Neo Chronicles
Episode 9: Through the Dark
Table of Contents
(("Alright, last time on Neo Chronicles. Some cool guy with a hammer came and easily KOed Nexus, Noah, and Jabari. He didn’t easily KO us. We just didn’t keep our guard up. Sure, whatever, weakling. Weakling! Come at me with another insult like that, see what happens. Oh, sorry, sorry. *cough*Loser*cough* What was that! Oh nothing. :XP: "
Man, you remember that crud? Man, I'm tryin' to forget. I heard that. Retcon that past stuff outta here. Give us some quality. And that's what it be. Opening Theme))
It looks like ground zero of a catastrophic disaster. No one was around to see the devastation that transpired in this place, save for five individuals, and what those five individuals have witnessed was something so unreal, so fantastic, so terrifying, that they're sure to be having nightmares for weeks. A devil by the name of Asmodeus has clawed his way out of the clutches of Hell, and with him, his legions of the dark realm now walk the earth.
“This was the first of many,” Jabari announces. “And like it or not, you're all going to help me fix this.”
He closes his eyes and raises his hands toward the sky. None are all too thrilled with the idea of chasing down a bunch of demons, especially seeing as how one of them almost killed them by just standing. Various glances and frowns are exchanged amidst the group. They look back at Jabari and witness a gentle gust envelop him.
Within seconds, the world vanishes. Light pours out of the man, blinding them for a time. Upon regaining their sight, they see nothing other than each other. “Where are we?” Noah shrinkingly asks. For miles and miles, the only thing stretching out towards the empty horizon is a blank space, as if the white light managed to erase everything that stood before them.
“The Axis Mundi,” Jabari answers as he lowers his hands. He steps out in front of them, taking the lead. The others quickly march behind. “It is a road—no, more of a bridge—that links the physical world to the spirit world.”
“We're going to the 'spirit world' now?” Lynn asks.
“No, we're using it to travel earth. The location of the next gate was a continent away from the last one. If we're to stop it from opening, we need to be there as quick as possible.”
“I'm sorry, but I really don't think this is gonna work,” Jamal says crossing his arms.
“Have faith.” Jabari responds.
“Faith in what?” Noah interjects. “Do you—do we even have a plan? How do we—can't believe I'm seriously about to ask this—how do we stop demons? Pray? Are we gonna do exorcisms and all that crazy stuff? I mean, don't get me wrong, I believe in God, Heaven, Hell, and all that, but seriously—demons?”
There's a pause for a time. And their journey is over. Just as the world seemingly vanished from existence, it rearranges around them piece by piece and rock by rock. The atoms load in as if pixel by pixel forming the mountain range that surrounds them, the night sky above them, and the snowy covered ground beneath them. “We're here,” Jabari says. The walk couldn't have been longer than a minute at the most.
“Where's 'here'?” asks Lynn.
“I believe the Rhön Mountains.”
“You still haven't answered my question. How are we, a bunch of kids, going to help you, a crazy police man, stop the apocalypse?” Noah repeats himself.
“There are several gates that link the demon world of Gehenna—or 'Hell' as you've come to know it—to this world. When we get to those gates, we're going to seal them off. It's as simple as that.”
“And you need our help because?” asks Jamal.
“Backup. If any demons were to break lose, I'll need you all to hold them off until I can perform the incantation needed to close the gate.”
“And if we die?”
“You won't. I won't allow it. Now hurry. Time is of the essence.”
Chris tries to voice his thoughts on the matter, but finds the task simply impossible to do without a voice. That doesn't stop him, though. He works as hard as he can, straining and struggling to make a sound. All he wants—all he needs is a simple utterance or something of the like to give him solace. Still nothing. Not even his forced coughing is audible. Within a short time, he finds that not even the air he breathes can escape his lungs. As the group carries on, he is left behind.
He falls on his hands and knees, trying to regain what little comfort he had before, but his condition keeps getting worse. He thinks he's suffocating. He knows he's suffocating. No one seems to notice either. He looks ahead, seeing them walk further and further away. What's wrong with them? he thinks. Nothing he does produces a noise of any kind. From banging on the ground to throwing rocks in the snow. It's so cold. He can't even pay attention to how cold it is, this is so bad.
