Destiny Island

Chapter 37

Amber's heart skipped a beat when she saw the dark fairy stabbing Ignacio with its horn.
Her worst fears were becoming reality, and she was unable to do anything to help him, she was too far away.
Still, she could see the confusion on his face once he realized he was bleeding.
Soon enough the confusion was replaced by poor determination.
It was obvious to Amber that he was in pain and that he was losing too much blood, but that didn't stop him.
His determination, stubbornness as some might call it, was stronger than anything else.

As Amber was fighting her way towards him, her eyes stayed fixed on his sagging form.
Only her instincts proved to be enough for her fighting as her eyes stayed fixed on Ignacio, worrying about him.
He was strong, but she wasn't sure how strong a person should be to defeat a dark fairy.

As she was drawing nearer, she managed to make an almost perfect fireball and send it towards the huge troll that was drawing near her.
Only seconds later did she realized that the fireball didn't end up hitting the troll but instead hit the dark fairy that was closing in on Ignacio.

"Did I do that? No, way, it's far out of my power's current reach.
He must have used his telekinesis.
How can someone be so strong in the moment of his greatest weakness?" Amber thought.
Any further thought was interrupted by the troll's direct attack.

Luckily, Jade swept in and flew her above the giant troll's head in a matter of seconds.
It was obvious that Jade's powers were developing rapidly out of pure need.
The battle was so intense that it didn't give her time to think.
Maybe if she had had the time, she would have been consumed by her fears and worries but as it was, she put all her trust in her abilities, and they returned the favor by not failing her.
However, the troll soon became aware of their position and started waving his hands trying to squash them like the bugs he thought they were.
Amber and Jade were unable to do anything but avoid the troll's blows.

Soon enough, help came from the most unexpected source, Royce.
He seemed to have hitched a ride from the dragon and fell on the troll with vengeance.
Having procured a sword from who knows where he stabbed the troll in the eye wedging it as deeply as it would go.
As the troll was roaring with anger, he managed to jump down from the troll's body using his clothes to steady himself as he had to make a few jumps to reach the ground since the troll was so enormous.
When he landed on the ground gracefully, Jade was more than impressed by his agility. Little did she know that the only reason he had any agility at all was because of his need to save her. This time she didn't mind.

Although the troll wasn't deathly wounded it still popped out of the Shadowworld, probably going to lick his wounds in the real world.
What became obvious as the battle raged on was that the dark creatures they encountered were more cowardly then they thought.
Whenever one got injured or cornered, they would just leave the battlefield, not caring in the slightest about their fellow beings.

Jade quickly lowered Amber close to where Ignacio had crumbled down to the ground blood soaking through his clothes.
Amber was the first one to reach him because fear gave her the speed that she usually didn't possess.
She picked up his broken body in her arms not knowing what to do.

"Ignacio! Ignacio! Stay with me! Don't you dare leave me, you stupid idiot!
Please stay with me. I am begging you." Amber said.
It was a struggle for her to contain her tears from breaking through.
Upon noticing his disoriented and confused eyes looking up to her, she could no longer stop the tears from streaming down her face.
A shower of tears fell down her face and some tears dripped down landing on Ignacio's face.

There was nothing she could do but hold on to him hoping it would stop him from drifting off to eternal sleep.
As she embraced him firmly, trying to protect him from any further injury with her own body, she could feel a strange sensation breaking through her fear.
It felt as if her body wasn't touching the ground like she was floating weightless, like a feather.
Upon closer examination, she noticed that both of them were floating upwards, but she didn't really care.

All she cared about was to find a way to help him.
There was nothing she wanted more than for him to live.
Amber was even ready to trade places with him, which never occurred to her before.
In her mind, she always saw herself as the kind of person who would never sacrifice her life for anyone and there she was praying to God, or anyone who might be listening, to take her instead of him.
Her mind was so focused on her prayer and on clutching tightly to Ignacio that she didn't even notice what was happening around her.

Only when a familiar hand gently squeezed her shoulder did she notice that the floating sensation was gone.
Once again, they were on the firm ground, but it felt different, good, vibrant.
Only then did her mind register that they were no longer in the Shadowworld.
Before she had the chance to ask anything, Royce was by their side, worry obvious on his tired face.

"Amber, lower him to the ground. We have to check his wound." He said.
He was trying to be as gentle as possible because he could see that she had been injured as well and was in a state of shock because of what happened to Ignacio.
She quickly shook her head afraid that he would die if she let him go.

"Amber, look at me. If you want him to live, you have to let Royce take care of his wound. Okay?" Jade said calmly but firmly.
Facts managed to get through the thick veil of shock and fear, so she slowly lowered Ignacio to the ground.

It was heartbreaking for her to see the bleeding, broken body of Ignacio who was always so strong and confident, but she made herself look.
That was the only way for her to know that he was still alive.
The fact that she could see his chest slowly moving up and down, that simple action meant the world to her.

Royce ripped away Ignacio's shirt, and they could all see a huge gaping hole which the blood was streaming from profusely.
It was a wonder that he was still alive.
Royce tried to use the cloth from Ignacio's shirt to stop the bleeding but it just became soaked through in a matter of seconds.
"I can't stop the bleeding! I can't stop it! Ignacio, buddy, fight! Don't you dare let go!" Royce said. Searching desperately for a way to help, he tried applying pressure to the wound but it had little if any effect.
"Why isn't it working!?" Royce screamed in desperation and that was the first time anyone had heard Royce being as loud as that.
His voice was full of anger, desperation, and pain.

Jade couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
It was strange that although Ignacio was the one bleeding and in actual physical pain, Jade could only connect with Royce's pain.

Suddenly, a light started forming in the palms of Royce's hands.
Although he wasn't sure what it meant, he knew he needed more of it.
Soon enough, so much light shone around him that none of them could actually see what was happening.
A loud unearthly cry was heard at the same time as an explosion of light came out of Royce.
In the next moment, the light started slowly dissipating and all they could do was stare in awe.