Tale of Chaos 3: For All Eternity

Chapter 22: Our Nemesis

Maia's POV

I had been burned before.

I had been electrocuted before.

I had been tortured before.

Hell, I had even died before.

But no amount of pain could rival what I felt now.

I had watched my best friends die.

We were stranded in the middle of a desert with no hope whatsoever.

The world was at stake and in the palm of a crimson madwoman.

And it's all your fault~

SHUT UP, YOU!

Stress.

Rage.

Despair.

Every negative thing coursed through my veins.

But all I could do was walk.

We walked across this wasteland, slipping through the sizzling sun and being baked by the sun above.

Eventually, my shoes ripped to the point that they slipped off of my feet, which made my situation worse.

We crested a hill, sweat all over our bodies.

One by one, the others started losing consciousness over the side of the hill.

I stumbled down the hill after them as they rolled down.

I slipped on the sand and collapsed as well.

My eyes shut as I welcomed sleep into my system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I noticed the heat against my cheek, I immediately sprang up in full energy.

I scrambled up to my feet and looked around, my eyes wild.

The others were collapsed near me, their chests rising and falling softly.

The only other one who was awake was Eon, and even she looked dazed.

I felt the need to wake them up, but I also felt like that wasn't the best idea.

I immediately felt something... eerie in the sky.

My eyes wildly scanned the sky for the source of the presence.

My eyes landed on a swarm of dark shapes somewhere in the distance, which seemed to be made of rescue vehicles.

"They're... they're coming..." I whispered.

"Guys! We're going to be rescued! Wake up!"

No response.

"Guys, come on! We're getting out of this hell!"

Still nothing.

Why weren't they moving?

I fell down to my knees next to Pyroclast, putting a hand on her shoulder and shaking her frame lightly.

"Pyroclast! We're gonna be saved! Get up!"

Under her eyelids, her eyes stopped moving for an instant. She opened her eyelids softly, her groggy gaze meeting my own. She smiled a little.

"You mean it?"

I looked out into the horizon where the rescue vehicles were.

For some reason, I didn't see them. I still heard a quiet buzz, but no vehicles...

Hold up...

I looked down at Pyroclast, whose calm gaze turned into one of terror. A demon - whose wings were oddly white - made eye contact with me. The demon's eyes began to glow red. It put out its hand, aiming at me.

"Get up!" I screamed, grabbing Pyroclast's hand and pulling her to her feet.

"Go with Eon and get the others, I'll deal with these monsters---"

An unseen explosion shook the air, temperature increasing rapidly.

I was swept off of my feet by the force, landing in the sand face-first.

I spun around on the ground, feeling my wings eject from my back. In an instant, I soared into the air with unprecedented speed. My wings slashed through some monsters, each exploding into dust. I pounded my wings and spun around in midair. Each monster shot at me like bullets. I darted to the sides and plunged into a few nosedives.

They just wouldn't get off my tail---

"AGH!" I screamed as a monster grabbed my ankle with an iron grip.

I desperately tried to fly away, but it proved impossible. Exhausted, I let myself hang upside down, several feet above the sand.

I looked down and saw six other monsters zooming toward Eon, Blackout, Spotlight, Cyclone, Pyroclast, and Arcmagos. Each of them were grabbed by the monsters and slowly lifted into the air.

A static voice suddenly started speaking, as if someone had a radio with them.

"...Howdy! It's me, Chaot. I see you're missing three people. How pitiful. Ha... just kidding. I don't want any one of you to die. I need you... or rather... what you hold. If you are lucky, I might even spare you. My friends here will knock you out, and you will be taken to... what is possibly a familiar place. We'll just have to see where they take you to. Have a nice day!"

I waited for the blow to come, and it did. Pain erupted in my head and my consciousness was taken away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mariang taliwas, paano tumubo ang mga kristal mo?"