Tainted roots

“In case you’ve forgotten, we’d need the keys to have a shot at closing it,” Wyatt countered, throwing a sorceress back.

“What rift?” Ari asked, dodging the sharp claws of a summoner.

“Cover me,” I said to Koa, turning away from the tainted, and running to where Wyatt was fighting over ten feet away. A distance that would normally be easy to cross, but not with all of the tainted’s attacks I had to avoid. When I finally reached him, I pulled out the keys from my pouch, using my left hand which finally regained feeling.

His eyes widened at the sight, a weary grin lifting his lips. “Sneaky girl.”

A blood mage was sneaking up behind him, hoping to take advantage of his distraction. As her hand swung down, I met it with my knife, barely even nicking her skin, but she still screamed nonetheless. Wyatt whirled around and slashed out with his blade, decapitating her. “They’re already dead. Whatever is inside her has already taken over,” he said at my shocked expression, eyeing my tiny blade. He didn’t get a chance to say anything else because another attacked.

His comment matched what I'd already noticed. It had to be why they looked so different, and why they didn’t return to normal. Was this what happened if they remained in Mythics for too long?

During the fight, even more had surrounded us, waiting around at the bottom of the stairs for their turn. Well, until several of them went flying through the air, crashing into the statues. Coming up from behind the tainted were Rowan, Ander, Seth, Parker, and Starling. Seth looked the worst, with the blood drenching his clothes, along with jagged tears. Pain and exhausted showed in his movements, but he still fought the tainted nonetheless. The others looked relatively unharmed other than some blood stains—nowhere near as bad as Seth’s. As they approached the tainted waiting for their turn at us, spun around and attacked them.

We were still vastly outnumbered, but if we got the rift closed, we could prevent more from spilling through.

“I’ll see what I can do, but I’ll need cover and help casting,” Wyatt finally said, weariness wearing his voice.

“Who?” I asked, kicking another summoner.

He waved off a chunk of lava being thrown at him and sent it flying at a blood mage. “I’ll need Alora, Parker, and Gemini.”

Gemini and Alora were reasonable requests. Each of them were only a few feet away. Parker was going to take some work.

“I’ll get Parker,” Koa said, before shoving through the crowd, fighting off the tainted as he went.

“I’ll get Alora and Gemini, you figure out how to close that damn thing,” I ordered, stabbing a sorcerer as I slipped past him. Gemini was the closest of the two, so I made my way toward her. Once I was close enough I called out her name, and after discarding a tainted she glanced my way.

“We need your help closing a rift.” I pointed back at Wyatt and for once she didn’t make a face or scoff. Nor did she ask about the rift, since she hadn't been here when it was visible. She nodded and moved through the fighting bodies towards Wyatt. I didn’t waste any time, dodging attacking tainted as I called out Alora’s name.

When I was a few feet away, she finally heard me and risked a glance in my direction. Either the tainted weren’t given the same orders to leave Alora unharmed, or they didn’t care. Blood coated her arms and cheeks. Her dress was torn up and she lost her veil sometime during the fight. She was still weaponless, impressing me with how she was still standing and not more banged up.

“Wyatt needs your help, now.”

It was clear she was taken aback by my statement, but was still ready and willing to help. When she tried pushing through the crowd, a summoner plowed into her, taking advantage of her distraction and her heavy dress, knocking her over. Without thought, I leaped the foot between us, and onto his back. I stabbed him between his shoulder blades until the energy floated from his body as he collapsed beneath me. After helping Alora to her feet, I unsheathed one of my long daggers and gave it to her. She quickly thanked me and took off toward Wyatt.

Two tainted came after me and I fought them off, I shouted to the others nearby, telling them we needed to cover Wyatt, Gemini, Parker, and Alora as they sealed the rift. I made my way back to them as fast as I could, only receiving minor wounds in the process.

I avoided the summoner's claws like the plague as I went, not wanting to feel that horrible numbing sensation again.

All four of them stood in a circle as I approached, with Alora holding Abrielle’s key in her right hand, and the others touching Gabsriel's with their right as well. Their left hands were pressed against the shoulder of the person standing next to them.

All of us had found our way over to them, surrounding the four as they chanted, raising the glowing crystals. Energy crackled through the air, a mixture of ancient energy and Mythic energy as the rift appeared once more.

The tainted’s attacks became more aggressive, almost wild. As a result, they became sloppier and easy to dodge. A downside, was when they did make contact, it was way harder than before and hurt like bitch. The blood mage that bit my arm ravaged the flesh as he shook his head like a dog playing with a chew toy. He only stopped when I stabbed him at the base of his skull.

