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Chapter 65: Whirlpool, Beast, and Red Strings

Sa dami ng pinag-usapan namin ni Claret tungkol kay Atlas at sa lahat ng impormasyon na iniwan sa amin ng asul na apoy, isa lang ang higit na tumatak sa akin.

It's Atlas' way of fighting. He knew everyone's weakness, gaya ng kahinaan niya. He might have the evilest heart, but his weakness is Veda, and he knows how to play his cards. He managed to shake Claret, giving every one of us the thought that his original target was Divina.

And now that he had Veda— the woman who could even make him stronger. He'd do everything to stop us, the goddesses from the prophecy to kill her.

He knew that Veda's attack in Kalla's bird form would give us the biggest damage.

"Fucking protect them, Blair!"

"Yes!"

My eyes blurred not just with my tears, but the speed Seth had as he desperately tried to fly back. Isang kamay na niya lang ang nakahawak sa wand ko habang nakatuwid na ang isa at pilit niyang tinutulungan mula sa malayo si Blair.

Claret's power caught all of them with her bluish aura, but she couldn't just leave the globe and leave it to the pixies. She was torn!

This time, Blair summoned more of his strings. At first, I could see small spaces between them as if he created a huge net circulating the whole Deltora, but this time, it was like a red wall— the whole Deltora darkened in red. And the strings turned into building red blocks.

He quickly created a red net behind him and he fell on it with both of his hands extended in front of him.

"Shit, he's using too much power."

Every time birds hit his red blocks, there were explosions. And those thousands of birds were desperate to surge and advance. Binubutas talaga nila ang harang ni Blair na agad niyang pinupunan.

"Go on! Find her! I can hold this!"

"Fucking no!" sigaw ni Seth. "You can't single all these fucking explosive birds!"

Nangangatal kong pinagmasdan ang bumulusok na katawan nina Tobias, Rosh, Marah at Pryor, and even Zen's body with his face down on the floor.

"Is that explosion too powerful that it managed to . . ." mariin akong umiling sa sarili kong katanungan.

"For now, we have to face these birds alone, Kezalli. The Le'Vamueivos and Zen hold the biggest trauma during our last encounter with Veda, that explosion isn't powerful, but the memories could affect them. Let them get hurt. But can you do something about our situation? I can't help Blair carrying you. Should I bring you to the cage?"

Tumingala ako sa kanya, mariin akong humawak sa wand ko at pilit kong inangat ang sarili ko. Ibinitaw ko ang isa kong kamay at agad kong inabot ang buhok niya.

I desperately pulled his hair until I managed to pluck some of his hair. Napasinghap si Seth at nanlalaki ang mga mata niya sa akin. "W-why did you grab my hair?"

I awkwardly smiled at him. "My wand absorbs power by this."

With few of his hair, I pressed it on the body of my wand. Kapwa kami napasinghap ni Seth nang nagliwanag iyon at tanggapin ang hibla ng buhok niya.

"W-what did you do—" Before he could finish his words, the end of my wand suddenly had green wings.

"A-amazing . . . my hair."

"Let me go."

"My hair," he repeated.

Nawala sa pagkakatulala si Seth sa wand ko na biglang nagkapakpak sa dulo nang nakarinig kami ng pagsabog. Tinamaan na si Blair ngunit hindi katulad ng mga Le'Vamueivos at Zen, agad nakabangon si Blair at pilit na ibinalik ang harang.

His powers kept on accepting the explosion and when it suddenly had a hole, he'd teleport in his red web and attack the birds that happened to enter. With that longest red net in the sky, Blair managed to move quickly, protecting, the lotus symbol, the Le'Vamuievos siblings, Zen, and the whole of Deltora.

"He's so powerful . . ."

"But he can't hold it that long."

"Let go, Seth."

"Yes."

Nang sandaling bitawan na ako ni Seth, I pulled my body and brought myself on the top of the wand, sitting on it. Hindi rin nagtagal ay nakabalik na kami ni Seth sa pinanggalingan namin.

