The Path of Destiny

[Scytherwolf]

The Path of Destiny
Chapter 11 - Shadowflare

With a chorus of growls and snarls, the houndour pack leapt to the bottom of the rise and surged toward the group as one. One furious, snarling pack… Snowcrystal stared at the oncoming enemies in terror. There were far too many of them. “Run!” she shouted.

“No!” Wildflame yelled back suddenly, then lowered her voice as she quickly said, “We won’t get away by running. I know Blazefang. He’s a coward. If we put up a fight, he’ll turn tail and run.” Without another word, she stood boldly in front of the group, facing the oncoming houndour pack, and Snowcrystal, who couldn’t bear to see Wildflame get attacked, summoned up her courage and stood beside her.

Spark stepped up beside Snowcrystal as his fur sharpened into the familiar pointed spines. Stormblade stood beside him, and by that time, the houndour were so close that Snowcrystal could see their fangs clearly even in the darkness.

A bright flash of light illuminated the area as a bolt of lightning struck one of the closest houndour, who collapsed in a cloud of dust, only to stand up and shake himself off before running toward them again. Spark however, didn’t seem to notice. “Did you see that?” he cried, turning to Stormblade. “I got him! I-arrrghhh!”

Spark let out a cry of pain as a flamethrower attack seared across his shoulder and the side of his face, sending him stumbling him backward. Stormblade ran toward the houndour who’d just fired the attack, who was now mere seconds from reaching the group. Seeing this, Snowcrystal leaped forward as well, just as a rather large and bulky-looking houndour ran in front of her. Before she could figure out how exactly she was going to fight this fierce opponent, he leaped toward her and locked his teeth savagely around her leg.

The houndour bit down harder, and for a moment Snowcrystal thought he would break her leg. Then, unexpectedly, Wildflame bounded toward the houndour, knocking him aside. “Leave her alone, Boneclaw!” she snarled.

Snowcrystal stood up shakily and glanced around. Spark was struggling to his feet, the fur on his face singed. Stormblade was fighting off three houndour who were trying to reach the wounded jolteon, and Rosie had leaped on another houndour’s back and was holding on with her teeth while he tried to shake her off, snapping his jaws at her. Due to the fact that Rosie was making a complete fool out of him, Snowcrystal would have thought the sight was amusing if it weren’t for the seriousness of their current situation.

Snowcrystal ducked behind Stormblade to where Spark was, while the scyther and Wildflame did most of the work holding off the pack that now nearly surrounded them. To her surprise, Wildflame was doing exceptionally well; she had already sent a few of the houndour fleeing, though quite a few of them hung back, either wary of the fighters or awaiting their leader’s orders. Snowcrystal couldn’t see their leader…and now that she realized it, she couldn’t see Thunder either, and if they ever needed her to fight like a mad pokémon, it was now.

“Spark!” she whispered quickly. “Stay here…I’m going to find Thunder…I’ll be back!” Spark nodded in silence as Snowcrystal tore off through the bushes before the houndour could stop her, knowing all too well that she was practically hopeless in battle.

To her surprise, she found Thunder almost immediately, standing in the midst of some thorn bushes among a small group of trees. The scyther glanced at Snowcrystal as she came to a halt, the sounds of battle very close by from the next clearing.

“Thunder! We need your help back there,” Snowcrystal gasped.

To her surprise, Thunder shook her head, turning away. “I am not going near there,” she stated simply.

“We need your help!” Snowcrystal cried. “Please!”

“No…” Thunder replied, and though it might have been her imagination, Snowcrystal thought the scyther’s voice sounded a bit shaky. “I…don’t want to…”

Snowcrystal stared at Thunder in disbelief. In the short time since Thunder had joined them, she had never known this scyther to act this way. With Thunder, it had quickly become apparent that she was the type to attack first and ask questions later. Now she was acting as if…Snowcrystal felt both confusion and hopelessness at the thought…it was almost as if…she was afraid… She knew somehow that whatever Thunder was afraid of, it wasn’t the houndour back in the clearing. Yet why she was in this strange mood was a mystery to her.

The sounds of screaming and the bright light of flame shining over the rocks and sparse grass only served to remind Snowcrystal of how badly the others needed help. The white growlithe turned back to Thunder, and then said something even she herself hadn’t been expecting, something crazy she never would have thought of saying to this scyther had she been thinking clearly. “Thunder, what are you doing? Those houndour could kill them and you’re just sitting here! Go back…now!” As the words left her mouth, Snowcrystal wanted to take it back, but she made herself stand firm as she faced the scyther, waiting for her response. Thunder seemed more shocked than angry.

