NightTime Roads

And one more Chapter to take us closer to the end! Two chapters in, a few more left... But don't let this fool you, I'm far from done with you all. More stories ahead, and yet another idea to write... Busy busy busy!

Chapter 23


Antros immediately started to run after them, when he was suddenly held back by Rekia. "What are you doing!? Ayisa is in trouble, we have to help her!" Antros yelled to him, struggling to break free. Rekia didn't release his grip; instead he gripped on even tighter, hoping to calm him down some.

"Don't you think I know that!? But we have to proceed cautiously. We don't know what could be up there. For all we know we would be walking directly into a trap."

"But we can't just sit here!" Antros said in his defense, finally breaking free and facing Rekia. "Even if it is a trap, it's not like we have any other choice! We can't leave here without her, especially with my brother there with her." Antros walked off to the staircase and started to climb. "I have a job to do. It's my responsiblity to guard and protect the princess, even at the cost of my life."

Rekia watched him go on with a determined look on his face, and swore under his breath. Evia walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He's right you know. We really don't have much choice in the matter."

"I know, I know. I'm just... blowing off steam I guess."


The staircase lead to a second floor, a small stone room filled with bottles of all sorts. Few of them were empty, and most of the others contained strange colors and mixtures that Antros could only dream about. Some of them were also filled with human body parts, from feet to hands, and even a heart. Antros suddered at this. What the hell are they doing in here!? I hope Ayisa is ok... Turning his back to the bottles, he walked on to another staircase, which lead still further up. As he walked upwards and out of sight, Rekia and Evia entered this room.

Evia turned away at the sight of th ebody parts, and Rekia coudn't blame her. Taking a closer look, Rekia found that each one was being preserved, most likely to be used for research on human anatomy. But another more gruesome thought he had was, where exactly they managed to obtain these parts. Leading Evia away, who made sure her eyes were completely covered form the sight, they moved on in hopes of catching up with Antros.

The next room looked to be a study of sorts. Bookshelfs lined the walls of the room, as if they had been to be a part of the wall itself. Maybe of the books' titles were faded and unreadable, while most of the ones that were readable, were in a language Antros had never seen before. Tables and chairs covered most of the floor space, leaving a small path that lead to the next staircase. As Antros ascended these stairs, Rekia and Evia managed to enter.

Evia lost no time in wonder how they managed a struggling Ayisa through this room without knocking something over. It then hit her that they most likely had knocked her out. Evia followed the path through the room to get to the staircase when Rekia's voice stopped her.

"Evia... come look at this." Rekia pulled down a book that he could read and gazed at the title. History of Kingdom of Gaia was printed on the cover and Rekia opened it to a page somewhere in the middle. As he read he couldn't believe how accurate the information inside the book was. The detail was such as if the person who wrote the book had actually seen and witnessed the many events that had occured during the kingdom's rise. Rekia himself didn't even know half of the things mentioned in the book. "Where could they have gotten this from..."

"Rekia, we have to hurry, Antros is getting ahead and we need to help Ayisa."

"Ayisa... yeah..." Rekia shook his head. He hardly realized how out of it he had been when he looked into the book. Closing it and reshelfing it, he went back with Evia onward, looking back to the book once more before it vanished from his sight.

Once he reached the top, Antros was shocked at what he saw. Idora and Kilas were standing near a large cannon, much larger then Antros had ever seen in his life, which in this case was really saying something. Ayisa was behind them, knocked out cold on the ground, looking rather peaceful. "Ayisa! What have you done to her!?"

"Calm yourself dear boy, she is quite alright. Nothing lasting anyway. And now that you are here, you can witness the greatness of my kingdom." He ran his hand over the cannon. "This is the kingdom's most powerful weapon, the Blast Cannon, capable of completely destroying any wall or barrair in it's path. Much more powerful then the standard cannons back Gaia Kingdom. With this, I will be able to build myself an empire, worthy of my name."

"That's insane," came the response of Rekia, who had just arrived with Evia. "Then again, considering what you've been planing, I wouldn't put it past you to have thought it up."

"Hah. Once we use this cannon to destroy you, it won't matter what you think," Idora said, smiling again. "And I'll finally have my revenge."

"Actually Idora..." Idora turned to see Kilas punch him down to the ground, directly in front of the cannon. "Now that you've helpped me, your useless to me now. You played a perfect pawn for me, right to the very end. But now, I'm afraid you've outlived your usefullness."

"Why am I not surprised..." Antros said sarcastically. Antros charged foward, but fell as Idora tripped him up. "What are you doing!?"

"If I die, I will at least take you down with me!" Idora said, pulling him back.

"Oh someone is gonna die, and it will be-" Suddenly he stopped and was knocked foward. Ayisa had awakened and rammed her body into him. It wasn't much to stop him, but it was enough. Evia took aim with one of her saved arrows and fired it, the arrow striking Kilas where his heart would be. Kilas gripped his chest as he felt the arrow priece through his skin and strie his vital organ. "No... no... my empire..."

"Your twisted dream will never come true!" Antros kicked Idora off, who was then restrained by Rekia. Rushing up with his only chance, he unleashed his sword and struck. The blade passed through him easily as he stumbled backwards, to a window. Tripping over he fell, straight through the window, shattering the glass as he fell from the tower to the ground and his impending death. "Ayisa!"

Antros rushed to Ayisa, who was winded and hugged her. "Ayisa, that was great! You did me so proud."

"Very well done Princess. That was certainly a side of you I haven't seen before." Rekia commented, still keeping the subdued Idora down on the ground.

"You did really great Ayisa. I guess this means you saved your kingdom!" Evia said smiling.

Ayisa blushed from all this attention, and Antros hugged her. "I guess it's over then, right Antros?"

"Yeah. It's over. Now let's go home."