Ivory, Scorn, and Emily were all feeling the same thing: Anger, sadness, and guilt. Ivory’s fuming anger against Zaria boosted his energy; he was also sad that his sister had been attacked, and he thought he’d never see her eyes open again. Little did he know she was looking for him. He also felt guilty that he wasn’t there soon enough to protect her. “This is all my fault…” He thought. Scorn was angry at Ivory, but it wasn’t because he didn’t protect her. His stubbornness was going to get him in massive trouble or worse, killed. Small tears welled up in her eyes just thinking of what Zaria could do to him. She felt that if she hadn’t been so weak against Zaria, her brother wouldn’t be trying to complete this deadly task. “This is all my fault…” She thought. Emily was angry at Zaria for attacking her friend, and sad that she couldn’t do anything to help. But she felt as if it were her fault that she hadn’t stepped in sooner, her fault that Scorn was out there, and her fault that Ivory was out there, not knowing his sister was okay. “This is all my fault…” She thought. Zaria walked through the same path she always did through the Shadow Woods to get to her destination. But she was more cautious than before, due to the previous encounter she had with the mysterious hissing being following her. It wasn’t long, though, before she heard the sounds of bushes rustling. “Hellooo.” Said a hissing voice. Zaria spun around to see who said that. To her surprise, the creature showed itself this time. And of course, it was a reptile. It was a blue medium-sized dragon, but its wings were purple. His glow was gone, unlike before when he was glowing. “Who are you?” Zaria cautiously asked the creature in front of her. The creature only smiled and sat down. Zaria flinched, and her fist started forming power, so she was prepared for battle. The dragon chuckled, “I’m not going tto hurtt yuoo.” he reassured her. “I thought you were a snake,” Zaria said, cocking her head slightly. “I’m not, but I have the accent of one; I only use it to be intimidating.” Zaria’s fist stops glowing with powers, and she relaxes a bit. “Now,” Said the dragon, “You never told me what you were doing in this forest, and where you’re going.” Zaria’s heart thumped faster as she tried to think of another story to tell him, instead of simply saying that she serves someone. But not even that would satisfy his curiosity, so she was cooked. “Um… I… I… uh…mmm…” She stuttered. “Can’t say, can you?” He asked, “It’s fine, I guess, you can tell me later.” He shrugged and stood up. “Well, it was nice talking to you, my name’s Brink, by the way.” And with that, he slightly started glowing and took off. Zaria stood there, stiff in silence and eyes wide, thinking, “What just happened?” After a good long while of staring at the sky in silence, she pulled herself together and continued on her mission to get the stolen energy/power to Gorge. Once she entered the place where George was imprisoned, she didn’t wait for him to ask her a question; she didn’t wait a second and opened her fist, revealing a flame pulsing with Scorn’s power in the palm of her hand. Gorge was surprised, but tried to contain it, “Will this be enough to set me free?” He asked, trying to show he wasn’t as excited as he was; he was internally screaming. “Not sure,” Zaria said. “Let’s try it.” And without any further conversation, she blasted the energy at the glowing orb in front of her, the prison in which Gorge stayed. There was an earthquake, a flash of light, and a loud BLAST at the same time. After the chaos, Zaria found herself on the floor, and the giant orb was slightly cracked in the middle where she had struck the energy. Gorge was silent; Zaria couldn’t see if he was surprised or feeling anything else. Gorge let out a groan of disappointment and anger. “At least we know you need A LOT more than THAT to set me free.” He snarled. Zaria still didn’t know what had just happened, but she knew what she had to do. She got up and walked out, silently walked on the path out of the Shadow Woods, and stood at the entrance of the woods.
She looked at the navy sky filled with smog. Then she looked at her hands; they were a bit bloodstained from her previous fight with Scorn. Her heart thudded in her chest rapidly as she stared at her trembling hands. Everything went dark, and all she could see was a young girl in the distance. The girl turned her head, only showing the side of her face, while her eyes were covered in the shadow of her hair. It didn’t take long for Zaria to realize who the little girl was. She stared at the girl, and the girl stared back. They stared for a while, and before long, the girl faded into dust. Zaria stepped back, her feet trembling with every move she made. She stayed stiff in the darkness but was soon brought back to reality with a blast of power to the face. Zaria collapsed to the ground. She coughed and looked up, and who was there was no surprise. Zaria quickly dodged Ivory’s anger-fueled fist and avoided a permanent mark. They both broke into a wild fight, and Ivory showed no mercy, while Zaria was trying to knock him out to make some time for her to escape. She used her best shots, but Ivory dodged them all and fought back with a violent punch. He also used his own powers to fight, but he just didn’t use them often. After what felt like an hour of fighting (Ivory trying to kill Zaria and Zaria trying to knock out Ivory), they both stopped to catch their breath. Then they charged at each other, and both got knocked back. Just then, Scorn had arrived at the scene. Both Ivory and Zaria stared at her, and she stared at both of them in disbelief and fear. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU BOTH?!” Scorn shouted, her voice echoing through the air. Ivory was too stunted to move, “S-S-Scorn… y-you’re… alive?” Scorn didn’t answer. Zaria, on the other hand, was ready for a surprise attack. She pounced on Ivory, catching him off guard and knocking him out. Then she turned her attention to Scorn, who was still standing there watching. They both stared at each other for a few seconds until Scorn spoke up. “WHAT’S HAPPENED TO YOU?! WHAT HAPPENED TO ZARIA, THE ONE I KNEW?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, AND FOR WHO?! WHY DIDN’T YOU LET ME HELP?!” Zaria didn’t answer; she just kept a cold, blank expression, trying not to burst into tears. Soon, Emily reached the scene, and her eyes went wide with fear. “Scorn…? W-” Before Emily could question her surroundings, she was interrupted by a blast of wind and force. Zaria had made her escape, leaving the two in shock. Scorn ran to Ivory's side “I’m sorry, Scorn,” Emily stuttered through tears, “I tried to… I just…” Scorn didn’t answer, nor move. She just stood there, feeling helpless, empty, grieved. “Zaria, why…?” Meanwhile, Zaria returned to the shadow woods, unsure why. She just made her way through the dark, eerie trees, bushes, and rocks. Soon finding herself on the edge of a cliff, with the jagged, sharp rocks below. “Why… why me…?” She shakily sobbed to herself. “Just… just end me.” She wiped her tears away and stood up straight. Longing for death, she walked further towards the edge on her way to her end.
