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Description
Chapter 24

It didn’t happen…it didn’t happen… I told myself as I rocked back and forth.  I sat on the ground my wings folded around me like a bat when it sleeps.  I couldn’t believe what I had just seen.

Jomeiah had died years ago…She HAD to have.  Although I had no desire to see her dead, it was less painful to convince myself that the scene with the iron maidens had been a hallucination than to believe that she HAD been alive, that Yaashi had lied about Moajei killing her, that if I had just kept looking I would have found her, but instead she was taken from me before I knew it.  …She was already dead…she was already dead

Dreyfus said something.  I had no idea what but I knew it had something to do with his mother suffering the same fate as Jomeiah.

My wings went back, revealing the outside world once again.  “She’s fine!” I said.  “They’re both fine EVERYTHING’S FINE!  It was all one big nasty dream.”  I tried to laugh, my eye twitching.

“Neshae, are you okay?” Dreyfus asked me.

“Am I ever?” I wrapped myself in my wings again.

I never got an answer.  I don’t know how long I sat there with my eyes closed, hoping to Polokus that it HAD just been a dream, but when I opened my eyes, that hope went on just as strongly.

I was in a dark room.  My wings weren’t in front of me like they should have been.  I tried to fix that, but I discovered that they were gone.

My heart leapt and I reached for my Fire Blade.  I guess I was gonna try to look for my wings.  I don’t remember.  The last little shred of my sanity had been temporarily shattered.

“What’s going on?!” I asked out loud as I realized my Fire Blade was also missing.

“Neshae?” called out a familiar voice.  I turned around and cried out in surprise.

Alaesia sat on the floor.  Her black hair hung over her face.  Her clothes were bloody, as well as the rest of her.  She looked like she had dang near been ripped apart by something.  Worst of all, her eyes were missing.  Where two bright orange eyes had once been were two empty, bloody eye sockets.

“Alaesia, what happened to you?” I asked.

“Help me…” she said breathlessly and grabbed my foot.

Just then a door opened behind her.  A red light came from seemingly nowhere in the long hall beyond it.  At the end of the hall, instead of a door, was a set of large, razor sharp teeth.  It wasn’t like an animal was just beyond the hall.  The walls themselves blended in.  The teeth were part of the wall.

The teeth opened to reveal a huge mouth and some invisible force seemed to push Alaesia into the hallway.

“Neshae!” she called out, being forced off my foot.

I grabbed Alaesia’s hand.  I didn’t plan on loosing her too.

Unfortunately I couldn’t do much about the invisible force.  We were both sucked down that hallway.

“We’re not going to make it!” Alaesia cried as we got closer to the mouth.  I dug my heels into the floor, trying to at least slow down.

“Shut up!  Yes we are!” I yelled.  But I was wrong.  A moment later, the teeth snapped on Alaesia, chomping her in half.  Before I knew it, the rest of her was gone too.  And I was next.

I turned around and shot my hands toward the doorway at the end of the hall.  It was my only chance.  I grabbed the walls as I could feel the hot breath of the mouth at my back.  I pulled myself back to the doorway and was suddenly free from the invisible force.  My troubles were far from over though.

The creature let out an unearthly roar.  Two arms with clawed hands sprouted from the walls, one on each side of the doorway.  The two arms made a crawling motion toward me.  Although neither arm got any closer to me, the mouth at the end of the hall did.  The hallway got shorter and shorter by the second.

That did it for me.  I franticly looked around the room to find an exit.  I saw light coming from a shaft at the far end of the room.  I ran for it and looked up.  I could see light at the top, but how to get up there?  I glanced at the hallway again.  The mouth had made it past the doorway now and the walls seemed to stretch, trying to keep me from escaping.

Before they could reach me, though, the floor began to move upwards.  Unfortunately, the elevator I was standing on was another iron maiden.  It just HAD to be an iron maiden.