Snowcrystal noticed that Thunder’s eyes suddenly had a faraway look, and she wasn’t focusing on the growlithe at all. “No…” Thunder growled, and her gaze flicked back to Snowcrystal. This time, she was angry, and the small fire type backed up as Thunder took a step toward her, the scyther’s glare looking like it could burn through the growlithe’s fur.

Snowcrystal leaped back with a cry of shock as a plume of bright red flame shot by them, catching a nearby tree on fire. She turned to see five houndour from Blazefang’s pack all racing toward her. Watching them, Thunder stepped from the bushes, glancing almost idly at one of her wings, the topmost edge of which had been burned by the blast of flame.

Silently the scyther watched the approaching houndour, and her gaze hardened. And then all that had made her seem reluctant and afraid vanished. Without warning, she charged toward the group of dark types, fangs bared and scythes ready to strike.

The first houndour halted at the sight of the crazed scyther heading straight for him and his pack mates. His nerve failed him. With a yelp of fright, he turned, wanting to get as far away from his attacker as possible. A deep slice to his back brought him crashing to the ground. Only the thick bone-like bands across his back saved his life. Another houndour collapsed nearby, and the first houndour couldn’t tell how badly injured he was.

Snowcrystal had already hurried back through the bushes toward Spark, who was now bleeding from a wound in his back leg as well. Rosie was lying unconscious behind him. Up ahead, the clearing was full of chaos. Snowcrystal could see the leader, Blazefang, motioning toward the other houndour, but they weren’t paying much attention. Stormblade and Wildflame were still managing to hold their own, and the houndour were mainly focusing on attacking them.

Snowcrystal stayed near Spark, glad to see that his burns, although painful-looking, were neither deep nor serious. Near the other side of the clearing, three frightened houndour burst through the bushes-the remainder of the five who had threatened Thunder and Snowcrystal. An eerie, unnatural-sounding cry resounded through the area, causing several houndour to stop fighting and freeze where they stood. A moment later, Thunder burst through the bushes to land standing in the midst of the houndour pack. Many of the houndour backed off a bit, but Thunder showed no sign that she even realized that many of them were trying to flee.

Blazefang froze as he watched the scyther strike left and right, wounding all who came too close. Boneclaw, having just narrowly escaped having a limb severed, landed heavily on his paws as he leaped aside, launching a fire attack at Thunder. Blazefang was taken aback at the crazed look in the scyther’s eyes, and he knew that if he didn’t do something, his pack would soon be minus quite a few members.

“Fire attacks you idiots!” Blazefang called from his vantage point on a large boulder. “Kill her! Aim all your attacks at the scyther!”

The houndour, fearful for their lives, were quick to obey, using their type to their advantage. Thunder backed away as several flamethrower attacks blazed towards her. She managed to shield her face with her blades before a particularly strong flamethrower struck her, burning deeply into her shoulder. Still weak from all the exertion of the day and previous night, Thunder nearly collapsed, stopping her fall only by sinking her blade into the sandy earth beneath her. A rather bold houndour ran toward her, locking his teeth around her leg while another, encouraged by his pack mate’s bravery, tried to tear her injured wing.

Thunder managed to shake them off, but her attempts at striking them with her blades failed as they darted quickly away. She stood back on her feet, but whatever her trainer had been trying to teach her by starving her, she certainly wasn’t in good enough health to keep fighting after spending so much of her energy.

Snowcrystal, Spark, Wildflame and Stormblade broke off from their battle with a smaller group of houndour and ran toward the ones attacking Thunder, bringing a few down with electric, fire, and flying attacks, but they didn’t stop enough of them in time. Multiple fire attacks struck Thunder at once, bringing her down. Several of the houndour leaped towards her, trying to hold her down with fangs and claws.

Thunder managed to free herself from their attacks momentarily, pausing to catch her breath. Snowcrystal could see that Thunder had burns in several places and parts of her natural armor had been punctured and were seeping blood. Regardless, the scyther staggered forward to face the houndour pack who were ready to put their flamethrower attacks to good use.

“Kill her!” Blazefang roared.

“No!” Snowcrystal, Spark and Stormblade shouted simultaneously, but it was Stormblade who acted first. Leaping behind the group of houndour advancing toward Thunder, he knocked a few of them to the ground with the flat of his blade, while Thunder, unaware of this, took a running leap at the big stolid houndour called Boneclaw.

