Aye, JWD here. Welcome to the final chapter + Epilogue of my book, Prove It. Thanks to everyone who read the book. I hope you all enjoy! This chapter is extra long :p NOTE: If you have not read any of the other chapters yet, I suggest you read the rest first. Links are on my profile page. Chapter XIV Together, we plunged into the darkness. It looked exactly how I remembered it. Fifty foot high cave walls littered with glittering jewels and precious stones, giving the cave most of its light. The rest of the light came from torches that held dark blue fire. The torches lined the wall, getting bigger, until reaching the throne. The throne of the Custorium. He looked exactly how I remembered him as well. Just staring at him made my knees buckle. At least twenty feet tall, with dark purple skin with blue patches. His face was twisted in a way I couldn't possibly describe. Spiky tendrils lined up from the top of his head all the way to his lower back. His eyes gleamed yellow. They had no pupils. His right arm was ripped, with blisters and other bumps covering it. His left arm was longer, yet skinnier, with a misshapen elbow. Both gnarled hands had foot-long claws extending from the fingers, sharp enough to cut a human to the bone. His entire midsection was covered in scars. His legs were covered in scales, and he had big feet with gnarled toes. Disgusting. He was hunched over, which made him look shorter than he really was. Overall, I'd give it a 'terrifying' on the spooky scale. With that horrible voice of his, he spoke. "Well, Ethan Floyd. Only the second hero to ever come this far. I hope you put up a good fight. The last one, he didn't fair so well. I didn't even get to have any fun." He laughed maniacally, which sent a shiver down my spine. "I've come too far to be defeated by you now!" I shouted. "It may take everything I have, but I will defeat you!" You cannot win. The voices. They had gone silent since the Lufor attack, but they were back, louder, more fearful. I wanted to curl into a ball on the floor and cry like an infant, but I resisted the urge. Not only did I have a battle to win, it would also make me look quite stupid. "Why are you even doing this?" I asked. The Custorium snarled. He picked up Potastatem, the little blue glowing ball. Just seeing it made me feel stronger. "As you know, without Potastatem, The Sky is fading. When The Sky fades away for good, my brethren will invade this planet! We will burn it to the ground until there is nothing left!" I shivered at his words. This mattered even more than I thought it did. "Are your brethren as ugly as you are?" I shouted. The Custorium snarled at my remark. "Fool. I been sitting here for nearly fifty years. The Sky is nearly gone. Within two weeks, it will fade forever, and Domum will be destroyed!" I stood there in shock. I was Domum's last hope. The fate of the entire planet rested on my shoulders. It was up to me to save it. The Custorium raised his arms. "Let us fight! After I kill you, Domum will be destroyed, and the humans can do nothing but watch!" Unknowingly to The Custorium, a drop of liquid fell off one of his claws, and splattered onto the floor, making a sizzling noise. "Poison.." Avianna muttered. "Don't let him touch you with those, you'll be dead in minutes!" I unsheathed my sword. My greatest fight yet was underway. Let's just say it didn't start too well. I charged the Custorium. He pointed his hand at me, and three claws shot straight off his fingers. I ducked out of the way. The claws pierced the wall behind me. Three new claws grew right back in their place. I suddenly felt something pummel me, and I found myself flying through the air. I realized the Custorium had backhanded me. I crashed into the wall with such force, a few cracks appeared in the wall. The air was knocked out of me, and I heard a few cracks. Pain shot through my midsection. "Yea, that's a few broken ribs." I croaked. I saw Avianna fire a few arrows into the abdomen of the Custorium. He didn't seem too fazed by it. I slowly got up, ready to charge again. Before I could go anywhere, the Custorium launched two more claws at me. I hit the deck, and they pierced the wall mere inches above my head. "How are we supposed to land a hit on this thing?" I yelled to Avianna. "I don't know!" She yelled back. She fired another arrow, aimed for the head, but The Custorium simply caught the arrow without even looking. He crushed it in his hand. Your journey will end here. I shot a look at Avianna. She motioned for me to attack to Custorium from behind. I nodded, telling her I understood. I moved as quietly as I could. However, the Custorium spotted me before I could even get close. He shot three more claws at me. I used my agility to my advantage, evading them all. I ran as quick as I could to his backside, and stabbed him in the calf. The Custorium bellowed in pain. I removed the sword, and a gooey blue liquid trickled out of the wound. Some strange looking blood. The Custorium turned around to attack me, but Avianna ran in, pulling a dagger from her belt. I'd never seen her use the dagger before. She had always used the bow, never a melee fighter. She went in to stab, but The Custorium read the attack. He brought down his fist with such force that it shook the cave. Avianna disappeared from