Into The Deadlands [Complete]

Zack

"Damn it... how long is this cave..." Zack ranted as he walked further in the cave. The blue runes were brightly lit and one could see his path very clearly. "I'm surprised I could make this far, despite how much I am tired. But I can't slow down now... I have to reunite with Lylle and the others...."

Zack felt something behind him and quickly turned around, but saw nothing. As he turned around again to proceed further in the cave, Zack saw a black lion in front of him. "You again...!"

Zack paused for a second and then quickly went for his bow and readied an arrow, but the lion didn't respond to his action. At that, Zack was surprised a bit and slowly lowered his weapon. When he did so, the lion turned back and started walking. It wagged it tail as if it was telling Zack to follow.

Zack, following his instincts decided to follow him, but didn't put back his bow. The lion kept walking, silently into the cave. Eventually, a place came where the runes were dim, and eventually there were no runes. The lion kept walking without hesitation, but Zack started to have second thoughts.

Regardless of his fears, he followed the lion into the darkness. Suddenly, he felt as if he was alone. Zack looked around, but couldn't see anything for it was pitch black. "This is not good..... Zack's fears were growing, that suddenly he heard a small roar. Zack recognized the roar as the lion's and tried to go where the roar was coming from.

Zack took a lot of turns and twists, but the lion's voice always was faded. Just when Zack was about to give up, he saw a pair of eyes, in the dark. When Zack stepped forward towards it, it was the lion. He licked Zack's hand to tell him that he's there. Zack felt safe with him and held some of his hair lightly so that he didn't get lost again.

The lion kept guiding Zack and eventually, Zack saw a faint light from afar. "Run towards it.". Zack, a bit surprised looked at the lion, who was looking back at Zack. Zack could now see the lion's face as a bit of light was coming in the cave. "I said run towards the light, Zack." Zack was yet again surprised, but did what the lion told him to.

"Won't you come with me?" Zack asked the lion as he was about to sprint. "No, I would rather stay in the darkness. And you should go out before I change my mind and eat you up." The lion replied to Zack. "Then why did you help me?" "I've taken some interest in you, Zack Fimbeltr. You partner is not any ordinary bird. I am sure you are aware of that. Take good care of him."

At saying that, the lion turned away and went back into the cave. "I will, you can count on me. But at least tell me your name." Zack said to the lion who began to look like a shadow. "Leonidas, the Spirit of the Dark.". At saying that, Leonidas dissolved like smoke. "Leonidas, huh?" Zack looked ahead and said to himself "I'll remember this favor you did to me.". Zack smirked and then started running towards the exit.

"It's time to get back to my pals!" Zack yelled as he went out through the exit and entered the jungle.

The demons started climbing up quickly but still, Omnus still cannot wake up and have its energy back. Lylle fired a few arrows and took down some of them. Although she was outnumbered. She has used Ivaldr already and she has no more ace cards under her sleeve. Hence, there would be a low possibility for her to escape the pack. "Wake up Omnus!" she said as Lylle repeatedly healed the weak phoenix. Piro was fatally injured and wounded by the demons. Gray then quickly gripped on his knife and slashed it around. Half of the demons quickly died. He ran towards a tall tree and jumped into the air. He flung his knife approaching one of the demons, after being hit, it exploded. "Nice going, Gray! Hold them off while I heal these two!" said Lylle.

Gray took out most of the demons but they still keep spawning over and over. He got bit on his right arm and quickly dropped his knife. He fell down the ground injured, but Lylle was there to heal him. Thus, he was able to regain his power back. "This won't last forever, Omnus." he said while picking up his knife and covered his wound using a white bandage from his bag.

Zack

Zack kept running past the trees but it didn't seem like to end. Zack looked in the sky and the sky was orange. It was time for sunset. "Deadlands at night... not that does NOT sound like a good idea. Zack thought to himself. Zack braked and looked around but could see nothing more than the greenery of the trees.

