Kaze: Guardians

The (Other) Great Escape

The walking turned quickly into sneaking. Juno could keep up, but he wasn't about to lead the pack. The guards, of course, slowed us down immensely. One wrong move, and we were done for. The walls of the long hallways seemed to close in on us. I focused on taking slow breaths and keeping myself calm, but barely kept it together. The guards that we did see appeared unsurprised, yet sad. I felt like an attraction in a haunted house. I attempted to spook the little girl. She smacked me on the back of the head in reply.
"Hey, Priestess Yara? Are the walls supposed to close in on us like this?" I asked.
"No..." She said. "You're just claustrophobic."
Soon we climbed out of the long, dark hallways and into the well-lit throne room. I was taken aback at such a contrast. The palace was beautiful and cheerful. And not narrow. That was the only thing I cared about. Oh yeah! And the guards were frikkin' everywhere! Sheesh! I expected maybe one or two, but there were easily twenty crammed into one room. One look and we were back in the dark hallways. This time, the guards chased us! I picked up Juno and ran with him in my arms. Priestess Yara followed suit and carried the mute child. Once we knew we were safe, the priestess pried open a door and ushered us inside.
"In here! The guards will rush right past."
The room we stepped into seemed to be the source of all evil. Rocks had destroyed part of the wall, and the four people who hadn't been buried alive by the rockslide had their skeletal corpses frozen in expressions of fear and shock. We climbed up the mountain of rocks, but stopped when it started to shake. A black skeleton with white on the back and rotted clothing made an ear-splitting screech and barreled toward me! I yelped and jumped to the side, though he was extremely fast. He seemed to glide across the floor, not walk, as if an invisible string had been made into a noose around his neck and a puppet master dragged him across the ghastly stage. I almost threw up.
I drew my sword. "Okay, Zephyr. Boss fight time. Go!" I shouted. I slid between the skeleton's legs and slashed at his spine. I then kicked him in the back of the head, though he managed to rake his long, borderline claw-like fingernails across my chest. It stung like no other. I cursed and slashed again. He powered up his claws and our weapons clashed together. There was a power struggle. I threw the beast to the ground and kicked him away. He got up and whispered a chant.
I screamed as more rocks came crashing down on top of me. I barely managed to dodge.
"Kaze!" I heard Priestess Yara call. I turned to see her pointing to the skeleton's wrist. It must've been a bracelet. I rushed him. I tried to slip it off, only for it to snap. I held it triumphantly in my hand. I tossed it into the air and slashed it half-way back down. The skeletal monster disappeared with a bone chilling (no pun intended) screech.
"If only it didn't have that scream." I shuddered.
"I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks." Juno stood up with the help of Priestess Yara.
We left the room and the priestess led us to the exit. We were shoved out the cellar door with damaged psyches and phobias of rockslides. My mute friend grabbed a map from a nearby vendor and handed it to Juno. She pointed to a place on the map and pointed to a random direction. I shrugged and allowed Juno to lead us away from the palace. Thank gods...
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Well, finally got that done. It took me forever to write that chapter. Sorry about that. Heh...
Anyway, what do you guys think so far? I, for one, am having a blast writing this! Kaze has always stuck out in my mind, both as a comic relief character and a more serious one, and I'm really thrilled to share his story with all of you! I might open a Q/A section once the first book is done, so keep your eyes peeled.
Bye, everyone!