Destiny Island

Chapter 32

Ci Nada expected her arrows to hit at least someone. Maybe maim one of them, kill another, either one was fine with her.
Since that didn't happen, since they were all still in one piece, she became mad with fury.

She started spinning around at a neck-breaking speed until she created a funnel of black arrows.
The funnel started growing and widening as it turned a darker shade of black with every passing moment.
Finally, it became a huge looming tornado made of small but deadly arrows. The sheer size of it was petrifying not to mention the sharp little arrows that adorned it.

It was obvious that the tornado of death wasn't something any of them would be able to avoid, no matter how hard they tried.
They couldn't fly over it, and they definitely couldn't run away from it.
Ignacio couldn't move it with his mind because there were thousands of them, packed together in one horrifying tornado.
They just stood there, staring at the whirlwind of pain and suffering, not sure what they should do and unwilling to give up.

Amber looked at Ignacio, the truth almost spilling out before she thought better of it. It was not a good time for a potential emotional drama. Maybe dying without saying anything would be a better option for her.
The only reason she even had any time to think about anything was the fact that Ci Nada was taking her time.

She wanted their fear and anxiety to spike up as they faced their annihilation.
It gave her immense pleasure to see terror settling in their eyes. It made her feel powerful like she finally had control over something in her life.
The one thing that kept Ci Nada going through the nightmare that she laughingly called her life was the joy of seeing her prey squirm in dread.


When she finally moved the tornado away from herself and towards the poor humans, she was once again shocked by their impertinence.
The girl whom she had assumed to be the weakest link, Amber, suddenly stepped forward, her eyes burning in a way Ci Nada thoroughly disliked. It spoke of strength, determination, and courage in the face of the horror that was approaching them.

As for Amber, she was filled with so much anger and fear that she thought she might burn up at any moment.
Then she did.
At first, she could feel the fire burning in her eyes and then the fire started spreading through her whole body.
The surprising thing about the fire coursing through her veins was that it didn't cause her any pain, it was actually quite comforting.
It was slowly warming up her blood and giving her the type of strength and confidence she had never felt before.

Her eyes turned bright orange and her hair became bright red as the fire reached it.
Her hair looked like fire being fed by the wind, making it bigger and stronger with every passing moment.
Amber's hands shot up and to her utter surprise, columns of fire shot out of her palms.
The fire emanating from her body was so strong that it turned some of the tornado's arrows to ash, but it wasn't enough.
It didn't stop the tornado, it just made it a bit weaker.

While the tornado was closing in on them, a wide smile spread across Ci Nada's face and her eyes lit up in pure joy.
Finally, someone would suffer as much as she had.
That made her feel exhilarated, powerful, invincible. She was their goddess, deciding when and how they would die.
It felt good not to be alone in the ocean of pain and despair in which she had been drowning for years.

Before the tornado could reach them, it suddenly hit an invisible wall.
"Who is doing that!? How dare you thwart my plans!? Stop it!" Ci Nada yelled as she stomped her feet like a small child having a tantrum.
"Ci Nada, what do you think you are doing?" Avo Jana's voice could be heard nearby although they couldn't see her.

"You left your precious meadow unprotected to come here and protect these vile humans. Don't you remember what they did?" Ci Nada asked bitterness coloring her voice.
"My meadow is always protected, and we all came to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life. These humans did nothing wrong. The ones who wronged you are long dead.
Don't make the innocents pay for the wrongdoings of a few bad people a century ago." Avo Jana said.
After she said that, they all suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The dragon they first met guarding the rose gate locked his eyes with Amber and a silent connection was made, recognition of kindred souls.
"Not as human as I thought." The dragon's voice rumbled as a huge grin spread around his enormous face.

Andar Sklea being the skillful warlock as he was, snapped his fingers and the tornado vanished like it was never there.
All that was left were different magical beings looking at Ci Nada with a reprimand, Ci Nada filled with anger and thirst for revenge and four mostly-humans who had no idea what was happening.

"How did you know I was here? How did you even get here?" Ci Nada asked clearly annoyed that someone figured out her plans.
"We were paying close attention to these humans," Telet said "when they disappeared from the face of the earth, well when their souls disappeared, we knew something was wrong.
With the help of our dragon friend, Arijam Protector Of The Weak or Gondr as he is known by fairy folk, capable of inter-dimensional travel, we managed to track you down.
I think it's time for you to stop now."

"No! I will not stop until they have suffered the same way I have suffered until they feel darkness consuming every last shred of their souls." Ci Nada said.

"You know that your behavior is unwise.
You are all alone and there are so many of us, you are outnumbered.
Walk away and your transgression shall be forgotten.
After all, you haven't broken the law yet." Lejanida tried to calmly reason with Ci Nada.
Screeching laughter followed her statement.
"Who said I was alone," Ci Nada said as more beings started materializing from the shadows.

"Ci Nada, I thought we were friends! Stop this nonsense! You might be a bit darker than us, but this is not you, you are not evil." Avo Jana said.

"Friends?! What does friendship even mean? Aren't friends supposed to accept each other for who they are and not try to change them? For as long as you have been my 'friend' you have tried to change me.

You've tried to turn me into one of you guys, but let me tell you one thing.
You have failed.
I might not be evil, but that doesn't mean I will not kill these humans and enjoy doing it. I shall bathe in their blood by the end of this day." Ci Nada said.

The second she said that she ran straight towards Avo Jana ready for a more direct attack. She wanted to eliminate the bigger threat that the magical beings posed so that she could have enough time to murder the humans, slowly and painfully.
Her battle cry made everyone's ears painfully vibrate with the strength of it.
That was how the Shadow Battle began.