It's by sheer stroke of luck that Jamal decides to cast a passing glance behind him. The sight he sees surprises, and disturbs him. “Does Chris have ADHD?” he asks.
“I wonder that myself at times,” Lynn says. “Y'know, I've heard that doctors are on the verge of a breakthrough with that particular disorder.” After half a second's worth of pausing, she turns her focus to Jamal. “But no, as long as I've known Chris, ADHD isn't something he—” She looks back to see what's caught his interest. “Oh, that's not good.”
They rush to his aid, more curious than anything. “I don't think he's breathing,” Noah points out. “What happened?”
“I don't know! Nothing! Jabari, help!” Lynn cries out.
Something's caught in his throat. Chris can feel it, and he wants it out. It takes all of the fiber in his being, along with some massive heaving to move it, and slowly but surely, it comes out in a vomit. He doesn't even want to know what it is, just as long as its gone. “My God,” his voice returns. The veil of silence is lifted. “What the crud was—” he's cut off by the sound the thing makes. He knows the sound, but he can't quite believe it. “A frog?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Lynn says.
“About what?”
“Well, you just wouldn't shut up. And you called me a b**** —”
“I did not call you that. I said witch, and this crud proves it. Seriously, Lynn? Seriously? You shove a bloody frog down my throat? That mess coulda killed me. And then you just so happen to forget about it. What the crud's wrong with you?” He snatches up the frog and throws it in her face as he storms to his feet.
With the immediate threat over with, the group resumes following Jabari along the hilly mountain tops. The elements seem to hit Chris and Lynn the hardest. The two, warming their arms, shiver as they regret not having worn a jacket this day. Both are equally stunned to see neither Jamal nor Noah even noticing the frigid air. It's not like either of them are more prepared to face the cold winds as they. Jamal's wearing nothing more than a T-shirt, his glasses, and some blue jeans, and Noah's actually wearing shorts. Lynn almost feels impulsed to slap him for that, but she can't really cast blame. Back in Next City, it was like, 78 degrees outside, and this trip to the mountains wasn't exactly planned.
“Am I the only one who's wondering how in the world that thing back there happened?” Noah asks. He looks to Jamal, half hoping he's as confused, then he looks to the others, seeking an explanation with a raised brow.
“It's w-w-what she doesz.” Chris answers, his voice stuttering, cutting off Lynn before she gets the chance to speak. “Like I s-said, she's a witch. If she feelz like makin' s-s-somethin' happen, it happens. No matter how gay or stupid or j-j-jacked up impossible it could be, it just happens.”
“So couldn't she make this whole demon business go away?”
“We're here,” Jabari brings to their attention one of the many gateways leading to the realm of demons. Like the one before, it's nothing more than the doorway into a meager building. A shabby house set along the edge of what was once called the Wasserkuppe plateau by a time long forgotten. Covered in a white blanket of snow, it sits off to itself, abandoned by the rest of the world.
Very soon, this place shall become a battleground. Demons will emerge from the dark corners of the earth, and they will fight tooth and nail to prevent Jabari from succeeding this day. Pain will be inflicted. Blood will be shed. The events to come have already been mapped out for him. The future was—the future is—set before him. Fighting against it is a fool's errand. He's learned that a lifetime ago. All he can do is play his role and come whatever may.
As he approaches the front door of the cottage, he looks back at his followers. “Lynn, no matter what comes next, I need you to do exactly what I say, when I say it. As for the rest of you, get ready for the fight of your lives.” And as if on queue, a flash of lightning ignites the dark sky. The winds stir. The ground rumbles.
And then the darkness surrounding them thickens, becoming as heavy and dense as the depths of the great oceans. The darkness takes shape, takes form, and from it emerges a horde of beasts as vicious and gruesome as the wildest of animals. These monstrosities, these malformed creatures of the dark rant and rave about the night shade with the utmost tenacity.
Lynn is taken aback by the quick change in setting. She feels herself being clutched by the arm and fleetingly—forcefully—pulled ahead. “What's going on?” she asks upon realizing that it is none other than Jabari who leads her. “Are those demons? Don't tell me we're too late!”
“No we're not. Those demons are of Asmodeus. They serve only to hinder us from our goal.” Jabari answers.
