mmph! Mhh hmhm mhm! (Hey, Ruth, come help out over here!)" Akuji.. said? Ruth floated toward the direction of the planet. She started falling faster as she gained gravity, looking like a meteor falling from the sky. "HAAAA!" Ruth transformed. Shapeshifted into her Holy Stone form. "Grrah.. GRAH!" She screamed and howled as she picked up the entire mountain from the very bottom. "AAAUM!" She took a bite out of it and split it in half. The Holy Stones, Eden, and Longinus started falling to the bottom. Ruthven managed to catch Akuji in her hands. Lilith landed on the floor and died.. but got revived due to her ability. Euryale was falling, but calculated the best option to survive. She grabbed Eden and grabbed onto a rock on the mountain, then slowly started climbing down.

Rem was falling much faster than the others, due to her light body. "I.. I can't transform!" She shouted. "What?! Why not?!" Naphtali screamed. "It.. My transformation depends on how much I've eaten! I haven't eaten anything since yesterday!" She had tears in her eyes. "I can't.. I can't die! I'm scared! I'm so, so scared Nap-Nap!" She hid her face. Naphtali started shaking. "No.. no.. no, no, no, no, NO! IT WON'T END LIKE.." He grew one wing, and half his body turned into Holy Stone. "THIS!" He flew at light speed at Rem and caught her in his arms. He landed on the floor, and let Rem down.

Ruthven transformed back into regular form. All the Holy Stones surrounded Longinus. "No.. you c-can't kill me! You- you- you can't! I can sell important info! I can-" His neck was cut in half. "Agh.. grr.. GROOOOAAAAAH!" Naphtali had gone Rage Mode. "HA! HA! HAAAA!!" He started cutting Longinus' body into little pieces. "GRAA-" Lilith used her ability to change Naphtali back, before he went overkill, again. He woke up, as Rem, Ruth, Akuji and Lilith all hugged him. "You.. saved us, Naphtali!"

".. hahaha.. hehe.. AHAHAHA!" Maniacal laughter came from behind them. "THE BATTLE ISN'T DONE!" They looked behind. There was a glowing figure. "YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE THIS WAR! PREPARE! FOR YOUR DOOM!" In one hand, the glowing figure held.. Faolan. In the other, Cecilia. Eden climbed onto the figure, as well. "Who.. who is that?" Naphtali looked at the face. It was glowing white. He couldn't make anything of it. "Eden.. no! Don't leave us, dear!" Lilith begged, and even bowed. "Please.. our last human.. don't go!" She sobbed. "I'm sorry. Kraghon shall win this war." She looked down at them. "HOW DID YOU KNOW WHERE WE WERE?! BASTARDS!" Ruthven shouted. "You should have surrendered. I warned you." All of their eyes opened wide. "Huh? .."

Naphtali wasted no time. He chased the figure as it floated away. He threw a spear at it, but instead he hit.. Eden. Eden's dead body fell to the ground. He looked behind him. All the Holy Stones were crying. He had no clue what had happened. "If you'd surrendered.. my lord.. the Kraghon kingdom would've spared you. I told you. Your chances were low." Naphtali shook. "No. It can't be. It was.. you?"