Cora was fading quickly. Her head throbbed with pain. Her friends nervous cries echoed through the darkness. She forced herself to stand.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKL6qKn3Da
An awful smell entered her nose which made her gag. She shined her flashlight around the cave looking for where it was coming from. Cora almost screamed. Right in front of her stood a rotten corpse. She tried her hardest to calm herself down. She took a step closer. The corpse was wearing the royal crest on it's sleeve. It had a bejeweled sword tucked away in in it's sheath. Cora grabbed it even though she had promised herself she would never steal a sword again. The darkness made it difficult to see but, the sword looked extremely expensive.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCMGAB6bQk
The sound of angry growls echoed throughout the cave. Her head spun around and around. She leaned up against the frozen wall to try to gain stability. She wandered through to lonely caverns. She tried to follow the sounds but they were difficult to hear over the ringing in her ears.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHIzs323P3
Several pairs of glowing eyes surrounded her. She blinked rapidly to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPMcpOoz4m
They bared their teeth and jump towards her. She tried to defend herself. For some reason her sword felt much heavier.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyhuB3a0Ar
One of them knocked the flashlight out of her hand. It became lost in the black. She couldn't see anything. She slashed through darkness hoping to hit something but she didn't. She tried to run away but she slipped and fell on the ice.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptyubdzkqI
The sound of claws scraping against the ice rapidly approached her. She tried as hard as she could to get up. Blood poured out of her nose and mouth. Her muscles ached. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stand. This is how it ends.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXntyPsiNCQ
The pack was getting closer and closer then they stopped. Why did they stop? Someone stood in front of her.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo7b7wsHQlr
"Stay back Coraline." He had no weapon but he was ready to defend her with his life.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVF8wnFbZj7
"Ray, take this," she handed him the stolen sword.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtuYPBgWSg
He took it from her hand. "Thank you."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q2ABNy97L
One Tibicena jumped out of nowhere and bit Ray's leg. It cracked its teeth on the metal which gave Ray enough time to put a collar on.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjzcHrn4wl
She faded in and out of consciousness. She heard several sounds that she couldn't distinguish.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjSgR8mVdK
"Don't worry Cora we've got this." Was that Val?
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BoZ14J3r0
Various voices mixed with the sounds of swords clashing and angry howls bounced off the walls. Her friends had come to her aid. She wanted to fight beside them so badly. She tried to see the fight, but it was too dark.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxWCVnbMVM
A pair of yellow eyes stared down at the commotion. He quite enjoyed the sight of bloodshed. From the look of it he appeared to be winning. The girl would break eventually. Once the Blood King was dead he could finally sleep at night knowing justice has been served. Tibicenas surrounded the group. It really was a shame so many people needed to die but the ends justified the means.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdHQGwM9fh
Violent barks came from every direction. Cora finally managed to stand but her bones ached. There was about thirty of them. There was no way they could take them all on. Cora scoured the cave looking for anything that could get them out of this situation. The icicles!
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qyapCEM3X
"Val hit the icicles!" Cora cried out.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6cYrDCFO3
Val threw a shock grenade at the icicles. The impact was enough to send them raining down.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpNDa9srK9
One slammed Cora in the head causing her to once again lose consciousness.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PrZVgQ12b
She woke up in the doctor's hut with her head wrapped in bandages.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw8nP6HoafS
Ray sat fast asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. His right arm was tightly bandaged and his face was covered with scratches. His metal leg had been ripped to shreds. Her heart broke. She was barely any help during the fight. She couldn't even protect Ray. Maybe she wasn't cut out for this.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWu7phqsR1
The doctor entered the room and her puppy scampered behind her. She grinned when she realized Cora was awake. "You know, he stayed with you all night." She pointed to Ray. "He refused to leave your side."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9grkAzG0h
Cora sat up. Her head ached.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrPRvyWXaO
"You've got a pretty bad concussion. It'll most likely take you a couple weeks to recover."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfPqtDRKeC
"How's everyone else?"
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZygXaPtiRt
"They've only got a few scratches. They went to go claim the reward money."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9kwPeNziQ
Reward money? "We completed the mission?"