Lynn looks back to see her friends in the midst of battle. The creatures move like shadows, faster than her eyes can keep up with. She hears them shrieking with each move they make. She feels horrible for leaving the boys to fend for themselves. She tries to bring herself to a stop, but Jabari's grip is firm. It pulls her onward.
Chris swings his sharp blade as if it were a broom fending off a storm of rampaging dust. Although vision is as strenuous a task as any, each swipe manages to find its way on a creature's thick black as coal carcass. However, despite all his efforts, nothing he does manages to cut through. He tries slashing, he tries stabbing, he tries chopping, but their skin is too thick. He'd have more luck cutting through reinforced steel. The longer he fights, the more he realizes just how hopeless this so called quest is.
Fear creeps up along the back of his spine, like a cold chill crawling—slithering up and down his neck, writhing and coiling around his form. It constricts him like the deadliest of serpents. He finds that his actions become slower. Eventually, he stops attacking altogether. There's nothing he can do to fight these creatures off. The best he can hope for is that his speedy reflexes don't fail him. He can see that they have the strength to snap fully grown trees as twigs and claw their way through boulders like butter. He doesn't need anyone to tell him that if their rugged talons get a hold of him, he'll be shredded limb from limb. The only thing he has going for him is his speed. If he can keep ahead of them, even if it's by a mere inch, he just might live to see another day. But there are just so many of them—so many he can't see. He tries his best not to think it, but the thought just won't go away. I'm gonna die.
Shards of ice sent forth by gusts of freezing wind fly upon the dark demons. It's all Noah can do to ward off the barbarous beasts. The monsters are all over him. Their movements are little more than a blur to him. He can't let them get close to him. God no, that would be the worst thing in the world. And so he continues to pile forth the cold waves as fast and as fierce as he knows how. Never before has he put forth this much effort into his cryokinetic abilities. He finds himself shivering—something that's never happened before. He feels cold chill bumps run up and down his arms. His hands begin to lose feeling. His head feels light. He knows he has to stop, but he also knows he can't.
He wants to call out for help, but he doesn't feel like he has it in him to do so. The whole world is spiraling out of control. He's so dizzy, he can barely stand. It's too dark. Still, with his extended arms in front of him, he shoots forth his waves of freezing gale. He starts to see things he knows are not there. His mother holds him close. She feels warm. Their house feels warm. It's not the greatest of sights, but it's home, and that's where he is. He's home, and he's warm. Then why's it feel so cold?
But through the darkness, there is a fire burning bright. It casts its bright light over the black and empty night, burning a deep orange as it is hurled at the demons. However, they are unswayed by its fiery effect. It might as well be a midsummer breeze. Jamal's not too thrilled about that. Still he shoots forth the tumultuous bursts with all his might.
Caught up in the heat of the moment, he almost doesn't notice his comrade in arms fall to his knees. It's the sound of Noah's head getting slammed against the ground that catches his attention. Without a second thought Jamal is fumbling his way through the Acheronian field, using his fire as his guiding light. The demons don't relent, but that doesn't really matter to him. Right now, the only thing that matters is helping Noah. He feels the creatures clawing at him all along the way. It's by sheer luck that none of the hits they land are killing blows.
Barely making it through alive, he finds Chris already helping the fallen Noah to his feet. It couldn't have been any more than a few seconds since he last looked over. “Well fine then,” he mumbles turning his attention back towards the darkness. The more he throws into it, the angrier he gets. Absolutely nothing is slowing them down. His arms are starting to tire. Frustration builds within his brow. His rage only serves as fuel to his flames. They burn hotter and brighter with each passing second.
“Jabari, we have to help them!” Lynn protests breaking free of Jabari's grasp.
“No!” Jabari exclaims as he grabs her by the shoulders. After gaining her attention, he looks her in the face. No jokes, no games, no smile, nor frown. There's certainly an urgency to his voice, but there's not really an expression behind it. “Lynn, what did I tell you? You do exactly as I say! This is the only way we can help them!” They stand at the front of the door. Demons surround them as they do the others. “Now, I need you to put up a force field right now!”
“How do I do that!?”
“The same way you magically put a frog down that boy's throat, now do it now!” He braces himself for the worst.
The demons rush in, mouths agape, claws and fangs bared, ready to rend their victims to pieces. It all happens so fast, it's almost done in slow motion. Lynn closes her eyes and shields her face, wincing at the sight of the threat before her. And then the demons stop, not by their own accord assuredly, but by some unseen force. Some invisible construct prevents them from progressing any further than they already are.
