Hello here is another chapter that as usual is a non revised first draft. I see a lot of people are reading this. Or at least visiting the page. I wish I knew who you guys are and what you think. Please use the comment section or write me at rankcanon@gmail.com. Cheers.
The first night at the Azimude QuasiFinger training camps were not the paradise that Azeviche had imagined.That place was a madhouse, full of bullies, a place unlikely to make new friends. So far there was not one thing about this place that could count as a pleasant experience.It was a total nightmare and perhaps this is what this place was designed for, to teach them how to deal with extreme situations, to deal with war. Her favorite book,The Oluf Chronicles had been burnt to cinders by the oriental tyrant Hai Yun and all that Robert been telling her, over and over again about the camps during the long winter, was true after all. Things around this place were harder still than he could have predicted with his creative mind. Never before had Azeviche been so wrong about something, she should apologize to Robert as soon as possible. Trying to rest from her long journey,Azeviche was lying on top of one of the bedroom's bunks, staring at the ceiling, lost in her distant thoughts.
“I tell you what. This place is haunted,” Piggy said. “There where tentacles coming out of the mirror,” the plump girl was huddled,shaking from head to heels.
“You're just scared that's all,” Pinky said. “Can't you see, they are messing with our minds trying to scare us.” she tried to persuade her friend but couldn't stop biting her nails. “It’s better to play their game, you know? Or this summer will be very...very long.”
“This one...what is her name again?” Pinky gestured toward Azeviche. “Brockovich... how can she sleep? This place is a mental institute and somebody forgot to tell us.” she rolled her eyes at her.
“I'm not sleeping at all,” Azeviche said still staring at the ceiling. “They burned my favorite book and locked us in this room. What do you expect me to do?” she scoffed. “Fight the giant octopus that lives in the bathroom?”
“Brockovich, have you seen the monster too?” Pinky asked,trying to fix her rumpled clothes.
“My name is not Brockovich...is Azeviche Jet,” jumping from the top of her bunk she stared at them.
“The only monster in this place are those bullies, we’ll have to cope with it for the time being, endure their initiation ceremony, and stick together,” she had figured it all and spoke so emphatically that managed to convince Pinky and Piggy. Azeviche could be that persuasive when necessary; yet one thing she could not do was hide the fact she was more annoyed because her book had been burned, than she was afraid of the veterans.
“My book turned to ashes. This is not right,” her fingers curled into a fist and she punched her left hand. “Let’s not cry over spilt milk...It’s gone. Me and the Chinese girl, we'll have a little talk about this on another occasion,” she spat, as if trying to exorcise those feelings and looked out the window.
The yellow glow of the fires had already faded, stars could be seen in the dark blue sky. The fires were still burning wood, plastic and burnt paper was still floating through the air like leaves;that terrible smell lashing at their throats. Azeviche looked out the window. In the patio, close to the fires was, little Howard Dantes, alone gazing at the open gates.
“Another chance to escape this mad house, another chance to stretch my legs running through the woods, under the huge pine trees, trying to escape the hounds,” Dantes couldn’t wait to feel again the grains of dirt under the sole of his boot, the smell of humus, wet from the morning dew. He wanted to spend the night in the open, feed on roots, drink river water and shit in the bushes, anything was better than having to be locked up in the camps, surrounded by idiots who despised him.
“That boy... Dantes. He is alone in the patio,” Azeviche clasped a hand to her mouth. Poor kid, she could understand what was going through his mind, he was a tormented soul. “I think he will escape again.” Jet told the girls.
“Don't feel sorry for him. Sooner or later we will have to face the drink of piss too,” Piggy's heavy hand rested on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder, Azeviche nodded.
“They will find a reason, I can see now,” with narrow eyes she saw LuckyFeets coming to the patio, pulling Dantes by the arm, trying to get him back to the quarters; it was like trying to move a mountain. LuckyFeets shook the boy yelling at him, Azeviche could see him mouthing,but could not hear his words; it wasn't necessary. Little Dante seemed to be mesmerized.
“That is the boy that was with you,” Pinky noticed.
“Yes it’s Robert, he is my friend,” LuckyFeets gripped Dantes arm, his words were insufficient to persuade him because slowly Dante looked at LuckyFeets and shook his head. Robert took his hands to his head, his mouth screamed in silence. “No,no, noooooo,”
It was useless,Dantes was running through the gates, following the little trail that led to the road and soon he disappeared into the woods,his uniform was new, his boots...his boots were old, beaten and comfortable, he knew what he was doing. He was prepared to run.
