The Stonehearted Knight-Chapter 245: Using the crystal (2)

Stop. Please. You will destroy everything!

Hex ignored the screams in his head. He hoped he could get away. But even he didn’t believe it to be possible. If the Oracles spoke the truth, then no one present would be able to stop the King. Unless she arrived.

The shouts increased the cold fusing in his hand. It was cold – extremely cold. The cold seeped into his every fiber. At least, so it felt. The dim half-broken element circle on the back of his hand glowed. The blue light seemed mesmerizing. But he ignored it.

Half of Hex’s mind was still at the monolith. The golden light it emitted differed from the Strings of Fate yet seemed the same.

Despite the size, the crystal weighed almost nothing in his hand. Hex ran. In less than a second the exit came in sight. But it wasn’t time to relax. No, warning bells erupted from every part of his body. He didn’t sense anyone coming at him. Yet, he knew who he would face.

He didn’t look around. Why would he? He knew what danger he faced. Hex blinked. And...the King stood at the exit.

"Return."

The word rang in his ear. The buzz filled his ears. The air around him constricted. The space around him changed. It felt like being wrapped in a thick mucus bubble. He tried to press his soles onto the floor. It didn’t change anything, except, perhaps, the appearance of a set of skidmarks. By the time Hex blinked again, he stood before the monolith.

"Teacher...what –?"

Hex stood face to face with Elena. It seemed the poor girl failed to process the things happening in quick succession. Hex blinked. Teacher? Oh, yes. He was still morphed in Rosa’s image.

"You traitor! I will –"

The High Oracle screamed. In pursuit of Hex, she had reached the exit. But the King appeared and threw Hex back to the starting point. She had to run back. Hex saw the underlings still running back from the exit.

Those two could be ignored. He worried more about the rainbow-colored light about to wrap around him. There was no end to it. Even multiple Flex Steps wouldn’t get him out of the light.

"Submerge."

Hex blinked. The light filling his view halted. A surge of water sprung from the floor. It rose higher than the light in the sky and engulfed all the colors of the rainbow. The light struggled but couldn’t break through the water. The layer broke into bubbles.

It nearly made Hex laugh. It was absurd. One second, the light seem to blind him into oblivion. The second after, he watched the temple fill with bubbles of light, shining brightly with different colors. It was almost mesmerizing to look at. Almost.

The old man. It had to be him. Where else would the water appear from? Where had it come from? It wasn’t of importance but seeing the dry floor, Hex couldn’t help but wonder.

"Clear."

The bubbles burst open. The sky returned to its dark form. Only the King stood upright. The Crown Prince seemed nearer. The old man, however, seemed to be on his knees, gasping for breath.

Hex felt his heart fasten. The King stared at him. Time seemed to have slowed down for Hex. He watched the King open his mouth. His next words wouldn’t be merciful. He started but his words distorted. A loud shriek – a familiar one – distorted the air once again.

"Get going."

Old Gargoyle shot through the air, aiming straight at the King. Once again. It seemed futile, unless, the old man didn’t know any other move. Hex didn’t know. But he realized he didn’t need to.

From the corners of his eyes, he saw two figures arrive. The Oracles were a bit slower. One tried to help her teacher. Despite the old man being on his knees, the High Oracle couldn’t break through his water droplets.

The other one came at Hex. But she took a step and then fell apart. In three pieces. Seeing the claw-like marks appear on the floor, Hex grinned. The Commander could still fight.

He picked up the scared and broken Elena and threw her on his shoulder. She didn’t even protest. She was going with the flow of time and space. Hex felt her arms wrap around him. She probably thought he was her teacher. Poor girl. But not as poor as him. So, he just took a quick look around and wished to run to the other side. The walls were broken, so there was an exit everywhere.

But he saw the Commander. He sat on the floor, holding something – Hex took a closer – no, someone in his arms. He didn’t seem to be saying anything. He just stared blankly. Just like Briella stared. Her moving chest indicated she was alive. Or at least, as far as breathing and not being dead counted as being alive.

The Commander seemed to have noticed Hex. Their eyes met. And the Commander blinked. It was hard to tell in the dark but the glistening droplet falling from his eyes to the floor pained Hex. For the first time, ever since meeting the stern man, Hex saw him slouch. For a blink worth of time.

"Go."

He laid Briella back on the floor and stood up. Straight. Straighter than ever. Straighter and fiercer. The air trembled around him. Then it flowed. Then...it howled. He burst towards the King. The old man, Old Gargoyle, and the Duke were back on the floor. Injured beyond recognition. But the King didn’t look at Hex. His opponent was a wounded beast.

It hurt but Hex took a step. And then one more. And then he ran. The opening in the wall appeared and he jumped. He sensed people around. He readied to fight but a spear was already in his face.

Seeing the beautiful girl with short hair, staring at him, ready to kill, he grinned. "Shees, can you give me a second to change?"

Althea stared at him and then...smirked. "You look prettier like this."

She knew. Of course, she knew. Althea knew about the morphuse box. They had used it to pose as Gorge’s parents. It seemed a long ago.

Hex gave Elena to Cella. The girl had passed out. He didn’t know when. But it made things easier.

"We need to hurry."

Hex spoke to Althea. But she didn’t reply. She just nodded to the other side. Sterling and Quid were on their knees. They assembled and assembled the tool. Sterling noticed Hex looking at them. He waved at him, giving a broad smile.

"Hex, we are done."