my view. My heart skipped a beat. Had she been crushed, or had she dodged the attack? The Custorium lifted his fist off the ground, and Avianna was standing behind it, her face filled with panic. He tried to crush her again, but she sidestepped, evading his attack once more. But before she could do anything else, The Custorium picked her up, trapping her in his grasp. Her bow dropped to the floor in front of me. Her dagger clattered to the ground right next to it. Avianna thrashed around, but was unable to escape the grip of The Custorium. I winced from the pain in my chest, but I ran to the front of The Custorium. "Put her down!" I shouted. The Custorium didn't bat an eye. Instead, he only tightened his grip on Avianna. She wailed. She wouldn't be able to breathe. I had to save her. I picked up the dagger and threw it into the foot of the Custorium. He roared in pain, but didn't let go of Avianna. I growled in frustration before running to The Custorium and removing the dagger from his foot. This time, I threw it to his midsection. After getting a dagger to the abdomen, he had to let Avianna go. He dropped her, and lurched over, in extreme pain. Avianna went free-falling through the air at alarming speed. I positioned myself under her and broke her fall the best I could. She knocked the wind out of me, but seemed to be okay. We both got up slowly. The Custorium pulled the dagger out of his abdomen, and launched it at me. I had no time to react. The dagger whizzed by me. A drop of blood splattered on the ground to my right. He had nicked my ear. I backpedaled, and picked up the dagger. I threw it at his leg this time. Unfortunately, my aim was off, and the dagger went through his legs. I wasn't getting that back. Avianna had retrieved her bow. She fired an arrow into The Custorium's upper leg. He snarled at us. He pointed his hand at me, and shot three more claws, one by one. I evaded the first one, and deflected the second with my sword. The third was another story. I thought I knew pain. I'd been bitten, violently scratched, mauled, rammed into, and plenty of other things. I'd even had my own eye clawed out. But even that won't ever compare to getting impaled by a poisonous claw. I immediately went weak, and my vision blurred. I collapsed, and hit the floor. I heard Avianna's cry my name, but it was all blurry. Death welcomes you. "Not yet.." I moaned. I tried getting up, but I was too weak. The poison was working its way through my systems quickly. I would likely be dead soon. Maybe they were right. Maybe this really was impossible. Maybe I was going to fail. "I have faith. Especially in you." Avianna's voice rang in my head. "Not.. Yet..." I moaned again. I sat up. The claw was still lodged in my abdomen. I wanted to scream from the pain, but I couldn't. I saw Avianna charge the Custorium. "You're gonna pay!" She shouted. The Custorium simply swatted her aside. Avianna slid across the floor like a rag doll. That was enough for me. I stood up, nearly falling over, but I did stand to him. The claw fell out of my abdomen. I winced again. "Impossible.." The Custorium said, clearly amazed at the fact I was able to stand. "You should be dead! Combine the claw with the poison, there's no way you can be alive right now!" I took a single step forward. "I walked through hell.." Another step. "With one goal." Another step. "Do you really think, that I'd come all this way.." Another step. "Just to fail here?" I looked The Custorium in the eye. "I will not let you have this world! No matter what it takes, I will stop you!" I charged The Custorium for the final time. He shot another claw at me, but I deflected it with my sword and kept running without breaking stride. He shot more, but I deflected them all. "Pest!" The Custorium bellowed. He charged at me, which left me with one option. I channeled all my remaining strength, and threw my sword like a javelin. It hit him in the center of the forehead. But if didn't stop there. The sword made its way through his skull, and exiting the head through the back, clattering onto the ground behind him. The Custorium was dead. I had won the fight. But I hadn't completed the quest. I would be dead in minutes. The poison was working its way through my systems, most likely doing some serious damage. I collapsed on the floor. Images from my childhood flashed through my mind. Being bullied in elementary school, doing odd jobs for people for food in return, staring at the stars on the rooftop of an abandoned house, not having to worry about creatures ready to kill you at every step. Another image flashed in my mind. An image of Avianna, smiling. I even heard her voice. "Ethan!" I realized she really was calling my name. I opened my eyes slightly. There she was, kneeling over me, her eyes filled with tears. "No, no, no. You've come so far and been through so much, you can't die here!" I placed my hand on her own. She looked at me, tears streaming down her face. "It's okay." I croaked. "It's alright.." "No, Ethan, I won't accept this." She said, her voice filled with emotion. "Avianna.." I whispered. All of the emotions and pain I had bottled up during the quest, all my messed up thoughts and despair, they all poured into one single tear. It ran down my face, dropping onto the floor next to me. "Sometimes," I