[To Be Named] - Chapter 17

[To Be Named] - by Ho-Oh16
A QuizUp fantasy adventure story.

Chapter 17.

    "Dragon?! Wake up!". I was now panicking. I didn't know why she'd collapsed, and that worried me most. I imagine that I uttered words I wouldn't normally, but under the circumstances, I think it was acceptable.
   Without warning, she started coughing and shakily sat up.
   "Oh my gosh, you're alive!" I exclaimed. I didn't give her much to time to recover before hugging her. "I thought it had happened again..."
   "What happened?". She sounded confused, which confused me too.
   "You collapsed. I asked you how you were and you just...fell. Don't you remember anything from before? The dragons?"
   "Yeah..." she replied, thinking carefully. "Yeah. I remember..."
   "I'm just glad you're not...". I would've finished my sentence but I had now thought back to something I was avoiding.
   Why can't I just get that video out of my head?...
   The silence I created was quickly broken by the return of the others.
   "What's wrong? We heard yelling." Anton called as they approached.
   Both Dragon and I were sat on the ground. I cleared my throat and regathered my thoughts.
   "Uh..yeah. Dragon passed out momentarily. I panicked..." I answered, standing up and grabbing my bow. I spoke directly to Dragon. "I'm going to the training area... Just try to get some rest."
I left the group and walked towards the clearing in the woods.
   "Why do I get the feeling that there's more to it?" Anton whispered to the others.
   "Because there is." Rashaun replied. "You three go inside and I'll go see if she's alright."

   I stared at the target. I was picturing it as Ghost, hoping it would help with my accuracy.
   "So long as Storm isn't there tomorrow, we'll be fine." I muttered to myself, loading an arrow into my beloved bow. I positioned myself forty yards from the first target and got ready to fire.
   *What do I do if he is there?*
   I released my first arrow. Red. Not good enough for my standards. I aimed slightly more right and tried again. I steadied my arm and pulled the string back a little bit further this time.
   *I can't fight three dragons...*
   The second arrow completely missed the target.
   *You're putting yourself off...stop thinking and train.*
   I prepared myself the same as last time, pulling the string back further. I realigned my aim and hoped that it would actually hit my target this time. I took a deep breath, and now pictured the target as Storm rather than Ghost.
   I released the final arrow. It hit the centre of the bullseye - the spider. That was a much better result.
   *Maybe that just shows who I hate more...*
   "Everything alright?" asked a voice from the bushes.
   "If 'alright' means constantly worrying, feeling anxious and completely missing the target, then yes. I'm alright." I replied. "That last one is especially annoying..."
   "I thought you never missed."
   "Apparently that's not the case.". I thought back to the first day here, when I shot an arrow towards Anton and missed. I smiled.
   *Wish we could turn back time to the good old days~ *
   "Do you need to use a closer target?" Rashaun suggested. "Maybe you need to just build up the distance."
   "Uh...no...I think the distance is fine. I'm just not really focused." I responded. "I can't seem to forget about what happened..."
   "You're not the only one..." he said.
   "Yeah...how is Anton? I'm assuming he took it the hardest." I asked, walking towards the target to retrieve my arrows. It twisted and removed the first two arrows from the target, and set about looking for the other one.
   "Everyone copes with it differently. He's quieter than normal, but he tries to stay happy for everyone else."
   "That's just who he is." I replied. "Always puts other people before himself...it's a good trait."
   Where the heck did that arrow go?
   "Let me help you look." insisted Rashaun, walking over to the target.
   "Oh, OK. It should be here somewhere, but I can't see it..." I frowned. "I don't usually lose arrows...this'll be a first."
   "You check around here then, and I'll look further into the trees." he suggested.
   Agreeing, I scoured the grassy vicinity, looking for a silver arrowhead. Losing an arrow was the last thing I needed, given that I was already low on stock. I needed as many as I could get ready for tomorrow.
   "Hey, come over here a sec...I think I found something!"
   Figuring that it wasn't my arrow, I reluctantly walked into the trees, where I heard Rashaun's voice. I couldn't see him, so I assumed he'd walked further into the woods than intended.
   "Where are you?" I called out. I didn't like the woods that much. The leaves created a roof over most of the ground and very little sunlight could actually get in.
   I didn't get a reply and I wasn't quite sure how to react. I called out again, telling myself that he didn't hear me first time, but once more there was no reply.
   "I'm sure he's fine...perhaps he just got lost, or...something..." I muttered to myself.
   Or something...