Lynn opens her eyes, slowly to behold the feat for herself. She can almost feel them trying to get close in. They try to claw at the invisible force field, attempting to break it down, and each strike they make, she can feel. It's a pain, not of physical origin, but of the mind and of the spirit. Every strike they make takes its toll. Lynn's knees begin to shake and ultimately give out to the stress. “Jabari!” she cries, “they're hurting me!” the pain bearing down on her is like a weight, a force acting against her, against her very will. She feels it drilling, trying to claw its way under her skin, poking and prodding, scratching and scraping. She tries to lift the force from her, raising her hands in the air, trying to push back, but it feels like she could give out at any moment.
“Fight it Lynn!” she hears him say. It's the first time she actually hears a sense of emotion behind his voice. She's not sure whether that's good or bad. She can't even find it in her to look at what the man's doing. All she sees is the darkness around her trying to cave in.
“I don't know how! I haven't done anything like this before! I don't even know how I'm doing this!”
“You're connected to the spirit realm. What you're doing now is invoking a power—you probably call it magic. That's how you're able to do what you do. What I'm asking you to do now is call on more of that power, because if you don't—well quite frankly, you, me, and all of your friends over there are going to die.”
“But how?”
“Look at me. Look at what I'm doing,” she hears.
Using all her might, she forces her eyes to open and look Jabari's way. She sees something, some weird looking light, a light of many colors surrounding his figure as he does something—she can't quite make it out because his back is turned to her—but he's doing something to the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Look! Don't interpret it with your eyes, but look with your mind. See with your spirit. Then you tell me.”
If only Jabari were facing her, then he'd be able to see her grimace. If only he could see her slanting eyebrows, her fiery red cheeks, and her pink lips poked out, then he'd know the face of a woman's scorn, but if he were to continue looking, he'd see something else, he'd see something more. He would see a change. He would see enlightenment brace her fair features.
Lynn doesn't quite know how it happens. She doesn't know if she has the pain to thank for it or Jabari's words, but somehow, someway, she can see—really see for herself—with her own two eyes. The lights surrounding Jabari take form. They look like people. She sees shining people standing right with him, helping him do whatever he needs them to do to lock that demon gate. She's more bewildered than anything. She can't quite believe it, and if she hadn't seen it for herself, she wouldn't, but there it is.
“Who—what—are they?” she asks. Then looking around, she can see someone, bathed in the same light that covers Jabari, cover her. It's a woman, and that woman's helping her hold up the shield that she once thought was invisible. “Wait, these are the spirits you were talking about?” If Jabari does give an answer, she doesn't hear it.
As she struggles to maintain the integrity of the barrier, more and more beings materialize into existence, and suddenly, the yoke becomes a little easier to bear. The shining people smother her with their brilliance. Their light becomes her light, and as such, she can feel their strength becoming her strength. This merging empowers her. It gives her a rush like she's never had before. The energy courses through every fiber of her being. The pain the demons inflict on her doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did before.
She's so caught up in this feeling of ecstasy, she hardly notices Jabari approaching her telling her their job is finished. “You can lower the barrier now,” he says. It doesn't make a lick of sense to her, but she obeys, and as soon as she does so, she feels the spirits leave her as quickly as they came, and she's reminded of every lash, every strike, and every blow the demons inflicted upon her mind. She falls as the demons, now with nothing impeding their advance, flood over them like a stream without a dam. She tries to summon the spirits to her defense again, but she's too drained to do so. She comes close to cursing Jabari for sentencing her to death with his last request, but in the seconds that come before her uttering a word, she hears Jabari shout in a loud and boisterous voice,
“Shango! Strike down my enemies!”
And in that instant, a large bolt of lightning filling up half the sky is cast down from the heavens like a stone thrown from a high mountain top. The bolt banishes all darkness from its presence. Every demon in the area is eradicated by it. Even the house that once stood proud shatters and crumbles under the bolt's weight. And when the thunder signals the lightning's end, all that remains are the five warriors, the victors of the savage battle. Though all but one lie exhausted from the conflict, they all emerge victorious this day.
((And that's the end of episode nine. Ending Theme.))
