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Chapter 10

Vultoveo

    “GAH!” Luna shrieked, “The water’s freezing!”

    Amber groaned and sprayed her with the hose, “Either that or you walk around covered in slime. Your choice, Princess.”

    The boys had already been sprayed down and were trying to warm up in the fall cold. Kris opened his pocket watched and blinked in shock as the dialed turned to show they were currently a week into fall. “Guys…” Kris whispered.

    “What’s up, Kris?” Jake asked, seeing Kris’ shocked expression.

    “We were in that shack for a week…”

    “A week!?” The group shouted in unison.

    Kris nodded and showed them the watch, the numbers all displaying that they had spent a week in that shack.

    Jake couldn’t believe his eyes. One week he was off in dreamland while Milo was stuck with the shadow king for one week.

* * *

    Milo sat in the corner of his cell, scratching in a ninth tally mark on the stone wall. Nine days he’s been stuck here, half starved and tired. He laid down on the harsh cold floor. His thoughts wandered to Jake.

    Was he okay without him? Have these creatures gone after Jake as well?

    His mind swirled with questions and worry for his brother.

    Not too far away, he could hear the sounds of footsteps and a person struggling. “Let me go! Let me go!”

    Shadow soldiers stopped at a cell across from Milo’s and threw the person into the cell before locking the cell. A girl scrambled off the dirty ground and ran to the door, violently shaking the door and letting out a scream. She fell to the ground, frustrated and crying.

    Milo lied still, waiting until the soldiers were out of earshot. He slowly sat up and moved closer to the bars, “Hey. Are you okay?”

    “What does it look like?” She sniveled and covered her face with her hands.

    “Sorry…” An awkward silence engulfed them for a while. “So… Why did they bring you here?” he asked.

    “I was helping out some rebels… Didn’t think I’d get caught. But I know what is to come. They’ll torture me to get a little peep outta me and then kill me.” She let out  a soft chuckle and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Can you shoot whiskey?”

    “What?”

    The girl pulled out a flask wrapped in leather, tossing it between the bars to Milo. He picked it up and unscrewed the cap, a scent of strong whiskey floated from the flask.

    “Never tried it before. Eh, why not?”

    He took a sip and tossed it back over to her, “Man my brother would kill me if he saw me take the tiniest sip of any alcohol.”

    “So you’ve got family too?”

    “Only Jakey…” He sighed, his heart clenching at the thought of his brother. He could only pray that Jake was okay without him. “The only family I have in the world…”

    “I’ve got family too. I was really young when my parents disappeared, but I was old enough to remember. Now I’ve only got my granny and my little siblings. Those little twerps.” she chuckled, “There was never a time they weren’t driving me nuts.”

"Lucky. I can barely remember my parents. I basically grew up in foster care."

"Ah but you're luckier. You have no memories of them. It is worse to have sweet memories of loved ones that are now gone. Its much more painful."

"No. I think you're wrong. I would rather have sweet memories. It would give me more reasons to smile when times get tough."

She chuckled, "I guess it depends on your philosophy of life I guess."

    Milo turned and smiled at her, “Say, what’s your name?”

    “Serena. And yours?”

    “Milo.”

* * *

    The group had been wandering through the forest for hours already, Kris knew the general direction they had to walk, but this forest was unfamiliar to him, for it was always changing, always moving. No one path ever stayed the same.

    They kept their eyes opened for road signs that would lead them in a desirable direction, but a majority had been tattered, broken, and wearing away.

    “Uh, guys.” Zane said, stopping in his tracks, “I could’ve sworn we passed this sign three times already.”

    The group turned and looked every direction.

“He’s right.” Amber said running over to a tree, “I’ve already marked this tree four times. We’re going in circles.”

“Damn it!” Jake groaned, “How are we supposed to get out of here?”

Kris patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry. We’ll find our way out.”

“AHHHH!” an ear piercing shriek from Luna was heard.

“What is it!” Jake ran to Luna immediately. The other’s readied their weapons for an attack.

“T-there! In the bushes! I could’ve sworn I saw a pair of eyes!”

“Wait. Can you guys hear that?” The group became silent. The sounds of chirping and cawing could be heard, but they got louder every second. Birds of the color crimson perched on a branch above them, staring into the eyes of the travelers.

“God help us.” Kris whispered as he stared, wide-eyed in fear at these birds.

