Legends of Cubarlos

Chapter Twenty-Five

Yuuna rushed forward and swung her spear, colliding it with the beasts fang. The beast threw its head upwards, sending Yuuna rolling before setting her feet underneath her to regain her footing. Her eyes travelled up to actually see the beast itself; the form of a giant serpent with wings near its mid-back, heavy armor plating lining its back and a claw as a tail. The fangs of the serpent were about as tall as Yuuna was which made her feel uneasy. Yuuna stood straight up again and watched as the serpents head swung back and forth. Too bad Professor Megumi isn’t here to tell me what it is, Yuuna thought as the serpent studied her with its pupil-less eyes. The serpent snapped forward and Yuuna jumped up, unfolding her wings to dodge the claw that clenched after her. Yuuna flew swiftly around the room, looking quickly for a good angle to attack the serpent from. Yuuna dived but abruptly had to pull up because of the claw that was snaking around with incredible speed. That tail is a pain, Yuuna thought as she gritted her teeth together. The serpent opened its mouth and purple spray shot from it.

Yuuna quickly maneuvered around it and watched as the liquid hit the walls. The walls disintegrated and her eyes widened with shock. It’s acid. Yuuna took her spear and threw it at the serpent, who ducked his head and let the spear bounce off of its armor. Quickly making another one in her hand, Yuuna threw it at the tail, severing off the claw. The serpent screamed as the tail crashed to the ground. Yuuna created a sword and dived at the serpent. It lashed its head at her and then opened its mouth to spray the acid, all while Yuuna was cleverly dodging each attack. Finally seeing an opening, Yuuna started to plunge the sword into the bottom of the serpent’s head when the whole room went dark. All light vanished from the room and Yuuna felt the sword make contact and plunge itself through to the top of the serpents head. What’s going on? Why is the room suddenly black? Yuuna couldn’t even make out the outline of the serpent that was centimeters from her face. The room was finally bright again and Yuuna saw that she had blood pouring down on her arms from where she made contact. She quickly pulled the sword out and got out of the way as the serpent fell dead to the ground. The serpent’s body disintegrated and Yuuna immediately walked up to the altar, eager to get back to her friends.

She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. “Guardian of the air,” Yuuna started her prayer. “You who are the ruler of the skies, who provide the comfort of the winds and the protection of the sky, allow the winds to provide the comfort to this world.” Yuuna opened her eyes to see the bright light descending down from above the altar. It grew bright and then vanished to reveal Lord Jun hovering over the altar. A gentle smile came to his face.

“Yuuna, Daughter of Sylph, you have down well in reaching this far. I hereby grant you the power of Niravarnia.” Yuuna watched as the rainbow colored orbs danced around her before being absorbed into her body.

“Thank you, Lord Jun,” Yuuna said as she bowed her head.

“The time has come, Yuuna,” Lord Jun said as he spread his arms. “The path to the Tower of Souls has been opened. Your journey is near its end.”

“The end…of my journey,” Yuuna said a bit uneasily as she looked down at the ground. What is the end that awaits me?

“You look uneasy, Daughter of Sylph,” Lord Jun said as he flapped his wings. Yuuna shook her head.

“No, more like I am excited,” Yuuna said confidently as she looked back up at Lord Jun. He narrowed his eyes slightly before proceeding.

“Your last mission is to head to the Tower of Souls. The lords and ladies of Nirvarnia await you eagerly and have opened a path that will take you directly there outside of this temple. You are to go there and offer up the final prayer and after that your journey shall have reached its close.”

“I shall do as you instruct, Lord Jun,” Yuuna said with a smile.

“I will await you at the final altar, Yuuna.” With that being said, Lord Jun vanished in a bright light and Yuuna immediately turned and ran towards the doors that were already opened. She exited and found Yamato, Daichi, Katsu and Megumi sitting there wearing worried expressions and talking under their breaths. Where’s Takuma? Yuuna wondered as she walked over.

“Hey guys,” she said with a small smile and they all looked over at her, scrambling to their feet.

“Yuuna, you’re alright!” Daichi said excitedly as he ran over and grabbed her shoulders. He then released her and shook his hands out, trying to get the blood off of them and making a small gagging noise.

“I take it you succeeded,” Megumi said with a small smile and Yuuna beamed at her.

“That’s our Yuuna,” Katsu said enthusiastically. Yuuna looked around before looking at Daichi.

“Where did Takuma go?”

Daichi lowered his eyes. “We experienced a blackout, and when the light came back Takuma was gone.”

“Oh no,” Yuuna said as she looked around. Fear started to grip the pit of her stomach as she thought of what could have happened. “We have to find him now. Let’s go back to the entrance.”

“Half of the paths are gone due to a strong wind,” Yamato said quickly as Yuuna took off.

“I’ll find the paths for you to take,” Yuuna stated as she looked over her shoulder. “Leaving Takuma is not an option.”

Yuuna took off again and could hear the footsteps of her comrades rushing after her. Where are you Takuma?! Yuuna thought as they made their way back down the vines and jumped across the platforms. Yuuna found the path of the colored tiles for her comrades to take and then flew across, flapping her wings repeatedly. Yuuna made it through the door and looked around the top of the temple, hoping to spot something. Yuuna gritted her teeth together and glanced over the side of the edge. What if he fell during the blackout? Then the repugnant smell hit her nose and her stomach tightened into a knot. That’s…blood. Yuuna slowly turned her head towards the stairs leading down and saw a trail of blood heading down it. Sprinting down them, Yuuna urged herself to run faster as she came up to the platform.

“TAKUMA!” Yuuna screamed as she ran, skipping the last step and ran towards the middle of the platform. Yuuna froze when she saw Takuma laying dead in his own puddle of blood, his eyes and mouth open. “How did this…?”

“Yuuna!” Daichi yelled as the rest of her group made it down the stairs, breathing hard. “Yuuna, did you find…”

Daichi and the rest of them stared dumbfounded at Takuma’s cold body. Yamato tightened his hands into fists. “Who did this?!” An inhumane growl erupted from Yuuna as she spotted the culprit. Standing over to the side of the platform drenched in blood and holding a spear was Yuuki. Her eyes were emotionless as she gazed at Yuuna, whose anger was spiraling out of control.

“Did you kill him?” Yuuna growled and Yuuki looked down at the ground, keeping silent. Yuuna threw her hands. “WHY?! What was your purpose in killing him?”

“I have nothing to say to you,” Yuuki said quietly as the spear vanished in her grip.

“Nothing to say?” Daichi said as he walked up beside Yuuna, his eyes narrowed in rage. Yuuna was shaking and she created a white spear and charged Yuuki. Yuuki saw her oncoming assault and quickly parried it with her own black spear. Their spears connected, Yuuna peered angrily at Yuuki.

“You murderer,” Yuuna growled and Yuuki stared at Yuuna with even eyes. 

So that's an interesting way to end this chapter! What do you guys think happened? I wanted to send out a huge thanks for reading this story this far in! All of you are greatly appreciated. Please comment and vote :)