Episode 9: Through the Dark
Table of Contents
(("Alright, last time on Neo Chronicles. Some cool guy with a hammer came and easily KOed Nexus, Noah, and Jabari. He didn’t easily KO us. We just didn’t keep our guard up. Sure, whatever, weakling. Weakling! Come at me with another insult like that, see what happens. Oh, sorry, sorry. *cough*Loser*cough* What was that! Oh nothing. :XP: "
Man, you remember that crud? Man, I'm tryin' to forget. I heard that. Retcon that past stuff outta here. Give us some quality. And that's what it be. Opening Theme))
It looks like ground zero of a catastrophic disaster. No one was around to see the devastation that transpired in this place, save for five individuals, and what those five individuals have witnessed was something so unreal, so fantastic, so terrifying, that they're sure to be having nightmares for weeks. A devil by the name of Asmodeus has clawed his way out of the clutches of Hell, and with him, his legions of the dark realm now walk the earth.
“This was the first of many,” Jabari announces. “And like it or not, you're all going to help me fix this.”
He closes his eyes and raises his hands toward the sky. None are all too thrilled with the idea of chasing down a bunch of demons, especially seeing as how one of them almost killed them by just standing. Various glances and frowns are exchanged amidst the group. They look back at Jabari and witness a gentle gust envelop him.
Within seconds, the world vanishes. Light pours out of the man, blinding them for a time. Upon regaining their sight, they see nothing other than each other. “Where are we?” Noah shrinkingly asks. For miles and miles, the only thing stretching out towards the empty horizon is a blank space, as if the white light managed to erase everything that stood before them.
“The Axis Mundi,” Jabari answers as he lowers his hands. He steps out in front of them, taking the lead. The others quickly march behind. “It is a road—no, more of a bridge—that links the physical world to the spirit world.”
“We're going to the 'spirit world' now?” Lynn asks.
“No, we're using it to travel earth. The location of the next gate was a continent away from the last one. If we're to stop it from opening, we need to be there as quick as possible.”
“I'm sorry, but I really don't think this is gonna work,” Jamal says crossing his arms.
“Have faith.” Jabari responds.
“Faith in what?” Noah interjects. “Do you—do we even have a plan? How do we—can't believe I'm seriously about to ask this—how do we stop demons? Pray? Are we gonna do exorcisms and all that crazy stuff? I mean, don't get me wrong, I believe in God, Heaven, Hell, and all that, but seriously—demons?”
There's a pause for a time. And their journey is over. Just as the world seemingly vanished from existence, it rearranges around them piece by piece and rock by rock. The atoms load in as if pixel by pixel forming the mountain range that surrounds them, the night sky above them, and the snowy covered ground beneath them. “We're here,” Jabari says. The walk couldn't have been longer than a minute at the most.
“Where's 'here'?” asks Lynn.
“I believe the Rhön Mountains.”
“You still haven't answered my question. How are we, a bunch of kids, going to help you, a crazy police man, stop the apocalypse?” Noah repeats himself.
“There are several gates that link the demon world of Gehenna—or 'Hell' as you've come to know it—to this world. When we get to those gates, we're going to seal them off. It's as simple as that.”
“And you need our help because?” asks Jamal.
“Backup. If any demons were to break lose, I'll need you all to hold them off until I can perform the incantation needed to close the gate.”
“And if we die?”
“You won't. I won't allow it. Now hurry. Time is of the essence.”
Chris tries to voice his thoughts on the matter, but finds the task simply impossible to do without a voice. That doesn't stop him, though. He works as hard as he can, straining and struggling to make a sound. All he wants—all he needs is a simple utterance or something of the like to give him solace. Still nothing. Not even his forced coughing is audible. Within a short time, he finds that not even the air he breathes can escape his lungs. As the group carries on, he is left behind.
He falls on his hands and knees, trying to regain what little comfort he had before, but his condition keeps getting worse. He thinks he's suffocating. He knows he's suffocating. No one seems to notice either. He looks ahead, seeing them walk further and further away. What's wrong with them? he thinks. Nothing he does produces a noise of any kind. From banging on the ground to throwing rocks in the snow. It's so cold. He can't even pay attention to how cold it is, this is so bad.
