The Changed

Chapter 6- Edward

Get to the other side of the room. Sounds simple enough but it was anything but simple. I took one step and a fireball fell from the ceiling. If it wasn't for Tess then I would be dead already. "Maybe there are some kind of pressure plates on the floor," I said to Tess. "When you step on them they release something."

"Maybe," Tess said. She sounded a little distracted.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"How were your nightmares last night?" She asked me. I shrugged my shoulders like it was no big deal but she knew it wasn't.

"Same old, same old," I said.

"Let me guess. You were in an ocean trying to save me from drowning but then drowned yourself," she said quietly. I stared at her in shocked. She shouldn't know about them...she can't know about them. "How...how did you know?" I stammered.

"Because I dreamt it too. I was watching from above, somehow tapping into your nightmare," she whispered. I let that sink in.

"How could that happen?" I said. "That's impossible."

"I don't know," Tess said. She took a step forward. I heard another sharp click and a knife came wizzing from the left wall. She managed to duck just before it hit and it thudded into the right wall.

"Don't move," I told her. I scanned the floor for anything that could set off the weapons. Then I noticed that some of the polished floor boards were slightly lighter than others. I slowly stepped on one of the lighter ones. There was another click and a battle axe fell from above. I raised my hands and my golden shield exploded. The axe bounced off harmlessly and clattered to the side.

Unfortunately it triggered even more traps. Spears, knives and fireballs came wizzing from all directions. I willed my force field to extend towards Tess. It encased her and me, protecting us the from flying weapons. Once they had all clattered to the floor I lowered my hands and my shield faded. I felt tired but not as exhausted as I had felt the first time I had used it.

"Are you okay? Tess asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Just a bit tired." She nodded but still looked worried.

"Just don't over do it, okay," she said.

"I'm fine," I reasured her. "Don't step on the lighter floorboards. I think they are the ones that set everything off." She stepped on one of the darker floor boards gingerly and waited. When nothing happened she leapt to another. I followed her lead. Everything seemed to be going fine. We didn't set off any traps for a good ten minutes. Then the lighter floor boards disappeared and I thought that it was over. But then we came to the lion.

***

It wasn't a real lion, you could tell that as it was completely made of metal. It had evil ruby eyes that seemed to see right through you. The metal was polished to perfection and its claws and teeth were razor sharp. It even had a silver mane.

The lion was in a crouching position, reading to pounce on us. It was growling softly. "Don't. Move. Anything," I whispered to Tess. I edged to the wall to go around the lion and distract it from Tess. It watched me, tracking my every movement.

 Suddenly it charged. I managed to jump out of the way just in time. It crashed into the wall. I ran back to Tess's side and we tried to sprint past it but it dived in the way. We backed up slowly. I saw Tess summon a small fireball in her palm. She thrust out her hands and a column of flames engolfed the lion. When the flames died, I expected the lion to be melted into a puddle of silver liquid but it appeared unharmed, just some black scorch marks on its silver surface.

It roared in anger and leapt at us. We both fell backwards as the lion whizzed passed on the slippery floor, its metal claws screeching. Unfortunately a trap door opened in the floor and Tess fell into it. "Help!" She screamed as she managed to grip the side of the hole.

I slid across and grabbed her arm. Half way through pulling her up, the lion was back on me. It smashed me in the shoulder and we both went tumbling. Tess fell through again and was now holding on with one hand but was slipping fast.

I faced off the lion. It snarled a matalic snarl, its teeth whirling. I summoned a shield but this time I tried to keep it small, just the size of my hand, like an energy ball. I threw it at the lion's face. I wasn't really sure how it would work out as I had never tried anything like that before. To my surprise it hit the lion and set some sort of shock through it. It shook then twitched violently.

This gave me a chance to pull up Tess, who was struggling and had almost slipped in. "I've got you, Tess," I groaned as I yanked her up. She collapsed on the floor. No doubt the fire column and holding on for so long had exhausted her. I was about to join her when the lion got up again and trained its eyes on me with pure hate. I summoned another small golden sphere but it was flickering weakly. I knew my energy was draining; to be honest I don't know how I had survived this long.

But something was different. I could feel all the energy in the air around me. I concentrated on that, trying to fuel myself. I raised my hand with the energy ball at the lion and screamed defiantly. Like a cannon, it shot out of my palm, then another, then another, all flying at the lion. It roared in protest and tried to make its way towards me but I kept pushing it back. It twitched and shuddered, its machinery malfunctioning as electricity ran through its body. Finally it fell to the floor with a gigantic boom.

I sighed with relief but then my knees buckled and I fell next to Tess. I was completely drained of all energy. As my eyes fluttered closed I heard footsteps approaching me from behind and Frost saying: "Now that is what we need. Start the strength tests on both of them." I felt a sharp jab in my arm and I blacked out, being left to face the nightmares yet again.

***
In my dream I was kneeling on the hard, rocky ground of a bone dry desert with my hands tied behind my back. The desert was flat, there was nothing to be seen in all directions. I tried to stand up but my legs seemed stuck to the ground. The sun was beating down on me and I could feeling the moisture leave my tongue. I desperately looked around for any sign of water but there was none. I knew this was a dream but they had injected me with that stuff that they use for the strength test so I could actually feel what was happening to me, not just dreaming it.

That made it even scarier.

Suddenly there was a man in front of me. He was dressed in tight black trousers with no shirt, exposing his bronze chest. Most disturbingly, he had no nose, mouth or ears. He only had eyes which were midnight black and stared into mine intensely. In his hand he held a long knife, glinting evilly in the sunlight. He watched me, perfectly still. I didn't move either, scared of what he might do.

"Die," I heard his voice in my mind. Then he was all around me. There was about ten of them that surrounded me all whispering: "Die," in my head. They all rushed at me and started stabbing me ruthlessly, mercilessly. The horrible thing was I didn't die. I felt the unbearable pain over and over again. They didn't stop stabbing me. Not until it finally ended but then I got plunged into another nightmare while Dr. Brand observed me. But I was to find that the worst was yet to come.

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So...what is the worst that is yet to come...???

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