Mavobella: The Angel Of Death

Chapter 40

Nicole crossed her arms, her brow furrowed. "So, these gems are what’s keeping the island in this... state? And now we’re supposed to destroy them?"

Wade glanced down at his glowing sword, its orange light casting a faint warmth in the misty air. "We barely know what they do. How are we supposed to destroy something we've not even understood?"

I swallowed, my pulse quickening as I recalled the vision. "I saw it. The gems are connected to the island’s life force, but they're draining it. The island... it's alive. The cosmic turtle. And it's been suffocating because of these gems."

Wade and Nicole exchanged glances, the weight of my words settling in.

"Well," Nicole said slowly, "we've still got to get them first. No use talking about destroying what we don't have in our hands."

She was right. The gems were still out there, scattered across the island. But this time, with the one hundredth loop, I knew where to find them. We had faced this before.

Wade gripped his sword. “Alright then, let’s move. We’re not leaving until we have all four.”

The hunt began beneath the waves, where the first gem was mounted on the far wall of an underwater cave. Sea monsters with glowing green eyes guarded it, cliche, their tentacles writhing as we swam in. Wade and Nicole fended them off while I rushed to grab the gem from its place on the wall.

The second gem lay deeper, hidden in a narrow crack at the bottom of the sea. As we descended, more creatures circled us, but they hesitated to strike. Wade wedged his sword into the crack, dislodging the gem, and we moved on quickly.

The third gem rested on a pedestal inside a small cave, pulsing with a faint glow. It seemed almost unguarded, but we knew better. As I reached for it, the water around us rippled violently. Nicole’s quick shot kept the lurking monsters at bay long enough for me to retrieve it.

The final gem proved the most dangerous. It sat on the ledge of an erupting underwater mountain, the heat growing unbearable as we neared it. With the sea boiling around us and the ground trembling beneath our feet, Wade leapt up, grabbing the gem,  with the same old trick, just as the first cracks of lava started to appear. We barely escaped before the mountain erupted in full force.

All four gems, gathered.

Nicole pulled out the pouch and placed the final gem inside. “That’s it. Now... we destroy them?”

We went back to the shore, where we stood in a tense circle around the four gems, their eerie glow casting long shadows over the sand. The sea was calm now, almost too calm, as if it was watching us, waiting to see what we'd do next. The gems pulsed with a faint rhythm, like heartbeats, each one in sync with the other, and the air around them seemed thicker, charged with energy we couldn’t fully understand.

Wade stepped forward, unsheathing his sword. The orange light from the blade reflected off the gems, making them look even more unnatural, like they didn’t belong here—or anywhere.

"Let’s end this," Wade muttered, tightening his grip. With a determined grunt, he raised his sword high and swung it down on the first gem with all his strength. The impact was sharp, the sound of metal against stone echoing off the cliffs behind us. But instead of shattering, the gem pulsed, absorbing the blow. It didn’t even crack. The ground trembled slightly beneath our feet, as though the earth itself was responding to the attempt.

Wade cursed under his breath and stepped back. "It’s like it just... took the hit."

Nicole frowned and pulled out her gun, the neon green liquid swirling inside the barrel. "Let’s see if this does anything," she said, taking aim at the second gem. She fired a shot, the liquid sizzling as it hit the gem dead center. For a moment, it looked like something was happening—the liquid hissed and bubbled—but then, as quickly as it started, the reaction faded. The gem sat there, completely unaffected, its glow intensifying briefly before dimming back to its usual pulse.