Story 102-32

Ricardo, Logan, and Samuel guided the others on flat pieces of rock back to the castle. I could hear the conversation of the others as Logan steered the rock closer to the ground. Basically, all of their complaints had been drowned out by the satisfaction of a job well done. 1

“Were did you get that cut?” Lauren was sitting next to me and was examining my body along with Mary. 2

I looked down to where she held a bloody piece of cloth. “I think I jumped and the wolf slashed me.” 3

“No you didn’t.” Mary looked down at the cut and began to heal it with a look of guilt on her face. 4

“Oh really? Then where did it come from?” 5

“When you pushed me out of the way, so I wouldn’t get hurt, I accidentally cut you with the end of my sword.” She sighed as the familiar blue healing light faded away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” 6

“Why are you sorry?” 7

“Because...” She paused.8

“Because what?” 9

“Because I should’ve been more careful. I should’ve listened to you and got out of the way earlier. But...”10

“But?”11

“But I thought I could handle it by myself. I know now that I was wrong.” She looked away from me and up at the moonlit sky. I looked over at Lauren, hoping she would help me with what to say, but she just turned away and left me to fix my own problem. FInally, I decided to raise the silent barrier around us.12

“It wasn’t your fault Mary.” I tried to make her look at me, but she wouldn't budge. “We all took a bold chance tonight. You took an even bolder chance by agreeing to go with me, and..." 13

"And?"14

"...and, I’m glad you did.” 15

“Why?” She finally tore her gaze from the stars and looked me straight in the eye.16

“Because, I would rather have had you down there, than no one at all. I mean, if you wouldn’t have gone with me, I would’ve gone by myself. I knew you were strong enough to do this, and I was right.” 17

There was a long pause. “Really?” 18

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.” I smiled at her and she reached over and hugged me with a sigh of relief and comfort.19

“You know what would make me feel better?” I saw a sly smile whisk across her face.20

“What?”21

“A ride ... in the sky.”22

“You’ve got to be kidding. Please tell me your kidding!” She widened her eyes into that puppy glare that I couldn’t ignore. I looked over to Lauren, “She’s not kidding, is she?”23

She chuckled as she shook her head. I stood up. “Fine, but just once.”24

“Yey!!!” 25

I spread out my wings and let her climb on my back. Once I felt her secure on my body, I gently flapped my wings and took off. We went up high above the others as they appeared as little pebbles moving like ants. The wind whistled in my ears and blew my hair. I could feel the decrease in temperature as we gained altitude, finally pulling into a dive and sweeping the grass on the ground as we made our way back to the gliding rocks. I gently landed on the edgy surface as Mary slipped of my back and sat back down next to Logan. 26

“Just like a common mule.”27

I flashed a look at who made the comment to find Carlos. I felt my face grow red. “What did you say?”28

“You heard me.” He stood up. “I said, you’re just like a common mule.”29

“Take it back!” My face was hot and my nails dug into my skin under my fists. 30

“Why should I? I’m just telling you the truth. You know how I feel about this subject, as I thought you did. But now, I see that this is all a game to you. You don’t care like you used to anymore, you never take anything seriously.”31

“Watch your mouth! You know that I’m very sensitive about the subject. You know that I care. So what if I’m not as serious about things as you are. At least I can relax and ease my mind. It’s not like I don’t worry. You know good and well that I all I do is worry. Why do you chose to speak out now?”32

“Because your not taking any of this seriously, your acting immature.”33

“Oh, now I'm the one thats immature? You know what, at least I give a damn about what goes on around here!”34

“You don’t care, you never have!”35

“Is that right?”36

“Yeah, it is.”37

He spread out his wings and drew his sword as he lifted himself off the rock and began to hover above the others. I jumped off and drew my sword, ready to fight.  The  rocks stopped floating and were now resting on the ground.38

