Awake (15 page)

He heard a bear say, “That human shouldn’t
have won! What is Lord Kain thinking?”

A rabbit warned, “Hush! Don’t speak ill of
Lord Kain!”

A pigeon cooed, “The poor humans, what
chance do they have? Isn’t this rather cruel?”

A deer snapped, “They play such games with
us! The humans use us for sport!”

“That doesn’t mean we should do the same,”
said the pigeon.

Kevin could sense some confusion and
distress in the crowd. Maybe they weren’t all here of their own
will. Kevin waited fifteen minutes, letting his muscles rest a bit.
Then, once he felt he had enough strength, he stood up.

Apprehensive, Andrew tugged on Kevin’s
jeans, trying to pull him down. “What are you doing?”

Kevin didn’t reply. He ran to the side of
the stadium and screamed, “Hey! If you think I didn’t deserve to
win, come down here and face me! Come on! I dare you! You’re all
just a bunch of spineless cowards picking on a few kids! You think
this is fun? Then come on down and join the fun!”

Kevin taunted them, wagging his butt at them
and blowing raspberries. Agitated, the beasts growled and roared. A
few animals came climbing down the stands. One of them was a very
large black bear. The bear snarled and grunted. It got up on its
hind legs and stared down Kevin with a menacing glare.

Kevin backed away and tripped over his own
foot, landing on his bottom. The intimidating sight of the bear
took his breath away. Kevin completely froze. At this point, he had
forgotten his original plan. Why did he taunt them? He was about to
be devoured, but even so, he figured it he might as well try to
remember why he so stupidly angered the wild creatures. After all,
if he was going to die because of his own mistake, he wanted to
remember it for the rest of his afterlife.

When the bear was right in his face,
breathing down his nose, he finally remembered. He was attempting
to stir up a ruckus. What a failure of a plan that was. He had
imagined that by causing some of the animals to attack him, some
other animals might come to his aid—but they didn’t. He was now
surrounded on all sides by hostiles.

Meanwhile, Andrew picked up his crossbow and
prepared to fire a bolt.

Katie put her hand on the crossbow. “Are you
out of your mind? Fire that shot and we’re all going to die right
now.”

With a pained expression, Andrew glared at
her. “Does it matter?” He took aim. While he focused on the bear,
several shadows were cast over him and they zoomed toward the area
of conflict.

Curious, Andrew looked up. White hawks were
flying into the fray.

The hawks landed near Kevin and, when they
touched the ground, transformed into the robed men. The man said to
them, “Do not get angered over such trifle matters. This boy is
under Lord Kain’s protection. You are not allowed to touch
him.”

Then came a chilling scream. Everyone’s gaze
moved to the center stage. There were only two people on that
stage: Kain, who was now kneeling over, and a man robed in black.
Robes stained red, Kain rose from the ground, a large sword impaled
in his chest. Kain looked at the man and said, “Who are you…YOU
TRAITOR!”

“Traitor?” The man cackled. “How can I be
the traitor when you’re not even Kain? You’re an imposter.”

The veil fell from Kain’s head. His green
skin turned white as clean snow and his hair like dark green grass.
He was transforming, changing into something else…or someone
else.

Everyone in the stadium gasped when they
laid eyes on the one they thought was Kain. He was actually a she.
The one they thought was Kain was actually a woman!

Her locks of green hair streamed down her
shoulders. Her skin was smooth and glowing. The woman grasped the
hilt of the sword, took a deep breath, and then slowly pulled it
out of her chest, groaning with every inch of the blade she
removed. Finally, after an excruciating effort, the sword was
completely out, and she tossed the sword against the ground.

“How did you know I wasn’t Kain?” she
asked.

The man replied, “Because
I
am Kain!”
Kain threw off the robes he had used as a disguise. He was a tall
man, very strongly built. However, he did not look anything like
what Kevin had expected. He wasn’t scary looking at all.

Kain smiled at the woman. “Remu, I never
thought you’d be so desperate to interfere, Mother of Nature. I
must say…I’m rather impressed by your bold undertaking. Taking the
initiative by impersonating me, rallying the forest in my name,
acting like you hate humans…it was a good plan. You used the rumors
of me to create your image—to control the forest in my name. You
wanted to prevent chaos—to prevent us from destroying the humans by
spreading silly rules such as ‘Don’t eat humans because they are
impure.’”

