Chain Me

Final Fight

     Isa hasn't come to see me in a while but I hear hurried commotion outside of the room I'm being kept in. My bladder is full and the urge to call out for someone to take me to a bathroom is ever present. Though I doubt anyone will listen to me even if I asked nicely. I'm sure Isa will get a kick out of seeing me soil myself.
     Sighing angrily, I squeeze my thighs together the best I can and distract myself by trying to figure out what's happening outside. There's not much to go off of aside from hurried footsteps and hushed, clipped words. Whatever's going on- there's a readiness to it. I'm going to be left here to my fate while everyone else is prepared for- for what's unknown to me. I only hope it's nothing bad for me.
     Something enormous impacts just above and I yell, both scared and surprised, as the whole room shakes around me. I don't know how this house hasn't come crashing down on my head. This place must be built with the strongest materials, or magic.
     Another impact has me fearful and I shut my eyes and lower my head so the falling dust doesn't get into my eyes. I've either been kidnapped at the worst time or this was planned. At least if it was planned I'd know I'd be safe. God, I hope it was planned.

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     "This isn't a plan," Josh shouts over the wind whipping in through the windows. "And we're ruining my tires."
     For miles now we've been driving through an essential wasteland. The road's nothing but dirt and the surrounding area holds no life aside from us and the scarce plants that managed to thrive this long. We left the safety of the city long ago and I think we're bordering the next state.
     "Are you sure she's here?"
     My nose picks up nothing but dust. "I know she is." A fairy zips into the car with Josh and I and informs us that there isn't anything for miles still. Josh gives me a look but I tell him to keep going. Kahlan is near, I can feel her. She's no more than a mile or two away, at most. There is something out there. I tell the fairy to inform everyone else to slow, that we're coming upon our destination, and they give me a salute before zooming away.
     "They said there wasn't anything there," Josh says after a few minutes.
     "There is," I snap. "There is. My connection is never wrong. I always know where Kahlan is and it's telling me she's here."
After a long second, Josh nods and focuses on the strip of land before the vehicle. We drive on for another mile and a half before I instruct him to slow further. He does, and I squint at the nothingness before me.
     "Stop," I demand, and the car's wheels halt. Our procession stops, too, and doors open to reveal confused faces. I step out into the wasteland and my legs move almost without me thinking it. My connection is forcing me forward and I'm not going to stop it.
     The creatures flying above circle as I come to a halt, and I notice crows and pigeons watching from high up, agitated. There's nothing around me but dirt, rubble, and a little foliage that somehow arrived here. I turn in a tight circle and stare at the ground. The creatures above land around me, fidgeting.
     "She's here," I state simply. "She's right here."
     "Where?" Josh asks, coming up to me. He kicks up dirt as he stands a few feet away with his hands on his hips. "There's nothing."
     I point directly between my feet. "Right here."
     Josh's eyebrows shoot up, and he hesitantly says, "Dead?"
     "No. She's definitely alive. They've taken her to ground. We need a witch, or a ghost, maybe. Who do we have?"
     Without questioning me, Josh turns and whistles sharply, waving his hands to bring everyone in. He shouts the situation and a few people come forward. A Spectre steps up to me and says he can find Kahlan, at least, and protect her the best he can until we manage to break ground. I thank him profusely and he smiles. Then, in an instant, his body turns to smoke and it swirls to crash and disappear into the dirt. A gargoyle inches forward next and grinds out that he can be the one to break ground. Everyone steps back, leaving his hulking form in a wide circle, and he roars. He smashes at the ground with his stone fists, his wings twitching, and it feels as if an earthquake occurred.
     Josh takes me further away from the commotion as the gargoyle impacts the earth again. Two witches raise their arms and block flying debris with magic. They encompass the gargoyle in a large bubble for everyone elses protection. But then something strange happens. The ground shivers without impact from the gargoyle and people start to whisper. My eyes flick from here to there to try to figure out what's making the earth cry, but I see nothing.
