ToTT: Dual Heart (Ch. 9)

Chapter 9
July 18th 1:22pm

The group was getting closer to the castle belonging to Serpent's Cross, but just 100ft from the structure, a woman walked out of the castle and stopped around 50ft away. The group stopped, with a tension-riddled atmosphere flowing between them. "And where do you think you're going, mutts?", Jessica said with a venomous tone. Her gaze lingered on Hayden especially. "It's a shame...you're cute, but I've been assigned to kill you. Too bad.", she said as her hands sparked. In a flash of light, she, Hayden, Brianna and Josh were all gone from the area.

"Hayden?!", Sif exclaimed in surprise when her vision recovered from the clash. "Brianna and Josh, they're gone too!", she said as she got a tad flustered. "That little...if she hurts any of them...", Sif said quietly, before turning to Eugene and the group. "We have to keep moving forward.", she said powerfully, looking down at Kai, and then Alexander. "Don't worry, those two won't get a scratch if Hayden's there. He went berserk on a Wyvern just because its attacked knocked me back a bit. So imagine if that woman tried to hurt either of them.", she said, with a giggle in her voice. But it was not one of confidence, as the kids in front of her thought. It was nervousness. Eugene and Alexander seemed to be aware of that, as their faces were rather stiff as they looked at her.

-

Hayden, Brianna and Josh stumbled when they reappeared in an entirely different area, with the purple-haired woman not even 30 feet from them. She had a smug smile on her face. "Where have you taken us?!", Hayden yelled angrily at their opponent from Serpent's Cross.

-

The remaining group was running as fast as they could towards the castle, only to be cut off by some sort of glowing red force field. It was humming eerily, with a few sparks of electricity running along it like veins every now and then.

Suddenly, a pained yell from behind Sif and Eugene. Violet had been hit by a small throwing knife of some sort. Seconds later, the young girl was stumbling, before falling to the ground, luckily just unconscious. Another one hit Kai and Akabane, sending them too to dreamland. More were thrown at Sif, Eugene, Alexander and Brooke. Luckily, Alexander warped the one thrown at him away, Brooke managed to lean out of its path, and Eugene and Sif both deflected theirs with their swords. "Who the hell is hiding out there?! Stop being a pussy and show yourself!!", Alexander barked, obviously pissed off.

Almost out of thin air, a white-haired man with a mask covering most of his face, dressed in attire similar to that of some form of Ninja appeared. His cheeks were risen. He was obviously smiling, but in his eyes, or eye for that matter, there was only darkness and misery.