[To Be Named] - Chapter 4

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

Chapter 4.

   Bright blue lightning bolts bounced of the translucent ice walls. The lightning dragon was now outside the entrance, and ready to come crashing in.
   "Here comes the storm!" it bellowed ferociously.
   I flipped the trapdoor open to see a frozen slide. "Only one way down...".
   "I'll go first. There's no knowing what's down there." Rashaun volunteered.
   "Are you sure?" Ozy asked.
   "I'm happy to go first if you're not sure." Shadow added.
   Another crack of celestial blue lightning pounded the tower.
   "There's no time to argue! We all need to go down, regardless of what order!". I told Rashaun to go, followed by DD. She was quickly followed by Ozy and Shadow, leaving me and Anton on the surface.
   "So, you can hear it too?" he asked while getting ready to depart.
   "It depends what you're referring to."
   "You know what exactly what I'm talking about" he responded.
   "Then yes, I can." I said.
   "How long?". I looked at him, wondering the exact same but in reverse. "How long has he been talking to you?"
   "Since the snake incident this morning. It doesn't happen often, but it hurts when it does." I replied, reminding myself of all the events from the past few hours. "And you?"
   "Not that long. A couple of hours, max. And only twice.".
   Things just kept getting weirder. I hadn't said anything so that no one would worry, but if he can let anyone he wants hear him, what if he's been speaking to the others and I didn't even know it?
   "I wonder who he is... And what wants... I mean, he is one of the bad guys, right?" Anton thought aloud.
   "He has his moments." I replied. Now I was thinking about what he'd said.
   "Invitations are nice.". So you obviously know something about those for a reason.
   "He can hear everything you think... It's invasive." Anton added.
   "I know that, but some times it can be useful. Communication, and what not.".
   Speaking of which, do me one favour and answer me this, frenemy. How can I trust you?
   You can't.
   Two syllables was all it took for me to put my hand on my forehead.
   "He's just said something to you, hasn't he?"Anton observed.
   "Yep.". I wasn't planning on telling him what, though.
   "Wha-". He was unable to complete his question. A third zap of lightning struck, this time coming through the entrance to the tower.
   "WOAAAAH!!" I said, stumbling backwards.
   "That's our cue!" Anton exclaimed. He turned to the door and got onto the slope. He called back to me as he disappeared. "You coming?!"
   "Yep!" I yelled back, assuming that he'd heard me.
   "The storm has arrived!". The dragon had now broken a larger gap in the wall. It burst through, sending ice shards flying everywhere. "Prepare to be... Electrified..." It hissed.
   "I'm good, I like being not dead.". I replied, getting ready to depart.
   "But soon, you will be, and there's nothing to stop that.". The dragon stood up tall and stared at me patronisingly. I paused. I shut the trapdoor and faced the so-called 'storm'.
   "What... What do you mean, exactly?" I queried, already having an idea in my head. I slowly shuffled to the side, away from the hole in the floor.
   "That's a terrible flesh wound you've got. It's quite a shame really...".
   "How so?" I asked, daring a quick glance at the trapdoor. "I'm still alive, it'll heal in time.".
   "A normal cut would, perhaps, but I am no ordinary dragon. As an elemental, my electrical power surges throughout my body and passes along to most things I come into contact with, if I want it to." It stated. "You're not dead yet, but your time will come."
   "So you mean.. I'm... I have..." I stuttered. This news was not good in the slightest.
   If what he says is true, I have thousands of volts of electricity coursing through my blood...
   He's lying.
   But.. you said I couldn't trust you, so how do I know you're telling the truth?
   I may not always be a nice person, but I can be if I choose to be.
   So, I'm fine? I'm not going to die horribly and have sudden heart failure at any point?
   You'll live to see another day.
   Relief ricocheted through my lungs. I looked at the dragon and stared at its bright blue eyes, like it was a contest. It looked as though it was reading my thoughts, trying to see what I was going to do. I figured it could tell that I wasn't convinced.
   "You should not believe everything that you hear.". It roared a final time. "Until we meet again, I wish you luck, child.".
   "I'm not a child... dragon!" I yelled back as it began to spread its wings.
   "And I am no simple dragon. I am Storm. Enjoy the rest of your days, as they are numbered.". And with that, it disappeared for the second time, into the darkness above.
   I let out a deep breath and composed myself. I reopened the trapdoor and called out to anyone who was waiting for me.
   "Is it clear? Am I OK to come down?". I didn't receive a reply, so I asked again. This time, I got an answer.
   "Yeah! Come on down, quick!" DD called up to me.
   Wondering why it had to be quickly, I let myself slip down the frozen slope. The ride was not particularly comfortable. I was unable to control my movements, and struggled to stay upright. When I reached the bottom, I slammed into a large pile of cushions.
   Thank Arceus that these are soft cushions and not a pile of bricks!
   "Convenient pile of cushions is convenient." said Rashaun as I stood up.
   "Better than uncontrollably crashing into a solid wall." Ozy remarked.
   We were now stood in a small room consisting of brick walls, a wooden floor, a fully functional ceiling lamp and a door.
   "Where were you? We've been waiting here for a few minutes..." Anton asked.
   "I was worried to say the least." Rashaun added. "We all were!".
