Niah and the Pheonix (Watty's 2024!)

Chapter VI: Niah

"Wait, through the isle? Are you out of your mind? Don't you know what monsters lie in the isle? That's why we have a village here in the first place, to protect us!" Lani said. I do agree with her a little, but the was it seemed to me was that this was our only chance to save my village and perhaps even defeat Nimroth.

"I know it might seem crazy, but unless you can come up with a better idea, this is our only choice." I said, open to ideas. Although I knew she or Yoshi had none, I still threw the idea out there to try and calm them down a bit.

"Well we could... or maybe... ugh, fine. We'll have to go through the isle." Lani said, saddened and a little scared. I can't say I wasn't too, though.

"Alright then, it's settled. We leave at once." Yoshi said, picking himself up off the ground.

"Wait, can we stay here a little longer? We should check for any survivors and grab some things first. I also want to... do something." Lani said, turning away from us as she said the last thing. I wasn't sure why, but I think she was tearing up.

"Sure. Yoshi, you go check for any survivors, I'll go pack whatever I can find, and Lani," I said as I looked at her, "you go do whatever you need to do. Everyone meet back here once you're done." I finished.

I watched as Lani ran away towards the village and Yoshi walked towards her direction, hoping to find some survivors. I walked toward a shop that had a picture of a bread on the sign, one of the only buildings that weren't completely burned down. 'A bakery' I had thought to myself. I walked inside, only to find that it hadn't been touched. There was steaming hot bread, bagels, donuts and many more baked goods that laid out in the open. The room was chilly, but not as cold as outside. 

"Hello?" I called out, hoping to get a response. No answer.

I walked up to the tray of baked goods, stuffing a bag full of stuff. This could be good food for the trip. As I was stuffing the bag full, I thought deeply out this bakery. How was the inside untouched, but the outside on fire? How was there freshly baked sweets, but no baker? As these thoughts floated around in my head, I heard a noise in the back. Perhaps a survivor who didn't answer me, thinking I was an enemy? They were probably scared to come out because they had never seen me before, so I slowly walked to the back where they would bake all the bread, make the dough and stuff like that. I guess working at a bakery yourself could be useful sometimes!

I opened up the two swinging doors, peaking in to see what there was. I didn't see anything, though, so I walked in all the way. I looked around me, seeing no movement whatsoever. I heard a sound behind me, some cans dropping, so I flipped around in a flash. All I saw was a rat running across the floor. Eww, a rat in a bakery? I didn't know what to think, so I just continued walking. 

I heard some talking near me, right across a corner. I slowly walked towards it, knowing for sure that it was a survivor. I crept up, and then flung my body around the corner. This day had been full of twists, but out of everything, this was probably the biggest one. Well, other then Lanis' village getting attacked, this was right under it on the twist-o-meter or whatever you would call that.

"Wh-who are you?" I asked as a saw someone that looked like my greatest nightmare. I couldn't believe it, after all these years. But he was dead, so this couldn't be him! Right?

"Me? Oh, well can't you see who I am? I know you know who I am, hmm hmm." It said in a demonic, echoing voice. It chuckled a bit, knowing that I was scared out of my mind. 

He looked like a black and white figure, made out of swirling string or something, but still part human. He had the look of a human, but void took the place of his eyes and a creepy smile took the place of his grin. His legs were so skinny, but could still keep him up. He was curled in a fetal position on the floor, and slowly stood up. He was two feet taller then me, with breath as bad as an ogre and teeth bigger then the fangs of a rattle snake. He towered over me, practically touch his chest with mine.

'This isn't real' I though, although he was standing right in front of me. How could this be real though? I haven't seen him in years, not since I was eight or so. I first saw him in a dream when I was six, and it scared the heck out of me.

He ran after me saying "come, Delilah" over and over again. I woke up screaming, not knowing what that had even meant. I though it was just a dream, but all the next day I thought I had seen him standing all throughout the village. I thought it was just my fear getting the best of me, so I ignored it.

The next week, I had the same dream. 

"Come, Delilah. We will make it work out." He had said that time. I once again woke up screaming, but I just went back to sleep thinking that it was just a nightmare and that I'd be over it soon enough. Then a month later, I had another dream of him. This time, he wasn't chasing me, just standing there while looking at the ground. I walked over to him and asked if he was ok. It didn't seem so scary, but then he smiled his long, creepy smile and said, "Why, yes darling. But if I couldn't catch you by chasing you, maybe it would be better if you chased me. Why, it looks like it worked out." He said. That was the last I had ever seen or heard of him, and I thought it would be the last. I didn't bother telling anyone about him, because I was sure that they would think I was just going crazy or something. 

Now here he was, standing right in front of me, his cold breath blowing onto my face.

"Why are you here? You're not real, you're not supposed to be here." I said to him, but that only made him smile bigger.

"Oh, come on Delilah. You really thought you would escape? No one escapes from me, especially now that I have my shadows. Bet you can't turn into your beloved phoenix now, hmm? Ha ha!" He echoed, laughing. Now it makes since why I can't turn into a phoenix, he must have shoved his shadows inside of my necklace to block its powers from working.