Through the Earth
Chapter 1

“Emerald! Wait up,” shouted my friend Sapphire as I sprinted away from the group, going deeper into the trees with my sword in hand. “Ruby needs a break.” I didn’t care about stopping, we just needed to go fast. We have been chasing a werewolf through the night for about a mile and retreating now would just let it get away into the forest.

The trees started to thin as the werewolf started to run up a hill only covered in grass, which was good for me since I wouldn’t have to worry about running into trees. Also, I’ve trained myself to run up hills without losing breath, so I might catch and end this beast any second now. I was about to reach it when we arrived at the top of the hill, making me finally stop.

An ambush! In a flat clearing at the top of the hill, about twenty werewolves were now standing before me as they stared with their cold, dark eyes. Now, I’ve taken on groups like this before, but that was when I had the element of surprise and my friends, and right now I have neither. On the other hand, I love a challenge.

“Ahhhhhhhh,” screamed my battle cry as I sliced through one furry body at a time. As my sword collided with the flesh, they would instantly disappear into an explosion of ashes. This barely fazed me since that’s what happens when a creature created from witchcraft dies.

I noticed as I cut down my enemies, more werewolves came running into the clearing I was in. I must not have noticed them before because they were hiding behind the many trees that stretched into the distance around the clearing. The only protection for my back was the treeless hill that sloped down behind me. With that, I probably stood a chance.

I didn’t dare turn around as more werewolves emptied into the clearing. Werewolves don’t always die from single hits, but I’ve trained myself to only aim for weak spots like the torso. In my peripheral vision, I could see a werewolf getting ready to charge at me. With the flick of my wrist, I used a quick boost spell to jump over the werewolf as it pounded under me and ran into his friend. As my feet touched the ground, I bounced over to them as they shook their heads from the collision. Holding up my sword, I swiftly aimed for their necks. It is very rare to defeat a werewolf with a blow like this since they usually tower over me at a height of seven feet.

I noticed that the werewolves were starting to get more agitated. Their attacks were getting more chaotic, but I avoided every swipe of their claws with my extreme agility. Soon only five werewolves were left. I knew it was risky, but I decided to run away from the hill’s edge, get behind the werewolves, and kill them from their backside. I sprinted forward and my plan worked for a moment since the werewolves hesitated for a second, but one was fast enough and grabbed my right leg. I cried in agony as his claws dug into my calf, but I was able to turn around and hurl a magical, green fireball at his face. He let go and tried to run away as he howled, but he was already turning into black dust. The remaining werewolves didn’t want to suffer the same fate and retreated. Leaving me alone in the clearing with piles of ashes blowing away in the soft wind.

I looked down at my leg, and when I saw the bright contrast of blood against my white skin, I immediately wished I never tried something so foolish. Werewolves are not very intelligent, but their brains do work.

“I need to stop underestimating them,” I whispered to myself.

“You got that right,” a voice said from behind. I tried to sidestep to get out of the way, but my leg slowed me down. I was shoved to the ground and immediately got the wind knocked out of me. As I looked up, my eyes filled with shock.

“Quartz!” I exclaimed. I knew her from the North Settlement, the place I grew up in. I started to feel this sinking feeling in my stomach. Fighting werewolves is not too hard because they are so predictable, but fighting another goddess is completely different.

“You seem to be a little tired,” Quartz said in that annoying high-pitched voice that always got on my nerves. We weren’t ever good friends.

“Of course I’m tired…of you.” I shook off my surprise and gathered all the confidence I could muster. “It makes sense for you to join Queen Silver. You’ve always been a coward.”

“I’m not a coward,” she scoffed. “I just chose the side with the most power. Now you are going to suffer the punishments of a traitor.”

I tried to stand but I was at a weird angle so I could only get up if I turned my back to Quartz, and she was pulling out a knife as an evil glint glowed in her eyes.

As she was stepping towards me, an arrow appeared in her arm. As she gasped, I swung my good leg out to kick her feet, making her fall to the ground. As I reached for my sword, a burst of dark blue light emerged from the direction the arrow came from and knocked Quartz against a tree as she hit the grass unconscious.

Relieved, I looked in the direction of my savior, already knowing who it was. I turned to see Sapphire standing at the edge of the slope with her enchanted bow in hand and the wind brushing her dark blue hair against her light-colored skin.

“Are you alright?” she asked as genuine empathy filled her beautiful dark blue eyes.