It's by sheer stroke of luck that Jamal decides to cast a passing glance behind him. The sight he sees surprises, and disturbs him. “Does Chris have ADHD?” he asks.
“I wonder that myself at times,” Lynn says. “Y'know, I've heard that doctors are on the verge of a breakthrough with that particular disorder.” After half a second's worth of pausing, she turns her focus to Jamal. “But no, as long as I've known Chris, ADHD isn't something he—” She looks back to see what's caught his interest. “Oh, that's not good.”
They rush to his aid, more curious than anything. “I don't think he's breathing,” Noah points out. “What happened?”
“I don't know! Nothing! Jabari, help!” Lynn cries out.
Something's caught in his throat. Chris can feel it, and he wants it out. It takes all of the fiber in his being, along with some massive heaving to move it, and slowly but surely, it comes out in a vomit. He doesn't even want to know what it is, just as long as its gone. “My God,” his voice returns. The veil of silence is lifted. “What the crud was—” he's cut off by the sound the thing makes. He knows the sound, but he can't quite believe it. “A frog?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Lynn says.
“About what?”
“Well, you just wouldn't shut up. And you called me a b**** —”
“I did not call you that. I said witch, and this crud proves it. Seriously, Lynn? Seriously? You shove a bloody frog down my throat? That mess coulda killed me. And then you just so happen to forget about it. What the crud's wrong with you?” He snatches up the frog and throws it in her face as he storms to his feet.
With the immediate threat over with, the group resumes following Jabari along the hilly mountain tops. The elements seem to hit Chris and Lynn the hardest. The two, warming their arms, shiver as they regret not having worn a jacket this day. Both are equally stunned to see neither Jamal nor Noah even noticing the frigid air. It's not like either of them are more prepared to face the cold winds as they. Jamal's wearing nothing more than a T-shirt, his glasses, and some blue jeans, and Noah's actually wearing shorts. Lynn almost feels impulsed to slap him for that, but she can't really cast blame. Back in Next City, it was like, 78 degrees outside, and this trip to the mountains wasn't exactly planned.
“Am I the only one who's wondering how in the world that thing back there happened?” Noah asks. He looks to Jamal, half hoping he's as confused, then he looks to the others, seeking an explanation with a raised brow.
“It's w-w-what she doesz.” Chris answers, his voice stuttering, cutting off Lynn before she gets the chance to speak. “Like I s-said, she's a witch. If she feelz like makin' s-s-somethin' happen, it happens. No matter how gay or stupid or j-j-jacked up impossible it could be, it just happens.”
“So couldn't she make this whole demon business go away?”
“We're here,” Jabari brings to their attention one of the many gateways leading to the realm of demons. Like the one before, it's nothing more than the doorway into a meager building. A shabby house set along the edge of what was once called the Wasserkuppe plateau by a time long forgotten. Covered in a white blanket of snow, it sits off to itself, abandoned by the rest of the world.
Very soon, this place shall become a battleground. Demons will emerge from the dark corners of the earth, and they will fight tooth and nail to prevent Jabari from succeeding this day. Pain will be inflicted. Blood will be shed. The events to come have already been mapped out for him. The future was—the future is—set before him. Fighting against it is a fool's errand. He's learned that a lifetime ago. All he can do is play his role and come whatever may.
As he approaches the front door of the cottage, he looks back at his followers. “Lynn, no matter what comes next, I need you to do exactly what I say, when I say it. As for the rest of you, get ready for the fight of your lives.” And as if on queue, a flash of lightning ignites the dark sky. The winds stir. The ground rumbles.
And then the darkness surrounding them thickens, becoming as heavy and dense as the depths of the great oceans. The darkness takes shape, takes form, and from it emerges a horde of beasts as vicious and gruesome as the wildest of animals. These monstrosities, these malformed creatures of the dark rant and rave about the night shade with the utmost tenacity.
Lynn is taken aback by the quick change in setting. She feels herself being clutched by the arm and fleetingly—forcefully—pulled ahead. “What's going on?” she asks upon realizing that it is none other than Jabari who leads her. “Are those demons? Don't tell me we're too late!”
“No we're not. Those demons are of Asmodeus. They serve only to hinder us from our goal.” Jabari answers.
