Beneath the Waves

The End is Nigh

Now that they knew for sure they were being watched by the Chayal, they decided that hiding wasn't going to cut it anymore. They were going to have to face the her at some point, so it might as well be on their terms. They were only four, but as far as they knew there was only one Chayal after them, so it would be four against one. Those were odds they liked for once. Bonus, they even had a Chayal on their side. So they decided that the best course of action would be to lure the Chayal out of hiding, by removing Ria's necklace in a place where they could actually fight it out.

Step one was to acquire as much black obsidian as they could, and luckily that was going to be much easier than Ria and Chris first thought. Their two old dragons had a whole secret room in their house full of black obsidian weapons. Turns out, being over a hundred years old also meant having fought multiple battles alongside others of their kind. Unfortunately, that also meant they have seen a lot and lost a lot in the process.

When Chris and Ria stepped into the secret room, their jaws dropped. It wasn't a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling covered in weapons type of situation. It was just how beautifully made these weapons were. Some were perfectly polished black obsidian blades (of varying sizes) with matte black handles that felt like they were made to fit in your hand. Others included bows with arrows that had beautifully crafted obsidian arrowheads that looked sharp enough to pierce most armor. There were crossbows, scythes, spears and even a morningstar or two. They reckoned that most of these weapons were black obsidian mixed with some sort of metal since obsidian itself could be easily broken, but the weapons in this room looked like they were made to last.

They weren't sure if a Chayal could be killed by a Chayal blade, so just in case, Chris took a knife with a long blade from the rack. They would each choose their weapons, practice in the dragons' backyard and tomorrow they would go to a location that had very few people, remove Ria's necklace, and face their foe head-on. Ria chose a blade that looked like a broadsword and a morningstar. Appo went for a scythe and a spear and Armin chose the bow and arrow set, with the crossbow for backup - apparently he was an amazing shot. Weapons ready, they headed for the backyard to try and get some training in before their battle, which they hoped would be easy.

Apart from their weapons they of course had their powers too. Through their training, Appo and Ria invented a move that would scare the pants off of anyone. While Ria creates a whirlpool of water and wind, sucking the victim in, Appo launches fire into the wind which creates a flaming wind tunnel leading to what would probably be a fiery then watery grave. Chris was probably the best warrior out of the four of them, she WAS created for that sole purpose so that probably made sense. She was able to disappear and appear somewhere completely different in seconds leaving nothing but mist behind, she either dodged Armin's arrows or stopped them with her blade and she was faster than all of them. She was impressive as hell, and none of them could properly keep up with her. It was kind of terrifying, but also reassuring knowing that she was on their side. With every passing day she grew stronger and found new ways to outwit them with each practice session. So by the time they were actually ready, had their chosen weapons in hand and on their way to the decided place, they felt pretty calm about everything.

They had chosen Chris and Ria's secret place since they knew the Chayal had been there before, and it would provide them with all they needed during battle. There was water for Ria, thick forests to hide them from passers-by, and enough space to move around and fight. So they drove up, hiked the distance (Armin and Appo nonstop talking about how beautiful it was) and set up camp in their usual spot next to the crystal pool. It wasn't a big pool, but it was big enough, and the clearing around it provided enough space for their fight.

The plan was to try and take the Chayal by surprise. Armin and Appo would hide in the woods, while Ria and Chris faced her first. With any luck, the two dragons would be able to take her by surprise and put an end to her before any serious damage could be done. A simple plan. Simple execution. And hopefully a simple and quick resolution.

They camped the night, all of them except Chris still wearing their black obsidian to shelter them from the Chayal's gaze. When the first rays of sunlight reached over the trees and hit the ground, they were all up, buzzing with nervous energy. They really hoped that this would work, that the Chayal was still trying to follow Ria, and that their plan wouldn't fail.

When the time came, all of them transformed, the two older men taking their place in the forest, hiding behind a bunch of pines. Not too far away, but far enough to not be visible. Chris and Ria were standing on the edge of the water, both in their transformed states, Ria took Chris' hand, squeezed it once, looked at her and they both nodded. Ria removed her necklace and let it drop to the ground.

It was almost instant that the Chayal appeared. She looked pissed.

"I have been searching for you far and wide, only to find you at the same place we last met" she hissed

"Can't help you're bad at your job" came Ria's retort

"You will pay. For everything" came her voice, "and you Dragons, you think I cannot sense your presence here even with that obsidian hiding your exact location" she said in the general direction of the trees. "Do not think I am unprepared for your little plan Glitha and your traitor of a friend" as she said this, at least 20 more Chayal emerged from the trees behind her.

Armin and Appo were by Chris and Ria's sides in an instant. Weapons drawn, fire at the ready. The Chayal raised their swords, looked at their four little opponents and at the command of the first one that appeared (assumed to be the leader) they moved in unison, launching a full attack on the four unprepared creatures before them.

"Fuck" Ria whispered

"Fuck indeed Added Appo

They raised their weapons preparing for impact.

This was going to be a bit harder than they expected.