Thunder knew that her strength had been used up, that the odds had been stacked against her, but all the same she could not ignore the training and fighting techniques that had been burned into her mind until it was like an instinct. Fight no matter how much pain she was in until there was no possible way to continue. This was just like one of Master’s battles.

Boneclaw froze as the scyther leaped toward him, blade raised. The houndour closed his eyes instinctively, knowing that there was no time to avoid it…

Yet his opponent never got to strike. Just as she leaped toward him, Thunder lost consciousness before she ever got to use her attack. Colliding into Boneclaw as she fell, the scythe that had been raised fell forward, thudding into the soil beside him. Boneclaw was sent flying backward as Thunder’s momentum sent both her and the houndour plowing into the sandy earth. Coughing up dust and struggling for a moment, Boneclaw pushed the fainted scyther away from him with his back paws and scrambled toward Blazefang.

Stormblade turned toward Thunder’s still form, and he could see the other houndour standing triumphantly beside the fallen warrior. Horrified, Stormblade could not tell what had brought her down, could not tell if she was breathing. His gaze drifted toward the houndour giving orders. The leader. Blazefang, the one who had ordered Thunder to be killed. Turning around, Stormblade stared hard into the houndour’s eyes. “Blazefang!” he yelled.

Blazefang stumbled backwards from his perch on the rock as Stormblade charged toward him. Boneclaw tried to help his leader by firing a flamethrower at the scyther, but Stormblade was moving far too fast to be hit. In seconds he reached Blazefang, who could only keep backing up frantically as the slashing scythes came within a hair’s breadth of his face. Common sense told him to use a fire attack, but he couldn’t manage it when he was using every bit of his energy to scramble back as quick as he could as the scyther’s slashing blades came closer and closer to him.

Snowcrystal and Spark ran to Thunder’s side, firing attacks at any houndour who came too close, while Wildflame protected Rosie. Snowcrystal could tell that Thunder was still alive, just out cold. She couldn’t understand why Thunder hadn’t run and found shelter when she was too weak to carry on. Instead, she had kept fighting until she passed out from exhaustion and weakness. Snowcrystal didn’t understand; it just didn’t make sense. Hadn’t Thunder been unwilling to fight just before?

A couple houndour yelped in pain and fled from the battle as a thunderbolt from Spark struck them. Snowcrystal noticed with mild surprise that most of the houndour were fleeing now.

Wildflame, meanwhile, was both exhausted and confused. Hadn’t Blazefang said this would be a quick mock battle? Noticing Blazefang being driven back by Stormblade, Wildflame could do nothing but hope that the houndour leader knew what he was doing.

Blazefang stared at Stormblade in terror as one of the scyther’s blades pierced his paw. The houndour stumbled, landing flat on his back as Stormblade stood over him. Blazefang’s eyes widened in horror as he noticed that the pack had fled. He was left alone. With a strength born of desperation, he managed to fire a blast of flame at Stormblade, who dodged, landing easily to one side. Blazefang stood up and backed away, Stormblade’s gaze still boring into him.

It was then that Blazefang felt that same strange feeling…the feeling he had felt when he had woken up in the forest after he’d touched the purple stone and heard the word Shadowflare. It was as if some new power within him was waiting to be released, the power the stone had given him…Shadowflare.

Stormblade was taken aback when Blazefang suddenly smirked, and there was something in the houndour’s gaze that frightened him. Snowcrystal also sensed something was amiss, and raised her head just in time to see Blazefang launch another fire attack.

Yet it was the strangest attack she had ever seen. Blazefang’s eyes glowed a bright yellowish-white as he fired it, and the attack itself looked somewhat like flamethrower. However, it glowed an almost blinding white-hot, with a tint of blue, and streaks and specks of purplish black flickered over the beam. Snowcrystal’s eyes went wide with shock and she almost turned away from the burning intensity of the white flames.

Stormblade didn’t need to stop and look to know that it was bad news. Without hesitating for an instant he turned and darted to the right of the oncoming inferno. However, to everyone’s shock, the flames swerved and followed him. Stormblade, even with the natural born speed of a scyther, couldn’t outrun it. Doing the only other thing he could think of, he ran behind a large tree. Yet it did him no good. The raging flames blasted completely through the trunk, colliding into Stormblade’s body and sending him sprawling on the ground, a moment before the burning top half of the tree toppled over and crashed down, landing across the scyther’s back.

