Outside the time, p.34
Outside the time, page 34
"Because he knows better zen to take on his own flesh and blood." I arched my eyebrow at him. "He is my son."
"But then…"
"Yes, Henrix is my son too. Ze bandits did not kill me like zey thought zey did. Zey left me for dead after zey took my vife and Khail. Now, enough of ze small talk. Take your place on ze other end of ze arena and ve shall begin."
Before I could ask any further questions he drew his sword and tossed its seethe to one side and moved away from me. I swallowed hard and did the same.
"Cahgie are you ready?" Khail shouted and raised an arm to the Cahgie who raised his sword to his face and bowed. Then Khail raised an arm to me. "Challenger are you ready?"
"No." I muttered to myself as I did the same with my sword as the Cahgie had done. I took a deep breath as I watched Khail look back and forth between us. Carefully I planted my feet in the ground and raised my sword as I had seen done in movies a million times. It was time. There was no longer a chance to delay the inevitable.
Live or die.
Chapter 26 – But i got hit
Growing up nobody ever tells you how badly it hurts to be hit by a giant fireball. Sure they tell you not to play with fire, its dangerous, but do they ever say getting hit by a fireball hurts?
No.
No they do not.
Well let me tell you something right now kids… it hurts. Think of the worst physical pain you ever felt in your life, then times it by a thousand and add in the smell of charred flesh on top of it. And that was just me getting grazed by a giant fireball, I did not even directly get hit with it.
The first half of the fight was simply me hanging on for dear life. The Cahgie was faster then I could have ever thought possible and certainly Sedrick never could have properly prepared me for it. I could not counter anything, all I could do was roll out of the way and hope to God I did not get hit.
But I got hit… many times.
The Cahgie's laughter mocked me as I gasped for air. But he would not let up, I would roll out of the way and he would unleash another fire ball, and then another, and then another. Always a fireball, like he had no other magic in him.
Another fireball narrowly missed me as I slid against the dirt.
Focus Paula! Use what you know! I heard Mike's voice call out in my head. I looked up at him as I lay on my stomach in the dirt still panting. He was staring right at me and winked quickly. Focus! Buy yourself some time to think.
How… I gasped and quickly hopped to my feet to avoid another attack. The Cahgie cackled loudly. We had never gotten any closer then where we had started our battle; we did not need to, his fire kept me at bay.
Use what you know! Think about it and just do it. Mike shouted in my head. I shot him a quick scowl and returned my eyes to the Cahgie, who readied to fire another ball at me.
My mind started racing, I ran through every damn thing in my head, no matter how useless it may seemed. There was something in there I could use and Mike somehow knew it. Use what I know… Ok what did I know? Another fireball launched at my head so again I quickly bounced out of the way.
What I knew was technology, none of which would help me in a dimension without it. Somehow throwing a cell phone at a warlock seemed worthless, even if I had had it with me.
I knew several year's worth of movies, that I watched every birthday with Charlie. Those could help since some of them had magic in them, but I could not for the life of me figure out how. But I decided to think about them anyway. I ran through a long list of fantasy movies Charlie had made me watch over the years.
Wizards, warlocks, magicians, oh my.
Another fireball launched at my head, but rather then bounce out of the way I focused my thoughts on a movie where the young Mage was able to erect a shield around himself. Sure if I failed I was screwed, but how would that be any different then simply surviving… answer was, it would not be. After all, if Mike was able to do it in that vision I had then I could do it too!
I quickly raised my arms to my face to brace for the flames, but instead of being engulfed in them I was being shielded. The flames wrapped all around an invisible dome, but never touched me. My heart raced as I watched the flames slowly dissipate.
Thata girl. Mike said proudly in my head.
I glanced over at him and he winked at me. Bastard had finally been able to control me with his mind. When my fight was over I knew I would not hear the end of it. Ok so he did not exactly control me, but it certainly was close enough for my liking.
I allowed myself a quick grin before I readied for another attack. The dome would buy me time to run through my laundry list in my head.
"Ok Paula," I said to myself. "What other useless facts do you know?"
I knew I could run a mile in under a minute, I had a great right hook, hockey was not my sport but man did I love it. Yet again none of that would help me. Suddenly the most random thought possible came into my head and I could not shake it. It was stupid, random, and I mocked myself for even thinking about it.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, otherwise known as Roshambo, a game I was great at. Xavier would get pissed and yell at me for somehow cheating because he could never win. Did not matter what he threw, I beat him every time.
Rock beats Scissors, Scissors beat Paper and Paper beats Rock.
While neither of the actual items in the game would be any help, I mean it's not like the Cahgie would stop throwing fireballs for a nice game of Rock, Paper, Scissors or even have friendly thumb war… another game I was good at. I knew the principle behind the game would help.
All he kept throwing at me was fire. I knew he had more spells in his arsenal, he would not be a Cahgie if he did not, but it clearly was his dominant spell. So what beats fire? Science class be proud I actually learned something in you.
Fire was extinguished by both starvation and water. Take away a fires oxygen and it cannot burn, douse it with enough aqua and it would drown. Sure the Cahgie was not a walking talking ball of fire himself, but it was all I had.
