Chapter 26: Buying Time

Eli fell out of a flash of light. His stomach churned and his skin crawled. "What the heck?" He said dazedly. He turned to see an arch similar to the one he went through. Suddenly, he realized the situation he was in. He jumped up ready to do what he could to fend off the yellow-eyed figure but realized it was nowhere to be seen. Nothing was. He was no longer in Corin academy. He looked around at his surroundings. He was on a barren, rocky landmass surrounded by water. The sound of waves crashing was the most prominent, followed by the howl of the wind. He would have been, but he had no time to question it. His tail was tingling, and a pit in his stomach told where Draven was, or rather, what direction he was in. Eli put the two shards, which were now connected, into his satchel and moved on. As he walked he noticed the bottom of his shoes becoming black. When he took a closer look he noticed that the blackness was soot and ash. He took another look around and saw that all the island was covered in it. His heart sunk as he imagined what must have happened here.

It wasn't long before the tingling in his tail became a burning sensation, Draven was near. Eli found himself scaling the side of a rocky hill. He kept close to the ground, approaching with a crawl. Jumping in like a mad man wasn't in his best interest. Eventually, he got to the top of the hill. He laid at a sheer edge frozen in place. He pressed himself into the ground because Draven was directly below. He sat on the ground comfortably. From where Eli lay, he seemed almost human. He strained his neck to get a further view until he saw Alice. She was sitting in a cage-like structure - that Draven must have created - though seemingly unharmed. Eli let out a sigh of relief, Draven had kept his word.

He wasn't sure but it seemed like the two were speaking. Eli crawled away from the ledge, His mind racing. He was trying to figure out the best to approach but something else decided for him. A low growl made Eli jump. Behind him was a wolf-like creature that stalked forward. Eli backed up, completely overestimating his distance from the ledge. He backed up, realizing too late that he was stepping onto the air. He braced for impact on the rocky ground but it was softer than he expected. "Nice of you to drop by," Draven said with a grin.

Eli shot up from the soft patch that Draven had made to break his fall. "Just for clarity, I knew you were there, you're decades too early to be able to sneak up on me,". Eli stared at Draven in disbelief, up to this point he pictured him as a monster, even on the bus his presence was unbearable, but now, he could hardly imagine that this was the being that murdered an innocent man in cold blood, but he was, and Eli wasn't about to let himself forget that.

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"Eli!" Alice called out.

"Alice!" Eli returned as he ran over to where she was held. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I mean, my neck is a bit bruised but I'm fine." A shiver ran up Eli's spine.

"I hope you have the other two shards kid," Draven said. Eli turned to face him. His nice-guy persona was gone, once again his presence was intense enough to make Eli's heart stop. "Well?" Draven asked.

"I have them," Eli said, "But let her go first," Eli realized how stupid of a request this was. He had just admitted that he had what Draven wanted, so why would he feel inclined to do as he asked.

"Fine," Draven answered, much to Eli's surprise, "And just like that the cage vanished and Alice jump to Eli's side.

"Are you crazy," She whispered, "Do you have any idea what he can do with those."

"Do you have any idea what he can do without them," Eli retorted, "All of Icarus City is up in flames, he could have taken them himself, him giving us this chance was just a courtesy."

"Well, you got your girlfriend back, so can I get my shards?" He said.

"I have a plan, it's stupid, it might get us killed, but it's a plan," Eli whispered to Alice quickly, "Just do as I say," he reached into his satchel and pulled out the shards, Draven grinned at the glow. Eli handed it over to him, backed away, and poised himself. Draven didn't notice this, all he saw were the shards that he finally had. He pulled a black sphere from his pocket which immediately vanished into embers revealing the remaining the last two shards.

"finally," Draven said as he lifted them. A strand of light pulsed between the two halves. He let go of one and watched as it slammed into the other sending a massive ring of energy outwards, almost blowing Alice and Eli off their feet. Draven stared at the complete Exacore, reveled in the power it promised. He had done it, all that was left was the final step. But his feeling of accomplishment was short-lived.

His happiness turned into shock as a sharp pain struck his wrist, and as he watched the Exacore, along with his severed hand, fall to the ground. Shock turned to rage as he saw the blade that Alice manifested, and as he saw Eli grab the Exacore before it hit the ground, and in two leaps disappeared above the rocky hill. He turned to Alice and saw that she too was gone.

"Where are we headed!" Alice asked Eli as they ran.

"Nowhere! We're buying time!"

"Time!? For what!?"

"Anybody! someone already knows that the shards were taken, it won't be long before someone finds us," he hoped against hope, "until then we have to keep it away from Draven,".

"Easier said than done!" Alice said. A loud sound thundered through-out the island. Eli looked back and saw as ash from all around pooled into a vortex that spat out all the nightmarish creatures they've been facing since the beginning of the summer.

"Yeah," he said, "No kidding.