"Damn it, where should I go?" Zack said out loud in frustration. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "Earthquake?!", but it was no mere earthquake, rather it were the steps of the Rock Golem. "Damn it, it's here?!" Zack said as he looked above him. The golem was passing over him, however it didn't see him.

The golem looked like it just awoke from a slumber and was heading towards a place. The golem could give me a good view of my surroundings... alright! Time to do mountain climbing!!" Zack thought to himself and without hesitation, he dashed for the golem's foot and climbed it.

Please don't realize that I'm climbing on your back. Zack repeatedly said to himself as he climbed the golem's leg to it's back. In a few minutes, Zack was able to climb the golem. Zack then took a look around his right but saw nothing than trees. But when he looked to his left, he saw some demons flying.

Demons?! Don't tell me Lylle awoke them?! Zack accidentally said so too loud and the golem heard him. The golem stopped in it's tracks and lifted it's hand to smack Zack. Zack saw it's move and jumped towards it's head and from there he tried to slide down from it's chest to it's legs. But before Zack could land, the golem moved it's leg, making Zack unstable and thus falling down.

But before the golem could smash Zack, he moved away and got away safely. "Phew, I seriously need to work out more..". Zack then went where he saw the demons and in some time, got to the place and saw Gray fighting the horde of demons and Lylle healing Omnus. When Zack got more closer to the group, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Omnus!! Wake up!!!" and at hearing Zack's voice, Omnus slowly opened his eyes and suddenly flew up.

Zack went to Lylle and Gray and said, "Guys, sorry for the wait!". Zack then took out his bow and readied a few arrows to shoot. "Now then, let's take care of these guys!!". Omnus screeched for battle, although he was still regaining his energy.

Lylle believed her healing skills must've help Omnus wake up. Piro woke up aswell, and Lylle then, quickly climb on top of her steed and started to ready her stuff. Gray still kept battling demons but he was too tired, so he took a break under a big oak tree. Lylle enchanted her arrows and started firing. "Zack! You and Omnus take care of the left side while we take the right side!" she said. Night has fallen under Deadlands and the demons started to grow their power more. "Wriggle's Lantern!' Lylle shouted, her right hand started to glow green-ish giving them more light.

Demons kept coming and coming, at least Zack came back. "Zack are you ok? Can you fight?" Gray saidas he sliced demon in front of him in a half. Gray was glad that everything is fine again except demons that kept coming...

Zack

Zack felt a surge of energy flow through him as Lylle buffed the party. "Omnus, let's do this!!" Zack said as he took his offensive stance and readied to fire arrows. "Omnus! Fire Tornado!!" Zack said while he launched the arrows at an incredibly fast speed. He fired at least 12 arrows per shot. Omnus whirled around the arrows, thus making a tornado of fire and in the eye of the tornado were arrows that were to pierce the enemy.

Zack dealt damage to a few of the demons. For a second, it seemed that the number of the enemies dropped, but reinforcements came by and the number increased again. "Tch, this is gonna take some time...". Just then, Zack remembered the combo he and Lylle did and asked her to perform it again. "Lylle! Let's do Blessed Arrow again!"

"Lylle! Let's do Blessed Arrow again!" Zack said while he is trying to prepare his next attack. The darkness completely covered and the lantern Lylle was holding failed to lit up even a small area. "I can't see anything!" quickly then, a demon swifted on Piro's right leg and Lylle fell off. She couldn't get up because her left foot hurts. "We can't do Blessed Arrow right now! I can't .. get up!" she said while trying to find Piro using her hands. Piro neighed as another demon swooped and slash his body. "No! Piro!" she started crying but it would just result her to disappointment. She tried to cheer herself up used one of her healing techniques. Unfortunately, it failed and Piro was nearly half-asleep.

"Zack! Gray! Find a way to light up an area! I can't see anything!" she said. The darkness started swallowing the whole land. Thus, Lylle cannot cast anything successfully.

