Maya ~

Phalan charges at the witch as she disappears in a puff of smoke. I guess that's the end for right now, if that was really the witch. I doubt she's actually gone. Just not right here right now. I want ot just kill her already! Once I think we have finally found her turns out to be fake, at least I don't think it iwas actually the witch.

We all head back to hills. A dusky night has falllen, leaving the hills filled with strange shadows. We leave and sit down where we were sitting before. I notice Saphira shivering, looking as if she is in an internal battle. There is nothing I can do. Mantyx comes over to her and covers with his sweatshirt and sits by her side. I sit down on hte hillsdie, wondering what to do next.

'So, what happens next?", I ask. "That cave thing oviously didn't work." 

'Maybe we should scout out the area. See if there's anything interesting looking around.", says Naomi.

"Great idea," I reply. "I'm coming!" 

We slowly make our way around the winding hills, looking around. We don't see anything starnge or wierd at all. Everything is how it should should be on a cloudy night outside the city.  

"I don't think there's anything here for us to find. Maybe the witch moved or something like that.", naomi tells me.

'Could be," I say, "But let's keep looking. We through the hilly landscape silently, looking and listening for anything out of place. But there is nothing. Just normal.

"Why don't we just go back to the group the now,", I say. "there's nothing here."

"I guess", says Naomi. "Let's go back."

We slowly make our way  back to where the group was, but we see nobody.

"I'm pretty sure this is where we were before, right Naomi?", I say.

"I think so,", she says shakily.

"Wait, it definitely is. There's mantyx's sweatshirt." A wave of fear washes over me. Where have they gone?, I wonder. This is terrifying.

~~~~

I think what happened to the group is that one of the witches servants captured them and can track people and will caapture maya and Naomi soon. 

I'm sorry if my post seemed a little overpowereing, it just seemed like a good idea when I wrote it. I hope it works out. 

I'm going along with Dandelion's idea.

Viki~

I'm walking alone in the hills. Shadows grow, pooling on the ground like some kind of spilled liquid. They grow past their natural boundries, reaching toward me. I try to run, but something tugs me down. I look to see tiny green hand-plants holding my feet. I look back at the shadows to see they are forming some kind of shape. Eyes. The witch's eyes. Suddenly the ground folds and rises turning into the witch. Or, at least the way we saw her. The hand-plants are her hands. She is huge, holding me in her now huge hands. Suddenly I realize I still have my bag. For some reason the matches are still in there, and I light one. The light drives away the shadows, and she is gone. I breathe a sigh of releif and begin to relax. But suddenly, the flame goes out. The smoke curing out of the blackened match takes her shape, and she's holding me again, smoke still emitting from her dark form. It tickles my nose....

I sneeze myself awake. I look around to see if I woke the others, when I realize we're no longer where we were. I try to stand up, but there are ropes around my arms. I'm a captive! I see a few figures, little more than smoke and shadows, darker than normal silhouettes somehow awake. Is the witch behind this? No one else is awake, but I look over them all anyway. Phalan is closest to me, and beyond him are Mantyx and Saphira. I can't help but smile a little at how close they are. From the last few days, I can tell from the way they look at each other that they see in each other a little more than the rest of us do. Past them is Leanne. Something strikes me. Naomi and Maya aren't here. Did they get carried away somewhere else, or... could they have escaped. I hope that the latter is right and start brainstorming ways to join them, but the confrontation (if you can call it that) with the witch haunts my memory. I remember looking at her eyes, seeing something beyond. I remember that behind that frame, that not quite right form we saw, behind those colored eyes, was an unfathomable darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dun-dun-dunnnnnn! Although Viki's subconcious was onto something, Viki does not remember her dream. 

On my I pad typing this cuz I don’t wanna go get my computer, this will be dark and bloody so people who are sensitive to those tiopivs then i will summarize it at the end

!@#$%^&*&^%$#@!@#$%^&*GORE WARNING*&^%$#@!@#$%^&*&^%$#@!

~~~

The first thing I notice is that I have a gag in my mouth and ropes binding my arms to my sides. When I try to struggle against my bonds they don’t budge. Then I see a shadowy figure walk up to me. “Where is the witch?” It questions menacingly as it rips tha gag out of my mouth. Then it saw the confusion on my face and punched me right in the jaw. I spat out some blood as it gripped my throat and said “We can either do this the easy way or the hard way, tell us where our master is and we let you go. If you don’t tell us then we have found our next meal. Got it?”  When he doesn’t get a response then he snarls at me and rakes his razor sharp claws fown my face and I give a bark of pain. When he releases me his companion laughs at the blood now running freely down the side of my face.