“K-Kris? What are these?” Amber breathed in a tiny whisper.

“Crimson Ravens. Their feathers were stained with the blood of their victims, giving them their crimson color. Very few were able to escape these.”

“Kris?”

“Yes?”

“What do we do?”

“Move slowly. Don’t make any sudden movements.”

The group moved slowly down the trail. More crimson ravens occupied the branches with each step they took, staring straight at each person.

“Kris. There’s too many.” Amber whispered frightenedly.

He grabbed onto her hand, “It’s okay. Walk carefully.”

Crunch! All four turned to look at Luna, who had stepped on a twig.

The crimson ravens were now occupying every branch in sight. Their screeches and squawks were deafening.

“Run?” Amber whispered.

Kris nodded once, “Run.”

“RUN!” Zane shouted.

The birds shot from their perched positions and swarmed around the group, pecking and clawing at anything they could.

“First the stupid bat thingies and now THESE!” Luna shrieked.

A ferocious roar could be heard not too far from where they were. The crimson ravens scattered, flying as quickly away as they could.

“The heck?” Amber said, subconsciously clenching Kris arm. She had a strong grip, but Kris didn't mind, he actually liked it.

"I'm not sure what it is, but I am sure that it's getting dark. I think we should set up camp here.” He said gesturing to a clearing.

"Lovely." Luna sighed looking at the forestry ground. "I'd rather go back to that shack."

"So you can get eaten?" Jake snapped frustrated a bit, he wasn't mad at her but he was frustrated at her stubborness. He knew she was against the entire journey to begin with, but she could at least try to keep high spirits.

Jake sighed, "Look, Luna, I know you didn't want to go on this trip. I know you didnt want any of this trouble. I know this is uncomfortable for you. I know. But please... bear with me. Even though Milo is a complete stranger you might not even care about all that much if at all, he's still my brother. He's all I got left. I have no family, only Milo." Jake was on the verge of tears at the thought of Milo.

Luna's stubborn expression softened. She stood up and slowly approached Jake, pulling him into a slightly awkward hug. "I'm sorry..." she whispered,  "I would do the same if this happened to Sam..."

Jake shook his head and hugged her back, “It’s okay.” He sniffed and wiped his eyes, “Let’s set up camp.”

With that, the group set up their places to sleep and a fire to keep warm on the cold autumn night. They laid their weapons off to the side and huddled around the fire for warmth.

“Man I’m hungry…” Zane said as his stomach proceeded to make dying whale sounds. “And there isn’t much to eat at all.”

The tiny pile of gummy worms, chex mix, cookies, and jerky wasn’t too appealing after their week of eating nothing but fruit that tasted like sweets.

“The jerky bag seems the biggest… Plus I need some meat.” Amber said picking up the bag and tearing it open, passing it on to the others.

“Everything else was ruined by the water.” Zane pouted at the amount of jerky that was available for each person to eat.

“Don’t worry. We’ll reach a town soon enough. Then we can get a good meal to eat tomorrow.” Kris said, trying to reassure everyone. “Let’s just get a good night’s sleep for now.”

* * *

The moon was directly above them at this point in the night and not a single sound nor movement disturbed the forest. All except one of the companions were sleeping.

Amber arose from her sleep as she always did in the night, breathing in the cool air of the night. But it was too silent for her liking. At least in the city it was always awake, producing the sounds of cars passing by or people that were still awake at the time of night. But here it was dead silent. There was no wind to make the leaves move. There was no creature scurrying around to bring food to its den. Nothing.

It was haunting really. The forest was filled with sound until the roar. Since then it had been completely silent, aside from the sound of the group. Amber had felt a sense of uneasiness wash over her. There had to be at least one creature awake.

She quietly got up and paced around the campsite, looking out for anything unusual. Amber heard a rustling sound in a bush not too far away. She snapped her head in that direction. She picked up a dagger and slowly approached the bush. The rustling became louder and louder with every step she took.

She was right up to the bush at this point, the moonlight casting a pale glow upon the leaves. And then, the rustling stopped altogether. Amber waited for a few seconds for something to happen but it was just as still as it was moments before. Amber let out a breath and relaxed, thinking it must have been a small creature.

“Amber?” She turned to see Kris sleepily looking around for Amber, who was missing from where he last saw her.

“I’m over here.”