When I finally broke the surface, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The iron maiden seemed to be floating on water now.  Blood was seeping out of the iron maiden, causing the “water” to fizz.  That wasn’t water.  It was acid.  Instead of a sky, the entire area was enclosed in a giant, brass bell shape.  Of course…

There didn’t seem to be a way out, and the acid was rising.  This didn’t look good.  And when I looked over the edge of the iron maiden, a cold feeling crept up my spine.  Down below me at the bottom of the bell was something very, very big.  It swam around in circles in the acid.  It was only a matter of time before it noticed me.

I sat down on the iron maiden and tried to think of what to do.  Any way to escape.  There had to be a hole at the top of the bell.  Otherwise the acid wouldn’t be able to rise.  There had to be an air hole.  I just had to hope that the thing in the acid didn’t notice me and that the hole was big enough for me to go through.

Something bumped against the bottom of the iron maiden.  My heart painfully skipped a beat and then pounded at a pace I didn’t think existed.  I clung to the iron maiden to keep from being thrown into the acid.

Then from out of the acid broke the creature that had been swimming below me.  Three long, serpent-like necks broke the surface of the water, each bearing a head that almost looked like a dragon skull.  The color of the skin on each head, each about as big as I was, looked like bone, but stained to look almost like clown make-up.  I felt like I was staring at death itself.  All hope of escape was gone now.  I really wished I still had my wings.

The three heads bent low, hovering right over me.  My stomach lurched.  They looked at me with curiosity, and hunger.  Each of them screeched at me, then reared back.

I rolled over on the iron maiden, covering the back of my head with my hands as if that would help me at all, and I screamed as the middle head came down at me.  I tensed up, bracing myself for the painful bite that would end my life.

Nothing happened.  My heart was still racing as I opened my eyes.  I was laying on the ground where I had been earlier with Dreyfus.  Dreyfus was there too, looking about as terrified as I was, if not more.  I guessed Bellen had something to do with that too real hallucination.

Still too shaky to get up, I said, “Hey Deer Boy…Let’s get to that damn lake already.”

Description
Chapter 24

It didn’t happen…it didn’t happen… I told myself as I rocked back and forth.  I sat on the ground my wings folded around me like a bat when it sleeps.  I couldn’t believe what I had just seen.

Jomeiah had died years ago…She HAD to have.  Although I had no desire to see her dead, it was less painful to convince myself that the scene with the iron maidens had been a hallucination than to believe that she HAD been alive, that Yaashi had lied about Moajei killing her, that if I had just kept looking I would have found her, but instead she was taken from me before I knew it.  …She was already dead…she was already dead

Dreyfus said something.  I had no idea what but I knew it had something to do with his mother suffering the same fate as Jomeiah.

My wings went back, revealing the outside world once again.  “She’s fine!” I said.  “They’re both fine EVERYTHING’S FINE!  It was all one big nasty dream.”  I tried to laugh, my eye twitching.

“Neshae, are you okay?” Dreyfus asked me.

“Am I ever?” I wrapped myself in my wings again.

I never got an answer.  I don’t know how long I sat there with my eyes closed, hoping to Polokus that it HAD just been a dream, but when I opened my eyes, that hope went on just as strongly.

I was in a dark room.  My wings weren’t in front of me like they should have been.  I tried to fix that, but I discovered that they were gone.

My heart leapt and I reached for my Fire Blade.  I guess I was gonna try to look for my wings.  I don’t remember.  The last little shred of my sanity had been temporarily shattered.

“What’s going on?!” I asked out loud as I realized my Fire Blade was also missing.

“Neshae?” called out a familiar voice.  I turned around and cried out in surprise.

Alaesia sat on the floor.  Her black hair hung over her face.  Her clothes were bloody, as well as the rest of her.  She looked like she had dang near been ripped apart by something.  Worst of all, her eyes were missing.  Where two bright orange eyes had once been were two empty, bloody eye sockets.

“Alaesia, what happened to you?” I asked.

“Help me…” she said breathlessly and grabbed my foot.