”So he is just as Alyine said,” he snorts “Waste of a perfectly good Valg prince.”

”What do you mean Prince?” I questioned the shadowed creatures before me.

”Oh so he didn’t tell you did he?” He chuckled “Your little buddy,” he tapped my forehead and I knew he meant Mordai “Is a prince of our realm and has been with more than a few hosts just. Like. You.” When I stared at him in utter confusion he kicked me in the ribs and I heard my ribs breaking. Then they went to interrogate Saphira, I knew that she was scared by the look in her eyes and I couldn’t stand it. One of the shadows noticed my distress and untied me subtlety, when I looked at him I heard Mordai speak in my mind.

He wants you to go and free yourself, he is an old friend who believes that children should not be cursed and tortured. I have given him my thanks already, go help the girl.

Then an ear splitting scream comes from Saphira and when I hear it s cold rage fills me so I slip out of my newly loosened bounds and attack the guards. After that I charge, mercilessly attacking them. I hook my foot under one of their ankles which causes them to fall and gets kicked by Phalan whose bonds are partially loosened by the guard in the head while I am punching and dodging their attacks. When they both are out cold on the grass I untie the others and treat their injuries even though the blood loss from my own injuries is making me dizzy.

Saphira is the one to bring the topic of my injuries up, “Stop, you’re hurt too.” She says as I look at her blackening eyewitness concern.

“I’m the most expendable person in the group” then I mutter with bitterness in my voice “you guys have a home to go back to.” Phalan looks at me with a questioning look in his eyes when I say that.

Saphira sighs and mutters so softly that I almost don’t hear it, “You’re not expendable to me.” As whip my head around to look at her she looks down and by the look ‘Matchmaker Vikki’ is giving us I know my expression mirrors Saphira’s flushed look

~~~

LOOOOOOOOOONG 

Mantyx got tortured, the shadows want to find the witch too, the witches name is Alynie, Mordai is a Valg prince, mantyx’s face gets clawed, his ribs are broken, the shadow creatures attempt to torture Saphira, one shadow knows Mordai and is friendly, Mantyx kills the shadows, and Mordai is secretly rooting for the cursed kids cuz he’s demonic but he isn’t all bad.

Saphira~~~

I woke up cold and shivering. I had my usual terrible dreams so I take a while to wake up. When I do I realize that I'm in a dark cave. With a gag in my mouth. 

Malum, do we know where we are.

If we're where I think we are then I'm going to be extreamly mad.

I look around some more and notice that my friends are taied up around me. I search some more...

Wait! Where's Naomi and Maya?

Let's hope that they are getting tortured.

No, let's not hope that! I think that they might of gotten away.

After a while I notice that the shadows on the wall are slowy moving. Then, slowly they take on humanish shapes. They march over to Mantyx where they exchange words. After talking for a while they hit him and march over to me.

These idiots. When I take over your body I will destroy them.

Why?

Because I'm higher up on the lacky line that's why. They should know better than to try and containe ME.

"This is going to me fun." The shadow hisses.

It... he? Punches me in the eye. I gasp, the once solid creature is now smoke and his entering my head through my eye.

Clever.

Then an excruteating headache fills my head. I feel an unknown blackness and a quite familiar blackness in my head, using it as a battle ground. I let out a scream, and sundenly Mantxy is their attacking the creatures and freeing everyone else. Just as I'm about to pass out I feel the darkness leave me.

What was that?

He tried to posses you. Quite clever of him I must say. You can't have two possestion in the same host so I had to fight back. Very painful for the host. An interesting torture method. I just wish that Mantyx hadn't of taken care of them so fast. I wanted the pleasure of destroying them. 

I look at Mantyx as he treats the others, and notice that he's hurt.

"Stop! You're hurt too." I tell him.

"I'm the most expendable person in the group" Mantxy says with bitterness, "You guys have a home to go back to." 

I say softley "You're not expandable to me." 

HAHAHA!!!!!!! I KNEW IT!

SHUT UP! 

I can feel myself blushe as Viki grins and gives me a knowing look.

"What are we going to do now?" Phalan asks.

~~~~~~~

Maya~~~

Naomi and I are looking stound for any clues of where the othere are when suddenly a stange shadows appears to ripple out of the ground. The grass itself seem sto rise up, curling it's tendils around our ankles. The temperature drops a few notches and I shiver. All of a sudden I am being pulled away. The sensation of falling envelops me and I begin to scream.