Claret sighed in relief before she turned her attention back to the globe. I looked over my shoulder to see the wounded, they were still not conscious.

While I was riding on my wand, Seth was at my side with his growing black wings and horns, while Blair positioned himself on my other side, holding a red string in his hand, as if he was hanging.

The wind blew, black feathers from Seth's wings fluttered, the red strings illuminated as if there were glitters, and the green light around me continued to glow. 

"They will wake up soon, but let them feel the pain first," ulit ni Seth. "For now, we have to hold these black birds. Just the three of us."

"We are enough," dagdag ni Blair.

"Well, Zen and Kezalli's fighting style sync while watching it from afar, what more of us, Blair?"

Blair nodded.

"Blair, can you hold your red blocks more? How many minutes will you last?"

"Half an hour."

"That is more than enough, Brother," sagot ni Seth. "We have to give these birds one opening. I'll take all of them."

"You will suck all of them? No." Matigas na sabi ni Blair.

"That's how we will end these damn birds," sunod ni Seth.

"I will take them first," sabat ko.

"What?"

Sabay lumingon sa akin sina Blair at Seth. "Trust me, I will help you. Let's take Seth's plan, make a single opening, and get their attention in one direction. We will ambush these black birds." 

"Blair, can you create a path?" Seth asked.

"Yes."

"I'll go the distance. Bring them to me, Kezalli."

I nodded.

Lumipad na si Seth sa likuran namin at mas naghanda na si Blair sa unahan ko. "Will you stay on that wand, Kezalli?"

"I want to move on my feet, Blair."

He nodded again.

Kasalukuyan nang nakatalikod sa akin si Blair ngunit nasa ibaba ko siya. I could feel the grumbling of his red building blocks as if any moment it would explode with the birds surging behind it.

"I will create a bridge for you to Seth, Kezalli."

"Yes."

Lumingom ako sa likuran ko. Malayo na ang distansya namin kay Seth. This time, I found Seth in a circular symbol, he was in the middle of it, and as the symbol glitched I saw an unfamiliar gigantic— as if a monster with horns on its forehead and its lips.

It felt like the gigantic beast was absorbing Seth's body. Is he alright?

"Kezalli, when I open it, run."

"Yes!"

Blair created a single block below my wand. Bumaba na ako roon at marahas kong itinaktak ang dulo ng wand ko doon dahilan kung bakit higit iyong magliwanag.

"Now! Run!"

Kasabay nang biglang pagbubukas ni Blair ng harang ay ang pagsugod ng mga itim na ibon na sumasabog patungo sa akin.

With my fast speed, I ran fast as the red bridge in front of me appeared as I took every step. Blair was below it, hanging with strings in one of his hands, while the other hand was busy attacking the other birds who were trying to reach me.

The bridge Blair created was like a gigantic tube made of red, giving these dark birds no choice but to follow a single path— with my glowing green wand to reach Seth's beasts.

Kahit sabihin sa akin nina Blair at Seth na kaya nilang tumagal at pa, alam ko na sa sarili kong higit na kapangyarihan na ang nagamit nilang dalawa. Those attacks earlier from Atlas might not be too strong, but its consistency and endless damage it could give to them would weaken them.

Tama ang sabi ni Zen kanina, they were all powerful and they could hold these kinds of attacks, but not forever. Napapagod rin sila at nanghihina.

As I ran with the explosive birds behind me, some could even pass against Blair's red string that protected me, giving me a way to protect myself with my wand. One wave felt like swirling green water, and then it was followed by a green whip as if there were leaves that fell from the wand, and then suddenly there was a sudden wind as if Seth's wings were there.

Dahil nakasunod sa akin si Blair at nakatingala siya sa nangyayari, narinig ko ang pagsinghap niya, ngayong nagkaroon siya ng higit na atensyon sa wand ko.

"What is that? I suddenly felt like I saw some attacks from Tobias, Rosh, and Seth from that wand . . ."

"I plucked their hair."

"What?"

