Last update for today, I promise! Anyway, finished Chapter Seven yesterday as well...SUCK!
hawaii hotel mandarinTotal Word Count: 18,675 (I'm beginning to think I won't make it...)
Chapter Word Count: 2,752
PS- The italics don't come out if I just copy/paste here, and I'm too lazy to go back and fix all of them
PSS: ...Wtf? Where are chapters 5 and 6?! T-T I put them in here!
Ken found Sawen in the hallway of the seventeenth floor. The mage was unconscious, probably because Darksol found out about his betrayal. The centaur was worried, and wished Lowe of Khris were there with him to heal his new ally.
Why didn’t I call out to Lowe the day I arrived here when I saw him! Ken thought. I feel helpless, now. Ken bent down to pick up his friend, and carried him all the way down to the hospital floor. The centaur dropped his friend down in a bed, and pulled the blankets over him.
“I hope you get better, Sawen,” he said, sadly. He turned and descended the stairs to the foyer, and then exited the building. “And here, I thought that we’d be so successful in overthrow Darksol. I can’t believe I totally ignored the fact that Darksol is a genius, despite how much I hate him.”
Ken kept walking, all the way to the edge of the evil being’s land. Thinking that Sawen would be healed after doing this, Ken galloped back to the tower, and ascended to the hospital floor. He found that his ally had not been awaken from his unconscious state yet. This only hurt Ken more, to find that he may never get the information he needed. Besides, it was probably too late anyway. Darksol had probably already carried out whatever plan he had to tell all his men.
Sawen woke, but he didn’t look right. His eyes were glowing an eerie yellow color, and he was grinning in an evil way.
“So, Ken, you’ve decided that your persuasive tongue can help overthrow me, eh?” It was Darksol, speaking through his ally. “Well, I can tell you that I’ll have your tongue before you can even think about persuading any of my other servants or guards to join the Shining Force. And trust me, with what I’m planning, the Shining Force won’t even stand a chance against me!” He cackled evilly.
“Well, I can tell you that you’ve got your hopes up a little too high,” Ken countered. “The Shining Force will defeat you, no matter what sorts of obstacles you put them through. Remember, the Shining Force defeated the Dark Dragon which was probably the most powerful creature on the planet!”
“Oh, well I can tell you that you are wrong about that last bit,” Darksol said. “There is a being more powerful than the Dark Dragon. And a lot stronger at that. I’d say it was at least fifty times more powerful than the Dark Dragon.”
Fifty! Ken thought. His confidence was beginning to crumble. “Well, we can stop you before you even call upon this powerful being. As I said, you are getting your hopes up too high, Darksol. And when they are as high as they can get, and then the Shining Force crushes you in a humiliating defeat, I will laugh in your face.”
“We’ll see,” was all Darksol said, and then Sawen’s body went limp. Stirring, the mage opened his eyes.
“So you haven’t died!” Ken said. Sawen glanced at him funny. “Oh, hi Sawen. I was just worried, that’s all. How about that conference Darksol had with you and your former colleagues?”
“It’s too late,” Sawen said simply. “Darksol called us together to say that he had sent a portion of his most powerful men to seize Emutia, the castle city in the most obscure corner of Panmei. He said he had done that hours before he called the meeting, which probably means that Emutia has fallen to Darksol’s greed. He probably knows about our communications and stuff, which is probably why he sends out his teams, and then calls a meeting. I don’t know how to find out things before Darksol actually sends them out, though, which is a real problem.”
“It’s fine. At least I know you are trying,” Ken said. “Besides, we don’t have to have ideas of what Darksol is doing. Hey, the Shining Force beat him before without knowing what he was planning. I’m sure we can do it again.”
“I don’t know, Ken,” the mage replied. “Darksol’s already gaining many allies in the north and west. I’m sure they’ll be sending troops to help eliminate all of his enemies.”
- - -
Impatiently, Narsha leaned against the railing of the roof. “Where is Amon! She’s been out for over two hours looking for food now! I’m hungry!”
“And here, I thought you could last for a few days without food as a punishment,” Amon said, landing on the roof with a beak full of stuff she found or stole from other people.
“Oh, be quiet Amon. I’m just used to getting what I want when I want it,” the princess of Runefaust said, looking hungrily at the apples and steak that she saw. She reached for them, and stuffed anything she had an appetite for in her mouth.
Narsha feasted, then allowed Amon the scraps that remained.
“By the way, Narsha, if my eyes don’t deceive me, I thought I saw Hans running into the forest this morning.”
Narsha’s head perked up, and she began to listen to Amon. “He was running into the forest, and then I heard some shouting. I didn’t know who it was, but I know Hans answered. I hope it wasn’t a Shianwa guard or something like that. Here, if you hop on my back, we can escape while it’s still a bit foggy. What do you say?”
Narsha responded by hopping onto the queen of Shade Abbey’s back. “Let’s go, then! Any chance to escape is worth taking. Get flying!” Amon obeyed, flapping her wings roughly, and they took flight. The bird warrior sped off in the direction she remembered Hans running off in.
- - -
Lowe led the party of six women toward the plaza outside of Darksol’s tower. He didn’t know where he was taking them, but his instinct told him to walk there.
“Lowe, shouldn’t we at least pretend we are doing work so the mage servants won’t get suspicious?” Ajix said. “Come on! Lowe, where were you digging before?”