Remu replied, “So you knew…”

“You made such a commotion in the forest
that even I heard about your actions from halfway across the
world.” He paused. “I must thank you, Remu, for doing all this work
for me. To be honest, I wasn’t interested in building an army.
Eating humans is something I take personal pleasure in. But since
you’ve already gone so far, I might as well let everyone in on the
fun.” Kain’s face was split by a wide malicious grin. “It’s time
for us to begin the feast!”

“I won’t allow this.” Remu raised her hand,
bright sparks glistening from her fingertips.

“You’re going to stop me?”

“I am.”

Kain laughed and picked up the sword from
the ground. “Tell me, do you feel strange?”

Remu blinked, her vision becoming hazy.
“W-what did you do to me?”

“Did you think I came unprepared?” Kain
waved the sword. “This sword is from the age prior—the age when
humans fought against spirits. A spirit slayer. It’s poisonous to
you, isn’t it? Your powers should be diminishing.” He discarded the
sword. “Now don’t get me wrong, Remu. I respect you as the Mother
of Nature. You have taken good care of us. But if you
dare
stand in my way, I will have no choice but to dispose of you.”

Remu snapped her fingers. A large bolt of
lightning came tearing across the sky and landed on Kain. Stunned
for a moment, he let out a scream and all the voltage was expelled
from his body. He leaped across the air and bared his fist against
Remu. Remu raised her arms to block. As his fist collided with her
arms, the earth below rumbled and bolts of lightning came crashing
down. The center stage was split asunder, pieces of wood and bits
of nails flying everywhere. The two of them jumped around the
field, tossing fire and lightning at each other.

The fight between those two great powers
captured the attention of the stadium. Kevin was able to sneak past
all the animals that were around him because they were staring at
the clashing elements.

Kevin walked over to Katie and Andrew who
were watching the fight up close.

Andrew looked at him, said nothing, and
turned his dumbfounded gaze back to the fight.

While they were watching in awe, a stray
bolt of lightning just barely missed them by a foot. A black circle
marked the exact spot where the turf had been scorched. Kevin
whistled in amazement and backed up, pulling the others with
him.

Kain soared across the field and rammed into
Remu, knocking her into the stands below. She fell into the crowd,
causing all the wild animals to scurry away. Kain opened his mouth
and spewed an immensely hot breath of fire from his lips. Remu dug
herself out of the rubble. When she saw the raging inferno headed
her way, she waved her hand, causing whole chunks of the field to
come rising up like gargantuan towers of rock and dirt. The towers
of earth shielded her from his flames for a fleeting second, and
then the towers wavered and crumbled on top of her.

Kain laughed wildly. “Now nothing will stand
in my way!” He returned back to the field, his feet appearing as
though he was walking on air.

Kevin nudged the others. “We should’ve run
away while we had the chance.”

Katie said, “Thanks for bringing this up
now
.”

“Hey,” snapped Kevin, “don’t blame me! You
guys were watching them too!”

“Let’s just go!” Andrew got a head start
while the others argued.

Kain zipped across the length of the stadium
in the blink of an eye. He appeared in front the teens, stopping
them in their tracks. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Kevin shrugged nervously, trying to keep his
cool.

Kain grinned. “It’s been so long since I’ve
tasted human flesh…you guys will make fine appetizers.”

“No,” said Kevin, “our taste is overrated.
Take my word for it. Our flavor is really messed up, what with the
teen hormones raging and all the junk food we eat.”

Kain approached them slowly, and they backed
away slowly in step.

Suddenly, a loud rumble made its way through
the stadium. The ground beneath their feet started vibrating
softly, and then progressively quaked more and more. The earth
began quaking so violently that everyone had a difficult time
staying balanced. Kevin teetered and tottered, barely able to tell
where he was looking. The scenery was shaking all around him. He
wasn’t sure if he was spinning around or if the whole Earth was
spinning around him.

Lurching forward, Katie screamed over the
loud rumbling, “The earth! It’s splitting!”