I could hear Ariel shouting, “What are you doing?”39

“There gonna fight.” Said Ricardo. “And I don’t think its gonna be fun.”40

Terry spoke from behind the crowd with a puzzled look on his face. “But, why? Why are they fighting? Why are they so angry at each  other?” 41

“Because their morals are too much for them to handle.”42

Everyone turned around to find Alex sitting on the ground. Samuel took a step forward. “What are you talking about Alex? For once in your life could you make some sense, and why are you just sitting down?”43

“First,” he raised a finger, “Carlos told Carmen that she didn’t respect her gift of flight for herself and just used it in jest. Second,” he raised another finger, “Carmen denied what Carlos said and tried to throw it back at him saying that he was too uptight and couldn’t see how things really were, which only made him angry. Third,” he raised another finger, “Carmen really pissed him off when she said that it was Carlos who didn’t care about what goes on. And finally,” he put down his hand and looked at the two bodies in front of them some twenty yards away. “Now, they’re both mad at each other and have come to the conclusion that fighting will solve the problem. As for me, I know that there’s nothing we can do about it but prepare for a spectacular show because seeing how powerful the both of them are, things are bound to get interesting.”44

Everyone’s jaw dropped. I0t was the longest anyone had heard Alex talk, and probably the last. The long silence was broken by the sound of clashing swords and they all turned to watch the deadly battle.45

I remember the long trial of trying to stab Carlos out of anger and rage, but to no prevail. For about fifteen minutes we stood there, swords swinging this way and that way. There were times when we scratched each other while in a jump or turn, but we were never able to gain a critical hit. Then, things began to heat up. 46

First, it was just our swords vibrating with an elemental surrounding its blade. Then, we found our bodies exploding with energy as we flew threw the night. 47

It was a deadly chase, a game of cat and mouse. Fortunately, I was the cat, and it wasn’t my last life at all.. We flew in circles, trying to drive the other off over our backs. I flew straight for the castle wall with Carlos close at my tail. I was twenty yards, then ten, then five. I pulled up facing the sky, my stomach scraping the castle wall as the sound of crashing stone came from below. I flew back to the ground to await the results. Stone littered the ground in front of me and dust filled the air. I waited for some movement in the rubble, but none came.48

Suddenly, I felt the ground tremble. Then, out of nowhere, Carlos emerged in front of me from under ground carrying a huge bolder. He threw it straight at me, but I had already taken flight, barely dodging the rock by inches. Almost immediately after  that I felt a rush a heat as a ball of fire raced its self toward me. I grabbed it and transformed it into sharp pieces of ice and shot them toward Carlos. He stood there and surrounded his body in flames, melting the ice. Then he sent a raging blast of continuous fire that I avoided by moving out of the way, at the same time, sending a strand of electric charge at him. He too avoided the attack and we now stood facing each other thirty yards apart. 49

My anger, like his, was the source of our power. Yes, we were both tired, but anger and rage kept us going. It was at this moment that our bodies illuminated with energy, mines white for light, and his black for darkness. It was almost blinding and I could feel my self being rejuvenated and refreshed. I knew that this was it. This was my last chance to finish him off for good. My last chance to use all the power I had and defeat him. 50

I saw him power up even more. This was it. It was now, or never. We screamed at the heavens, trying to obtain as much energy as possible. Then, everything went quiet. The lights stopped, as did the noise. We stood there, stiff as a tree. Then suddenly, I saw Carlos move his hands and begin to focus all of his energy to them. I in turn began to do the same thing. His hands grew brighter with the familiar black light and mines with the blinding white light. Then, our power was unleashed. 51

I began to conjure up a white tiger, such as the one I had become time and time again. On the other side, I saw Carlos and his powerful black panther. I took one last breath, and attacked. The felines were controlled by  our minds and hand movements. If I moved to the left, so did my tiger. If Carlos moved his hand, so did the panther. Although we were not physically injured, our energy was quickly drained and every hit hurt worse than a thousand sharp knives drenched in alcohol. We lasted only a minute, but it was the longest minute of my life. I remember Carlos tackling the tiger to the ground and then disappear. Suddenly, I felt a force grab hold of me and lift me into the air. I saw Carlos standing there with his hand raised, controlling my every movement. He lifted me higher and higher and finally, sent me flying into the side of the castle wall. 52