Taking a deep breath I focused on wrapping my little shield around the Cahgie. I had to stifle a grin as his fireballs hit the shield and bounced right back at him. Nothing he did could break through. Then inside the shield I thought about forming a cloud and creating a nice little rain storm inside of it.
I could hear him laugh as the little dome filled with water and his hands started to smoke as the fire surrounding them extinguished. There was no time to enjoy my moral victory as he quickly snapped his finger and the dome exploded, spraying water everywhere.
"Not bad child." The Cahgie shouted.
I gripped my sword tight and rushed towards him but he quickly threw me back with a gust of wind. Landing hard on my back I slid across the dirt and felt my skin get scrapped up in the process.
"Awesome… wind…" I muttered as I pulled myself back up. "Ok Paula, Water beats fire but what beats wind…"
Balling my free hand into a tight fist I slammed it against the ground. The earth shook all around me as rocks pilled up and formed a wall in front of me. Knowing the wall would not stop wind for very long, I aimed my hands towards the wall. I sent a shockwave directly at it, launching thousands of pieces of rock at the Cahgie. He had to stop playing with his wind and start dodging my first attack.
Again my little victory was short lived, as I was stuck repeatedly in the chest by lightning bolts. Once more I found myself kissing the lovely dirt at my feet. Dirt is not a particularly tasty meal if I might add.
"Ok, this officially sucks!" I grumbled to myself.
Countering his attacks constantly was not going to get the job done. The bastard was taunting me, toying with me, and it was really pissing me off. When I finally was able to get the air back into my lungs, getting hit by electricity certainly was not high on my list of things to do again, I rolled to my side and stared at him.
His snickering snarl got under my skin. The fact he was not preparing to launch another attack was proof he was toying with me. Oh how badly I wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face. Suck it away like a vampire draining a body of blood.
I pulled myself up to my feet and stood my ground. My legs were wobbling, I could feel blood running down my back from the scratches, but I stood my ground anyway. Listening to my body, I knew that I was reaching my limits.
Ok smarty pants, now what? I glanced over at Mike who stared back.
The scar on his arm appeared as if it was glowing but I knew that was impossible, how could a scar glow? The Cahgie's eyes darted back and forth between Mike and me, his smile widening in the process.
Look out. Mike thought.
Quickly I raised one hand and raised my shield again to block the Cahgie's attack, but I was too slow as I was hit direct in the gut by a fireball. I flew backwards and hit my back against the wall of the arena. I felt a part of the wall crack and the wood dig into my side.
My gut sang out in excruciating pain. Rolling on my side I reached down to pull away the roasted remains of my armor and tossed it to the side. What little armor I had was no longer doing any good. My stomach was burnt like an over cooked turkey, my back was scratched beyond measurement, and my head was feeling like there were anvils hanging from my ears,
Fun… oh yeah. I was having a blast.
I don't know what to do… he's too strong… I raised my shield up to buy me time but even it was starting to falter as I could see it ripple like a pool of water every time it got hit and from time to time it failed for just a brief moment. Everyone had warned me that magic would try to consume me but I honestly thought they were joking. Or at least making a bigger deal out of it then it really was.
It felt like I had been throwing up non-stop, for hours on end. Muscles ached or were completely numb all together, my ears rang constantly and just breathing required much thought. There was not much left in me and I had not even used a lot of magic!
The Cahgie said he would not kill me, but I found myself wishing he would. Death would have been preferable to what I was feeling. I tried to pull myself back to my feet and launch a quick attack. It was a weak streak of lightning that the Cahgie easily deflected.
"If you yield this vill all stop." The Cahgie offered. For a split second I actually considered it. I am ashamed to admit that, but I did. Leaning over on all fours I stared at the dirt and tried to force back the tears, there had to be more inside me. There just had to be.
Mike… everything hurts… Nothing I throw at him feels right. Tears were still forming around my eyes as I helplessly looked up at him. He was staring down at his arm, his hand tracing just under the scar.
That time I was certain it was glowing a faint orange and it called out to me. Ok I know how silly that sounds, maybe I was just delirious from the pain, but I seriously felt like it was calling to me. My own name kept rolling over my head in a soft whisper.
Mike closed his eyes with a smile on his face. I could feel his warmth wash over me, trying to guide me somewhere along with the voice. Closing my eyes I tried to erase all thoughts from my head and go to my happy place.
I was back in California walking alone amongst the Sequoias. There were no sounds, no wind, no smells, it was just me. Even as I called out for someone my voice made no sound. There was a small, thin, overgrown path that I was walking on.
I could feel the bushes brush against my skin and I had to push branches out of my way to continue onward. Nothing I saw seemed familiar to me, it certainly was no place I had ever actually been, so I had no idea how I was picturing it. Finally I came to a clearing with a beautiful spring trickling into a small pond. It was the only noise in the pristine forest.
Drinking from the pond was a pure white unicorn, with a mane of gold curling down around its head and a turquoise crescent moon graced the center of its forehead. Each leg had the same golden hair that covered it like a jacket, just under the knee to where the hooves began. Its light pink tongue nipped at the water.