Upon falling to his hands and knees, Kevin
stared at the grass and soon noticed a dark line forming across the
dirt. The dark line widened over time, and Kevin could feel that
his limbs were getting farther apart. It was a crack in the ground.
He was witnessing, before his very eyes, the creation of a fault
line, and he was stuck in a crawl position right over it.

The gap split open in an instant. Like a
massive mouth, the large gap threatened to swallow up everything in
the field. Kevin fell into it, but he quickly grabbed hold of the
edge, hanging by the grip of a hand.

“Kevin!” Kneeling over the crack near him,
Andrew held out his hand.

Kevin swung his free hand around, but he was
too weak to reach for Andrew’s hand. His fingers began
slipping.

“Kevin—REACH!”

Kevin grunted, “I’m trying…” He lost his
voice when his fingers finally gave way.

Andrew’s jaw dropped the same time Kevin
dropped, his expression of utmost horror. He stopped breathing for
a split second before shouting, “NOOOOO!”

Kevin descended further and further down the
chasm, freefalling toward a certain doom.

Andrew glanced at Katie. Her eyes wide, she
was held in suspense. She couldn’t believe it. Kevin had fallen so
far down that he was now appearing very tiny.
Whoosh!
A
white blur zipped by their peripheral vision and a heavy gust of
wind brushed past their shoulders. A white hawk dove down into the
chasm and caught up to Kevin. Kevin fell upon its broad back. The
hawk, using the momentum from the glide, was able to pick up speed
and gain back altitude, jetting narrowly up the walls and to the
surface.

Relieved to see him alive, Andrew exhaled.
Then, without warning, both him and Katie were swooped up by two
more hawks. These hawks were larger than Andrew realized, and they
were able to pick up the kids by their shoulders. Using a powerful
flap of their wings, they were able to gain lift quite easily, even
with the added burden of well-nourished teens.

They took off, one hawk after the other, and
joined the other hawks in the sky.

The kids weren’t sure what was going on.
They exchanged confused glances with each other as they were hauled
far into the red sky.

“Don’t be afraid,” said one of the hawks.
“We are taking you to a safe place.”

“You’re on our side?” Kevin wondered.

“We are servants of Lady Remu. She believes
that what is happening is supernatural, and thus the humans should
not be preyed upon in this situation. She wants the natural order
to be restored. That is why we are helping you. We are not siding
with the humans.”

Kevin said, “I don’t really get it. But as
long as you aren’t trying to kill us, that’s good.”

Kain stood at the center of the field, his
eyes burning with rage. He roared out, “DON’T THINK YOU CAN RUN
FROM ME!” Segments of his body swelled and bulged, his muscles
augmenting in size. Bat-like wings burst out of his back. He was
growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. Green scales
formed over his skin. His neck stretched higher and higher until
his monstrous transformation was complete.

When Kevin heard the startling roar pierce
the clouds, he looked over his shoulder and saw the overgrown
lizard filling up the baseball field. It gave him the chills when
he looked the terrifying beast in the eyes—those cold, unrelenting,
red eyes of hatred.

Kevin exclaimed, “Is that what I think it
is?”

The hawk replied, “Yes. Kain is a dragon—the
last of his kind.”

“It’s looking this way,” said Kevin
worriedly, patting the hawk on the back.

“Do not fret. We will be landing shortly,”
the hawk replied.

Flapping his large wings, Kain lifted off
from the ground. A blinding blue light emerged from the crack in
the earth, and the land rumbled as the fault line became wider. The
rubble began to levitate several feet in the air. The blue light
faded and became like little sparkles. Winds picked up in speed,
hitting nearly one hundred miles per hour. The sparkles gravitated
around a shadowy figure inside a swirling whirlwind that stretched
from the clouds above to the hole below.

It was Remu who was inside the whirlwind.
She told Kain, “This is your last chance. Do not go after them.”
Her voice was carried upon the wind and could be heard echoing for
miles.

Scowling, Kain snapped, “You don’t
understand at all! This is my only chance to avenge my brethren!
How many dragons were slain by their hands? I will not relent! THE
HUMANS WILL PAY! THEY WILL ALL PAY!”