   "How are you feeling?"
   "I feel fine...I'm not really sure what happened..." Dragon replied. She was sat down in the dining room on one of the finely crafted chairs. The room was long, lined with embroidered drapes and numerous paintings, and was dimly lit.
   "Just say something if you feel like it's going to happen again." Anton said to her. He walked towards Shadow. "What do you suppose could be wrong?"
   "It's hard to say. It's probably just exhaustion." he answered.
   "I guess so..."
   "Where do you think they are?" Dragon questioned. "I don't see what's taking so long..."
   "I don't know...perhaps I should go and find them." Anton remarked. "Yeah...I'll go now."
   "Are you sure?"
   "Yep. I won't be long.". Anton exited the room and began to walk along the corridor towards the foyer. As he was about to leave the house, one of the doors opened and a figure stepped into the house. It was one of the seven dragons.
   "Oh, hello."
   "What...what are you still doing here?"
   "I suppose Ghost didn't say earlier on... I'm here to collect the list of pairings for tomorrow." she said.
   "Oh...right. Come inside, I guess." he responded. "I'll just double check that I have the right combinations.".
   "Here to collect the pairings"... Right before you start attacking us, of course.
   After a couple of minutes, Anton reemerged from the dining room with Shadow, who was holding a list.
   "Why didn't Ghost come himself?" Shadow questioned, holding out the piece of paper.
   "He's busy." replied the figure. She took the paper and began to study the list. "He has a strict schedule and never breaks it. Not for anything."
   "Right..." commented Shadow.
   "Who is it?" called Dragon from the separate room.
   "It's just Light. Nobody we need to worry about." Shadow answered.
   "...I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe then you'll learn to not underestimate your opponent." Light said venomously.
   "I'm not underestimating you.". Shadow's new comment just made her more agitated.
   "Yeah, I think we'll just finish this conversation here." Anton sighed.
   Light folded the paper, momentarily glared at Shadow and left the house. Both Shadow and Anton watched as she disappeared around the corner and out of earshot.
   "Are you trying to make this more difficult?"
   "What? I was just being honest." Shadow said.
   "Whatever... I'm going to go and find Chloe and Rashaun." Anton announced. He stepped out of the door and headed towards the woods at the back of the house.