"Thats easy!" Gray said and took out bigest torch from his Delfing. He started to fire up bodies of dead demons. In no time there was enough light. "Is that good?"

A little bit of area was lit up and it was enough for her to recover back again. She then quickly casted healing spells to cure the injured. As soon as Piro got up, she rode on him again and started firing arrows. The demons were nearly eliminated, but those the left are the skillful ones. She couldn't aim a few because of its speed. It was too fast. "Zack! I have a plan! You shoot the demon from the back while I try to fire mine infront!" she shouted and quickly drew out a pair of arrows from her quiver.

Zack

"Zack! I have a plan! You shoot the demon from the back while I try to fire mine infront!" Lylle shouted as she prepared her next attack. "You got it!! Omnus!" Zack said as he tried to stealthily dash behind the demons to raid them with his arrows, but two of the demons found him and lunged at him. Zack dodged one demon's attack but the second demon's attack was pretty hard and Zack was pummeled into the ground.

Zack's bones were about to break that Omnus tackled the demon on the back, making him go off guard for a moment. Zack took advantage of that and took out one arrow, but that arrow had a bomb on the tip of it. The demon looked back and was about to slash Zack, but Omnus quickly set fire to the bomb on the arrow by breathing a small fire, carefully while trying not to burn Zack. As soon as the bomb was lit, Zack shot the demon with the arrow yelling "Eat this, you big lump of meat!! Bomb Arrow!!!"

The bomb arrow was shot in the demon's face, thus knocking him out for good, but as a result, Zack got injured too because the distance between him and the demon was too less. Zack somehow stood up but his forehead started bleeding. Zack ran behind the demons and took out 10 bomb arrows and aimed for the demons. "Omnus! Flame Lance!!". Omnus took flight with the arrows, revolving around them as he does for Fire Tornado, but this time, his speed increased more and more and eventually to the point that Omnus started to look like a fire lance that was revolving around 10 arrows.

As soon as the arrows and Omnus came in contact with the demons, they blasted off dealing a lot of damage to the demons, however, being the stubborn selves they were, they still kept on attacking the trio. Darkness still surrounded the party, and the only things that were lighting the surroundings were the few bodies which were on fire. But even that fire was running out.

The fire is nearly running out. Since Lylle was an airhead, she couldn't think of any way to lighten the fire up. But there were still little more left. "Zack, let's perform Blessed Arrow while Gray holds off the line." she said and quickly took out an arrow. "Gray! Align them in one row!" Lylle shouted and readied for their next attack. "This will surely clear them out." she said as she asked Zack if he was ready.

Zack

"Alright! Let's do thism Lylle, Gray!!". Saying that, Zack prepared for an attack and took hold of the "Blessed Arrow". Zack aimed at the line of the demons and told Gray to step aside. "Here goes!! Blessed Arrow!!!". The arrow pierced through the demons, finishing them off quickly and thus they began to fall down to the ground. Suddenly, it started to rain. The fire finally got distinguished and Zack fell to his knees. "We... we did it guys...". Zack then looked up at the dark clouds that were raining hard.

"Yay! We did it!" Lylle giggled and jumped. As she noticed the amount of demons they battled, she realized that if the group furthermore walked closer to dark corners, greater danger awaits infront of them. The rain had stopped but the darkness of the night still hasn't faded away. "Let's camp in here, and take our leave. Who knows that the ship might come back for us." she said as she picked out huge leaves from a tree turning it into three bed sheets for the group to sleep on. "Good work, everyone." said Lylle as Piro laid down beside her and fell asleep.