***

I wake up to find myself next to Naomi  sitting in dark cave. I try to sit up, but my hands are tied. As things come clearly into focus I see the rest of the group is also here, many injured. 

"Where are we?", were the first words out of my mouth.

Viki answers me, "Captured by the witch,"  she says in a grave voice. I let it all register when suddenly a intense pain washes over me. I start to scream and my thoughts go black, into some unknown world.

I'm so sorry I've not been posting! I don't have time for a real post but I will try and do it tomorrow!

Saphira~~~

"Uh guys. I think that I know where the witch is. Maybe... I think that she's closer to town. Acording to Malum she got tired of the long walk to town." I say.

Everyone looks at me, then Naomie says "The witch shops?" 

"I guese so. All her meals can't be conjored out of thin air right?" I say.

"I'm going to go see if I can find a way out of this cave." Viki says, "Saphira why don't you come with me?" 

I shrugg and follow Viki out of the cave. Soon we're far away from the group, and that's when Viki begins intogarating me.

"Sooo... do you like Mantyx?" She asks.

I feel myself blush and try to answer with a straight face "Not you too! Malum's been bugging me about that to." 

"So. Do you?" Viki prods.

"Uhhh....." I say, then I hear a clanking from up ahead, "Wait... do you hear that?"

"Are you just trying to deflect the question?" Viki asks.

"No really, I heard something." I say.

We stop and lisen, and once again we hear the clanking noise. We exchange a look then creep ahead. We're at the entrance to a lighted cave and our eyes open wide at the creature chained within.

~~~~

Hope y'all like that! It's up to you Shy Peacock to decide what amazing creature is chained up.  

Holly says "Roao" I think that she thinks it might be a dragon.  

Viki~

As we look around, I try to get Saphira to confirm my suspicions. But all rational thought flies from my head as we come around the bed and see a pheonix. A pheonix. It's chained, but still awe-inspiring. Saphira starts to talk, but I don't respond because pieces are flying together in my head. Images flash before my eyes, making a greater picture.

A fragment of a dream. Me lighting a match and the witch dissapearing.

That fathomless darkness I glimpsed in the witch's eyes.

Mantyx telling us that a Valg's weakness is fire.

Phalan wondering why the witch cursed us. 

Phalan again, charging at the witch and doing no damage. 

The tendrils of darkness chaining this pheonix. 

The witch is part of some greater darkness, that thing I saw in her eyes. I don't know if we can free her from it. Maybe it has something to do with why she Cursed us though. But somehow I think that no amount of weapons could harm her. I think that only light can eat away at darkness. And fire is light. Fire is pure light. And a pheonix is pure fire. The witch has chained the only creature that can harm her. But something also tells me that darkness can eat away at light the same way light can eat away at darkness. That's why pheonixes always rise from the ashes. And it seems like tendrils of pure darkness are holding this pheonix. Maybe not even a pheonix can survive this for much longer.

If we want to defeat the witch, we need to free this pheonix quickly. Before our curses take affect. Before the pheonix dies.

I open my mouth and start to tell Saphira.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She doesn't remember the smpoke part of the dream MWAHAHAHA

Pheonix, great Idea!

~~~ 

Phalan is looking at the shadow who I now know is named Linthoi who apparently now is supposed to serve me for all eternity.

He says that he does not mind being bound to your kind.

What does he mean my kind?

Ask him yourself.

Mordai? I question, then a new and cultured voice filters into my mind.

Are you able to understand me now? Hearing this startles me so I jump into the air slightly and twist around to face Linthoi.Then Saphira walks around the bend and see that last thing I expect to see, a chained pheonix. My immedite reaction is to jump away. 

Get away from it you fool!

Then the pheonix screeches and my attention is again fixed on it. It seems to beckon to me to go near it and see what happens but judging by the way that Mordai is panicking it will likely end badly so I stay put with my eyes fixed on it until I see something shining by the door, wedged under a rock. I walk over ang gingerly pick it up. It's a thick, rusted, iron key that must unlock the pheonix's chains. I swallow my fear and walk twards the pheonix, with the key being a solid weight in my palm kneel down and pick up the chains and fit the key into the lock and twist it untill I hear a click. Then it's free and it screeches loudly as it spreads it's magnificant wings and flaps them, creating a gust so strong that it knocks both Phalan and I over. Then it flies outside and circles the cave before coming back inside and perching on Viki's head, looking contented. 

~~~

CONGRATS Viki has a pet now