“These gates are open and unguarded on purpose,” Jet said.The girls agreed with Azeviche. “ Hai Yun said something about going to the woods,” she saw Robert walking back to the building.
“Our initiation will take place in the forest,” Piggy explained.
“Look! There's a group of girls coming out of the gates too,” Pinky leaned against the window. “But they send a search team and hounds to pick up those who don't return at the appointed time,”
“They send what?” Jet shrugged and looked at Pinky and Piggy.
“They unleash the hounds on you...the dogs,” Pinky gestured out the window.
“What?...This is terrible, worse than drinking piss,” Azeviche arched her eyebrows in a sad expression of pity for the boy.
There was not much to do, the three of them were locked in the room and had to wait for Hai Yun and his friends to decide the next move. Being a restless person, Azeviche hated having to wait and was walking around the room from one side to the other;the soles of her boots almost burning with such intense movement. Thinking, planning some tactic that could make the stay in this place more enjoyable was her primary goal now. Piggy was already missing her little snacks and her stomach was snoring like a motorcycle engine and Pinky sat in one of the beds decided to remove her nail polish in an ultimate sacrifice to avoid trouble. Azeviche looked at the two frail girls and couldn't help but think that Muddy Peaks would be caught in his short pants, they would have a lot of problems in the future, if the defense of this island fell into the hands of people like Pinky and Piggy. They were not people minted for battle, they were concerned with cosmetics, food and gossip. Fighting the Draconites wasn't on their menu. “Did you think they've ever seen a dragon face to face? Not very likely, almost certainly not.”she thought, while almost two hours had passed; they could tell by looking at the big analog watch that was hanging on the wall. Having the walls covered with posters of singers, football team flags, pictures of film artists seemed to be common in the other rooms. Not in this room,... no. This was perhaps the only room with clean walls, only the door was adorned by an image of a Golden Dragon in red background; a sign of discipline? Azeviche couldn't solve this puzzle. That dragon... Azeviche had seen it before at the Golden Dragon Mystique supplies shop, when Ronna took her to see the sorceress, in that smoky little room.
The girls grew tired of waiting, they kept talking about what would happen to Dantes until they got bored. Finally steps running down the corridor broke that torturing silence, and soon there was a key unlocking the room. The door opened violently and only stopped when it hit the wall. Hai Yun entered accompanied by his feared veterans carrying in her face an expression of satisfaction for having made them wait so long,Azeviche opened her mouth to utter some insults against them,she had to swallow what she had to say, when he saw that the girls were accompanied by Norma Steifeld.
“ Are you girls ready for the initiation ritual? Norma said smiling at them. “As you may have noticed the reception at the training camp Azimude QuasiFinger is always very nice and warm,” Norma's smile was sarcastic and the words coming out of her mouth made the temperature in the quarter drop, no one in good conscience could find that a warm or sympathetic welcome. Azeviche, Piggy and Pinky looked at Norma in disbelieving, preferring to remain silent.
“We heard something about the woods,”Azeviche could not keep her tongue still. “Will we have to spend the night in the open? What do you people have in mind after all? Norma was holding a clipboard , she picked up a pen that was in her pocket and immediately started taking notes.
“ Hmm...Well, explosive behavior,”Norma said looking at the clipboard.
“Could you explain what this rite of initiation is all about?” Pinky dare to ask. “What should we do?”She said with her hands around her waist.
“Lack of respect for superiors,...Hmm”again she took note, while the veterans covered their mouths giggling, trying to contain their laughter.
“Let's get over it already, shaw we? If we have to perform some weird task for this sor.. sor...what was the name of it again Pinky?” asked Azeviche.
“It’s sorority,” Pink replied and elbow Azeviche so she would stay quiet.
Pinky and Piggy were white as a sheet of paper, looking at Norma who kept taking notes and started writing faster when Azeviche spoke to her. Suddenly she stopped writing and hit the clipboard with the pen, breathed deeply and finally looked at them. She also looked at Hai Yun and his two colleagues, immediately the giggles stopped and then Norma started talking.
“We have rules in this place,” Norma said putting the pen back in her pocket. “I know you're used to the procedures adopted in the orphanages. Now,look around you, does this place look like an orphanage to you? She asked.
“ But Norma…” Azeviche was interrupted right away.
“You will refer to me as commander, because in these training camps this is what I am to you. We are here to prepare you for battle,”Norma walked around the room looking if it was in perfect condition.
“This is the Army girls,here we respect the chain of command, we take it very seriously, because we are here to prepare for an eventual war against the Draconites,”she said running her finger over the dresser and looking to see if it was dirty.