   "I'm fine. I just... The dragon got in, and I closed the door so he couldn't get to you. He left - I'm not sure why - and so I hurried down, hoping you were still here.". I didn't tell them about my conversation. How could I? It would've caused unnecessary panic, so I left it alone. Instead, I gave Rashaun a hug for reassurance and to give myself a sense of normality.
   "We have ten minutes left to get out of here. Wherever 'here' actually is..." Shadow said.
   "Well surely we just need to open the door, right?" DD asked, confused as to why no one had thought of this already. She walked to the door, twisted the handle and tried to pull it open. The door, however, refused to budge.
   "Hang on, let me try." Ozy said. He grabbed the doorknob with both hands and pulled with all the strength he had left. The door didn't move a fraction of a millimetre.
   "Or you could just-"
   "Move over, you're twisting it wrong! Rashaun, gimme a hand with this!"
   "Sure thing."
   "Guys, come o-"
   "Where do you suppose it leads, anyway?"
   "Who cares? We need to open it first!"
   "Have you tried pushing it?"
   "HEY!" Shadow yelled over the top of all the voices. He never usually raised his voice, but he'd reached the end of his tether. He walked over to the door, ushering everyone out of the way.
   "If he opens it, I am going to be completely speechless." I said.
   Shadow performed a rhythmic knock on the wooden door.
   "Like that'll actually work." Rashaun commented.
   To everyone's disbelief, the door slowly opened inwards, revealing a pitch black room.
   "Whaaa.. How.. But...".
   Seriously?
   It pays to be polite.
   "It pays to be polite." Shadow said, repeating what I'd already heard. He stepped through the door and it gently closed behind him.
   "Well, I guess that's that then." Ozy said, throwing his arms in the air in frustration.
   "I guess we just knock?". Anton mimicked what Shadow had done and without fail, the door opened once more. "Interesting.".
   "Let's all go through it this time." I suggested. I waited for everyone to go through the door and let it close again.
   I removed my jacket and checked my arm in the light. The cut was big. It wasn't bleeding as heavy as before, but if any more damage happened to my left arm, then I figured it would start again. I got ready to change the tissue, leaving the blood-stained pieces on the floor out of sight, taking a packet from my bag.
   Before I put the fresh tissue onto my arm, I thought I saw a feint blue glow originate from my wound but I shook it off and told myself that my mind was playing tricks on me. I put my jacket back on and proceeded to knock on the door.
   "What took you so long?" Rashaun asked.
   Déjà vu, much.
   "Oh, sorry. I thought I heard a noise behind one of the walls, so I checked it out." I shrugged. "It was nothing. I guess I was just hearing things.". I was getting good at lying, and that wasn't a good thing. Behind me, the door closed for the last time.
   "Right, well, we don't quite know what to do now." he responded.
   "As you can see... We can't." Ozy said.
   "This is what happens when you don't eat your carrots, kids.".
   You know they don't actu-
   Of course I know! It's called a joke... Maybe you ought to learn what one i-
   Brace yourself.
   Brace myself? For what, exactly?
   I wondered if Anton had been told the same thing, but the thought was interrupted by the sound of machinery starting up.
   "Now what?!" DD exclaimed.
   The black walls began to change colour, going from dark to light within seconds. The intensity of the brightness continued to increase. The lights on the ceiling flared and spread their light in such a way that everyone had to close their eyes and shield their faces.
   "Bright light! Bright light!" Ozy cried. Unfortunately, our situation was worse than that depicted in the 'Gremlins' movies.
   "Where's the door?! My eyes cannot handle this much brightness!"
   "Sorry, but I can't help it if I'm exceedingly intelligent."
   "Now is not the time for modesty."
   "Is it ever?"
   I fumbled around for the door handle, but I couldn't find it. In my frustration, I smacked the wall with the palm of my hand.
   Caaaaalm... You don't need any more injuries...
   "Hello everybody. Thank you very much for your patience, perseverance and performance in your first trial. You all deserve a good rest, I think.". By now, we all recognised the patronising voice of our favourite person in the entire world.
    "Wait... Did he say... trial?!"
   "No, he said something much worse." I replied.
   He said "first trial".
   And you all did very well.
   Oh really? You think so? It's not like we almost died or anything.
   I never received a response from the voice. Maybe he was just processing what I'd said. Or perhaps, he had decided not to argue with me. I couldn't be sure.
   "Guys.. Something's not... Right..." DD said between short breaths. The light intensity had dropped, so we were able to see each other to a certain extent.
   "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, running to her and checking her over.
   "A rest..." Shadow said, repeating what we'd been told.
   "You all deserve a good rest.". That doesn't sound good...
   "The air... It's getting thinner...". Anton was now gasping for air. Air that was disappearing quickly.
   "This... is very very bad..." Rashaun muttered under his limited breath.
   "Wai...but wha...". Ozy was trying to speak, but soon collapsed to the floor. He was quickly followed by DD and Anton.
   "Hey.. No..!". I started to feel light-headed. I heard another thud, this time from where Shadow had stood. I could feel my heart rate increasing. I looked over at Rashaun as he fell too.
   "But w...we...".
   "Sweet dreams, everyone.".
   I looked upwards as everything became shrouded in darkness.
   "But w-". I collapsed to the floor.