Wattpad's Never-Ending Story

Fourteen

...there was darkness everywhere. "Drake?" Shaina groped for Drake's hands as she felt his warm fingers touch hers. Minutes later, the endless pit finally reached its end as the pair fell down on a cold ground.

From the war zone they have just came into, they arrived to a dimly lit, small room. The silence was deafening. As soon as their eyes were able to adjust from the dark, Shaina and Drake could see the cold, metal bars in front of their faces.

"Hey, is this part of the illusion?" Drake squinted at the room around them. There was a small window by the top left and he could guess that it was the waves of the ocean that he could hear. Part of the crescent moon was hiding beneath the clouds. Perhaps it was a good thing that the cell only contained the pair of them. If there were others whom they were not expecting, they would be in deep trouble. He scratched his short, amber hair in annoyance.

"I hope so," Shaina almost whispered. She stood slowly and scrutinized her surroundings and it was made of strong barricade. There was no hole where they could escape from. The window could only fit an adult head. The only weapon they have now was the scalpel. However, the bar was too hard that the scalpel would eventually break the moment they try to cut their way out.

"Shaina, is this what I think it is?" Drake closed his fists in frustration. He turned his head to where Shaina was. There was no hint of confusion on her movements. He gazed at her figure in the dark like he was not bothered with their current situation. Because of her pixie cut, silver hair he had always seen her as an angel, an actual opposite of where her power lies. Her chest was breathing heavily and he could tell that she was trying to keep her composure while finding a way out of the cell.

"I know. We're in their lair." Shaina said in gritted teeth. Despite knowing the consequences of being inside one of the Gradiators' cells, she tried to unleash her power once again. A seal containing elemental runes formed on the ground as blue flames swirled around her body. Her silver hair grew mid-way into a navy blue hair. Her fiery, golden eyes turned cold and azure but glowed faintly due to being imprisoned. Her summoned weapon was barely reappearing on her right hand; her hand glowed with empty, blue flames. "Damn!"

Supposedly, an Underworld gatekeeper like her should have either black hair or glowing red eyes. For some reason, she was born different among the rest especially with the blue flame of hers.

A round Orlanthi Rune appeared in her forehead but vanished the moment it was almost complete. Her long, navy blue hair shed on the ground and her hair was back to its usual silver color. The seal disappeared in the ground and she found herself panting. Drake rushed towards her and placed her arms around his broad shoulders.

"You do know what they do on their cells. They absorb our life force, you don't need to get hyped up and lose yours." Drake reminded.

"I could... barely... transform..." Shaina panted. "We... have... to... go... now..."

"I know," Drake mumbled. He kissed Shaina's forehead and felt himself glowing as he shared some of his life force into her. "But we have to get you in good condition first. You have to stop overusing yours since you just got your memories back."

"What about you? You've used yours to heal me. You have –" Shaina was cut off by Drake's fingers touching her lips.

"What you're doing earlier was an offensive approach. As long as we don't attempt on escaping, the cells won't absorb any of our life force." Drake explained. He moved away from her after she had stopped breathing heavily. "I will try to reach out to the others..."

"I know that! I was just trying to see if it was overwhelmed by my powers then, we could've broken free!"

"I think I like you better when you were shy. But that's just the way you are." Drake just winked back at her. He knelt and placed each of his hands on the plain. He closed his eyes and focused. The top of his right hand glowed in the midst of the dark. A rune with similarity of letter H appeared in it. Just then, a small seal appeared in between his hands.

Shaina rolled her eyes and raised her brows at him. She sat in front of him and held her knees together. Her golden eyes concentrated on the glowing seal. She turned towards the metal bars and she was relieved to find out no one bothered to come in despite the power they were using. I had a bad feeling when the hole appeared beneath us a while ago. The moment we were sucked in it, it was like connected to this cell. It was planned well. Shaina stared on her trembling hands; every memory of what happened earlier was making her head turn. Her vision was getting blurry but she shook it off. This entire situation does not seem to add up: my sudden recovery of memory and awakening of my powers, Drake's inability to fight, and the appearance of Gradiators. It was like I'm missing something. What is it? Think, Shaina!

Just when Shaina had come to her conclusion, the ground shook terribly. Drake had to press his hands down the terrain and looked up. Rubbles of cement were falling on their heads. The pair of them had to use their speed to evade the falling debris; however, Shaina noticed that Drake was slowing down. He had to use the wall beside him to maintain his stance. She was about to dash towards him when a frail, bloody hand reached out to stop her.

"Come!"

The voice came from Aderes, Drake's younger sister. Her long, curly, amber hair looked like she had not gotten up from her room for days. She was wearing a sky blue hospital gown with droplets of blood scattered around her stomach. Shaina could not tell if she escaped the hospital the moment the Gradiators came looking for them. That would mean she was not completely healed. Aderes took Shaina's arms without her permission and scanned around the area. As soon as she found where her brother was, the pair of them vanished in thin air and appeared in front of him.

Shaina could tell it was not speed that brought Aderes to their cell. A rune that contained 3 swirls lit up at Adere's left ankle.

Motion. Shaina thought to herself. But before she could comprehend what else was new to her senses, Drake's sister was already shaking her.

"I don't think I can carry both of you back with the others!" Panic was all over Aderes' face.

"Take him then," Shaina's words were heavy but composed. "I can wait."

"But..."

Shaina felt the hesitance on Drake's younger sister. She held her small shoulders and nodded. "Go."

"N-No, Aderes, let me go! Take Shaina instead! You know you should!" Drake struggled but Aderes had already placed her arms around her brother's waist. Drake took one last look at his beloved before he lost consciousness. As soon as Aderes jumped, they both disappeared out of Shaina's sight and...