“To fight the Draconites...As soon as you get that in your minds the better for you.”
“Hai Yun will lead the ceremony, each room has its own procedures and these activities take place off campus. The ceremony is a tradition that must not be broken, because it serves to form unbreakable bonds between my ... hmm, soldiers,” her lips curled in a smile.
“I must warn you that there will be punishment for those who try to escape,” Norma cleared her throat and continued to explain. “Leaving the gates open on the first day is the first test you must pass, showing fidelity to this camps and Muddy Peaks, returning with your colleagues as soon as the ceremony is over.”
“At the scheduled time the gates will be closed, and we will unleash the hounds.”
“You mean the dogs,” Azeviche curled her mouth in disgust.
“Yes,big and scary ones,”she cackled.
“This place is Barbar…” Pinky clasped a hand to Azeviche’s mouth just in time, the commander had been very clear,the lack of discipline would not be tolerated and Jet wouldn’t make things worse with her loose tongue.
“We listened carefully to the instructions. They were very clear ma'am,” Pinky said.
“Very clear ma'am. Piggy repeated just to make it clear.
Norma came to the room with the purpose of imposing her authority and showing to Azeviche that she would not be treated with privileges, just because she was the daughter of Marcus Abbe. On the contrary , her attitude made Azeviche wonder if her friendship with Marcus was sincere. Hai Yun had already demonstrated from the beginning that she would be a source of concerns and obstacles to Jet in her stay there,the sorceress Jia had asked Hai Yun to take care of her, but this did not mean that she should be friendly and make things easier for Azeviche.
“I'm glad you understood my instructions. Follow everything I said with discipline and you'll have no problems,”Ronna turned on her heels, and left the three girls in the hands of veterans Hai Yun , Curly and Guenevere.“All right, you heard the commander. We will follow the trail that leads to the woods towards the mountain. Our ceremony will take place there,”Looking at the girls Hai Yun made a gesture towards the door. “And this year I have a surprise that will make this an unforgettable experience for all of you.”
***
Kevin Greenber adjusted his rucksack on his back and looking at Spook to see if he was ready. The Wolf looked at him gasping,with his tongue hanging from his mouth with an expression that could count as a smile. It was quite calm and seemed to understand what was going on. Jia was still holding a small vial with the silver glowing substance.Kevin was about to embark on a journey to change his life,he did not know how Payslee had done to survive her fall into the abyss and disappear into the world, nor why she abandoned their daughter. She probably didn't have the courage to face Kevin and say that she didn't love him anymore and that living in the woods wasn't what she wanted for her life, she wanted money,power, glory and Mac Kimley was the one who could offer all this to her. Kevin realized he knew very little of his wife, who was that woman willing to get rid of her husband and daughter to pursue such ambitions? All these questions could one day be answered,It didn't make sense for him to focus on these things at the moment. The only thing that mattered was to find these two children and take them to a safe place to train them properly to battle.
However the years had passed ,Kevin no longer had the energy of the youth running through his veins. His reflexes were slower, his legs hurt and his muscles were not the same as before. This was enough to make him doubt whether he could successfully accomplish his mission.
“I’m not a young man anymore. You said you will open a portal using this mirror,” Oluf was feeling a little skeptical. “You expect me to run through this portal and this will take me across the continent?” Jia shook the little vial and it started to shine again.
“First,I want you to drink the contents of this bottle,”she handed the small bottle to kevin.
“You expect me to drink the silver substance in this bottle,” Oluf took a close look at the little vial. “You told me yourself, I shouldn't trust anyone.What if this is poison?”
“ This is outrageous,” Jia replied quickly. “If I wanted to poison you, the poison would be in the tea and you'd be dead for a long time. Now let's not waste any more time with this nonsense.”she said looking into his eyes.
“Drink!!!”
Oluf took the small vial and pulled the lid off. A bittersweet smell came out of the shiny bottle. He hesitated for a second, then let the contents down his throat. He got frightened, his chest was shining with the Silver Liquid passing through his throat, illuminating his chest. Then he felt something heavy hitting his stomach, as if he had ingested a piece of granite.
“Have no fear Oluf, the liquid will start acting on your body,”Oluf clasped a hand to his forehead he felt his body shaking, he was feeling hot, Jia held him by the arm.
“Thank you for trusting me, Oluf. This liquid will restore your energy, it will give back the lost energy of your youth,” The heat increased and Oluf sweated profusely. Spook turned his head and raised his paw towards the giant.