For a moment, Blazefang only stared at the motionless Stormblade and the burning tree that had been severed completely through near its halfway point. The houndour lowered his gaze and followed the deep scorch marks in the ground leading to the tree; every bit of grass in its path had been burned to nothing, and even the ground looked scorched.

Blazefang noticed a small bit of white flame burning a clump of grass nearby, and backed away. “What the-what is this?” he whispered to himself, looking horrified. Not even fire blast had the kind of power to blast completely through a large tree, and what kind of attack followed after its enemy? Whatever this was, there was nothing natural about it. Blazefang reached up to the violet stone with his claws and tore it from his neck, flinging it onto the blackened earth before turning and fleeing after his pack.

Snowcrystal hardly noticed him. She ran to the side of the tree, nudging Stormblade’s still form. Only his head, wings, and a part of his blades were visible from beneath the thick tree trunk, and to Snowcrystal’s dismay, Stormblade gave no response.

Spark, still stunned, was sitting beside Thunder, who was beginning to come around, and Rosie, who had already woken up. Wildflame sat a few yards away, looking just as shocked.

“What’s going on?” Thunder demanded, making Snowcrystal look up. However, the white growlithe didn’t reply, even when Spark limped over.

“Stormblade…” Spark whispered. “What happened? …How…”

“He’s dead,” Thunder stated calmly as she took a couple of paces toward them. “What more do you want to know?”

Spark didn’t reply, and Snowcrystal frantically slammed her body against the tree trunk, trying to move it. The fire was slowly dying down, but it was still spreading across the tree’s length. Again and again Snowcrystal tried to move the large tree, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Stop that,” Thunder muttered. “He’s dead. As in, not going to move…ever again. I see no point in tiring yourself out trying to move that tree. Stormblade’s dead. Forget it and move on.”

“No…” Snowcrystal whispered. She was too tired to continue, and could only claw feebly at the tree’s bark. No matter what Thunder said, Snowcrystal couldn’t bring herself to believe her. “You’re wrong…he can’t be dead.”

“Face it,” Thunder stated. “Everyone dies. I don’t see why you should be making such a fuss over it.”

Snowcrystal didn’t reply. She slowly slid to the ground, resting her head against the side of the tree, feeling hopeless. She felt almost as if…everything was over now…the journey…everything… “Snowcrystal…” she looked up to see Spark’s face close to hers. She turned away, not believing that any comfort he could give her would ever make her feel any better. “Snowcrystal…Stormblade’s still alive.”

Snowcrystal lifted her head again, staring straight into Spark’s eyes. “He’s…alive?”

Spark nodded, and Thunder only looked mildly surprised. Rosie, who had stayed back until then, stood up and walked away from Wildflame and toward the tree. “You sure…you sure he’s not dead?” she asked in a scared voice.

“No…” Spark answered. “But…”

Thunder stepped up to where Stormblade lay, close enough to hear his shallow breathing. “Okay, well, this is nice and all,” she muttered. “But you do realize he won’t last longer than a few minutes. That’s life. We better get going now before the blood attracts any unfriendly visitors.”

“What?” Snowcrystal cried, shocked. “You expect us to just leave him here?” She watched as Thunder merely shrugged and turned away. Rage built up inside Snowcrystal, and she wanted to claw Thunder in the face. How could she be so indifferent? Deciding to forget about it for the moment, she turned back to Stormblade. Luckily, the way the tree and its branches had landed had prevented him from being crushed, but he was still pinned. Snowcrystal pushed against the tree again, knowing all too well that the fire was still spreading slowly along the trunk. “Everyone…help me!” She cried, and Spark, Rosie, and even Wildflame approached her and pushed against the fallen tree as well.

At last their efforts combined managed to push the blazing trunk away from Stormblade, who still lay prone on the ground. Snowcrystal ran to his side, glancing over the deep and serious burns that covered the top half of his body. Most of the scyther’s natural armor on his back and shoulders had been burned through, no doubt reaching the flesh beneath, and sections of his wings had been burned away as well. Thunder simply stared at him impassively, not seeming at all concerned or shocked at Stormblade’s condition. Snowcrystal, however, stepped closer. “Stormblade…” she whispered, carefully nudging his side. The scyther, still unconscious, didn’t respond.