Just then a door opened behind her.  A red light came from seemingly nowhere in the long hall beyond it.  At the end of the hall, instead of a door, was a set of large, razor sharp teeth.  It wasn’t like an animal was just beyond the hall.  The walls themselves blended in.  The teeth were part of the wall.

The teeth opened to reveal a huge mouth and some invisible force seemed to push Alaesia into the hallway.

“Neshae!” she called out, being forced off my foot.

I grabbed Alaesia’s hand.  I didn’t plan on loosing her too.

Unfortunately I couldn’t do much about the invisible force.  We were both sucked down that hallway.

“We’re not going to make it!” Alaesia cried as we got closer to the mouth.  I dug my heels into the floor, trying to at least slow down.

“Shut up!  Yes we are!” I yelled.  But I was wrong.  A moment later, the teeth snapped on Alaesia, chomping her in half.  Before I knew it, the rest of her was gone too.  And I was next.

I turned around and shot my hands toward the doorway at the end of the hall.  It was my only chance.  I grabbed the walls as I could feel the hot breath of the mouth at my back.  I pulled myself back to the doorway and was suddenly free from the invisible force.  My troubles were far from over though.

The creature let out an unearthly roar.  Two arms with clawed hands sprouted from the walls, one on each side of the doorway.  The two arms made a crawling motion toward me.  Although neither arm got any closer to me, the mouth at the end of the hall did.  The hallway got shorter and shorter by the second.

That did it for me.  I franticly looked around the room to find an exit.  I saw light coming from a shaft at the far end of the room.  I ran for it and looked up.  I could see light at the top, but how to get up there?  I glanced at the hallway again.  The mouth had made it past the doorway now and the walls seemed to stretch, trying to keep me from escaping.

Before they could reach me, though, the floor began to move upwards.  Unfortunately, the elevator I was standing on was another iron maiden.  It just HAD to be an iron maiden.

When I finally broke the surface, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The iron maiden seemed to be floating on water now.  Blood was seeping out of the iron maiden, causing the “water” to fizz.  That wasn’t water.  It was acid.  Instead of a sky, the entire area was enclosed in a giant, brass bell shape.  Of course…

There didn’t seem to be a way out, and the acid was rising.  This didn’t look good.  And when I looked over the edge of the iron maiden, a cold feeling crept up my spine.  Down below me at the bottom of the bell was something very, very big.  It swam around in circles in the acid.  It was only a matter of time before it noticed me.

I sat down on the iron maiden and tried to think of what to do.  Any way to escape.  There had to be a hole at the top of the bell.  Otherwise the acid wouldn’t be able to rise.  There had to be an air hole.  I just had to hope that the thing in the acid didn’t notice me and that the hole was big enough for me to go through.

Something bumped against the bottom of the iron maiden.  My heart painfully skipped a beat and then pounded at a pace I didn’t think existed.  I clung to the iron maiden to keep from being thrown into the acid.

Then from out of the acid broke the creature that had been swimming below me.  Three long, serpent-like necks broke the surface of the water, each bearing a head that almost looked like a dragon skull.  The color of the skin on each head, each about as big as I was, looked like bone, but stained to look almost like clown make-up.  I felt like I was staring at death itself.  All hope of escape was gone now.  I really wished I still had my wings.

The three heads bent low, hovering right over me.  My stomach lurched.  They looked at me with curiosity, and hunger.  Each of them screeched at me, then reared back.

I rolled over on the iron maiden, covering the back of my head with my hands as if that would help me at all, and I screamed as the middle head came down at me.  I tensed up, bracing myself for the painful bite that would end my life.

Nothing happened.  My heart was still racing as I opened my eyes.  I was laying on the ground where I had been earlier with Dreyfus.  Dreyfus was there too, looking about as terrified as I was, if not more.  I guessed Bellen had something to do with that too real hallucination.

Still too shaky to get up, I said, “Hey Deer Boy…Let’s get to that damn lake already.”