AfterDuo: Children's tale

Chapter 12: Folgomo Found!

(Author's note: I surprised If anyone reads this. Thank you! I appreciate you.)

Sarah and Dragice made small talk while they were walking, Sarah happy she didn't have to project what she was thinking for the dragon to hear her. Kami and his mother both had a change in their behavior for they both heard something, causing the others to notice as the dragon's stare was different.

"What is it?" Amelia asked, pulling her whip from her belt. The others also took their weapons from their various scabbards or places of rest.

"Something... or someone. They are angry about being stuck here." Dragice said as she looked forward with her eyes changing to a darker color with determination.

"I can't really pick up any more."

Overhead, a cry rent the air. Everyone looked up to see the twins fly off towards the ruins as a red and blue blur. They had sensed him too.

"I think they found something." Amelia mentioned dryly. She started running towards the Ruins, and everyone scrambled after her.

Arachne passed between a few outlying columns, heading towards a step pyramid shaped compound carved from sandstone and marble at the top of a few dozen concrete stairs. The temple was massive, the compound towered over them. Even Dragice could easily walk through the open archway. Arachne shivered, she didn't know why. The place was deserted, but there was something eerie about the ruins. The whole place seemed to suck the light away from everything. The party seemed to also feel it, as they all stiffened as they entered.

"This place gives me the creeps." Katherine stated simply. Everyone nodded, but continued. Inside the compound, an echoing shriek rent the air, followed by a muffled explosion. Everyone tensed, that sounded like a Keeper.

"Let's go!" Amelia shouted, sprinting into the place, with Bardiya and Arachne at her heels.

Kami bolted and picked up Arachne to make sure they could get there faster. Dragice even though she was large, moved very quickly and kept up with the other members on her back as she picked them up.

Arachne yelped as Kami carried her up the stairs and into the pyramid. They flew through the place, twisting and turning. The inside was completely dark, but this didn't bother either of them. Cats and spiders have good night eyes. Kami took a right turn, having smelled fresh air, and light streamed through a light at the end of the tunnel.

They charged through another archway. Before them lay a massive amphitheater, the pair standing at the top of the stands, a good three stories up. The whole place was open to the grey Defuhu sky. A flat stage of stone was the focus. And on the stage, four figures fought. Three seemed to be attacking one. Three were Keepers, shrieking and crashing. The fourth was a man in a grey and black coat and jeans. He was flipping and spinning through the air, dodging the strikes of the Keepers despite his numerical disadvantage. The three shrieked in anger, trying to cut the man down, but he couldn't be hit. He moved as a blur as they attacked. Above, the spirit twins circled and tried to distract the Keepers. They couldn't help directly, but this didn't stop them from dive bombing the monsters. Kami set Arachne down and leapt down, Arachne jumping after him, pulling her hammer from her belt as she fell. The two shouted as they fell, causing all four to look up. As Arachne flew through the air, she noticed that the man was fighting with a sharp stone fragment as a weapon. Kami landed a few dozen yards from the fighters, and Arachne alit a second later by his side. The pair charged, Kami pulling the mundane dagger from his back scabbard as he did.

The Keepers all chose a target and attacked. Arachne lost track of what Kami and the other man did. The Keeper cleaved down at her head with its blade, but she dodged to the side, swinging towards his head with her hammer. The monster twitched out of the way, and Arachne swung through empty air. The monster cut upwards to bisect the girl, but she parried the strike with the head of her hammer. She thrust the head of the hammer into the smoky figure's belly. It doubled over, and she smashed the hammer upwards into the things head. The Keeper staggered backward, clearly injured. It hissed and shrieked. It blasted a wall of smoky force towards Arachne, who was thrown through the air and would have been blasted off the stage if she hadn't thrown a string of purple webbing from her hands to catch herself. She dangled from the stage, pulling herself up and over hand. She saw the Keeper appear above her and cut the string. She jumped upwards, barely grabbing on to the edge of the concrete. He slashed down at her fingers, but she jumped up again, swinging her hammer at his left arm. The Keeper backpedaled, parrying the strike as it did. Arachne landed on the stage and pulled the her hammer back into her hand. She threw it at the Keeper, who deflected it up. Arachne, who had expected this and had already started running, slid threw a web up to grab the hammer. She slid between the Keeper's legs, pulling the hammer with her. The hammer hit the monster's leg as it followed Arachne's path. A resounding crack was heard as the hammer impacted. The smoky fiend fell to one knee, its right ankle crushed. Arachne swung her webbing, which still held the hammer, and crushed its head. The monster dissolved, and Arachne pulled her weapon back to her.