30 Chapter 16: Survival

…The ribbons of blood tumbled and swirled into the obscure water.

"IVORY!" I heard Luke scream, "TURN BACK!"

I raised my head above the surface of the water and noticed everyone on, or close to, the other side while I was less than halfway. Massive, yellow snake eyes peered above the surface right at me.

Just great.

I swam fast back to the beginning of the lake as fast as possible, losing a lot of my stamina and gulping a lot of salty water in the process. The snake chased after me, barely missing me as I climbed onto shore.

Fortunately, it couldn't step out of the water but, it could use its head to whack its head and upper body against the rocky shore, resulting a lot of rocks tumbling hazardously. I had to dodge sharp rocks and its razor teeth glinting with venom.

"GO! ESCAPE!" I shouted, flinging myself forward as another round of rocks plummeted down.

"I can't leave without you-" Luke began, already dipping his feat back into the water.

"JUST GO!�� I unsheathed my dual daggers.

"Ivory…!" Rei anxiously fumbled around with his hands.

"Trust me." I gritted as my daggers contacted its teeth. "I'll catch up with you later."

Rei nodded, defeated.

I hid behind a pillar of rock, just out of the snake's reach and sat there, regaining my stamina. I glanced at my arm, some of the snake's venom had grazed my arm and it now it was a ominous shade of grey.

I laughed dryly.

***

Raven:

We climbed out of the exit and whoops and celebrations filled the air.

"Who permitted you to celebrate?!" Luke snapped, and the hoots hushed to silence, "There's still a person inside that cave!"

Rei patted Luke on the back sympathetically, "I know. But the best plan of action will be to escape back to the Royal Palace to request for help. We won't be able to help Ivory if we charge in."

Luke looked down at the ground, clenching his fists before reluctantly nodding his head.

How strange. I had been studying people for most my whole life but there was something I could not understand…

Oh well. There wasn't any point worrying about that, currently, there was a more important subject.

I headed back towards the cave.

***

Ivory:

My arm was not helping my situation.

Hah. Definitely not.

In a desperate attempt to kill me, the snake finally managed to fling itself at the rock pillar behind me and I dashed towards another pillar.

"That looks painful."

I almost screamed before a hand clamped over my mouth.

"Shh… The snake look likes it tired, when it finally goes back to sleep on the bottom of the lake we can escape together." Raven removed his hand before looking worriedly at my arm. "I think you may have to have special medical care for that."

"Haha, no joke." I laughed wryly, "I wonder what colour my arm will be when we finally go home. Anyway, how did you get here?"

"I sneaked past it." Raven grinned, "Anyway, don't move your arm too much, I'm worried about it."

I seriously doubted that sneaking past that monster would be as simple as Raven had stated.

"…I think the snake is asleep now." I nodded towards the still lake, only slight ripples forming from the snake's breathes.

"Can you still move? Is it painful?" Raven peered at my grey arm.

"It's fine." I stood up, "We have to focus on killing that snake."

"You aren't acting like your age." Raven smiled cheerfully, walking up to the lake.

"You aren't either." I picked up my daggers.

"That's true." Raven turned to smile at me, just as the snake's yellow eyes peered over the water, right behind him.

"Behind you!" I screamed, dragging him back.

The snake's white scales as large as my head, glinted as it flicked out its black tongue.

"What's our plan?" Raven asked, pulling out his shuriken without taking his eyes off the snake.

"We're going to kill it." I observed the snake's upper body rise out of the water. "I'll distract it, you pierce its eyes."

"Understood." Raven nodded seriously, "Take care."

Raven sprinted up to wall, jumping elegantly from pillar to pillar, his black hair fluttering, he effortlessly dodged any rocks that tumbled down and gave the appearance that he was flying.

I knew Raven could easily escape the cave, however, I could not as my arm would prevent me from swimming.

I watched Raven aim carefully for the snake's large, unblinking eyes and flicked his wrist to let his black shuriken swiftly cut through the air, towards the snake.

Just as the shuriken headed towards us, I leapt onto the snake, careful to avoid its teeth and stabbed it, however, my daggers only created a small dent into a scale and slightly cracked my daggers. Raven's shuriken punctured the exact middle of the snake's eyes, and blood trickled out of it's eyes, staining its white scales with scarlet driblets.

"There's tender skin under it's neck." Raven whished right past me, soaring breezily, hopping from pillar to pillar, avoiding the snake's teeth while I gripped onto its scale's tightly.

The snake swung wildly, as I crawled closer to its head. The snakes suddenly lurched forward, and I quickly star ted sliding off its scales, the blood making it even more slippery. In an attempt to kill the snake, I tossed one of my daggers at it as I fell closer towards the water. I watched the dagger sink deeply into its flesh until only the hilt was visible and I fell into the lake. A few seconds later, I heard a loud 'splash' of the snake's body sinking into the water and the lake's water tinted with threads of red. I glanced at my arm which was now a dark grey and salty water entered my eyes.

So tired…

Someone hoisted me out of the water, and I coughed out water.

"We're safe now." Rei draped his black cloak over me, "All we need to do is wait for some people to fetch us."

"Oh…" My eyelids felt heavy as Raven used his shoulder for a resting place for my head.

Raven brushed my hair out, "Oh and the thing is, I found something suspicious which I think you should check-"

I didn't hear the rest of it as I fell asleep.

***

Easton:

Ivory was going to survive.

I watched as soldiers marched from the Imperial Palace towards where Ivory was left behind.

We were currently in the castle after Luke had rushed to the palace to plead for help. Apparently, sending hostages out was only a cover and the King had been planning a sneak attack.

How lovely.

I sat in an empty, dark storage room, watching a spider scuttle across the near my foot.

"Pain rectors delayed." I uttered, letting my fire power envelop me, careful to keep the fire away from the wooden table.

I slammed my hand forcefully against the stone floor. Warm blood trickled down my fingers and I felt nothing, until excruciating pain pounded in my palm a few seconds later.

Tsk…

I would have to work harder.

"Pain reactors…" I murmured.

I would have to train just as hard as the others.

***

A few months later…

Ivory:

It been a few months since the war and both countries had settled on a truce. Rei, Easton, and Luke and left for the Young Boy's Academy can wouldn't come back until a few years later. I sat in the library, bored. Mother had mentioned earlier to go to the palace dressed in dark clothing, although I didn't know why.

"Let's go." Mother ushered me into the carriage with Father.

"Why are we going to the Royal Palace?" I asked, brushing frost off the windows.

"You'll see when we arrive." Father dipped his head.

I watched as we neared the palace, and we stepped inside the castle. Servants rushed past us, their faces sombre and stony. The atmosphere was frigid as we headed towards a garden I hadn't visited before.

The willow trees swayed gracefully, and a chilly breeze swept the garden.

I walked to the right and saw Prince Kyle weeping over a black grave.