The Phoenix's Prophecy

*Chapter Four*

Would you please vote and comment? :) It would really mean A LOT

*Chapter Four*

“Yes!”

Zach let out the breath that he had held ever since he stepped on the first wooden block of the bridge. He smiled at me reassuringly from the other side.

“You'll be fine, Amy. Just try not to look down,” Rhia yelled from next to Zach.

Easy for her to say. She had glided (not literally) effortlessly, and then with a jump, she had reached the other side.

I tried my best not to look below me where the water was bellowing. I placed my left foot on the first wooden block and held my breath.

This was it, I'm going to fall.

I waited but nothing happened apart from the bridge swinging. With a bit more confidence, I slowly walked across the bridge. As if on slow motion, I saw Zach starting to run towards me in alarm, but Rhia stopped him. Suddenly, I felt the bridge beneath me give away. I yelped in alarm. Zach screamed my name, and I grabbed the closest object that I could.

“Amy!”

Splashes were heard as pieces of wood fell into the river that flowed dangerously fast. My heart pounded violently as I missed death by an inch. I looked up to see Zach watching me with concern. I brought my other hand up to grab the single rope that held my life.

“Amy, hold on, I'm going to reel you up.”

Is she serious?

Before I realized what was happening, I felt myself going up. My arm burned from holding the weight of my entire body. Just as I was about to reach my limit, I felt Zach grabbing a hold of my wrist. With a single yank, I was up. I collapsed onto the floor, panting.

“That...was...so close.”

“Someone wants us dead.”

I whipped my head to Rhia. She held up the end of the rope where it was cut. It was clearly cut by something sharp. A chill ran down my spine.

“We have to leave this dimension as soon as possible.”

I nodded and got. Rhia took the lead, and Zach and I followed her closely. Eerie howls and strange chirping sound just made the whole place even more creepy. I have no idea how we were going to see where we are going during the night.

“We can't. First of all, you're right, humans can't see in the dark. Second of all, it's too dangerous protecting both of you in the dark. Most of them comes out only at night,” Rhia answered when I asked her what I thought.

“'Them'?” Zach quoted.

“Stray or fallen creatures that have nowhere to go. They eat almost everything.”

The animal-like sounds were definitely getting louder as the sun gets closer to setting.

“Okay, it's getting dark, and we need fire.”

We went around picking dry branches and leaves. I found a box of matches in my bag. Rhia picked some stones, and we made a campfire.

“Sleep, I'll watch over.”

The squeaking sound of animals or creatures made it hard to sleep, but slowly, sleep eventually took over.

I suddenly woke up in midnight due to a strangled cry of a bird. I hastily looked around me. Zach was still soundly asleep. My eyes searched for Rhia, but she wasn't there. Confused, I sat up. Suddenly, there was a low growl. Startled, I whipped around. I focused intently on the bush a few meter away from me. The bush was swaying but whether it was due to the wind or not, I was not sure. My eyes turned to Zach. If I left him here while he was sleeping god knows what could happen to him.

Suddenly, an ear piercing scream came from deep within the forest. It sounded uncannily like Rhia. With a last look at Zach, I rushed into the forest.

Running through a forest with stones, broken branches, and occasional small night animals is certainly not an easy task. I tried my best to run to where I think was the source of the screaming. I had to slow down significantly when I reached the deeper part of the forest. Although we're on the mountains, the thick branches of the closely-packed trees made it hard for me to see where I'm going. There was another scream, and it sounded really close to me. I strained my eyes to see with the limited amount of moonlight. A few feet away from me, a shape moved. I trained my eyes on it. The figure stood up from its previous crouched position. To my surprise, it was none other than Rhia.

“Rhia!” I exclaimed out in relief. “Thank god it's you. I thought that scream - ”

My eyes widened as I felt a sting on my stomach. I looked down, and I felt sick. Even in the dark, I could see the dark liquid pouring out from a cut the size of my palm. I tried not to panick as I covered the wound with my hand. Rhia's eyes glinted evilly.

“Your blood smells deli - ” Rhia stopped talking and screamed an ear-shattering scream. She clutched her head, and she looked like she was trying to pull out her own hair.

“Rhia! Stop!” I yelled horrified.

“You dirty demon!” Rhia screamed.

She raised one eye to look at me. A chill ran down my spine. Her eyes begged me to leave, but in an instant, that emotion was gone. She suddenly stopped shivering and stood up.

“Sorry, this body refuses to let me take over this easy,” she looked at me with a sneer.

She grabbed my hand that was not holding my stomach and dragged me all the way back in a speed that was beyond human to where Zach was. My heart sank as I realized that Zach was still sleeping. He wouldn't be able to help. I sank down to the ground. My breathing was becoming uneven, and it was becoming more and more difficult for me to breathe. No matter what I still had to warn Zach. Rhia or whatever that possessed her closed its eyes and started to chant. I took that as my chance to kick Zach. My foot landed right in his face. I winced. I'll apologize once we come out of this alive. Zach blinked rapidly and looked annoyed. His eyes bulged when he saw the blood that I was covered in. I signalled him not to say anything by putting my finger to my lips. I pointed to Rhia, but he didn't seem to get what I meant. I made a slashing gesture against my throat, and his eyes widened. I pointed to her back and made a punching gesture. He nodded. At least, he got that.

“...and the eternal flame from hell. The gate to Hell!”

A blinding red light appeared. Out of nothing, an ancient-looking gate appeared. The chain that wrapped around the gate suddenly broke, and the door swung open. I could hear screams that were filled with agony and a disgusting metallic smell that was undoubtedly blood. Right before Rhia was about to turn around, Zach punched. She let out a surprised yelp as she lost her momentum and started to fall through the gate. Unfortunately, she grabbed Zach and with a powerful thrust. She used him to pull herself out of the gate. Zach fell right through the gate.

“Zach!” I screamed.

She smiled evilly at me grabbed my wrist.