“Is this a youth formula?”Oluf asked. “I feel something spreading through my body,”He ran his hands over his legs.
“The pain in my knees...they're gone.” It wasn't just the pain in his knees that was gone. The age marks were beginning to fade from his face, his body was slowly being restored, he felt his arms throbbing, even some old scars on his arms were slowly disappearing.
“This is a youth serum,” with a finger pointing to his face she explained. “The ingredients in it are very rare. This serum takes years to make, so every drop of it is very precious. This serum causes the effects of time on our bodies to recede. It restores our bodies to the height of our youth.”
“I can feel it,” Oluf closed his eyes and the fingers of his hands curled to form a fist. He could feel the vigor returning to the muscles of his arms,his legs and then opened his eyes and looked at Jia. His vision had improved considerably.
“The restoration effect will take a few more days,” Jia was very emphatic. “In one week you will feel that the weight of twenty years will be removed from your back.”
Oluf was breathing fast, his face became red like his long hair,looking at the back of his hands he was still trying to process what was happening to him, it was surreal, it was indeed magic.Jia tucked her hands in the sleeves of her robe she took out the flask of gold dust.
“Now Oluf, I will open the portal, pay close attention to my instructions.” Immediately kevin remembered the voices he heard moaning from inside the mirror and a chill went down his spine. The desperate cries of help, terrifying screams of tortured souls. Kevin played tough, but all this paranormal stuff made him restless.
“The portal will open, it's similar to a long corridor,”Jia explained pointing her finger to the mirror. You and your friend should run through this corridor as fast as you can. You must not pay attention to what the voices say. They will try to deceive you and divert you from your path.”
“I must run into the magic mirror?”after everything he had discovered on this night about Payslee and Azeviche Kevin was feeling dazed and confused.
“ Yes Oluf, you'll get inside the mirror. A door will open and you will walk through it passing to another room so to speak,” Jia explained one more time. She took Oluf by his elbows and shook him.
“When the portal opens, don't waste time. Run as fast as you can to the end of the Hall. This will lead you towards a light at the end of the corridor, which is the connection I have with the mirror that is inside the Azimude QuaziFinger training camp,” Kevin nodded, he was still getting used to be called Oluf again.
Jia opened the small vial and put some of the golden dust in the palm of her hand. Stretching her arm, she threw the golden dust towards the mirror. kevin scratched Spook's head and fixed the rucksack on his back, he was ready. In a few seconds the reflection of the mirror was no longer there to be seen,before them the golden image of the mirror displayed a creepy black image and slowly a white mist began to come out from inside the mirror and with it.
The voices.
Again, Kevin could hear the voices of a crowd of tormented souls. "Help, get me out of here!!!," one of the voices was screaming. "My body. Where is my body," another tormented voice could be heard. “My body is burning, help me.” Kevin thought it best to cover his ears with his hands. But still he was able to hear Jia screaming at him aloud.
“Go now!!!”
The giant and the Wolf threw themselves into that dark portal and began to run down the corridor, following the sorceress's instructions. Oluf and Spook moved quickly through a corridor full of doors,the moaning and screaming increased as they advanced and the dark corridor became bright with white doors, all of them closed.
“Run faster,” said a creepy voice next to his ear. Kevin felt a supernatural hand touching the back of his head.Spook was barking, maybe supernatural hands were trying to touch the darewolf too.They decided to run faster. Kevin was feeling his legs stronger and he felt a strange stamina running through his veins, that was obviously the effect of the silver liquid he drank.
“ The pain in my legs is gone I feel like I’m in my twenties again,” kevin said to Spook .
However the voices did not seem to rest,as they ran the plea for help multiplied and the sound grew louder and louder. People were screaming like mad, but Kevin couldn’t see anyone around him. He allowed himself to curve his lips into a smile, because he was feeling so well,he couldn't remember how long it's been since he felt like this. His expression would soon change,the corridor that had white walls, began to change drastically, tree roots and moisture were spreading through dark cracked walls now and a fetid liquid were running from it, forming puddles on the ground. Smell of sewage and putrid bodies filled the air, this scent was no stranger to Kevin's nostrils, let alone Spook's. Kevin noticed some shadows up ahead with his eyes wide like two orbs he realize that the shadows were rotten arms stretching out from the doors to catch them.
“It can't be. This must be a trap,” kevin felt compelled to stop running,but a supernatural hand this time slapped him in the back of his head.
“Trust,” a soft voice whispered. It was a quiet,soft voice very different from the tormented voices that were screaming at him all the time.The terrible smell of rotting flesh made him feel nauseous, he tried to cover his face with his arm and kept running.