Kris shook his head and got up, “Hey what are you doing? We’ve got a long day tom-”

He stopped, his eyes widening in fear. “Amber. Don’t. Move.”

She froze, knowing anything that scared Kris must be dangerous. Kris could barely move. Amber slowly turned her head, the human curiosity getting the better of her, only to see a girl standing behind the bush. Amber jumped slightly for not seeing her there a second ago and not even hearing her approach.

“Uh. Hi?” The girl looked at her, confused. Why was she not reacting like Kris?

“A-Amber. What are you doing?” Kris was barely able to speak. The girl slowly walked out from behind the bush, staring straight at Kris. Kris stumbled back, scrambling to grab whatever weapon he could.

The noise had awoken the others, sleepily rubbing their eyes, “Hey what’s all the noise about?” Jake said before blinking a few times and turning to see what Kris was staring at.

“AHHHHHH!” He let out a blood curdling scream that must have been loud enough for the whole forest to see.

Zane and Luna were now fully awake and saw what Jake had screamed about and screamed themselves at what they saw.

This only confused Amber more. The girl’s eyes glowed a soft purple as she stared down the three, who were now holding onto each other for dear life.

Why was she so terrifying? She looked like a girl any guy would fall head over heels for.

“Guys? Why are you freaking out so much?” Amber had enough of this and roughly grabbed the girl’s arm, “Hey! Whatever you’re doing qui-” The girl shook her arm loose and blasted Amber backwards with an invisible force.

“AMBER!”

The four got up to rush to Amber but quickly froze as as the girl turned and growled at them all.

“Amber! Watch out for its fangs!” Zane shouted over the commotion.

“Fangs?! It’s a snail!” Luna shrieked.

“Snail?! It’s a giant spider damn it!” Jake screamed.

Amber got up, rubbing her head, “What the hell? what are you guys talking about?”

The girl turned to Amber, its mouth widening with long, sharp fangs growing from its teeth. Its eyes glowed a bright red as it jumped at Amber, letting out a high pitched screech. Amber kicked and slashed at the creature, only able to cut it here and there before having her arms pinned down.

It was about to bite Amber’s neck before it was suddenly blown aside. Kris quickly pulled Amber to her feet, “Are you okay?”

Amber nodded quickly, “Yeah. Kris what’s going on? What is that?”

The creature then began circling around the two, like a lion that was able to corner its prey.

Kris gulped in fear, shielding Amber. He was shaking so much he could barely hold the sword.

"Forget this..." Amber muttered, she grabbed the sword from Kris and ran at the creature. She swung with all her strength, just missing it by a hair. She ran and swung again, this time leaving a deep cut in its face.

The creature screeched in pain before disappearing completely.

"W-woah..."

They all slowly came to their senses and neared to Amber.

"How did that just happen? " Jake asked, confused that one cut to the face killed it.

"I dont think it was what we all saw..." Kris said, "We all saw something different. That could only mean one thing. I don’t know if I’m correct or not, but I think we just saw a Vultoveo. This monster changes its form into things that scare you the most. Strangely, its form didn’t change for Amber’s eyes."

As Kris spoke, Amber became dizzy. Her vision blurred and he sounded distorted. Finally, she couldn't take much more before she fell limp.

Kris had caught her just in time. "Woah! Amber!"

"Amber are you okay?"

"Amber?"

"Amber!"

Was all she could hear before spiraling into darkness.

* * *

Amber awoke later in a barren, desolate land, where in the sky were large panels floating left and right. Each one contained little bits and fragments of Ambers life, her memories. She watched each one float by as her young self watched as other children were adopted in a flash and driven away or the lonely days she was sit on the swing watching the other children play. She saw each friend she had leave shortly after she thought she had considered them as someone she could trust.

These memories brought tears to her eyes. After spending her entire life trying to forget it all, here they were again.

“Such a sad and pathetic life for such a puny creature.” A voice said, causing Amber to quickly spin around.

There stood the girl from earlier, cuts and bruises were here and there along her arms and face. “Who are you? Where am I?”

“We’re in your mind.” She smiled evilly and lumped up amongst the panels, “Not a soul to be the friend of poor little Amber. Always leaving without thinking about you, and always forgetting about you. Its clear you made no difference in anyone’s life.”

“Stop it.”

“It’s so sad. Caring about so many people and not being the first choice for anyone. You would take a bullet for these people. They don’t even care about you.” She cackled and floated to more panels.

