Ivan's POV

Ivan was making his way up the steps to the deck of Tellun's Pride III. As he walked, he stumbled a few times as he squinted, trying to see clearer. All around him, his head spun and he had to grab on the wall for support. As he staggered on to the deck, the world spun all around him. He could hear voices inside his head. He tried to shake them off but it only got louder.

"Power...Darkness...Rule...Erdas."

Pain ran through his head and his hands flew to his head, clutching it in pain. His breathing grew faster as he tried to walk again.

"Power...Great...Beasts...gives power...control."

"Argh, leave me alone!" he yelled in pain as he staggered forward.

His hand caught the railings of the ship and he leaned forward seeing the ocean. To his surprise, the water turned black, swirling and twisting just like the parasite.

"Power...Great Beasts...Control."

He fell backwards, clutching his head in pain and trying in vain to shake the voices off.

"Power...Evertree...Control."

"Stop it, stop it, stop it!" He cried in pain.

"Power...Control...Wyrm."

"Ivan!" he heard a familiar voice, the voices suddenly softening into a whisper, his vision clearing once more.

"Ivan?" He recognized that voice before but somehow, he was having a hard time remembering, the pain in his head slowly ebbing away.

"Ivan?" He knew that voice.

"R-Riley?" He stuttered.

"Ivan, are you alright?" he could see her face now, her eyes wide with fear and worry, "What happened?"

He didn't answer. He looked at his arm where the parasite was slowly making its way up. Taking a deep breath, he slowly pulled his sleeve up. None of them dared let out a breath as he pulled it up. Ivan's heart dropped. The parasite was just at the tip of his shoulder. He quickly pulled down his sleeve and closed his eyes. It was a tensed silence.

"Ivan?" Riley broke the silence first.

"I'm sorry," Ivan whispered, his voice deep with anguish and defeat.

"There's nothing to be sorry about-"

"Riley, i'm losing," Ivan cut in, "We both know that i'm losing this fight. I'm losing a fight that I could never win. Remember what Eilene said? Once you're infected, you've lost. There's no hope for me at all. I'm only going to slow you guys down and soon i'll turn into one of Zerif's slaves."

"No," Riley shook her head, "Don't say that-"

"I might kill you guys," he interrupted again, "I might kill you, Riley...and I don't want to do that...I can't..."

Warm arms suddenly wrap around him. It took him a few seconds to realize that Riley was hugging him. Riley was actually hugging him. He thought he felt a few teardrops pour down into his shirt.

"You might kill me," Riley whispered, "but no matter what, i'll fight. I'll fight for you, i'll fight with you. I always will."

Ivan closed his eyes, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as he hugged her back. No matter what happened, the thing between them would never change. But they both knew, however much they didn't want to.

They were running out of time.

Zoron's POV

"We can't just leave you," Hope had protested.

"We'll find a way out of here," Eilene replied who was stuck below a ledge with Meilin, "Just go find the compass."

They hesitated for a bit before Zoron led the way. He started running with the others following behind him as he followed the direction to where the compass was pointing. The scuttling sounds started to grow louder and he could spot some of the ghastly figures running towards them.

"We need to hurry," Zoron ordered, running faster.

Just then, some of the Many had jumped down from the ledges below them and scrambled towards them, their eyes blank with hatred, the black twisting spiral on their foreheads.

"Oh come on," George groaned, drawing out his sword and summoning his Spirit Animal, Lire.

The others quickly drew out their weapons and summoned their Spirit Animals before attacking the Many. More of the infected started to rush towards them.

"We're not going to be able to stop them," Hope gasped as she fought with one of the Many. Her Spirit Animal, Hope, kicking some of the infected back.

"Then we need to keep pushing forward," Zoron ordered, spinning his dagger viciously as he kept on running forward, the others following close by.

He heard a screech and he quickly glance up to see Lazu flapping his wings to get his attention. He already knew that he must've found the compass already. Zoron started to follow Lazu before stopping. He caught a glimpse of a flash which was wedge into a hole on a tall wall. The thing was, they had to pass the only easy exit which led up. There's a chance that they would get trapped by the growing numbers of the Many.

He looked around and saw that there was a ledge that the others could climb too if they took the exit up. It was low enough for him to throw it up but too high to climb.

Zoron took a deep breath and gave the compass he was holding to George, "You guys start heading up the exit, i'll try to get the compass and throw it up to you guys."

"What about you?" Hope argued, "You're going to get trapped."

"Look, we're running out of time," Zoron suddenly snapped, making Hope recoil, "This isn't up for discussion so just do as your told!"

Hope seemed surprise by his harsh tone. Zoron himself was surprised but he didn't have time to apologize. Without another word, he took off after the compass, slashing at any of the infected who came to close. Once he reached the hole, he reached in as far as he could and snatched the compass out the hole. He looked up and saw that the others were already there, George and Takoda fighting off some of the infected who tried to attack.

"Quick, catch," Zoron yelled, throwing the compass up which Haley caught.

Zoron started to run to where the exit was but just as he had thought, more of the Many came running at him. He twirled his daggers and started slashing. He slashed at one of the infected but two more took its place. He knew he wasn't going to hold up much longer.

Just then, he caught sight of a big, dark-brown horse, kicking and shoving the Many out of the way as it trotted towards Zoron. Hope was riding on top of her Spirit Animal much to his surprise.

Once the horse made its way to him, Hope ordered, "Quick, get on."

Zoron wasted no time as he hopped onto the horse. Zoron almost fell off as the horse started to run with great speed but it quickly doubled back as more of the Many appeared, blocking their only way out. The horse kept on running but abruptly stopped when they reached a ledge.

They were trapped.

Cliffhanger! I already have the ending of this story down and I ain't changing my mind. The ending is going to be epic! (You might not like it). As you may or may have not noticed, I changed my username. I decided that this account would be only fan fictions that I write. My (new) main account GriffinFur1933, is where I write my own stories.

Anyways, after I finish book three, i'm going to be writing another Spirit Animal fan fiction which I would reveal the title in a couple more chapters. I'm also going to be writing my first Warriors fan fiction, probably at the same time.

Please vote and leave a comment on what you guys think. Stay tuned for the next chapter! Check out Griffin-Bluestar (a join account of me and my friend) and GriffinFur1933 (My main account).