The Flames of Hope Ch 7

Chapter 7~Let's Rock n' Roll
The two days went by a lot faster than I thought they would, possibly because I was asleep for most of one day. Gear had been working nonstop on the van, but at some point a hammer went flying out of the garage and hit me on the head. Besides waking up with a horrible headache though, I had been fine after some nectar and I found out later what had hit me. Apparently a miscalculation with one of the van’s modifications had launched the hammer into the air. Thankfully, the van was finished and we were ready to roll out.

“Everyone make sure we have everything. Supplied, weapons, food, anything we may need for a rescue mission,” I ordered and everyone seemed to listen as they grabbed weapons from the armory and raided the kitchen for anything to eat. Gear rolled out the van from the garage and on the outside it looked just the same as it did before, except with a new layer of paint to hide the logo for our strawberry front.

“So how does it look?” Gear asked as he rolled down the window from the driver’s seat.

“It looks exactly the same,” I called back, and for a second he looked insulted, but laughed it off. He opened the door and jumped to the ground before telling me about all the new features. However, I really had no interest in cars and tuned him out for most of his speech, but from the sounds of it he was about ready to propose to his completed project.

“Slowpoke, everyone is ready,” Megan said as she counted to make sure everyone was accounted for. “Except Kat, she is still half asleep.”

“No problem, I made a chair especially for her,” Gear said and slid the door open. Inside was a chair that stretched back all the way and looked just like a small bed. He really did think of everything. Kat rubbed her eyes and jumped into her new bed and the rest followed. Gear hopped into the back as well.

“Aren’t you going to drive?” I asked him.

“I’ve just spent the past two days making the most awesome car in history. I haven’t slept a wink so do you really want me to drive?” he replied. I didn’t want him falling asleep at the wheel so I allowed him to get some rest. I adjusted the driver’s seat and we started moving. The second we got onto the main road, my internal GPS started going off in my head and I knew exactly how long it would take us to reach Hell.

The roads were strangely vacant once we reached the highway, as I only saw a car every so often and they didn’t stay on the road for long, normally getting off at the next exit. About another 5 miles down the road, we hit some construction. I was forced to sow down because of the narrow lane that was coned off. I looked over and watched the construction workers digging up the ground, possibly trying to expand the lane or something. One of the workers picked up a rock and examined it for a second. I didn’t think anything of it until he ate it whole.

“Nolan, look out!” Sammy said from the back seat and a huge rock went sailing right in front of us, blocking off the road. I slammed on the brakes and everyone in the car lunged forward in their seats.

“What’s going on,” Will shouted from the back seat before looking out the front windshield. “Was there a rock slide?”

I looked out the window and saw one of the workers lift a large rock over his head as if getting ready to toss it at us.

“Nope, more like a rock toss,” I said and the large rock went sailing into the air. Thankfully, he overthrew and I unbuckled my seatbelt and was out of the car before he had the chance to reload. I pulled at my hammer pendent and Road-Maker took its true form. I hit the working in the chest and he seemed to crumble into several stones. Some of the other workers took notice and started walking over. The ground shook as they walked and their skin began to darken into a dark grey or black color while the color in their eyes began to fade. They began to change form as several arms sprouted from their chests and they began to grow to almost 12 feet tall. Each one had about 6 arms in total and each one now had a rock in it.

“Um…guys, I could use some help out here,” I called to my friends in the van. The doors slid open and they all came out with a loud battle cry. The monsters ahead of me took notice of the advancing group and started tossing rocks. Malcolm pulled out his arrows, but gave his half-sister Sara a gesture to stay inside the van where it was safe. She was our main healer and I don’t think any of us wanted her to be hurt, especially Malcolm. Tuff raised his shield and blocked some of the rocks while Ruff circled around and slashed at one of the creatures. It backed up against the onslaught of stabs and slashed, but Ruff lost his footing when another one of the creatures stomped the ground causing the ground to shake. He fell down and started crawling backward as creature closed in on him. Ruff managed to jump in front as the creature pounded on his shield’s with its six arms. Meanwhile, everyone else seemed to be in a state of disarray. Will had been trying to grow a few plants to defend himself, but they would shrivel up and the creatures would simply stomp on them. Sammy was running from a pack of the creatures chasing after him. Cacnea had caused a cactus to sprout from the soil, but the needles that shot from it bounced right off their skin.

“What are these things made of?” Rose yelled as her and Cacnea ran down the highway.

“Earth!” Megan yelled back as she sliced off all six arms of one of the monsters with her twin swords before slashing him across the chest leaving an X mark. The attack turned the monster to ruble before she ran over to attack some more. “They are Earthborn monsters!”

I watched as our team began to fall apart under the constant attack of flying rocks and the Earthborn’s attacks. Sammy was still being chased by three or four Earthborn along with Will right next to him. Rose had used some plant vines to slow down the monsters, but they didn’t seem to have a strong effect as the monsters just ripped them apart. Malcolm, Megan, and I seemed to be the only ones making any headway as I swung my hammer, destroying my enemy’s legs. It fell straight down and I smashed my hammer down as if I were playing whack-a-mole.

“A little help over here!” Sammy called. I ran over as fast as I could and smashed the monsters arm before its fist collided with Sammy’s face. I then swung around and hit it right in the chest, causing it to turn to ruble. “Thanks a lot.”

“Don’t thank me yet, go help them,” I said, motioning to Tuff who was still having her shield beat like a drum and Ruff unable to retrieve his sword as there was an Earthborn between him and it. Sammy and will nodded and grabbed a sword and charged in to help while I ran over to Rose and Cacnea. I stood between the Earthborn and the children of Demeter and started playing defense for them.

“You know these things are made of rock and dirt, right?” I told them as I blocked another five fists coming at me as I was pushed back by the impact. The two demigods looked at each other for a second as if they hadn’t thought about this before placing their hands on the ground, trying to sense the earth possibly. Meanwhile, one of them got their hands on me and I felt like they were trying to rip me apart in six different directions. I almost closed my eyes in pain when I saw a small flower sprout from the top of his head. The other Earthborn and I just looked at the flower when a small cactus appeared on the other’s head as well. A second later, flowers began to bloom all over their bodies. The Earthborn dropped me to the ground and they both began to pat themselves down trying to rid themselves of the flora. It didn’t work and they erupted into plants. One became a bush while the other was turned into a very large cactus. I looked around to see who else needed help. Malcolm was being pushed back by three as only about half his arrows broke their hard skin. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw Sarah hop out of the van with a bow and arrow and load it, somewhat awkwardly.

“Everyone hit the deck!” Malcolm yelled as Sarah fired the arrow, but it went right into the air and we all lost it in the bright light of the sun.

“Whoops,” she said as she also looked up trying to figure out where it had gone. Possibly by sheer luck, it landed straight down in the Earthborn between Ruff and his weapon. It turned to ruble and Ruff picked up his sword before charging the monsters and the tide started to turn in our favor. When only five of the beasts were left, they looked at us with their rock hard eyes and dug down into the earth.

“What was that all about?” Will asked.

“We must have invaded their territory,” Megan replied. “Most Earthborn unknowingly have a layer of Mist around them to allow them to dig and find food without humans noticing.”

“Maybe,” I replied. Even though it was a good explanation, I wondered how much of it was just coincidence. “Come on, let’s figure out a way to move that bolder.”

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive