The New Generation Part 7
Bloodlines II
By Dark Magus
Aza stepped out in to the all too familiar cave. Now it didn't seem so bad, now that he knew how to control the magic he had originally relied upon. He heard footsteps behind him and spun around. It was only Nomi and Carr.
"So what exactly is going on here?" Nomi asked Carr.
"Well…" Carr began to answer.
"We'll explain later." Aza remarked. Not quite satisfied with the answer but not wanting to be a burden, Nomi shut up. "Now," Aza added, "Let's go to my hut and see if we can find out why we were sent here."
The trio followed their new leader to where he commanded. They were led out of the cave safely, and found themselves in broad daylight. They were met by a forest. They trudged through the forest, with a couple of pitiful battles. Off in the distance they could see a grouping of huts. It looked like the beginnings of a town. They could see smoke coming from one house, but there was no chimney. It almost looked as if it was on fire.
"OH NO!" was all Aza could mutter before running at full speed towards the huts. Nomi and Carr suspected that the house had some meaning to it, but they couldn't pinpoint it. Maybe it was his. They sprinted off after him.
Nomi and Carr couldn't keep up. Aza was an animal of great speed, Carr wasn't a very fast runner, and Nomi's armor was beginning to get hot. The two humans reached the town about three minutes after Aza. By that time Aza had summoned water to spill over the house, putting the fire out. It was too late though, the house was a pile of ashes. Aza took off. There was obviously something valuable in that house.
Carr followed him. He found Aza at last sitting by a stream. He looked closer and he thought he saw… a tear?? He didn't know reptiles were capable of tears. Nomi came up behind him and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Just let him be," she whispered.
The two of them headed into the forest. They stayed in sight of Aza. They sat and waited for Aza to get over what was bothering him. Then Nomi told Carr what was going on. She had found out from the villagers before following. Aza lived in that house. His wife had too. There was no sign of his wife. He heard that it was done by a human outlaw named Gaselta? Something like that. Gaselta had burnt his house down because he was an important person in society. Also because Gaselta was scared of him. He was no normal reptite. He had a couple of human ancestors, and Gaselta couldn't accept it. Carr understood.
A couple of hours later, Carr spotted Aza coming out of his trance. He walked over to him and asked a question, though he knew the answer, "Aza, what's wrong?"
"My wife…" he managed to mutter. Then he spoke loud and defiantly, "I must find Gaselta and kill him, even if it means dying myself. I will revenge my wife!"
There was obviously no stopping Aza as he strode towards the direction of a mountain range. It was along the west coast and had volcanoes on top. Carr and Nomi followed.
They ended up on a plateau after about three hours of hiking. It was getting late.
Aza pointed to a cave, "That is where his hideout is. There among the many trees." Carr and Nomi looked where he pointed and sure enough saw a cave. "We go there in the morning."
The three of them set up camp. Aza started a fire. After the hike, all of them got to sleep easily, except for Aza, who was still thinking. Finally he got weary and fell to sleep like a stone.
*****
The next morning, Carr woke up before the others. He set out in the forest to look for food. He searched, but all of the plants were foreign to him. He decided it would be easier to get meat. He drew his bow out of his pocket, extended it, and strung it. He reached for an arrow on his back. He readied the bow.
He walked around for a while, trying to find an animal. He finally saw a kiwala and shot it. It fell over, an arrow in its neck. Carr picked it up and headed back for camp.
When he got back he found that Nomi and Aza were already awake. He showed them the carcass.
"Bring it over here," Nomi beckoned. "I will skin it." Carr did as he was told. He set the kiwala on a stump in front of her. She shot out a laser at it and neatly sliced the skin off. Then, without touching it, took all of the good meat out.
They roasted the meat over the fire which Aza had restarted, and after four or five pieces, they were satisfied. Then they set out on the journey.
Aza led the way. The trio stepped up to the mouth of the cave. It was about ten feet tall and looked very threatening. Despite its appearance, Aza strode in.
He was met almost immediately by a short, stocky bandit. Probably the lookout man. Aza, sensitive to the fact that there were other humans around, loosened a rock from the top of the cave. It fell on him and conked him out.
They walked past. They went about forty feet when they were met by another group of guards. This time Aza summoned a nearby plant to wrap about them and tie them to the wall. They passed. The cave was deep and they soon came to a staircase. At the base of the steps they came across five watchdogs.
Aza was no longer feeling sensitive and fried the dogs where they stood. The cave seemed to go on forever. They finally came to a fork in the road. Then Aza did something surprising. With his acute senses he sniffed the air. He pointed them in the left direction. They were met up again with yet another set of troopers. They had knives and dogs at their sides.
Nomi, seeing the knives, got a little suspicious. She cast forth a bolt of lightning that took out the first leader and his dog. Carr then froze the rest of them in an ice block. They passed.
After what seemed like forever they reached a door. Aza grunted and rolled it aside. Before them stood a table with outlaws on each side and at the head, Gaselta. Behind him was a large button. It was not very well hidden.
Aza summoned forth a shadow bomb that engulfed everybody. When it cleared, Gaselta was still standing. He looked shocked.
Carr took his cue and fired a shot at Gaselta. It bounced off. He was obviously wearing a stone vest under his cloak.
Nomi then fired a lightning bolt at him. It hit him with a lot of force, but he was still standing.
Gaselta then drew a boomerang from his cape. He threw it. It sliced Aza, leaving a scar.
Aza got angry. First he kills his wife, then he doesn't die! He extended his talons and went savage on Gaselta. He went for the face, which was the only part that wasn't covered up. When he was done, Gaselta was a bloody mess. He stood in shock before he muttered a cry and fell to the floor.
Nomi rushed over to check him. "He's dead."
Carr wanted to feel bad, but somehow he didn't. He walked over to the body of Gaselta and pushed away his cloak. He found armor made of a pure red rock. He removed it and placed it on himself. There was a powerful surge that went through him. He also took the boomerang. Maybe someone back in the end of time knew how to use one.
Then Aza walked over to the wall. He pressed the protruding button. The rock next to him slid way and revealed a cage. Inside was an unconscious reptite.
"ZARA!" he screamed. It was his wife. He undid the cage and rushed over to her. He picked her up and they headed out of the cave. They passed the frozen guards. Then they headed out of the cave.
Aza lead the way back to the village. By the time he got there, Zara had been revived. She was fully awake by the time she got to the burnt house. Aza turned to them. "I'm sorry. I have to stay here. I have to rebuild my home and get things back to normal. I might be finished by the time you come back. Then I can join you again, but for now, goodbye."
Nomi and Carr waved farewell on their way back to the cave. When they reached the gate on the inside, Carr raised the gate key. It expanded and the two jumped in.
When Carr reached the end of time, he heard sobbing. He ran down the steps to find Kaira weeping. He didn't see Jase.
"Kaira, what happened?" he asked, worried.
"He just, began to fade…" she answered through the tears.
"What happened was that one of his ancestors was destroyed. He then faded into thin air. It might be possible to bring him back. I will look into it. I'm sorry." Gaspar explained.
"But what about Magus?" Carr asked, "Wasn't he one of the original team?"
"Yes he was, but it was not HIS ancestor. It may have even been one of his descendants. Just rest for now and I will try to gather information."
Carr and Nomi walked over to Kaira and joined in the mourning of the loss of their friend.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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