To The Grave

The only thing that the snake had not managed to consume was a bow with an arm that was tightly gripping onto it. A red piece of ragged cloth stayed hooked on the leftover arm along with a gold bracelet.

The person was determined not to let go of her bow till the end. She had to keep it. It was a gift she couldn't throw or discard ever.

From the back, Ophelia couldn't believe her eyes. She wanted to let out a scream but her throat began to swell with horror. Why was nothing going right?

Why..? She just left Anne for a moment. It was her fault, she should've stayed. She could've protected her then.

Trying his best, Zane reached out one of his arms and pulled Ophelia into a hug. He clenched his mouth. He couldn't break down now. 

Zane looked at the other side and saw Kai who was leaning on the wood walls, trying to stabilize himself. He looked worn out too.

Noticing someone looking at him, Kai turnt his direction that way. Trying to focus. It seems he has gotten careless. He inhaled too much of the gas. His head was spinning round and round like a carousel. He breathed in and out in small periods.

Kai desperately tried to catch his breath. But no matter how hard he tries, his lungs always seem to lack the capacity to make room for more air. He felt as if he was attempting to breathe underwater.

He immediately rolled over and felt a turmoil of pain hitting his leg. He wasn't fast enough to react to the swinging tail of the vicious snake. 

Feeling uneasy, Kai pinched himself in the arm to give himself a small wake up call. He could feel the world in his eyes tilting to the right and slowly dipping up and down. 

He breathed heavily and shook his head. He looked up and saw one of the most terrifying scenes he had ever seen in his life. 

What he could see was a light shade of red. In a form he had never wanted it to be. Veins and flesh. Dark red blood on the walls. 

Kai summoned a spike of ice and blasted the snake away. He fell back in recoil and glared in front. He pushed himself up and swayed like a withered tree.

The snake seemed to have taken no damage from that attack. Instead, it looked somehow intrigued. With it's bright eyes shining.

The snake opened its mouth again, seemingly like it was going to release another wave of smoke.

Kai felt him losing a grip on himself. He was tired and exhausted. His whole body felt sore. His head was in a series of continuous pain and confusion. 

He breathed out and felt a cold air escape his mouth.

Instead of releasing a second wave of smoke, the snake made a sound that didn't resemble a hiss at all.

It sounded like gibberish a child would speak for it's first words.

But slowly with more attempts, everyone didn't move and watch the snake learn something that belonged to humans only.

"Rii. Rii. Aiii." It may have sounded like a bunch of vowels and a consonant being mixed together but even he could tell it was singing.

Ophelis dropped her wand and covered her face with her hands in shock. She looked at the ground and felt like she was about to puke everything out. 

That was the melody Anne always sang when she was polishing her arrows and changing the strings of her bows.

"Kegh. Anne.. " Ophelia cried, coughing between tears. She tugged at her shirt and the pants of Zane. 

Zane pulled her in closer and leaned back, ignoring the tune that the snake was continuously making. It sounded as if it was mocking Anne. He was irritated.

Suddenly, as if Ophelia had recovered from her grief, she gripped her wand and chanted a spell. 

The moment Zane heard it, he realised Ophelia was out of her mind. The spell was too risky for her to use, considering how she wasn't an earth magician. He tried to take her wand away from her but there seemed to be an unknown force sticking them together like peas in a pod.

The ground began to shake with great vibrations. The ground spiked up to the height of small hills and enveloped around the snake in a circular shape. Trapping it inside an opaque cage. 

More indescribable sounds erupted within the cage of earth that Ophelia casted on a whim.

Kai took the chance to get his act together. He had to recover from his fear and remain steady. He steal a glance at Zane and saw the person standing up too with the support of his sword.

Zane felt something sharp stabbing into his lungs and felt like pouring everything out from his abdomen. He felt dizzy and fatigue but he had to get this done. He and Ophelia had to go back home. Safe.

With the remnants of their dearest teammates.

They had to kill the snake. It was the main cause of all this demise. 

They had let their greed get the best of them. Their temptation to return to a normal lifestyle void of debt.

It was all that weighed on their minds these days. As if they had been hypnotised.

They had forgotten and let go of their main objective they had first made when the group was constructed. 

To be each other's pillar of support. 

Finding each other in a jungle was all a mere coincidence from the start. All in terrible shape. Beaten up, starving  and discriminated against.

Once they were together, their lives started full of uncertainty whether they'd survive this hell-like world.

Now they were all back at the place they had started again. Full of ambition and hope. 

All for it to be crushed as if it was nothing more than a piece of glass being tipped over.

Zane looked determined with two swords in his hand. His blue eyes blazed with unusual anger. His mask that veiled his scare filled face had been blown off.

He wanted to end all this fiasco and mind games here. No. He needed to. For all of them to live in peace. And carry their child-like dreams to their graves.