They kept the rhythm running through the gate toward the exit, that would lead them to the training camps,.It was impossible to avoid stepping into those pools of rotten liquid and Kevin's boots were soaking wet now, he could feel that stinky liquid sneaking through his socks and making his foot wet.Spook's hair was all wet and he kept the pace, running close to kevin's legs.
Unfortunately, kevin had found out where all those voices were coming from. A pile of rotting bodies had appeared in the corridor a few yards from where they were.
“Spook we're gonna have to jump these monsters, stay close to me,”Without stopping to catch the breath, spooky ran beside Kevin they threw themselves in the air, trying to jump the pile of rotting bodies. Arms, legs, heads of hundreds of bodies coming out of cracks in the floor and walls, made that one a terrible scene to see, but they had no time to think of it.
“Follow my instructions she said,” no instructions could prepare a person for this trip within the gate,now Kevin knew that.Who were those beings, what they were doing there, Jia herself said it wasn't worth asking, suffice to say they were there because they deserve to be in there. He jumped,one cadaverous hand managed to reach his shoe laces, destabilizing his body in mid-air, sending the giant man to the ground. Kevin rolled on the floor through the puddles of fetid water, Spook fell right after him, hundreds of corpses dragging .Spook bit, ripping pieces of rotting flesh from the arms of those creatures that held him tightly, trying to help Kevin. Even with his strength almost fully restored, those beings had supernatural strength and they were too many,more than Kevin could handle. Hundreds of cadavers emerged from the shadows holding and dragging them, raising Kevin and Spook in the air, the ground had fled from their feet and the situation was out of control. The moaning and screaming were driving them both mad.Kevin fought and screamed with all his might realizing that he could not win this time.
“A trap!!!” Kevin screamed from the top of his lungs. “This can only be a trap...bastards, let me go!!!” the crack in the floor from which the rotting bodies emerged began to open wider and the creatures holding Kevin and Spook in the air began to drag them to the depths, trying to swallow them in that damn black throat, in that deep fetid cave from which the worst odors in the world exuded.
“They were finished,” the creatures were dragging them below the ground,Spook was moaning and growling.One of the corpses had Kevin in a collar choke and he was almost passing out when a hand slapped him in the face.
“Reach out for the door...you must reach out for the door,”A soft voice again tried to calm Kevin.
He managed to free his red hair from the cadaverous hands and quickly whirled free of his rucksack. Kevin beat the corpses to hell out with it smashing the corpses into millions of little pieces. With a violent twist he smashed a rotting body freeing Spook from the hands of the cursed creatures.
“Go back to hell goddamn you!!!” the battle was not lost yet, Spook was back into the fight smashing the corpses with his huge mouth, using his paws to climb the pile of bodies that tried restlessly to drag them into that hell.
“We have to go back to the corridor, climb Spook ... climb!!!”Kevin yell to the Direwolf. Spook understood and bite at one of the bodies, it broke in half and that upper body was used like a mallet to hammer their way out. Spook grabbed him by the nape of his neck and used the corpse as a tool in that insane combat of life and death. This hideous fight had no ax sword, Kevin tore the arm of one of the creatures and fought his way up using it like a club, hitting rotten skulls, throwing them back into the black abyss.They climbed using the pile of bodies as a ladder to get out of that hell hole. They crawled through hundreds of bodies until they again came close to the opening, the crack in the floor that led to the corridor. The terrible creatures threatened to drag Spook back into the abyss, but Kevin grabbed him by the back of his neck with his huge hands and threw him back into the passage.Finally Kevin managed to reach the edge of the crack, back to the surface, there seemed to be hope for them after all, but they were not free yet,there was no way to proceed their journey through the corridor, it was blocked by the creatures. Kevin stuck his elbows on the floor of the hallway lifting his heavy body, determined to leave that place at all costs, he felt a gentle breeze that passing close to his ear carrying the stench of their bodies and again whispering words to help them.
“Through the door,” the voice said.
“Jia Is that you?” Kevin looked around ,but there was no one there to be seen, only a legion of dead men encircling the two warriors, closing the siege around them. If the stench did not choke them, they would inevitably be dragged back into the depths of that black abyss.
“The voice...the voice is telling me to go through the door,”Behind him there was a door, one of several doors they passed by on that insane marathon. Kevin reached for the doorknob and turned. The door was locked.