“And what is this? Even allowing yourself to be used by others?”

“Enough!” Amber screamed, “I don’t know who you are or what you are, but just stop!”

The girl floated over to Amber, lifting up her chin and looking into her eyes, “Ah yes. I can see it all. The lonely little girl with no friends. You tried to be good didn’t you? Its obvious that got you nowhere. Even when you would stir up trouble, no one would care enough about you. That caretaker yelling at you was the only attention you could get. There wasn’t a couple in the world that wanted to be your parent. What couple would want a troublemaking teenage girl? Your real parents didn’t even want you.”

Amber pushed her back, screaming and clutching her head, “Stop it! Get out of my head! I don’t want you here! Leave!”

The girl went into a fit of laughter, “Oh dear! Did I make you cry? Did I scare you? How pathetic of a person to fear loneliness and being forgotten.”

Tears were flowing down Amber’s face at this point as she could barely stand, falling to her knees. “Please… Stop…” She whispered.

“Why did you even agree to this mission anyway? The others were quite conflicted on whether or not to go. Is it because you had no reason to stay or was it because of Kris?”

Amber’s eyes widened as she looked up at the girl. The girl rolled her eyes, “Wow. That’s pretty sad. You think that boy cares for you. He doesn’t care at all. Neither do the others. Like anyone would want something so broken.”

The girl walked closer and closer to Amber with every word she spoke. Her face was now inches away from Amber’s, “You’re only a broken toy. Played with over and over and over, only to be thrown away like nothing. No one wants a broken toy.”

The girl’s form slowly backed away and morphed into a doll that looked like Amber. Strings were attached to the doll and above the handle moved a swayed as the worn down, broken doll danced and jumped to the sound of the girl going into an evil sounding fit of laughter that echoed through the barren wasteland.

“That’s. ENOUGH!” Amber screamed, a ball of fire appearing in her hands. She flung it all the doll with all her might, hitting the doll right in the chest, causing it to burst into flames.

“Ooh looks like I angered the little Amber.” The girl taunted, her form still unseen but her voice continuing to echo.

At this point a roaring fire had surround Amber and flames crackled in her hands, the flames could almost be seen in her eyes themselves. Amber stared at her hands in disbelief. How was the fire not burning her alive?

“Ah. Fire. A power that only destroys.” She giggled, “Even if you made it out alive your power would help no one. You’d only be a burden to the world.”

“W-what? My power?”

“Oh you didn’t know? Look at the tattoo on your shoulder. You’re a fire wielder no doubt. Those tattoos only appear when the power has been used to its full potential.”

Amber lifted her sleeve to look at her shoulder and jumped. That mark had not been there before. It looked somewhat like a bird.

“The mark of the phoenix. How convenient you have this power. It seems only fitting to give such a disappointing creature a power that can only destroy. What a burden upon the worlds. You think you can help. You think you can fix things. You think you can do good. But all you can do is destroy. It is completely out of control and destroys everything in it’s path.”

“You’re wrong!” Amber shouted. “You’ve been right about many things so far. I am afraid of the loneliness. I am afraid of being forgotten. And yes, this power I’ve been given does destroy.” Amber admitted, her head hanging as she faced the ground.

“W-what are you doing?” The girl said, her voice lined with sudden fear.

Amber smiled, “But you forgot one thing. Fire has always been a symbol of life as well. It has always granted warmth on the cold winter nights and light for showing the dark road ahead. And there are some things in life that are meant to be destroyed.”

She lifted her head and spun around, hurling a ball of fire into the darkness. A shriek could be heard as the girl appeared, the flames bursting around her and engulfing her. “You’ll pay for this! All of you!”

Amber smirked, “See you in hell.” She said before throwing a final ball of fire that instantly killed her screams.

Rain began to pour and the panels seemed to melt under the water. Amber looked up at the sky, not bothering to shield her face from the droplets. As they landed on her lips, the droplets had a taste that was familiar to Amber.

“My tears.” She chuckled once to herself, “Well whaddya know?”

As the droplets fell from the sky, they washed away the remaining ashes of the girl, revealing a necklace. On the silver chain was a pendent, the center of it contained the silver face of a lion and its mane was made of a golden amber. A silver crown was perched upon its head.

“An amber lion.” She smiled, “How strange.”