I heard the girls scream as rocks came crashing down. I don’t remember seeing anything but darkness. I felt squashed on all sides, rocks poking my skin and bones. I tried to move, but I was too weak. Finally, after a couple of minutes, I was able to find myself and push the boulders off me. I hurt all over. My white tunic was drenched in blood, my clothing was ripped and I limped on my right leg. I stumbled for about five feet before I fell to my knees, still clenching my sword. 53

I heard footsteps on the grass as Carlos made his way toward me. I tried to stand, but my body wouldn’t hold. He stood right in front of me and kicked me with his boot to the ground. 54

“Carmen?” His voice held no emotion except for the sense of a question. 55

My throat hurt when I answered a simple, “Yes?”56

He looked me up and down and raised his sword.57

“No!!!!!!!!!!” 58

I heard a voice cry out and a heavy body lay over my own, crying. I opened my eyes. “Adrian?’59

“No! Don’t hurt her!” I could see tears running down her eyes. “That’s enough, just stop it already before you both get killed. Can’t you see? Your not making the situation any better by fighting. I don’t care how mad you are...” She looked at me and quickly turned her gaze to Carlos. I could tell  by his expression that her eyes stabbed him from the inside out. “No fight is worth losing a friend over. Especially,” Her voice grew stronger and her tears began to fade away. “Especially when you’re fighting with friends that are very close to you.” 60

Carlos looked in all directions, trying to figure out what he should do. Finally, he sheathed his sword and began to walk away toward to woods. The others were running up to where Adrian and I lay and Samuel was running after Carlos. After a few moments, I saw him fly off into the woods never once looking back.  61

I laid my head against the grass and let Vien  and Esmerelda help me walk in back to the castle. Adrian was still silently crying. She wouldn’t talk to me, she just held my hand when we got inside and helped me up the stairs. The guys agreed to watch after Carlos, and the girls would watch after me. Those who slept in the same room with Carlos -- Samuel, Logan, and Alex -- would go to bed in case he came back to the castle. The others -- Ricardo, Terry, and Alex -- would take turns looking for him in the woods and around the castle. I lay on my bed while the Mary and Ariel began to heal my wounds and try to rejuvenate my strength. They tried, but it didn’t work. My cuts and bruises may have healed, but I still felt weak. They tried to talk to me. They kept asking me questions like ‘are you feeling ok?’ ‘You didn’t break anything, did you?’ But mostly, they wanted to talk about Carlos. ‘He didn’t mean it.’ ‘You didn’t do anything wrong.’ And my favorite, ‘It wasn’t your fault.’. I wouldn’t answer them. I just stared at the frame of the bed and told them that I didn’t want to talk about it. 62

Eventually, Ariel, Bianca, and Esmerelda went to bed. They told me good-night and slowly left the room. Lauren and Mary went to bed too. They didn’t have to tell me. I heard them crawl into their sheets and sense the lights dim down. I had almost lost conscious. My eyes kept opening and closing. I couldn’t hear very well and my body felt numb. I saw Adrian sitting on my bed looking at me. It took me a while before I realized that she had been in the same spot since we got there. She just sat there, looking at me. Our eyes met. I could see how worried she was and at the same time, relived that everything was ok. My breath began to grow slow and weak, but I couldn’t help but stare back at her. There was something about the way she looked at me that helped me stay awake, and in a sense, alive. 63

Finally, she rose from her spot and kneeled over beside me. I turned my head and watched her face glow in the light of a single candle. She brushed back my hair and softly ran her hand across my face. Then, she stood up and went over to her bed. She turned out the candle and crawled into the sheets. Then softly, she whispered, “There’s no other place I’d rather be, than right here beside you.”  I smiled, closed my eyes, and fell asleep