Its tail did not resemble that of a horse where it was all hair, but instead it was a thin tube of white before ending in the shaggy golden hair. The horn matched the color of the crescent moon and spiraled upward a good five inches. On either side of its body were two feathery set of wings tucked against it.
As I carefully and slowly stepped towards it, the unicorn turned its long rectangular head to face me. A single hoof stamped against the ground causing me to stop. Air puffed out of its nostrils as it stared at me through its oval orange eyes.
"I have been waiting for you." A woman's voice softly called out.
I looked around and when I saw nobody, I knew it was the unicorn. More animals began to pile out of the woods and they gathered in that clearing to watch.
"What… who…." I could not get a full sentence out.
"The child of the stars guided you here. It is time for you both to awake now."
"Us both?" I asked.
"Awake! Awake! Awake!" The animals cried out. Some of them were jumping in the air while others spun in circles chasing their tails. All of them excitedly cheering me on.
"The prophecy? Mike is the child of the stars, I know that already but… I'm not… I mean I can't…"
"But you are. You are the child of the moon. One born of noble blood. A descendent of the unicorn royalty."
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" I shouted and crumpled onto the ground. As I sulked the animals watched me with great enthusiasm.
"Accept who you are child. You must." The unicorn spoke to me once more.
"I've accepted many things. Honestly I've been a real trooper about all of this! I really have! I think I've taken it with about as much grace and acceptance as any one person can. When every instinct told me to run like I hell, I accepted it! I took it! But you have got to be bloody kidding me with this child of the moon crap! I'm done! I don't want it! No more! Not going to do it! Not going to happen! Just stop! STOP STOP STOP!"
My cheeks were puffing outwards as I huffed in agitation. I glared at the unicorn that stood quietly before me, still watching me. Its eyes showed no emotion yet I somehow felt like it was sad for me. Oh how badly I wanted to pick up a rock and throw it at her all the same. Fate could seriously just go screw itself and take the damn unicorn with her!
"Feel better?" She asked with a snort.
"A little, yeah." I mumbled. It really was amazing how much weight off your shoulders just ranting could actually do.
"You can pass up this power if you so choose, but there will be consequences."
"Like what?"
"The end of all things. The battle you are fighting now is, as you humans say, simply the tip of the ice burg. Ancient beings from both dimensions foretold a day would come where one would seek to destroy life. Their intentions at first would be what they saw as noble and pure, but anger, sadness, fear, they would consume them. Make their heart black as night which will lead to a horrible outcome."
"And that isn't the Cahgie I'm fighting is it?"
"No. It is another. One we cannot see their face but know they are there all the same. Three powers from the God's and Goddess' themselves, were sent through time and space, only to be woken when the time was right. I gave up my only child for this purpose. The child of the sun has already woken, the child of the stars began to awake, and it was he that called you here. Now it is your turn. You three will be the key. You will either choose destruction or choose redemption and save both dimensions."
"How?"
The unicorn shook her head swiftly. Her brilliant hair flapped around her graceful head. As much as I wanted to continue to hate her, she was gorgeous. Like none of the other unicorns I had seen from the sanctum.
"You don't know do you? You only saw what would happen but not how it comes to pass or how its stopped?"
"Correct. That is something you must find on your. The reason for that is because it is experiences in life that define who you are. Will you be good? Or will you be bad? Learn from everything and that is what will make your choice for you."
"If I take this power, I can stop the Cahgie?"
"Yes."
"I wont be immortal though… right? I really, really don't want to live forever."
"No, you will not be immortal. It is accepting your unicorn side and allowing you to tap into that form, but unless you choose to remain in that form forever, then you will continue to be human. Even unicorns themselves are not truly immortal, though they out live all creatures."
I sighed with relief.
"Take the power!" The animals cheered. "Be not afraid!"
"I'm scared. This has all been just too much."
"We know." A little raccoon ran up to join me as I rocked on my knees. With a soft sigh, I sat down and crossed my legs so the little creature could climb into my lap. "But you are not alone. Take that to heart as you make this decision."
Tears rolled down my eyes as I pet the raccoon slowly. Even the animals believed in me, yet there I was blubbering like a weak fool. Other animals moved in closer and began crawling on me, nibbling on my hair or clothes. Doing whatever they could to some how comfort me.
Closing my eyes I groaned. If Mike's power as this child of the stars, had woken then that meant he had accepted it willingly. Would he be disappointed if I really said enough was enough, and denied it? Would the world really fall into chaos just because I did not want to be special? Did I really have the strength to accept even more asinine possibilities as actual fact? Did normal even exist anymore, or would it be nothing but abnormalities and surprise for the rest of my life?
Those were questions I knew in my heart I could not risk. Not if I wanted to look myself in the mirror ever again, look at my family, be with Mike. The only way I would ever let anyone down is if I gave up. Even if I accepted what I was, and still failed, everyone would be proud of me.
I picked the raccoon up and pulled it close to my chest. I could feel its whiskers brush against my cheek as it gave me an oddly comforting animal kiss. Carefully I placed it back down before quietly rising to my feet. Using the back of my hand I wiped away my tears and took a deep, soothing, breath.