“No! Damit. Nooo!!! He screamed looking behind his shoulder, it was now the only way out. The giant threw herself against the door trying to open it and it stood still, firmly in place. Kevin tried a second time,throwing the full weight of his body against the door. There was no way that door would open and Spook began to breathe in a strange way, he was choking.
“I will take us out of here,” the corridor had darkened and now only the bright red eyes of the creatures could be seen, walking slowly towards them.They felt the corridor getting dark and their lungs were starting to burn, trying to suck the air. In a desperate measure, the two decided to throw themselves against that door.
“Run Spook… run with me.let's knock this door down!” they took impulse, throwing themselves against the door. No It didn't open up, it shattered into thousands of pieces, millions of splinters flew through the air falling with Kevin and Spook into another black abyss.
***
Azeviche felt a strange electricity, a tremor running through her body and stopped resting a hand on her stomach trying to understand what was going on. The girls followed their leader in line walking through the woods, with Hai Yun up ahead holding a scout stick.It had a red flag with a marvelous golden dragon embroidered in it, symbol of quarter twenty three;Hai Yun’s sorority.“What is it Oluf? Why you stopped?” Hai Yun asked. Azeviche was standing there,with her hand on her stomach, startled eyes looking into the void.
“I don’t know,” Azeviche said. “I felt something strange and heard somebody calling for my name.”Guenevere and Curly raised their torches lighting the woods, they looked around, but there was nothing there.
“This is the most frightened of the lot,” Guenevere said. “Hai Yun, I don't know why you pick this girl.She talks too much and is slowing us down.”Curly said impatiently. Azeviche always spoke too much and did not like to take orders. “The fatigue of the journey and the hunger was already affecting her body,” she thought.
“I heard the voice of a man calling me from a distant place,”she said with her hand against her tummy.
“You must have heard Piggy's empty stomach,” Guenevere said. “She seems to miss her snacks, but it's time for you girls to get in shape,There's no room for soft people in the army.”
Piggy looked at the veterans with an angry face and touched Azeviche on her shoulder trying to comfort her. She couldn't understand why they were so rude all the time.
“ Here,eat this,” said Piggy to Azeviche,she had a snack stick hidden in her pocket. “No one will starve on my watch, this is a strange place. I saw tentacles coming from inside the mirror in our bathroom, nobody believed me and now this,” Piggy grunted. Azeviche ate the stick,and it made her feel better. “I believe you now,”Azeviche could be hungry and tired, but she was not getting crazy, at least no yet. There was a voice calling for her and no one would convince her otherwise.
“By the way my name is Florence and not Piggy,” she spat. They continued to walk in the middle of the woods following the torches of the veterans, moving towards the mountains.
“My name is Cintia,” Pinky said curling her lips at Hai Yun,the oriental girl was walking up ahead with her torch, she turned quickly to see what was happening. It was like she had eyes on the back of her head.
“Are we there yet?” asked Pinky,they had been walking through the woods for about thirty minutes, this whole thing was starting to get on their nerves and for some strange reason the forest was silent, crickets, frogs, were not making their usual noises, even the branches of the trees were inert too.
“We're almost there. We'll get there faster if you move these legs,”Hai Yun wouldn't miss an opportunity to be annoying.
After walking for about an hour following a trail in the woods, it led the girls to the base of the Green Mountain. Hai Yun made the girls circle around the base of the mountain in a secondary trail that was very difficult to walk. Their boots were dirty with mud from that remote place and the night was getting colder and colder. Finally the Chinese girl stopped and climbed on a rock raising her torch, she looked around making sure no one had followed them.
“This is it,” Hai Yun spread her arms and her beautiful lips curved in a weird smile that sent chills down their spines. Azeviche, Piggy, and Pinky looked at each other suspiciously. Curly and Guenevere were looking at Hai Yun with startled eyes, that was a bad sign.That meant they didn't know what Yun had prepared for that night, they remembered that a surprise was prepared for them and that taught made the stomachs off the novices twitch. Pinky felt her hands shake, Piggy wanted to get over it and get back to the camp to have dinner. Azeviche was admiring Hai Yun's wonderful pearly teeth and all she could think about was when she would have the opportunity to punch that smile out of that cynical face.
“There’s a cave a few feet from here,”Yun said pointing with the torch. “We will get into this cave, our ritual will take place in there.Whoever tries to escape the initiation or run away from the little surprise that I have for you in there, will be automatically expelled from our sorority and therefore will also be expelled from the training Camps,”she was no longer smiling and this made them feel even more scared.