Lynn looks back to see her friends in the midst of battle. The creatures move like shadows, faster than her eyes can keep up with. She hears them shrieking with each move they make. She feels horrible for leaving the boys to fend for themselves. She tries to bring herself to a stop, but Jabari's grip is firm. It pulls her onward.
Chris swings his sharp blade as if it were a broom fending off a storm of rampaging dust. Although vision is as strenuous a task as any, each swipe manages to find its way on a creature's thick black as coal carcass. However, despite all his efforts, nothing he does manages to cut through. He tries slashing, he tries stabbing, he tries chopping, but their skin is too thick. He'd have more luck cutting through reinforced steel. The longer he fights, the more he realizes just how hopeless this so called quest is.
Fear creeps up along the back of his spine, like a cold chill crawling—slithering up and down his neck, writhing and coiling around his form. It constricts him like the deadliest of serpents. He finds that his actions become slower. Eventually, he stops attacking altogether. There's nothing he can do to fight these creatures off. The best he can hope for is that his speedy reflexes don't fail him. He can see that they have the strength to snap fully grown trees as twigs and claw their way through boulders like butter. He doesn't need anyone to tell him that if their rugged talons get a hold of him, he'll be shredded limb from limb. The only thing he has going for him is his speed. If he can keep ahead of them, even if it's by a mere inch, he just might live to see another day. But there are just so many of them—so many he can't see. He tries his best not to think it, but the thought just won't go away. I'm gonna die.
Shards of ice sent forth by gusts of freezing wind fly upon the dark demons. It's all Noah can do to ward off the barbarous beasts. The monsters are all over him. Their movements are little more than a blur to him. He can't let them get close to him. God no, that would be the worst thing in the world. And so he continues to pile forth the cold waves as fast and as fierce as he knows how. Never before has he put forth this much effort into his cryokinetic abilities. He finds himself shivering—something that's never happened before. He feels cold chill bumps run up and down his arms. His hands begin to lose feeling. His head feels light. He knows he has to stop, but he also knows he can't.
He wants to call out for help, but he doesn't feel like he has it in him to do so. The whole world is spiraling out of control. He's so dizzy, he can barely stand. It's too dark. Still, with his extended arms in front of him, he shoots forth his waves of freezing gale. He starts to see things he knows are not there. His mother holds him close. She feels warm. Their house feels warm. It's not the greatest of sights, but it's home, and that's where he is. He's home, and he's warm. Then why's it feel so cold?
But through the darkness, there is a fire burning bright. It casts its bright light over the black and empty night, burning a deep orange as it is hurled at the demons. However, they are unswayed by its fiery effect. It might as well be a midsummer breeze. Jamal's not too thrilled about that. Still he shoots forth the tumultuous bursts with all his might.
Caught up in the heat of the moment, he almost doesn't notice his comrade in arms fall to his knees. It's the sound of Noah's head getting slammed against the ground that catches his attention. Without a second thought Jamal is fumbling his way through the Acheronian field, using his fire as his guiding light. The demons don't relent, but that doesn't really matter to him. Right now, the only thing that matters is helping Noah. He feels the creatures clawing at him all along the way. It's by sheer luck that none of the hits they land are killing blows.
Barely making it through alive, he finds Chris already helping the fallen Noah to his feet. It couldn't have been any more than a few seconds since he last looked over. “Well fine then,” he mumbles turning his attention back towards the darkness. The more he throws into it, the angrier he gets. Absolutely nothing is slowing them down. His arms are starting to tire. Frustration builds within his brow. His rage only serves as fuel to his flames. They burn hotter and brighter with each passing second.
“Jabari, we have to help them!” Lynn protests breaking free of Jabari's grasp.
“No!” Jabari exclaims as he grabs her by the shoulders. After gaining her attention, he looks her in the face. No jokes, no games, no smile, nor frown. There's certainly an urgency to his voice, but there's not really an expression behind it. “Lynn, what did I tell you? You do exactly as I say! This is the only way we can help them!” They stand at the front of the door. Demons surround them as they do the others. “Now, I need you to put up a force field right now!”
“How do I do that!?”
“The same way you magically put a frog down that boy's throat, now do it now!” He braces himself for the worst.
The demons rush in, mouths agape, claws and fangs bared, ready to rend their victims to pieces. It all happens so fast, it's almost done in slow motion. Lynn closes her eyes and shields her face, wincing at the sight of the threat before her. And then the demons stop, not by their own accord assuredly, but by some unseen force. Some invisible construct prevents them from progressing any further than they already are.