“I’m fine. Just got a little carried away,” I said as I winced in pain. I turned over and propped myself up with my sword, trying to ignore the awful burnt smell of the ashes around me. “You know us goddesses don’t get too weak when injured.”

“I know that,” she said as she rushed to my side and let me lean on her. “Emerald, you need to not do risky things if you want to defeat Queen Silver. Doing what you know best is safe.”

“Yes, and boring,” I mumbled. All my life I’ve been doing the same thing. No one ever seems to understand that spicing things up is the only joy I get in life.

We got to the edge of the hill and Sapphire’s grip tightened on my arm. It didn’t bother me though since it had a secure softness to it. She started to help me down the hill but I didn’t want to come across as weak.

“I got it, Sapphire. The hill isn’t that steep. You go put a conceal spell on Quartz so Queen Silver can’t replace her.”

“Fine, go be an independent teenager. Just promise to bandage that leg immediately.”

“I promise.” I turned to walk down the hill, shivering for a second as a quick breeze blew past me.

As I trudged down the hill, I could tell Ruby was sitting on the ground next to the bag of medical supplies. She’s younger than me and only recently became a teenager. Even in the darkness, I could see her hair that was as bright as, well, rubies. I pushed a strand of my dark green hair behind my ear as I slowly trudged down the hill. Everyone in our land has hair and eyes that match the gem or mineral that we are named after. We are called gem goddesses and all live in the center of the Earth. We don’t know what’s on the outside of Earth, but there is a story that’s meant to scare young goddesses that tells about evil monsters called humans that live up there. I wish I could say they were fiction, but they most certainly are real

“Where’s Sapphire?” questioned Ruby as curiosity crossed her pale face when I finally got to the bottom.

“Upon the hill doing a conceal spell on a goddess we battled up there,” I said. “It will probably take a while since that spell’s very tough.” Sapphire is the only person I know personally that can do a conceal spell. The victim of this spell doesn’t just turn invisible. They also get surrounded by a force field that buries its victim into the ground. It sounds harsh but it isn’t permanent and it’s the only way to subdue goddesses for a long period of time without physically harming them. After a few months, the force field would burst open and free the goddess inside.

Since conceal spells are very powerful, Sapphire needs to tune out all distractions while casting it. In other words, she won’t be able to hear anything. Luckily for her, either Ruby or I would guard her just in case any werewolves or more disloyal goddesses showed up.

“You should head up there and guard her since I need to give myself some medical attention,” I said.

“Wait a minute,” Ruby spoke in a rushed manner as she jumped to her feet. “There’s something I want to show you.” Ruby held out her hand as a beautiful ruby materialized in it.

“Wait a minute, how did you do that?” I questioned. “You don’t have magic.”

“That wasn’t magic, and this isn’t either.” Just then, a bright red laser came out of the gem and zapped the grass at my feet, making a swirly red circle spin beneath me. I tried to run but my feet were stuck to the floor. Ruby reached out and pulled my sword away from me. I lost my balance but I didn’t fall. It was almost like invisible hands were grabbing my calves, keeping me steady, but all the pressure on my wounded leg made it feel like it was on fire.

“Ruby! What are you doing?” I cried. Usually, I don’t sound so helpless, but I have no idea what’s going on.

“Oh, Emerald. Can you be quiet for one moment? You’ll be out of here soon.” As she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, the strangest thing happened. Her ears started to change. They became more pointed and seemed to be growing hair, no, fur on them. I noticed something swishing behind Ruby, and when it stopped, I realized the awful truth.

“You have the ears and tail of a werewolf!” I gasped. “When were you bitten?”

“I wasn’t bitten,” she exclaimed. “In case you haven’t noticed, all the other werewolves look like bodybuilders covered in fur with a wolf head, tail, and paws. Queen Silver wanted someone with the strength of a werewolf but the intelligence of a goddess to serve as her second in command, and she said I was perfect because I reminded her of herself.”

“You’re nothing like her,” I shouted half in anger and half in hope that Sapphire might hear me, but deep down I knew it was a lost cause.

“I don’t need to explain anything to you,” Ruby scoffed. “Just know that while we wreak havoc over the core, you will be destroyed by the monsters that ruined the Queen’s life.”

As those last words left her mouth, the ground beneath me gave way. With one last look at the one who betrayed me, I tumbled into the darkness below, praying that this was all a terrible dream.