Hai yun came down from the enormous stone, Her countenance had become serious with her eyebrows curving in a frightening way. Azeviche could see something of Jia in her face. She touched the locket that was hiding under her shirt all the time;the eye of the Dragon was still hanging there on her neck, concealed, but was there all the time just as Jia told her to do. Her hand touched her chest feeling the medallion just to make sure it was still there. That tense atmosphere made Azeviche feel suspicious of things to come in this initiation.
“I don't like this one bit,”Jet whispered in Pinky's ear. “Be ready to run. Do you know the way back to the training camp? She asked the girls. “Yes, just follow the trail,” Pink answered. “What do you think she is…” Hai Yun never gave her the chance to finish it.
“Quiet, the both of you,” she screamed at them. “The faster you follow my instructions, the faster you’ll go back to your warm beds.” she gestured. “ Be quiet,” Guenevere also screamed at them, Curly only looked at the girls and spat,gesturing with the torch for them to move ahead.
The three novices held hands, bracing to each other and watched as Hai Yun entered the cave through a narrow passage.Torches had been providentially placed along the narrow corridor that seemed to have been dug into the mountain wall. A strong smell was exhaling from within the place and a deep sound reverberated through the walls, and the ground, it was like the sound of a working engine.They followed Hai Yun through the opening that led to a huge hall. Even Guenevere and Curly were amazed to see a place of that size dug up inside of the mountain,their leader had exceeded all expectations. The circular hall with a very high ceiling had a square altar excavated in the rock, maybe in time immemorial;who could tell? It’s cracked base was adorned with strange red symbols,two pyres burning wood to coal, illuminated the place with a faint light that cast long shadows. Coming out of the center of the altar, was a crimson-stained channel leading down towards a crack in the ground that forming a small swimming pool.Hai Yun climbed the altar. Standing very proud of herself between the two pyres she smiled again in the most sinister way and spun on her heels Illuminating what seemed to be the surprise for this long-awaited night.Underneath the tarp Hai Yun had a huge object whose sound was making the whole cave reverberate.
“Let the ceremony begin!” Yun said tapping that dirty tarp only to make the object beneath it began to move frantically, releasing a smelly mist that began to take over the entire hall.
“What a terrible noise,” Guenevere covered her ears. “Did she brought us here to see an old tractor?” Pinky dared to ask. A thin mist skirt from under the tarp.“How did she drag an old tractor here up in the mountains?” Piggy said clasping a hand to her nose, the mist coming from under the tarp smelled really bad.
“She didn't drag a tractor here. This girl is more wicked than we thought.” Azeviche said looking at Piggy with narrow eyes.As soon as the essence of sulfur started to permeate the air, Azeviche knew. Under that tarp the Chinese-girl was hiding a deadly trap, the source of all the torments of Muddy Peaks,the source of torment and pain to what was left of the human race.
“What is it? I’m scared.” Pinky asked bracing herself against Azeviche and Piggy.
“The novices must be silent,” Guenevere yelled at them.Curly and Guenevere .They couldn't hide their nervousness, they were anxious to see what was hiding there.
“Before you, lies the destroyer of worlds,”Hai Yun said in a solemn tone. “If you pass this test,you shall fear nothing else,”She said holding the dirty tarp with one of her hands, she was prepared to reveal the secret. “You can run away if you want,” Azeviche told the girls. “I can't blame you for that,”she took a depth breath. In a sudden movement,Hai Yun pulled the dirty tarp revealing the surprise.
Giant red eyes glowed with hate when they saw the girls standing there,frozen with terror. It’s teeth were yellow stalactites profiled in that giant jaw, which opened to show the throat from which a loud scream,would shake the walls of the cave, almost piercing through their ear drums, like a trumpet of apocalypse.
In a second the girls spun on their heels and run as if the devil were after them. Azeviche and her friends didn’t move at all, Pinky and Piggy were paralyzed by terror, and could hardly believe their eyes. Hai Yun was at the altar laughing and the Dragon trapped around his neck was screaming like a mad, wriggling, trying to break free, but he was stuck to the cave with the rest of his body remaining outside of it.
“I imagine that you will expel your mates from your sorority now,”Azeviche said, still clinging to her friends;she could feel Pinky and Piggy shaking. “ It seems Curly and Guenevere run off like frightened Rabbits,” Jet spat on the floor. “I fancy Curly's bunk, it looks cozy,”she said.
what a terrible mistake the beautiful Chinesegirl had made. Azeviche broke free from the girls and took a step forward facing the wounded dragon and Hai Yun, whose expression had changed from satisfaction to anger. She wouldn't be easily intimidated, not her who had already faced Dragons before...and survived.
