Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-44544645-20191211195811/@comment-44544645-20200118204705

Hi! Sorry I made you guys wait so long for the next chapter. I hope you like it!

Also, I'm editing the chapter above a tiny bit.

Twenty-Five

'''Fitz lunged for his traitorous brother, but Ruy got there first, grasping Alvar in a strangle-hold. “I think we can all agree that we all need to know why this idiot is here—so I’ll get the story out, and in the meantime, you won’t be killing me.”'''

'''“And in case you need proper motivation…..” Trix made winds swirl into a mini-tornado. “I won’t hurl this at anyone. Yet.”'''

'''Grady held his hands up. “All right. Ceasefire for the next five minutes.” He pulled out an hourglass. “The minute this thing runs out of sand, we’re capturing you three and taking you to the Council.” He tipped the hourglass over.'''

'''“Keep telling yourself that,” Trix smirked. '''

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?” Ruy shouted, his hands wrapping around Alvar’s neck.

“show...I’m...your side!” Alvar blurted, his speech slurred and diffcult to decipher.

'''He was barely anything more than skin and bone due to being trapped in a pod in a troll hive, full of a solution that was causing him to slowly die. Bleeding from two wounds and covered with scars from a shamkniv, he looked weak and helpless—but that didn’t match the fury in his eyes as he stared directly at Sophie.'''

'''She stumbled back, nervous, and then Keefe grasped her hand. “Chill, Foster. It’s okay.”'''

'''It wasn’t okay—but this wasn’t the time for that. '''

'''“Haven’t we already rejected you? You’re worthless!” Ruy emphasized the insult by grasping his neck so tightly it looked like he was going to strangle Alvar.'''

'''Alvar gestured behind Sophie. “Can fight...goblin...did that.” Sophie spun around, looking at Sandor, whose arm was tied up with a scrap of blood-soaked fabric.'''

“Sandor!” 

'''“It’s merely a cut,” he told her, grimacing. '''

It was much more than that.

'''She rushed to him, handing him a handful of Panakes petals. “Press them into the wound, or swallow them.”'''

'''Grizel sauntered over. “It’s a good thing your girlfriend actually remembered her medicine.” She handed him a dark vial, filled with thick sludge.'''

'''Sandor downed it one gulp, and Sophie breathed a sigh of relief as the gash on his arm stopped bleeding so badly. '''

'''“I can fight with either hand, Miss Foster. No reason to worry.”'''

Was everyone quoting Alden now?

'''“Yes, while that’s all very touching,” Trix rolled his eyes, turning his stare to Alvar. “You think that giving a goblin a small cut proves your commitment?”'''

“Can...do more….fight.” Alvar coughed blood from the effort of speaking, and that’s when Sophie realized—he might be dying.

That didn’t stop Alvar from grabbing a throwing star and flinging it.

Too late, Sophie realized that all of her friends were off guard.

And Linh was standing far too close to the traitor.

She twisted to stop the weapon from hitting her chest—but that didn’t stop it from digging into her side.

Sophie gasped in shock and horror as blood seemed to fly everywhere, and Linh fell with a crash.

“LINH!” she cried.

Please let her be okay, please let her be okay……

Biana rushed to Linh, covering her wound with Panakes petals, but Sophie knew that wouldn’t be enough.

'''“I think our truce is over!” Tam shouted, sending shadows at Alvar and Ruy, binding the two of them together. He lunged for Trix next, but Trix knocked him back with a gust of wind and raised a crystal to the light, leaping awawy.'''

'''“NOBODY hurts my sister and gets away with it!” he shouted, rolling to his feet and punching Ruy when Ruy fought against the dark bonds. His silver-blue eyes were full of fury, and Sophie was very glad that he was on their side.'''

Was it over?

It seemed to be over…..

'''“She’s still alive,” Biana called from where she was trying to get Linh to swallow Panakes petals. “We need to get her to a Physician right now.”'''

