//------------------------------// // 20. I Feel Like I'm Entering... // Story: Dark Body, Light Soul (Or the Tale of the Stalfos) // by Garino //------------------------------// Chapter 20 I Feel Like I'm Entering... Melody hugged both Wisp and Dracula as I left my cell. Closing it behind me, I nodded at them to lead the way. Wisp took point, now brandishing his mace, with Dracula covering our backs and Melody and me in between them. "So, what's the plan?" I asked. "You've got us, but we still need to find Morva and Jack, and I dou-" "Morva went topside," Wisp interrupted. "He's busy setting up traps, just in case we need a speedy escape. As for Jack..." he trailed off, making it hard to figure out what he said. "I didn't quite catch that, run that by me again?" I asked. "We're not worried about Jack," Dracula said coldly. "He's the reason we're stuck in this mess in the first place." Now that he mentioned it, King Griffon didn't mention what exactly happened to Jack. Why would he not mention the guy who forged my sword and knew me as long as Melody? ... The revelation hit me like a train filled to the brim with gunpowder. "He was never on our side," Melody whispered. Damn. Beat me to my own revelation. "I can't even..." I began. "Believe it, Daniel," Wisp interrupted sharply. "He had all of us fooled. None of us could've seen it coming." I looked to the ground. "I should have. No one suspects the Diamond Dog." Dracula patted me on the back. "He'll get what's coming to him. I can promise that," he reassured me. "Okay, lovebirds, break it up," Wisp deadpanned. "The longer we stay here, the sooner we're gonna have to deal with reinforcements. Let's go already!" With that, he zoomed ahead. I looked at Melody, who was visibly shaking. Yeah, her color had lightened up a bit, but it was still a bit blue. Kinda...I dunno, the color of old blue jeans? I knelt beside her, tapping her shoulder. She looked up, her eyes showing the pain of betrayal. "Chin up, partner," I said, fishing for my old British accent, "we got a long road ahead of us, and I need all the help I can get." I held out my hand to help her up. In hindsight, I should have seen it coming, but it caught me off guard when she jumped right at me, clinging to my body for dear life. I wrapped my arms around her, awkwardly, as I picked her up and went through the door. "I'm sorry, Daniel, but I'll only get in the way," Melody rasped. "I'm going to go topside and help Morva when we get out of here and split up." She gave me a quick peck on the cheek before she phased out and went through my arms, following Wisp. I turned to Dracula, who was simply smiling at what had just happened. With a nod to each other, I ran through the door after Melody, with him right behind me. No question about it now. The fight for Necro City had begun, and I wasn't about to lose to a half-lion, half-chicken who thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. There's only one thing I hate about not being able to fight. And that is the fact that it makes me a liability. I watched as we got to the top of the stairs only to be blocked off by six guards. Wisp simply tapped the ground with his mace, sending a shockwave and sending them flying. While all of them flew in separate directions, the one on the far left shattered to pieces when the shockwave connected with him. ...yeah, I don't know how that didn't happen to me in our fight, either. Dracula simply kept them down with binding magic as we shot through the room and to the other door. Where we found the worst enemy I could ever face in the history of...history. "Stairs," I muttered. "Why did it have to be stairs?" Of course, Wisp and Melody had no problems with them, being ghosts that could, I dunno, PASS THROUGH WALLS. The big vampire unicorn was next, and while he wasn't as fast as the other two, he made good time. I, however, exercised caution, because one false move and I'd be spending far too much time trying to put myself together. When we got to the top, which was a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way up, I was almost proud of myself. Almost, because not a moment after I stepped on the final ledge, I slipped. That's right, I slipped, and managed to fall down ALL THOSE FUCKING STEPS! My thought process falling down was as follows: NO!     SON!        OF!           A!             FUC                 KING!                     BITCH!                           HOW!                               COULD!                                     I!                                       DO!                                 THAT!                         RIGHT!                     AT!                 THE!           TOP!       OF! THESE!   OL MAN!               DAMNED!                       STAIRS!                             FUCK!                                   YOU!                                      DUCKY! And the rest of the thought process was simply repeating the words you're not allowed to say in media yet we do so anyway. (Fun fact: this whole process of climbing the stairs and falling down took about a half hour round trip! And an extra twenty-five minutes to reattach himself and reclimb the stairs! WHEEEEEEE!) As soon as I reached the top (again), I was met with one ghost mare trying her best to contain her laughter, a stoic-as-hell vampire, and a condescending ghost stallion who simply shook his head. Three guesses as to who was who, first two don't count. Amazingly, while I was enjoying my flight down, Dracula and Wisp had made quick work of the guards at the top. How kind of them, right? Quick as a wink, we were through another room... ...until the door shut behind Wisp and Dracula, leaving me to deal with whatever threat had decided to split the party. I tried to open the door, to no avail. With no other options, I turned to find...nothing? Well, threat wise, anyway. The room looked like some primitive office, with closed drawers, desks, places for quills, ink, etc. Melody had already taken a head start and was opening drawers. I followed suit, opening the nearest drawer. "Wow..." I muttered. Inside the drawer was an iron warhammer. Yeah, the big, heavy weapon that requires 2 hands to wield. How the hell did they even manage to fit this in here? I thought. I pulled it out with a bit of difficulty and looked around a bit more. The other drawers didn't contain anything useful, so I moved to the desks. None of the desks helped, either, until I got to the last one. Although, whether it helped or not is entirely up in the air. The moment I touched the last desktop, it disappeared. Along with the other desks. And the drawers. And anything that wasn't a wall, door, Melody, or me. Then, a unicorn-skeleton formed in the room. Lightly armed and lightly armored, I recognized her from the dungeon. Shanoa, didn't he say? "Sorry to say, but this is as far as you'll go, Stalfos," she said calmly. It unnerved me just how different she was when I was behind bars. There, I felt she was happy that my pain would be her pleasure. You know, that German word...doesn't matter right now! Now...she was calm. Eerily calm, as if she tossed all emotions into a box. Her horn glowed a dark green as the room disappeared. It is here that I learned two things: one, this was probably going to happen to me a lot as we tried to escape. And two, that Olman, apparantly, doesn't know jack about skeletons and their "ability to retain magic" or whatever. Now, I'd bet dollars to donuts that you are wondering what the area looks like when the room just disappears on you. For me, all that was left was the ground we were standing on, and nothing but space all around us. Simply put, it looked like Shanoa transported the two of us to the Final Destination. Speaking of her, she was on the other side, the glow on her horn gone for the moment. I felt an icy glare hit me, so no question about it, she was looking at me. "I must say, you are a thorn in King Highwind's side," Shanoa said. "I will be the one to purge you." With that, she took a fighting stance. ...which one, you ask? Like I would know?!? "So we have to fight? Then you leave me no choice," I replied. I brandished my new warhammer, noting to myself SONUVABEAK this is heavy! "I'll make this quick."