sniffled. "Sometimes... Failure is unavoidable. No matter how hard you try." "No Ethan, you didn't fail. You've saved this planet. And I'm not going to sit here, and watch you die after you gave everything you had to do so." Avianna closed her eyes and put her hands together, like she was praying. I thought she actually was praying at first, but then her body began to glow. Slowly but surely, the wound in my gut slowly began to close. Avianna was working some magic healing spell on me. My strength began to return, and my vision cleared up. But Avianna was fading. Her legs were almost completely gone, and her body was becoming more transparent by the second. I realized what was happening. "Avianna, no!" I couldn't stop her. I still didn't have the strength to stand up. I was getting stronger, but Avianna was fading fast. She would be gone in a few seconds. "Avianna, stop!" I cried. I finally had the strength to sit up. I tried grabbing Avianna, but I passed right through her. I turned around, and she was almost gone. Just her shoulders and above were still remaining. "Avianna!" Her head turned around to face me. She gave me her smile for the final time. "Goodbye Ethan." She disappeared. She was gone. She had given her life to me. I fell to my knees and sobbed. She really did that. She gave me her life. I was ready for the kiss of death, but she took it for me. I sobbed again. She really was gone. I would never see her again. I sat there, trying to absorb reality. Avianna was the best friend I could ever ask for. I looked over at Potastatem. The blue glowing ball was just sitting there. I felt drawn to it, almost as if it was telling me Cmon, you gotta return me if you want this place to stay standing. I had a job to do. Avianna would want me to save the planet. I got up and made my way to Potastatem. The second I laid my hand on it, a surge of energy shot through my body. I felt myself slipping away to a different place. .:Carcere:. When I opened my eyes, I was back in the room where all this began. The room where Ian had given me my sword and sent me off. I turned around, and Ian was standing there. "I'm back." I said rather nonchalantly. He turned to face me. "Well. Twenty-Six days later. And you've finally returned." Twenty-Six days? That meant I had spent my nineteenth birthday in the forest. And I hadn't even known it. "Do you have Potastatem?" Ian asked. I tossed it to him. "So the prophecy was true.." He muttered. "Prophecy?" I asked. Ian acted like he didn't hear me. "This planet is forever in your debt." "I don't care. What prophecy?" "The prophecy of the blue-eyed one." My eyes were blue, unlike everyone else, who had dark eyes. There was a prophecy about them? "The prophecy states that one day, a man with blue eyes would save the planet from ultimate destruction. You were that person. When a Domum official spotted you, we needed to get you on this quest. So we made a plan to blow up the Great Sky Monument to make it look like you were a criminal, and no one would suspect anything." "So you're telling me this was all planned? Seriously? This whole thing was planned." "Yes." "You planned to have me face death multiple times?! You planned for me to lose the best friend I could ever ask for?! You planned to put me through this!?" "Calm down Ethan." "Don't tell me to calm down. You knew this was going to happen!" I charged him and took him by the neck, even though he was half a foot taller than me. I pinned him against the wall. "You knew.." I growled in his face. "Ethan, let me go. I can have you arrested for this." "Not if you're dead!" I shouted as I pressed harder. Ian started flailing around, making choking sounds. I looked to my right. The wall of weapons were there. I released Ian. He fell to the ground, panting for air. I walked over to the weapons and grabbed a knife. I walked back over to him and stared down on him. "Ethan, don't do this." I lifted the knife. "I'll take everything from you, just like you did to me." I brought the knife down. .:30 minutes later:. I arrived back at my house. It wasn't much. Just one story, a few rooms. Instead of going inside, I went around to the backyard. I often went back there to clear my head. But today, there was something new in the center of my yard. A tree. It was a big tree, and quite beautiful. I had no idea how it had gotten there. I examined the bark, and on one side, a single word was carved into it. Avianna. :::EPILOGUE::: .:Two weeks later:. So here I sit. Under Avianna's tree. Everyday, I wake up, and I think to myself, I should be dead right now. But she gave her life for me. The same question runs through my mind everyday, Did I really succeed? Honestly, I don't think I did. I made a promise to Avianna. I had told her that she would see the sky again. I will never forgive myself for breaking that promise. There's not a day I won't think about it. The memories of the forest, they haunt me. I nearly died so many times, it scared me. The things that flash through my mind, it's enough to drive someone crazy. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stand it much longer. My life without Avianna is like an unfinished puzzle, and I can't find the last piece. I feel worse everyday. And it doesn't really help that those voices are still ringing in my head.
