Dragon seal

Chapter 6: The Mission

I moved fast, grabbing Zelos's arm. I pulled myself in front of him and saw what the attack was. It was a bright golden staff with a sharp end coming towards us, towards me. It came fast, stabbing into my stomach and forcing warm blood out of the wound. I fell back, and Zelos caught me. "Selina!" He yelled. I blinked my eyes at the sight of his face. My hand went to the wound, grasping at the staff as it disappeared. "Selina, it's going to be okay. Krab! You need to heal the wound quickly." Zelos was panicking. My body went limp in his arms.
"Why would I do that? Death is the penalty for a traitor." Krab shouted back. I looked at my red soaked hand. Was this it? Was this the end? I thought back to Silverus's words. If I die, and she is still sealed within me, she dies with me. I couldn't let her die with me, that wouldn't be fair.
"She just sacrificed herself to save me, doesn't that prove that she deserves a second chance?" Zelos tried to bargain for my life. My eyes lingered to the small lake. Water. I could heal myself if I just got some water. I reached out to the water, willing it to come closer. It sloshed closer, reaching my hand. Zelos looked down at me. My eyes began blinking in and out of consciousness. "Selina stay with me. I'll figure out something." He looked at my arm. I saw his eyes follow its direction to my hand, which held some water. Then he looked at the lake. Suddenly he lifted me off the ground, as I closed my eyes for what seemed to be the final time.

In a scene of blackness, I saw a light and went to it. I was surrounded by light and I heard a voice. "Hello Selina." I turned around and saw a woman dressed in light. I opened my mouth but couldn't speak. "I am the goddess, Ariela and you, Selina, do not belong here, not yet. I'll send you back, but I have a favor to ask first. I ask that you defeat Kane. He poses a great threat to your world and he must be defeated. I know you can't do this alone which is why you must search and enlist others to help. Please protect your world." She said forcefully. I nodded and then felt the ground shake. I looked down and began fell into a dark abyss. "Protect them Selina, protect the remnants of my fallen children.

