Hearts of Darkness, Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Earthquake

      "Look out!" two little ducklings shouted.
      Tala rolled out of the way, just in time to avoid an energy blast that would have left her incinerated. A topiary dog, however, wasn't so lucky. The blast had hit it dead on and blown the head clean off. Tala looked at it and gulped. She'd hate to be in that position right now. But her focus shifted back to the creatures all around her.
      What are these things?
      What, indeed? All around her were monsters of every shape and size; some floating around, and others towering over her. There were even ones that looked like harmless (if not adorable) rabbits. They almost seemed like Heartless, but something was just off.
      The insignia was totally wrong for a Heartless. And where the Heartless had creepy, glowing yellow eyes, these things had blazing, blood-red ones. Tala had no idea whether these were some new breed or something else entirely. But she had no time to ponder things like that; right now she had to protect Louie and Dewy!
      Only minutes ago the three were exploring the maze when those monsters popped up out of nowhere and attacked. The brothers, not knowing what to do, tried their best to find a hiding place. But every time they tried to run, another creature would block their path. The situation was nothing short of chaos!
      What do I do? What do I do? Tala thought frantically. She slashed her way through the waves of creatures as possible ideas rolled in her head. Without the others she was the only one to protect the boys. And without Earthshaker, she couldn't use her more powerful, co-op attacks. The lack of room in the maze also put Weaponmaster out of the question; she could end up hitting the boys! What good is weapon summoning if you can't use it! The out of the corner of her eye, Tala saw a purplish blur shooting towards her.
      She instinctively rolled out of its path and saw that it was an odd, violet-colored jar. Not waiting to see what the thing did, Tala attacked the creature quickly and was surprised with the result.
      With every hit, the jar dropped an item. Potions, ether, even some munny! With the final swipe, the jar crumbled leaving behind a small rock. Tala scooped it up as quickly as she could and ran towards the next creature. The stone felt cool against the palm of her hand.
     Banded with warm golds and browns, Tala recognized it on the spot as Tiger's Eye.
    Now what does this do? She felt warmth radiating from in into her palm, as the crystal glowed slightly.
    "Tala, help!!" Her attention was brought back when she watched in horror as a group of monsters surrounded the two ducks. Dewy and Louie cowered helplessly as they were being boxed in.
    "Shoot! Leave them alone!" Tala raced over as fast as she could, pushing the creatures back with her Keyblade. She swung with all her might, and managed to scramble through the vicious circle.
    "Boys, stay behind me alright?" she ordered as she summoned a spear and threw it at the nearest enemy. It hit its mark, and a juggernaut sized monster disintegrated. But the creatures just kept coming, and Tala struggled to keep them at bay.
    Throw me to the ground, child of Earth.
    A voice rung through her head, deep and very ancient sounding. Looking around, Tala noticed the gem in her hand glowing more brightly than it had before. It almost seemed to pulse with some strange power as the voiced repeated itself.
    Hurry child! Throw me on the ground if you wish to survive!
    Oh, what's the worst that could happen? She backed up, and with all her strength, slammed the stone to the ground in front of her. As it hit the stone seemed to explode with enough force to shake the ground, knocking over everything.
    Tala clutched the boys to her as she saw massive spikes of rock shoot up and impale many of the monsters. Boulders appeared out of nowhere and dust swirled around the three. The dust flowed and collected together to form the figure of a man. The figure the rose its arm and sent the boulders flying, crushing the rest of the monsters.
    "Wretched Unversed, I thought you monstrosities had been terminated." the man growled. He turned, and Tala saw an older man with long, mud-brown hair and green eyes looking at her. The man wore baggy brown pants with a matching shirt, large leather boots, and looked like he had just come from hunting deer. He even had an odd-looking rifle hanging across his shoulder.
    "Thank you for freeing me, Daughter of Earth." The man said as he helped Tala up. "It is good to be able to stretch after such a long sleep. Are you three alright?"
    The three nodded the affirmative, just as a ruckus showed up behind them. Out of the hedges Lita burst through, Keyblade drawn, with Riku and Earthshaker behind.
    "Tala! Are you alright? We heard-" Lita yelled. She noticed the man with the gun and panicked. She was about to charge when Silver gasped.
    "Lita NO!"
    Earthshaker quickly grabbed the girl by the arms, throwing them both off balance. Lita tripped and would have fallen if not for the strange man appearing by her and catching her.
    "There is nothing to fear, child." He said soothingly. "The real enemies have been dealt with. Earthshaker, it is good to see you again. I trust that you are well?" He fixed his eyes on Earthshaker, whose face was lit up with excitement.
    "Of course, of course! I'm perfectly alright. It is good to see you to, old friend."
    Tala, in the meantime, was paying no attention to the others. The boys, glad that everything turned out alright, ran off in search of their brother. They wanted to make sure that everyone else was fine and to find their uncle quickly.
    Her attention snapped back at the last second, as Earthshaker was speaking.
    Lita, who was once again confused, looked up at the gray-haired woman.
    "Silver" she asked "do you know this guy?"
    "Yes" the woman replied "Everyone, this is my old friend. My fellow Eidolon: Alexander."