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Chapter 16: Daniel vs Aveyi

Daniel was standing in the North gateway, palms sweating as he held both whips firmly in his hands. He cleared his mind of every thought other than how he would defeat the ice sorceress. He stretched his legs and arms out, prepping his body for the fight as well.

"Let's get on with the second semi-final! In the South gateway...please welcome back, AAAAVEYIIIIII!"

Some of the males were whooping for her now, the wolfess showing some disgust at the sound as she walked from her gateway. She shook it off quickly. She glared at Daniel, looking a little angry with him still, as if Nick's betrayal was his fault.

"And in the North gateway...here he is, DANNNIELLL!"

The uproar of disapproval was astounding. Daniel didn't feel phased by it, as he truly felt he deserved the ridicule. He blocked out the sounds of the audience, concentrating on his target as he unravelled his whips. He gave Uraku a quick glance before returning his eyes to Aveyi.

The elephant quickly retreated to his post, blowing his trunk.

Daniel instinctively sprinted around the wolfess as she raised her hand towards him, knowing from before what her first attack would be. The stalagmite ice pillars followed him around her, cracking his whips at the ice in front of him once he nearly completed the circle. He kept his eyes on Aveyi, knowing she would soon switch up her attack. Aveyi clenched her paw and the ice around her shattered into sharp shrapnel, cutting up Daniel's face and clothes pretty badly. Daniel shook it off, ignoring the stinging in his face. He held one whip behind him, hiding it from her view as he raised the other whip, whirling it above his head and catching her attention. She shot an ice bolt straight for the arm holding that whip, Daniel immediately swinging his other arm around and striking her on the side. She howled out in pain. These whips really did some serious damage. Daniel wasn't quick enough to retreat his arm, though, as the ice bolt pierced through his lower arm, enticing the shout of pain from him. He reached down to pull the intrusion out, but thought back to something he heard on TV once about leaving things inside of you to keep from bleeding.

Daniel let the ice remain in there. The coldness of the bolt helped alleviate most of the pain, anyway. Aveyi was holding her side, growling loudly as she stomped her foot into the ground. A shockwave of blue spread out. Daniel was forced inside the growing circle, and the air temperature dropped drastically. He folded his arms around himself, shivering violently. He could see his breath, and feel the numbness develop in his fingers. Aveyi walked over to him casually, smirking in triumph. "I figured if Nick didn't like this...then neither would you." Daniel put every ounce of energy he had into striking those whips straight for her wrists, the ends wrapping around tightly as he pulled her to him. Daniel hugged her tightly to keep her from escape, jerking the ice in his arm out and shoving the sharp tip against her neck.

"And now that the air's so cold...this won't melt." Daniel caught Aveyi in her own trap. Aveyi would have to surrender now. She slowly turned her head, looking sad as she asked Daniel in a sweet voice, "Daniel...why did Nick not come back?" Daniel didn't know how to answer that anymore, so he remained silent. Aveyi's body started shaking now too, a freezing tear falling to the frostbit ground. Daniel's stolen ice bolt shattered in his hand, forcing him to back away from the wolfess. Her paws and feet were ablaze with a blue flame...a cold flame, and her eyes were lit up. It was just like Uraku's fury...but this was hers...the cold fury.

"Well...perhaps you should go find out." She suddenly dashed at Daniel with speed rivaling what Uraku had performd earlier, and uppercut Daniel right in his jaw to send him flying in the air. She held up her paws to him and sent a barrage of hailstones hurdling at him. Daniel felt like he would throw up. The pain of all those battering pieces of ice was bruising him up and breaking his bones. He wanted to surrender to end the pain...it was becomming unbearable so fast. Daniel just barely opened his eyes to see Aveyi jump up in the air, raising her paw up to his face before everything went black.

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Daniel opened his eyes and gasped, breathing heavily as he felt around on his body. No whips, no cuts, no holes in his body. The room he was in...it was his dorm. "FUCK!" He slammed his fists on the desk.

Nick was still there, since it has only been about a second now on Earth. "Oh...I take it you lost?" Daniel grunted, opening the book and reading that last few lines. "Yeah...but at least I didn't die."

Nick hugged Daniel, but Daniel then shoved him away. "Dude, you have some explaining to do."

Nick looked confused. Daniel turned in his chair, facing his bed where his friend sat. "Normally I'd tell you the whole story, but it looks like you're the one telling stories. I told Aveyi that you were watching me, and guess what she did...she snapped at me! She started cursing you for not comming back, and started crying her heart out." Daniel stood up, staring down at Nick. "She knows you died, but she said you told her you could still go back!"

Nick's jaw dropped, tears rolling down his cheeks. "I remember..." Daniel rolled his eyes, plopping back down in his chair and staring at Nick. "Remember what? You were supposed to go back?"