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6j7mTcNlg
"Thanks to you. Your friends told me all about it. The impact held off the Tibicenas long enough for them to be given the antidote.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJefzQHy43
"But, I barely did anything.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicFYCKa84S
"You made the most of your surroundings and used your instincts. I'd say you did a fine job."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwYdYxvVyO
Cora still had doubts but she felt reassured knowing that they had won the battle.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT5sDcVU42V
About half an hour later a carriage arrived to bring them down the mountain. Cora hadn't been outside since they invaded the Tibicenas' den. The sun shined brightly causing the icicles to drip. Warm weather was rare on Mt. Nevado, so it was always welcomed.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltVx0kxwR4
She was not going to miss trudging through the wet snow. Ray followed behind her on crutches. He was surprisingly fast considering how deep the snow was.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHSZcW0zQq
Val and Zyler were packing their things into the carriage. Scarlet was saying goodbye to the Tibicenas. She hugged one tightly and whispered something in it's ear. it licked her face in return. The connection between them was so strong even Cora could feel it. She could see how much it hurt Scarlet to say goodbye even though she had barely known them.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw52BFbOtoE
They all piled into the carriage and it began the journey down the mountain.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmqtHcLclQ
"I can't believe we actually won!" Zyler exclaimed. He was right this was all way too easy. "We were like the Avengers!"
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdNUC8ZL38
Ray placed a hand on his chin "I'm not familiar with that guild, but they must be extremely powerful if you praise them so highly."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjEOoDEdB0
"Is he serious?" Zyler questioned.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZyXLXXNJt0
Cora didn't respond. The book in her hands had left her completely speechless. On this page there was a painting of the Blood King standing with a woman in a long black dress there was a look of despair in her light green eyes. Her sand colored hair was styled into intricate braids and she wore a tiara on top of her head. She looked like a queen. This must be Lily. She felt a pang of jealousy seeing Ray with another woman even though there was no feelings between them. That was not what left her speechless behind them stood a familiar shadow. The next page was covered with photographs some of them were in color and some of them were in black and white all of them had drastically different dates in the corner ranging from 1895 to 2018 but they all had one thing in common they all included a dark figure with glowing yellow eyes.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ns6MuD5hS
Her head spun. How was this possible? Stared at the pictures looking for some sort of clue that could help her but her efforts were fruitless and she eventually fell asleep.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknzv34mk5R
The next few weeks flew by. Cora had missed a lot of training while she was recovering from her concussion so she had a lot of work to make up for. After all these weeks she still didn't have a single guild request. Ray assured her that one day a guild would be interested in her.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3T6t7xc4f
Tonight her parents were going out on a date so she invited her friends over to watch a movie. After much debate they decided on Captain America.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlG8yfHYIj
Shortly after Cora and Ray had finished getting ready, there was a knock on the door. Cora felt a twinge of anxiety in her stomach though she couldn't fathom why. She slowly opened the door and Val, Zyler and Scarlet stood outside. She let out a long sigh of relief.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzX2MOAXab2
"Are you going to let us in or are supposed to stand here all night?" Val asked.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7Be2mBKEB
"Sorry! I was afraid you were someone else." Cora said awkwardly as she let them in.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSULPFyHhyT
"Wow, I didn't think you were afraid of anything, Cora!" Zyler said.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKVuXewTcs
Cora laughed awkwardly and tried to change the subject. "Where's Dimitri tonight?"
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJFZ041yxl
"He's with the guild. It's all he ever does anymore." Scarlet rolled her eyes but you could see a hint of sadness in her face.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0j5CpVHR4
Cora had hardly seen Dimitri since she returned from Mt. Nevado. They were both so busy now. "I'm really glad you came, Scarlet."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHYfW7PFFx
A small smile crept across her lips.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWZsL5YftN
Val sat a large box on the table.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0H3Fm7t75
"What's that?" Cora asked.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCv5vm8PkTi
"It's a little gift Zyler and I put together for Ray," she replied.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mzVWIabe9
"What is the occasion?" Ray asked admiring the box.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gkbd7ypdY
"We felt bad about your leg," Zyler said gesturing to the void where Ray's right leg should be.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dnIkLlxvy
"Don't worry, it was extremely uncomfortable." Ray said.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9MraYBSVu
"That's why we made you this." Val opened the box revealing a sleek black prosthetic. "It's only a prototype but it should help you move a lot easier and feel more comfortable."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGcKAciSp0
His eyes lit up. "Thank you. Very few people have been this kind to me."
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGd4QHVqtdT
"It sounds like you need better friends." Zyler interjected.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJAQB9uhzA
The group settled in and watched the movie. About halfway through the movie a loud noise sounded from the kitchen. Cora got up to go see what could have made it but she couldn't find anything so she sat back down.
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsadHdwb9kb
A shadow materialized out of the darkness. "I've come for the Blood King!"
323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmZsIH2aPi
Ray stood up and pulled out his sword. "It appears you've found him."
ns3.149.248.173da2