     And that's when it happens.
     Large bulks spring up from the ground in droves, silent as the night. Everyone goes into attack mode and hunkers down for a fight. But the masses are headed for the gargoyle.
     "Golems!" I shout, already sprinting forward. "Protect the gargoyle!"
     Growls and howls and war cries fill the air and my ears. It fuels me, and I snarl as I leap into the air to land on a golem's back. It's absolutely silent as it reaches up and behind itself to try to get at me. I wriggle up its back and slap my hand on its head, wiping down over its forehead. That's usually where 'emeth' is placed, and I'm right. The golem disintegrates from under me immediately. I land on my feet and look around. Someone must have brought these golems to life long before we got here and set them to rest until they were needed. They're easy enough to defeat, but I notice that not many are doing what I did. They must not know.
     "The E," I shout, running toward the gargoyle. "The E on their foreheads. Erase the E!" The witches bubbling the gargoyle are struggling to keep him safe and themselves unharmed. I roar and throw myself into a golem attempting to strike one of the witches, and it goes down with me. I slap at its forehead and wipe away the E there and the golem turns to dust and clay.
     Leaping to my feet I stay low and aim for the next golem in my sights. Something flies past it though at head level and it breaks down to dirt. Looks like my warning got around.
Golems everywhere lose their magic of life, and I focus on the gargoyle to see how he's faring. He's so deep in the earth I can't see him from where I am. That's good. He should reach Kahlan soon.
     A wolf yelps as it's injured and my head snaps up as I smell blood. A dark line far off makes itself known, and flickers of light fill my eyes.
     "Guns!" someone yells in warning. Anything with wings takes to the sky and everyone else skitters to not get hit. I sprint to one of the witches protecting the gargoyle and ask her to make a shield for us instead. The gargoyle doesn't need much protection anyway now that the golems are gone. The witch aims her hands towards the line of gunfire and a wall of magic stops bullets in their tracks. But the wall doesn't cover everyone.
     People run to the protection of the witch's magic and I bark for anyone brave enough to join me across the wall. Without waiting for anyone I run at the wall. I'm going to go through it and kill whoever I can on the other side.
     Paws slap the ground beside me and I smile as I group of wolves and feline creatures join me. Our cries of battle bring the bullets towards us, but we're still behind the witch's wall. Then, delighting me, soldiers on the other side are plucked and carried off by my flying friends, and the bullets change route to the sky. Me and my mismatched pack break through the wall and strike claws first into the line of soldiers. Their human blood stains the earth as we easily cut them down while the creatures in the sky distract them.
     Wiping my red stained mouth with the back of my head, I leave the rest of the humans to the pack and break free of them to see how the gargoyle is doing. He's way deep, and still pounding away with his fists. I slide down the crater he's made and whistle on my way to get his attention. He quits his strikes and shuffles to look at me.
     "Almost," he rumbles.
     I stumble over to where his fist has left indentations in the ground and touch it. "Perhaps I should take over," I tell him. If Kahlan is right below us then she could get crushed by the gargoyle's final blow. "Day will come soon and your perch shouldn't be empty."
     The gargoyle's wings ruffle. His enormous form looms over me and he tucks his sun washed tail under himself. "Good luck with your mate." Then his giant wings spread and he pumps them until he's high in the sky. I watch him go only for a moment before I take up his earlier mission. My bare fists hit the ground and I ignore the pain, putting my mind on getting to Kahlan.
     It's not long before the earth turns to stone and I can feel an emptiness underneath. Above me, someone says, "They're gone," and I look up to see the witch that was bubbling the gargoyle staring down at me. She's holding on to the edge of the crater.
     "Where have they gone?" I ask. "And why haven't you joined them?"
     She shrugs, and as her mouth opens to speak, a scream makes my skin crawl. But it's not the witch who screamed. It was Kahlan.