Nick pulled out his book and the vial with Aveyi's fur in it. He started sobbing...with joy? "I remember the third rule! I can go back!" Daniel looked at Nick with wonder, Nick seeing the confusion and explaining himself after quickly wiping his tears away. "The old man...he told me that if I'm touching the one who visits Earth as he or she returns to the book...I'll forfeit my life here, and live the rest of my days in the book regardless of whether I died or not. I can sleep and wake up...in the book!" Daniel shook his head in a slight disbelief. "Wait...forfeit your life? You're going to kill yourself?"

Nick chuckled a bit, popping the cap off of the vial. "Yeah...kind of. My spirit will leave this human body behind here on Earth...and it will be dead. I would enter the book, and take the form of the animal I am most connected with...so I'd become a white wolf myself." Daniel watched as Nick slowly turned the vial to drop the fur on the book's paw. "Wait!"

Nick stopped, waiting for Daniel to say something. "Nick...think this through. You're throwing away everything you have here in this life. What about your family? Also, what am I supposed to do with a dead body?" Nick rose up, snickering. "I'll answer your question in a bit...but yes, lets take a stroll down to the river." Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing...and he was okay with it to an extent. It felt like he was in a small cult of people who believed dying will get them into the glorious afterlife more quiclky or something.

The two boys picked up their books and headed out toward the nearby Ohio river.

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They didn't have to walk far until they reached an unsettled portion of the river. The two of them sat down at the steep banks. "So...what about my family eh?" Nick sighed, turning his head upwards as he recollected the horrors of the past. "I only knew my brother and my parents as family. I never met anybody else. My mom died of a heart attack when I was eight, and Dad missed her so much that he took his own life. My brother ran away...it all happened in one day so fast. I had to grow up under the roof of my cousin. He loves guns...and collected tons of them along with their ammo. That's where I got the vast armory from during my youth when I was entering the book. After that, he kicked me out and refused to let me live there until I paid my debt off...and i'll never be able to do that. I was homeless for six years...the only thing keeping me going was this book. I looked at your schedule after we met and became friends, and pretended to have most of your classes too so we could talk more. I wanted to try and stay at your place, but didn't want to sound intrusive. I'm no student...I just walk into the classrooms and hope nobody notices an extra body, which luckily nobody has yet.

So...long story short...my life is a wreck." Daniel rubbed Nick's back, enticing a gentle coo from him. "But...everything is about to change forever. Daniel...I'll see you on the other side!" It all happened so fast. Nick dumped the fur on the book, pushing his hand against the paw with the fur sandwiched between. The light engulfed Nick, a white and ghostly form of Nick's body leaving him and funneling into the paw. The light stopped, and Nick fell over, lifeless eyes staring into the distance.

"Nick...?" Daniel crouched over him, putting his fingers against the neck. No pulse...no breathing. He was gone. Daniel knew Nick was still alive, but to see his best friend in this world perish made him all alone again...He only had his book for friends. He shut Nick's eyes, quietly trembling in sorrow as he mourned for him. He forced himself to smile, choking back tears. "See you...on the other side..." Daniel picked Nick up in his arms, looking at the river before heaving him in, disposing of any evidence that would bring up questions about his death. He watched the body float away along the currents, and let out his sorrow full throttle, crying his heart out into the grass.

Daniel heard footsteps approach him, looking up frantically and thinking it was a witness...what would he do now? Someone will think he was a murderer! "Ah...so Nick decided to join us after all." The old man looked like nobody Daniel recognized, but the voice was eerily familiar...he couldn't put his finger on it. "Um...excuse me, sir?" Daniel wanted to knwo what this guy was on about. Would he report Daniel to the authorities?

"Well, Daniel, we have met before...but you probably don't recognize me now. I've come for Nick's book. Since the reader is no longer here to protect it, I must keep it safe." The old man reached down and picked up the book, "Paws of Ice". He then sat down next to Daniel, sighing as he looked down at the filthy river. "It's sickening to see what your kind has done to this world...anyway, I have some explaining to do."

Daniel sat up, his depression subsiding as he was now simply curious. "I created these books, Daniel. They were the calls for help that you and Nick answered. My prophecies aren't what I tell the others...I truly saw destruction and chaos for the entire world when Drayak ruled, and then I saw Qurrah build up a collosal army that ravished the world like a plague. I couldn't bear to let something disasterous happen, but it was fate...unless, I tapped into another realm of existence."

"The first book served our world well. Nick brought the tools of destruction necessary to take down the evil red dragon...and now we get to see your story unfold, Daniel. How will you stop Qurrah's approaching attack?"

The old man stood up, walking away slowly. Daniel stood up too, pulling his book with him. "Wait!"

The old man turned around, raising a brow at Daniel. "How did you get here...Shah?"

He smirked, "I have my ways...farewell".

Daniel watched Shah disappear in thin air, leaving behind a thick fog. Daniel looked down at his book, trying to put everything he just learned together. He growled a bit irritatedly, slamming his hand onto the paw and entering the fur world again. At least he could see Nick in his new body now.