My eyes flickered to life. I was drenched, laying in the glowing lake. I was still injured. Zelos was holding me up to the surface, staring at someone. "I can't hold on much longer, Zelos. What are we going to do?" I followed his eyes to the source of the voice. Shani was standing strong at the shore of the small lake, holding up a light shield against Krab's attacks. Why was he still attacking us? I looked up. The light shield was a completed dome. I closed my eyes, feeling the water's energy. My wound was almost healed. Opening my eyes again, I saw the dome cracking. Shani was reaching her limit. A bright light shined, breaking the shield. I took control of the lake's waters. She fell back into the water, as it formed a wave at my command. The wave wrapped around us and froze to create a strong almost permanent dome. Zelos looked at me, realizing that I was awake.
"You okay?" He asked helping me to my feet. I nodded, standing up strong and on my own. My wound was completely healed. Shani looked at us breathing heavily, and smiled. I looked at Zelos questionably. "Apparently she followed me. She agrees that you deserve a second chance, after all it's not like you actually killed me." He smiled jokingly.
I smiled back. "Thanks guys." I looked back at the dome. Light was striking it's strong surface. "He's not going to stop is he?" I asked, knowing the answer.
"It doesn't seem like it. Although I'm not sure why he's so determined to kill you." Zelos said, shaking his head.
"Well let's find out. Zelos, will you back me up? Shani, will you take up the rear?" I asked. They both nodded in response. Shani stood up and backed away from the dome. I ran towards it, breaking the dome. I sent the ice at Krab, using some as a shield. Krab kept attacking from a distance, sending light arrows at the ice and us. I ran towards him, with Zelos behind me. As I got close, I created an ice sword. I swung the sword at him, and the blade was met with his knife. The light attacks stopped.
"Why do people always seem to get in the way of perfect plans. You were supposed to help the process, not make things worse. Ugh, I guess I'll just have to care of you all myself." Krab voiced his frustration. What did he mean? I pushed his knife out of the way. I saw a knife come flying, disarming him, thanks Zelos. Spinning around Krab, I froze his body and put my sword at his neck.
"What do you mean 'perfect plans'? Do you really think the village chief would approve of you killing us?" I asked aggressively. Krab laughed. I did not like that laugh.
"Wow, I didn't think you were this dimwitted. I don't answer to the village chief." That was when all the pieces began to fit. Our mission to Kane's village wasn't an accident. "By the way, Kane never wanted your power. He simply wanted you to do his bidding. I guess he'll just have to go with plan B like me–" Suddenly an ice arrow flew through the air into Krab's head. I looked up at the bushes of trees. A pale teen with white spiky hair was sitting on a branch, holding a wooden bow with ice enforcing it's strength. I knew this boy well, his name was Yuki.
"Kane says that man has become a liability. Then again I think you're a liability, but I guess he's sentimental of his toys." Yuki said and then disappeared into the battle of branches and leaves. I looked back at the team, things were calming down. We sat on the beach of the small lake in silence. I took out my journal. It had stayed perfectly dry, since it was made out of water-proof and fire-proof  materials. I took out my pen and began to write. It had been awhile, since I got to sit down and write. I had to recap a lot of things. Zelos and Shani let me write, taking the time to rest and gather their strength.
When I finished writing and looked up from the pages, Shani was the first to speak. "This lake, it has a strong essence of light energy. It must have been one of the few blessed by the light goddess, Ariela. That explains how it was able to heal your wound." That made sense, and it also explains how I was able to meet with Ariela.
Zelos looked at my journal. "What's that?" He asked curiously. I closed up journal. I would never let anyone read it.
"My written memories. Writing things down helps to keep me sane, although now it's just a habit." I explained, as I put the journal away in my boot. Then I remembered my scarf, "um where's my scarf or what's left of it at least?" Zelos looked at Shani. I realized she had a small shoulder bag. She opened it and pulled out the four pieces of threads that looked ocean blue in the sun, handing them to me.some of the pieces still had blood on them.
"I wanted to fix it but I couldn't find the threads Zelos said it was made from." Shani said sadly. I held the pieces, remembering who made this scarf.
"You wouldn't be able to find threads like these anywhere, because only the most skilled water-elements can create fabric from water. My mother made me this scarf years ago. One of the few things she taught was how to make these threads. I've always had a hard time creating something from the threads though." I explained, placing the pieces in a row. Zelos looked like he was feeling guilty, but I shook it off. I clapped my hands together, then hovered them over the pieces of my scarf. Moisture traveled from my hands to the scarf in streams. As the water connected the pieces, the liquid became a solid thread-like structure. The blue thread weaved together, and entangled itself strongly together. The scarf was together. Shani and Zelos had watched what I had done in amazement. I smiled and wrapped the scarf around my neck, covering my mouth. I could still smell my mother on its fabric. Zelos and Shani smiled as well.
"So what's the next step?" Zelos asked me. Shani also looked at me questionably.
"Well tonight we can rest and in the morning, we can head out to the village where the next daemon lies." I said. Silverus told me where the next divine animal resided, but I was not ready to tell the others. They would just have to trust me. That night we took up shelter in Zelos's home. He had one guest room hidden on the other side of the kitchen, and I took the couch in the living room. Zelos fixed dinner, and other meals that we could take with us on our journey. Shani and I went to the market area and got what we needed, such as weapons, clothes, and maps. When we got home, the three of us ate together like a family. After dinner, Zelos explained to Shani what the mission was and asked if she would come. She nodded, but seemed upset. I could only guess what was wrong. "Shani, what's wrong? Is there something going on with Jike?" I asked.
Shani sighed deeply, "The doctors said he should be fine, but he may never be able to use his element again. There just isn't enough light energy in him for him to use it. The doctors aren't sure how to get the energy back into him. They've never seen anything like this before. I want to help, so I've decided that I would search for a cure in the other villages." I could hear the distraught in her voice. I looked down at my lap feeling guilty. I thought about all the methods of healing that I knew, but none of them were to heal one's ability to use their element. I thought about how I always used my water to heal my wounds, could it heal Jike? I didn't mention my thoughts to them though.
"If I can help in anyway please let me know," I said. Shani nodded. After the conversation we packed up three backpacks to take with us. Normally I wouldn't carry so much, since I would live off the land. I guess there's no harm in being prepared. Once I was packed, I went into the guest room and changed into new clothes. Looking in the mirror, I trimmed my hair with my knife. This was the new me.
I hid away two knives in each of my sleeves, four knives in each boot, and I wrapped my scarf around my neck. I could feel a hidden gaze on me, and I quickly turned around. I could feel a cool breeze, as I saw an open window. I went to it, and found a fire-chained necklace with a fire-wire wrapped around a firestone laying on the window sill. I held the necklace in my hands, feeling the warmth emitting from it. A piece of paper was also laying on the window sill with his handwriting on it. It read, 'happy birthday Selina.  –Danny.' I put on the necklace. I looked outside, ready to climb out the window. I saw the night sky. The moon had just reached the peak, and a familiar star constellation was close to it. I climbed to the roof, getting a better view. Staring at the sky, I flipped through the pages of my memories. I found the page. It had no words, only a drawing. Even if I couldn't see him, I knew we were under the same night sky. I will save you Danny.