Zack

Zack saw as Lylle and Piro drifted off to sleep. He got up and walked pass by Gray, who was sleeping under his blanket and put the blanket on Piro and Lylle. Zack walked to the edge of the cliff and saw that the forest was filled with dark fog, though it had thinned after the battle with the demons. "Omnus.". Answering his call, Omnus came and sat on Zack's shoulder. "What do you think Leonidas meant? He said you're not an ordinary bird, even I know that. But it felt like his words had a deeper meaning....". Zack fell silent for a bit and then looked at Omnus and said "Would you like to continue travel with me, or stay here with Leonidas?". Omnus' expression didn't change at Zack's question. He shook his head sideways and spread his left wing behind Zack's head. "I guess that means that you'll be sticking with my for a while, huh buddy?" Zack smiled a little as he said that. "Well, the sun should be rising in a while, and then we'll finally get out of here....." Zack said as he scouted around to see if there was any danger to them.

After doing so, Zack sat down on a rock as the sky broke into dawn. Zack picked up his quiver and bow and woke up Lylle and Gray. "Sorry to wake you guys up, but if we want to get out of here alive, we seriously need to get a move on now when every one is asleep. We have to find the marks I left on our way into the deep parts of the Deadlands. You guys ready?"

Lylle was disturbed from her slumber but then, she remembered a worse danger that they may encounter if they don't move. Lylle had noticed that Zack was bringing small branches placed in his backpack in the beginning. Though she had no idea he was gonna use those for marking their way out. "Clever idea! Where is it? The ship should be there by about 9 AM. We still have 4 hours left before they arrive. The shores shouldn't be that far from here." said Lylle as she grabbed her stuff and woke up Piro. "Come on now, boy. We still have alot of roads and forests to walk through." rode on top of Piro putting the bow and quiver on her back while potions on Piro's coat.

"Gray is still asleep.." she said sighing, having a tad bit of disappointment towards Gray. "Hey! Gray! You don't want to die here, I know that. Now wake up or else we'll leave you!" Lylle shouted since there were no more demons around their area.

Gray shockingly opened his eyes and realized he was being shouted by Lylle. "Woah, woah! Hold your horsey, little girl. I'm ready, I'm ready." said Gray. He had packed his things up before he went to sleep last night. He did not want to waste time by readying his stuff in the morning. "Let's go!"

Zack

The trio then started getting a move on and walked the path they came so far. The cliff was safe because the demons were not beneath anymore. Zack did what they did before, he had Omnus carry everyone to the other end, and Zack himself found a vine and used it to cross over. "I could've used this before too..." Zack thought to himself while he felt like face palming. Regardless, they went on and saw the arrow Zack marked along their way and found more arrows, leading back to the shore where the ship was to arrive. "Finally, we can get out of this place. Let's go guys! It's only a few more minutes away."

They were near to the shores, Lylle could see the ocean's horizon. "Phew, I hope something does not come out from the ground grabbing all of us. Gee, that's cliche!" mumbled Lylle as Piro neighed, giving them a sign of relief. The group reached the shores but the ship wasn't still there. "This is a bore! Where is the ship?!" Lylle was so excited to see her family that her patience is slowly running out. Piro sat trying to reach his tail, irritating him.

Zack

"It'll be here soon, Lylle, so be patient." Zack said as he sat on a rock looking at the ocean. The sunlight was glittering over the water and small fishes could be seen jumping in and out. "The time we spent in Deadlands, it all seems like a nightmare that has been overcome, now that we are going to return.... but I wonder, if that's true. I can't get Leonidas' words off my mind..." Zack thought to himself as he spot a ship from a far coming towards the shore.

"It's here!!" Zack said and jumped off the rock. He had a big smile that he'll finally be getting off of this island and back where he came from.

"Wonderful!" said Lylle as she waved infront of the shape. "Ooooy! We're over here!" Lylle shouted and the ship fired a flare informing the group that they are spotted. Soon enough, the ship stopped a tad bit near the shore and dropped four groups of boats. The pack of boats accompanied them to the ship, coming back safely.

"Now we can all rest. Good job, Zack, Gray!" she said while shaking each of the boys' hands.

"Tch, I could careless." Gray went to his cabin, waiting for the ship to arrive at the dock of Avarres.


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