   "I don't have time for games!" I yelled.
   "Hey, is everything alright?"
   "Who...? Anton?"
   "Yeah, I came to see where you two were. Where's Rashaun?"
   "I...I don't know. We were looking for one of my arrows, he came out here and now he's just not anywhere." I replied.
   "Well he can't have gone far." Anton reassured me. "We'll just keep looking."
   "Sure- wait..."
   "What? What is it?"
   I signalled for him to be quiet and tried to focus on the noises of our surroundings. There wasn't much to listen to. No birds, no wind. Just silence.
   And a twig.
   "Someone else is out here." I whispered, taking my bow and pulling an arrow out of my quiver.
   "What if it's Rashaun?"
   "Then that's a good thing, and I'll try not to shoot him. I can't make any promises for a stranger, though."
   "Sounds fair." Anton commented, gripping his nunchucks.
   I nodded at Anton, and we got ready to make our way towards the unknown person who was hiding in the trees. He veered right, and I went left.
   What will I do if it's one of them?
   "Nothing good probably." I whispered to myself.
   I could just about see Anton through the gaps between the tree trunks. I stood behind one of the tall oak trees and loaded my bow. I was preparing to take a shot at whatever was there.
I clipped the arrow into place and turned to continue walking onwards, but ended up walking into something instead.
   "Hey, watch it! I'm trying to-". I frowned. "So you are alive, then."
   "Oh, sorry. Were you calling me?"
   "Yep. Next time, don't have your headphones on. Honestly... How many times do people need to make me panic?!"
   "Never mind that, I need to show you something." Rashaun insisted.
   "Did you find him?" Anton called from the distance.
   "Yeah, he's fine. Come on over." I yelled back. I went back to a low volume voice. "Give it a second and we'll all go."
   Once Anton had made it to where Rashaun and I were stood, we followed Rashaun to whatever it was he wanted to show us. We didn't have to walk far, but when he told us we'd arrived, I was underwhelmed.
   "Uh...what am I supposed to be looking at?" I asked him.
   "Hang on, I just need to-" he began to say. He grabbed something on the floor - I wasn't sure what - and pulled it upwards and back. A trapdoor presented itself, "et voila. Aaaaand, there's more."
   "More?" Anton asked. "Like what?"
   "Come on down and you'll see." he replied, stepping down what must've been a ladder.
   "You can go first." I said to Anton. He modestly smiled and followed Rashaun down the ladder, under the ground.
   "I hope this is something good." I muttered to myself. I put my bow on my back and carefully climbed down into the darkness.
   Rashaun flipped a switch on one of the walls and a collection of overhead lights illuminated a tunnel. When I made it to the bottom, I was pretty impressed, but the moment was short-lived. Once I had put both feet onto the ground, the above trapdoor slammed shut, and I heard a lock click in place.
   "Are you serious?... Who do you suppose did that?" I moaned, joining the others at the tunnel entrance.
   "I have an idea."
   "Perhaps there's something important down here." Rashaun said, starting to walk along the metal pathway. "So, let's go this way."
   "Well, the only way is forwards, so it's not like we have a choice..." I remarked.
   Someone had shut that door and I intended to find out why. I followed Rashaun with Anton, and the three of us walked down the tunnel.
   It seemed like the path went on forever, but when we eventually reached the end, we were met with two different paths. On went left, one went right.
   "What now?" Anton asked.
   "We pick a path, see where it goes, come back, and try the other path." I replied. "Left first?"
   "Fine by me." Rashaun replied.
   We took the left path, but with in a few footsteps the overhead lights turned red and began to flash.
   "What happened?!"
    "Red isn't a good sign..."
   "There's a tripwire. I guess whoever built this place definitely knows we're here." Rashaun answered.
   "Now we need to hurry up." I stated.
   I could hear footsteps coming from the first tunnel. They weren't heavy but the sound resonated through the corridors.
   "We need to hide..." I muttered. "Keep going and start running!"
   "There are doors up ahead, come on!" Anton said, keeping his voice as quiet as he could.
   Hastily, the three of us continued to head along the tunnel and towards the collection of doors that littered the walls.
   "Pick a door, any door." I said. "Just hurry up."
   "This one!" Anton said, opening the door to the first room he could see.
   "It's empty?"
   "It'll do!" I said, urging them to go inside.
   The footsteps got closer and as I shut the door behind me, I saw someone turn to walk down our side of the corridor.
    "Stay quiet, someone is coming this way." I whispered.
   The room was considerably large, but as Rashaun had pointed out, there was nothing in it except the three of us. It was safe to say that if someone walked in there looking for us, we were screwed.
    "How are we meant to hide in here? It's just walls!"
    "You stop talking and stay mute, that's how!"
     I shushed both of them and listened closely for the footsteps. They were getting louder. I now only had two arrows and I couldn't afford to lose any more.
   We stood to the side of the door that was concealed when the door was opened, and waited. The silence was painful but a necessity. We didn't know who was there or what would happen if we were found.
   The footsteps got increasingly louder, and I hoped they would eventually get quieter.
   But at that moment, they stopped all together.
   The door handle moved downwards and the door was silently pushed open.