Unfortunately, I was unable to avoid another summoner’s claws and he scratched my leg, which near instantly became numb, forcing me to stay still. Otherwise, my leg would probably collapse beneath my weight. During the next several minutes that felt like forever, I receive more than my fair share of injuries. Had my shirt been white, it would’ve been almost completely red with my blood. My jeans could be considered ripped jeans with the number of slices they sustained. Blood was caked along my arms hands and hair. Both mine and the tainted’s.

When my leg finally regained feeling, the pain of all the injuries I received on my leg while it was numb made themselves known. My healing wasn’t as fast as normal; not with the amount of injuries I had and my excessive energy use.

Magic ramped up behind me as their chanting became louder. They didn’t use the same language as Kain, instead, they used the spoken language of the sorcerers and sorceresses. Dark purple and pink light floated through the air toward the rift. It wound around and seeped into the rift, the edges slowly beginning to inch together. It didn’t seal up all the way, stopping a foot shy of closing.

My attention was pulled away when I had to deal with several more of the tainted. When I managed to look back, the pink and purple light was winding around the rift, starting at the bottom and slowly working its way up. The process took several minutes, each time I looked back up the energy had moved up even more.

When the pink and purple energy was fully cocooned around the rift, the energy pulsed outward before retaining its shape. It repeated this several more times before it finally stopped.

The rift being sealed off didn’t stop or slow down the tainted. They still came after us, but at least more wouldn’t be coming through the rift and possessing poor unsuspecting Mythics.

Behind me, I felt the telltale whirl of energy signaling a portal had been created behind me.

Koa was only a few feet away from me, looking banged up, but nothing too serious. “Go, I’ll be right behind you,” he ordered, and I knew he wouldn’t leave until I was safely through.

I lashed out at the nearest tainted, before dashing toward the portal and diving through it. Every time I threw myself through a portal, I regretted it. This time was no exception. I bounced across the ground as I was tossed from the portal, adding to my countless bruises. Muttering swears under my breath, I climbed to my feet and took in my surroundings. Only to swear again when I saw the bare and swinging trees.

Fucking dark forest.

Koa was the next through the portal, not flopping around as I had, but landing on his feet. He ate up the distance in several steps and picked me up. My legs wrapped around his waist as he crashed his lips against mine in a desperate kiss. He pulled away, his hands lightly tracing over every wound as I also surveyed his body. Dried blood caked along his hairline, down his neck, his chest, and arms.

Over his shoulder, I saw the others exit the portal, with Wyatt being the last. “What’s with you and opening portals to the fucking forest?” He sighed and shook his head, choosing to ignore me.

Alora placed her fingers to her lips and whistled like before, only this time the pattern had more whistles. Not even a minute later, two boats came flying through the water toward us, stopping at the shore.

Koa didn’t release me, instead, he carried me to the boat, and this time I didn’t fight him as he sat with me on his lap. As soon as everyone was settled, the boats sped through the water, going against the current until we found the ferry between the forest and the cliffs. Howls, shrieks, and other horrifying sounds rang through the air, letting us know it was way past time to leave. We paired up at the front of the ferry since several of them were still unable to see the rift, Alora included. Even though we had closed the other one, the rift was still unstable, leaking dark and tainted energy.

Swallowing down the overwhelming urge to run, I pressed my hand to the rift as Alora kept a firm hold on my shoulder.

Somehow it was even worse than the last time. A horrible awareness washed over me, trying to seep into my body. An icy weight pressed in on me from all sides, worse than when I was in the enchanted waters. Dark and haunting whispers filled my head, speaking over each other with words I couldn’t understand. A chill invaded my body, making me feel like I would never be warm again.

As quickly as those sensations washed over me, they vanished. Alora and I were thrown across the soft grass until we rolled to a stop. Knowing the others would follow, I blindly crawled out of the way. After moving a few feet, there was no stopping my dry heaves when my stomach clenched painfully. Shivers wracked my body as the others flew out of the rift.

I couldn’t stop hearing those terrifying voices. Never before had anything like that happened to me. It shouldn’t have been possible. Nothing could survive in the empty spaces between the rifts. There wasn’t any air in those spaces, which was why you were supposed to hold your breath and close your eyes.

Several more had come through the rift by the time I finally managed to stop heaving and climbed to my feet. The sky was dark, lit up by a waxing moon and stars. Grassy lands surrounded us, with trees dotting the land every so often.

Once everyone was through the rift, each of them struggled to stand, and to stop coughing or gagging, Gemini created a portal and waved us through. On the other side only twenty feet away, was the rift to our realm.

Not taking any chances, I sprinted through it, not stopping until my feet met the water of the fountain. For once, I was glad to have landed in their cold depths. I didn’t even mind that my boots we now soaked as I stepped out.

I was home and safe, and that was all that mattered.