The little silver lions jaws opened and released a mighty roar that only a king would make. Amber chuckled and looked up at the sky, closing her eyes and descending into darkness once more.

* * *

The group was sitting around Amber, unsure what to do about their friend. She had grown so cold within the last hour. Kris was pacing back and forth in worry for Amber. The journey had only just begun and Amber was in a death like state.

He ruffled his hair and punched a tree, “How could I have been so stupid?” He muttered to himself. He had regretted pulling them into this journey. He’d wished now to just go back in time and stop from even leaving the castle.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Kris turned around to see Luna standing there, giving him a reassuring look, “Don’t worry Kris. She’s still alive. Her heart is still beating.”

He shook his head and sighed, “Even so… She seems near death. I should’ve stayed at the castle. I shouldn’t have left at all.”

“Don’t think like that Kris. You didn’t see it coming.”

“Hey guys! She’s waking up!”

At that Kris ran over to where Amber was, her eyes just starting to open.

She pulled herself up into a sitting position, looking around at the others, their faces filled with the emotions that faded from worry to relief.

“How long was I out?” She asked, rubbing her head.

“A good hour.” Zane said, checking his watch.

“But we’re glad you’re okay now.” Jake said with a smile.

She looked at Kris, who was now staring at her with tear filled eyes, ready to spill, “Don’t ever scare me like that again.” he croaked, pulling her into a hug.

This had taken Amber by surprise. Kris was normally very composed. She slowly lifted her arms and wrapped them around Kris, who was lightly shaking at this point. “I’m sorry.”

“Amber! Your hair!” Luna said in disbelief.

“W-what about it?” She asked, looking up at Luna.

Luna pointed at her hair, “It’s turning black! I’ve spent enough times in salons to know thats not how hair dye works and thats not normal.”

Kris stood back and saw that her hair was indeed changing colors.

“And what are those marks on your arm there?” Zane pointed at the little lines peeking out from under Amber’s sleeve.

Amber lifted her sleeve to show the phoenix symbol on her shoulder, “Oh yeah… She told me about that. She said when I fully used my power the tattoo would appear.”

Kris’ brows furrowed in worry, “Wait. Who’s she? When did ‘she’ tell you?”

Amber looked at him with confusion, “The girl. You know, the one you were all screaming at. She said we were in my head. And long story short, I don’t think she’ll be much trouble to us after this.”

Kris’ eyes widened, “You survived the vultoveo.”

“The what?”

“The vultoveo. The creature attacks at a person’s greatest fears. I never knew it could enter people’s minds.” Kris looked at her tattoo, “Wait. If you have one, then Luna should have one too.”

They all turned to look at Luna, “Hey why are you all looking at me? I don’t have any tattoo.”

Jake pointed at her ankle, where a little black point peeked out from under her sock, “Luna! Your ankle!”

She looked down and rolled down the sock to reveal a mark that resembled the sun, “Woah. That was not there before.”

Kris looked between the two’s tattoos. They really must be of royal blood, he thought to himself. Their powers are developing quickly. They already have the power marks.

“So what happened anyway?” Jake asked, curious as to how she defeated the creature.

Amber blinked. she wasn’t exactly sure what to say, or how much she was willing to share. “U-u-uh well… It was mainly just kinda screwing around with my head. My powers just kinda came out and I burned her… Um… That’s kind of it…”

Jake lifted a brow at her nondescript answer and shrugged, “Oh well. What did it look like anyway? You know, aside from the giant spider, snail, and snake we saw.”

“It looked like a normal girl. Kinda like the queens of our school and all. Very pretty.” Amber answered, nodding her head.

“Well guys, its been a long night.” Kris interrupted, “I think we can get some sleep now without having to worry about the vultoveo.”

As the group settled into their sleeping places and lied quiet, they could hear the sounds of animals scurrying along the forest floor, birds flying amongst the trees, and bugs making little chirping sounds.

“Oh man… Now we’ll never get to sleep.” Luna joked, causing to group to chuckle a bit before bidding each other goodnight.

Amber lied on her side, and felt a hard object in her pocket. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the silver and amber lion necklace. “How about that?” She held it up in the moonlight, the silver casting a pale glow.

She thought about the night’s events. Even the most beautiful things aren’t always beautiful. She thought to herself.

She turned the lion over  and saw on the back a name engraved in it, “Josephine?”

She shrugged and pocketed the necklace, falling asleep once more.