Spark and Rosie also approached, but Wildflame stood back, simply watching. Snowcrystal carefully examined the scyther’s wounds. The worst of the burns by far were on his back, wings, and shoulders, but there were also burns across his arms, chest, and face as well. All of them were far worse than the burn wounds Thunder and Spark had sustained. Snowcrystal couldn’t help but stare in shock. She had seen pokémon receive wounds from fire attacks before, but this was something else entirely. Even Thunder looked healthy compared to the still figure lying at her feet, and in addition to the burns, Stormblade’s leg had been damaged from the tree’s fall.

“I think he’ll live,” Snowcrystal said at last. “But not for long if we don’t get help.”

“Where are we supposed to get help from?” Rosie asked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere with a houndour pack chasing us, and one of them knows that freaky attack…”

“Guys…” Spark began hesitantly, “I think…I know what that attack was…it may sound strange, but…”

“And how do you know what the heck that was?” Rosie snapped, and Spark didn’t answer.

“Look,” Wildflame spoke up, “Blazefang’s pack will be after us again soon. We must keep going. Once Stormblade wakes up, he’ll have to keep up. We need to get out of here.”

As if in answer to Wildflame’s statement, Stormblade began to stir. Thunder, who had been quietly resting, looked up and glanced toward Stormblade, waiting to see what he would do.

“Stormblade?” Snowcrystal whispered again, just as the scyther opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to look at her.

“Snowcrystal…is Thunder…the others…alive?” Stormblade’s voice sounded strange to Snowcrystal, not like she was used to hearing it. He sounded weak and disoriented, rather than strong and brave like he had always seemed to her earlier.

“Yes,” she answered softly. “Everyone’s all right…mostly…Spark and Thunder are injured, but they’ll be okay in a little while.” Really, she wasn’t so sure, but their injuries weren’t as bad as his, and she didn’t want Stormblade to worry.

“Psh…” Thunder muttered, rolling her eyes. “Well if he’s awake, let’s get a move on already!”

Stormblade made no move to rise, and just lay completely still. “Please get up,” Rosie told him. “We have to get out of here.”

To Snowcrystal’s surprise, Stormblade did try to stagger to his feet, though it was obviously paining him, and she noticed that he wasn’t putting any weight on his injured leg, keeping it off the ground and using his scythes to help himself stand instead. Snowcrystal stood beside the injured scyther to try and help steady him, but it didn’t seem to help much; she was so small compared to him. Stormblade collapsed to the ground a moment later, and didn’t try to get up again, but lay shaking, his eyes closed tightly.

“Oh come on!” Thunder growled impatiently, kicking Stormblade in the side. “Get up! You’re not dead!”

“Stop it!” Snowcrystal yelled. She turned toward Stormblade, encouraging him to stand up again; knowing that if he didn’t, the others would have to leave him behind.

“Look, we have to get out of here,” Wildflame whispered urgently. “You saw that something’s wrong with Blazefang. You have to get him to move!”

“Just leaving him there would make life a lot easier,” Thunder muttered under her breath.

Snowcrystal tried to help Stormblade, but she was too small, and wasn’t much help at all. Spark couldn’t do anything in his wounded state, and Snowcrystal didn’t feel like asking for help from Wildflame or Thunder. At last Stormblade managed to stand again, and Rosie and Thunder ran on ahead, while the others followed a bit more slowly.

Spark was no longer his usual talkative self, and his injured shoulder seemed to be giving the jolteon a lot of grief. Rosie’s wounds were minor, as were Wildflame’s, though the houndoom stayed back a bit. Snowcrystal assumed she must be tired still. Thunder was up ahead, moving rather quickly despite her wounds, acting as if they weren’t there, just as she had done before.

Snowcrystal soon found herself at the back of the group, feeling lost and hopeless. She glanced upward as a loud thunderclap sounded overhead. Soon after, rain pelted down on the travelers, making the going far more muddy and slippery. The little growlithe paused for a rest against a large rock, feeling tears coming to her eyes.

She didn’t know what they would do now…

-ooo-

Stormblade cried out as he stumbled once again over the now slippery wet rocks. He struggled to get up again for a few seconds before he realized that someone was standing beside him. Turning around, he was surprised to see Wildflame standing there.

Attempting to growl as he staggered upright, Stormblade made an effort to get into a battle stance, or as close to one as he could get without injuring his leg further. “Get away from me!” he hissed from between clenched teeth.

The houndoom said nothing as she stepped closer to the wounded scyther, offering him her shoulder to lean on. Stormblade stared back uncertainly for a moment before he accepted her help, allowing Wildflame to assist him over the rocks, as together they gradually followed the others under the rain-filled sky.

To be continued…