Freight-Tale And The Tomes Of Mortality

11 - Descent Towards Chaos

Sky, Keira and Jack arrived at Garrison's Library in no time, all having made a decision to work together to stop the villain. Keira still had her suspicions about Jack, but she also knew he was still on their side. He was trying to do what he could to save the world, to save Sky. They now felt like they were inseparable, they were like one, and that was a feeling that Keira enjoyed. It felt right, it felt like the creation of a family. A frightful family... Or freight-ful, should we say!

The group stormed into the library, the smell of books and dust filling their senses as they came to a halt. Standing in the centre of the room, they spun around, noting all of the civilians that had been turned to stone. Some of them were standing upright, with others sitting in their seats. They were all frozen, all waiting to be unfrozen. All waiting for their lives to return.

The trio made their way forward, walking past the statues as they continued towards the back of the building, where Garrison and Trandz quickly came into view. The two stood there, with the villain holding the second tome as the librarian spotted the heroes and began to shake.

"Oh..." Trandz sighed. "The cavalry is here..."

With one swift tap of Garrison's shoulder, he turned to stone, joining the rest of the frozen people that filled the library. It was a sight that horrified Keira, a sight she wished she hadn't witnessed.

Trandz stepped back and made his way towards the exit, not even bothering to glance at the heroes. He had what he came for. Keira was quick to follow, but as she began to do so, Freight-Tale suddenly broke into a run and threw a punch towards the villain.

Trandz would turn to face Sky as he did so, with the punch aiming straight for where Trandz's head should be...

"Should be" being the operative phrase here. As the hero's hand moved forward, the hit knocked down the red hood that concealed the villain's identity. The group stood there, their eyes widened as one of Trandz's secrets was revealed.

To everyone's complete shock and horror, Trandz had no head! No head at all!

All that could be seen was a neck stump, tied up with a piece of rope. Trandz could only chuckle to himself, with the sound radiating from the stump itself. It was a sound that echoed through the library, sending shivers down everyone's spine. It was the most freakiest thing either one of them had ever seen in their lives. It was terrifying!

As Sky stumbled backwards on his feet, and Jack gagged, Trandz raised his hood back up, covering his nonexistent head once again; eternal darkness shielding his true self.

"What do you think, then, heroes?" the villain sneered. "What do you think of your newest enemy?"

Sky gulped. He had been hit with a shock, but he had been able to regain his focus.

"We think," Keira yelled, "You're one freaky motherfucker!"

With that, she lunged forward, her flames flowing across her body and her eyes burning bright. But as she did, Trandz held his hand up high, releasing a beam of electricity at the girl. As the bolt of lightning flew through the air, it collided with Keira's chest, knocking her backwards and onto the ground.

Freight-Tale was just about to break into super speed, with his body glowing and his fists beginning to heat up, when he was stopped in his tracks by an even more powerful burst of lightning, which would send him flying backwards too, crashing into the bookshelves and knocking the books off them, the large objects falling to the ground and trapping the hero underneath.

Still laughing to himself, Trandz slowly stepped towards Keira, getting himself ready to finish her off.

Jack had been standing behind Freight-Tale the entire time, unsure of what to do. It seemed like every move they made was countered with another move by the villain, and Jack felt completely useless. But as soon as he saw Trandz moving in on Keira, he decided to take a leap. He didn't think twice. He ran forward, sliding across the ground as to position himself in front of Keira.

He wasn't about to let anyone else get hurt because of him. He wasn't about to let anyone else get hurt because of his actions. He would be responsible for Keira, like he felt for Sky. He would protect her with his life.

As Jack screeched to a halt, Trandz assertively slammed his palm against the hero's face. The impact knocked the young man back and to the ground, with Myth soon undergoing the obvious transformation he was bound for. Keira stumbled to the side as Jack's head slowly turned to face Freight-Tale, who was trapped under the bookshelf.

"Sky," Myth whispered, "I'm so sorry..."

As he spoke, Jack's face changed completely, his skin becoming a sickly pale colour. It was a strange colour that Keira had never seen before, something that resembled grey. It was then that his outfit matched the same colour as well, with his hood and cape becoming a darker shade of grey. Then came the hardening. The sound of the ground underneath them echoed as Jack's body slowly began to fortify, and before anyone knew it, he was completely stone.

Myth had transformed into a statue.

"So long, heroes," Trandz muttered. "It's a shame. Without the Delly flower, you have no hope of saving your friend. Now... I think it's time for me to leave."

"No..." Keira muttered under her breath, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she sat injured. "No..."

With one more laugh, Trandz made his exit, walking through the front door of the library and leaving the heroes behind. He had what he wanted, he had his Tomes Of Mortality, and now he could move up to the next step.

He could prepare for the arrival of Crimson!

-

2016

A teenage Sky sat in the cafeteria of his college, looking out at all the students around him. He was still trying to adjust to his studies and the whole social life that came with it. But after some time, he had begun to realise something. The people he was surrounded by weren't so bad. There were some people he liked, and some people he didn't.

His best friend, Keira, had joined him for the first few days, but they were soon split into separate classes. That meant they didn't always have the same lunchtime, which was a real bummer. This would be when their friendship began to dwindle, and Sky soon started to see Keira as just another friend. He began to forget about her as he replaced his time making new friends with the people who surrounded him. But she was still always in the back of his mind.

Instead, Sky had someone else he mainly spent time with. Someone whom he met at college. Someone who he began to admire...

Jack...

After first meeting online, they soon realised they both lived in London and were in the same college. It was almost fate, a chance encounter in real life that would become one of the most impactful meetings of Sky's life. Jack had helped him a lot in the early days, with the two spending most of their free time together. They hung out, talked about college and joked around. And of course, on top of that, they were just madly in love.

They were regular weed smokers together, getting high off their asses in parks and hanging out together in their bedrooms back at their homes. Sky even introduced Jack to his parents, which made Jack feel completely accepted by the Hilling family.

But, as a few years went by, their relationship started to fade. They began to argue more and more, and found it hard to talk about their feelings. Eventually, it got to a point where Jack would stop Sky from leaving the room, or Sky would just avoid him completely.

But it all eventually came to an end, when a certain someone acted unfaithfully.

Jack had cheated on Sky, and as Sky found out, it ended everything. The two were broken up, with Jack begging Sky to take him back. But Sky had been hurt too much, and he knew that if they took that road, he would be hurt more than ever before.

And so, the two parted ways, leaving Sky feeling confused, upset, and betrayed.

Leaving him, once again, alone.