Lynn opens her eyes, slowly to behold the feat for herself. She can almost feel them trying to get close in. They try to claw at the invisible force field, attempting to break it down, and each strike they make, she can feel. It's a pain, not of physical origin, but of the mind and of the spirit. Every strike they make takes its toll. Lynn's knees begin to shake and ultimately give out to the stress. “Jabari!” she cries, “they're hurting me!” the pain bearing down on her is like a weight, a force acting against her, against her very will. She feels it drilling, trying to claw its way under her skin, poking and prodding, scratching and scraping. She tries to lift the force from her, raising her hands in the air, trying to push back, but it feels like she could give out at any moment.
“Fight it Lynn!” she hears him say. It's the first time she actually hears a sense of emotion behind his voice. She's not sure whether that's good or bad. She can't even find it in her to look at what the man's doing. All she sees is the darkness around her trying to cave in.
“I don't know how! I haven't done anything like this before! I don't even know how I'm doing this!”
“You're connected to the spirit realm. What you're doing now is invoking a power—you probably call it magic. That's how you're able to do what you do. What I'm asking you to do now is call on more of that power, because if you don't—well quite frankly, you, me, and all of your friends over there are going to die.”
“But how?”
“Look at me. Look at what I'm doing,” she hears.
Using all her might, she forces her eyes to open and look Jabari's way. She sees something, some weird looking light, a light of many colors surrounding his figure as he does something—she can't quite make it out because his back is turned to her—but he's doing something to the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Look! Don't interpret it with your eyes, but look with your mind. See with your spirit. Then you tell me.”
If only Jabari were facing her, then he'd be able to see her grimace. If only he could see her slanting eyebrows, her fiery red cheeks, and her pink lips poked out, then he'd know the face of a woman's scorn, but if he were to continue looking, he'd see something else, he'd see something more. He would see a change. He would see enlightenment brace her fair features.
Lynn doesn't quite know how it happens. She doesn't know if she has the pain to thank for it or Jabari's words, but somehow, someway, she can see—really see for herself—with her own two eyes. The lights surrounding Jabari take form. They look like people. She sees shining people standing right with him, helping him do whatever he needs them to do to lock that demon gate. She's more bewildered than anything. She can't quite believe it, and if she hadn't seen it for herself, she wouldn't, but there it is.
“Who—what—are they?” she asks. Then looking around, she can see someone, bathed in the same light that covers Jabari, cover her. It's a woman, and that woman's helping her hold up the shield that she once thought was invisible. “Wait, these are the spirits you were talking about?” If Jabari does give an answer, she doesn't hear it.
As she struggles to maintain the integrity of the barrier, more and more beings materialize into existence, and suddenly, the yoke becomes a little easier to bear. The shining people smother her with their brilliance. Their light becomes her light, and as such, she can feel their strength becoming her strength. This merging empowers her. It gives her a rush like she's never had before. The energy courses through every fiber of her being. The pain the demons inflict on her doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did before.
She's so caught up in this feeling of ecstasy, she hardly notices Jabari approaching her telling her their job is finished. “You can lower the barrier now,” he says. It doesn't make a lick of sense to her, but she obeys, and as soon as she does so, she feels the spirits leave her as quickly as they came, and she's reminded of every lash, every strike, and every blow the demons inflicted upon her mind. She falls as the demons, now with nothing impeding their advance, flood over them like a stream without a dam. She tries to summon the spirits to her defense again, but she's too drained to do so. She comes close to cursing Jabari for sentencing her to death with his last request, but in the seconds that come before her uttering a word, she hears Jabari shout in a loud and boisterous voice,
“Shango! Strike down my enemies!”
And in that instant, a large bolt of lightning filling up half the sky is cast down from the heavens like a stone thrown from a high mountain top. The bolt banishes all darkness from its presence. Every demon in the area is eradicated by it. Even the house that once stood proud shatters and crumbles under the bolt's weight. And when the thunder signals the lightning's end, all that remains are the five warriors, the victors of the savage battle. Though all but one lie exhausted from the conflict, they all emerge victorious this day.
((And that's the end of episode nine. Ending Theme.))
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