Chapter 16

We staggered onward until Riven could walk on his own, his stomach baring the dark burn marks from the earlier fight. We were still quiet as we walked until morning. I just couldn't think of a single word to say after that experience.

The sun was half above the horizon when we stopped to rest. Luckily, there was a village not to far from us. Unfortunately, I couldn't take another step. My body was worn out, my mind had gone blank and so I passed out before we made it to the village.

I woke up in a bed at least. My head was pounding and my hands felt weird. I sat up and went to rub my forehead when I saw the my hands were wrapped up in bandages. I looked around quickly and saw Riven lying in a bed not to far. His stomach was wrapped up as well.

"Well, one of you is awake finally." I heard a girl's voice say.

I turned towards the voice and saw a woman, older than me, and Demitree. The kid had bandages wrapped around his left eye and both arms. He smiled at me, but it was small and pained.

"Hey, Leaya." He said quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"I…I feel fine." I answered and stood up out of the bed. "What happened?"

He didn't answer, just looked down at the floor. I didn't press on, instead I walked over and hugged him. He froze for a second before hugging me back and I felt my shoulder become wet after a bit.

"I don't know where Noah is." He said quietly. "And Tricen's been asleep for a few days now. I don't know what to do…I'm so worried about my brothers."

I stayed silent. I didn't tell him it was going to be ok or something, because honestly would that have been the truth? I let him stay like that for a while, until he felt better enough to let go of me. There was dirt smudged on my shirt and my shoulder felt sticky with sap.

"Where's Tricen?" Riven asked as he started to sit up.

"In the next room. The doctors say that he's low on electricity." Demitree answered and looked down again.

"Can I go and check on him?" I asked the elder lady. She just smiled and nodded while Demitree stayed in the room with Riven.

The next room had little lighting, but most of the electricity was being fed into wires attached to Tricen. His hair was flat and not lacking color while his skin seemed a little paler but you could easily see the blue veins in his skin. Besides being unconscious, he didn't seem unhealthy. He seemed calm and peaceful, less monotone, than when he's awake. I knew that when he did wake up, he wouldn't stay like that. We would see that spark again. Seeing him like that reminded me of the first time seeing Sin.

My thoughts turned depressive. Everyone was split up, the ones I was near were all hurt. What was happening here? It felt too much to bare. Then I remembered the people, no the monsters, doing this. The ones starting the fight. My depression turned to a mixture of anxiety and frustration.

My mind became a jumbled mess, I couldn't think straight. And the pulsing bright lights weren't helping. Wait, what? The lights started to pulse, slowly at first then rapidly. I looked from the lights to the machines. The whirring noise started to get louder and sounded dangerous. And then I noticed Tricen.

His hair was standing up from static and his skin started to darken. The electricity started to jump from the wires onto his skin, that's when I noticed that he wasn't wearing the rubber gloves or boots. Fear sunk in as I decided I needed to leave the room and fast. I was just in time. The second I took one step out of the room, all of the machines blew. I screamed in response.

Demitree and the older woman came and found me.

"Leaya, are you ok?" Demitree asked quickly, being the first to me.

I didn't get time to answer when I saw the look on his face. I could see Tricen's reflection from his unwrapped eye. I turned to look at the older brother. He stood up, ripping the wires off of his chest and arms. His eyes were nothing but pure stunning blue and the only electricity available now was the sparks jumping from his body.

All of the lights started to blow out, everything even remotely electrical. The sparks became more frantic as he moved his arms up, I caught a glimpse of Tricen's markings. A pair of blue and yellow 'lightning bolt' tattoos, located on his palms. I didn't get to see them for long as the sparks started to travel to that specific spot, gathering more electricity than what should be necessary.

Even at his feet as well. The ground was turning black from the power surging into it. Oh this was a mess. Demitree stayed close to me, holding onto my clothes as I held onto him. A streak of lightning streamed past us, blowing out the wall. Fear sank in a little deeper. Demitree yelped and stomped his foot into the ground hard. The darker, dirt colored spots on his skin started to spread until he was the same color as dirt. He grabbed my hand, the color spreading onto my skin. It felt like I was being covered in dirt and mud.

The next blast of lightning that went past us ripped through the remaining wall, but I only heard it. I couldn't really feel the sparks and I had a very good reasoning that it was because of Demitree. I dared to open my eyes and couldn't shut them from the sight I saw.

Tricen was changing, morphing into a beast. His skin was now a light tan while his hands and feet were a darker, almost burnt looking, brown. Plus they looked like they were changing into hooves. His hair was flat, except for two small groups standing up and surrounding metallic looking and intricate antlers. That's where all the electricity was gathering now. I looked around, the best I could tear my eyes away from the sight, to see a building that was no longer housing us. The lightning had already destroyed the majority of it and was now sparking off in every direction. The sky now was dark and dreary, even it was ready for a lightning storm. And apparently, so was Riven.

He was walking, well limping, towards us. The burn marks on his stomach looked like they were almost pulsing as he moved. His eyes were half lidded and his skin looked like it was melting. Still, he moved toward us. Demitree looked up and saw him, a scared yet serious expression now on his face. Riven closed his eyes tightly as water flowed gently towards Tricen.

That seemed to gain his attention. The electricity moved away from us and went after the water. Riven grimaced a few times, but kept the water flowing. Demitree's left eye had changed colors to match the dark green of his right. The ground was started to grow a little grass and even a tree had started to grow at a fast rate. Vines came next, moving from the branches like snakes.

The water flowed a bit more now, keeping the attention of the electricity as the vines now slithered across the ground. The power was building behind Tricen, so much I was afraid that he was truly losing control. I closed my eyes, I couldn't watch this anymore. I heard a sound close to a whip cracking, a rush of air and I was no longer standing up. I hit the ground, landing on my shoulder first. A bright flash of light crossed my closed eyes, still somehow giving me a bad headache.

"Leaya," I heard Demitree. "Leaya, are you ok?"

I groaned as my answer, finding the strength to sit up, though I refused to open my eyes at first. When I finally gathered the courage to do so, I saw Tricen and Riven sitting back to back. Both were breathing heavy, kind of laughing as they did so, and Tricen was wearing his rubber gloves and boots. The building was trashed, the machines were beyond repair, but the people seemed fine.

My head pounded as I looked around, though seeing Riven and Tricen made me want to laugh a little. I looked at Demitree, the bandages around his right eye were starting to loosen and fall away. I had to bite me tongue. Instead of seeing the beautiful dark green, his eye was a milky, pastel green and glazed over.