Hindi na ako nagkaroon pa ng pagkakataon na higit na magpaliwanag kay Blair nang pansin ko na mas lumalapit na kami si Seth.

When Seth asked how much time Blair left to hold these black birds behind those red blocks, I knew that he was aware that Blair's lying. Siya na ang higit na gumamit ng napakaraming kapangyarihan simula nang tinamaan ang mga Le'Vamuievos.

Nagsisimula na akong matakot dahil baka hindi lang basta pagsabog ang mayroon sa mga ibon na tumama sa kanila.

It could be nightmares.

Maybe those birds brought them back when they failed to save someone. And we're all aware that it was a fight— a nightmare that would take them deeper into sleep. Na kahit gaano kahina ang pagsabog na tinamo ng kanilang katawan ang bangungot na ibinibigay sa kanila ngayon ang magpapanatili sa kanila sa ganoong sitwasyon.

I hoped I could come down and wake Tobias up, but just like Claret, we knew our priorities. Malaki ang tiwala sa amin nina Tobias at Zen, we knew that they would wake up soon, and all we had to do was hold these fights.

I'd do everything to help Blair and Seth.

Mariin akong pumikit habang patuloy ako sa pagtakbo. Pilit kong pinasok ang isipan ni Tobias at paulit-ulit kong tinawag ang pangalan niya. "Wake up, love . . . do not blame yourself. It's not your fault that Veda chose this path."

"Kalla wanted you to save this kingdom."

"Those birds were not her hatred."

"She's a lovely woman with a beautiful heart, she will not blame you or anyone."

Paulit-ulit kong ibinubulong sa isip niya ang posibleng tumatakbo ngayon sa utak niya. I'd witnessed how helpless Tobias and Rosh were about Kalla that they couldn't ask the help of Sartorias, how Pryor and Marah hated me and fought with their elder brothers because of their different opinions.

Lalo na si Zen.

This wasn't just Atlas's way or Veda's power, but also Freya's mind trick that she had been doing for years. Subok na sa kanya ang paraang ito dahil ilang taon niya iyong nagawa sa akin.

She caused so much trauma inside my heart and soul that I'd been fighting with myself.

"Wake up, Tobias. I love you . . ."

Habang tumatakbo ako ay may nakalalapit na sa aking ibon, dahilan kung bakit ginagamit ko ang wand ko para ihampas iyon sa kanila.

The explosions behind me were endless as Blair tried to protect me with every bird that tried to reach me,

Malapit na.

Mas binilisan ko ang pagtakbo ko patungo kay Seth na ngayon ay hindi ko na nakikita sa halip ay malaking mukha na ng halimaw ang nasa harapan ko at nakabuka ang bibig nito na tila handa nang kumain.

"Fly now, Kezalli!"

Nagkaroon ng butas sa itaas ko kung saan ako dapat dadaan.

But I stopped abruptly, feeling a sudden friction against my bare feet as I swirled around to face the explosive birds. I spread my legs wide, positioning my wand in front of me. The birds attacked savagely, their cries piercing the air as my wand hit them. With Seth's beast protectively behind me and Blair's tentacle-like strings floating around to shield me, I tightened my grip on the wand. A green light erupted from it, swirling into a whirlpool, an elisi, ready to engulf the enemies.

The remains of the birds with every hit of my whirlpooled wand, it was either the beast sucking it or the slash of red strings. Blair chuckled, now behind me as well. "I think we sync better than Zen."

With my green whirlpool on my wand, Blair lifted himself above, playing with his red strings like a whip, giving that utter sound of continuous slashing, and Seth's power behind us as if his black aura had black lightning, striking the birds as they escaped my wand.

"It's a pleasure to fight with you, second goddess of the mirror."

I looked up, Blair and Seth were above me, floating with their powers with a smile even in this tough situation.

I nodded and smiled before I faced the woman behind it, finally summoning her own replica. 

Finally, I could say this in my head held high— that I could accept this fate in this world, to be a fighter— to be a woman from the prophecy

"It's an honor."