Fallen Angels///12

Needless to say, it was a long ride into the hall. There were passages that led from the main hall where we traveled, sprouting deeper into the maze, but we decided to continue on the middle. I was a little uncomfortable sitting so close to Mary, and I could easily tell that she felt the same. She tried her best not to look at me, or even touch me for that matter. Well, I'm not too worried about her… What I WAS worried about was a crackling noise I heard to my right. I turned my head and peered into one of the hallways that we slowly passed, but nothing was there. I heard the same sound come from my left and I looked into another one of the passages. Nothing. It was a very faint sound that no one seemed to hear… maybe I was just imagining it. Suddenly, a loud screeching noise came from up ahead. Everyone gave a jump as Val took a stance and aimed her arrow into the dark. We waited, but nothing came. Val lowered her bow, but didn't disarm it, and kept walking. We followed her at a distance as she peered into the passages she walked by. Another screech came from ahead and she quickly aimed again. Nothing.

I looked forward into the dark, but I couldn't see anything. "Val…"

She turned around to look at me, lowering her bow as she did.

"Take one of the arrows and put fire on its end. Then shoot forward."

"Okay…" She walked over to Adrian and handed her an arrow. Adrian snapped her fingers and like a lighter, set the tip of the arrow ablaze before handing it back to. Val took the arrow and aimed into the dark. She pulled back hard, and then….

Another loud screech came from the hall and we watched the flaming arrow travel deeper and deeper until it finally faded out. Whatever was down there, it wasn't very far. I pulled out my sword and hopped off the platform. "Logan, Carlos, Sam, and Alex, come with me. Everyone else stay here." The guys got of there platforms down and followed me into the hall. Alex took out his sword and set it on fire. Now that was cool. Carlos and Logan pulled out their swords as well and Sam unhooked two axes from his belt. We continued walking deeper into the hall, listening for any small noise, but none came. We were a long way from the others before Carlos pointed at something ahead to the left. We all turned to look as Alex moved his sword forward. It ran away before we could see it.

Alex turned to face us. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, I couldn't see it…"

Sam raised an axe above his head. "Why the hell are we chasing something that’s too afraid to come at us anyway?"

I shook my head, " Maybe you're right…"

A scream came from down the hall and we turned to see the faint light that came from the others move around franticly. Sam turned and ran towards them, shouting, "Lauren!"

We all followed him; Alex's sword still set a blaze. Logan ran faster than the rest of us as Carlos dipped into the shadows. I lifted myself off my feet and flew just over Logan's head. As we approached, we could see… well… I'm not sure how to describe them really, but… they were like, little people… about 4 feet high, and they looked like ugly trolls. They all had the same pale green skin and torn clothing. But what turned my stomach was not the fact that they had small knives and rocks, but that there were at least fifty of them pouring in from the side halls and closing in on the others. I saw Elle and Ariel holding them off with small flames. Terry had taken his sword and pointed at the creatures threateningly. Ricky was standing in front of Mary and Lauren, waving his sword to warn them off. Adrian and Val were standing closest to us and had been isolated from the others. Adrian had done the same Alex had done with his sword, and Val was holding them back by aiming an arrow or two. Logan reached the creatures first and immediately began slicing away at them, their numbers now increasing to about 80, and fought his way to Adrian who had also joined in the fighting. The other guys had dived into the crowd, but I flew straight towards the others at the end. Elle and Ariel looked up at me as I came crashing down feet first into a creature standing behind Ariel. I lifted my sword to the side, took in a deep breath, and gave it a wide swing throughout the air. I wave of air came from the sword and like a knife, cut through the ones in the front, blood pouring from their bodies, and pushed the others back. Ariel and Elle set their swords on fire and began to slice away, blood now spilling the floor. I flew up and with my hands, threw my sword straight at one of the creatures. It went straight into it as it gave a screech before falling face down on the floor. With my hands, I guided the wind and stuck a force that pulled my sword out of the creature and began to navigate it through the crowd, piercing all of those in its path. I turned my head to see Carlos and Sam pushing them back at the other end, but still more of them came.

"Carlos!" I yelled to him from above.

"I'm kinda busy right now, can you call back later?" He moved from one shadow into another and snuck up on about five creatures, slicing the in their backs.

"We need to keep moving! There are too many…" I landed back on the ground just in time to stab one of the creatures coming onto Mary's left.

Carlos moved in the shadows and appeared in front of me, slicing through a creature that was running straight for me. "And how do you think we should do that?" He swung his sword to the left, stabbing two creatures and kicking another one in its face. Sam was to our right and was in hand –to-hand combat with the creatures, kicking and punching and throwing and axe every now and then. He turned his head to us. "We have to get back on the platforms."

I swung my sword at a few oncoming creatures and waved my hand in front of Carlos, sending a few of them flying. "We can't, they are too slow…"

Carlos ducked as I swung over his head and he stabbed at a creature right next to me. "We're gonna have to run for it…" He stood up and ran to the front were Adrian was throwing small balls of fire at the creatures. He began shouting at her as he fought his way through and me and Sam began to rush the others towards Carlos. Dead bodies lay scattered all over the floor, causing me to trip a few times. Yet, there were still about 60 of them, and they just kept coming. We had all fought our way to the front where Adrian and Logan were fighting besides Carlos. Adrian turned to face the creatures and with her sword, drew a huge line of fire that separated us from them.

"Good job." I gave her a smile as she put her seethed her sword. "Thanks."

Carlos turned to face the hallway. "Come on, we have to go." And he ran off. Everyone began to run after him and soon, he could here them coming after us. I looked back to see that they had in fact, broken through Adrian's barrier. "Crap…"

We kept running down the hallway, me and Val were in the back of the crowd, sending arrows and blasts of wind their way to hold them back. Soon, the light that was held by Lauren's staff showed a clearing up ahead and the next door. Carlos gained speed, "Lets go!"

We all ran towards the door and without thinking, he pulled it open and everyone rushed inside. Mary fell behind and tripped, causing her to fall right behind me. I turned around. The creatures were gaining on us. I ran back towards her and picked her off the ground. I lifted us into the air just as a few rocks were being thrown at us and flew into the door where it immediately closed shut behind me. I dropped her on the ground and collapsed as well, my legs aching from running so much. I was a lot warmer now, but when I looked up, I noticed that the room was a dark red cave. Everyone stood in awe, starring at something behind be, so I looked. And what I saw… literally made my jaw drop. We were in a volcanic cave! The ceiling lead up so far that you couldn't even see it and the surface was hot rock. The floor seemed to circle around the edges of the cave, giving a small walking space. About 20 feet down the ledge was an enormous amount of bubbling, boiling hot lava. I had landed just at the ledge of the encavement, and when I looked up from the ledge, I saw a large rock sitting right in the middle of it. But it wasn't the cave that astounded me. Not the lava or the fact that the only way to get to the door at the other end was to walk very carefully around the edges of the surface. No. It was what was on the tiny island 20 feet below us that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my skin turn pale. A gasp came from the others as they too noticed what I was starring at. I stood up and backed away in amazement. What I saw was…