A.Z. - After Zeal Chapter 6
Discoveries
By Crystal Zeal
Crystal washed up on the side of the Heckran entrance, feeling
extremely nauseous. She stumbled foward a couple steps, before
collapsing onto her knees.
"Ugh...evil swirly thingy...I think I'm gonna...I'm gonna..."
Blech.
Coughing and sputtering, the girl climbed to a half bent over
position. Unsteady feet brought her staggering to the wall. She
leaned against it, face pale.
Emerald hues finally made a point to look over the surrounding
area. Not a monster was in sight...that was quite odd. The only
noises were the sounds of water dripping from the ceiling, and her harse
breathing.
There was definetly something wrong here.
With a bit of effort and a lot of help from her staff, she
stood up strait and scanned through the darkness. The girl tapped he
staff on the ground, and heard only the echo of it, nothing else. Something
kept nagging at the corner of her mind, but she couldn't figure out what.
She took a few steps foward, steadily regaining her composter.
Licking her dry lips, she called out "Hello!" hoping to get
a response. This time, a low growl came from the depths of the
cavern.
She swallowed, taking another nervous step foward.
The growls soon became louder. Crystal took another step
foward, and heard a piercing shriek. It sounded like a young girl.
A cruel laugh and a few stupid guffaws could be heard echoing through the
dark. The growling sound grew closer.
Crystal rushed to see what had caused the scream. She
paused at the end of the tunnel, looking out into a lage clearing.
There stood a boy no older than sixteen and two henchs with a girl of seven
years bound in front of them. The boy was tall for his age, with dark brown
hair and black eyes. The unusual thing about him, though, were the
pointed ears that Enlightened Ones had. A large dark brown created that looked
like a mix between a boar, a hench, and a dog the size of a bear was lumbering
towards them, dripping saliva from its mouth. Two bright red eyes glowed
from its gruetesque mouth. It let out another low growl, tossing its
head back. The girl let out another frightened scream. Laughing, the
boy leaned down and spoke to her.
"My dear girl," he sneered, "you are about to be lunch
to the Heckrunch here."
She let out a whimpering sob, and looked up at the boy with
innocent, pleading eyes. The boy just laughed once more crueling, and
kicked the girl foward. She landed on the floor, and stayed there,
sobbing. The henchs let out more stupid laughs.
Crystal clenched her fists, all bu ready to go out and save
the girl. She released her staff from the hook that kept it slung across
her back when a brilliant light enveloped the whole cavern and tunnels leading
from it. The Heckrunch let out a retched howl of pain, and attempted
to retreat into the darkness that was not there. He cowered against
wall, whimpering. The henchs yowled and ducked, covering their heads
with their arms as if to shield themselves. The boy let out a surprised
yelp, and covered his face, while the girl just sat their sobbing in fear.
Out of the cavern stepped another boy around the cruel one's age, his palm
held up. The light came from his hand.
"Kyle!" He snapped, stepping foward in fury. "How...how
could you?" The boy demanded, dimming the light. The cruel
boy, Kyle, lowered his hands. He let out a hiss when he saw who was
there.
"Just mind your own buisness, Feryn! I found this
girl wandering around on our continent! She's a human, and
must be terminated!" Kyle all but screamed, furious because Feryn had
spoiled his fun.
Crystal gasped from the shadows. Feryn? Yes...Blue
hair, pointed ears, green eyes! He was definetly from Zeal. She
had remembered a boy names Feryn...but he had only been older than her by
a year! She peered out intently, watching the scene unfold.
Feryn scowled. "Our continent, Kyle? May I remind
you that you are not from here, but from the Proto Area in your
time? I myself am from Zeal. This is hardly our
continent. We are not even from this time!"
"But...it is ours now! It was ruled by pathetic IMPS
when the Highlord and us arrived!"
With a sigh, the Zealian shook his head. "You Protans
are too arrogant. You believe that because you came with the Highlord,
you can do whatever you wish. Give me the girl." That was a command,
not a request. He stepped foward. Hastily, the other boy stepped
backwards, nearly tripping over one of the henchs. He swore at it,
and thumped it with his fist.
"FINE!" He snarled, pointing at Feryn. "You can
have the girl! But I WILL get you!" With that, he grabbed
the Henchs and fled.
With a sigh, the boy named Feryn stepped over to the girl.
He formed the light into a ball, and hurled it up into the air. Another
whimper came fromt he Heckrunch. The boy kneeled down, and picked the
girl up. She screamed, and tried to wriggle free. He hushed her,
and set her down, freeing her from the ropes that held her bound. She
stopped struggling, and stared up at him through tears filled eyes.
"A...are you gonna hurt me?" She asked, eyes brimming with yet more
tears.
Feryn gave a smile, and wiped away her tears with his hands.
"No, little one. I'm here to help you."
"H-help?" The girl asked.
The Zealian boy gave a nod. Eyes now filled with love,
the little girl threw her arms around him. He blinked, surprised slightly,
thenn patted her on the back.
"Oh thank you, thank you!" The girl shouted, hugging
him tighter.
"Shh," the boy whispered, disattaching her from him.
"You must be quite if I'm to get you to safety."
The little girl nodded fervently. Feryn stood, taking
her up into his arms. He walked in the direction of Crystal, the ball
of light following him. With a small hint of fear, Crystal realized
that he was going to see her very soon! For some reason, she felt that
she must not be seen, not yet. She started backing up and nearly
tripped over her staff. Deftly, she reclipped it the strap across her
back and bolted to where she had originally came from. She had to stop
herself from falling face first into the whirlpool. Face becoming pale,
she searched frantically for somewhere to hide. She quickly hurried
to a shadowed notch in the wall, just as Feryn entered the cavern, girl still
in his arms. He walked up to the whirlpool and set her down by the
edge. "Now," he instructed, "this will lead you back to your
continent. You will find home there. Don't be afraid, it won't
hurt you."
"T..thank you..." She said, shyling, and gave him another
hug. Then, with a parting look of pure thanks, she hesitantly stepped
up to the whirlpool, and plunged in. She dissapeared quickly.
With a sigh, Feryn straitened, and looked over to the notch
where Crystal hid. "You can come out now, Crystal," he announced, and
she just stared at him in pure shock.
Chapter 7
Crystal Zeal's Fanfiction