'''“My pathfinder leads directly to Foxfire,” Della called, spinning the multifacedted crystal and locking it on a glittering facet. “Mr. Forkle told Elwin to be on standby, so he’ll be at the Healing Center.” “I’m taking her there!” Tam declared, yanking the pathfinder from Della’s hand and racing to his sister.'''

'''“You’ll need someone else to carry her,” Jax offered. “I can come with you.”'''

“Sure.”

The two of them grabbed Linh and leaped away before anyone could respond.

'''Sir Osmond was conversing with a dwarf, and he told the group, “The hideout collapsed in the battle. All of the Neverseen’s dwarves are unconscious—we’re going to turn them into the Council as well. Our dwarves are rounding up the traitors.”'''

“What about Luzia?” Sophie asked.

'''“She got hit by a chunk of falling rubble, and…..” Sir Osmond tralied off. “Limir saw her skull get crushed, gray matter and all. She’s dead.”'''

“What about the Neverseen members?” Juline asked, making Sophie realize they had more than one problem at the moment.”

'''Edaline conjured up a coil of the thickest rope she had, along with several glass bottles. “Can someone help me tie them up more securely? And I have a sedative.”'''

'''“We’ll take care of it,” Sandor cut in, leading the goblins behind him. “We can secure the rebel dwarves, too.” The bodyguards made short work of tying up the traitors, aided by the Black Swan’s dwarves, who appeared moments later with the unconsicous dwarves. Edaline started pouring the sedative down their throats.'''

“My pathfinder leads to Eternalia,” Grady offered.

'''“Are the Councillors going to be awake?” Dex asked. He looked at his Disneyland watch. “It’s the middle of the night.”'''

“Does anyone have an Imparter that’s been authorized by a Councillor on them?” Grady asked.

'''Sophie felt her tunic pocket, glad she’d remembered to bring the silver communication device. “My Imparter has access to Bronte and Oralie—I can hail one of them and tell them to spread the word to the other Councillors and meet us in Eternalia.”'''

'''Dex grinned. “Bronte would probably find a way to inflict on you via Imparter if you woke him up this late.”'''

'''Sophie laughed at the joke. “Fair enough.” She pulled the device out. “Okay, show me Councillor Oralie.”'''

Twelve agonizing seconds passed before…..

'''“Sophie? Is anything wrong? What happened?”'''

“Everything’s mostly fine.” 

'''“Sophie, you’ve got dried blood all over your face and tunic. Are you—”'''

'''“It was just a bloody nose.” She kept it to the basics. “We’ve captured Ruy, Alvar is either dead or captured, and Luzia Vacker’s dead. We’ve also captured eight of the Neverseen’s dwarves, the stellarlune-enhanced ones. Can you tell all the other Councillors to meet us in Eternalia just outside your castles?”'''

'''“Of course.” Oralie’s azure eyes met Sophie’s. “Is everyone else okay?”'''

'''“Linh’s hurt pretty badly….” She didn’t want to dwell on that, so she cut herself off. “Other than that, nothing life-threatening.” Before Oralie could respond, she went on. “We need to focus on the Neverseen right now, okay?”'''

It was the only way to get herself through this.

Keep moving.

'''Keep busy. '''

'You have no control over Linh right now. She’ll be fine. Right?'

'''Keefe grinned. “And if you want to wake up Councillor Alina with a minor explosion, let me know."'''

Despite all the worry, a giggle escaped Sophie’s lips.

'''Oralie smiled. “It’s very tempting, but now’s not the time. I’ll tell the other Councillors. We’ll see you in Eternalia in five minutes. I’m so sorry about Linh.”'''

'''“Elwin can fix anything,” Sophie said, trying to convince herself that the words were true. “She’ll be okay.” She took a deep breath, trying to draw her focus away from the problem she couldn’t fix. “Thanks.”'''

“Anytime.”