“What have you got there?” Azeviche asked looking to the giant animal screaming in pain. It’s neck was injured, he seemed to be stuck there for a long time now, the scarlet wounds on his neck could tell a history.For a second Azeviche took her hand to her chest and she touched the medallion under her blouse, she thought about using it and call out for Jia's name. But then she wouldn't be Azeviche Jet the girl who killed dragons, she'd be the girl who let herself be intimidated by a common bully. “ No. I’ll deal with her,” She thought. “What is it that you want from us?” Piggy yelled at her, with tears streaming down her pinky plump cheeks. Pinky felt the need to brace to her friend to feel secure.
“I want to drown you in a pool of blood,” said Hai Yun, drawing a sword that was hidden at the altar. “Especially you!” the Chinese said pointing the sword at Azeviche.Yun looked at the girl with contempt curving her lips in disgust. “I thought Jia told you who I am. Didn't she told you that I killed dragões before? Jet said removing a lock of hair from her face.Yun squinted eyes tighten even more when Azeviche dared to bring Jia's name into the conversation.
“ How dare you little brat,” She pointed the sword at Azeviche, the glint of the Dragon's bright eyes reflecting on the sharp blade. The giant creature was lethargic, the wounds had drained all its strength, but even though it was trapped,it was a dragon, red and the biggest reptile you could ever imagine. Out of its throat , the fetid mist continued to emerge, signaling that the monster could react unexpectedly and Azeviche counting on it. “My mother tells me everything, all her secrets.” the sarcastic smile had now fled the beautiful Chinese face, Hai Yun had prepared a surprise for the newbies, but all the preparations she made went down the drain. Azeviche wasn't afraid of Dragons. “I don’t believe that you were able to imprison this creature all by your loneself,” step by step azeviche was approaching the altar without caring that a sword was pointed at her face.
“This dragon fell and got stuck here and I’m going to drown you and your friends in its blood,”she said by sticking the sword into the Dragon's neck. The giant red lizard shouted like never before, from the wound a gush of blood, began to descend through the channel toward the small pool, slowly filling it with blood.The red glow in the Dragon's eyes began to dim, it were half-closed as if the Dragon were sleepy. “The lizard was weak, probably it was imprisoned there for a week,” Jet thought. “No... more than a week, maybe a month.” she tried to make sense out of that situation.
“Halv-Har!!!” Jet whispered. That puzzle was solved. Of course the Dragon who helped the little urchin, Halv-Har King of the elves escape. It had to be him.Azeviche realized that the dragon was about to take his last breath and got prepared for anything, while Hai Yun twisted the sword into the neck wound so that more blood hushed to fill the pool with blood.
“There's no point in calling your gods. Little brat,” Yun said when she heard Jet whispering Halv-Har's name. Azeviche saw the Dragon closing his eyes and filling his lungs with air again, maybe for the last time. When he inspired dragging air to its giant lungs a whistle could be heard from that open wound, it was indeed a mortal wound. It’s neck and chest began to shine bright with an orange light coming from within. It’s guts were glowing with the heat of a giant furnace, and Jet knew what was about to happen.
“Pinky, Piggy… jump!!!” Azeviche you gestured with her hand “ behind the rock. JUMP!!!”
The dragon spat all the fire out of his gut, turning the cave walls and everything in it into charcoal. Pinky and Piggy jumped behind a large rock trying to protect themselves,they acted fast fast enough to save their lives. Azeviche was standing right in front of the Dragon, her long locks were burned to cinders, so it was her uniform an before that lava could burn the skin out of her bones she took a dive jumping inside that boiling blood pool. Azeviche sank quickly, seeing the flames and the hell that the cave had become, through the translucent blood. Her hair, her clothes,they were all gone,she was naked. When she was about to wonder how long she could hold her breath, she reached the medallion dangling from her neck and shouted Jia's name.
“ JIA!!!” Azeviche shouted with all his might. But only air bubbles came out of her mouth.Upon the altar Hai Yun was being roasted alive, she stared at the reflex of the sword and said some words that could not be heard. Immediately a sinister arm came out of the sword dragging the girl by the arm,her body dissolved in mid-air and went inside the sword as water flowing into a drain. Azeviche was clinging to the medallion in her hands, screaming for Jia,the air bubbles evading from her small lungs, she felt dizzy hoping that the sorceress, would come to rescue her. Her naked body went deep into the boiling blood,so deep she hit her head against the bottom of the pool of blood.
Azeviche had also fallen into a black abyss.
